EAT THAT I GIVE THEE
Ezekiel 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Ezekiel 3:1 ¶ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3 And 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.
The Hebrew word translated “soul” in Genesis 2:7 is also translated “appetite” in Proverbs 23:2. Therefore we can read it as, “man became a living appetite.” It is also translated as “and refreshed themselves” in 2 Samuel 16:14. This gives more light into our Lord’s words of Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Being hungry and thirsty are good, in that they prompt us to seek out the sustenance which our bodies need. And what was the first law given to the first couple in the garden of God? The first instruction and laws regarded eating. Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And just how did mankind become dead in trespasses and sins? – By eating! Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
That sinful eating by the first Adam plunged the human race into sin! But the last Adam – the Lord Jesus Christ – is said to have “tasted death” for all believers, in the description of his redemptive work, which reversed Adam’s sinful eating. Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Romans 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
And how did the two on the road to Emmaus recognize the Lord, when earlier their eyes were closed to his identity? – By the breaking of bread! Luke 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
When he broke that bread, he was revealing the breaking of his body for the church. 1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
Also the Lord Jesus clearly taught of himself being God’s bread sent down from heaven, for man’s spiritual sustenance. John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
This was a saying so difficult to a large number of his “disciples,” that they walked away from him, never to return. John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. But, as Israelites they had been all their lives accustomed to this concept in their minds. Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
For as the Apostle Paul told them, this word was near to them, even in their minds! They had been taught it all their lives. They just needed to receive it in their hearts! Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For this goes deeply into the very heart of the Son’s obtaining life from the Father, and all true believers obtaining life from the Lord Jesus. John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
What a glorious understanding it is to know that “as” he receives his life from the Father, “so” we receive life from Christ! John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Take careful notice of our Ezekiel 3:3 verse, listed above. It does NOT say, “Eat with thy mouth!” It clearly states, “cause thy belly to eat.” This is therefore, not referring to the normal concept of biting off and chewing food with our mouth. It is clearly speaking of the spiritual ingestion of the heaven-sent food that the world knows not of. For the true prophet of the Most High God is not just a hired denominational figure who enters into a “social gospel” ministry. He is a man who has been inwardly grieved for the fallen glory of God!
He has intently focused his entire faculties upon the revelation from God, by the Holy Spirit! Ezekiel 40:4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. Luke 9:44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: Jeremiah 26:2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
He is called to stand before the Lord, and cannot seek out human companionship. He must await his fellow man to seek him out, if they have been drawn by the Lord. Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
Religious souls love warm, fuzzy feelings! They had rather hear about ‘the moon shining over little Willie’s grave,’ or about someone ‘adopting a little puppy,’ than to hear “Thus saith the Lord!” And if you want them to contribute financially to your “Missions Program,” just show them a picture of a little unwashed, pot-bellied child with a fly on his nose, rather then preach what the Lord said about “going into all the world to preach the gospel!” However, the true, God-called servant must diminish not a word:
And in another passage concerning eating, we find Christ revealing the aspect of the Spirit’s inward feeding of the soul. John 4:31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
The Lord Jesus states here that the fulfilling of his assigned task was the fuel necessary for his being sustained. And THAT must be spiritually understood! He “fed” from the Holy Spirit’s inward sustaining of himself to fulfill his work. John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Elijah received physical food from the hand of an angel which enabled him not to have to eat again for forty days in order to accomplish his assigned task. 1 Kings 19:6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
And how was the Apostle Peter instructed to be able to receive the Gentile Cornelius? Was it not by eating? Acts 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Now take careful notice of what Peter said that he learned from that experience. Acts 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. He understood that God was now showing him spiritually, by the eating of things heretofore under the law, considered unclean by the Jewish community, not to call “any man” common or unclean.
Cornelius was one of those Gentile sinners washed by the blood of the Lamb. Thereby God had cleansed him, so Peter was not to dare call him unclean! 1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And our prophet, Ezekiel was not the only servant of God who was to eat of God’s word in order to inwardly digest its effect, so that he could strongly declare God’s word and purposes to the people. Consider the case of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
And what of the Apostle John as he received “The Revelation of Jesus Christ?” Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. 8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
Here the Apostle John is to represent the church in the last days when the mystery of God should be finished, having to “again” eat the little book in order to refresh themselves in the experiencing of the engrafted word. Not just memorized passages of the Scriptures, but the word which springs up unto eternal life. James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. That “engrafted word” is that which the Holy Spirit has implanted and rooted within the heart of the believer.
Therefore in the last days, the two witnesses – the church and the Holy Spirit (John 5:32) – with arise to their feet, (Rev. 11:11), as both Ezekiel and Daniel were required to do, in order to receive and declare the powerful and effectual gospel to finally draw all God’s people out of Harlot Babylon! (Rev. 18:4)
Is anyone hungry out there?
Pastor Gene Breed
April 4, 2019
