Ezekiel 3:1-3

1-3. Ezekiel’s preparation for future speech, by making the truth which he was to utter a part of himself, required the co-operation of the human and the divine. God furnished the truth (Ezekiel 2:9) and caused him to eat it (Ezekiel 3:2); but it was also needed that Ezekiel should accept it of his own will and use all his energies in the attempt to assimilate it (Ezekiel 3:3). Notwithstanding the bitterness of the message it became sweet to the taste when obediently accepted. To the true prophet even “God’s bitter word is sweet.” (CompareJeremiah 15:16; Jeremiah 15:16; Psalms 19:10; Revelation 10:8-11.)