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Ezekiel, part 10, The Watchman's Calling

Ezekiel 3:12-15 says,

¹² 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 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. ¹⁵ 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.

Ezekiel 3:12–15 describes the prophet’s transition from the vision of God’s throne to his place among the exiles. He is transported supernaturally by the Spirit, deeply affected by the revelation and the difficult commission he has received.

The Spirit Lifts Him

Ezekiel says that the Spirit lifted him, and he heard behind him a great rumbling sound that said, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place.” This blessing directs attention back to the glory revealed in chapter 1. Although Ezekiel must now face a rebellious audience, the authority and majesty of the One who sends him remain supreme.

The text does not identify the speaker of this blessing. It presents the proclamation amid the tremendous sounds accompanying the throne vision. Ezekiel hears the wings of the living creatures touching one another and the wheels beside them, together producing a great rumbling.

The overwhelming sound also reinforces the weight of the encounter. Ezekiel is being sent with more than a private opinion: he has received a commission from the Lord whose glory he has witnessed.

Bitterness

Ezekiel describes his inward condition: “I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.” This contrasts strikingly with the sweetness of the scroll in verse 3. Receiving God’s word was sweet, but bearing the commission brings intense distress.

The Hebrew expressions convey bitterness and heat of spirit. Ezekiel does not explicitly identify the object of his anger. His response may include indignation at Israel’s rebellion, anguish over the judgments ahead, and the personal strain of his calling. What is clear is that the divine commission deeply disturbs him. Knowing that God’s word is true does not make its painful implications easy to bear.

The strong hand of the Lord signifies God’s powerful hold upon him. His ministry will proceed under divine authority even while his emotions struggle with its burden. The passage allows us to see a faithful prophet as a real person, profoundly affected by what he must announce.

Sitting Among the Exiles

Ezekiel comes to the exiles at Tel-abib beside the river Chebar and sits among them for seven days, overwhelmed. Daniel likewise experienced astonishment and physical weakness after receiving visions. The closest parallel is Daniel 8:27:

²⁷ Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days.… but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it.

Other examples include Daniel 7:15, 28, where the visions alarmed him, and his face grew pale. In Daniel 10:8–9 his strength left him, and he fell into a deep sleep with his face to the ground. In Daniel 10:15–17 he became speechless and described anguish, loss of strength, and difficulty breathing.

Like Ezekiel sitting overwhelmed for seven days, Daniel needed time—and, in Daniel 10, heavenly strengthening—to bear the impact of revelation. These encounters affected the prophets emotionally and physically.

In Revelation 1:17, John saw the glorified Christ and wrote: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.”

I recall also a three-day personal experience in 1986 in which I was “astonished” and could hardly function. I was not transported anywhere, of course, but during that time, it was as if I had abnormal access to any knowledge that I needed at the moment. Yet it was anything but an enjoyable experience, for I felt like I was one of the walking dead. I realized later that my “old man” of flesh was actually dead (at least temporarily), allowing the “new man” in my spirit to come forth in a greater way.

Nonetheless, I was not ready for such an experience and could not endure it for long. After three days of this, I begged God to lift this from me, and He did so. The result was that soon afterward I entered into my second “Cursed Time” cycle (3 x 414 days). It was necessary for me to endure some difficult years before I was ready to enter my calling.

The point is that through this experience, I came to understand a bit of the nature of Ezekiel’s astonishment and his inability to function normally for seven days.

Recovery Time

Ezekiel 3:16 says,

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying…

This marks the end of Ezekiel’s interval, as God gave him time to recover. The seven days therefore form a period of preparation between receiving the commission and hearing its solemn responsibilities explained. Meanwhile, it appears that his sudden appearance caused “consternation among them.” The prophet was unable to tell them how he had been transported by the Spirit, and the exiles had no explanation for his unexpected presence.

We are not told where Ezekiel had been taken from, but we know where he was taken to. Was he transported from Jerusalem, or had he already been among the exiles taken earlier? In Ezekiel 1:1 we read that the prophet received the vision of God’s glory while he was beside the river Chebar. But it is apparent that he was not at the river Chebar when he was transported supernaturally in Ezekiel 3:14.

I suspect that 3:14 is like a flashback, telling us how the prophet had arrived at the Chebar, where he saw the vision and received his commission.

The Watchman’s Function

God speaks again and appoints him as a watchman in Ezekiel 3:17,

¹⁷ Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman in the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.

Ezekiel 3:17 appoints the prophet as a watchman and defines his responsibility. He must hear God’s word and faithfully warn the people on God’s behalf. God explains the responsibility attached to the commission.

A watchman’s job was to stand where he could observe approaching danger and alert those within a city. His warning gave others the opportunity to prepare or seek safety. Ezekiel received a corresponding spiritual responsibility. He was to recognize and announce the danger disclosed by God. In this setting, the danger includes the judgment coming upon Jerusalem and the consequences of continuing in rebellion.

Note that these “exiles” were those who were deported with Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. Ezekiel 1:2 dates the “glory” revelation “in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile,” that is, 592 B.C. This was six years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C. Judgment came in stages, each occasioned by a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. Perhaps Ezekiel’s immediate calling was to warn the people to repent to prevent the looming destruction of Jerusalem.

We know that God was yet to give the people in Jerusalem one final opportunity to repent. This is evident from Jeremiah 34:8-22.

The 35^th year of the 17^th Jubilee cycle since the Jordan crossing was 598-588 B.C. This was the fifth Sabbath rest year of the 17^th Jubilee cycle—the last Sabbath year before the destruction of Jerusalem. King Zedekiah, who had replaced Jehoiachin, responded to the word of the Lord through Jeremiah, making a covenant to release their Hebrew slaves, in accordance with the law requiring release after six years of service (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12). But afterward, they took back those they had freed and enslaved them again (Jeremiah 34:11, 16).

God acknowledged their initial obedience. Jeremiah 34:15 says,

¹⁵ … You had turned today and had done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor…

Their reversal, however, proved that they were incapable of keeping even a single rest year as the law commanded. Hence, they unleashed divine judgment, bringing a corresponding sentence: because they refused to proclaim liberty, God would proclaim “release” for them to sword, pestilence, and famine (verse 17). He would bring the Babylonian army back to destroy Jerusalem (verses 21–22).

So history tells us that after a three-year siege of Jerusalem, the city fell to the Babylonian army, and both the city and Solomon’s temple were destroyed. We see, then, that Ezekiel’s commission as a watchman (593-592 B.C.) was designed, in part, to give these exiles of Judah the opportunity to repent on behalf of their brethren in Jerusalem. It seems that neither group repented, and so the city was completely destroyed.

Ezekiel’s assignment was to “the house of Israel.” Although his immediate audience consists of exiles from Judah, God addresses the Israelites and Judahites as a unit, foreshadowing their unification under Christ’s rule at the end of the age. Although both nations were under divine judgment, all remain accountable to Him even while in exile.