January 30, 2020
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Ezekiel? Here’s today’s reading:
Ezekiel 4 (ESV)
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
1 “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.........Continue Reading
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I am confused about this chapter because it speaks of the siege of Jerusalem. As far as I know, the siege is already done and the people are in captivity.
Looking at the ESV Study Bible notes, it indicates that the layout of the book is not chronological and that chapters 4 – 24 come before the downfall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
This is one of the things that makes reading the Old Testament difficult is that sometimes things are laid out thematically and not chronologically. Not only this, the symbolism is difficult to interpret for me as well as the timing of the 390 days plus 40, 430 days total if they are subsequent. I wonder if this correlates to the captivity in Egypt which was around 400 years.
The iron griddle, I think, is a part of the priestly vestments (Lev 2:5; 6:21; 7:9).
The one message that is not hard to interpret here is the severity of sin. Verse 17 summarizes that the cause of the punishment is their sin. Ezekiel is called to lay on his side to symbolically bear their sin. May we never become comfortable with sin so that we never feel its weight.
This link shared by Cherilynn was helpful to me to better understand the book of Ezekiel.
https://youtu.be/R-CIPu1nko8
God calls Ezekiel to physically act out what God was prophesying against Jerusalem.
4″Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. 5For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. 6And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.
There is nothing like a visual aid to give a lesson especially a visual aid of this scale and length, I agree with Dan that it is a bit confusing that this pre-exilic lesson is presented here. But there is value for the people to be reminded of what God had provided for them before the exile as a warning even as they are in exile and considering just what they are doing with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, To think that Ezekiel spent a little over a year calling this out and effectively warning people of what was to come and calling them back to God.
How God cares for His people and goes to the utmost to draw them back to Him! It’s just difficult to be the person through whom the message comes. Kudos to Ezekiel for being the instrument! Wha t an encouragement to us to be available to God in whatever way is fitting for us in the church age.