contrast is to be noted, for example, in Dan. 8: 16, 17. Here the heavenly being, the

angel Gabriel is in contrast with, and speaking to "a son of Adam". God could have

chosen a heavenly being instead of Ezekiel: He chose a son of Adam to speak to the sons

of Adam: they rejected the message. Much later God spoke to them through a "heavenly

being", His Son, and the sons of Adam still rejected His message, so that "they are

without excuse".

Ezekiel's commission was, like others, to a ministry of failure, as is clear from

chapter 2: 3 - 3: 11.  Yet it was counterbalanced by the assurance of the ultimate

fulfillment of God's purpose for His People. Though there may be much to discourage

the man God calls, always there must also be the assurance of the final triumph of God.

The visions which came to the prophet came from God (Elohim), the Creator, and

Ezekiel's favourite name for God is Adonai Jehovah, Lord God as the A.V. translates it:

Sovereign Lord Jehovah. God was and is God of all the earth, and though the nation

might be held in captivity by their heathen enemies, their God was also the Sovereign

Lord of all nations of the earth, of their enemies. Though for the time being He had

discarded them for His purpose they were not beyond His influence and care.

In the course of his commissioning the "roll of a book" was spread before him

(Ezekiel 2: 9, 10). He is told:

Just prior to this he had been told "Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house:

open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee" (2: 8). In Josiah's "reformation" the book of the

law of the Lord had been found in the Temple. The nation had refused to `eat' it: they

may have heard the words when they were read to them, but they did not `digest' them.

Ezekiel was to digest the words of the law, and those words were to be the basis of all he

had to say. He says "then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness"

(3: 3). The `rebellious house' had rejected the book of the law; Ezekiel delighted in it.

So it is with all whom God calls. The call of the prophets of old, and of all whom God

has called, is related to historical facts to do with the current `people of God', related to

their needs and to their failures. Such men (and women) have a very clear concept of the

holiness and greatness of God, and of their own unworthiness before Him. Such can only

speak as they `hear' though their words may be offensive to those who hear them, and so

they are often commissioned to a `ministry of failure', though proclaiming at the same

time, as did the prophet Ezekiel the ultimate triumph and success of God. Fundamentally

the man God calls is one who receives and delights in God's Word.