Ezekiel 3 · The Lantern

Moreover he saide vnto me, Sonne of man, eate that thou findest: eate this roule, and goe, and speake vnto the house of Israel.

So I opened my mouth, and he gaue mee this roule to eate.

And he said vnto me, Sonne of man, cause thy belly to eate, and fill thy bowels with this roule that I giue thee. Then did I eate it, and it was in my mouth as sweete as honie.

(Verse 3.) Your stomach will eat; and your bowels will be filled with that volume which I give to you. LXX: Your mouth will eat, and your stomach will be filled with that chapter given to you. The beginning of the reading, and of a simple story, is the essence of this volume.

Honey can be understood as the explicit teaching of wisdom, whereas the comb can represent that known to be stored in the depth, as it were, of the cells. Undoubtedly both are found in the divine Scriptures. They added "to my mouth," for they were indeed proclaiming with their mouths the wisdom that they had swallowed with their throats.

Let us consider, my dearest brothers, how gracious is that promise by which it is said: "Your belly shall eat, and your bowels shall be filled with this scroll which I give you." For many read, and from that very reading they remain hungry. Many hear the voice of preaching, but after the voice they depart empty.

And he said vnto me, Sonne of man, goe, and enter into the house of Israel, and declare them my wordes.

(Verse 5, 6.) For you are not being sent to the people of deep and difficult language, to the house of Israel, nor to many people of unknown language, whose language you cannot understand. And if I were to send you to them, they would listen to you. Because they do not want to come to you, you go to them.

Here he clearly shows the distinction between apostolic and prophetic labors. Prophets have committed to them the responsibility of only one race, from which they were to have arisen and whose native language they knew. Apostles … have all the nations and peoples of the world entrusted to them, according to the command of the Lord.

"And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak my words to them." In that the Lord says to the prophet, "You shall speak my words to them," what else does He do but place a bridle of restraint upon his mouth, lest he presume to speak outwardly what he has not first heard inwardly?

For thou art not sent to a people of an vnknowen tongue, or of an hard language, but to the house of Israel,

Not to many people of an vnknowen tongue, or of an harde language, whose wordes thou canst not vnderstand: yet if I should sende thee to them, they would obey thee.

But the house of Israel will not obey thee: for they will not obey me: yea, all the house of Israel are impudent and stiffe hearted.

Beholde, I haue made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead harde against their foreheads.

I haue made thy forehead as the adamant, and harder then the flint: feare them not therefore, neither be afraid at their lookes: for they are a rebellious house.

He said moreouer vnto me, Sonne of man, receiue in thine heart al my words that I speake vnto thee, and heare them with thine eares,

And goe and enter to them that are led away captiues vnto the children of thy people, and speake vnto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God: but surely they will not heare, neither will they in deede cease.

Then the spirite tooke me vp, and I heard behinde me a noise of a great russhing, saying, Blessed be ye glorie of the Lord out of his place.

Did you see how great is the holy dread in heaven and how great the arrogant presumption here below? The angels in heaven give him glory; these heretics on earth carry on meddlesome investigations. In heaven they honor and praise him; on earth we find curious busybodies.

And concerning the Cherubim it is written that they were yoked unto a chariot, and while their faces looked downwards, the motions of their spiritual natures were directed whither was the Most High, and they likewise were crying out, "Blessed be the honour of the Lord from His country." And spiritual beings stand in this service, and the hosts and ranks of heaven are obedient u…

But why do we linger on these matters, we who are able, by the Lord's bounty, to understand these words of the prophet through another and more subtle sense, and to speak more clearly?

I heard also the noyse of the wings of the beasts, that touched one another, and the ratling of the wheeles that were by them, euen a noyse of a great russhing.

So the spirit lift me vp, and tooke me away and I went in bitternesse, and indignation of my spirite, but the hand of the Lord was strong vpon me.

Then I came to them that were led away captiues to Tel-abib, that dwelt by the riuer Chebar, and I sate where they sate, and remained there astonished among them seuen dayes.

And at the ende of seuen dayes, the worde of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying,

Sonne of man, I haue made thee a watchman vnto the house of Israel: therefore heare the worde at my mouth, and giue them warning from me.

Therefore we are most anxious that you be persuaded not to be misled by such persons, since we know that every one who can speak the truth, and yet speaks it not, shall be judged by God, as God testified by Ezekiel, when He said, "I have made thee a watchman to the house of Judah.

Sometimes when we preach, our sermons seem rather harsh to many, and what we speak about as a rule is taken by some as if it were produced from a hard attitude. For they say, "how severely and bitterly the bishop has preached!" not knowing that for bishops speaking is more a matter of obligation than of desire.

It should be noted that He whom the Lord sends to preach, He declares to be a watchman. For he to whom the care of others is committed is called a watchman, so that he may sit in the height of the mind and draw the meaning of his name from the power of his action. For he is not a watchman who is in the lowest place.

When I shall say vnto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, and thou giuest not him warning, nor speakest to admonish the wicked of his wicked way, that he may liue, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquitie: but his blood will I require at thine hande.

It is of the greatest importance that the superior [in a religious community] be convinced that if he fails to offer his brother the proper guidance, he will draw on himself heavy and inescapable wrath, for his blood will be required at his hands.

You have frequently heard in the holy Scriptures in what great danger bishops are placed, if they are unwilling to carry out what the apostle urges on them.… But when we reprove someone, if the person we reprove is bad, he fixes his attention on the one he is being reproved by and happily and more readily acknowledges what has to be put right in his reprover than in himself.

In these words, what should we note, what should we carefully consider, except that the subject does not die because of the fault of the superior, nor is the superior without fault when, not hearing the words of life, the subject dies by his own fault?

Yet if thou warne the wicked, and he turne not from his wickednesse, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquitie, but thou hast deliuered thy soule.

For even though the soil which we cultivate bring forth no fruit, if we have shown all industry, the Lord of it and of us will not suffer us to depart with disappointed hopes, but will give us a recompense; for, says St. Paul, "Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor," not according to the event of things.

If he does this, he goes out from there, not by physical withdrawal but defended by his behavior; he has done what he had to do, even if the other person did not heed the warning he should have heeded.

For then your subject dies without you, when in the cause of death he has endured you as one who does not speak against it. For you are joined to the death which you do not oppose. And it should be noted what things ought to be preached by the watchman, namely faith and works.

Likewise if a righteous man turne from his righteousnesse, and commit iniquitie, I will lay a stumbling blocke before him, and he shall die, because thou hast not giuen him warning: he shall die in his sinne, and his righteous deedes, which he hath done, shall not be remembred: but his blood will I require at thine hand.

(Verse 20, 21.) But even if a righteous person turns away from their righteousness and commits iniquity, I will set a stumbling block before them. They shall die because you did not warn them; in their sin they shall die, and their righteous deeds shall not be remembered; but I will require their blood from your hand.

Thus it happens that all things are changed, pass away and perish. No one considers anyone more base than himself or more lowly than God. If there is a time at which anyone can legally place God second to his blood and marriage relatives, there is no time in which God must lawfully be placed ahead of them.

Because the preacher remained silent toward the just man who fell into sin, he is held guilty of his blood. And he who did not strive to be diligent in preaching has become a participant in damnation.

Neuerthelesse, if thou admonish that righteous man, that the righteous sinne not, and that he doeth not sinne, he shall liue because he is admonished: also thou hast deliuered thy soule.

And the hande of the Lord was there vpon me, and he said vnto me, Arise, and goe into the fielde, and I will there talke with thee.

So when I had risen vp, and gone foorth into the fielde, beholde, the glorie of the Lord stoode there, as the glorie which I sawe by the riuer Chebar, and I fell downe vpon my face.

Then the Spirit entred into me, which set me vp vpon my feete, and spake vnto me, and said to me, Come, and shut thy selfe within thine house.

But thou, O sonne of man, beholde, they shall put bandes vpon thee, and shall binde thee with them, and thou shalt not goe out among them.

"And look, they will bind you with chains and fetters." That is, the chains that will bind him, so that he might not go out and walk among them, are the Babylonians who encircle Jerusalem and its inhabitants and prevent them from going out and coming in.

(Verse 25, 26.) And you, son of man: behold, chains have been placed upon you, and they will bind you with them, and you shall not go out from among them, and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth (or throat), and you shall be mute, not speaking as a man who reproaches them: for the house is rebellious.

"And you, son of man, behold, chains have been placed upon you, and they shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out into their midst." If we follow these words through the order of typological exposition, the prophet receives bonds in his house and is bound, because in the last days, when Judea shall have believed, she will experience the most grievous persecutions in t…

And I will make thy tongue cleaue to the roofe of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dume, and shalt not be to them as a man that rebuketh: for they are a rebellious house.

But when I shall haue spoken vnto thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, He that heareth, let him heare, and he that leaueth off, let him leaue: for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel3