Ezekiel 10, Whirling Wheels Again

Ezekiel, through a vision, is seeing action in Jerusalem. This included, in the last chapter, the people of Jerusalem being killed by six armed men, six supernatural "guards."

Ezekiel 10:1-2, Scatter coals

I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim. The LORD said to the man clothed in linen, "Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city." And as I watched, he went in.   

Ezekiel sees the throne of sapphire above the expanse, which itself is above the cherubim of the altar. YHWH tells a figure clothed in linen (who previously had the writing kit) to fill his hands with burning coals and spread them out over the city of Jerusalem.

The cherubim were not mild, babylike creatures, but terrifying supernatural creatures, apparently viewed as guardians of the throne of YHWH.

Ezekiel 10:3-5, Moving to the threshold

Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory  of the LORD. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.   

The physical manifestation of YHWH is on the move. The glory of God is now on the south side of the temple and His cloud fills the inner court of the temple. God's glory shines throughout the temple and the flapping wings of the cherubim are loud enough to to be heard in the outer court of the temple. This is "like the voice of God."

Ezekiel 10:6-8, Take fire

When the LORD commanded the man in linen, "Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim," the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like the hands of a man.)   

Fire is delivered to the man in linen from one of the cherubim within the wheels.

Ezekiel 10:9-14, Whirling wheels (again)

I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite. As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and  their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called "the whirling wheels." Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.   

Beside the cherubim appear the four wheels again. Here they are called "the whirling wheels."

Ezekiel 10:15-19, Moving to the entrance of the temple

Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the  spirit of the living creatures was in them.

Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.   

God's presence moves to the entrance of the east gate of the temple.

Ezekiel 10:20-22, Same cherubim as before

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man. Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.  

The vision's connection to the vehicle in chapter 1 is made clear -- they are the same. Under the faces and wings is something like a man's hands.

Ezekiel 9, Six Guards Move Through the City

Ezekiel, in a vision, has been shown idolaters in and around the temple in Jerusalem. He has observed the worship of Canaanite idols, Egyptian animals, an ANE fertility symbol, and the sun god. That vision continues....

Ezekiel 9:1-4, Six guards

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, 

"Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand." 

And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.   

Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."   

Ezekiel sees six armed men come from the upper gate, the north-facing gate, towards the altar. They are accompanied by a man closed in linen carrying a writing kit. The writing kit might indicate the man was a scribe; linen was often worn by priests (see Exodus 28:41-43, 1 Samuel 2:18) and divine messengers (eg. Daniel 10:4-6.)

The glory of YHWH rises above the temple and moves to the threshold. The physical manifestation of God will soon leave the temple.  YHWH tells the man with the writing kit to mark the righteous people, those in Jerusalem who are upset about the horrible things being done in the temple.

Ezekiel 9:5-7, Slaughter those who put up with the idolatry

As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion.  Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and  children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." 

So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.   

Then he said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" 

So they went out and began killing throughout the city.   

The six men are then ordered to move throughout the city, killing all who have not objected to the idolatry in the temple. The ones marked by the man with the writing tool are safe.

In this vision, the killing is done by the supernatural beings portrayed as city guards. They represent the killing that will shortly be done by the soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar. 

Ezekiel 9:8-10, Killing many

While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?"   

He answered me, "The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, `The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.'  So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done."   

As the men are killing all the idolaters, Ezekiel begs God to spare some in Israel. The response to his plea is that the land is full of injustice and bloodshed. God has been ignored too long.

Ezekiel 9:11, "I have done as commanded"

Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side  brought back word, saying, "I have done as you commanded."

The man with the writing kit reports back. He has marked all the good people, as instructed. There is, apparently, a righteous remnant.

Ezekiel 8, Secret Societies in Jerusalem

After previously prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem, a year later Ezekiel has another vision. This vision runs through chapter 11 and begins with a vision of the idolatry in the temple in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 8:1-4, A man grabs him by the hair

In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the  hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.   

Ezekiel is sitting in Babylon fourteen months after the vision of chapter 1. (This would likely be after he had completed lying on his side for the 390 days and 40 days described in chapter 4.) Jewish elders, in exile with him, are gathered around him, visiting him in his house. There Ezekiel has a vision in which a man grabs him by the hair and carries him off to Jerusalem, to the north gate of the inner court. At the inner court is an idol that "provokes [God] to jealousy."

Ezekiel 8:5-6, Idol of jealousy

Then he said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." 

So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.   

And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing--the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable."   

The north gate of the inner court of the temple was the gate nearest the altar. There, near the altar is some type of idol. What the idol represents is despicable and provokes YHWH. Indeed, the provocation is severe enough that YHWH is about to move far from his sanctuary in Jerusalem. (This transition will be described in later chapters.) The speaker then says that Ezekiel will see worse things. Three more revelations will follow in this chapter.

Mackie suggests that this idol is Asherah and dates back to Manasseh's reign in 2 Kings 21:1-16. (That passage is worth reading in light of Ezekiel's later prophecy.)

Ezekiel 8:7-13, A secret society

Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, "Son of man, now dig into the wall." 

So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there. And he said to me, "Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here." So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among  them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.   

He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, `The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'"  Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."   

Ezekiel is shown a secret hideaway where seventy elders are worshiping a variety of other gods, animals and idols. These elders believe that YHWH cannot see them. One person in particular, Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, is mentioned. Shaphan was a temple official during Josiah's reign. He played a significant role in the discovery of the Book of the Law, which led to the revival during Josiah's reign several decades before (see 2 Kings 22:3-14; also Jeremiah 26:24, 29:3, 39:14.)

It is not clear if the secret room is a physical place or is metaphorical. Regardless, Ezekiel is being shown secret societies that believe YHWH does not see. Duguid suggests that the first idol, the "idol of jealousy" was probably the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah while the animals described here were probably of Egyptian origin.

The Hebrew word translated "idol" in verse 10 is gillul. Mackie (Bible Project classroom, session 9) argues that this word is intended to be derogatory, roughly "dung ball". Alexander agrees.

Ezekiel 8:14-15, Women mourning for Tammuz

Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see  things that are even more detestable than this."   

In another place in the temple there are women "mourning for Tammuz." Tammuz was a god in an ANE fertility cult and "mourning" (or "weeping") for Tammuz was believed to be a way to bring Tammuz back from the underworld and so promote the fall rains. (Even today, the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar is called Tammuz.) The sixth month, described at the beginning of this chapter, probably coincides roughly with September.

Ezekiel 8:16-18, Bowing to the sun

He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the  LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.

He said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them." 

Another group of people (about 25 men) are bowing to the sun in the east as it rises. They are worshiping a celestial being, not God. Throughout the temple, Ezekiel is witnessing various forms of blatant idolatry.

Ezekiel has observed people in Jerusalem worshiping a Canaanite idol, Egyptian snakes, an ANE fertility symbol and the sun god. The idolatry in the Jerusalem is rampant. The response of YHWH to this will be described in the next chapter.

Ezekiel 7, The End is Now!

Ezekiel, in Babylon, has ben prophesying about the coming destruction of Judah. That prophecy now expands....

Ezekiel 7:1-4, The end is near!

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel: 

The end! The end has come

 upon the four corners of the land.

The end is now upon you 

and I will unleash my anger against you. 

I will judge you according to your conduct 

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you; 

I will surely  repay you for your conduct 

and the detestable practices  among you. 

Then you will know that I am the LORD.   

Ezekiel is to speak out against Israel (Judah and Jerusalem.)  The people of Israel will experience judgment and disaster. The judgment for their past idolatry and oppression will extend throughout the entire land of Israel.

Ezekiel 7:5-9, Disaster!

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Disaster! 

An  unheard-of disaster is coming.

The end has come! The end has come! 

It has roused itself against you. It has come!

Doom has come upon you--

you who dwell in the land. 

The time has come, the day is near;

 there is panic, not joy, upon the  mountains.

I am about to pour out my wrath on you 

and spend my anger  against you; 

I will judge you according to your conduct 

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you; 

I will repay you in accordance with your conduct 

and the detestable practices among you. 

Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.   

Repetition of phrases like "the end has come" and "doom has come" create an emphatic drumbeat to the message, as if Ezekiel were pounding on a table. The day of disaster is imminent. It is no longer many years away but is happening right now. This is a message from Ezekiel, a refugee in Babylon, to those still in Jerusalem. Ezekiel's message is very similar to that being given by Jeremiah faraway within the city.

The final line of this passage gives a new and terrifying name to God: YHWH makkeh, "God who strikes."

Ezekiel 7:10-11, Violence blossoms

"The day is here! It has come! 

Doom has burst forth, 

the rod has budded, 

arrogance has blossomed!  

Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness; 

 none of the people will be left,

 none of that crowd--no wealth, nothing of value.   

Nothing of value will be left in Jerusalem. The rod (of judgment and violence) has fully blossomed and is now visible. That violence is no longer a forecast future judgment but a present reality in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 7:12-14, Wrath upon the whole crowd

The time has come, the day has arrived. 

Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, 

for wrath is upon the whole crowd.

The seller will not recover the land he has sold 

as long as both of them live, 

for the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. 

Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life.

Though they blow the trumpet 

and get everything ready, 

no one will go into battle, 

for my wrath is upon the whole crowd.   

Three times the message repeats. Repetition is emphasis: God's wrath is upon all of Judah.

Ezekiel 7:15-18, Outside, inside

"Outside is the sword, inside are plague and famine; 

those in the country will die by the sword, 

and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

All who survive and escape will be in the mountains,

 moaning like doves of the valleys, each because of his sins.

Every hand will go limp, 

and every knee will become as weak as water.

They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. 

Their faces will be covered with shame 

and their heads will be shaved. 

Outside the city of Jerusalem there are soldiers; inside is starvation and disease. People will react in despair and terror. The Hebrew of verse 17 is translates literally as 

"every hand will be feeble and every knee weak will be water."

Duguid suggests that water running down the knees portrays a loss of bladder control.

The message of verses 12-18, above, will be repeated with varying emphasis in verses 19-27 below.

Ezekiel 7:19, Silver and gold

They will throw their silver into the streets, 

and their gold will be an unclean thing. 

Their silver and gold will not be able to save them 

in the day of the LORD's wrath.  

They will not satisfy their hunger 

or fill their stomachs with it, 

for it has made them stumble into sin.   

One cannot eat silver or gold; these precious metals are useless to the starving citizens of Jerusalem. In verses 12 and 13, above, it was made clear that commerce will be useless; here also material wealth does no good.

The Hebrew word niddah is translated "unclean thing" by the NIV. The word was often used to describe menstrual blood (on a dress or undergarment, for example.)

Ezekiel 7:20-22, Jewelry turned into idols.

They were proud of their beautiful jewelry 

and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. 

Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them.

I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners

 and as loot to the wicked of the earth, 

and they will defile it.

I will turn my face away from them, 

and they will desecrate my treasured place; 

robbers will enter it and desecrate it.   

The people of Israel turned metals in their beautiful jewelry into ugly idols. Even the "treasured place" (temple) of God is being desecrated.

Ezekiel 7:23-24, Pride of the mighty

"Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed 

and the city is full of violence.

I will bring the most wicked of the nations

 to take possession of their houses; 

I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, 

and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

Chains for prisoners are being prepared. As always, arrogance and stubborn pride are offensive to God and here the pride of the powerful meets an end.

Ezekiel 7:23-27, Calamity upon calamity

When terror comes, they will seek peace, 

but there will be none.

Calamity upon calamity will come, 

and rumor upon rumor. 

They will try to get a vision from the prophet; 

the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost, 

as will the counsel of  the elders.

The king will mourn, 

the prince will be clothed with despair, 

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. 

I will deal with them according to their conduct, 

and by their own standards I will judge them. 

Then they will  know that I am the LORD."  

Calamity upon calamity, rumor upon rumor, describes the crescendo of terror that builds in the city. In place of elegant royal garments, the prince (Zedekiah?) will wear despair.

Throughout the Old Testament prophets, there is an emphasis on God's moral law and justice. The sad song of this chapter ends with a statement that the impending justice will demonstrate YHWH's righteousness.

Ezekiel 6, Judgment Against the High Places

Ezekiel has been prophesying about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 6:1-7, High places destroyed

The word of the LORD came to me: 

"Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them and say: `O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.   

Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.   

Ezekiel is now instructed to give a clear prophecy against the country of Israel. The destruction of Judah will include people murdered around their altars in the high places where they worshiped idols.

The Hebrew gillul is translated "idol" in verses 4, 5, 9 and 13 of chapter 6. The word is intended to be disgusting; it means "dung ball" or "dung pellet" (Alexander, p. 776.)

Ezekiel 6:8-10, A remnant remembers

"`But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me--how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.   

A remnant of idolaters will be spared and will remember their sins. Throughout the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, there is always a promise of a future surviving remnant that will repopulate Israel. This is true in the prophecies of Ezekiel also.

Ezekiel 6:11-12, Alas!

"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out "Alas!" because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. He that is far away will die of the plague, and he that is near will fall by the sword, and he that survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I spend my wrath upon them.   

Ezekiel is to noisily cry "Alas!" and react to the disaster coming on Jerusalem. One-third will die by illness, one-third killed by soldiers, one-third die by starvation. (In the New Testament, a somewhat similar division of judgments shows up as horsemen in Revelation 6:1-8.)

Ezekiel 6:13-14, Slain among their idols

And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak--places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah--wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"  

The judgment against the idols in the hills will make it clear whom the people should really worship.

The identification of Diblah is not known. It is possible (says Alexander, p. 776) that in an ancient manuscript the Hebrew letter resh (r) was accidentally miscopied into a dalet (d). The two Hebrew letters are very similar and are easily confused. 

Since the northern Syrian city of Riblah is far from the southern desert, then (following Alexander's suggestion) the prophecy makes it clear that a large region of ancient Israel is to be desolate. Regardless of the identification of Diblah, it is clear that Israel will be destroyed.

Ezekiel 5, Shaved Hair and Beard

Ezekiel has been told to set up a model of Jerusalem and then lie on his side next to it, counting off days for each year of Israel's sins.

Ezekiel 5:1-4, Shave your head and beard

"Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair with fire inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.   

But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the  folds of your garment. Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to the whole  house of Israel.   

Ezekiel is to shave his beard and hair. The hair will represent the people of Jerusalem. When the days representing the Jerusalem siege have been completed, one third of the hair is burned up, one third is struck with a sword, one third is scattered to the wind. But a few strands are saved. Thus the destruction of the city and the salvation of a small remnant are portrayed.

In the ANE, shaving one's head was a sign of mourning, see Ezekiel 27:30-31 and Amos 8:10. (It was similar to pulling out one's hair, Isaiah 22:12.) But a priest, like Ezekiel, was prohibited by the Mosaic Covenant from shaving his head or beard (Leviticus 21:5.) This is not the only time that Ezekiel is told to do something that violates his upbringing as a priest.

Ezekiel 5:5-10, More unruly than the pagan nations

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees. 

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.   

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what  I have never done before and will never do again.  Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.   

The judgment against Jerusalem is coming. In the indictment, YHWH says that not even the other nations have stooped to the things Israel has done.

Ezekiel 5:11-14, Thirds

Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.

"Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will  subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my  wrath upon them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken  in my zeal. "I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.   

The distribution of hair is explained. One-third of Jerusalem will perish by plague or famine, one-third killed by invading soldiers and one-third will be fleeing refugees.

Ezekiel 5:15-17, Reproach and taunt

You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the LORD have spoken.

When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of  famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep  through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the  LORD have spoken." 

This destruction of Jerusalem will be horrible and visible to the nations around Jerusalem.

These results are promised in the Covenant Law in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. (In Leviticus 26. in the last few verses, 44-45, there is still a promise of faithful commitment by YHWH to His people.)

Ezekiel 4, Lying On His Side

Ezekiel was given a scroll to eat. After eating it, he is put under obligation both to lie mute, prohibited, for a time, from speaking, and also, when compelled, to finally speak God's messages.

Ezekiel 4:1-2, A model of the city

"Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you  and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering  rams around it.   

Ezekiel is to set up a model of Jerusalem under siege.

Ezekiel 4:3-6, A day for each year

Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.   

"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. 

"After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.   

After creating the model of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is first to take an iron pan and create a wall between himself and the city. Duguid argues that this represents a barrier between the city and God, signifying God's refusal to listen to the coming cries from the city. There are other prophetic passages where God says something similar, a refusal to listen to cries to him: Isaiah 59:2, Jeremiah 7:16, Ezekiel 8:18, Amos 5:23, Habakkuk 1:2, Zechariah 7:13.

Ezekiel is to lie next to his model of the city, first on his left side, then on his right side. He is to lie on his left side 390 days, representing 390 years and then 40 days on his right side, representing 40 years. Mackie suggests that the 390 days represents 390 years of the temple's existence from the time of Solomon. Alexander notes that the 390 days is also very close to the (literal) time remaining in the siege of Jerusalem.

The Septuagint has numbers 190 and 150 in place of the Masoretic Text's 390 and 40. Alexander argues that the Septuagint numbers reflect a later editorial change that attempted to track time from the fall of Israel (722 BC) to the fall of Jerusalem (578 BC, roughly 150 years) followed by another 40 years in Babylon before the return to Jerusalem (539 BC.)

Ezekiel will bear the guilt of Judah, as the scapegoat of Israel (Mackie, see Leviticus 16:6-10.)

Ezekiel 4:7-8, Tied up

Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.   

Ezekiel is to face the direction of the siege and speak out against Jerusalem. Ezekiel will be tied up during this time, so that he cannot turn around.

Mackie calls this "street theatre" -- Ezekiel acts out, physically, a picture of his message.

Ezekiel 4:9-12, Prepare yourself

"Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the days you lie on your side. Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. Eat the food as you would a barley cake; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel."   

Ezekiel is to prepare, in advance, food for the time in which he is tied up. To cook the food he is to use human feces as fuel!

The bread described there is a sign of the starvation suffered by the people in Jerusalem. (This is not a recommended way to build good bread -- indeed, it is the opposite of that -- Mackie points out the absurdity of using verse 9 for marketing bread, see the bread advertised here.) The amount of daily water rations, a sixth of a hin, is probably less than a quart.

Ezekiel 4:13-15, Defiled food

The LORD said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them."   

Then I said, "Not so, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth."   

"Very well," he said, "I will let you bake your bread over cow manure instead of human excrement."

Ezekiel objects to using human excrement as fuel. Apparently this makes the food ritually unclean. God agrees to allow him to use cow manure instead of human excrement.

Ezekiel 4:16-17, Famine

He then said to me: "Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at  the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin. 

The people faraway in Jerusalem, besieged by the Babylonians, will be forced to ration water and food.