Tongue Tied

One Year Bible: November 2

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14

Tongue Tied

The young prophet, Ezekiel, is spiritually and physically “Tongue-Tied”.

He has seen a vision beyond his comprehension and is now being given “AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSION” to accomplish on behalf of an “IMPOSSIBLE PEOPLE”.

Perhaps, now we know why he has also been given a VISION of a God that is ABOVE the IMPOSSIBLE.

Before his vision, God met with Ezekiel once more, “Then the LORD took hold of me and said, ‘Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there’. So I got up and went, and there I saw the GLORY OF the LORD, JUST AS I HAD SEEN IN MY FIRST VISION by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground.” (3: 22)

This vision is so IMPORTANT that God gives Ezekiel a replay… Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the original vision.

What did these FOUR-FACED-FOUR WINGED living beings that were like bright coals of fire and brilliant torches darting like lightning reveal to Ezekiel? And… what about the WHEEL?

The rabbis give us some insight into the four images of these celestial beings as they were important in the travels of Israel through the wilderness.

The people of Israel, it seems, were divided into FOUR GROUPS with THREE TRIBES in each group. When they camped they camp to the north, south, east, and west of the TABERNACLE in groups of three.

The group that led the EAST was Judah and its emblem was a LION. To the SOUTH was Ephraim and its emblem was the face of a MAN. To the NORTH was Dan, and its symbol was an EAGLE. To the WEST was Ruben and its symbol was an OX.

I am convinced that we miss a lot of the hidden messages of the Bible because we do not know or understand Jewish history. The people of that time understood a lot more of the messages that God was delivering, especially Ezekiel, who was a priest, prophet, and student of the scroll of God’s Word.

The God who led HIS chosen people out of CAPTIVITY from Egypt is the very same God who sent this very message through his celestial being!

He Was. He Is. He will forever be FAITHFUL… even in this destruction and deportation.

Not only are the four images symbolic but they carry meaning as well…The LION speaks of AUTHORITY. The OX speaks of HUMILITY. The EAGLE speaks of POWER. As it soars higher than any living creature. The MAN speaks of HUMANITY.

Ezekiel saw the signs of judgment in the WHIRLWIND and GOD’S POWER in the WHEEL, and he caught a glimpse of the God WHO WAS... WHO IS… and WHO WILL FOREVER BE…

He not only caught a GLIMPSE OF JUDGEMENT but also of DELIVERANCE and GLORY beyond time and space… He would need to hold onto this vision and perhaps that is why God let him enjoy the reprise.

Now, begins Ezekiel’s descent into “hell on earth”...He will be a “walking billboard” for God. It is interesting that God calls him the “son of man”. Have you heard that title before?

First, Ezekiel is to go into his house and be shut in there and tied with ropes so that he cannot go out among the people. “His tongue will stick to the roof of his mouth” and won’t let him speak. God will only loosen his tongue when he is to speak for him. His message is to be, “Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels.” (3:27)

Next, he is to take a large clay brick and set it in front of him showing a map of the city showing the city under siege. He is to lie on his left side and place the sins of Israel on himself for 390 days. After that, he is to lie on his right side for 40 days, one day for each of Judah’s sins. (4:4-6)

God instructs him how to stay alive with a minimum of food and water and that involves defiling himself with food cooked over human dung. So, Ezekiel speaks up that he has never defiled himself and God allows him to cook over cow dung instead.

Next, he calls him “son of man” again and asks him to “shave his head and hair and scatter them” which is a sign of extreme mourning…Ezekiel was to be turned into a “Ruin, Mockery, Taunting, and Horror”, in the eyes of all who pass by.

Perhaps, now we know better why he saw the heavenly vision twice… He saw the same four cherubims with four faces that were at the garden of Eden in Gen. 3:24, and who appear at the throne of God in Rev. 4: 6-8… a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.

The suffering of this “son of man” will point us to the greater “Son Of Man”. The majesty of the vision and his calling left him “Tongue Tied”...

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep, before its SHEARERS is silent, so HE DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.” (Isaiah 53:7)