Eat my scroll, man!
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...is what God says to Ezekiel, literally (Ezekiel 3.1). It's a strange vision which one of the more liberal commentators apparently puts down to hallucinogenic influences! However, that's reading it through 21st Century eyes. It is, in fact, a picture loaded with meaning for every preacher of the word, not just Prophet Ezekiel.
- the very act of eating a scroll (a scroll?) is one of obedience. Is this mouthpiece of God prepared to do whatever he is asked or told? Or is he working to his own agenda?
- the nature of the prophetic utterance is tasty! This despite its unpleasant message. The mouthpiece messenger finds sweetness in the author not the content, necessarily
- the word of God nourishes the messenger. Incredibly, God commands Ezekiel to "fill his belly" with the scroll - an idiom which implies that Ezekiel should fill right up with this word - he doesn't need anything else himself
- significantly, but often missed, divine speech and divine text are one and the same. This is important for Ezekiel - and for every preacher. It is the reason we preach the word of God with authority. I'm not suggesting that a sermon has the same divine attestation (and hence authority) as Ezekiel's message. But neither is such authority absent.
"Eat my scroll, man"
"Yes, please"
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