Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Ezekiel 4: A Model Prophet

"And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem; and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.  Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel" (vs. 1-3).

Who says prophets can't have a little fun?  In chapter 4, God gives Ezekiel a special creative project to undertake - and a year long task to go with it!

First God instructs Ezekiel to build a model of the city of Jerusalem, portraying it on a brick (vs. 1).  So far, so good.  Sounds like fun.  But then God has the prophet add some threatening imagery to it: siegeworks, siege wall, ramp, camps and battering rams all around it (vs. 2).  The ominous lesson is that Jerusalem will soon be under attack.

Then things take an even more uncomfortable turn - at least for Ezekiel.  He is told to lie down on his left side as an enactment of bearing the punishment of the nation of Israel, one day for each year (vs. 4 and 5).  That totals 390 days.  Such an assignment might sound pleasant at first (Lay around? Okay!), but it would sure get old fast!  To make sure Ezekiel follows through, he is tied up so he can't move around.  The 390 days on his left side is followed by 40 days on his right, this time to symbolize the punishment on Judah, again one day for each year (vs. 6).

I'm not even going to get into the unclean food Ezekiel was instructed to eat.  Fortunately, God amended the terms to allow him to cook over cow dung instead of human waste.  Yum.  The message here is that it's going to be bread and water for the Jews, which they shall eat with fear and sadness. 

Maybe prophets don't get much fun after all.

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