3:22 While Ezekiel was among the exiles in Tel-abib, the Lord directed him to go out to the nearby plain where the Lord promised to speak with him (cf. ch. 1; Acts 9:6; Gal. 1:16-17).
3:23 Ezekiel obeyed the Lord. While he was standing on the plain, he saw another vision of God's glory and again prostrated himself on the ground (cf. 1:28; Acts 7:55).
3:24 The Spirit then strengthened Ezekiel to stand up, and the Lord instructed him to go back to his house and to shut himself up in it.
"For a sovereign to invite a suppliant to stand meant that he at least was willing to do business with him."96
3:25 The Jews were going to bind Ezekiel with ropes so he would not be able to circulate among them. There is no further mention in the book of Ezekiel's being bound in his house with ropes. Consequently this may be a contingent statement: if the prophet would not restrict himself to his house, God would use others to confine him there.97Another explanation, which I prefer, is that binding with ropes here is a figurative expression meaning confining; God would keep him at home, though not necessarily by using physical ropes (cf. 4:8).98Perhaps some Israelites bound him for a while even though the text made no further reference to it.99
3:26 The Lord would make Ezekiel unable to speak or to rebuke the people because they were rebellious against the Lord. The prophet's silence would be their punishment; he would not be able to warn them of judgment that the Lord would bring on them.100Ezekiel could have given them many more warnings than he did.
Several of the more radical commentators believed that Ezekiel suffered from catalepsy or some other serious nervous disorder, but the text does not require this.101The prophet's unusual experiences were the result of spiritual factors, not because he was psychologically unbalanced.
3:27 Finally the Lord would enable Ezekiel to speak again. He would announce a message from the Lord. Some of his hearers would listen, but others of them would refuse to listen because they were rebels against the Lord. Nevertheless, regardless of their response, the hearers would be personally responsible for their response (cf. Matt. 11:15; 13:10-17; Rev. 2:7; 13:9; 22:11; et al.).
Evidently Ezekiel's muteness lasted for several years, until the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 1:1-3; 24:25-27; 33:21-22). He was not entirely silent during this long period, but he only spoke to the people when God gave him special messages to deliver (cf. 11:25; 14:1; 20:1). Rather than speaking publicly from time to time as he lived among the people, as other prophets normally did, Ezekiel remained at home except to deliver special messages from the Lord (cf. chs. 4-5). Thus Ezekiel spoke less publicly and led a more reclusive life than the Lord's other prophetic spokesmen.
"Ezekiel . . . has to experience the inability to speak . . . as a forceful experiential reminder of the fact that he has no authority to make up on his own what he says to his fellow Israelites. Rather, only God can, as it were, loose his tongue. He must let God speak through him, and not invent anything himself or take his message from anyone else. Originality is usually prized among writers and speakers. Yet there was to be no originality in Ezekiel's doctrine. In all five commissions [2:1-3:27] he is reminded that his job is to convey and not to create."102
