EZEKIEL'S CALL AND COMMISSION (Chapters 2-4) (2026)
EZEKIEL’S CALL AND COMMISSION
(Chapters 2-4)
Jesus Christ in the Book of Ezekiel
February 19, 2001; February 9, 2026
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Ezekiel 1:24: This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.”
Ezekiel does not claim to have seen God directly. The Glory of the Lord is his presence or Shekinah.
Ez. 2:1-2: He said unto me, Son of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak unto you. And the spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me and set me upon my feet that I heard him that spoke to me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel.
“This is the regular form of God’s address to Ezekiel. Perhaps emphasizing the prophet’s creaturely weakness by contrast with the divine glory. The Spirit came into me: Practically synonymous with the “Hand of the Lord is upon Me”. The consequent divine empowerment is shown in that the Spirit as he says, “raised me to my feet”: He had naturally fallen prostrate before the vision of the glory of God, but when a man who has thus humbled himself is raised to his feet by God, he can stand foursquare in the face of every adverse wind that blows.” F.F.B.
In this and the next chapter we see the call and commission of the prophet. Ezekiel is warned at the outset that he is being called to a life of hardship and persecution. His message is delivered to him from God in the form of a book, which he is commanded to eat, as was John. (Rev. 10:9). In chapter 3, 17-21, God seemed to lay upon Ezekiel responsibility for the doom of his nation, which he could escape only by a faithful declaration of God’s message. He is also warned that God would at times impose silence upon him, this being a caution to Ezekiel to speak, not his own ideas, (or can we say opinions) but only as God commanded.
2:1-7: God prepares a {rp[het:
1. A Swwer = “I send thee.”
2. A Sign – “eat the roll.”
3. A spokesman – “speak my words.”
Let your “yea” be “yea” and your “nay” be “nay”.
Bro. Bill Britton notes a four-fold progression in the calling of the prophet:
1. God gives His Word to His man.
2. The Spirit of God enters into His man.
3. God’s stands his man up by the Holy Spirit.
4. God’s man hears the call and commission.
In These two chapters, Ezekiel received a five-fold commission:
1 As a Prophet: 2: 1-10: And he said unto me, son of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak unto you. And the spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spoke unto me. And he said unto me, son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me: ‘they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send thee unto them; and you shall 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 has been a prophet among them. And you son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and you do dwell among scorpions be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious. But you son of man, hear what I say unto you; Be not you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth and eat that I give to you. And when I looked, behold, and hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein.
2. As a Fearless Denunciator: 3: 1-9
3. As God’s mouthpiece to the Exiles.
4. As a Watchman.
5. As a Faithful Herald.
As a necessary preparation, the prophet of the Lord:
1. Must be made weak in his own strength before he can become strong in God’s strength.
2. Must lie prostrate before God before he can stand before God.
3. Must be emptied of self before he can be enabled by God.
4. Must place worship before service.
5. Must learn that abasement of self precedes the exaltation of God.
Ezekiel is informed of the hostility and rebelliousness of his hearers in 2: 3-6; that he will not be recognized as a prophet until after his mission is completed in verse 5; that as a prophet he must endure the sufferings of a people’s attitude in verse 7. The prophet himself must respond to God irrespective of the implications (2: 8- 3:3).
The fear of man brings a snare (Prov. 29:25), but the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (Pro. 1:7).
And however obstinate and stubborn they might be in the face of Ezekiel’s warnings, the event would prove to them, even against their will, that in him they had a prophet among them. Briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions: a metaphorical description of his uncomfortable situation as he prophesied to people who would prefer not to hear him.
George H. Warnock says that a true prophet of God will never be recognized by man until after his/her death.
2:9-3:1: …And a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou find; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
The mournful burden of his message is depicted as the text of a scroll which he must digest before communicating it to others. On both sides of it were written words…like the scroll of Rev. 5:1. Scrolls normally had writing on the inside only, but here the contents overflow on to the other side: no room is left for human additions to the divine judgment.
The prophet had been commanded to eat the book, or to receive God Word into his heart. After eating the roll, the prophet was equipped and then warned about the difficulties awaiting him. After this he was lifted up by the Spirit and heard a great praise to God and a fresh awareness of the vision of His Glory. In bitterness and heat of Spirit, Ezekiel came to the midst of the captives, where he sat astonished seven days. The Word of the Lord came again revealing his responsibilities as a watchman, and then he received a double charge, the first of which was silence, then speech.
Some of the principles of qualifications for Prophetic Ministry:
1. 2:8-10: The prophet participates in the sufferings of his people.
2. 3: 1-3: The prophet must feed on his own message, eating what he gives to others.
3. 3:4: The prophet speaks with God’s words, not with his own.
4. 3: 8-9: The prophet receives the fortitude to withstand all kinds of hostile opposition.
5. 3:14: The prophet has God’s hand upon him, and woe to that man who lays a hostile hand upon God’s messenger. (1 Chr. 16; 22).
6. 3:15 – The prophet sits where they sit, on the level of the people.
7. 3:16 – The prophet’s ministry begins not with speech, but in silence.
Ezekiel was responsible before God to declare His words whether His words are accepted or rejected (3: 17-21). His real difficulty would not be intellectual incapacity, but unresponsiveness of heart on the part of his hearers.
3: 5-7: For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have hearkened unto you. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard hearted.
Yet the prophet must remain undismayed by the people’s looks, the mirror of their attitude, while reassured by God’s provision and faithfulness. (3: 8-9) Ezekiel’s dumbness was a rebuke to the people’s rebellious attitude and rejection of God’s words. (3:22-27) The prophet of God must be aware of the implicit obedience to God which he must render (3: 22-23); the isolation from people which he may have to endure (3:24) and the limitations which may be imposed upon his movements (3:25).
3: 8-9: Behold I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have, I made your forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
The Lord gave this same assurance to Jeremiah and this same language is used in the Servant Song of Isa. 50 which prophesies the ministry of Jesus Christ.
19-21: Yet if you warn the wicked; and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way; he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and omit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness when he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood shall I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man that the righteous sin not, he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also, you have delivered your soul. And the hand of the Lord was there upon me.
3:17: Son of man, I have you a watchman unto the house of Israel:
Watchman: the sentinel who fails to give warning of approaching danger is personally responsible for the ensuring disaster, but if he gives due warning, his hearers bear the responsibility themselves, if they fail to pay heed to him.
The watchman, on the wall of the city, or in the tower, or the vineyard, watched for danger; of the later, he watched for:
1. Locusts – they sounded like rain and were beautiful to behold in the light; it may sound and look like God, but it could be devastating.
2. Beasts – the little foxes that spoil the vines.
3. Thieves – Those who try to climb in dishonestly.
4. Neglect – Because of being at least in Zion.
Ezekiel was called to be a watchman, not a watchdog. The primary focus of the watchman is that he watches for the Day and not the night, for the light and not the darkness. Too many angry brethren are self-appointed “watchmen” or perceived “policemen”. (The church is a City Matt. 5:14 and a vineyard (Isa. 5: 1-2).
The cost to the prophet’s person was great. He was made dumb and could not speak. He could speak only when He received the Word of the Lord.
3:22-27: The Hand of the Lord came upon me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.” So, I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar, and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet, and spoke with me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them. I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke 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 hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”
Ezekiel chapter 4:
Chapters 1- 24 covers the period from Ezekiel’s call (592 B.C.) to the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem (588-596 B.C.). His theme is the impending judgment and the destruction of the city and the sanctuary.
Four symbolic acts portray the desolation. Then direct prophetic discourse is employed Chapters 4-7.
1. 4: 1-3 – The Sign of the tile: Son of man, take a tile, and lay it before you, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. Take an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged. You shall lay siege against it. this shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Ezekiel draws a plan of Jerusalem on a tile and surrounds it with imitation ramparts, entrenchments, and other apparatus of a siege. He himself acts as the besieger. The iron pan represents an iron curtain cutting off the city. The sign to the house of Israel is to warn the exiles not to place their hopes in the survival of Jerusalem (Jer. 29). It showed the Lord would fight against the city and not for it.
2. 4: 4-8 – The Sign of the prophet’s Position: Behold, I will lay bands upon you, and you shall not turn from one side to another, until you have ended the days of your siege. Ezekiel is not only to play the part of besieger; he is to bear the punishment of the northern and southern kingdoms successively by lying beside the miniature Jerusalem for many days on his left side and then for a shorter period on his right. (Left and right in Hebrew usage correspond to north and south respectively.)
3. 4: 9-17 – The Sign of the Polluted Bread: Also take wheat, barley, beans, millet, and fitches. Put them in one vessel, and make bread according to the number of the days you shall lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days shall you eat the bread. Your meat shall be weighed, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin, from time to time you shall drink. You shall eat it as barley cakes and shall bake it with dung that comes out of a man in their sight. Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles where I will drive them.
Jerusalem would be ravaged by a terrible famine (5:16). The hunger and cannibalism (5:10) which would accompany the siege are vividly acted out. There is no absolute answer to the 390 days and the 40 days. There are extensive suggestions and if you are interested, I can give it to you. However, I did not find anything in the numerology that I felt was relevant to the church today.
Bro. Britton shares about the principle of the “iron pan.” (4:3)
“And so, he says to Ezekiel, I want you to get a Battering Ram. I have some walls to batter down… I became intimately connected with battering rams…in1955, when during a convention…apostle of God laid his hand on me, and he began to prophesy…Son, I’m going to make a battering ram out of you. You’re going to batter down walls. Now a battering ram is not an ornament in a city…it’s not something pretty that people admire…There’s only one purpose for a battering ram, that is to knock some holes in some walls…inside the city of Jerusalem, inside the church, inside the Body of Christ, the end-time people of God, there are walls that have to come down! You are besieged by the Word of God…There is a wall between the Word and the people of God that has gotten as hard as iron…we can’t see or hear the Word or God. We set up a rejection mechanism against it…people build up a wall between them and any new revelation that might come…Jesus busted every tradition the Pharisees had…I know what it is to run up against and iron wall when you are delivering a new Word of God…these evil stories are walls that people build up to keep the Word of God from reaching them…Ezekiel, get your battering rams ready. Here’s one over here…Kelley Varner…here is a Battering ram…. It’s about worn out…I’d like to see some of the holes in those walls that this one did…and you can see them. God is picking up battering rams. He’s choosing. He’s calling men of God to be battering rams…I’m talking about the Kingdom people, brother. That’s where I get my rejection. That’s where the Word of God is being reject…every time I print a new word that breaks down some of their traditions, you should see my mail…God says, ‘Take the Battering Ram and go to work against my City…” (B.B.)
Bro. Britton feels that the walls between the saints can be cured by persecution. He also mentioned the wall of “Somebody hurt me!” The wall of bitterness.
The mixture of polluted bread its strange smell speaks of the traditions of men (Mark 7:13) cooked to order with dung! (Phil. 3: 1-14). These are the result of idolatry in the City. Strange smell= strange fire!
Another important principle is that the prophet symbolically bore the iniquity of the people of God, and, as such, typified the Lord Jesus. This also points to the principle of crucifixion, or the creator suffering for the creation. This could also apply for parents suffering behalf of their children or pastors suffering on behalf of their people. This is the principle of the just suffering for the unjust (1 Pet. 3:18).
Thus, is seen the certainty of the siege of Jerusalem to the astonishment of the population in spite of Zedekiah’s alliance with Egypt. The signs of chapters 4-5 belonged to the period of Ezekiel’s silence and were deemed more eloquent than words.
We will start with Chapter 5 next week and try to get through Chapter 11.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane Richmond, TX www.eastgateministries.com
Scripture from K.J.V. and N.K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary, Bill Britton, and Kelly Varner, Principles of Present Truth from Ezekiel.