Welcome back to Bible Study! The best part of the week is in God’s Word. This week, Ezekiel will illustrate the coming difficulties the people will face. Listen close because God is going to explain it all.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, thank You for this time to study and for these words we’re about to read. Help us see the meaning in them for us today and how we should respond in light of that. Thank You, Lord, for all You do and have already done for us this day. In Your Name I pray. Amen.
Ezekiel Chapter 4 – Amplified Bible
Please read Ezekiel 4:1-3
Siege of Jerusalem Predicted
1 “Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you and inscribe on it [a diagram of] the city of Jerusalem. 2 Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise a ramp against it; set up [enemy] camps and place battering rams all around it. 3 Further, take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.
Can you picture this? God is asking him to craft! But only as an illustration the people will understand. A siege wall, a ramp against it, battering rams and surrounded by enemy camps. Then set an iron wall between him and the city. Eek. Can you imagine what the people thought of this? Well, that is if anyone paid any attention anyway.
Please read Ezekiel 4:4-8
4 “Then lie down on your left side (toward the north) to bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the [a]house of Israel. You shall bear their wickedness and punishment for the number of days that you lie on your side. 5 For I have assigned you the years of their wickedness and punishment, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days [representing three hundred and ninety years]; in this way you shall bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these [days for Israel], lie down again, but on your right side (toward the south), and you shall bear the wickedness and punishment of the [b]house of Judah forty days. I have assigned you one day for each year. 7 Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8 Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
I find verse 8 to be a great comfort for following this plan. Because it would be very difficult to lay on one side for so long. I mean, I spend a lot of the night in my bed on my left side but I doubt very much I could spend the whole night there let alone more than a year. And just forget about laying on my right side, can’t do that for more than a few minutes since I had my daughter. And most certainly Ezekiel was not in a bed.
But what do you think about 390 days meaning judgement and punishment for the house of Israel for 390 years? And 40 years for the house of Judah? Praise God for Ezekiel only needing to do this for the number of days that will mean years.
Years of wickedness incur years of punishment. Thank You, Jesus for granting us forgiveness. While You never said we will have no circumstances because of our sin, You have said we are always forgiven and the guilt of the sin when confessed is removed. (See Psalm 32:5)
Please read Ezekiel 4:9-17
Defiled Bread
9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make them into bread for yourself. You shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10 The food you eat each day shall be [measured] by weight, [c]twenty shekels, to be eaten daily at a set time. 11 You shall drink water by measure also, [d]the sixth part of a hin; you shall drink daily at a set time. 12 You shall eat your food as barley cakes, having baked it in their sight over human dung.” 13 Then the Lord said, “Thus the children of Israel will eat their bread unclean and defiled among the nations where I will banish them.” 14 But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.” 15 Then He said to me, “See, I will let you use cow’s dung instead of human dung over which you shall prepare your food.” 16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the staff of bread [that supports life] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread [rationed] by weight and [eat it] with anxiety and fear, and drink water by measure and [drink it] in horror [of the impending starvation], 17 because bread and water will be scarce; and they will look at one another in dismay and waste away [in punishment] for their wickedness.
See, God will change His mind if we have some difficulty we need addressed. This time it was Ezekiel had never been defiled in any way. So God granted his request. But still, just replaced it with a less objectionable solution. He was still to follow the orders.
Look what it will all mean. Anxiety, fear, horror, impending starvation. Yet God is punishing them for their wickedness so what can they expect? What can we expect?
All the more reason to confess, repent, Trust Him, walk in faith.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.—yes I have psalm 32 mostly memorized. There are lots of Scriptures worth memorizing. And this one always reminds me that we are forgiven as we confess.
Lord, help us realize all people will one day be judged for their wickedness. Help us be quick to confess, quick to forgive, quick to trust You. In Your precious and holy Name, I pray. Amen.
Footnotes
[a] Ezekiel 4:4 house of Israel – I.e. the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom.
[b] Ezekiel 4:6 house of Judah – I.e. the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom.
[c] Ezekiel 4:10 twenty shekels – About a half pound.
[d] Ezekiel 4:11 the sixth part of a hin – About a quart.