Ezekiel 4:9

Ezekiel 4:9 says, Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, after make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.  Ezekiel was then told to take several  ingredients and put them in one vessel and then make bread of them that would be what he ate for the three hundred and ninety days that he lay on his side.  This would be the coarsest of bread and was to help the people know of the coming famine in Jerusalem during the siege.  So far, what Ezekeil had been told to do was not what we would think a prophet would be doing, and then I have to wonder if we would have done it.  It may be that at times today God will call us to do things that are not glorious and that we may not understand why He would call us to do them, but we just need to be obedient if we know He has called us to do something.   

Veres ten adds. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.  Not only was his food to be of the lowest quality, but he was also to eat just enough to keep him alive, which was about ten ounces.  We might say that a person couldn't live three hundred and ninety days with this little food, but it was really Ezekiel’s obedience to God that would keep him alive, and his diet was just to be a sign to the people of Israel I believe.  If we are doing what God calls us to do, we need to put our faith in Him and not what the world might think is possible.   

Verse eleven adds, Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. He was also to drink just about enough water to keep him alive, which was about a half a pint.  As with the bread, this was more symbolic of what was to happen to the people of Israel and to show Ezekiel’s faith than it was to keep Ezekiel alive, since God could have done that without Ezekiel eating or drinking anything.  The question for us is if God calls us to do something that is demeaning and seems to not be good for us physically, would we do it?  Some Christians and preachers today say that God wants us to be happy, so He will give us what we desire, but I don’t find that to be the case in the Bible.   

Verse twelve says, And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. Ezekiel was to bake the bread with men’s dung, that according to Matthew Henry, that had been dried.  This would have been considered defiled fuel, since man’s dung was supposed to be buried, so it would not even be seen, much less used as fuel to cook food with.  He was to do this in the sight of the people so they would be able to see what was going to happen with them, if they were listening to God.  Of course, one reason this was going to happen was because they weren’t listening to God.  We must listen to God first and then do whatever He calls us to do, no matter how demeaning it might seem to people around us.   

Verse thirteen adds, And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.  God said this was to represent what the people of Israel would eat when they were held captive by the Gentiles.  Not obeying God, even if we are a follower of Christ brings consequences in life.