Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Ezekiel Chapter 3
Metaphysically Interpreting Ezekiel 3:1-11
3:1And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that which thou findest; eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel. 3:2So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll. 3:3And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
3:4And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.3:5For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; 3:6not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee. 3:7But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart. 3:8Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads. 3:9As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 3:10Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thy heart, and hear with thine ears. 3:11And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
July 7, 1929: Ezekiel 3:4-11
What is the meaning of the name Ezekiel? Ezekiel means “God is powerful,” “God will strengthen.” Ezekiel represents the spirit in man that discerns the law of the strength and power of God mind but ignores grace and love. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
In what state of mind do we find Ezekiel in today's lesson? The 1st chapter of Ezekiel gives us an indication of his state of mind. It reads: “As I was among the captives by the river Chebar ... the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.”
What did Spirit say to Ezekiel? Ezekiel tells us: “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.”
What does the house of Israel represent? The house of Israel represents the thoughts in man that have had some spiritual instruction and illumination. The people of the house of Israel are the “elect” people. They are attracted to Truth from all the races of the earth because of their readiness for Truth, and because they have a measure of spiritual understanding. Verse 5 explains: “For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel.”
Did Ezekiel as a teacher and prophet measure up to the standard of Jesus Christ? No. Ezekiel represents man in the which he discerns only the power and the inexorable law of God. The prophets of the Old Testament had this one-sided conception of God; they taught: “Hate thine enemy,” “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Jesus taught grace and truth: “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you.”
Was the approach of Ezekiel to the children of Israel one that we should recommend in our present understanding of man and his receptivity to Truth? No, the forgiving love of Ezekiel had not been awakened, and he interpreted the will of Jehovah to the house of Israel according to his limited concept of God: “For all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stiff heart. Behold, I have made thy face hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads.” Under a similar circumstance Jesus extended sympathy and love to the children of Israel. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
Does the ministry of the Ezekiel’s state of mind accomplish good? Yes; in the Ezekiel consciousness the strength, the power, and the fearlessness of Jehovah are built up in man.
Should we fearlessly speak words of Truth, or should we refrain from speaking them, fearing that they will not he received? This question is answered in verse 11: “And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.”
April 4, 1948: Ezekiel 3:11
How can we bring our religious thought out of bondage to sense? By catching a vision of the glory and splendor of God and by knowing that we can realize this glory ourselves. As we follow the guidance of Spirit, we grow in spiritual consciousness, courage, and resourcefulness, and we are freed from bondage to sense.
Metaphysically Interpreting Ezekiel 3:12-21
3:12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from his place. 3:13And I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me. 3:15Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river Chebar, and to where they dwelt; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
3:16And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 3:17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 3:18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 3:19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 3:20Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 3:21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.
October 1, 1911: Ezekiel 3:12-21
Consciousness of the Spirit comes to every man according to his mental and physical status. A cautious, conservative man would open his mind very carefully and let in but little of the higher light. To him it would seem like moonlight, and he would describe his experience as a far-away dreamy sort of mental vision. But an enthusiast, whose whole mind is open and alive to things spiritual, would feel and hear the influx from on high, as did Ezekiel. “The voice of a great rushing,” the “noise of the wings,” represent the swiftness of the spiritual thought, and the “noise of the wheels” the power.
Spirit does not take account of days and nights in the outer sense, but they are used as fit symbols to describe the light and darkness that pervade the mind. “It came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me,” means that light came into seven of the twelve centers of power in Ezekiel's consciousness. He was then prepared to receive and understand the word from the Lord.
March 12, 1916: Ezekiel 3:12-21
[TruthUnity Note: all but the last paragraph of the following was undated and found in the PDF for Ezekiel 2. Because the PDF for Ezekiel 3 had the final paragraph and because it is similar typing and subject, the assumption is that they go together and that they refer to the Ezek. 3:12-21 passage.]
A watchman stands on the city wall and sees what is going on both within and without. This well represents a spiritually developed person; he sees within, he sees without, and he challenges with the word of command those who pass through the gate.
When light has broken into seven of the inner centers, a larger capacity and power come to man; he is cooperator with Divine Mind in lifting all men to higher planes of understanding, through freeing them from the burden of sin. Jesus said to Peter, who had been thus illumined, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Ignorance of the law of mind action builds thought conditions in body that are reflected into mind, and the sinners know not where to turn for relief. They are ignorant of the spiritual law, and so immured in sensation that they would not accept it if it were presented to them; hence their only hope is to have the aid of someone who knows the law of freedom from the effects of sin and has the power to use it.
The Lord requires those who have attained mastery over their own errors to act as life savers for those who are yet in the ocean of sense ignorance. This is life or blood atonement.
When we who know the all-forgiving power of Spirit, fail to deny the evil that we see in others, it is reacted upon us and we are entangled in that bound life. If we speak the freeing word of Truth to the ignorant, we fulfill the law, and whether they respond or not, we have no reaction of life force.
When those in understanding of Truth fall away, we should hold them up instead of condemning them. Our condemnation holds them down, when they most need the freeing thought, and the law of thought holds us responsible for their failure to come back into the realization of Spiritual life.
Our lives are linked with the lives of all men, and the greater our realization of this the greater our power to build them up or tear them down. One can, through great sympathy and desire to help another, take his sin and go down under it; but this is not the atonement taught by Jesus. Under the law which he set forth we should oecome so sure and positive that the good only is true, that the evil will fade wholly away under our swift and certain realization.
- UNITY magazine.
March 12, 1916: Ezekiel 3:12-21
What is the meaning of “the voice of a great rushing”? “The voice of a great rushing” represents the swiftness of spiritual thought.
What does the “noise of the wheels” represent? The power and progress of Truth.
What do days and nights represent in the scriptures? They are symbols describing the degrees of unfoldment, “night” being ignorance and “day” understanding.
How are adverse conditions built into mind and body? By the law of mind action. Ignorant thinking forms the substance of mind and body into inharmonious states.
Why is it necessary to have spiritual helpers? When one is ignorant of the spiritual law it is necessary for someone who understands the law to speak for him the word that makes free.
What responsibility is placed upon those who have received the light of understanding? The Lord requires them to help others who are yet in darkness.
How far-reaching is this responsibility? Those in understanding are to realize the Truth and speak the word, but there their accountability ends. Responsibility then rests upon the ones for whom the Word has been spoken.
July 2, 1922: Ezekiel 3:17-21
If after speaking words of Truth there is no reform nor change in appearances, have we accomplished anything? Yes. We have begun to deliver the subconscious, or soul, from its error thinking, and whether the body be saved or not, the soul will have been harmonized to the extent that we have realized the Truth for it.
If we fail to speak the word of Truth for the soul, and the body perishes in its sins, are we responsible? Yes. The error thoughts in the subconscious will build another body after their pattern, and the old discords will live again. “He shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.”
When we heed the warning of the result of error, thinking, and speak words of Truth, what will be the final reward? “He shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.”
April 4, 1948: Ezekiel 3:17-21
What is the “watchman unto the house of Israel”? The consciousness that lays hold on our religious impulses and warns us to hold fast to what is true and right, in other words, to keep the moral law.
What is our responsibility to our religious nature? We are responsible for keeping our thought in harmony with Truth instead of error. Unless we do this we fall into mistaken ideas of God and man, and we do not clearly discern the truth concerning ourselves.
Can we combine good and evil in our consciousness so that a balance is struck between the two in the building of character? No, we cannot combine good and evil successfully so as to strike a balance between them in the building of character. “When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity ... he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered.”
Metaphysically Interpreting Ezekiel 3:22-27
3:22And the hand of Jehovah was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 3:23Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. 3:24Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house. 3:25But thou, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: 3:26and I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. 3:27But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-27-2014
