Ezekiel — Chapter 2
Chapter 2 records God's commission of Ezekiel as prophet: Lapide notes the repeated address 'fili hominis' (son of man) appears 93 times in Ezekiel, nowhere else in the OT prophets, and is the standard address used by Christ to Himself in the Gospels (Dan. 7:13). Lapide reads this as God deliberately preparing the title for His Son by habituating the prophetic vocabulary to it.
Verse 3
God sends Ezekiel to a rebellious nation (ad gentes rebellantes): Lapide observes that the prophet is commissioned not to a receptive audience but to hard hearts, just as the Apostles were sent into a hostile world. He cites Chrysostom: the prophet's duty is to speak truth even when rejected, since God will judge both the prophet who refuses to warn and the people who refuse to hear.
Verse 6
Be not afraid of their words, though briars and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions: Lapide uses this to encourage confessors of the faith facing hostile powers. The prophet's fearlessness is not natural courage but supernatural fortitude — a gift of the Spirit to those sent on God's mission.
Verse 8
Ezekiel commanded to eat what is given him — the book/scroll: Lapide reads this proleptically toward 3:1-3. He notes that eating the scroll represents the full internalization of the divine word, which must first be received with sweetness before its bitter message can be proclaimed. He connects this to John eating the book in Rev. 10:9-10.