Click above to watch video.
OR
Click below to play audio and read along.
Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Yesterday, Ezekiel shared with us a remarkable message he had received from God about speaking ONLY as God led him to speak, and we were challenged to consider how alert we are to God as He wants to guide us when to speak, when to be quiet, and WHAT to speak! I know Ezekiel’s words in Ezekiel 3:26,27 really struck my heart, what about yours?
Today, what place do you think of when I use the word “HOMETOWN”? Let’s join Ezekiel as he shares with us the next fascinating thing God instructed him to DO. Would you believe Ezekiel’s next message from God directed him to build a clay model of the city of Jerusalem, the hometown of all 10,000 captives who were marched to Babylon with Ezekiel almost 6 years before. Ezekiel 4:1 begins: “Now son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set camps against it and put battering rams around it…this will be a sign to the people of Israel.” (Ez.4:1,2)
‘Siege’ is a word rarely used in 2025 but 2600 years ago ‘siege’ was very well known as a successful and dreaded military strategy for starving out and conquering cities. Large earthen ramps were built up to the city walls upon which battering rams could be pulled into position for smashing through city walls or gates. Siege barricades kept anyone in the city from leaving and anyone outside the city from entering, including any food or water. A siege was a terrible way for a city to be starved into submission. Perhaps you know the story of Masada?
If you visit Jerusalem today, one of the places most tourists stop is the large 1/50th scale model of Jerusalem through the centuries stretching from the days of King David, all the way to the days of Jesus, more than 1000 years later. The topography and various city walls clearly identify the ‘City of David’; the great Temple, both of which towered over the city, both of which were built on the same temple mount; and much more. For the Jewish captives of Ezekiel’s day, the clay model Ezekiel made would easily have been recognized as their ‘hometown’ Jerusalem. But oh, how sad to watch Ezekiel build clay siege works up around it!
The significance was obvious and would not need Ezekiel to explain that God was warning of the day Jerusalem would be captured and destroyed in the not-too-distant future. In fact, King Nebuchadnezzar put Jerusalem under siege and conquered it only about 10 years after Ezekiel received this message from God and made the clay model of Jerusalem!
Next Ezekiel describes something very strange which God told him to do: “Take an iron pan and place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. The city will be under siege… This will be a sign to the people of Israel.” (Ez. 4:3) God does not give us a clear explanation of this strange action, but isn’t it interesting that the modern, high tech defense system over much of Israel, protecting her cities from aerial assault of rockets, missiles, bombs and drones is called the ‘iron dome’ of Israel?
In Ezekiel’s day, there was no iron wall to protect Jerusalem from the siege and therefore could it be the iron wall symbolized God’s great restraint of Himself from rescuing Jerusalem from His judgment for so long, until finally Nebuchadnezzar’s siege and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586bc?! Why would God restrain Himself? Because of His unending love and His mercy toward us sinful people! But finally His long-prophesied time for judgment arrived!!
Ezekiel next received very strange instructions from God: “Lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So, for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.” (Ez. 4:4,5)
Now we know Ezekiel did not lie on the ground on his left side day and night continuously for 390 days, for as you continue reading Ezekiel, he was very active doing many other things. We conclude, however, that he did assume that posture for a portion of each day for 390 consecutive days, more than a full year, symbolizing 390 years that God Himself had tolerated the burden of the rebellious sinfulness of His beloved nation, the northern kingdom Israel! Ezekiel laying on the ground lamenting over Jerusalem was a picture of God’s longsuffering and grief as He watched Jerusalem’s moral decay. But was it a picture of the past or the future of rebellious Israel?
Before we answer that, let’s note the next thing God spoke to Ezekiel: “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. Turn your face toward Jerusalem and with bared arm prophecy against her.” (Ez. 4:6,7) Was God asking Ezekiel to symbolize how God had tolerated the continuous rebellion of His people of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom yet another 40 years after finally His patience had ended with northern kingdom Israel? May I give you some thoughts I have and let’s see how they pertain to you and me today?
If God was speaking of PAST history for Jerusalem, and if the siege works around the city represented the final conquering and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of God in 586bc, then 390+40 = 430 years, and that would be about 1016bc right about the time King David first conquered the city of the Jebusites, Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:6,7) Also, the distinction between 390 years for the northern kingdom Israel and 40 years for the southern kingdom Judah is fascinating to me because while the northern kingdom was conquered in 722bc, King Josiah, the last God honoring King in Judah, invited ALL Jews, including those remaining in what was the conquered northern kingdom Israel, to come to Jerusalem for a united Passover during the great time of spiritual renewal and revival in Judah. (2 Chronicles 35:16-19)
These words give us insight into the significance of that unique Passover event in about 622bc: “The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel…) (2 Chron. 35:18) Almost exactly 40 years later Nebuchadnezzar’s army began building the siege works which ultimately conquered Jerusalem! (2 Kings 25:1-5)
If Ezekiel’s dramatic experience with the model of Jerusalem and his 430 days of lying down bearing the sin burden of Israel was a FORWARD looking message from God, perhaps it applies to the period of time FROM the final prophet of the Old Testament Malachi in about 430bc, through the silent years, when no prophet from God spoke God’s messages, until the incarnation of Jesus Christ bringing God’s message to life and redemption offer to Israel and our world! Ultimately, since God did not give Ezekiel an explanation for us, this is one of those mysteries in the Bible that I think will need to wait for Jesus to clarify!
Regardless, if Ezekiel 4 is a past view or forward view, the message seems clear: Our creator, Almighty God, is very patient with us, yet eventually justice will be served as an accounting before God will take place for EVERY person who has ever lived, anywhere in the world. And the primary point of evaluation for each person’s lifetime will be our response to God’s offer of a sin forgiven relationship with HIM through Jesus Christ His Son, who paid the full atonement price for each of us and thus Jesus is our only possible Savior from our sin bondage and sin condemnation. (Revelation 20:11-15)
So, my friends, what is the relationship you have with Jesus Christ today? I urge you to listen to all of Ezekiel 4 on the audio, dramatic reading at the end of this “WWJ”. And here’s a wonderful worship song to help us consider God’s loving offer to us. . .
Today’s Scripture: Ezekiel 4.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.