Ezekiel 2 - Scofield Reference Notes

Son of man

"Son of man," used by our Lord of Himself seventy-nine times, is used by Jehovah ninety one times when addressing Ezekiel.

(1) In the case of our Lord the meaning is clear: it is His racial name as the representative Man in the sense of (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). The same thought, implying transcendence of mere Judaism, is involved in the phrase when applied to Ezekiel. Israel had forgotten her mission.

( See Scofield) - (Genesis 11:10); (Ezekiel 5:5-8).

Now, in her captivity, Jehovah will not forsake His people, but He will remind them that they are but a small part of the race for whom He also cares. Hence the emphasis upon the word "man." The Cherubim "had the likeness of a man" (Ezekiel 1:5) and when the prophet beheld the throne of God, he saw "the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (Ezekiel 1:26).

( See Scofield) - (Matthew 8:20); (Revelation 1:12); (Revelation 1:13).

(2) As used of Ezekiel, the expression indicates, not what the prophet is in himself, but what he is to God; a son of man

(a) chosen,

(b) endued with the Spirit, and

(c) sent of God.

All this is true also of Christ who was, furthermore, the representative man -- the head of regenerate humanity.