4:3 - The other stuff is pretty self-explanatory, but what is the iron skillet all about. Is Ezekiel going to treat himself to a delicious omelet while watching the diorama of the siege? No, the iron skillet is a representation of the impenetrable wall that has been placed between God and the people of Israel. Their sin and debauchery has created this wall and God has cut Himself off from them. Even if they wanted to cry out for mercy, they have no one to turn to...God will not listen and act on their behalf. The power that is behind the siege of Jerusalem is not the Babylonian army, but Himself who is letting it all happen to judge His people.
4:5-6 - Ezekiel then changes the illustration of God's judgment. He has gone from representing God in control of the siege, to the Israelite people who are suffering in the siege. He will lay on his two sides for a total of 430 days to represent the unfaithfulness of the Israelites and the suffering they will endure in the siege. Over a year on his side! He had to get sores and his muscles must have atrophied...he was probably never the same physically for the rest of his life. While almost everyone else in Judah is living in unfaithfulness...Ezekiel demonstrates his absolute commitment to God. People must have thought he was crazy...they must have tried to get him to move...to get up...but all Ezekiel cared about was serving his God. That is the kind of commitment God deserves from you and me as well.
4:9 - This recipe forms an almost inedible mixture of grains for one disgusting piece of bread. In the 3rd century, a rabbi made some bread according to this recipe and found that even dogs would not eat it! Ezekiel lives on 8oz of bread a day while laying on his sides - that is barely enough to keep someone alive! He does this to represent the starvation and famine that the people in Jerusalem will face during the siege.
4:12-15 - God instructs him to cook over human dung which would make a Jew unclean in the eating laws given by God. On top of being unclean....EWWWWW! Seriously! God wants him to do this so that people will be reminded that they will be unclean and totally defiled in the eyes of God during the siege. They are going to eat anything to survive (Including each other) - they will become as vile as you can be. Interestingly, Ezekiel begs God not to make him cook the bread over human dung, because he has never eaten unclean food in his life. God hears his prayer...amends the instructions and allows Ezekiel to cook the food over cow dung. Now the real questions is - why did God tell him to do that in the first place? God knows everything...God knew that Ezekiel had kept himself totally clean...why not tell him to cook over cow dung the first time? I think God was testing him...to see how committed Ezekiel was to God's Law. When Ezekiel fought for his purity before God, God immediately changed the instructions. God allows him to remain clean because Ezekiel is one of the few remnant faithful followers of God in all of Israel and he shows it over and over. Is faithfulness at any cost that important to us?
5:1 - Having the hair and beard cut off was one of the utter signs of humiliation in the Jewish world. Ezekiel once again sets himself up as a living illustration for the people of Judah. They should all be humiliated about their behavior, so Ezekiel is going to boldly walk among them in humiliation...making everyone fell uncomfortable...in hopes that they might understand the message.
5:11 - What have the people of Judah done to bring all this judgment on themselves? They have defiled themselves in idol worship and pagan rituals and they have defiled the temple of God in the same way. They have offered sacrifices to false gods in Gods sanctuary. They have utterly turned away from God and so God has turned away from them.
5:14 - This verse was deeply saddening to me. The Jewish people are God's chosen...they are supposed to be a priest nation that stands out as a light to the world, bringing people to the one and only Creator God. Yet instead, they have become detestable to the world, they have brought humiliation on God. How many times have Christians done this? I want my life to be a light that leads people towards God, not a one that pushes people away from God because of my unfaithfulness.
6:9-10 - Those who escape God's wrath will actually become an example to all of Israel and all of the world. After all God's judgment has been poured out, they will finally be able to see the disgusting nature of their actions and fully understand that God is the only God. Sometimes stubborn human beings need to be brought to their knees in suffering before they can see that they are in such desperate need of God.
6:12-13 - Whoa. Brutal. God wants His people to know that He is God through His power, mercy, love, the beauty of creation, etc...but if He has to...if we have forced Him to it...God will teach people that He is Lord through His fury.
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