Ezekiel Dramatizes The Exile

INTRO

The texts in these chapters are still somewhat random. It was unclear if the visions were being acted out as he was releasing the word or if the visions are being soaked up to be released later. By chapter 12, it is clear Ezekiel was acting out the visions as they were given to him by God. Chapter 11 is a sad chapter because the glory of the Lord actually leaves the temple.

TEACHING

Ezekiel 11:1-7: The Spirit lifted up Ezekiel and brought him to the eastern gate of the temple. Ezekiel was shown 25 evil men who were worshipping the sun. They planned evil and gave wicked advice to the king and to city.

Ezekiel 11:8-13: Judgment would come against the 25 men. They would die by the sword.

Ezekiel 11:16-20: God confirmed He would give the Promised Land back to Israel. When Israel returned to the land they would have a new covenant and there would be a new David.

In chapter 34 the Messiah was referred to as being from the lineage of David. Ezekiel 34:23 tells of a new shepherd, a New David, the servant David that will attend the sheep.

Ezekiel 11:22-25: The cherubim with the wheels beside them revealed the glory of the Lord above them. The glory of the Lord left the temple and rose above the city. The glory of the Lord stood east of the Mount of Olives.

In chapter 11 there is judgment coming to the wicked. But the remnant will be saved through the New David. God will save His flock through the New David. Ezekiel released the word and watched as the presence of God left the temple (vv. 24-25). The exiles should have repented or asked God to help them, but they did nothing.

Ezekiel 12 introduces another vision. The next two sections of chapter 12 are broken down into verses 1-16 and 17-28. Wiersbe said, “One dissenting voice in Jerusalem was Jeremiah; in Babylon it was Ezekiel. Both in his ‘action sermons’ and his oral messages, Ezekiel warned the people that they were trusting in illusions.”¹ He acted out his entire sermon. Then he gave the message. The message is specifically found in verse 12.

God stated that Ezekiel lived among a rebellious people who would not hear and would not see. This was similar to what Christ had to deal with. The Jewish people had hard hearts and would not listen to Jesus. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all served as a foreshadowing of the Messiah.

Ezekiel was commanded to act out the message. He was to get his bags and go outside so the people could see him. He was to look like an exile. The people would see the bags, but then Ezekiel would go back into the house, again as the people watched. He was to dig a hole in the house, get the bags, and take them out as though he was going to flee.

At this point Jerusalem had not fallen. There are multiple deportations—in 590 B.C., another in 586 B.C., and one more that followed. The final deportation had not happened yet, so Ezekiel was acting out a message of warning.

In verse 7, Ezekiel stated he did as he had been instructed to do, so he brought out his bags as though he were an exile. He took the bags back in and then went out through the hole in the house as though it was dark. This was a picture of what was to really happen. Watching, the people asked, “What is he doing?”

Ezekiel stated this was to be a sign for the people. This was to communicate to the people that they would be going back into exile, into captivity. The prince, Zedekiah, would lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. He would cover his face so he could not see the land. This had not happened yet, so this was the prophetic word from God.

2 Kings 25:1-7 records the account of these events in Ezekiel 12 as they actually took place. It was just as Ezekiel had predicted.

Jeremiah 39:4-7 contains an account of Zedekiah and all his warriors fleeing. They fled in the night between the walls, but the Chaldean (Babylonian) army overtook them, and they were captured. They would do exactly what Ezekiel had acted out. The language in 2 Kings and Jeremiah is the same.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel wrote about things that had not happened yet, but all they prophesied would eventually unfold seamlessly. Ezekiel prophesied what would happen, and Jeremiah explained it.

Ezekiel was to act out these accounts by himself. Verse 14 states that although Zedekiah would be caught, a few of the people—a remnant—would be left. The remnant would be the hope of the people.

In verse 17. Ezekiel was given another action sermon to live out. He was to eat his bread with anxiety. He ate bread and drank water while shaking with anxiety. This was done in anticipation of the total destruction that was coming. Ezekiel was also going to have to go through this experience with the people.

Ezekiel’s task, after he had acted out the experience, was to explain to the people what was going to happen. The people would not believe the prophecy would come true. The days kept passing, and no vision came to pass. MacArthur states, “Delay had given the people the false impression that the stroke of judgment would never come. In fact, a proverbial saying had become popular, no doubt developed by false prophets, who caused the people to reject Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies (cf. v. 27) and gave ‘false divinations’ (vv. 23, 24) in their place.”² They did not ever believe the word of God was true.

CLOSING

The mentality of the people was that Ezekiel’s visions would never come true. But God said He would speak a message, and it would come to pass. God’s Word would not be delayed. There would be scoffers, but the Word of God would still come to pass. Today we should ask ourselves if we really believe in the coming of the New David, the second coming of Christ, that is right around the corner.