ESOCS Devotional 12 June 2025 – Eat The Scroll
MEMORY VERSE: “He said to me: Son of man, eat what you find here: eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.” Ezekiel 3:1
TEXT: EZEKIEL 3:1-21
Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.
3 And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.
4 Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, 6 not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”
10 Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place!” 13 I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the [b]heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
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No chapter break should have been made between Ezekiel 2:10 and 3:1, for the same thought is being continued. After being offered the scroll, Ezekiel was told “…eat what you find.” Whether or not he found something appetizing was unimportant. The instruction was simple: to eat what he found as it was and then go and speak the message.
God’s Word is sweet (2-3). Psalm 19:10 (ESV) says, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” In Psalm 119:103 (ESV), we have: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” This implies that the Word of God is always good—even when it is a message of “lamentations, mourning and woe” (2:10). Even when the ministry would seem difficult and distasteful, the Lord would cause His Word to be as sweet as honey.
As John was told in Revelation 10:9, Ezekiel was told here to eat the scroll. Before there was a direct commission, now there is a symbolic action … John has the same vision (Rev. 10:8-10), but there that is expressed, which is here left to be inferred, namely, that as soon as he had eaten it his belly was bitter. The sweetness in the mouth denoted that it was good to be a messenger of the Lord…, but the bitterness which accompanied it, denoted that the commission brought with it much sorrow (Proverbs to Ezekiel 3:12).
This illustrates how God’s prophets were responsible for making the message a part of themselves, taking it deep inside them. In Jeremiah 20:9, the message was a burning fire in the prophet’s bones. No faithful preacher can separate himself from the Word. It is part of his life, a part of his thinking.
Dearly beloved, every morning we are charged to eat the scroll. Your impact and level of manifestation is directly dependent on the volume of the scroll you have consumed as a believer. Are you part of the scroll consumers? Ask your neighbor too (Ps. 42:1).
CHALLENGES
- God’s word contains spiritual vitamins for our nourishment. We should eat it every day, every time and everywhere.
PRAYER POINT
- Father, may my delight be your words per time, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 3:22-End; John 1:1-18; 10:19-42
ESOCS Devotional 12 June 2025
