Ezekiel 3:27

Finally the Lord would enable Ezekiel to speak again. He would announce a message from the Lord. Some of his hearers would listen, but others of them would refuse to listen because they were rebels against the Lord. Nevertheless, regardless of their response, the hearers would be personally responsible for their response (cf. Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:10-17; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 13:9; Revelation 22:11; et al.).

Evidently Ezekiel’s muteness lasted for several years, until the fall of Jerusalem (cf. Ezekiel 1:1-3; Ezekiel 24:25-27; Ezekiel 33:21-22). [Note: Block, The Book . . ., p. 151.] He was not entirely silent during this several-year period, from the present until Jerusalem fell, but he only spoke to the people when God gave him special messages to deliver (cf. Ezekiel 11:25; Ezekiel 14:1; Ezekiel 20:1). Rather than speaking publicly from time to time as he lived among the people, as other prophets normally did, Ezekiel remained at home except to deliver special messages from the Lord (cf. chs. 4-5). Thus Ezekiel spoke less publicly and led a more reclusive life than the Lord’s other prophetic spokesmen. Another view is that Ezekiel’s period of silence ended with the conclusion of his commissioning. [Note: Chisholm, p. 235.]

"From that moment onwards, Ezekiel was to be known as nothing but the mouthpiece of Yahweh. When he spoke, it was because God had something to say; when he was silent, it was because God was silent." [Note: Taylor, p. 74.]

"His speech is to be intermittent and limited to judgment oracles." [Note: Allen, p. 63.]

"Ezekiel . . . has to experience the inability to speak . . . as a forceful experiential reminder of the fact that he has no authority to make up on his own what he says to his fellow Israelites. Rather, only God can, as it were, loose his tongue. He must let God speak through him, and not invent anything himself or take his message from anyone else. Originality is usually prized among writers and speakers. Yet there was to be no originality in Ezekiel’s doctrine. In all five commissions [Ezekiel 2:1 to Ezekiel 3:27] he is reminded that his job is to convey and not to create." [Note: Stuart, p. 37.]

We have the same duty (Matthew 28:19-20).