“At the end
Of seven days,
The word of Yahweh
Came to me.
‘Son of man!
I have made you
A sentinel
For the house
Of Israel.
Whenever you hear
A word
From my mouth,
You shall give them
A warning
From me.’”
At the end of a week of stunned silence, the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel. Yahweh said to him that he, the son of man, was going to be watchman or sentinel for the house of Israel. Whenever Yahweh would tell Ezekiel, he would, in turn, warn the house of Israel about the words of Yahweh.
“The Spirit
Lifted me up.
He took me away.
I went in bitterness
In the heat
Of my spirit.
The hand
Of Yahweh
Was strong upon me.
I came
To the exiles
At Tel-abib.
They lived
By the river Chebar.
I sat there
Among them,
Stunned,
For seven days.”
Ezekiel continued his first person recounting of what happened to him after he saw this colorful vision. The same Spirit of Yahweh or the Holy Spirit lifted up Ezekiel and took him away. Ezekiel went in bitterness of spirit, because the hand of Yahweh was strongly on him. Thus he went to the exiles at Tel-abib, by the river Chebar, near Nippur, not far from the Chebar canal. There Ezekiel sat among these exiles for about a week stunned, in a state of shock.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 