Ezekiel 4:3

The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

1 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.

2 ^aLay siege against it, build a ^bsiege 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 ^abesieged, and you shall lay siege against it. ^bThis 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; ^aso 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 ^aAnd surely I will restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.

Commentaries:

Matthew Henry

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Ezekiel 4:1-17

The siege of Jerusalem. (1-8) The famine the inhabitants would suffer. (9-17)

Verses 1-8 The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city.

Verses 9-17 The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and never had eaten any thing forbidden by the law. It will be comfortable when we are brought to suffer hardships, if our hearts can witness that we have always been careful to keep even from the appearance of evil. See what woful work sin makes, and acknowledge the righteousness of God herein. Their plenty having been abused to luxury and excess, they were justly punished by famine. When men serve not God with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies in the want of all things.

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The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning