A written scroll … was covered with writing: Lamentation and wailing and woe! He said to me: … eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel… I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. It seems curious that the prophet Ezekiel would find eating (internalizing) the message of “lamentation, wailing and woe” would be sweet. This contrasts dramatically with how a previous prophet, Jeremiah, feels about the message he has to deliver. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage I proclaim; The word of the LORD has brought me reproach and derision all day long (Jer. 20:8). The pain of exile in Ezekiel’s time made the message of conversion a necessity and more palatable to Israel.
