Sign of the Siege of Jerusalem
1Co 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
Eze 4:1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Eze 4:2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. (Websters)
Eze 4:3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Ezekiel was told to write on a tile, perhaps a moist clay tablet used for writing; cuneiform writing is one of the oldest forms of writing, or perhaps it was a brick tile, one by two feet in dimensions. He could have drawn on it with a piece of charcoal, it doesn't say. He was to draw an outline of Jerusalem. He was to show it under siege with an iron pan, or a plate of iron between the city and Ezekiel. This was as a sign to the people. The iron pan was to symbolize that the siege could not be broken.
The Siege
2Ki 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
Trees were cut down and dirt brought in to build a mount or ramp to get high up where the walls were weaker, then they could erect towers to use catapults or battering rams against the walls to break through.
Ezekiel's life was to be used for signs to the exiles. Another prophet, Hosea was asked to marry a prostitute as a sign to Israel of their spiritual adultery.
Hos 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
So the prophet was not only to speak the word of God, but he was to be an illustration of his message if so required. Are we illustrating what a child of God should be like as we walk among the people of the world?
Eze 4:4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
Eze 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
He was to lie on his left side for 390 days, each day standing for a year, according to the iniquity of the house of Israel. For 390 years Israel had been worshipping other gods.
Compare this to Numbers 14:34.
Num 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
In this verse Israel was given a year of wandering for every day they spied out the land. They were punished because of their fearful unbelief. They feared the people of the land more than they feared and trusted in the Almighty God of Israel. Ezekiel was to illustrate the sin of Israel by laying on his left side for 390 days, each day standing for a year of their rebellion.
Eze 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
After this he was to lay on his right side for forty days, each day standing for a year of Judah's rebellion. This man of God had to endure hardships, as Jesus submitted "not my will but thine be done", so did Ezekiel submit, for he had the Spirit of God in him to accomplish what God required of him. If you are spirit filled, you have what you need to do what God has purposed for you to do. Are we doing God's purpose? That doesn't mean we are to be laying around watching TV. Ezekiel was told to lay down for God's purpose. What is God saying to you and to me?
Bread and Water
Eze 4:7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
Eze 4:8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
He was to be bound with ropes. He probably was able to get up to eat and to tend to personal matters.
Eze 4:9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. (Matthew Henry)
Eze 4:10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
Eze 4:11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Everything was by measure, such as in times of scarcity.It was a vegetarian diet. Remember Daniel who preferred vegetables instead of the kings meat?
Dan 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Eze 4:12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Eze 4:13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Eze 4:14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Eze 4:15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
He was allowed to cook with cows dung because as a priest dung from a man was a defilement. The food illustration was to show that they would not be eating as well as when they were free under their covenant in Jerusalem. Abundance often brings idleness.
Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Eze 4:16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
Lev 26:26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Ten women would share one loaf of bread.
Eze 4:17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
Lev 26:39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
The LORD would bring Jerusalem into a famine because of their iniquities. I was thinking about Ezekiel being told to act out these signs to the exiles in Babylon. These were things coming to their beloved city because of sin and idolatry. As exiles they may have been saying why me LORD? I thought you were a God of love? Why be so mean? Well, he is showing them the results of their rebellion. He still loved his people and was showing them his righteous judgement of their sins, according to their covenant. The LORD had done nothing wrong; the evil was brought upon themselves. Truth is to be received for correction and correction received brings about true repentance. God's people are not forgotten.
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