And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. Ezekiel 2:1-2
Psalm 137 says the Jewish captives in Babylon “hung our harps upon the willows” because they could no longer sing in their captivity. In Ezekiel 1 the prophet Ezekiel is sitting by the river Chebar in Babylon (was it the same place?) where he receives a vision of God. After seeing the majesty of the living God in chapter 1 it ends with Ezekiel
falling on his face in worship and trembling as he hears God speak personally to him.
And He said to me Almighty God, the creator of the universe
speaks to this man who is in captivity. Remember there are no
chapter divisions in the original text. Ezekiel hears the one
whom he has just seen.
Son of man This phrase is used here, in Daniel (speaking of the
coming Messiah) and over 80 times of the Lord. Ezekiel is called
son of man 93 times in this book. Here it refers to Ezekiel’s
humanity. Throughout the book Ezekiel is reminded, as we must
be, that without God we are nothing – mere mortals. With God, however, it is a different story.
Stand on your feet There is a time to fall on our face in front of a holy God in worship and to realize our
unworthiness before Him. There is also a time to stand, like a soldier before Him, awaiting orders as to how He wants us to serve Him. Ezekiel is to stand, be alert, and to pay attention to God’s instructions to him.
I will speak to you It is an amazing thought that God speaks to sinful man. Here God speaks to another servant in captivity in Babylon. Out of all the captives God only mentions 4 whom He spoke to and used.
Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me In the Old Testament the spirit of God did not live inside a person. Instead the spirit would come upon a person at various points in his life. Multiple times in the book of Ezekiel we read of the Spirit of God coming upon him. Here, at the beginning of his prophetic ministry for God the Spirit comes upon him. Again we see the critical message that in our own strength we can do nothing that is of value to God. In his heart, Ezekiel had to be willing but it is the strength of the Spirit that lifts him up to serve a holy God.
Set me on my feet Both the word “entered” and the word “set” can be translated as abide. Just as the believer in the New Testament abides in the word and spirit to access God’s power in their lives so the Spirit of God empowered and placed Ezekiel where he could do all that God would ask of him. The place of power, safety and service is in abiding in God. I heard Him who spoke to me Note the sequence. Ezekiel saw the holiness and majesty of God. He realized his insignificance in his presence and threw himself on his face before God. God’s spirit lifted him up to stand before God as a soldier ready to receive his orders.
Then Ezekiel heard God speak to him. This is one of the things we should desire of God. Our prayer should be, “God speak to me.”
Like Isaiah and here Ezekiel our hearts should cry out, “Here am I Lord, send me.” then we wait for God to speak to us. We listen
for His still small voice. The first three times this word is used in the Old Testament God speaks directly to one of His servants.
First He speaks to Noah to tell him what he would have him do. Then God speaks to Abraham and tells him to leave Haran for a
land God will show him and finally He speaks to Hagar who is alone in the desert. Ezekiel waits to hear what God will say to him.
One of the most important things we can do is to prepare our hearts (desire) that God speak to us and then
stand silently before him waiting for His direction. He will guide us to what’s next. God’s will in God’s way in God’s timing.