Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 4
Ezekiel sees visions of God and afterward he sits astonished 7 days with the hardhearted and rebellious people that God is sending him to.
After 7 days God tells Ezekiel to go out to plain and He will talk with him there. Not while he is with those people. God tells Ezekiel to go shut himself in his house. Which was part of the object lesson to these rebellious people that God can choose to withhold His word from them.
And God is the one who chooses to send forth His Word.
The rebellious people go and bind up Ezekiel in his house. Thinking that they can stop Ezekiel from going out and giving out God’s Word. However God did something amazing to show them that they are not in control of this.
God makes Ezekiel’s tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth. God make it so Ezekiel could not speak at all. Making the point to these rebellious people that God is the one in control of this.
Eze 3:27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
And after the point of the object lesson is made, God does open Ezekiel’s mouth so he can speak again.
We do not get any details recorded of the reaction of these rebellious people to the object lesson. But we know it did have an effect upon them because Ezekiel is no longer tied up by them and we don’t see them trying to do that again.
I think that at least on some small level this object lesson put a little bit of the fear of God into them. But I also see that they are not in any way ready to listen at all to the word of God yet. I believe this because God does not have Ezekiel preach to them with words yet. Instead God has Ezekiel act out another object lesson before them.
Go to Jeremiah Chapter 14 verse 13 to get some context about what has been going on in Jerusalem.
If you remember from Jeremiah (who was preaching during the same time period as Ezekiel) there were numerous false prophets telling the people that all is well and that God is for us.
Jer 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Jer 14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
People love to hear what they want to hear. So much so that they will reject truth and cleave to the lie if the lie is something that they want to hear. This was true in Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s day and it is true in our day as well.
We see it all around us, we see it in evolution. The evidence is clear and overwhelming that evolution is a lie and actually impossible, but people cleave to it anyway because that is what they want to hear. It gives them some false sense of security that there is no God.
We see it in global warming extremism, we see it politics. And yes we see it a lot in churches. From tongue speaking outfits to those that hold to the unbiblical view of Calvinism to the party rock and roll health and wealth churches.
And even in some independent Baptist churches that are lukewarm (I am not saying all of them are lukewarm I am just talking about those that are) who have no heart to follow God’s instructions to get his Word out, to go and teach and to help the poor. They will reject all that truth and believe when they are told that God is pleased with them and that they are doing God’s work.
People love to hear what they want to hear. And the Bible teaches that this tendency will get worse and worse. To the point they will not endure sound doctrine.
The people in Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s day were that way, they would reject what Jeremiah had to say and listen to the false prophets who said behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
The false prophets were teaching that Jerusalem was not going to fall, that they were not going to be taken over and they will not see the sword or famine. They were falsely teaching that they are assured peace in Jerusalem. And here is another truth. Not only do people love to hear what they want to hear, but there is no shortage of people who will step up and do the false telling to them.
People were listening to and believing those lies. And once someone clings to a falsehood that they want to hear, it is very hard for them to give it up. The people in captivity where Ezekiel is were listening to those false prophets a few years ago before they got taken away.
Image their shock. They were told by who they thought were prophets of God that this would not happen. And here they are. So maybe we can understand their reaction of binding up Ezekiel.
Many will not properly make the correct distinction between a true man of God and a false one. Many people will just throw all of them in the same bucket.
And it could be that some of them are still holding on and believing that Jerusalem will survive, that it will somehow work out. At this point Jerusalem still exists and still has a king in name only. A puppet king controlled by Babylon. But still a Jewish king and still Jewish people in Jerusalem which is still intact.
So some might still be clinging to some of the things the false prophets said about Jerusalem.
So God is going to have Ezekiel act out another object lesson before these rebellious people. And this object lesson is about the fall of Jerusalem.
And God is going to have Ezekiel do it in such a way that it will be clear that God Himself is involved in this. God is going to have Ezekiel do something that is pretty much humanly impossible.
Remember one of the purposes of God sending Ezekiel is so that they will know, I mean absolutely no doubt know that God sent a real prophet among them. God said that the people knowing that in no way assures that they will listen or turn from their wickedness to God.
They still can choose to listen or to forebear. However, they are going to know that God cared enough and wanted a relationship with them enough to send a prophet.
Eze 4:1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
So Ezekiel it told to take a tile. Not very big, this is a model. And the tile is going to represent Jerusalem.
Eze 4:2 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.
Eze 4:3 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.
Ezekiel in this object lesson is acting out God’s part. You will see that more in a bit.
Ok so we have a tile representing Jerusalem and it is sieged. A fort is built against it and battering rams all around it. And there is an iron pan set for a wall of iron between Ezekiel and the city.
What do you think about when you think about an iron wall?
Cold. Hard. Impenetrable. Un-scalable. And iron walls bounce off sound.
So Ezekiel is playing God’s part and the wall is between. So it is an object lesson that there is an iron wall between Jerusalem and God. And this object lesson is showing since Ezekiel is playing God’s part and he laid the siege and he laid the iron wall it is showing that God is the one doing this to Jerusalem.
The iron wall is showing them that God is not going to listen to the prayers of those in Jerusalem.
Eze 4:4 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.
Eze 4:5 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.
So God is showing in this object lesson that Israel has 390 years of iniquity to pay for. One day for every year. Many will get into discussions and argue about when exactly was the 390 years.
Some will try to argue that this is a future period. I don’t buy that. You don’t have your iniquity laid upon you for things you have not done yet. You don’t currently love God and are serving Him and pleasing Him and instead of coming with blessings He comes with chastisement for some sin that you will commit in 20 years in the future.
That would be really horrible if you stop and think about it for a min. Chastisement comes not only after the sin you commit but it comes after you have been given time to repent. God works with His children with great patience and longsuffering and lovingly and justly.
So I don’t believe those who say the 390 years is in the future for them. I think about all of those years of the time of Judges, and I think about Jeroboam and Ahab.
And all the years they worshiped Baal and the groves, and the list just goes on and on. And yes all of those years are not continuous; they had some good kings and a few times of revival here and there. But overall they had centuries of iniquity.
It is not important for us to know exact what each of those 390 years are. It is enough to know that the way God counted it, which is the only thing that counts, there are 390 years to pay for in one setting.
Eze 4:6 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.
So there is another 40 years of iniquity. So a total of 430 years.
Are you starting to think poor Ezekiel? This is over a year and almost 3 months into a 2nd year.
Eze 4:7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
And every day for 430 days Ezekiel preaches against that tile that represented Jerusalem. He is not preaching to these rebellious people he is with directly. Instead he is preaching to this model in their presence.
This object lesson was not for Ezekiel’s sake. It was for the rebellious people that God sent Ezekiel to. It is obvious that Ezekiel would have set this up somewhere in the camp with all of those people.
This would have been a spectacle that some might mock and ignore at first. But one week goes by and then a month and 6 months and it starts to become more obvious that this is serious.
That this is a message from God. I can start to imagine that more and more people start to take notice in a more serious way. Every day they could go by and listen to Ezekiel preach against Jerusalem.
And there is no shortage of material. Ezekiel knew his Bible. Ezekiel could preach about the golden calves in Dan and in Bethel, he could preach about the sins of Absalom, and of course how they did not do the commands of God. And as he preaches about their iniquity in a way Ezekiel is laying their iniquity upon Jerusalem like God told him to.
Someone could listen to that and maybe not go back for a week and when he did Ezekiel is still at it and he could hear some more. And go home and think about that. And think yep. You know Ezekiel is correct, our people did do that iniquity and that iniquity and that one also.
And there is a supernatural aspect going on here.
Eze 4:8 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.
Who laid bands upon Ezekiel? Almighty God did. God made it so that Ezekiel could not roll over. God wanted to show forth in this object lesson just how set God is upon this. God wanted to show that there is no turning from this purpose.
That God’s focus is set, and unchanging, and that God’s focus on this will not be distracted and cannot be moved.
Laying on your side and not rolling over for 390 days is not humanly possible. I know a tiny bit about this. For 7 years I went down to a care center and preached to one man. He was a quadriplegic.
When I started visiting him he could not even move his hand or arm at all. Eventually he could move his arm slightly. Enough so he could drive his wheel chair. And one of the things I learned about is bed sores.
It is a real problem. Even if you somehow had the will to endure the pain and lay on one side for 390 days, you could not by the power of your mind stop from getting bed sores. They cannot keep quadriplegics from getting bed sores and they have special mattresses and foam pads and all kinds of things that Ezekiel did not have.
So God was at work here doing a miracle day after day. God put bands upon Ezekiel so Ezekiel could not roll over and mess up the object lesson. And obviously God was working to keep Ezekiel healthy the whole time.
And as time went on. 9 months and 12 months and a year and 2 months. As that time went on people would have to start thinking, this is not possible. We go to see Ezekiel and he has not moved. At all. And yet he is fine. Just preaching against Jerusalem and laying our iniquity upon it.
They would have to start thinking this is not humanly possible. The only answer to this is that he really is a real prophet of God.
And before Ezekiel starts God has him prepare for it.
Eze 4:9 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.
Eze 4:10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
Eze 4:11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Eze 4:12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Eze 4:13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Although the Israelites disobeyed God’s rules on most things, one thing that many of them did follow was the dietary rules. God wanted to show them that they are going to have to eat defiled bread.
This was the one thing that was too much for Ezekiel. He does not complain about the rest of it. But this was too much for him and he speaks up.
Eze 4:14 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.
Eze 4:15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
God does not rebuke Ezekiel. God responds with care and understanding and love and makes a change. We have seen this many times before. You can go to God with anything. He is not some vengeful angry spiteful God. He is not.
Eze 4:16 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:
Eze 4:17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
After the 430 days of the siege and preaching of Ezekiel of laying their iniquity upon Jerusalem the object lesson changes. It goes from a siege to Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed
I can imagine the stir it would have caused that after all those days of Ezekiel laying only on one side that one day he gets up. And starts walking around. You know this had to get people talking and watching. What is he going to do now?
Eze 5:1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
Ezekiel has not had a haircut for over a year. He is going to have plenty. God tells him to cut it off both the beard and the hair.
Eze 5:2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
Eze 5:4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
God says that in this object lesson the hair represents the people of Israel. The object lesson is teaching that because of their iniquity most of the people will suffer. Some will die and some will be scattered.
But a few in number will be kept close to God. Remember Ezekiel is playing God’s part in this object lesson. And a few will be bound in Ezekiel’s skirts. Showing that a few will be kept close and secure with God.
God has always kept a remnant. No matter how bad things get, there are always a few kept close to God.
Eze 5:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
Eze 5:6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Eze 5:7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
Eze 5:8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
Eze 5:9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
God is longsuffering, but He is not forever suffering. They kept pushing God and pushing and rebelling and doing wickedness and more and more and more. Finally it was too much and judgment came.
And after the year plus long object lesson comes the plain preaching. God wants it to be crystal clear what the object lesson was all about.
Eze 5:10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
Eze 5:11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
Eze 5:12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.
Eze 5:14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
Eze 5:15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
Eze 5:16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
Eze 5:17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
What can we learn from all of this? Many things.
- We see the patience and longsuffering of God because He waited and worked with this people for 430 years before it came to this.
- God is love and God has mercy, but God is also just and there comes a point where He will and must act in judgment.
- Many think that the USA could never fall just like many of the Jews in Ezekiel’s day thought that Jerusalem could never fall. The truth is that the USA could fall when and if we get to the point that we have filled up our cup.
- God loves people so much that He will and does asks hard things sometimes from His servants to try to reach them with His word. This was not easy for Ezekiel.
- We can learn from Ezekiel’s example. He accepts the hard task that God has for him and he is faithful with it.
- When God asks a hard thing God is with His servant. God gave Ezekiel what he needed and the help he needed to live out this difficult object lesson. When it was time to get up Ezekiel could still walk. He did not get gangrene infections from bed sores. His muscles still had strength. When God asks God provides.
- The last one I want to bring up you need to think about. In the object lesson the hair represented the people. A few hairs were saved from destruction and bound close and safe in Ezekiel’s skirt. A picture of being held safe and secure close to God.
Who are the hairs that get kept close? Most are destroyed but who are the people who get to be kept.
What determines who gets that?
God is getting His word out. The people cannot stop it. And God said they are going to hear it, but they have the choice to hear or forebear.
I think it is obvious. Those kept secure and close are the ones who will choose to hear. The ones who will turn from their wicked way and turn to God.
And we can learn from this. God sometimes will bring justice and judgment upon a nation or a group of people, but while He is doing that He is still reaching out and still giving people a chance and He will hold His own close and secure thru it all.