Reading for February 6th

Read Ezekiel 1.28b-3.13 The commissioning of Ezekiel.
In verse 1.28b a voice of someone speaking: Compare 1 Kings 19.12.
In verses 2.1-2 God addresses Ezekiel as  mortal, literally, "son of adam,"
ninety-three times in the book.
Adam means "human" in Hebrew, and "son of adam" conveys Ezekiel's
mortal status in contrast to God.
The spirit (literally, "wind") of the LORD prepares Ezekiel to serve as a prophet
(see 1 Sam 10.6, 10; 1 Kings 18.12).
In verses 2.3-7 the charge of Israel's rebellion against God is a constant theme throughout the prophets to justify Israel's suffering as an act of divine punishment.
Habakkuk and Job question this theology but ultimately defend God's righteousness.
The messenger formula, Thus says the Lord GOD, indicates Ezekiel's role as God's representative.
In verses 2.8-3.3 Ezekiel eats the scroll to internalize the divine message.
The scroll represents the Torah scroll stored in the ark of the covenant and read to the people
(Deut 31.9-13, 24-27; Neh 8-10).
Although the scroll is inscribed with words of lamentation and mourning and woe, Ezekiel states that it was as sweet as honey (compare Jer 15.16).
In verses 4-11 many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language: many peoples were incorporated into the Assyrian and Babylonian empires (Isa 33.19).
God stresses that the message is for Israel, not the nations.
In verses 12-15 Tel-abib, "hill of barley," may derive from the Babylonian expression "til abubi," "hill of the flood"; Babylonian is prone to flooding in the spring.
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