1He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.
3He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. 4The children are impudent and stiff-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you shall tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says.’ 5They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them. 6You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will refuse; for they are most rebellious. 8But you, son of man, hear what I tell you. Don’t be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.”
9When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10He spread it before me. It was written within and without; and lamentations, mourning, and woe were written in it.
In chapter 2 God is asking Ezekiel to speak for him, basically he is asking the priest to become a prophet. This is not an easy transition. Being a priest was everything that Ezekiel had planned for, being a prophet was a very different role. The role of the priest was systematic, there was only one way to burn the fire you learnt it and did it. There was only one way to sacrifice the goat, you learnt it and did it. Being a priest came with a wage and some respect as the priest was the person who did all the stuff to try and keep the people right with God. In those days there was a lot to keep right, so the priest was probably pretty popular. Even if he wasn’t popular, he had a job that he knew how to do and was set for life. God was asking Ezekiel to work outside the ritual of temple life and instead of representing the people to God, now he would represent God to the people.
Prophets in those days were not so popular, the words of God were not welcome. The people did not want to face the consequences of their choices or sins. They wanted to hear about rescue and victory but got aggressive when they were reminded that repentance had to come first. Ezekiel was about to make a difficult change and it wasn’t going to be easy. Does God have the right to come into our lives and ask us to do the difficult things? Should he be able to ask us to change our path? Of course, the answer in theory is yes, but the reality can be harder to handle. Perhaps that’s why God opened the heavens to Ezekiel so in the days of doubt and distress he could look back and remember and hold onto the day when he saw heaven itself. God may not give us a vision of heaven, but he confirms our calling through his word, through preaching and his people so that we too can stand firm in the tough and difficult days.