Ezekiel 1:3 The word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar… The prophet felt and knew that God was drawing near to him. This experience he could only express in language drawn from human relations. Spiritual realities were by him expressed in terms derived from the acts of bodily life. The "word" and the "hand" here spoken of are metaphorical, but they are strictly true; i.e. the just idea is, as far as may be by language and emblem, thus conveyed to our mind. If God reveal himself to man, it must be by means of the characteristics of man's spiritual nature; and such characteristics are pictured in the expressions here employed by Ezekiel. The "word" of the Lord means one thing, the "hand" another; yet the employment of both expressions is necessary in order to convey, with anything like completeness, the penetration of the prophet's nature by Divine truth, the commission of the prophet to undertake Divine service. I. THE QUICKENING AND ILLUMINATION OF THE MIND TO RECEIVE THE TRUTH. The word is the expression of the thought. The Divine word is the utterance of the Divine thought, and the Divine thought is truth. The expression here used implies a community of nature between man and God. God has thoughts and purposes which concern man's good; and man's highest well being is dependent upon the introduction of these into his spiritual nature. Man has not simply to hear and understand the word; it is for him to welcome and retain and ponder it, as a precious possession and a mighty power. The word of God, no doubt, came in a special sense to the prophets; there was a directness, an absence of any intermediary, in this communication. Through the prophet the word came to the people, to whom it might and did prove a word of enlightenment, of warning, of encouragement. That this might be so, the prophet's nature needed to be yielded up to the penetrating, purifying, illumining grace of God himself. II. THE SUBMISSION AND OBEDIENCE OF THE WILL PRACTICALLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE DIVINE AUTHORITY. The "hand of the Lord" is an expression frequently met with in the Scriptures. Nehemiah acknowledges the "good hand of God upon him." To interpret the expression, it must be remembered that the hand is the symbol of activity, of the practical nature, of direction, of control, of protecting power. Now, a man could not fulfil prophetic functions simply by hearing the word of the Lord; there was something for him to do. In truth, the relations between God and man are such that it is necessary that God should command, and that man should obey. And if this is true of men generally, it is manifestly true of those who were called to the prophetic office. They had need not simply of revelation, but of guidance, of authority exercised and conveyed. What is this but to say that they needed that the hand of the Lord should be upon them? It must be remembered that the Prophet Ezekiel discharged his ministry, both by the communication verbally of Divine messages, and by the performance of certain actions. Of these actions some were symbolical, and others were directly and obviously instructive and directive. Thus the prophet needed, not merely the word of the Lord to enter his mind, but the hand of the Lord to control and govern his conduct. APPLICATION. True religion is twofold. It enjoins upon us (1) the reception of Divine truth, as graciously revealed in various ways to the human intelligence; and (2) the subjection to Divine authority, as exercised with wisdom and compassion by him whose omnipotent hand can both point out the path of duty and service, and can clear away every obstacle which might prevent that path being pursued. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. |
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