Ezekiel 20:49

Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

Then said {H559} I, Ah {H162} Lord {H136} GOD {H3069}! they say {H559} of me, Doth he not speak {H4911} parables {H4912}?

I said, "Oh, Adonai ELOHIM! They complain that I speak only in parables."

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”

Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Is he not a speaker of parables?

Ezekiel 20:49 captures a moment of raw frustration for the prophet Ezekiel, as he laments to God the dismissive attitude of the people towards his divine messages. This verse serves as a poignant conclusion to a powerful divine discourse in the preceding verses.

Context

This verse immediately follows a vivid, symbolic prophecy given by God to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 20:46-48. In this prophecy, God describes a "fire" that will consume "every green tree, and every dry tree" in the "forest of the south field," which is understood to represent the impending judgment on Jerusalem and Judah. Ezekiel, known for his vivid allegories and symbolic actions, has just delivered this message. The people's response in verse 49 indicates their skepticism and refusal to take his prophetic warnings seriously, dismissing them as mere riddles or stories rather than urgent divine truth.

Key Themes

  • Prophetic Frustration and Burden: Ezekiel's cry, "Ah Lord GOD!", reveals his deep anguish and exasperation. Like many prophets, he faces the disheartening reality of an audience unwilling to receive God's word, a frustration shared by prophets who encountered persistent resistance to God's word throughout Israel's history.
  • The Nature of Divine Communication: God often communicates through symbolic language, visions, and parables to convey profound truths. While designed to reveal, these methods can be perceived as obscure or nonsensical by those who are spiritually hardened or unwilling to listen.
  • Spiritual Blindness and Dismissal: The people's accusation—"Doth he not speak parables?"—highlights their spiritual blindness. They are not genuinely seeking understanding but are using Ezekiel's complex style as an excuse to ignore the severity of God's impending judgment. They prefer to trivialize the divine warnings rather than acknowledge their own sin and repent.

Linguistic Insight

The Hebrew word translated "parables" is māšāl (מָשָׁל). This term is broad and can refer to proverbs, allegories, riddles, or symbolic sayings, not just the simple moral stories we associate with Jesus' parables. In Ezekiel's context, it often denotes extended allegories or symbolic actions that communicate a deeper, often veiled, truth. The people's use of it here is dismissive, implying Ezekiel's words are obscure or meaningless, rather than profound and divinely inspired messages requiring careful consideration.

Significance and Application

Ezekiel 20:49 offers several timeless insights:

  • The Challenge of Receiving Truth: This verse underscores the difficulty people often have in accepting divine truth, particularly when it confronts their sin or warns of unpleasant consequences. It's easier to dismiss the messenger or the message's form than to confront uncomfortable truths.
  • God's Varied Communication: It reminds us that God communicates in diverse ways, some requiring spiritual discernment and effort to understand. While Jesus later used parables to reveal truth to those with ears to hear and conceal it from others, in Ezekiel's case, the people's dismissiveness was a choice to remain ignorant.
  • Call to Discernment: For believers today, the verse is a call to listen with open hearts to God's word, whether it comes through direct teaching, symbolic language, or challenging prophecies. We are encouraged to seek understanding and apply divine truth rather than dismissing it as irrelevant or too complex.
Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

  • John 16:25

    These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

  • Ezekiel 17:2

    Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

  • Acts 17:18

    Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

  • Matthew 13:13

    Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

  • Matthew 13:14

    And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

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