The Story of Ezekiel
Study Scripture: Ezekiel 3: 10 – 11; 24: 15 – 24, 27
Background Scripture: Ezekiel 3: 10 – 11; 24: 15 – 24, 27
Lesson 11 November 15, 2025
Key Verse
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Ezekiel 3:10
INTRODUCTION
We are examining the life of a very unusual man who is prepared for his mind-chilling assignment of taking the devastating judgment of God to his fellow Jews who are in bondage in Babylon. He and many others in the priestly and royal class of the stubborn and rebellious people of Judah had been taken in the first captivity to Babylon where they lived in hope of a quick return to the land of Judah despite the prophetic word.
The thirty-six year old Ezekiel was a priest confined in a pagan Yahweh-hating foreign land because of the sins of his King, other leaders, and the people of his nation.
We are introduced to him and his experiences with the divine glory in the first Chapter of his Book. We should read this Chapter to educate ourselves on who Yahweh is and what He is like in order to stop our foolish reliance on our exceedingly weak selves and our thinking we can make a way in life successfully without complete reliance on His awesome persona. One writer therefore shows us how Yahweh introduced Himself to His stunned prophet so he would know the One with whom he had to deal. So what does Ezekiel do when faced with the glory of God?
“Ezekiel is trying to describe the indescribable—his vision of the glory of the Lord.
He describes four living creatures, each with four faces and four wings. In the middle of these creatures , there was fire and lightening. Each of the four creatures had a wheel- a wheel within a wheel. When the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. The sound of the creatures’ wings was like thunder—the sound of a mighty army.
Above the creatures was a dome, shining like crystal. Above the dome, there was a sapphire-like throne. The Lord was there.
Ezekiel doesn’t say that he saw the Lord but that he saw the glory of the Lord (1:28)
It is no wonder that Ezekiel was reduced to using such odd images. How can you describe something when the person for whom you are describing them has no frame of reference for understanding your description? For example, how would you describe the colour blue to a blind person who has never seen colours? That’s the problem that Ezekiel is facing when he tries to describe the glory of God. He uses images of things that we have seen—living creatures faces, loins, legs, wings, wheels, fire. lightening—but I don’t think that is what he saw. He was just trying to describe something indescribable—the glory of God”.
Ezekiel had seen Babylonia surpassing and overcoming Egyptian power to become the dominant world after the Assyrian power had been wiped out. Nebuchadnezzar, under the reign of this powerful King had watched his vassal King Jehoiakim die by assassination, and seen his son Jehoiachin vacillating in his allegiance between Babylon and Egypt. After he reigned for only three months Nebuchadnezzar therefore took him into exile in Babylonia and placed Zedekiah on the throne to rule as a puppet king expecting him to carry out the will of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time Nebuchadnezzar took the most prominent citizens into exile in Babylonia and 1 Kings 24:13 reported that he carried away all the treasures of the Temple of Yahweh.
In 587 B.C. Zedekiah after 11 years of ruling rebelled and his rebellion lasted for two year and flopped. Nebuchadnezzar invaded, raised a siege, and after two years the food ran out and things got so bad the people resorted to cannibalism.
God therefore called Ezekiel to prophesy to the diaspora of the coming complete destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the nation of Judah.
He like the prophet Jeremiah was opposed by false prophets who denied this would happen. Chapter 2 tells us that the Spirit entered Ezekiel and enabled him to do the work God ws calling him to do.
Throughout the Book of Ezekiel God referred to Ezekiel using Jesus’ favourite title for Himself, namely, “the son of man”. So he was being warned he would face many challenges. Ezekiel tells us God warned in Chapter 2:3
“He said to me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me.
They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this day.
For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send you unto them, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD GOD.
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them”.
Let us note carefully the charge given to the prophet. It still is aimed at those chosen to proclaim the Word of God. The Apostle similarly warned and charged those appointed leaders in the Church. So note the words of God:
“And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious”.
This Book of Ezekiel and the charge to the prophet/priest has led to comparisons between how God called, charged, and what He expected from the ancient men of God as compared to what God expects from the modern men of God whom He has called to His work. Some commentators warn about what is happening in the modern Church:
“I think it could be said that romance had infiltrated the church. I’m not talking about the Romeo and Juliet kind, but I’m talking about the romance of a rose-tinted perception of what it is to serve Almighty God.
To serve God, for some, contains a false perception: they perhaps believe that to be a missionary is to go and serve the Lord in the sun, to be a pastor or preacher is to serve God in the limelight—it is to have a title; other fools even believe that it’s to be a respected person.
But Ezekiel’s call in the two chapters that we have just read shatters all possible false conceptions concerning what it is to serve the living and true God. Fundamentally, I believe that it shakes our motivations and the reasons why we serve God in the first place.
We must ask, what is the realistic expectation of what it is to serve God? What are we in the service of God for? How do we balance not expecting too much from ourselves with attempting great things for God, and expecting great things from God?
Is there a place in between where we can be satisfied that God is using us, and we have a holy discontent and thirst after God and holiness, yet at the same time we’re not a contractor of what some preachers call “Messiah complex”? In other words; we feel that we are God’s chosen one, that we believe that ‘God is going to use me to overthrow the world for Him’.
It surely must come down to what God first of all has called us to do, and secondly what then our goal should be. Our goal will be determined by what God has actually asked us to do.
If we don’t realise what He has asked us to do, our goal will be beyond what we can possibly reach!
We need to realise what the truth is about service, and what are the misconceptions that make men and women become shattered in the service of God”.
As we look at this ministry of Ezekiel it behoves us to examine ourselves and do not overreach in what we feel we are doing for God. This is very important for many leaders and members of the body of Christ are faced increasingly with doubts about what they are achieving for God. They get discouraged. They get burnout quite unnecessarily for we often make the mistake of not strictly keeping to the role the Spirit has assigned for us.
God therefore has left us examples of how He has assigned roles. He knows how and what of Himself He should reveals so that we can successfully do the work He wants us to do.
In this case God used the symbolic action of asking Ezekiel to eat a scroll which contained the Word of God. The written Word had to become the very life of the prophet. Eating the scroll signified Ezekiel had accepted the commission and so he would digest the words of God given to him, “assimilate it into his very being, and speak nothing else”. One writer Feinberg states:
“He who gives forth the Word of the Lord must feed on it himself”
We must point out with the greatest of emphasis that this instruction applies to all the saints, whether leaders in the church or not.
Remember all the true believers in Christ, men and women, are saints, priests of God and chosen to offer spiritual sacrifices.
We pray that we all will take our appointed roles seriously.
The second part of the Scripture Text will illustrate the serious nature of the commitment God expects from His people.
THE TEXT
Ezekiel 3
Verse 10. The prophet’s work began with receiving, receiving the Word of God and the instruction given to him.
This lesson is very important, as it highlight the fact that when we have work to do for God, before we move and act on or in our own wisdom, we must listen or receive the instructions of God so that His Will is carried out in the manner that He wishes.
So, patience and listening are two key aspects for us as Children of God to ensure that God’s will is carried out in His way.
We see a similar type of stance with Paul in Acs 20:27.
In the earlier chapters the prophet was instructed to have courage as the task that he must do will be very tough, because he goes to a people who will be against him, because he is acting out the wishes of their God, who the people of Israel do not wish to serve.
Words used to describe the children of Israel are “impudent”,”stubborn” and “hard-hearted”. Note these are the God’s chosen people, but they are a people who are in sin.
In listening to God, Ezekiel is being made fit for service by God. God is giving him all the tools necessary to achieve his appointed task.
This is what God does for those who serve Him. In dealing with those who are to serve Him, and then others who do not acknowledge God, the more impudent wicked people are in their opposition to religion, to God, the more openly and resolutely should God’s people appear in the practice and defence of it, or more aptly, defence of God.
God will always animate men for His work and give them strength according to the day.
All children of God are encouraged and commanded to have a good heart when it comes to doing the work of God. The reasoning is that you are a child of God, and you have today the Holy Spirit living in you, even though you may face challenging situations, you have God with you at all times giving you the strength to overcome anything.
Those that keep closely to the service of God may be sure of the favour of God, and then they need not be dismayed at the proud looks of men. Let not the angry countenance that drives away a back-biting tongue give any check to a reproving tongue. [Matthew Henry]
Verse 11. Upon receiving the word of God, the prophet is commanded to go to his people.
God did not want Ezekiel to think of himself as separate from his people, but since he served God, God was using him as a way to encourage his people. But even then, Ezekiel should have seen that God has put that trust in him.
As a Christian, even if some members of the church community are in error, it is taught here that it is our responsibility to remind them of God’s expectation and that He will also be faithful and just to forgive us and move forward with us to the Kingdom.
Ezekiel was expected to preach to Israel, or bring the Word of God to Israel.
God refers to them as those of the captivity, to perhaps remind them of the state of sin they are in and that God wishes them to repent to come out of that state, and serve God as they should.
Ezekiel, a child of God, who is not being disobedient, acts and follows the instruction of his God. He goes to tell Israel what the Lord has said, but also that the Lord has said it, meaning, he is not saying words that come from himself, and he is speaking in the Lord’s authority as he is speaking His words.
God says to us that when He gives us a job to do, we should do it. We do not have to worry about whether or not it will be successful, because that is not in our control, it is in God’s control.
We are to however, do what God expects of us. We should also not become indifferent, as faith is important. We should act as if what God wants us to do will be successful. That mindset is important to build our maturity, faith and trust in God.
The takeaway is this, according to how Ezekiel proceeded, was to leave the issue to God, deliver the message faithfully, tell them, The Lord God saith so and so, let them reject it at their peril. This is what Ezekiel understand was his task.
Ezekiel had to faithfully deliver this message no matter how it was received. His proclamation of it didn’t depend on their reception. Among all the prophets Ezekiel probably spoke in the most unusual and innovative ways, yet it was always to deliver God’s message. [Guzik]
Ezekiel 24
Verse 15. God was speaking to Ezekiel from Verse 1 of Chapter 24. He was delivering messages to Ezekiel about the situation of Israel, who they are and where they are in their relationship to their God. He wanted Ezekiel to understand how He sees them.
God has named Jerusalem as a bloody city on whom there is rust. There is blood-guiltness and so the rust and the mess in the cauldron by which name the city has been given there had to be destruction.
Jerusalem had shamelessly murdered her victims and did not even disguise or cover what was being done. God therefore had declared that He would make the pile of fuel on the city great. The destruction of the city would be complete. The remaining or residue of the “choice bones” (those in the elite and on the top) left in the city would be burned. As one writer:
“What is indicated here is the utter uselessness of the rusted cauldron; not even fire could burn the corrupted copper enough to cleanse it. In the analogy, the cauldron is the city of Jerusalem, the destruction of which is already under way, as this was written”.
Again, another message came to Ezekiel, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, something that had authority to deliver. This was now a second sign.
There was a certain expectation from God that Ezekiel would have to fulfill in terms of his duty to God.
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Verse 16 & 17. There are many lessons to learn from the life of Ezekiel, but here is probably one of the hardest lessons to learn as a Christian, but most likely one of the most important.
The sign by which Israel would be taught that their actions have led them to a place where God would punish them and that there would be no ease in their punishment, such that they should not even mourn at the losses they will suffer, is given in the sign of the prophet Ezekiel.
God gave Ezekiel notice that he would lose his wife and that it would be sudden. There was nothing that Ezekiel could do but to accept it. No exact cause is listed but the fact that God informed him of the loss before it happened is usual, and yet very important.
God says that He will take away from you the desire of your eyes, a clear reference knowing the life of Ezekiel, and that the desire of his eyes would refer to his wife. It also was saying that it shows the life Ezekiel led as a prophet still meant that he and his wife were able to cultivate a relationship that God would take notice of in a respectful manner.
Ezekiel did his job when God called him. Clearly his wife supported him, when God called.
We can also see from the language, that Ezekiel was a caring husband, passionate and compassionate. This all is seen by how he has dealt with Israel, with God and finally in this moment his wife.
Others have commented on what those soft words could have meant about Ezekiel’s and his wife’s relationship.
“Whether it refers to the beauty of her person or no, it certainly refers to the amiableness of her disposition, and the agreeableness of her to the prophet.” [Poole]
“In these verses we catch a glimpse of the inner Ezekiel which rarely appears through his apparently harsh and unyielding exterior. His austerity and rigid self-discipline, his passion for truth and for the honour of God’s holy name, very nearly conceal the tender heart that lies within.” [Taylor]
With one stroke: “With pestilence, palsy, or some similar sudden death. This was no small trial of the prophet’s patience and obedience. Let us learn to hang loose to all outward comforts.” [Trapp]
Looking at the upcoming verses, Wiersbe observed that in some way or another, the wife of a Biblical prophet was connected with their mission or message. This would become important for Israel very soon.
Abraham was a prophet (Genesis 20:7) who twice lied about his wife and got into trouble.
Moses was a prophet and was criticized for the wife he chose (Numbers 12:1).
The Prophet Jeremiah wasn’t allowed to have a wife (Jeremiah 16:1-4), and this was a sign to the Jews that judgment was coming, and it was not time for marrying.
Hosea’s wife became a prostitute and he had to buy her out of the slave market (Hosea 1-3). [Guzik]
Ezekiel was strangely forbidden to grieve or even weep over the loss of this wife. This was a strong command from God, that no visible signs of morning were permitted.
“In that we see the understanding heart of God. He knew the sorrow of His servant’s soul, both personal and public, and did not rebuke it. In days when public testimony demands that we rise superior to private sorrows, it is good to know that He understands the difficulty, and does not forbid the sigh.” [Morgan]
In verse 17 we see the expressions of sorrow noted in Leviticus 10:6 the leaving of headtire, Isaiah 20:2, the ‘bare feet’, in Leviticus 13:45; the covered lip, and in Deuteronomy 26:14 and Jeremiah 16:7-8 the meal in the house of mourning, the drinking and feasting with the company of those come to console for the loss of the loved one. There are other mourning practises Ezekiel was not to be involved in to demonstrate mourning.
Clearly the great tragedy of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the beloved Temple was not to bring out great demonstrations of mourning, grief and lamentation. Ezekiel was not supposed to weep publicly over the death of his beloved wife, and so neither should the people of Israel weep over the tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel therefore did as the Lord had commanded.
Verse 18. This verse lets us know that many times Ezekiel brought a message of repentance to Israel. Many times he spoke what God had told him to proclaim. All that was said was done in the morning. Then as mentioned, that by even, his wife was gone. All this Ezekiel knew but could do nothing about it. He could not even mourn.
Once morning came, he went about proclaiming the word of the Lord once again. However, overwhelming the feeling may have been to express that mourning openly or even in silence, Ezekiel was determined to honour God by obeying Him despite his feeling, especially in this particular situation. So note this comment:
“Obedience must be yielded to God even in the most difficult duties, and conjugal love must give place to our love to him.” [Trapp]
Even though this is connected to a larger theme, this strange incident teaches us many things about mourning and grief over the loss of a loved one.
But note it might also apply in our own national circumstances if God so commands.
- Such sudden and dear losses may happen to anyone, including great prophets and servants of God.
- This was unusual. We never read again in the Scriptures of such a loss of a dear one and such a commanded non-reaction. In its specifics, we should never regard this strange incident as a pattern of God’s work.
- Mourning and weeping over the loss of a loved one is so natural and to be expected that Ezekiel needed an express command from God not to do it.
- In obedience to God and under the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s people are not absolute slaves to their emotions. [Guzik]
Verse 19. When Ezekiel spoke with people and delivered the message given to him by the Lord God, it was clear that the death of his wife and his message to the people were connected.
They asked Ezekiel what this all means. The strange event had elicited the appropriate response from the people. This is what God wanted. This however was a very emotionally charged lesson that Ezekiel had to share with the people of Israel.
“By this time the captives were familiar enough with Ezekiel’s methodology to realize that the absence of emotion at the death of his beloved wife must have some prophetic meaning. They therefore asked the prophet to explain his conduct.” [Smith]
Verse 20. This tragic event and strange reaction had the appropriate divine response. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel had an answer to give to the people for their question, and so none of this was fate, chance or any other random occurrence.
Verse 21 – 23. As a husband finds a proper source of joy, confidence, and security in his relationship with his wife, yet we note Israel had an improper source of confidence and security in the Temple (it was called your arrogant boast).
They should have had that confidence in God.
We should do well in the lives we live today to make sure we do not follow in their steps, but do as Ezekiel did, obey God in the hardest of times. As Ezekiel’s wife suddenly died, so the sanctuary would suddenly and soon perish.
Both in exile and in the land, in Ezekiel’s day the people of Israel had an irrational and dangerous confidence in the mere existence of the temple. They thought, “This is God’s house. It is dear to Him and to us. He will never allow it to be conquered.” God shattered this mistaken confidence.
We note how God referred to the temple that had become an idol and false source of hope for Judah:
Your arrogant boast, thought to guarantee their security.
The desire of your eyes, that most precious to them.
The delight of your soul, that which delighted them most. [Guzik]
As mentioned, God was concerned with bringing Ezekiel out of this habit of serving idols. He was interested in teaching them to serve their one and true God.
There is a cost to sin and disobedience.
Israel was learning this in their current situation. Ezekiel’s message to the children of Israel from God was that those in captivity in Babylon who normally would still be in Jerusalem and Judah would have undergone judgment and would have lose their lives.
When their sons and daughters die, this tragedy hits all of Israel, the same emotion that Ezekiel had shown,
God says they will want to show the same emotion that they shall show. But for God they will not be able to please Him by mourning in any normal fashion due to their loved ones and the Temple’s falling.
Verses 24-25. God’s consistent purpose was to bring Israel to a point of repentance. It was to give them a certain revelation about God Himself through tragedy and crisis.
They will know in their time of grief that He was the LORD GOD.
God would take away their strength, the joy, their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the sons and daughters that they had made their most important things. God had done that same loss to the prophet to show them the pain they would feel.
God would not leave them alone or without hope, but they must understand what they have done in terms of their relationship to God. In their unexpressed sorrow, God would provide a revelation about Himself.
Verse 26. The people of Judah would then as they suffered understand the suffering of the prophet. He had suffered to show them what God intended to do to bring them to a realization of their iniquity.
Verse 27. The beginning of Ezekiel 24 marked the start of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem. The day would soon come when the Temple and all else that they held dear to them would be conquered and destroyed.
In that day the ministry of the prophet would change. When they saw this change it would be a sign that Jerusalem had fallen and God had taken away the desire of their eyes.
The prophet would now begin to speak of the future of the nation of Israel. Now the matter of their iniquity had been settled, the prophet would turn his attention to what God intended to do with the surrounding nations who like Israel had committed iniquity.
Thus the message of the prophet would show them that the LORD GOD was the Lord, and He reigned over all the earth.
Ezekiel’s message to them would not happen overnight, but it began to take shape over this new Kingdom that ruled over Israel.
Ezekiel’s message will become full and the prophecy will move into a hopeful tone. This will occur only when judgment is measured out in full, but then God will be free to act to bring about a new hope for Israel, repentance can now occur and the act of restoration will begin.
CONCLUSION
The question we now must face is, Will you eat the scroll?
Will you internalize the message of the Gospel?
Will the Gospel’s words be written in you?
Are you proclaiming something you do not really know and which has not changed you from the inside? Remember you cannot deliver properly the message you have not digested.
Do you feel miserable in your life and are feeling overburdened and anxious even when you are proclaiming the Gospel? One writer recommends the cure:
“This is what we need to do. Let me assure you that this will be your single greatest strength as you try to deliver the message.
If you believe it, if you live it, if your life is really modeled after following Jesus, then this message will be a part of you….
You need to know Jesus. You need to internalize the Gospel in your life. It needs to be real to you. It needs to change you. It needs to be central to your life…
Eating the scroll isn’t about going to more Bible Studies. It is about living the words of the Gospel”.
So we want you to think about it!
We encourage you to eat this strange message of judgment and forgiveness, of pain and hope.
It probably will be a terrible meal but if you ate it, it will be sweet like honey in your mouth. It really is pleasant for when you carry forth the message of the Gospel and it brings wholeness to others it will be sweet to your soul.
But we must warn you that it might be bitter sometimes when your offer of life is rejected. Ezekiel found that out.
But he remembered the vision of the mighty God in that chariot with the mighty creatures whose wings when they flew sounded like a mighty storm.
You know your task is not impossible. You know that the Holy Spirit is living in you. You should feel Him responding over and over again to your needs. As a child of God you should be counting your blessings and naming them one by one so that you will remember what the Lord has done and is doing in your life.
If you feel something is missing talk to the Spirit. Get help from the spiritually mature brethren around you. God will provide the help you need as you do not forsake the assembly of the spirit filled people God has provided for you.
Remember what Ezekiel told you in Ezekiel 36:26-27 about what would happen to you when you put your faith in Jesus. He stated God’s intention for you:
‘And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.
And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules”.
So know you are transformed. You have been made new. You have been changed from the inside out.
First digest the message. You have been given a message you have to deliver. Eat the scroll God has given you. Take it all in.