EZEKIEL 3:11
 

And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” [NKJV]
 

Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not.” [GNT]
 

Though sent to the house of Israel, Ezekiel was specifically sent to the children of Israel inside "Captivity." He is not the son of man we referred when we say, "He came to set the captives free." The Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of man who came to set the captives free, but Ezekiel was the son of man who came to tell the Captives, "Thus says the Lord," notwithstanding whether they hear or whether they refuse.
 

In the Bible verse above, God told Ezekiel, go to the captives, the children of Israel in exile, and tell them what the Lord is saying. As Moses was sent to the Israeli slaves in bondage of Egypt, Ezekiel was sent to Israeli slaves in captivity of Babylon. These men of God were sent to Israel, but not on the land of Israel because they were sent to bring the messages of God to Israel in foreign lands where they were slaves, prisoners, captives. And yet, even as slaves they were yet rebellious and may not hear what God was saying through His sent messengers to them.
 

Why was God seeking to show His opinion or saying to those who were in slavery, captivity, bondage or prison?
 

A prophet in US, Rick Joyner, shared his vision of being sent by the Lord through a door to seek out the endtimes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. But as soon as he went through the door, he found himself beside a "Prison Yard" with tall and thick fence like some Chinese wall so that there were posts on the fence/wall. Within the prison were prisoners, slaves or captives, who were largely blind with short sightedness and could only see few meters far from themselves. Because they were blind, they did not even know they were Prisoners or in prison, but thought they were in church, grouped together in various groups that shared similar resemblance, but fighting those who were different from themselves, which made for frequent fightings and divisions among themselves along the divided lines of differences caused by doctrinal differences, tribal differences, gender differences, class differences, color differences, racial differences, etc, but they did not know they all were blind and were all prisoners/slaves, inside a gigantic prison yard. Many of them were also deaf apart from being blind, including the wardens or Prisons guards watching over them like some sort of overseers or pastors. They were indeed dressed like priests, clergy men or pastors, having their posts on the security posts on the prison walls. But even they themselves did not know they were Prison Guards, neither did they know those they were watching over were Prisoners; they sincerely thought they were in church offices, and those people were free members of their church. This was because they themselves were Blind Guides or Blind Guards. The Blind watching over or overseeing the blind.
 

As the prophet the Lord sent to the Captives of the house of Israel, I mean Captives of those church, came to the Captives to tell them, "Thus says the Lord," he discovered only few could hear him, for other had deafened ears or refused hearing. But they were basically blind and couldn't see afar, which was the reason they had no idea they were captives or prisoners. They thought they were walking in liberty, or Jesus had set them free.
 

[Ezekiel 3:11 ICB] — Go to the captives, your people. And speak to them, whether they listen or not. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says this.’”
 

[Isaiah 5:13-14] —  "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, shall descend into it."
 

[Revelation 3:17-18] —  “For you say, ‘I am rich, and I have grown rich, and I have need of nothing.’ And you do not realize that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold having been refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may be clothed and the shame your of nakedness might not be made manifest, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”