Eze 4 | MHM | STEP | The Representation of a Siege In this passage, God commands Ezekiel to act out a message using signs and symbols. Instead of only speaking, Ezekiel must use actions that the people can see, so that the lesson will touch their hearts and minds. These actions predict the coming siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Even though the message is hard, God wants His people to understand the serious results of their sin and turn back to Him. v. 1 : God tells Ezekiel to take a clay tile and draw a picture of Jerusalem on it. Take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem . This is a sign that Jerusalem, once honored by God, is now brought low because of her unfaithfulness (Isaiah 49:16 ).

‏ Ezekiel 4

The Representation of a Siege

In this passage, God commands Ezekiel to act out a message using signs and symbols. Instead of only speaking, Ezekiel must use actions that the people can see, so that the lesson will touch their hearts and minds. These actions predict the coming siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Even though the message is hard, God wants His people to understand the serious results of their sin and turn back to Him.

v. 1: God tells Ezekiel to take a clay tile and draw a picture of Jerusalem on it. Take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem . This is a sign that Jerusalem, once honored by God, is now brought low because of her unfaithfulness (Isaiah 49:16 ^a).

v. 2: Ezekiel is to build models of forts and battering rams around the tile city. 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 . These small models show how the enemy will attack Jerusalem and surround it completely.

v. 3: He must place an iron pan between himself and the city, like an iron wall. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city . This shows the hard determination of both the attackers and those inside the city. It is also a sign that nothing can stop what God has planned.

v. 4: Ezekiel must lie on his left side for 390 days, to represent the years of Israel's sin. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it . Each day stands for a year of the people's disobedience.

v. 5: God explains that these 390 days represent 390 years of sin by the house of Israel. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days . This covers the time from the first great sin of the northern tribes until Jerusalem’s ruin.

v. 6: After the 390 days, Ezekiel is to lie on his right side for 40 days, representing 40 years of Judah’s sin. 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 . This points to Judah’s continued disobedience, especially in the years before the exile.

v. 7: Ezekiel must set his face firmly toward Jerusalem and stretch out his arm as a sign of God’s determination. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it . This shows God’s seriousness in carrying out judgment.

v. 8: God says He will tie Ezekiel with cords so he cannot turn from one side to the other until his days are complete. 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 . This is a sign of how stubbornly the siege will continue and how the people are trapped by their own sins.

All these actions are meant to warn the people and lead them to repentance. God wants them to understand that their suffering comes from their sins, but He also wants to give them a chance to turn back to Him before it is too late.

The Representation of a Famine

In this section, God tells Ezekiel to show, through his actions, how terrible the famine during Jerusalem’s siege will be. These instructions are meant to help the people understand and feel the suffering that is coming because of their sins. Ezekiel must experience hardship himself as a sign, so the people can see the seriousness of God’s warning.

v. 9: God tells Ezekiel to make bread from a mix of grains—wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and fitches. 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 . This bread, made from whatever he can find, shows how desperate food will be during the siege. People will have to eat whatever is available, even food they would normally give to animals.

v. 10: The amount of bread Ezekiel can eat each day is very small—only twenty shekels’ weight, about ten ounces. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day . This represents how people in Jerusalem will be forced to survive on strict food rations.

v. 11: The amount of water he can drink is also small—only about one-sixth of a hin, or half a pint. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin . This shows that even water will be scarce during the siege, and everyone will have to ration it carefully.

v. 12: God tells Ezekiel to bake his bread using dried human dung for fuel. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man . This is meant to shock the people, showing them how unclean and desperate things will become. The bread will not only be poor in quality, but also cooked in a way that would disgust anyone.

v. 13: God explains that this is a sign: the people of Israel will eat defiled bread among the nations where they are scattered. Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles . In exile, they will not be able to follow their food laws and will have to eat whatever they are given by their captors.

v. 14: Ezekiel, troubled by this command, pleads with God because he has always followed the Jewish food laws. Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted . He is worried about being defiled, showing his deep respect for God’s commands.

v. 15: God shows kindness to Ezekiel and allows him to use cow’s dung instead of human dung for fuel. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung . This change respects Ezekiel’s conscience but still keeps the lesson strong.

v. 16: God says that He will take away the supply of bread in Jerusalem. People will eat and drink small amounts, worried and amazed at the shortage. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem... . The famine will cause everyone to be anxious and astonished at their suffering.

v. 17: Many people will waste away and die because of their sin. That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity (Ezekiel 4:17 ^b). The famine is not only a result of the siege but is also a punishment for turning away from God.