PM Nov 15th Eze 4

November 15^th   Ezekiel 4           The siege of Jerusalem portrayed

1: Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2: 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. 3: 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. 4: 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. 5: 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. 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. 9: Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, 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 measure, 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 dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13: And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 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 which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. 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 unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the 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: That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Ezekiel 5           Ezekiel cuts his hair

1: And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weight, and divide the hair. 2: Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, 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. 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; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5: Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6: And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 9: And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. 10: Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 11: Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. 12: A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. 13: Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them. 14: Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. 15: So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. 16: When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: 17: So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

Next the Lord tells Ezekiel to make a clay tile and to put it in front of him and then to draw a picture of the city of Jerusalem on it. And then he is to depict the siege and the mount and the camp etc, etc. Then he is to take a iron pan and he to set it as a wall between the city and he is to set his face against it. This is to be a sign to the house of Israel. Then he is to lie on his left side and he is to lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. He is to lie on his side for three days. Then when this is done he is to turn over to lie on his right side. This was a living picture to Israel of their captivity. He is to bear his arm to show that they will be lead away in chains. In all he will lie for 319 days. The Lord commands him to eat bread food containing human faeces! Ezekiel complains to the Lord and the Lord allows him to defile the bread with cow dung. Ezekiel is to eat according to weight and water according to measure because this is how Israel will eat and drink. Then the Lord commands him to cut his hair on his head a beard and shave it off and then he is to weigh his hair and burn a third of it in the middle of the city, An third of it is to be cut with a knife and the last third to be scattered to the wind. And a few bits of hair are to be sewn onto the skirts of his coat. Then after that they are to be cut off again and thrown onto the fire. This was a visual demonstration a living parable of what God was going to do with Jerusalem. The Lords message to Israel is that they have turned away from him and done more wickedness than all the nations round about Israel. A third of the nation will be destroyed by disease and famine, a third by war and a third will be scattered to the winds. Then the Lords word came to Ezekiel again saying that he is to set his face against the mountains of Israel. This means to take a posture and message in opposition to Israel. the message stated that The Lord was going to come against Israel to destroy their places of false worship and to destroy the people. Yet in the middle of all the destruction the Lord will in mercy leave a few untouched yet they will be scattered among the nations. He convicts Israel not only of spiritual adultery but spiritual prostitution. The Lord tells Ezekiel to bang with him hand and stamp with his foot. They will know that the lord is God when men lay unburied in the idolatrous groves and in the temples of idols. The Lord says to Israel that a complete end has come to Israel. The Lord will send in a nation that will destroy all the detestable things and they will themselves face the judgment of God. The land will be full of crimes of blood and violence. Prophets will cease to see visions. The law will perish from the priests and the elders will cease to give counsel, the King will mourn and the princes will be clothed is destitution. The lord will judge them in righteousness according to their deeds.