At the sight of Jesus, he had fallen face down, and would have remained like that, except as the Lord began to give a message to Ezekiel, God filled him with the Holy Spirit and "moved him" to stand up.
Ezekiel probably still couldn't bring himself to look at the Lord, as it says in verse 2, "and I HEARD Him..."...
Ezekiel 2:1-7) Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” 2 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. 7 But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.
Ezekiel finally dared to look enough to see the the hand of Jesus giving him as scroll. We know Ezekiel was seeing portions of Jesus from verse 10...
(Ezekiel 2:8-10) “Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” 9 Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. 10 When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.
The eating of the scroll (God's words) would have been something like the filling of the Holy Spirit and God guiding and giving Ezekiel the words to say...
(Ezekiel 3:1-4) Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them..."
Jesus explains to Ezekiel that the Holy Spirit would also keep him strong while he was doing this difficult task of speaking to the rebellious Israelites who would not want to listen...
(Ezekiel 3:5-11) “...For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, 6 nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; 7 yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. 11 Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’”
After Jesus has spoken, the Holy Spirit lifted Ezekiel. Maybe Ezekiel slumped to the floor at the thought of the difficult task. Maybe this was why the Lord had to remind Ezekiel not to be afraid or dismayed. And / OR - the Holy Spirit then lifted Ezekiel to take him elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the angels around the throne got excited and praised God, very loudly. This should have been like a pep rally, cheering for God and cheering on Ezekiel...
(Ezekiel 3:12-14) Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place.” 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
This should have psyched Ezekiel up to say, "Yeah, let's do this!!!" But.Ezekiel was embittered and angry.
We never heard Jesus tell him to sit there and wait; so Ezekiel now got a very stern reprimand with consequences attached. And the Lord was very clear that WHENEVER Ezekiel got a message from Him, he needed to act on that. And no matter what the message was, Ezekiel needed to pass that message along - or the consequences of the people's sins would be on him.
The alternative was much simpler. Obey God and not suffer the consequences...
(Ezekiel 3:15-21) Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
NOTE: for the message just above this - it is not talking about a righteous person losing their salvation, otherwise the message for the wicked and the righteous would have been the same. In this case, the righteous who were acting wickedly would lose their heavenly rewards for their good deeds they had done. In other words, as they are acting wickedly, the good deeds that they are doing in the meantime would not have been done with pure motives.
The Holy Spirit once again guided and empowered Ezekiel in order to get the task done...
(Ezekiel 3:22-27) The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house..."
From this we see:
- the cherubim speak, and praise God
- the cherubim wings moving while touching other angels' wings creates a loud rumbling sound
- the cherubim's wheels can create a loud rumbling sound
Personal experience: in my lifetime, I have tried doing a few things my way, or the world's way, but whenever I do things God's way - it might not be "simple" to do and it might seem uncomfortable at first - but it always works out! It is always the best way! And there is peace in those decisions!
After doing something God's way, I have never regretted those actions. I have never said, "Huh, maybe I should have tried doing things my way." Now, when I've tried doing things my way, I HAVE regretted THOSE actions and have said, "WHY didn't I do that God's way?"!!!
Today's takeaway: another advantage to doing things God's way, is that when we ask, God will empower us. What's that line? "If God leads you to it, He will get you through it." A little cheesy, but very and oh-so true!...
(James 1:5-8) ...if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
(Romans 8:26-28) In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(1 Peter 4:10-11) As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(Isaiah 40:28-31) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
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