Ezekiel 4 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 4 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• The Book of Ezekiel opens in the 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin had been king in Judah but was dethroned by the Babylonians and taken as a captive. Ezekiel was amongst the other exiles from Judah. Ezekiel’s writing began 5 years before Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Babylonians, which places its beginning in approximately 592 B.C.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHO WAS EZEKIEL?:

• Ezekiel was from a priestly family (1:3) that once lived in Judah. It is thought that he was 30 years old when the events of Ezekiel 1 transpired (1:1). 30 years old was the age at which a young man was permitted to become a priest in the Temple, but that was out of the question for Ezekiel because he had been taken away from Judah as a captive to Babylon. Instead of taking up priestly duties, Ezekiel’s 30th year was marked by God calling him to be a prophet to his sinful countrymen, which we’ll read about in chapter 2.

OUTLINE:

• THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM ON THE STREETS OF BABYLON (4:1-8):

  • God told Ezekiel to present an object lesson, a bit of street theatre, to the exiles in Babylon.

  • Ezekiel was to take a brick and engrave a picture of the city of Jerusalem onto it.

  • He was to lay the brick in front of him and build mini siege works and siege mounts around the city, not unlike a child playing with toy soldiers. This scene was prophetic, representing the siege that would take place before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (586 B.C., about 6 years after Ezekiel was called to be a prophet).

  • Ezekiel was to separate himself from the siege by putting an iron griddle between his face and the battle scene. This separation likely symbolised the separation between God and the people of Jerusalem because of their sins.

  • Ezekiel was to lie on his side near the city for a number of days corresponding to the length of the punishments of the people of Israel and Judah, 390 days on his left side for the people of Israel, and 40 days on his right side for the people of Judah.

  • To enable him to complete this task, God placed “cords” on him to prevent him from moving.

• EZEKIEL’S FOOD FOR THE SIEGE (4:9-17):

  • While lying on the ground to play out the siege, Ezekiel was prescribed a daily ration of food. This too was prophetic. Ezekiel’s food was limited, which represented the meagre rations and starvation that would occur in Jerusalem when the Babylonians attacked.

  • Ezekiel was only allowed to eat one thing, bread made of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer.

  • Ezekiel could eat 20 shekels of bread each day (about 220 grams).

  • His water was also limited to 1/6 of a hen each day (about 0.6 litres)

  • God originally instructed him to cook the food on human dung, but when Ezekiel protested, God allowed him to cook it on cow’s dung.

  • God told Ezekiel, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment” (4:16-17).

APPLICATION:

• When I read about the things God asked His prophets to do, it makes me think I complain too much.

• So many are willing to sacrifice so little for the cause of Christ and the Church.

• We complain about the smallest things.

• We abandon God’s work when it gets the slightest bit uncomfortable.

• We have little tolerance for inconveniences or interruptions to our daily routines, meanwhile Ezekiel is laying in the dust of the streets of Babylon hungry and thirsty every day for over a year to share God’s message with his people, and the only thing he protested about was his ability to cook his food in a way that was consistent with Jewish dietary laws (4:14).

• I think 99% of us ought to be praying for a higher tolerance for sacrifice.