And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. Say, I am your sign; like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 8-16).
The actions of the Prophet were witnessed by the people and they said to him, What doest thou? The answer to their inquiry is given by the Lord Himself. We have therefore the divine interpretation of what Ezekiel had done in their presence. It is a prophecy and concerns mostly "the prince in Jerusalem"; Zedekiah is meant. His attempt to flee from Jerusalem and his fate when the king of Babylon put out his eyes, his captivity in the land of the Chaldeans and death in that land are here clearly predicted. Jeremiah xxxix:4; lii:10-11 and 2 Kings xxv:1-7 must be read in connection with the sign of Ezekiel and the interpretation as given by the Lord. Thus Ezekiel had enacted a prophecy before their eyes which came literally true. Certain critics have tried to explain that what Ezekiel did must have happened after the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah. However, this attempt to disprove the passage as a real prophecy has failed. Others have tried to explain it in still another way. It has been said: "Since we know that the book was written after the event, it is a perfectly fair question whether in the interpretation of the symbols Ezekiel may not have read into it a fuller meaning than was present to his own mind at the time." This statement sets aside the fact that not Ezekiel gave the interpretation and read something into it, but the whole passage is the Word of the Lord, introduced with "Thus saith the Lord God." Predictions of any kind revealing future events seems to be the unpalatable thing for the destructive criticism, for it proves the fact of divine revelation. We have followed step by step the different judgment messages and visions which the Prophet received and delivered, how Jerusalem was facing its certain doom and now Zedekiah and his fate in trying to escape from Jerusalem is especially mentioned. All these visions are closely connected and were all given before the city fell.
And what the Lord predicted here, not alone about Zedekiah, but also about the people and their dispersion came true. They were scattered among the nations, but a full end of them was not made, a remnant was to be left and to declare their abominations among the nations. Scattered in all countries they witness by their condition as a homeless nation to their own disobedience and shame.
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (verses 17-20).
An additional message is given. Ezekiel was to eat his bread with quaking and drink his water with dread and anxious care. It was another sign of the affliction which was to come upon them. The land also should become desolate and the cities be laid waste. Thus the Lord continued to warn and plead with His people. Judgment is always his strange work (Is. xxxiii:21). "For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men? (Lam. iii:33). The unheeded warnings were repeated over and over again by Ezekiel and the other prophets; He waited in His infinite patience for the return of His people and, as we learn from the Book of Judges, if there is but a cry from the heart of His people, He is ready to respond. But Israel heard not. They made light of all the predictions of the rapidly nearing judgment. When we think of our own times and generation, and remember the deliberate rejection of God's Word, the impenitence and worldliness prevalent in Christendom, and the judgments which are threatened and which must come some day, these opening messages of Ezekiel and their fulfilment in the judgment of Jerusalem and the nation take on an additional meaning. God must needs do His strange work, the work of judgment upon those who reject the best He has given, the Gospel of His Grace. The condition of the people is now more fully seen in the second part of this chapter.
II. The False Hope. The Judgment not to be Delayed.
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them, therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God (verses 21-28).
We must again remember in reading these words that in the midst of Israel false prophets deluded the people with their false messages. The rebellious spirit against the Lord was fostered by these men and the threatening judgments announced by Jeremiah and by Ezekiel were not believed by the mass of the people. Of them we read elsewhere: "Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity, but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment" (Lam. ii:14). Believing the false messages the people said, "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth." Had they really believed that the days were not to be prolonged and that the vision of judgment upon Jerusalem was about to be accomplished, they would have surely turned to the Lord and cried to Him for mercy. Unbelief was responsible for their condition, and in that unbelief they were sustained by the lying prophets. In the next chapter the Prophet utters his God-given denunciation of these false prophets and prophetesses.
All this is present with us to-day. Blinded Israel then did not believe what the Lord had spoken. They thought themselves secure, that the days would be prolonged and that the visions had failed. It is so to-day. The Spirit of God has predicted this for the end of the present age: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter iii:3-4). This is the spirit to-day which has permeated the larger part of the professing church. What God has said concerning the future, the Coming again of His Son to judge the world in righteousness is either ignored or rejected, while many even ridicule these great predictions. It is the popular opinion that our age is constantly getting better, they dream of world-peace, great advancement and prosperity. That God has written a different program in His Word revealed by the Prophets of God in visions and confirmed by our Lord and His Apostles is completely forgotten. And this setting aside of the Word of Prophecy has produced in Christendom similar conditions to those in unbelieving Israel. And there are others who assent in a measure to the visions of the Prophets concerning things to come, but they are unconcerned about it. It has no meaning for them. Like Israel they say, "The vision that he seeth is for many days to come and he prophesieth of the times that are afar off" (verse 27). It reminds us of the language of the evil servant who said, "My lord delayeth his coming."
But what was God's answer? He would end this false hope and false security. The lying proverb which the false prophets had them inspired to use would be changed into another. "The days are at hand and the effect of every vision." All false visions, false divinations and false hopes which had become so widespread among Israel were to cease, for the burden of true Prophecy would now be fulfilled. Then solemnly He declared that His Word was to be done. The Word which He spoke would come to pass. Even so every word which the Prophets had spoken concerning the judgment of Jerusalem, the devastation of the land and the dispersion of the people came to pass.