Tag: God’s Word is Sweet - Ezekiel 1-4

Ezekiel 3:1-3

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

Tag:  God’s Word is Sweet

Ezekiel was sent to speak to the nation of Israel right at the time of the exile.  He prophesied to those in Judah and those taken to Babylon in captivity.   The nation was rebellious.   Even as they were taken into captivity.   God had given them prophet after prophet to speak truth to them and they rejected them all.  They would also reject Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 2:4-6

The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.

Yet, the message for Ezekiel, the. Word of God, although rejected by the nation is sweet to the taste of Ezekiel.   When Ezekiel is instructed to “eat” the scroll, he tells us it was “in my mouth as sweet as honey.”    To those who approach God’s Word by faith, it is not a burden.  It is a blessings.   Notice what King David said when he wrote about God’s Word:

Psalms 19:10

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalms 119:103

How sweet are your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

It is only in rebellion that we find God’s Word bitter to our taste.  There is an exception to that statement, however:

Revelation 10:8-9

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

John was similarity told to eat the scroll.  And, although it was sweet to the mouth, it was bitter to the stomach.  The reason for this is the judgements of God are not always sweet.  The application of God’s Word in our lives is not always pleasant.   We should receive it in the sweetness of faith for what it is meant to do, but God’s Word cuts and discerns and corrects the evil in our hearts.   That is bitter:

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.