This pericope contains 10 commands, and it is the center of the chiasm in chapters 1-3.
"The Lord's charge to Ezekiel emphasized the absolute necessity of hearing, understanding, and assimilating God's message prior to going forth as a spokesman for the Lord."80
2:8 The Lord warned Ezekiel not to be rebellious like the people of Israel but to listen to Him and receive the messages that God would feed him (cf. Deut. 8:3; Jer. 15:16; Matt. 4:4; John 6:53-58).
2:9-10 Ezekiel then saw a hand extending a scroll to him. The Lord spread it out before the prophet and he saw that it was full of lamentations, mourning, and woes (i.e., bad news; chs. 4-32). Normally scrolls had writing on only one side, but this one had writing on both sides; it was full of revelation (cf. Rev. 8:3).
"This accurately summarizes the contents of Ezekiel 4-32. It does not, however, reflect the latter part of the book in which the prophet spoke of Israel's restoration. This could explain, in part, why Ezekiel was recommissioned (chapter 33)--the content of his message was substantially changed after his message of woe was fulfilled."81
3:1-3 The Lord told Ezekiel to eat the scroll, a symbolic way of telling him to consume mentally and assimilate emotionally its contents.82After he did this he was to go and speak to the Israelites, to tell them what the Lord had revealed. So the prophet consumed the contents of the scroll as the Lord fed it to him. The words of the Lord were sweet to Ezekiel's taste as he took them in (cf. Rev. 10:9-10). The word of God has an intrinsically pleasing and satisfying quality to those who, like Ezekiel, receive it gladly (cf. Ps. 19:10; 119:103; Prov. 16:24; 24:13-14; Jer. 15:16).
"No matter how painful the labor, there is satisfaction in finding and doing the will of God and in realizing service in fellowship with the living God."83
3:4-6 Ezekiel was to go to the Israelites and tell them what the Lord had revealed to him. They would be able to understand him because they spoke the same language as the prophet. God was not sending him to people who could not comprehend what he would tell them. The Israelites should listen to him because they could understand him.
3:7 Nevertheless the Israelites would not listen to Ezekiel since they refused to listen to the Lord who sent him (cf. Num. 14:1-12; 1 Sam. 8:4-7). All of them were very stubborn and obstinate. The Lord had similarly told Isaiah and Jeremiah not to expect dramatic positive response to their ministries (Isa. 6:8-13; Jer. 1:11-19).
The difficulties of cross-cultural communication are nothing compared to the obstacle of spiritual blindness."84
3:8-9 The Lord had made Ezekiel as hard-nosed as the Israelites; he would not give up speaking to them any more than they would refuse to listen to him. Therefore the prophet should not fear his audience. The meaning of Ezekiel's name, "God strengthens (or hardens),"reminded the prophet and others that the Lord would strengthen him and harden him against the attacks of his critical enemies.
3:10-11 The Lord Yahweh instructed Ezekiel further to take to heart all that He would tell him and to listen closely to Him. He was to go to the Jewish exiles and relay God's messages whether they paid attention or not.
God's word must become a part of the messenger before he or she can go and speak to others about it (cf. v. 1; Ezra 7:10).
