079. I. Symbolic Prophecies Of The Coming Overthrow Of City And Land (3:22-7:27)
I SYMBOLIC PROPHECIES OF THE COMING OVERTHROW OF CITY AND LAND (Ezekiel 3:22toEzekiel 7:27) 1. The New Method of Prophetic Work (Ezekiel 3:22-27) The second vision of the Heavenly Presence (Ezekiel 3:22-23). For some time I performed with but little success my ministry of warning and exhortation among the exiles at Tel-Abib. His public preaching to give way to private teaching (Ezekiel 3:24-27). But one day, being bidden to go to a secluded valley, I again seemed to come into the very presence of Jehovah, who had laid his commands upon me. “Depart to your house and abandon this useless preaching. You shall not be permitted in public to utter your warnings to this incorrigible people until I again give you permission.
2. Symbolic Representations is of the Fate About to Overtake Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1 to Ezekiel 5:17)
Unable to preach with freedom or success, I was encouraged to portray by symbolic actions the sad and certain fate which was to come to my beloved city. In these ways I forced the people to give unwilling heed to the messages which they had refused to consider. The representation of the siege of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1-3;Ezekiel 4:7). On a tablet of clay I drew a sketch of Jerusalem besieged by active enemies. Between me and this pictured city I set up an iron plate, in token of the barrier between Jehovah and his people, and to signify that he was no longer their protector, dwelling in their midst, but their foe. The symbol of the captivity to endure for a generation (Ezekiel 4:4-6;Ezekiel 4:8). Then I represented in expressive symbol the sore punishment that awaited guilty Israel. For one hundred and ninety[4] days, a day for every year of exile, I laid myself down, as if bound and helpless, on my left side, in token of the penalty visited upon the northern kingdom, and for forty days, representing a generation, on my right side, in token of the fate of Judah.
[4] The reading of this number by the Septuagint in place of three hundred and ninety is very generally accepted as probable. The prediction of famine and of pollution (Ezekiel 4:9-17). While carrying out this symbolic action I was led to portray the extremities to which my people would be reduced. Making an unaccustomed mixture of all available grains with vegetables, and grinding them together into a coarse kind of flour, I prepared a food of which I ate sparingly, taking only a small measure of water.[5] Even this distasteful food I was told to bake publicly with loathsome fuel, in order to drive home to the hearts of all who saw me the awful deprivations of the coming siege, and the pollutions of a foreign captivity.
[5] Half a pound of food, about a pint and a half of water. The prediction of the threefold disaster impending (Ezekiel 5:1-4;Ezekiel 5:12). But the fourth symbol was yet more significant. With a sword of keen edge I was to remove my hair and beard, dividing the severed hair into three portions. One third I burned in the fire, representing the inhabitants of Jerusalem about to die of pestilence and hunger during the siege. Another third I cut in pieces with the sword to indicate that as many would perish in battle. The last third I scattered to the winds, since my people were to be dispersed among the heathen. Not all were to perish, but some, after being subjected to purifying judgments, were to be preserved. The meaning of the four symbols (Ezekiel 5:5-17). And this was the explanation[6] of these symbolic actions. Since Jerusalem, the favored city, the very centre of the earth, has surpassed all nations in deliberate wickedness, not even recognizing and living up to such standards as they maintain, she must be visited with exemplary punishment, so severe that the whole world will be impressed. The horrors of the siege, the distant exile, are but modes of punishment which give expression to Jehovah’s righteous indignation because his people have polluted his very sanctuary with idolatrous rites. Jerusalem shall become a laughing stock to hostile nations, a desolation ravaged by wild beasts and robbers, an example of the just vengeance of the Almighty.
[6] Most scholars regard, “Therefore shall a fire come forth” (v. 4,) as a gloss, and read, with the Septuagint, “and say to the whole house of Israel.”
3. The Certain Devastation of the Land of Israel (Ezekiel 6) The land with its guilty inhabitants deserving of devastation (Ezekiel 6:1-7). Jehovah also bade me denounce the land of Israel and its idolatries. “O land of mountains, ravines, and villages, whose hill-tops are dotted with altars, obelisks, and idols,[7] wholly unable to protect you in the day of danger, Jehovah’s message to you is one of menace. Only a demolition and devastation will cause you to recognize me and give me obedience. The remnant shall repent (Ezekiel 6:8-10). In the years to come, when a petty remnant of your people has survived the horrors of invasion and exile, they at least will remember me, and with breaking hearts will sincerely repent.
[7] An unknown word, meaning an object of worship. The present corruption not to be condoned (Ezekiel 6:11-14). “But Jehovah can only cherish the utmost horror and detestation of the present wickedness. As the champion of justice he bids me rejoice over the well-merited calamities which are impending. Not one sinner shall escape his wrath. By a judgment which will desolate the land from south to north,[8] defiling every idolatrous shrine, he will manifest his power.”
[8] Properly, “from the Wilderness to Riblah.”
4. The Doom of the Nation[9] (Ezekiel 7)
[10] The Hebrew consists of a play on words, not easily imitated.
[11] Very obscure.
Defence impossible (Ezekiel 7:14-18). “Preparations for defence will be wholly useless; no one will have the courage to resist Jehovah’s will. Those who do not perish by sword and famine and disease will be as helpless doves, paralyzed with terror. Their wealth a spoil (Ezekiel 7:19-21). They shall fling away their treasures of gold and silver as something unclean and unserviceable. The temple profaned (Ezekiel 7:22-24). Since they have used these as an instrument of idolatry, they shall become the spoil of the cruel Babylonians, who shall profane at will the very sanctuary,[12] since it is no longer a fitting abode for God.
[12] “Make the chain” seems unintelligible.
Despair because Jehovah has ceased to reveal his will (Ezekiel 7:25-27). “Alas! it will be a time of anguish. Repeatedly will calamities overwhelm the land. Every source of revelation—prophet, priest, and sage—will be dumb. Israel’s ruler will be utterly dismayed, the people will give themselves up to despair. According to their deeds will it be rendered unto them, that they may learn that Jehovah is their God.”