Ezekiel 21:18-32; 24; 3:22-5:17
But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 3:24-27
At this point in our reading, I’m guessing we’ve all gotten the gist of what Ezekiel is saying: the call to repentance, the condemnation of the abominable practices of Judah, the proclamation of Jerusalem’s impending destruction as a just consequence of Judah’s continued rebellion, etc. So let’s take a moment to look at how the LORD has him say it. Ezekiel does not go into the public square, stand on a soapbox, and loudly proclaim the LORD’s message like some other prophets (e.g., Jeremiah in the Temple courts). Instead, the LORD has Ezekiel shut himself up in his house, restricts his movements, and makes him mute — except when the LORD specifically tells him to speak. (See also Ez. 24:27; 33:22.)
(Regarding Ez. 3:25, the ESV has the verbs in the passive voice — cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound — but other translations like the NKJV use the active voice — they will put ropes on you and bind you. I read neither Hebrew nor Greek, so I cannot judge which translation is more accurate, but it seems to me that the context would suggest that it is really the LORD — not “they” — binding Ezekiel and keeping him in his house, and so I lean toward the ESV’s rendition. Of course, if the LORD doesn’t restrict him supernaturally, the people very likely would restrain him physically anyway, as that is exactly how they treat Jeremiah, so perhaps it makes little difference…)
So the LORD makes Ezekiel mute, unable to speak except at the LORD’s direct command. Meanwhile the LORD gives Ezekiel instructions for conveying the message visually. For example, in Ezekiel 4, the LORD tells Ezekiel to set up a model of Jerusalem under siege to graphically illustrate the war back home, and He tells Ezekiel to lie down next to it — on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 days — with a severely restricted and disgustingly prepared diet. (This is not a quick and easy little project!) In Ezekiel 5, the LORD gives Ezekiel a haircut and a shave, using his hair to illustrate the fates awaiting the people of Judah: pestilence and famine, the sword, exile.
What are we to make of Ezekiel’s muteness and these dramatic actions? Why not just speak plainly? Well, we have the answer in Ez. 3:27 above: his audience is a rebellious house. Anyone who is actually willing to get the message will get the message, but those who refuse will not. He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
This is all very much like Jesus’ use of parables. When His disciples ask Him why He speaks in parables, Jesus responds like this:
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
Matthew 13:11-13
Jesus then goes on to quote Isaiah 6:9-10.
It seems to me that this is something many evangelicals have a hard time accepting. Surely God wants His Truth to be as plain as day to everyone all the time! Surely we should shout His Good News from the rooftops and force Jesus into every conversation with every stranger we meet! Surely it is our duty to lay out the Gospel as clearly as possible, even to those who show no interest! Anything else means we’re not fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. Sound familiar?
Yet that is not how God acts through Ezekiel. Neither is it how Jesus acts, speaking in parables one day, and standing silent before His accusers the next. Yes, we need to be faithful to convey God’s Gospel Truth, but sometimes that means we need to keep our mouths shut.