Ezekiel 4

Ezekiel 4 is a prophetic chapter where God instructs Ezekiel to perform symbolic acts that represent the upcoming siege and judgment of Jerusalem. Through various symbolic actions, Ezekiel is to communicate the suffering, scarcity, and consequences that will come upon the city due to its disobedience. Each act serves as a vivid illustration of the hardships that the people of Jerusalem will face, emphasizing God's warnings and the severity of impending judgment.

Ezekiel 4:1-10 (NKJV)
1 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.
2 Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around.
3 Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
7 Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it.
8 And surely I will restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.
9 “Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.
10 And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it.

Ezekiel is instructed to enact a symbolic siege against Jerusalem by using a clay tablet and building a siege model, which conveys the siege and ultimate fall of the city. The iron plate symbolizes the barrier between God and the people, indicating that God will not intervene in the coming judgment. Ezekiel’s actions—lying on his side for 390 days for Israel and 40 days for Judah—represent the years of sin each group has accumulated. The limited food he is allowed symbolizes the severe scarcity that will strike during the siege. The mixture of grains reflects the lack of staple food and forced dependence on a sparse diet.

Ezekiel 4:11-17 (NKJV)
11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink.
12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”
13 Then the Lord said, “So shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”
14 So I said, “Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth.”
15 Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread,
17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity.

God tells Ezekiel to eat food cooked over human waste, symbolizing the defilement the Israelites will face in exile, where they will be forced to live in unclean conditions among Gentiles. Ezekiel protests, not wanting to violate dietary laws, so God allows him to use cow dung instead, showing mercy while maintaining the symbolic act. The limited bread and water represent the anxiety and dread the people will experience as resources run out. This rationing signifies the despair that will grip Jerusalem during the siege, as they see their provisions dwindling and face the consequences of their unfaithfulness.