What is the meaning of Ezekiel 3:11? Go to your people “Go” signals decisive obedience. The prophet is not invited to debate the call; he is commanded to rise and move toward those God identifies as “your people” (Ezekiel 2:3). They are kin by blood and covenant, despite their rebellion. Other servants receive the same push: Jonah is told, “Arise, go to Nineveh” (Jonah 1:2); the apostles are told, “Go into all the world” (Mark 16:15). God sends messengers directly to the people who need the word, not waiting for them to wander in. the exiles Ezekiel’s audience sits by the Kebar Canal in Babylon, under divine discipline (2 Kings 24:10–16; Jeremiah 29:4–7). They are uprooted because of national sin, yet still God’s covenant nation. Calling them “exiles” reminds the prophet—and us—why they suffer, while underscoring that displacement does not cancel God’s concern. Believers today are likewise “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), awaiting full restoration in the coming kingdom. speak to them Silence is not an option. Watchmen who fail to sound the trumpet share in the bloodshed (Ezekiel 33:6). • Initiate conversation—don’t wait for interest (Acts 8:29–35). • Use clear, ordinary language (1 Corinthians 14:8–9). • Expect divine enablement: “Open your mouth and speak” (Acts 18:9–10). The call is verbal, public, and personal; written scrolls come later, but first the prophet must speak. and tell them “Tell” stresses faithful transmission, not personal commentary. Jeremiah gets a similar mandate: “Whatever I command you, you shall speak” (Jeremiah 1:7). Paul echoes it: “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The messenger’s duty is accuracy and completeness, nothing less. ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ Here is the prophet’s authority. “Thus says the LORD” appears more than two hundred times in Ezekiel, rooting every oracle in divine authorship (2 Timothy 3:16). God’s word carries His power: “So is My word… it will not return to Me empty” (Isaiah 55:11). The servant’s credibility rests entirely on that formula; no personal prestige is needed when one speaks for the Sovereign LORD. whether they listen or refuse to listen God orders proclamation, not guaranteed popularity (Ezekiel 2:5–7). • Obedience is measured by faithfulness, not results (1 Corinthians 4:2). • The audience’s reaction reveals their heart, not the message’s worth (Luke 8:11–15). • Both acceptance and rejection glorify God—one through repentance, the other through just judgment (2 Corinthians 2:15–16). The prophet must never trim truth to chase approval; persistence testifies to God’s enduring mercy. summary Ezekiel 3:11 charges the prophet to rise, cross the distance to his own displaced people, speak God’s exact words, and do so without flinching at their response. The verse models every believer’s calling: move toward the lost, deliver Scripture with precision, and leave the results with the Sovereign LORD. |
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