The Strand Study Bible

EZEKIEL 4:5

EZEKIEL 5:4

1253

5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, 1 according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 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. 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 8 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. Ezekiel’s 2nd sermon – The sign of the defiled bread (Picturing Jerusalem’s present condition concerning famine and starvation) 9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and mil- let, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and 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. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by mea- sure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with 2 dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13 And the 3 LORD said, 4 Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. P

14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that 5 which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there 6 abominable flesh into my mouth. P 15 Then HE said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. 16 Moreover he said untome, Son of man, behold, 4 I will break the 7 staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: 17 4 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, 8 and consume away for their iniquity . P Ezekiel 5 Ezekiel’s 3rd sermon – The sign of the razor and the hair (Picturing God’s threefold punishment upon Jerusalem) 1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, 4 when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. P 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; 4 for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. P (Note - This portion of Ezekiel’s prophecy took place in the 5th year of King Zedekiah’s reign) Date - 592 BC/AM 3408

1. Num 14:33-34 2. Deut 23:13 3. Ezk 3:22-24 4. Fulfilled - II Ki 25 (Fall of Judah) (See - Dan 1:8) 5. Exo 22:31 & Lev 17:15 & 22:8 6. Lev 11 & Deut 14:3 & Acts 10:14

7. Lev 26:26 8. Lev 26:39

4:5 Interestingly enough, it was the SPIRIT OF GOD ( For I have laid – Ezk 3:22-27) who informed Ezekiel about Jerusalem’s inevitable destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. Which means, the HOLY SPIRIT is just as adamant about sin and its consequences as is the FATHER (Isa 3) or even CHRIST (II Sam 24:13-17/I Chro 21:12-18 & II Chro 3:1, Jn 5:22 and Rev 19:11–20:15). Make no mistake. The entire Triune Godhead is in complete agreement when it comes to sin and its penalty and end results. 4:7 The “ uncovered arm ” here depicted the power of God. 4:9 The mixed grains mentioned here (wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, millet, and fitches) vary from the best to the worst, indicating a scarcity of food during the next Babylonian invasion and thus the mixture of every kind of grain to “ make thee bread thereof. ” 4:17 Sin ( iniquity ) in the Bible is compared to an infectious disease, which “consumes” the flesh slowly but surely ( Lev 13:2 and Num 12:1-10, II Ki 5:20-27 & 15:1-5 and Lk 17:12a , 18 ). 5:1 The first sign to the Israeli captives that Babylon would return to Jerusalem and destroy it was the sign of the tile (4:1-3). The second sign was when Ezekiel was told to lay on his left side facing the tile for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days (4:4-8). The third sign was when Ezekiel was told to eat defiled bread (4:9-17), picturing the scarcity of food during the invasion. The fourth sign was when Ezekiel was told here to “shave” his beard and his hair and then divide it into three equal parts (5:1-4), picturing the way Babylon would destroy Jerusalem and her people (5:11-12).