The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, Son of man, thou
dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see,
and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a
rebellious house. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for
removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove
from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will
consider, though they be a rebellious house. Then shalt thou bring
forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and
thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth
into captivity. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry
out thereby. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders,
and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that
thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign, unto the
house of Israel. And I did so as I was commanded; I brought forth my
stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged
through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight,
and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight (verses 1-7).
In the commission which the Prophet received (chapter ii) the rebellious
condition of the people had been declared by the Lord, and now once more
the fact that they were "a rebellious house" is mentioned. They had eyes
and did not see, ears and they did not hear. Moses had spoken of that
(Deut. xxix:1-4) and their past history up to the days of Ezekiel only
confirmed the truth of this statement. Isaiah had heard the same words
from the Lord (Is. vi:9-10) and Jeremiah had to repeat them in his great
call to a backslidden people (Jere. v:21). Then our Lord used the same
words when the nation had rejected His testimony (Matt. xiii:13-15; Mark
viii:18; John xii:39-40). The last time we find them applied is in Acts
xxviii:26-27. Blindness is now upon Israel, but the day is also coming
when that judicial blindness will be removed and they will be no longer
the rebellious house. Of this coming great miracle of the Grace of God
Ezekiel's later prophecies have much to say.
Here the Prophet is told to act again in a symbolical sign. He was told
to prepare stuff for removing. This meant that he should attire himself
like one who goes on a journey with sandals on his feet, a staff in his
hand, a burden upon his shoulders. Then he was to remove from one place
to another. He was also to bring forth his stuff in their sight, and
then with the captive's burden upon his back he was commanded to dig
through the wall and carry it through the hole. Furthermore he was to
cover his face so that he did not see the ground. All this the prophet
did in the sight of the people. In all this the Lord in His infinite
patience, in making the Prophet a sign unto them, waited still for their
repentance; "it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious
house."
We find the meaning of all this explained in the verses which follow:
And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of
man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto
thee, What doest thou? Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God;
This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of
Israel that are among them. Say, I am your sign; like as I have
done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into
captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his
shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through
the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see
not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him,
and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon
to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he
shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are
about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the
sword after them. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I
shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the
countries. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from
the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their
abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall
know that I am the Lord (verses 8-16).
The actions of the Prophet were witnessed by the people and they said to
him, What doest thou? The answer to their inquiry is given by the Lord
Himself. We have therefore the divine interpretation of what Ezekiel had
done in their presence. It is a prophecy and concerns mostly "the
prince in Jerusalem"; Zedekiah is meant. His attempt to flee from
Jerusalem and his fate when the king of Babylon put out his eyes, his
captivity in the land of the Chaldeans and death in that land are here
clearly predicted. Jeremiah xxxix:4; lii:10-11 and 2 Kings xxv:1-7 must
be read in connection with the sign of Ezekiel and the interpretation as
given by the Lord. Thus Ezekiel had enacted a prophecy before their eyes
which came literally true. Certain critics have tried to explain that
what Ezekiel did must have happened after the fall of Jerusalem and the
capture of Zedekiah. However, this attempt to disprove the passage as a
real prophecy has failed. Others have tried to explain it in still
another way. It has been said: "Since we know that the book was written
after the event, it is a perfectly fair question whether in the
interpretation of the symbols Ezekiel may not have read into it a fuller
meaning than was present to his own mind at the time." This statement
sets aside the fact that not Ezekiel gave the interpretation and read
something into it, but the whole passage is the Word of the Lord,
introduced with "Thus saith the Lord God." Predictions of any kind
revealing future events seems to be the unpalatable thing for the
destructive criticism, for it proves the fact of divine revelation. We
have followed step by step the different judgment messages and visions
which the Prophet received and delivered, how Jerusalem was facing its
certain doom and now Zedekiah and his fate in trying to escape from
Jerusalem is especially mentioned. All these visions are closely
connected and were all given before the city fell.
And what the Lord predicted here, not alone about Zedekiah, but also
about the people and their dispersion came true. They were scattered
among the nations, but a full end of them was not made, a remnant was to
be left and to declare their abominations among the nations. Scattered
in all countries they witness by their condition as a homeless nation to
their own disobedience and shame.
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, eat
thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with
carefulness; And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the
Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel;
They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water
with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is
therein because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And
the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land
shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (verses
17-20).
An additional message is given. Ezekiel was to eat his bread with
quaking and drink his water with dread and anxious care. It was another
sign of the affliction which was to come upon them. The land also should
become desolate and the cities be laid waste. Thus the Lord continued to
warn and plead with His people. Judgment is always his strange work (Is.
xxxiii:21). "For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children
of men? (Lam. iii:33). The unheeded warnings were repeated over and over
again by Ezekiel and the other prophets; He waited in His infinite
patience for the return of His people and, as we learn from the Book of
Judges, if there is but a cry from the heart of His people, He is ready
to respond. But Israel heard not. They made light of all the predictions
of the rapidly nearing judgment. When we think of our own times and
generation, and remember the deliberate rejection of God's Word, the
impenitence and worldliness prevalent in Christendom, and the judgments
which are threatened and which must come some day, these opening
messages of Ezekiel and their fulfilment in the judgment of Jerusalem
and the nation take on an additional meaning. God must needs do His
strange work, the work of judgment upon those who reject the best He
has given, the Gospel of His Grace. The condition of the people is now
more fully seen in the second part of this chapter.