Ezekiel 4-5 Siege Prophecy
God has Ezekiel create a diorama of what is to come for Israel. It is a siege prophecy. And Ezekiel will ‘live it out’ before the exiles for more than a year.
Ezekiel isn’t the only prophet God calls to use ‘sign acts’, but He uses this form quite a bit with Ezekiel. This first ‘sign act’ will last well over a year. The first part of it lasts 390 days. The second 40 more. I don’t know if this is the longest ‘sign act’ but the length of it is daunting! It doesn’t end there though. God has another part that He puts on the very end.
Ezekiel hears all the instructions before beginning the work. The only thing he balks at is the fuel for his cooking fires. I would have had a LOT more questions, like “Can I get up and go to the bathroom?”, or “How long each day do I have to lay there?” Ezekiel asks none of these questions. He simply trusts God and does as He commands. Let’s trust Him as well and step into this story. Holy Spirit, lead this journey again today. Show me what You would have me learn from this story.
♥ ♦ ♥
Ezekiel hasn’t spoken to anyone in months. God is holding his tongue fast. And he hasn’t left the confines of his house for more than gathering water and removing waste. His time hasn’t been idle though. Ezekiel prays most of his time. He prays for the hearts of those that the Lord will be sending him to. He prays that he will clearly hear the Lord’s voice; when the time comes. And he prays that his heart will FULLY commit to whatever the Lord has for him to do.
The day has finally arrived. God is ready to give Ezekiel his next assignment.
Morning breaks and Ezekiel stretches as he prepares to climb out of bed. It still amazes him every day that the soldiers haven’t dragged him off to some slave labor. God has given him special dispensation while in captivity. He is respected by the soldiers and given all the space he needs to do the work of the Lord. Ezekiel KNOWS that this too is the hand of the hand of the Lord
As Ezekiel prepares his morning meal, his spirit is praising the Lord. A hush falls over him then an urgency to listen fills him. His hands still and he waits.
“And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel…”
Ezekiel starts envisioning in his mind what the ‘diorama’ will look like. His imagination only strays for a second or two, for the Lord is not done yet.
“…Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel…”
“Three hundred and ninety days!” thinks Ezekiel with wide eyes.
“…And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year…”
Ezekiel puffs out his cheeks and blows out a large breath. “This is NOT going to be easy” he says to himself.
“…And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege…”
“That’s a LOT of days!” Ezekiel says to himself.
“…And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung” (Ezekiel 4:1-12).
Ezekiel’s eyes go wide at this point. “Bake it on HUMAN dung?”
“Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them” (Ezekiel 4:13).
He is willing to do everything EXCEPT this last part. He is praying that God will understand his reluctance. He feels that he HAS to say something.
“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.[f] From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth” (Ezekiel 4:14).
God already knew Ezekiel would balk at this part. He has prepared an alternative for him that allows him to remain clean, yet complete the work.
“See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread” (Ezekiel 4:15).
Ezekiel breathes a HUGE sigh of relief. This he can do.
“Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment” (Ezekiel 4:16-17).
Ezekiel shakes his head in sorrow for what his brothers in Jerusalem will face.
“And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 5:1-4).
Ezekiel unconsciously runs his hand through his beard and touches the ends of his hair. Once he realizes what he is doing, he stills his hands again.
“Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes…”
Ezekiel’s head is nodding as God speaks of Israel’s rebellion. He KNOWS firsthand her ways.
“…Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again…”
Ezekiel begins to tremble. What is God going to do?
“…Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers…”
Ezekiel’s knees give way beneath him and his hands fly to cover his mouth.
“…And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them…”
Tears stream down Ezekiel’s face as he hears God’s hand of judgment on his brothers who remain in Jerusalem. Captivity in Babylon doesn’t look so bad anymore.
“…Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken” (Ezekiel 5:5-17).
Ezekiel’s head hangs heavily from his neck as the strength to hold it up has left him. THIS is the message God has for His people. It takes him five minutes to compose himself and rise from the floor. Ezekiel sets aside his morning meal. He has no appetite to eat now. There is work to do.
Ezekiel spends the whole day gathering the supplies he will need for what God has called him to do. God has said that He would put ‘cords’ on him as he lies on his side. He wonders how that will affect his ability to cook his meals. “Am I to lie like this ALL day and ALL night” he wonders as he gathers what he needs. A brick, small sticks and twigs (to build siege works with), and iron girdle, a large vessel, wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, a new waterskin, a measuring bowl that will hold 8 ounces of food for his daily meal, and a measuring bowl that will hold 20 ounces of water for his daily ration, and cow dung to use for his fires.
It takes most of the day for Ezekiel to gather his supplies. Once he has everything he needs, he prays over it. “Lord God, lead me daily as I do Your will. I don’t know exactly how all of this is supposed to work, but I will do as You have commanded.”
At the first rays of the morning, Ezekiel begins bringing out his supplies for the day. He brings his water skin with his day’s ration already in it, his measuring bowl with his daily portion in it, fuel for his fire, the brick which he engraved the night before, and the sticks he collected for simulating the siege works. All these he brings to the edge of the street in front of his home. He will take his place at the roadside to improve visibility of God’s message and prevent himself from being trampled by the traffic.
Ezekiel first sets his brick in place. Then he puts the iron girdle on the ground. He lies down on the other side of the girdle. He places his food, water, and fuel a little behind him and towards his head. Then he lies down on his right side.
A few people have stopped to watch Ezekiel as he gets everything ready. They wait silently as he finishes his preparations. When he lies down on his right side and begins fashioning the siege works the people draw closer. A crowd has gathered around, each one trying to get a better look at what Ezekiel is doing.
Slowly and carefully, Ezekiel builds scaffolding, little battering rams, and even a campsite around his brick. The crowd waxes and wanes throughout the day, trying to see what is going on. Ezekiel simulates a battle raging against Jerusalem by moving his pieces about.
Around noon, Ezekiel raises himself on an elbow and cooks his meal. His bowl becomes his pot for cooking. As soon as it is finished, Ezekiel takes a small portion of it and pops it in his mouth. This will have to last him all day, as will the small amount of water he brought with him.
When night falls, Ezekiel feels a release in his spirit to rise from his place. He stands up and stretches his muscles. Leaving the brick and its battlements, Ezekiel gathers his empty food bowl and water skin and goes into his home. Ezekiel measures out tomorrow’s portions before going to bed for the night.
Morning breaks and Ezekiel is ready to take up his position again. Day after Day after DAY, Ezekiel takes his place along the roadside. Day after day he moves the little pieces around to simulate a battle. Not even pouring down rain prevents Ezekiel from taking up his place by the brick. As he moves the pieces about, he also speaks the words that the Lord gave him.
The first week, the people were interested to see what was going to happen. They lost interest quickly. By the third week people were questioning Ezekiel. “Why are you doing this every day? Doesn’t you side hurt from lying like that every day?”
After a month, the questions turn to jeers. “Give it up! No one is listening any longer.”
When their taunts failed to move Ezekiel, the people began simply ignoring him. He wasn’t worth their time and effort. There were better things for them to do than to waste their energy on this ‘fool’.
Day after day, Ezekiel takes up his position. Every night, he crosses off another day on his tally sheet. His beard has grown long, his hair is stringy, and his bones protrude by the time he crosses of his 390th day.
He breathes a sigh of relief that the first session is done. “Forty days more. I wonder what the people are going to think when I change positions in the morning. Will they even notice?”
In the morning Ezekiel walks out to his place along the roadside. He gets everything ready and settles down onto his left side. At first, no one noticed. After a couple of hours, a small crowd gathers.
“You changed sides. Is there a reason for it?”
“There is. As I told you before, I was lying on my right side for the judgment against Israel. One day for every year. The Lord had me complete 390 days; equaling 390 years of judgment against Israel. Now I am lying on my left side for the years of judgment against Judah; 40 days for 40 years. And Jerusalem is under siege.”
Nods flow through the crowd.
“Why so much longer against Israel” asks one observer.
“Because their sin was greater. But Judah is by no means innocent! Thus says the Lord concerning Judah…”
Ezekiel tells them again of the hardship waiting for Jerusalem and the land of Judah. Some have heard it enough times that they have become numb to it. Others are brought to tears.
It doesn’t take long though for the crowds to thin out again. By the end of Ezekiel’s last day, no one even stops by any longer. As night falls on the final day, Ezekiel rises from his place and gathers all the things he has brought to the roadside. He thinks about picking up the brick, but it has been worn down so much that parts of it are crumbling. “Just like the real thing” thinks Ezekiel. For some reason he can’t explain, he still picks up the crumbling brick and carries it into the house. He uses his feet to scatter the ‘siege works’ and ‘camps’ before retreating to his home.
Now that the days of the siege are done, it’s time to move onto the next portion of the prophecy. Ezekiel looks at his beard and hair in the mirror by candle light. He is still fairly young so there is no gray in it, but it is dirty from lying on the ground every day. He thinks about washing it, but decided not to. “Jerusalem is unclean. My hair might as well be unclean as it symbolizes judgment too.”
When morning breaks, Ezekiel doesn’t even think about a morning meal. His stomach has shrunk over the year plus that he has been on 8 ounces of bread a day. He goes straight to the garrison. It is the only place he knows of where swords are kept.
Ezekiel approaches one of the soldiers that he knows by name. “Shalom my friend” Ezekiel calls out to him.
The soldier smiles at Ezekiel and dips his head. “Are you not going to lay beside your brick today” he asks.
“No. I finished that portion of the call of my God. Today I have been instructed to get a sword and use it as a razor to shave my face and head.”
The soldier’s brows draw together and he asks; “Why would you do this?”
“It is a command of my Lord.”
“Your God asks hard things of you. Shaving someone’s head is a disgraceful thing to do to them.”
“It is, if another does it to you in punishment. I think I may be wearing the shame for my people. My God is going to punish them for abandoning His Laws.”
“I’m sorry. How can I help you?”
“I need to borrow your sword.”
“I can’t just hand my sword over to you! I would be drawn and quartered. Who is to say what you would do with it after you have it!”
“I mean only to follow the directives of my God. I have no sword, nor does any of my people.”
“Exactly what are you directed to do with the sword” the soldier asks with a scowl on his face.
“Thus says my God to me; “Take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard” (Ezekiel 5:1a).
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I will hand you back your sword. I have been instructed as to what to do with the hair that has been shaved from my body. It is to be divided, by weight, into three portions. I can do all that is required on my own after borrowing your sword.”
“I’m not sure about this, but I have learned to trust you. I cannot let you take my sword from my presence though. You may use it here. I will even spread a cloth for you to catch your hair. That way you will have it for whatever comes next.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I will use my cloak, that way, your cloth can be saved for another purpose.”
The soldier hands Ezekiel his sword and stands watch as Ezekiel carefully shaves his face and head. He watches as the hair tumbles from his shoulders down onto the cloak lying on the ground. He shakes his head in wonder at a man who would willingly do this to himself for his God.
When Ezekiel is finished, he carefully wipes the last of the hair from the sword and lays it across his arm for its owner to easily grasp the hilt. “Thank you again for your assistance” Ezekiel says as he folds the corners of his cloak together to contain the hair. He then picks up his cloak and turns as if to return to his home.
The soldier calls out to him. “Weren’t you supposed to weigh it and then divide it?”
“I am.”
“Do you have a balance at home?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Then follow me to the market place. You will have use of the balance there.”
Ezekiel is surprised by the offer of help. He would have had to negotiate this on his own otherwise. Ezekiel follows the soldier to the market place. As soon as they enter, the soldier calls out to the head man; the one responsible for ensuring that all transactions are done fairly.
“I have need of your balance.”
“What would you need a balance for? This is not your duty.”
“It is not, but this man here has been instructed by his God to do a great task. It requires a balance, and I mean to see that he has one.”
Ezekiel stands clutching his hair filled cloak. His bald head is held high.
The leader laughs when he sees Ezekiel. “This man is disgraced! What crime did he commit that you shaved him bald?”
“He committed no crime. He did this himself in service to his God. If he can so humiliate himself before men, on account of his God, we can honor his request for the use of the balance, for a short period of time.”
The leader knows not to challenge the soldier any farther. He spreads his hands; “It is yours; for a ‘short period of time’. Only so long as no customers are inconvenienced in the process.”
Ezekiel bows his head in thanks and steps over to the balance. He spreads his cloak on the ground, then begins weighing his hair.
“What is this! He is getting hair everywhere!”
With one look, the soldier silences the opposition and Ezekiel continues.
It takes almost an hour before Ezekiel’s hair is evenly divided. One of the merchants offered up cloth to wrap the three portions into so that they would remain separate. Ezekiel thanked him profusely.
Ezekiel is ready for the next steps. The soldier is entranced by what Ezekiel is doing. He HAS to know what comes next. He is not the only one. Many of the people leave the market and follow Ezekiel. They have no idea where he is leading them, but they follow anyway.
Ezekiel stops in the center of the city, where the fires burn when the days are cold to warm those without homes and the soldiers patrolling the city. Today is a chilly day, so there is already a fire burning in the pit. Ezekiel sets his cloak down and chooses one of the three bundles. From this bundle, he pulls a small portion of hairs. He tucks them into his garments. They easily stick to the fabric. Ezekiel then lifts the rest of the hair and dumps it into the fire.
Ezekiel calls out to the people. “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations” (Ezekiel 5-8).
The people are silent as they watch the hair catch fire and burn up. Ezekiel turns to the soldier again. He ducks his head as he asks for the use of the sword once more.
“I thought you only needed it to shave your hair. What do you need it for now?”
“I am to walk around the city and strike one of the bundles of hair with the sword. While I travel, I will share more of the words of the Lord.”
“I can’t give it to you for that. What if you hold the hair and I strike it with the sword? Will that be acceptable to your God?”
Ezekiel checks in with his spirit then agrees to this arrangement. Ezekiel sets down the two remaining bundles. He chooses one and pulls a few of the hairs from it as well. These he affixes to his cloak beside those from the first bundle. Then the two men set out on a loop around the city. Ezekiel holds up the hairs and the soldier cuts them cleanly with his sword.
As they move Ezekiel continues the prophecy. “And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity” (Ezekiel 5:9-11).
Once their circuit around the city is complete, Ezekiel thanks his soldier friend again. The exiles who have followed along cry out in mourning for the judgment promised by the Lord.
Ezekiel takes his last bundle. He removes a few hairs from it as well and places them in his cloak. They too stick fast to the fabric. In front of all those standing and watching, he begins to toss handfuls of the hair into the air where the breeze catches them.
As the hair is carried away, Ezekiel continues the prophecy. “A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them” (Ezekiel 5:12).
After all the hair had been flung to the wind, Ezekiel gathered together all the hair that he had put into his robe. It made a small fistful. From these he drew out an even smaller portion and he begins walking back to the center of the town. The group who has been following him sticks with him as firmly as the hairs did.
Ezekiel reaches the fire pit and tosses the small portion he had removed into it. Then he cries out to the people a final time. “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken” (Ezekiel 5:13-17).
Ezekiel takes the small remaining remnant of hair and rolls it into the folds of his cloak. Here the pieces stick fast again. He turns from the people without a word and makes his way home. His mission is finished.
The people talk about what Ezekiel did for almost a month. Other cares of the world take their attention away and they go back to their normal lives. Ezekiel remains in his house again; waiting his next assignment and contemplating the judgment God has promised his people. He KNOWS that the Lord has great mercy. He prays that the people will turn back to the Lord and prevent this from happening.
(to be continued)
Ezekiel could not have completed this task on his own. He had to have the Lord’s favor to even lay has hand on a sword. God opened the doors for him so that His prophecy would be proclaimed.
I have also been thinking about the ‘diet’ Ezekiel went on, as well as the conditions he went through. A normal person does not stay immobile for more than 20 minutes at a time. Our bodies require that we shift from time to time to keep from developing pressure sores. God protected Ezekiel’s skin as well as allowing his body to run on so little nutrients. I bet this completely cut out bathroom trips! God thinks of EVERYTHING!
Father God, I’m MORE than grateful that You haven’t called me to do any of these kinds of acts. I’m not a prophet. I’m a story teller. I’ll take that calling instead.
Thank You also for saving even a portion of Your people to begin again with. You could have wiped man off the face of the earth time and time again. Yet, You protected a remnant. And You are still protecting Your ‘remnant’ today. THANK YOU for making me part of that ‘remnant’; Your family.
