A Model of Jerusalem Under Siege
Study note
God told Ezekiel to draw a picture of Jerusalem on a clay brick, which was common in Babylon. Then he was to set up a model siege around it with tiny forts, ramps, and battering rams. An iron pan placed between Ezekiel and the model city represented the wall of separation between God and his people. This was a visual prophecy acted out for the exiles to see.
1 "Son of man, get a clay brick and set it down in front of you. Scratch a picture of the city of Jerusalem onto it." Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
2 "Then act out a siege against it. Build a miniature wall around it, heap up a dirt ramp, arrange little army camps, and line up battering rams on every side." 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 "Next, grab an iron cooking pan and stand it up like an iron wall between you and the model city. Fix your gaze on it as though you are attacking it. This whole scene will serve as a warning sign to the people of Israel." Moreover take thou unto thee an iron 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.
Lying on His Side
Study note
Ezekiel was told to lie on his left side for 390 days to represent the years of Israel's sin, and then on his right side for 40 days to represent Judah's sin. Each day represented one year of punishment. This dramatic act showed the exiles how long their nations had been sinning against God. God said he would tie Ezekiel down so he could not turn over.
4 "After that, lie down on your left side. You will be symbolically carrying the guilt of Israel's sin -- one day for every year of their sin." 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 "I am assigning you 390 days, matching the number of years Israel sinned. You will lie on your left side that entire time, bearing their guilt." 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 "Once those days are done, turn over and lie on your right side for 40 days. This time you are bearing the guilt of Judah. Each day stands for one year of their 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: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7 "Keep your face pointed at the model of besieged Jerusalem. Bare your arm and prophesy against the city." Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 "I will hold you down so you cannot roll from one side to the other. This will last until your time of acting out the siege is done." 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.
Siege Rations
Study note
During this time, Ezekiel was to eat a small amount of bread made from a mixture of grains and drink a limited amount of water each day. The bread was to be baked over human waste, which was ceremonially unclean. When Ezekiel objected because he had always kept the food laws, God allowed him to use cow dung instead. This showed the terrible conditions people would face during the siege of Jerusalem, when food would be scarce and unclean.
9 "Gather up wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Mix them all together in a single container and bake bread from the mixture. That bread will be your food for the entire 390 days you spend lying on your side." 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, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 "Your daily food ration will be limited to about eight ounces, eaten at set times during the day." And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 "Your water ration will be about two-thirds of a quart per day, also to be consumed at set times." Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 "Bake the bread like you would bake barley cakes, but use dried human waste as the fuel. Eat it where everyone can watch." And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 The Lord said this. "This is a picture of what will happen. Israel will eat unclean food. I will scatter them among foreign nations." And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 I protested, "Lord God, please, no! I have never made myself unclean. My whole life, from childhood until now, I have never eaten anything that died naturally or was killed by wild animals. Nothing impure has ever passed my lips." 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 He relented and said, "All right. I will let you use cow manure instead of human waste as your fuel for baking." 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 Then he said, "Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people there will nervously weigh out tiny bits of bread. They will carefully measure every sip of water." 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 "Food and water will become so scarce that people will stare at each other in horror. They will slowly waste away, paying the price for their sins." That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.