Ezekiel 4:1-17
1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
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.
3 Moreover take thou unto thee an irona 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.
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.
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.
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.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
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.
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches,b 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.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
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.
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.
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:
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’
The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God
Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 4
The brick and the iron plate – Ezekiel 4:1-8
v1 ‘*Son of man, get a brick, and put it in front of you. Draw a map of a city on it. The city is Jerusalem. v2 Then surround it as with an army. Build fences so that nobody can leave the city. Make a slope up the brick for the armies to attack it. Surround the city with camps for the soldiers. Put wooden poles on each side to break down the gates. v3 Then get an iron plate and make it like an iron wall between you and the city. Look toward the city as if to attack it and then attack. This will show the *Israelites what will happen.
v4 Then lie down on your left side, and take the *sin of *Israel on yourself. You shall take their *sin for the number of days that you lie on this side. v5 I have given you the same number of days as the years of their *sin. You shall suffer for the *sin of *Israel for 390 days.
v6 After you have finished that time then lie on your right side. You shall suffer for the *sin of the people who live in Judah. This will be for 40 days, a day for each year of their *sin. v7 Look toward Jerusalem as the armies attack it. With your arms bare, you shall *prophesy against it. v8 I will tie you up so that you cannot turn from one side to the other side. This will continue until you have finished the days of the attack on Jerusalem.’
Verse 1 The *Babylonians did not have paper so, instead, they made their official records on bricks. They made the bricks out of heavy mud. They would scratch what they wanted to write on the soft brick. Then they would bake the brick in order to make it hard. These bricks were their books.
The *Lord told Ezekiel to draw the plan of Jerusalem on one of these bricks.
Verse 2 He had to make models of armies, fences and camps. He put these in place all round the map of Jerusalem.
Verse 3 The iron plate was an iron pan such as people used in order to cook food. Ezekiel had to put this plate between him and the brick. Then he had to look toward the brick and he had to act the battle against Jerusalem.
This was to show the people that there would be a real battle against Jerusalem. The army of the *Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem.
Zedekiah was the man that the *Babylonians had appointed as ruler of Jerusalem instead of the real King Jehoiachin. Zedekiah promised to serve the king of Babylon. But he did not *keep his promise. He asked the king of Egypt to help him fight the king of Babylon. So, the *Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in the year 586 *BC.
Verses 4-5 After Ezekiel had shown the battle for Jerusalem, the *Lord told him to lie down on his left side. The left side meant that he looked toward the north. This was to show that the message was for *Israel. *Israel here means the 10 northern *tribes in the country called *Israel. Judah was in the south of the country where the other two *tribes lived. (The country of the *Israelites had divided into two separate *kingdoms after Solomon’s death.)
Ezekiel had to lie on his left side for 390 days. Each day was for one year. God would punish *Israel for its *sins during these past years. So, 390 days means 390 years. But experts are not sure when these 390 years began. The 390 years may be from the time that *Israel separated from Judah. The end of that time may be when the *Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. But these dates would not be quite accurate. Perhaps the meaning is simpler: *Israel’s *sins had continued for centuries. But Judah’s *sins (verse 6) were for a shorter period.
The text does not mean that Ezekiel was on his side for 24 hours each day. But he had to lie on his side for a part of each day.
Verse 6 Then Ezekiel had to lie on his right side for 40 days. The right side meant that he looked toward the south. This showed that God would punish Judah for 40 years. We do not know when these 40 years were. They could have ended with the 390 years or followed after them.
Verse 7 While he was lying on his sides, Ezekiel had to stare toward the brick of Jerusalem. With a bare arm over it, he *prophesied its defeat.
Verse 8 All the time that Ezekiel was on his sides, he could not turn over. At the end of these days, the *Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem.
The lack of bread – Ezekiel 4:9-17
v9 ‘Take some crops such as wheat, *barley, beans, small peas, and millet seeds, and put them in one bowl. Mix them and make bread with them. This shall be your food for the 390 days while you lie on your side. v10 You will eat 8 ounces of food every day at meal times. v11 You will drink only a 6th of a *hin of water every day with your food. v12 Eat your food as you would eat a *barley cake. Bake it on a fire of human *dung where the people can see you.’ v13 Then the *LORD said, ‘In the same manner, the *Israelites shall eat food. I will scatter them among the nations. There they will eat foods that are *unclean in their religion.’
v14 But I said, ‘No, *LORD my King! I have never eaten *unclean food. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that I found dead. Nor have I eaten what wild animals have killed. This kind of meat has never entered my mouth.’
v15 ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Then I will give you the *dung of a cow instead of human *dung. Use this for your fire to bake your bread.’
v16 Then he said to me, ‘*Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will have to weigh small amounts of bread. And they will worry as they eat it. There will not be much water. They will feel despair as they drink just a little of it. v17 Bread and water will be hard to find. The people will have a shock when they see each other. They will become weak and thin because of their *sin.’
Verses 9-11 During the days when Ezekiel was on his sides, God told him what to eat. He had to make bread from a mixture of grains. That was his food for the 390 days. Each day he could eat just 8 ounces of this bread. He could drink two pints of water (a 6th of a *hin). In a hot country, this is hardly enough water for a person to drink each day. People would usually drink much more water than this.
When the armies of Babylon surrounded Jerusalem, there would be a lack of food. The people would not have enough wheat or *barley to make their bread. They would not have enough water to drink. The amount of food and water would be just enough to keep the people alive.
Verses 12-13 The *Lord told Ezekiel to bake the bread in front of the people. Ezekiel did not bake it in an oven, but on hot stones.
Ezekiel was to use human *dung as the fuel for the fire to heat the stones. The normal fuel would be animal *dung. But when the armies surrounded Jerusalem, the inhabitants would kill the animals in the city for meat. Then there would be no animal *dung for fuel. They would have to use human *dung.
In the religion of *Israel, the *Israelites could not use human *dung as fuel. (See Deuteronomy 23:12-14.) To do so would make the food *unclean. To eat *unclean food would make the people *unclean. In that state, they could not *worship their God. But in that time, they would have to eat *unclean food or die.
Verses 14-15 Ezekiel complained to God. He had never eaten *unclean food. He had always followed the strict food laws of his religion. So, God let him use cow *dung for fuel.
Verse 16-17 The *Lord would use the *Babylonians to punish the *Israelites. The lack of food is because no food would get into the city. But the real cause is the *Lord.
The people would have just a little food. They would have to make it last as long as possible. So, they would eat a little each day. There would not be enough water to drink. They would be able to have just a little each day. They would become thinner and weaker.
They would become thinner and weaker because of lack of food and drink. But the reason for this lack was their *sin. The *Lord God said that he would punish their *sin. And this situation would be part of that punishment.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Babylonian ~ a person from the nation called Babylon or anything that has a relationship with Babylon.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
keep ~ to perform a promise or to obey a law.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
tribe ~ The Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules.
barley ~ a type of grain crop.
hin ~ equal to one gallon.
dung ~ toilet matter (dirt) that we and animals pass from our bodies.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
unclean ~ unfit for sacred purposes. Unclean food is food that the Jews should not eat because of their religion. When the temple was unclean, it was not right for the worship of God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.