While reading Ezekiel 1–3 this week for our Bible in a Year plan, one thing struck me as especially odd: Ezekiel eating a scroll. I mean… what?

We all have those “wait, what?” moments in Scripture. Anyone who’s studied hermeneutics will tell you: the Bible wasn’t written to us, but it was written for us. In other words, the Bible cannot mean to us what it did not mean to its original audience.

Sometimes we hit creative metaphors; other times it’s something literal that simply clashes with our modern sensibilities. It’s hard to step into the mindset of a nomadic, pastoral culture thousands of years ago. Human nature hasn’t changed much, but culture sure has.

When I picture “eating paper,” I think of two things: either you’re hiding a secret note, or you’re that one weird kid in class who just… likes the taste. But Ezekiel? He’s told to eat a scroll, and if you’re a student of history, it was made of one of two things: animal skin or papyrus. Not exactly appetizing.

And yet, in Ezekiel 3:3, he says it tasted like honey. So maybe he really did eat it. Far be it from me to argue with a prophet!

But metaphorically, it’s both profound and powerful. Eating the scroll means internalizing God’s message and taking it in so deeply that it becomes part of who you are. God’s Word must be consumed before it can be proclaimed. Ever heard the idiom, “You are what you eat”? Like that…only holier (and no, I don’t mean holier like “full of holes”).

The “sweet” taste reflects that God’s Word is truth and life (Psalm 19:10), yet the scroll’s contents – “lamentation, mourning, and woe” (2:10) – reveal that delivering it would be bitter work. Sweet to receive, bitter to speak.

This act also marks Ezekiel’s prophetic commissioning. Like Jeremiah (Jer. 15:16) and John in Revelation (Rev. 10:9–10), he isn’t just a messenger about God’s words, but he becomes a vessel of them.

So, next time you hit something “weird” in Scripture, don’t worry. You’re not a bad Christian for furrowing your brow in confusion. I think God sometimes wants to puzzle us. I do not think this is to sow discord, but to invite us to dig deeper, to seek context, and, like Ezekiel, to truly absorb His Word.

I would not, however, suggest eating pages out of your Bible. Stick to reading the Word, not chewing it. Ezekiel was a professional.