Eze 12:19 | KingComments | STEP | Ezekiel is commanded by the LORD to perform a second symbolic act ( ). He is to perform a new drama. He is to eat his bread with trembling and drink his water with quivering and anxiety. The explanation of this he must communicate to the people of the land, which are the fellow exiles in Babylon. By the way he eats his bread and drinks his water, he portrays the hunger and thirst and spiritual situation that will be in Jerusalem through Nebuchadnezzar’s siege. That situation will be there even afterward, when only a few are left in the city ( ). They will take to themselves the meager rations of bread and water under constant threat and stress. “Anxiety” and “horror” point to the fear that will characterize the time ahead. The cause of this situation is the violence that prevails in the city. Everyone is out for their own benefit and seeks it at the expense of others. The result is the laying waste of the inhabited cities and the turning of the land into a desolation ( ). Thus it will become known that He is the LORD, because they have not been willing to listen to Him in any other way.

‏ Ezekiel 12:19

Eating and Drinking in Fear

Ezekiel is commanded by the LORD to perform a second symbolic act (Eze 12:17-18). He is to perform a new drama. He is to eat his bread with trembling and drink his water with quivering and anxiety. The explanation of this he must communicate to the people of the land, which are the fellow exiles in Babylon. By the way he eats his bread and drinks his water, he portrays the hunger and thirst and spiritual situation that will be in Jerusalem through Nebuchadnezzar’s siege. That situation will be there even afterward, when only a few are left in the city (Eze 12:19).

They will take to themselves the meager rations of bread and water under constant threat and stress. “Anxiety” and “horror” point to the fear that will characterize the time ahead. The cause of this situation is the violence that prevails in the city. Everyone is out for their own benefit and seeks it at the expense of others. The result is the laying waste of the inhabited cities and the turning of the land into a desolation (Eze 12:20). Thus it will become known that He is the LORD, because they have not been willing to listen to Him in any other way.