Ezekiel 2:1

Call of Ezekiel to the Prophetic Office - Eze 2:1 and Eze 2:2. Upon the manifestation of the Lord follows the word of vocation. Having, in the feeling of his weakness and sinfulness, fallen to the ground before the terrible revelation of Jehovah's glory, Ezekiel is first of all raised up again by the voice of God, to hear the word which calls him to the prophetic function. - Eze 2:1. And He said to me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, I will speak with thee. Eze 2:2. Then came spirit unto me as He spake unto me, and it placed me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking unto me. - The address בּן־אדם occurs so frequently in Ezekiel, that it must be regarded as one of the peculiarities of his prophecies. Elsewhere it occurs only once, Dan 8:17. That it is significant, is generally recognised, although its meaning is variously given. Most expositors take it as a reminder of the weakness and frailness of human nature; Coccejus and Kliefoth, on the contrary, connect it with the circumstance that God appears to Ezekiel in human form, and find in it a τεκμήριον amicitiae, that God speaks in him as man to man, converses with him as a man with his friend. This last interpretation, however, has against it the usus loquendi. As בּן־אדם denotes man according to his natural condition, it is used throughout as a synonym with אנושׁ, denoting the weakness and fragility of man in opposition to God; cf. Psa 8:5; Job 25:6; Isa 51:12; Isa 56:2; and Num 23:19. This is the meaning also of בּן־אדם in the address, as may be distinctly seen from the various addresses in Daniel. Daniel is addressed, where comfort is to be imparted to him, as אישׁׁ חמדות, "man greatly beloved," Dan 10:11, Dan 10:19, cf. Dan 9:23; but, on the contrary, in Eze 8:17, where he has fallen on his face in terror before the…

The title here given to Ezekiel, as often afterwards, is very observable. God, when he speaks to him, calls him, Son of man (Eze 2:1, Eze 2:3), Son of Adam, Son of the earth. Daniel is once called so (Dan 8:17) and but once; the compellation is used to no other of the prophets but to Ezekiel all along. We may take it, 1. As a humble diminishing title. Lest Ezekiel should be lifted up with the abundance of the revelations, he is put in mind of this, that sill he is a son of man, a mean, weak, mortal creature. Among other things made known to him, it was necessary he should be made to know this, that he was a son of man, and therefore that it was wonderful condescension in God that he was pleased thus to manifest himself to him. Now he is among the living creatures, the angels; yet he must remember that he is himself a man, a dying creature. What is man, or the son of man, that he should be thus visited, thus dignified? Though God had here a splendid retinue of holy angles about his throne, who were ready to go on his errands, yet he passes them all by, and pitches on Ezekiel, a son of man, to be his messenger to the house of Israel; for we have this treasure in earthen vessels, and God's messages sent us by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid nor their hand be heavy upon us. Ezekiel was a priest, but the priesthood was brought low and the honour of it laid in the dust. It therefore became him, and all of his order, to humble themselves, and to lie low, as sons of men, common men. he was now to be employed as a prophet, God's ambassador, and a ruler over the kingdoms (Jer 1:10), a post of great honour, but he must remember that he is a son of man, and, whatever good he did, it was not by any might of his own, for he was a son of man, but in the stren…

2:1-10 Being a prophet was neither a career choice nor an occupation passed down from father to son like the priesthood. God called prophets to their task, and the story of their call is often included in their writings (see, e.g., Isa 6; Jer 1:4-19; Jon 1:1-2). 2:1-2 Stand up: God empowered Ezekiel by the Spirit so that he was able to obey this command as God set him on his feet. What God would later do for the people as a whole (cp. 37:4-10), he did first for the prophet.