What is the context?
The Lord closes this message by looking ahead to the loss of Jerusalem’s stronghold, its cherished security and its children. A fugitive will bring the news to Ezekiel, and his mouth will be opened.
The promise answers the restriction on his speech introduced in Ezekiel 3:26–27. His silence and the ending of it belong to his role as a sign through whom the people are confronted with the Lord’s word.
Ezekiel 33:21–22 records the arrival of the fugitive and the opening of Ezekiel’s mouth. It specifically says that his mouth had been opened the evening before the man arrived in the morning. The promise is fulfilled in that setting, without requiring both events to occur at the same instant.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley connects the silence with the period when the following chapters address other nations. Cambridge understands the arrival of the fugitive and the opening of Ezekiel’s mouth together, allowing the expression about that day to describe the period of the great event.
The focus is confirmation of the message and a change in the prophet’s assigned role. The passage supplies no rule that another person’s silence or recovery of speech must have the same prophetic meaning.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.