Ezekiel 4:4

Ezekiel 4:4 says, Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.  Ezekiel was then told to lie on his left side and let the iniquity of the people of Israel be on his left side.  He then was told that the number of days that he would lie on his left side would determine how long the people of Israel would bear their iniquity.  This was a strange way to determine the length of the siege, but it required Ezekiel to be faithful in doing what God instructed him to do, and I don’t believe that Ezekiel determined how long he would lie this way, but that God did.  If Ezekiel were the one deciding on his own, he could have simply gotten up after one day.  God may call on us to do something that we consider strange, but if He does, we need to be obedient and ot continue to do whatever it is that He has called us to do until we are sure He has told us to stop.   

Verse five adds, For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.  Ezekiel was told that he was to lie on his left side for three hundred and ninety days to represent the length of time that Israel would be under siege. Matthew Henry points out that this was about thirteen months, and Jerusalem was under siege for eighteen months, but that there was a five-month period when the besiegers withdrew when Pharoah’s army approached and then they returned again. The three-hundred and ninety days also represented the number of years from the apostasy under Jeroboam until the destruction of the temple, when a small remnant would return to God.  God’s word will always be true, even if we don’t see it to the time that it is happening.  To simply lie on his side doesn’t seem like something a prophet would be called to do, and at times what God calls us to do may not be what we think we should be doing, but we must be obedient to Him.    

Verse six continues, And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. Ezekiel was then told after the time lying on his left side was finished to lie on his right side for forty days for the iniquity of Judah.  God said that each day would represent a year.  This would represent the last forty years when the people of Judah had turned away from God.  In both cases, Ezekiel was told that during this time, he would bear the iniquities first of Israel and then of Judah.  If he was obedient to God, this would then represent their being faithful I believe.  We cannot bear the sins of other people, but we have a Savior Who did, and if we accept His gift of salvation, we then must be obedient to Him as Ezekiel was then.   

Verse seven states, Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.  Ezekiel was told to set his face toward Jerusalem which was to be besieged by Pharoah because of Zedekiah’s treachery in breaking his alliance with Pharoah.  He was to stretch out his arm to represent the resolve of Pharoah to show them no mercy.  Of course, their biggest iniquity was failing to put their faith in God instead of turning to worldly powers to protect them.  If we are having problems in life today, we need to turn to God for help and not to anyone who might be in power in the world.   

Verse eight adds, And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.  God told Ezekiel that He was going to lay bands on him to keep him from turning aside until the day of his siege were finished.  During this time, Ezekiel would evidently have to rely on other people to feed him.  However he was feed and had his needs met, God was the One Who was making sure that Ezekiel had what he needed to accomplish his task as long as Ezkiel was faithful, just as He will provide for our needs if we are faithfully doing what God calls us to do.    

Ezekiel 4:1

Ezekiel 4:1 says, Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: Ezekiel was told to take a tile and to draw or engrave a picture of the city of Jerusalem on it.  Matthew Henry said this represented the way that God had once engraved the people of Israel on His hand before they rebelled against Him.  I believe our vision should be of the cross and the empty tomb, and when we accept the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us there, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.   Once your name is written there, it can never be removed.   

Verse two adds, And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.  God told Ezekiel that once he had etched to city of Jerusalem on the tile that he was to portray it being under siege on all sides.  This represented the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, who besieged it from all sides and were resolute in not leaving until they had captured it.  We have Satan besieging us from all sides as followers of Christ today, but we have the all-powerful God to protect us.  

Verse three continues, Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.  Ezekiel continued to speak about how God had told him to represent Jerusalem under siege.  This iron wall between Ezekiel and Jerusalem further represented the city being under siege by the Chaldeans and their iron will in capturing it.  God told Ezekiel that this would be a sign to the people of Isreal about what was going to happen.  Satan may be resolute in keeping people from God, but there is no barrier that can do so.  Jesus Christ puts up an iron wall between Satan and his forces of evil that he cannot penetrate if we have accepted Him as our personal Savior and Lord, but we need to be warned that he will continually try to do so.   

Ezekiel 3:22

Ezekiel 3:22 says, And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.  Ezekiel said that the hand of God was on him then and told him to go to the plain where God would speak with him.  When we meet God, it will because He reaches out to us.   

Verse twenty-three adds, Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.  Ezekiel said when he went where God told him to goi that he saw the glory of God there and fell on his face.  I believe that we sometimes lose sight of the glory of God and start to treat Him like just another person, but we should always spiritually fall on our face before Him.  We should never lose sight of the glory of God and of our own unworthiness. 

Verse twenty-two continues, Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.  Ezekiel said the Spirit of God entered him, lifted him to his feet and then told him to go and shut himself in his house.  This is not what we would expect God to tell a prophet to do, but in order to be successful, Ezekiel needed to obey the commands from God. As sinners, we must heed God's call to us, humble ourselves before Him, be filled with His spirit when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and then go where He sends us.   

Verse twenty-five states, But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:  Ezekiel was told to put bands on and bind himself.  Matthew Henry said this was like a prisoner being bound. He was also told not to go out among the people.  These may seem like strange orders for a prophet, but the first thing a prophet must do is to obey God, no matter how strange His command might be.  This is still true for Christians today.  We must obey God’s commands to us, even when we don’t understand them.  I would also add that we should be bound to Jesus Christ and a prisoner to His will.   

Verse twenty-six adds, And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.  God then told Ezekiel he was to be made unable to talk so that he couldn't reprove people of Israel for their sins, since they were a rebellious people.  Again, this seems a strange order for a prophet, but if a person was a true prophet, they had no choice but to obey God, even if this meant that they were going to be physically afflicted.  We have the opposite order.  We are to go into the world and proclaim the gospel to everyone, but when we do, it should be under the direction of the Holy Spirit.   

Verse twenty-seven continues, But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.  Ezekiel was then told that when he went to prophesy that God would give him the words to say and he was to tell them that what he spoke was what God said.  God also said that some would believe and some wouldn’t because they were a rebellious people. When we go out to witness to people today, we need ensure that what we a proclaiming is the word of God.  Some people will believe and some will not, but we will have done what God commands of us.