Ezekiel 33:22

Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME IN THE EVENING - (see note, Ezekiel 33:2). Thus the capture of Jerusalem was known to Ezekiel by revelation, before the messenger came. AND HAD OPENED MY MOUTH, UNTIL HE CAME TO ME IN THE MORNING. The force of the "until" [ `ad (H5704)] seems to me to be that the Lord had opened Ezekiel's mouth against the time when he that was escaped came in the morning. The English version might be misunderstood as meaning that Ezekiel's mouth was opened from the evening until the escaped came in the morning, and not afterward, which...

21-29 Those are unteachable indeed, who do not learn their dependence upon God, when all creature-comforts fail. Many claim an interest in the peculiar blessings to true believers, while their conduct proves them enemies of God. They call this groundless presumption strong faith, when God's testimony declares them entitled to his threatenings, and nothing else....

Verse Ezekiel 33:22. _MY MOUTH WAS OPENED_] They had now the fullest evidence that I had spoken from the Lord. I therefore spoke freely and fully what God delivered to me, Ezekiel 24:27....

WAS UPON ME ... WAS OPENED - For was read “had been.” The prophet was under the hand of God in ecstatic trance on the evening preceding the arrival of the messenger, and continued in this state until his arrival....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 33:1 If we may think of Ezekiel as compiling and arranging his own prophecies, we may think of him as returning, with something like a sense of relief, to his own special work as the watchman of the house of Israel. For upwards of two years the messages which it had been given him to write (how far they were in any sense published we have no means of knowing) in Ezekiel 25-32; had dealt exclusively with foreign nations. Now his own people are again the object of his care. He resumes his pastoral office at once for warning and consolation. From this point onwards, with the exception of the strange Meshech-Tubal episode in Ezekiel 38:1; Ezekiel 39:1; all is leading

NOW THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME IN THE EVENING, AFORE HE THAT WAS ESCAPED CAME,.... The prophet felt a divine impulse on his mind; he was under the influence of a spirit of prophecy, and knew before the messenger came to him what his message was, and was prepared to receive it, and to prophesy upon it; for this is to be understood of prophecy, as the Targum, "prophecy from before the Lord was with me in the evening k;'' see Isaiah 8:11: AND HAD OPENED MY MOUTH, UNTIL HE CAME TO ME IN THE MORNING; the hand of the Lord, or the power of the Lord, had done it, as he promised he would, Ezekiel 3:27 so that he spoke freely and boldly, and continued to do so from the evening, to the time the messenger came to him in the morning, to all those that were with him:...

II. PREDICTIONS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM (33-48) Chapter S 33-34 A. The Watchman, the False Shepherds, and the True Shepherd _ 1. The renewed call of Ezekiel as watchman (Ezekiel 33:1) _ 2. Ezekiel's mouth opened after Jerusalem's fall is announced (Ezekiel 33:21) 3. Message against the shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34:1) 4. The True Shepherd and restoration promised (Ezekiel 34:20) Ezekiel 33:1. The commission of Ezekiel as watchman corresponds to the same call in...

NEED OF A DEEPENED SENSE OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (EZEKIEL 33), and this alike for himself and his hearers. EZEKIEL 33:1. He feels that he is responsible for them, and that they are responsible for themselves. He compares himself, as once before (Ezekiel 3:16), to a watchman whose duty is to raise the alarm in case of impending danger; so it is his, in view of the crisis, to care for and warn individual souls. EZEKIEL 33:10. But the people are despondent, stupefied by the news of the fall of the city (Ezekiel 33:21), sullenly at last admitting their guilt, but believing themselves to lie under the i

THE EVENING. Doubtless, of the same day of his escape. he that was escaped. As foretold in Ezekiel 24:26. MY MOUTH WAS OPENED. Compare Ezekiel 24:27; Ezekiel 29:21, i.e. in prophecy. NO MORE DUMB: i.. silent from prophesying, Note the Figure of speech _Pleonasm_ (App-6), to emphasise the fact....

Fugitives from Judaea arrive among the exiles announcing that the city had fallen. This confirmation of all the prophet's anticipations, which the exiles had received with so much incredulity, opened his mouth, gave him confidence to speak before his fellow exiles. And he announces what shall be the fate of those left in the land (Ezekiel 33:23)....