EZEKIEL REENACTS A SIEGE

Ezekiel 4:1-17 / Keywords 4:5

I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel.

 

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4:1 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. 3 Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.[a] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.

9 “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels[b] of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin[c] of water and drink it at set times. 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.” 13 The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”

14 Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.”

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of[d] their sin.

Footnotes

a. Ezekiel 4:4 Or upon your side

b. Ezekiel 4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams

c. Ezekiel 4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter

d. Ezekiel 4:17 Or away in

1. Hundreds of miles away from where Ezekiel was living with the exiles, the situation of the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem was getting worse and worse. God did not want the exiles in Babylon to be indifferent. He had Ezekiel build a clay model of Jerusalem. Then Ezekiel acted out a very difficult and unusual demonstration of the siege of Jerusalem by lying on his side for 390 days. God also had Ezekiel eat rationed food cooked in an unclean way, symbolizing the famine conditions in Jerusalem (9-15).

 

2. The exiles could see Ezekiel’s demonstration and pray for Jerusalem and also repent of their own sins, which had played a part in this catastrophe (16-17). For Ezekiel himself, it was an extended period of prayer. We are called to pray for those who are suffering as if we ourselves were going through the same trials (Heb 13:3 ). God told Ezekiel that by doing this, he would be bearing the sin of the people of Judah (5,6). It reminds us of Jesus who bore all our sin, though he was innocent. We are like Jesus when we intercede in prayer for sinful people.

 

Prayer Father, help me not be indifferent to the suffering of others. Help me pray earnestly for others to be saved from their sins, like Jesus, our great intercessor.

One Word Pray for others as for myself