EZEKIEL 4, 5. FOUR SYMBOLS, PROPHETIC OF THE COMING DOOM OF JERUSALEM. Ezekiel 4:1. (A) THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM But if Ezekiel may not speak, he is a prophet still, preaching, if not by the word, at least by symbolic action; and, ominously enough, his first message is the announcement of the siege o... [ Continue Reading ]
(B) THE EXILE: ITS DURATION. The next action is more curious. Ezekiel is represented as lying upon his side for 190 days (as LXX correctly reads in Ezekiel 4:5) to symbolise the years of punishment in exile a year for a day undergone by Israel and Judah for their sins. As the restoration of these tw... [ Continue Reading ]
(C) THE HARDSHIPS OF THE EXILES AND THE BESIEGED. The horrors of famine, consequent upon the siege, are suggested by the symbolical action of this section, in which the prophet's food and drink are to be carefully measured out about half a pound of food a day and a little over a pint of water. But b... [ Continue Reading ]