Ezekiel 12: 1 - 28
‘Going on a trip’
“1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.3 “Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. 4 By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity. 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out through it. 6 In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.” 7 So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight. 8 And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them.”’ 11 Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into captivity.’ 12 And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes. 13 I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15 “Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” 17 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. 19 And say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: “They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dread, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” 21 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. 24 For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’” 26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord GOD.’”
In chapter 3 we were taught that the prophet Ezekiel was left with the inability to talk and was freed from this handicap when God wanted Ezekiel to pass on His message to the people.
“1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”
How would you like to constantly preach to a congregation that never listened to your teachings? The Lord passed on this information to His prophet, yet He would never be accused of not warning His people as to their failings. Our Holy Father Yahweh told Ezekiel that the people did not want to hear the truth. At the same time they did not want to accept the consequences of their actions.
They had ears to hear but would not hear. In this chapter God would show by directly acting out examples by His prophet of actual events but they ‘would not see’. They had previously seen Ezekiel bound and lying on his sides; growing thin by eating starvation rations; and acting out a siege of Jerusalem. Yet, through all of this they would not believe because their hearts were rebellious.
Isaiah 6: 9 – 10 says, “9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 “ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Jeremiah 5: 21 also tells us this, “21 ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:”
The Jews had come to identify God in their own conceptions. They did not learn and understand Who He said He was and what He wanted done.
You have to recognize that the captives had been hearing from Ezekiel now for over a year. They would not take to heart anything he had to say or were they stirred by what he acted out.
We have to look at ourselves. We can also act this same way. We can fall away if we do not stay close to our Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our ears can become deadened to what the truth is all about and our vision without knowing can become lessoned. We need to be steadfast in continued prayer, studying His Word, and fellowshipping with other believers.
We read on in chapter 12 this,
“. 3 “Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. 4 By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity.”
Ezekiel had become a tourist attraction. With all the strange things that he had done, the people, especially the elders of the Jews, were curious at what new display he would do. Here now you can see him acting out how people would try to sneak out of the city to get away from the enemy attackers. Verses 5 and 6 go on to tell us what he was acting out,
“5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out through it. 6 In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”
Remember that Ezekiel is in Babylon with his fellow captive countrymen. God Is showing the exiles how He knows all things. He was displaying what actual events were about to happen back in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel was instructed to leave his house through the wall. The houses were made of sun-dried brick that would not be that difficult to hack through. Leaving in the dark indicated the idea of secrecy and haste.
‘Cover your face so that you do not see the ground’ was a sign that who ever he was acting out, was a person who was trying to escape by being in disguise. In addition, ‘not seeing the ground’ was an indication that this person would not see his homeland again. We know that he was acting out the king of Israel’s attempt to seek out of Jerusalem.
“7 So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight.”
Note how Ezekiel obeyed the Lord and grabbed the attention of the people. He brings out his ‘stuff’ in the daytime. This grabbed the people’s attention. He then leaves this stuff outside and goes back in his house. Can you imagine the people huddling together to try to figure out what he was up to. Then at night they hear all this noise coming from Ezekiel’s house. The noise seems to be coming from one of the walls. He is busting down one of the walls.
“8 And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them.”’ 11 Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into captivity.’
This act had the people stumped. Look at what the Lord points out to us in verse 9, ‘has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, what are you doing?’ Ezekiel carried out his orders from the Lord. It achieved the expected results. The people came to him and asked him what his signs meant. Also please notice that Ezekiel refers to Jedekiah as the ‘prince’. The real king was taken captive to Babylon so he would not refer to Jedekiah as the king.
“12 And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes.”
Have you ever seen the President or some other influential person carrying anything? People who are important do not carry burdens. They have others do it for them. Notice that the Holy Yahweh says that the prince shall bear his belongings. This could also be part of Zedekiah’s disguise making it seam that he is just an ordinary Jew trying to flee the city. We read in the book of 2 kings exactly what happened,
“1 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.4 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.”
“13 I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there.”
In Jerusalem the prophet Jeremiah was telling everyone that Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon while Ezekiel was saying that he would not see Babylon. Therefore the prince didn’t believe either one of them. Little did he realize that both prophecies would be true?
Hosea 7: 12 tells us, “12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard.”
Lamentations 1; 13 also reports, 13 “ From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it overpowered them; He has spread a net for my feet and turned me back; He has made me desolate and faint all the day.”
The attempted escape would be frustrated like a trapper catches game. Our Holy Yahweh would cast His net over them and capture them in His snare. They would not be allowed to escape for they must reap what they had sown.
“14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15 “Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”
When the Babylonian army got word that the Jewish leaders had escaped they set out after them in hot pursuit. Zedekiah’s support staff abandoned their loyalty to the prince and fled away on their own.
Jeremiah 49: 36 reports, “36 Against Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.”
Daniel 7: 2 reports, “2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.”
Zekekiah’s supporters and military units that were not captured were scattered in every direction – ‘every wind’. In His Mercy some of the people would be spared so that they may understand that all this horror was a result of their sinful rebellion and rejection of their God Yahweh. These survivors would finally come to an understanding that the Lord was Righteous in His Judgment. The Holy Yahweh would then be honored in the eyes of the Gentiles instead of being described as unfaithful or weak in protecting His people.
The result of being sent to the four winds of the nations would be for a testimony to the world. The actions taken against the Jews by the Holy Yahweh would show the serious consequences of rebellion against Him. Yet, in all of this God would demonstrate His Love and His Forgiveness with His restoration of the Jews as His elect. The book of Hebrews 12 says this in relation to the Lord,
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
They say that ‘more is caught then taught’. The Jewish people would learn that God was both Holy and Loving. Sin had to be dealt with but our Holy God has made a way to come back to Him and that is through the wonderful complete sacrifice our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid by His Own Blood. They would know as verse 16 declares that ‘they will know that I am Yahweh’. They would recognize His holiness; His hatred of sin; and His ability to deal with sin.
“17 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety.”
With all this communication coming to Ezekiel, the Lord added some more directions. Ezekiel was to also act out a condition of eating quickly while shaking in fear. I am sure it was a very eye catching example that he gave.
“19 And say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: “They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dread, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
The atrocities that resulted from Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of what can happen after a catastrophe. There were quickly formed gangs of thugs who through violence, rape, muggings, and thefts against other survivors in the New Orleans areas proved how quickly mankind slides back to animalistic ways. The lack of law and order in Israel resulted in violence to those still left in the land. Our Lord was painting out for us a picture of constant unrest and lawlessness.
“21 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’?
The apostle Peter described the same thing going on here in his second book,
“1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
A major problem with us sinners is our attitude. Since we are of the McDonald’s generation we want everything right now. So if a word of Prophecy spoken does not instantaneously happen then we just take on the attitude that it isn’t that important.
Another way of looking at this statement or proverb is, ‘The days, they lengthen and every vision, it dies.’ or ‘The days are prolonged and every vision fails.’ It states just what I said, in that, none of the past prophesies ever happen. The people take on cynical and apathetic attitudes that say ‘the prophecies given have never happened nor will ever happen.’ Even with all the things that happened to them, their city, and their land they still held out in the sinful pride that judgment would not come on them in their lifetime.
“23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.’
The Holy Lord Yahweh says, ‘Oh really? You think My words of warning do not come about? Well, let’s see about that. You will see them occur.’ These mockers will see the scriptures burst upon them with lighting speed.
We need to learn from this significant sinful fleshly condition, and that is, that the warnings of God as displayed in His word – the Bible – are not idle threats. There will be payday some day. If you are a child of God He will deal with sin in our lifetimes. If we do not belong to Him, then the future will serve out the eternal sentence.
“24 For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’”
The problem for Israel as well as for us today is conflicting voices. It is hard enough because of the world, our flesh, and the devil to hear the saving gospel of life. Then, if we are the truly blessed, who did hear the ‘Good News’, and respond to it, for the great forgiveness and eternal life given to us from our Holy Savior, we get caught up with too many influences. There were false prophets like today who promised peace and prosperity. There were also just a few like today who only cared what God wanted preached, like Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who spoke the truth. Only the obvious truth would be displayed.
26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’
This verse seems like the one above where the people denied the prophecy ever occurring. However, the difference is that the Lord is now recognizing some of the people who are saying that they believe the prophecies to be true but are still sticking to the belief that it would not happen in their days but happen in some time in the future. The Lord responds, ‘Nope, wrong answer again. It will happen in your days.’
28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord GOD.’”
The Lord Yahweh speaks the final word, ‘The time of judgment has come.’
We also are fighting off the casual attitude of people. We have many who have drifted away from their strong love and belief’s of God’s word. We must take our on inventory so that our Holy Lord Jesus Christ will not find us sleeping when He comes suddenly. Amen!
