Ezekiel:3

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* Verse 1-11 - Ezekiel was to receive the truths of God as the food for his soul , and to feed upon them by faith , and he would be strengthened . Gracious souls can receive those truths of God with delight , which speak terror to the wicked . He must speak all that , and that only , which God spake to him . How can we better speak God 's mind than with his words ? If disappointed as to his people , he must not be offended . The Ninevites were wrought upon by Jonah 's preaching , when Israel was unhumbled and unreformed . We must leave this unto the Divine sovereignty , and say , Lord , thy judgments are a great deep . They will not regard the word of the prophet , for they will not regard the rod of God . Christ promises to strengthen him . He must continue earnest in preaching , whatever the success might be . * Verse 12-21 - This mission made the holy angels rejoice . All this was to convince Ezekiel , that the God who sent him had power to bear him out in his work . He was overwhelmed with grief for the sins and miseries of his people , and overpowered by the glory of the vision he had seen . And however retirement , meditation , and communion with God may be sweet , the servant of the Lord must prepare to serve his generation . The Lord told the prophet he had appointed him a watchman to the house of Israel . If we warn the wicked , we are not chargeable with their ruin . Though such passages refer to the national covenant made with Israel , they are equally to be applied to the final state of all men under every dispensation . We are not only to encourage and comfort those who appear to be righteous , but they are to be warned , for many have grown high-minded and secure , have fallen , and even died in their sins . Surely then the hearers of the gospel should desire warnings , and even reproofs . * Verse 22-27 - Let us own ourselves for ever indebted to the mediation of Christ , for the blessed intercourse between God and man ; and a true believer will say , I am never less alone than when thus alone . When the Lord opened Ezekiel 's mouth , he was to deliver his message boldly , to place life and death , the blessing and the curse , before the people , and leave them to their choice . **** Matthew Henry 's Commentary ****

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