Ezekiel 2

Then Ezekiel is given a scroll (verses 910), which he is told to eat (Ezekiel 3:1). Written on the scroll were words of lament and mourning and woe; these were God’s words of judgment against the Israelites, which Ezekiel was to faithfully proclaim until news came of the fall of Jerusalem—which would come seven years later.⁷ By eating the scroll, Ezekiel would be symbolically taking God’s word into his heart. Only when we take God’s word to heart can we effectively share it with others.

Why was Ezekiel’s ministry going to be so difficult? First, because the exiles to whom he would be speaking were themselves rebellious Israelites; they would resist God’s word. Second, Ezekiel would be telling them bad news: it was Jerusalem that was going to be destroyed, not Babylon! But difficult though it was, Ezekiel’s ministry was essential to the fulfillment of God’s purpose for Israel. Through Ezekiel’s preaching, the exiles in Babylon—the remnant of Israel—would realize the full extent of their SINS and would submit to God’s just punishment for those sins; only then would they be ready for the physical and spiritual restoration that God had planned for them.