A Sign of Jerusalem’s Siege
1“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem. 2Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides. 3Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
- EZK 4:1[PROPHECY]Ezekiel acted out the siege of Jerusalem on a clay brick → 2KI 25:1-2
- EZK 4:1[NOTE]ACTING IT OUT. Ezekiel preached with his body: a model city, lying on his side, a strange haircut, packed bags. People who would not listen might still watch.
4Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5For I have assigned to you 390 days, according to the number of years of their iniquity. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
- EZK 4:5[NOTE]390 AND 40 DAYS. A day for each year of sin, for Israel and for Judah. He probably lay down for part of each day, since he also cooks, 4:9 to 12. Scholars count the years in different ways.
6When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned to you 40 days, a day for each year. 7You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.
8Now behold, I will tie you up with ropes so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.
The Defiled Bread
9But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10You are to weigh out eight ounces of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.
11You are also to measure out two thirds of a quart of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times. 12And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”
- EZK 4:12[NOTE]COOKING FUEL. Dried dung was a normal cooking fuel then. Human waste would have made the food unclean, Deuteronomy 23:12 to 14. Ezekiel, a priest, objected, and God let him use cow dung, 4:15. The point: exiles would eat unclean food among the nations, 4:13.
13Then Yahweh said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
14“Ah, Lord Yahweh,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”
15“Look,” He replied, “I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you may bake your bread over that.”
16Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. 17So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.