CHAPTER 12

(594 B.C.)

SIGNS AND SYMBOLS PROPHECIES OF BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

¹The Word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, you dwell 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. (The idea, as given by the Holy Spirit, is that they had spiritual eyes, but refused to see, and spiritual ears, but refused to hear.)

³Therefore, you son of man, prepare you stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and you shall remove from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. (The teaching by Vision ceases, and now that of direct message or symbolic acts are resumed. In this object lesson, the Prophet predicted the attempted escape and capture of king Zedekiah. The Prophecy preceded the event by about five years.

Ezekiel was commanded to make a bundle as for a journey, which was to portray the futile attempt of king Zedekiah to escape. There is every reason to believe that Zedekiah received this Message from Ezekiel, but, sadly, refused it.)

⁴Then shall you bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and you shall go forth at evening in their sight, as they who go forth into captivity. (The stuff represented the baggage of Zedekiah, which would be gathered for the escape attempt.)

⁵Dig you through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. (The Prophet, in his object lesson, was not to take the stuff through the door of the house, but instead dig through the wall, thus illustrating Zedekiahs escape attempt by going through a broken part of the wall of Jerusalem.)

⁶In their sight shall you bear it upon your shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: you shall cover your face, that you see not the ground: for I have set you for a sign unto the House of Israel. (What must have been Zedekiahs response when he read these predictions from Ezekiel, as he, at the same time, heard the similar Prophecies of Jeremiah?)

⁷And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bore it upon my shoulder in their sight. (I wonder how many of the people took this lesson seriously, and how many ridiculed the sensationalism of the Prophet?)

⁸And in the morning came the Word of the LORD unto me, saying,

⁹Son of man, has not the House of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto you, What doest thou? (Even though the Prophet carried out what the Lord told him to do, still, it seems that at this passage of time, he little knew what it represented; therefore, he had to tell them that he would wait and see what the Lord told him, which was soon coming, actually the next morning.)

¹⁰Say you unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the House of Israel that are among them. (The phrase, This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, referred to Zedekiah. The word prince [instead of king] was used by the Holy Spirit because, at least in the Mind of God, Zedekiah was not the true king of Judah, only one who served as a stopgap measure. In the Mind of God, Jehoiachin was the last king, at least in the line of David the line which was absolutely necessary to sit on the Throne. Actually, Zedekiah was Jehoiachins uncle, with the word brother, at least in this account, meaning next of kin [II Chron. 36:10].)

¹¹Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. (Say, I am your sign, referred to Ezekiel and the captives, who were a sign to the people in Judah and Jerusalem, meaning that as they had been brought into captivity, so shall it be done unto them, i.e., Jerusalem will be taken captive.)

¹²And the prince who 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. (The minute detail in which this was given to Ezekiel is startling indeed! However, it should be quickly stated that it was done out of Love by God for the king in Jerusalem, but still unheeded.)

¹³My 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. (All, as fore-pictured, came to pass [II Ki., Chpt. 25; Jer., Chpt. 39]. Zedekiah, disguised so as not to be recognized, and with a few articles for the journey, forsook the city by night through a hole made in the city wall, and fled to the plains of Jericho. But God, using the Chaldean army as a net, captured him and brought him to Riblah; they put out his eyes and transported him to Babylon, where he died.

Josephus said that this Prophecy was sent to Zedekiah. But he declared that Jeremiah contradicted Verse 13 of this Chapter, because it stated that he should not see Babylon, and Jeremiah predicted he would be carried there. He, therefore, concluded to believe neither [Jer. 24:8-9].)

¹⁴And I will scatter toward every wind all who are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. (Thus, the false expectations of the captives that they would be immediately restored to their native land and the equally false expectations of the people of Jerusalem that they would never be conquered by the Babylonians were all destroyed by the symbolic Prophesy of these Verses.

Just as did Zedekiah, Ahab, many years before, tried, but in vain, to outwit God. Their actions were the more wicked because God, in His Love and pity, told them beforehand their fate if they persisted in their folly. He did not want them to perish.)

¹⁵And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. (All who refused to flee from the Wrath to come must get to know God in Judgment. Those who obeyed the Commands shall get to know Him in Grace, as the next Verse implies.)

A REMNANT SAVED

¹⁶But 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. (The few reserved from destruction were spared that they might vindicate Gods action by informing the nations of the abominations which justified it. Dan. 9:5-14 illustrates this prediction.)

EATING AND DRINKING IN DESPAIR

¹⁷Moreover the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁸Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with carefulness (all of this was in order to symbolize the coming judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem);

¹⁹And say unto the people of the land, Thus says 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 who dwell therein. (The phrase, Because of the violence of all them who dwell therein, refers to the reason for the Judgment. When the Lord is denied, Mercy and Grace are no more, with mens attitudes, actions, and efforts then becoming violent.)

²⁰And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the LORD. (Waste and desolation are the two words describing that which is soon to come.)

GOD WILL EXECUTE SPEEDY JUDGMENT

²¹And the Word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²²Son of man, what is that proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? (So corrupt and unbelieving is man that he turns the patience and longsuffering of God into a mocking proverb.)

²³Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. (The Lord tells the Prophet to institute a new proverb: The days are at hand when the true vision will be fulfilled. In other words, the true vision will not fail; it is at hand; every word will be fulfilled in total reality.)

²⁴For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the House of Israel. (The vain vision and flattering divination pertain to the messages of the false prophets. The Holy Spirit is saying that soon their messages will be shown to be what they really are: lies.)

²⁵For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the Word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the Word, and will perform it, says the Lord GOD. (Gods Word is looked at even above His Name. It has the guarantee of His Power behind it in order that it be fulfilled [Ps. 138:2].)

²⁶Again the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷Son of man, behold, they of the House of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off. (Those in exile with Ezekiel did not call him a false prophet, but instead said that his Prophecies little concerned the present, but rather pertained to the distant future. In other words, they desired to believe the false prophets who proclaimed that the Exiles would be restored to Judah within a matter of months.)

²⁸Therefore say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; There shall none of My Words be prolonged any more, but the Word which I have spoken shall be done, says the Lord GOD. (This statement insinuates that the fulfillment of the Prophecies of Judgment had in fact been prolonged in order that Judah and Jerusalem may repent, but to no avail! Now, the Holy Spirit says, The prolonging has ended.)