Ezekiel chapter 12

vs 1

Let me guess, the word of the Lord came to you? Bam.

vs 2

Does this sound familiar to anybody at all? You'd almost think that Jesus read Ezekiel.

vs 3

Another object lesson - pack your bags as if leaving for exile. Then get up and go, so they see. And they might even understand, but don't bet on it. God is having Ezekiel do these things, and yet telling him how fruitless they might be. I guess sometimes in ministry we do things so God can say they were done, and that's what he wants.

vs 4

So Ezekiel is basically putting on a show. In the daytime, he is to make sure everyone sees his belongings, sees what he is carrying, sees that it is as if he was headed out to exile. Then in the evening, he is to leave as if leaving for exile.

vs 5

Not a hundred per cent sure about why he has to dig through the wall. I mean, it sounds more like he is escaping in the night, rather than being led out in exile. Perhaps that's what he's meant to look like? Or perhaps the digging through the wall represents something else - that all is lost, because no-one would dig through the wall if the seige were actually in place? I'm sure a commentator would be able to speculate better than me.

vs 6

He walks off into the sunset like a western movie, and he covers his face so he can't see the land -that is God's promise to Israel - that in exile they won't see their land for a good long time.

vs 7

It's nice to actually hear from Ezekiel for a bit. Refreshing. And people did watch what he was doing. The question is always whether he does these things in silence, or all the while proclaiming their meaning. Both would have power in their own right, but I get the feeling that he'd proclaim, because after all that's what he does in the writing of the book.

vs 8

By morning we can assume he's not in Jerusalem anymore.

vs 9

Heh, they just sat and watched dumb, not even asking what he was doing. So perhaps he did just do it in silence. I can admit when I'm mistaken. It's funny though how God asks the question as if he was expecting them to ask, when he warked Ezekiel himself that they were stubborn.