Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, was a Prophet of God. He was in exile in Babylon with the Jews who had been taken captive prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. The book of Ezekiel begins with God appearing to Ezekiel in the land of Babylon by the river Chebar. God spoke to Ezekiel and told him to go to the exiles and speak the words that God would give Ezekiel.
God gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat and strengthened Ezekiel for the task which God knew would be difficult for Ezekiel. The scroll contained God’s Words, which when eaten became a part of Ezekiel. It is interesting to me that God had Ezekiel eat the scroll.
Much later Jesus would say to His disciples, “I am the bread of life. Unless you eat my flesh you have no part with Me.” The Bible says that Jesus is the Word of God. When we read the Word of God we are literally ingesting God’s Words. The Word of God becomes part of our being, just as God’s Words became part of Ezekiel.
The Bible should be our ‘daily bread.’ It nourishes us spiritually. Just as we need to be nourished daily by food we also need to be regularly nourished with God’s Word, the Bible. The Bible sustains us and it guides us. It literally nourishes us.
I personally have found that I need the Bible. I need to read it daily no matter where I am. It truly is an essential part of my daily life, just like food and water.
