# Ezekiel 03 📖: The Scroll and the Watchman [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Ezekiel Overview]] | [[Ezekiel 02]] | [[Ezekiel 04]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) [[#Verse 01.]] He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” [[#Verse 02.]] So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. [[#Verse 03.]] He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, and it was sweet like honey in my mouth. [[#Verse 04.]] He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. [[#Verse 05.]] For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel— [[#Verse 06.]] not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! [[#Verse 07.]] But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted. [[#Verse 08.]] “I have made your face adamant to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. [[#Verse 09.]] I have made your forehead harder than flint—like diamond! Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house.” [[#Verse 10.]] And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully. [[#Verse 11.]] Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.” [[#Verse 12.]] Then a wind lifted me up and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, [[#Verse 13.]] and the sound of the living beings’ wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound. [[#Verse 14.]] A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully on me. [[#Verse 15.]] I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, who lived by the Kebar River. I sat dumbfounded among them there, where they were living, for seven days. [[#Verse 16.]] At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: [[#Verse 17.]] “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. [[#Verse 18.]] When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. [[#Verse 19.]] But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life. [[#Verse 20.]] “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. [[#Verse 21.]] However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.” [[#Verse 22.]] The hand of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley, and I will speak with you there.” [[#Verse 23.]] So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I threw myself face down. [[#Verse 24.]] Then a wind came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. [[#Verse 25.]] As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. [[#Verse 26.]] I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. [[#Verse 27.]] But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, for they are a rebellious house. [[#Verse 27.]] But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse—for they are a rebellious house. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary **Verse 1-3**. - Parallel to the Book of Revelation. An angel asked John to eat a scroll. ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. John is also told to eat a scroll in Revelation 10:9-10. It is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. 2. Psalm 119:103 also describes God's words as sweeter than honey. 3. God makes Ezekiel's face "hard" (3:8) using the same Hebrew root found in Ezekiel's name, "God strengthens." 4. Tel Abib (3:15), where the exiles lived, is likely from an Akkadian phrase meaning "mound of the flood," an old ruin mound. 5. The modern city of Tel Aviv took its name from this verse. 6. Ezekiel sat among the exiles overwhelmed for seven days (3:15), the traditional length of a period of mourning. 7. A watchman stood on a city wall to warn of approaching danger. The same watchman charge is repeated in Ezekiel 33. 8. Ezekiel went in bitterness and the heat of his spirit, but the hand of the Lord was strong on him (3:14). 9. God made Ezekiel unable to speak except when God gave him a message (3:26-27). 10. Ezekiel's muteness ended the evening before news arrived that Jerusalem had fallen (33:21-22). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the faithful Watchman who warns and saves. Ezekiel was appointed to warn the wicked to turn from their ways (3:17-19), and Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Ezekiel had to take in God's word before he could speak it (3:1-3). How does what we take in from Scripture shape what we pass on to others? 2. God made Ezekiel's forehead harder than flint to match the people's stubbornness (3:8-9). How does God prepare us for the specific places He sends us? 3. A watchman who stays silent shares responsibility (3:17-19). Who has God placed in your life that needs a loving warning or word of hope? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 3: Ezekiel eats the scroll, and it tastes as sweet as honey. - 📖 verse 9: God makes Ezekiel's forehead harder than flint so he will not be afraid. - 📖 verse 17: God appoints Ezekiel as a watchman for the house of Israel. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 - 🔗 - 🔗 [[Revelation 10#Verse 09.|Revelation 10:9-10]] - John eats the little scroll. - 🔗 [[Psalm 119#Verse 103.|Psalm 119:103]] - Your words are sweeter than honey. - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 15#Verse 16.|Jeremiah 15:16]] - Your words were found, and I ate them. - 🔗 [[Ezekiel 33#Verse 07.|Ezekiel 33:7-9]] - The watchman's charge repeated. - 🔗 [[Luke 19#Verse 10.|Luke 19:10]] - The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Ezekiel 03 - SOAP|God Will Give You What You Need]] ## 📂 Internal Notes