But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
When I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth - opposed to the silence imposed on the prophet, to punish the people (Ezekiel 3:26). After the interval of silence has awakened their attention to the cause of it, namely, their sins, they may then hearken to the prophecies which they would not hearken to before.
He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear - i:e., Thou hast done thy part, whether they hear or forbear. He who shall forbear to hear, it shall be at his own peril; he who hears, it shall be to his own eternal good (cf. Revelation 22:11).
Remarks:
(1) The messenger of God must first appropriate the truths of religion in his own soul before he can look for a blessing on his efforts to make them known to others. However painful it be to announce God's denunciations of judgment against the ungodly, the faithful minister must divest himself of his carnal reluctance to provoke the enmity of those to whom he is sent; and in thus losing his own will in the divine will, he shall experience the Word of God in his mouth to be what Ezekiel found it, as honey for sweetness (Ezekiel 3:3).
(2) Ministers must not be overwhelmed with disappointment because the people among whom they labour will not hearken to them; because their Lord before them was no better received among men than they. He sympathizes with them in their being rejected by their hearers, and makes their cause His own - "They will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto ME." (Ezekiel 3:7).
(3) How amazing is the perversity of self-willed sinners! Possessing spiritual privileges which if many of the pagan cities possessed (Ezekiel 3:6) they would long ago have repented and believed the message of God's grace, these highly favoured professors remain still 'stiff of forehead, and hard of heart' (margin, Ezekiel 3:7).
(4) But the servant of God must not suffer himself to ha daunted and dismayed by the obstinacy of sinners. For the Lord is with him, to make his face strong as adamant against their faces (Ezekiel 3:8-9). The God who sends His messenger has power to carry him through all hindrances. Whether men hear or forbear (Ezekiel 3:11), God will be glorified, Gods messenger will have discharged his responsibility, and so the purpose of the mission will be fulfilled. Meantime the Spirit of God will be the Guide and Director of all the movements of the minister sent by God (Ezekiel 3:12). He first of all prepares the heart of His servant for receiving His words inwardly (Ezekiel 3:10), as well as hearing them with the outward ears. Wherever he may be located the divine presence accompanies him, and, in, contrast to those who would detract from God's glory, the ruling principle of his ministry is the voice which he continually hears as it were behind him, saying, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place" (Ezekiel 3:12). Sadness and bitterness of spirit are sure at times to come over him, when he contemplates the awful doom which awaits impenitent sinners; but the hand of Yahweh is strong upon him, impelling him forward to his duty, while he leaves events with God (Ezekiel 3:14).
(5) What a pattern Ezekiel is to us when we seek the spiritual good of others! He does not rudely set at nought the usages and feelings of those to whom he was sent, but, according to the Oriental custom of mourners, for seven days "sat where they sat" (Ezekiel 3:15), overwhelmed with grief, and blending his tears with theirs. Having thus won their confidence by sympathy-the grand key to unlock the human heart-he could proceed afterward with the more power to claim their attention to his message from Yahweh (Ezekiel 3:16).
(6) Every minister of God is set as a "watchman," like Ezek iel, to watch continually for souls, and warn them incessantly of danger (Ezekiel 3:17). Four cases are stated for the guidance and warning of the watchman himself: First, When God tells the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, and yet the watchman falls to warn him, to the saving of his life, the result shall be the wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood shall be required at the watchman's hand (Ezekiel 3:18): Secondly, If the watchman warn the wicked, and yet the latter neglect to heed the warning, the wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but the watchman has delivered his soul (Ezekiel 3:19): Thirdly, When the righteous man turneth his righteousness to iniquity, and when God, in judicial displeasure, gives him over to stumbling upon his own sin, he shall die; nor shall his past seeming righteousness avail to save him; but his blood will be required at the hand of the watchman who neglected to warn him: Fourthly, If the watchman so warn the righteous man that he fall not away into sin, the latter shall surely live, and the watchman also has delivered his soul. Hence, we see that not only the ungodly, but also those who we sincerely believe are true children of God, need warning, lest, becoming high-minded and secure, they fall and perish, and so prove that the righteousness which seemed to themselves and others genuine, was not so, but only a shallow and temporary religion, which was not deeply rooted in the heart, nor planted and nourished there by the dews of the Holy Spirit. How solemn, then, are the responsibilities of ministers, and how fearful the guilt which they incur, if any perish by their willful neglect! Also, how the hearers should desire to be faithfully dear with, seeing that the stake at issue is so momentous!
(7) Seclusion and retirement are especially needed by these who have to discharge the duties of a (7) Seclusion and retirement are especially needed by these who have to discharge the duties of a commission from God to men. The manifestation of God's glory to them while they are withdrawn from men, as Ezekiel was "in the plain" (Ezekiel 3:23), or "shut up within the house," in the secret chamber (Ezekiel 3:24), is the best means of inspiriting them for their often disheartening duties. There, from being prostrate before God, they are set by the Spirit upon their feet (Ezekiel 3:24). The withdrawal of the minister of God from the people for a time, while he communes secretly with God, is calculated to arrest the people's attention to his message when God "opens his mouth" (Ezekiel 3:27). Then, when "utterance has been given him to open his mouth boldly to make known" (Ephesians 6:19) the Word of God, he has done his, part, whether men hear or forbear. He who hears, hears to his own salvation; he who forbears, forbears to his own damnation.