LESSON 3 - Judgments Against Israel, part 1—Ezekiel 4-12

God gave Ezekiel a strong message, a bitter pill, for the nation of Judah. It would be difficult to bear. God had to fortify Ezekiel for the task. And God warned Ezekiel that the people likely would not listen (2:6-8; 3:7-9, 27).

For years, Ezekiel spoke to the people. Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon with a large group in 597. He received his calling as a prophet in 593 when he began speaking God’s message. This continued until the prophecies came to pass with the fall of Jerusalem in 586 and beyond.

The first 24 chapters of Ezekiel are specifically against Israel. There is page after page of God’s judgment against his chosen people, showing how they had forsaken the covenant with him. In these chapters, Ezekiel does some strange things including acting out the siege against Jerusalem for more than a year, and chopping up his hair. He has a vision of God leaving the temple (chapters 8-11). The people to whom Ezekiel was speaking (or acting), exiles of Judah living near Babylon, did not want to hear these things. They were not responsive in a positive way at all. They did not listen; they did not take the message to heart. The captives did not repent.

As Ezekiel begins his messages, God instructs him (4:1-5) to make a diagram of Jerusalem on a clay tablet, then to make a model of siege works (camps and battering rams). For 390 days, Ezekiel was to bring out the tablet and the models and reenact the siege of Jerusalem that was to come. He was also to spend time lying on his left side, to “bear the sin of the house of Israel.” That number signified the number of years that Israel had been unfaithful. During that same time, Ezekiel was put on a ration-level diet to show what would happen to Jerusalem (4:9-17).

These strange actions are purposely designed to draw attention to Ezekiel and to cause people to ask questions. God had not been able to get their attention in any other way, so he is trying unusual performances. Next, Ezekiel is told to cut his hair with a sword and divide it into three parts, doing something different with each third (5:1-4). The meaning is not difficult to understand because God tells Ezekiel what it means and he tells the people (5:5-12).

Because the people had built worship centers to false gods in the high places, God pronounces judgment, through Ezekiel, on the mountains of Israel (chapter 6). Ezekiel is to proclaim that the “end has come” and pronounce disaster and doom on Jerusalem (chapter 7).

The second of three visions in the book takes place in chapters 8-11. The Spirit of God takes Ezekiel by the hair of his head to show him some things (8:1-6). God is greatly distressed by idolatry in the temple. There is a feeling of urgency and incredulity at what is happening. To paraphrase, God asks Ezekiel, “Look at what is happening in my house (the temple)! Do you see what they are doing? How can they do this?”

Then God brings about a cleansing as he sends guards (in the vision) to kill all idolaters. Of course it doesn’t really happen at this time, but that is the purpose of the siege and fall of Jerusalem that will occur at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (chapter 9).

A pivotal part of the story line for this book occurs in chapter 10 when God departs from the temple that was built for him because sin has become so great among the people. This emphasizes a key theme of God’s holiness. God cannot stay where sin is. The cherubim (throne-bearers) of Ezekiel’s first vision carry God and his throne away from the temple (10:9-19).

As the vision nears its end, God declares judgment on the leaders of Israel, who bear great responsibility for what happens (see 11:7-11). Interestingly, amidst this vision of awful things, there appears a brief oracle of hope for the people that one day they will return to the land of Israel (11: 16-21). The Spirit returns Ezekiel to his exile camp and he tells his fellow exiles what he has seen.

Chapter 12 shows another acting episode for Ezekiel. He acts out being taken into exile. He packs his belongings as if going into exile and digs through the wall of his house. He makes sure he does this during the day while people will be watching. God tells Ezekiel what to say when the people ask what he is doing. In another drama, Ezekiel acts out eating in anxiety, afraid of what will happen. He tells the people that this is how they will be when disaster comes.

Open

• We have all experienced frustration when others would not listen, even though we were speaking truthfully and with good motives. How must God feel when people will not heed his message?
ÿ While judgments pronounced in a court of law are often carried out immediately, time often passes before God’s judgments are meted out. Since God’s judgments carry more weight, why are they not listened to with more respect?

Examine

1. Imagine the thoughts of Ezekiel and his watchers/listeners as he acts out the siege of Jerusalem for 390 days. Every morning, Ezekiel would get up, get out his model and go through the motions of showing what would happen at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. What do you think the people would say? How did Ezekiel probably feel as he carried out the word of the Lord? Why was this necessary at all?
2. How important was the temple and God’s presence in that temple to the people of Israel, even with their poor understanding and idolatry? The idol that made God jealous kept reappearing in the temple. What idol has the tendency to reappear in your heart? What can you do to keep it out?
3. Can you tell from the judgments discussed what has grieved God the most? Why do you think this is? Is there any similar sin today which would evoke the greatest distress from God?


Reflect and Apply

• How strong did Ezekiel have to be to be the herald of all these terrible things?
• How could the people hear the passionate word of the Lord spoken by Ezekiel and not be moved? Who is to blame? What can be done to ensure that we never disregard the word of God so flagrantly?
• Does it surprise you that God’s patience has an end? Why or why not?