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Ezekiel 2:1-3:27

Eat This Roll

Lyrics · Ezekiel

Eat This Roll

Ezekiel 2:1-3:27

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Ezekiel collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Ezekiel
Collection
Ezekiel
Musical styles
World Music
[Litany] Stand on thy feet, son of man in the dust, Eat this roll; let the warning become thee, The Spirit gives balance before giving trust. Honey on the tongue, but a burden in the body. A hand held a scroll with both surfaces filled, Eat this roll; let the warning become thee, Lament on the front and the back wrote the will. Honey on the tongue, but a burden in the body. [Verse 2] Speak if they hear, speak if they close the door, A prophet is known by the word, not applause. Seven days silent beside the canal, Then watchman responsibility sounded the wall. [Refrain] Eat this roll; let the warning become thee, Honey on the tongue, but a burden in the body. [Bridge] Warn wicked and righteous; do not guard thy breath, Silence can borrow another man’s death. The mouth may be opened, the mouth may be bound, But the word once eaten must finally be sounded. [Final Chorus] Eat this roll; let the warning become thee, Honey on the tongue, but a burden in the body. But the word once eaten must finally be sounded.

About the passage

Ezekiel 2: A commission without a promise of applause

The glory that put Ezekiel on his face now gives him work to do, and the first act of the commission is to set him back on his feet. The Book of Ezekiel separates authorization from reception from the beginning. Israel is called rebellious, hardhearted, and resistant, yet Ezekiel is not promised that better delivery will make the people listen. His responsibility is to speak the words given to him whether they hear or refuse. Briers, thorns, scorpions, hostile words, and intimidating looks describe a genuinely painful audience without making that audience the source of the message. The commission then turns inward. Before Ezekiel can expose rebellion, he is warned not to become rebellious himself. A scroll written within and without, full of lamentation, mourning, and woe, is placed before him. The messenger must hear and receive before he speaks.

Study Ezekiel 2 in depth

Ezekiel 3: A sweet scroll and a silent watchman

A scroll full of lamentation becomes sweet in Ezekiel's mouth without becoming a pleasant message. That tension shapes the chapter. The Book of Ezekiel gives its prophet a strong face and a forehead harder than flint, but pairs that toughness with commands to receive God's words in his heart and hear them with his ears. Carried to Tel-abib in bitterness, Ezekiel spends seven astonished days sitting where the captives sit before the watchman's charge defines his responsibility. He must warn, while the hearer remains accountable for the response. Silence where warning is required brings guilt on the watchman; a delivered warning does not make him sovereign over another person's choice. The chapter then closes on a strange restriction. Ezekiel, commissioned to speak, is confined and made mute except when God opens his mouth. Even prophetic boldness remains governed by a received word.

Study Ezekiel 3 in depth