Ezekiel 12

Introduction

This evening we’ve moving into a new section of the book of Ezekiel which runs from chapter 12 to chapter 24. And while it contains more prophecies about Jerusalem and Israel, it also contains prophecies about King Zedekiah and about the false prophets and about the king of Babylon. And then, after chapter 24, Ezekiel prophesies about the nations around Israel. But before we get into this new section, I wanted to say a little more about what we were reading about and thinking about last week. Last week we spent our time on chapters 10 and 11. In chapter 10, Ezekiel once again saw in a vision the Lord’s chariot-throne which was accompanied by the four angels. And he saw the glory of the Lord. And in the vision in chapter 10 he saw that the Lord was getting ready to depart from Jerusalem. God’s house had become defiled because of the sins of the people. And therefore he was getting ready to leave Jerusalem. And so, Ezekiel saw and heard the wings of the angels as they got ready to leave. And the chariot-throne rose up with the angels. And at the end of chapter 11, we read how the glory of the Lord with his chariot-throne and his angels went up from the city and stopped above a mountain to the east of it.

So, chapter 10 and the end of chapter 11 was about the Lord’s departure from Jerusalem. In the rest of chapter 11 Ezekiel recorded the word of the Lord about the leaders in Jerusalem who thought they were safe despite their wickedness. Do you remember? They thought they were like meat which was kept safe in a cooking pot. So long as the meat was in the cooking pot, it was safe. And they thought that as long as they were in Jerusalem, they were safe. God will not let Jerusalem fall to the Babylonians. But they were mistaken, because the Lord was determined to bring the sword against them. The Lord was going to bring the Babylonians against them to destroy them for their persistent sin and rebellion. The Lord declared that he will execute judgment on them.

But then there was a message for the people who were already in exile. And this was a much more hopeful message, wasn’t it? The Lord said that even though he had scattered them, he was with them. He had been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they had gone. And he also said that he will gather them from the nations and bring them back to the Promised Land. And he promised to renew them by giving them a new, undivided heart and a new spirit to follow his decrees and to be careful to keep his laws. And he will renew his covenant with them. They will be his people and he will be their God.

And so, the Lord was promising good things for the people who were already in exile. The first time the Babylonians invaded the land, they left Jerusalem intact, but they took the best people in Jerusalem into exile. Ezekiel himself was among them. The second time the Babylonians invaded the land, they destroyed Jerusalem. That hasn’t happened yet, but the Lord announced through Ezekiel that it was going to happen. So, for the time being, Jerusalem is still standing, but some of the people — including Ezekiel — are already in exile. And the Lord was promising good things for them in the future.

And I wanted to clear something up. When we hear that the Lord intended to destroy Jerusalem and its inhabitants, but he was going to spare the exiles, we might assume that the people in Jerusalem were evil and the people in exile were good. In that case, the people in Jerusalem were getting what they deserved; and the people in exile were also getting what they deserved. One group deserved to be punished; the other group deserved to be spared.

That’s what we might assume. But let’s remember what the Lord said to Ezekiel in chapter 2 when the Lord appointed Ezekiel as a prophet. The Lord said to Ezekiel in verse 2 of chapter 2 that he was sending Ezekiel to the Israelites. And when the Lord mentions the Israelites, he was referring to the Israelites in exile. Though much of what we have been reading so far has been about Jerusalem, Ezekiel was not in Jerusalem. He was in Babylon. And so, God sent him to the Israelites who were in exile. And the Lord says about them in verse 2 of chapter 2 that they are a rebellious nation. He says about them that they are a rebellious nation that has rebelled against him. They and their fathers, he said, have been in revolt against him to that very day. And the Lord went on to say about them that they are obstinate and stubborn. The Hebrew word translated obstinate means that they have set their face against the Lord. And their hearts are hard and not soft. And that means they are unwilling to change their evil behaviour. In other words, the exiles were as bad as the people in Jerusalem. The people in Jerusalem were wicked; and the people in exile were wicked. The people in exile had not done anything to deserve or to earn all the good things which the Lord was promising to give them. It’s not that the Lord looked at them and decided that they weren’t so bad after all and that they deserved to be allowed to return to Jerusalem. No, he looked on them and he saw that they were a rebellious nation that had rebelled against him continually. He saw that they were obstinate and stubborn. He saw that they were unwilling to change.

And yet, despite their sin, despite their wickedness, he announced that he was going to gather them from the nations and let them return to the Promised Land. He was going to spare them so that instead of destroying them for their sins, he was going to let them live. That is to say, he was determined to be gracious to them. Instead of dealing with them according to their sins and instead of repaying them according to their iniquities, he was going to deal with them according to his grace and mercy. And since they themselves were unwilling to change their wicked behaviour, since they were inclined to do evil, he was going to change them by giving them a new heart and spirit so that they would want to follow his decrees and keep his laws.

And that’s what God does for all his people. We were dead in our transgressions and sins. We were oppressed and dominated by our own sinful desires and inclinations and by satan and by the ways of the world. And we were unable to save ourselves. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions. We could not save ourselves from the penalty we deserve for our sins, but God has saved us by his Son who gave up his life to pay for our sins. And we could not change ourselves, but God changes us by his Spirit who is renewing us in God’s image and who enables us to follow God’s decrees.

And we did not do anything to deserve God’s love and mercy. Like the exiles, we deserve God’s wrath and curse for a lifetime of disobedience. Nothing we have done in the past and nothing we might do in the future makes us worthy to receive God’s salvation. Our salvation is entirely due to God’s grace and mercy towards sinners in Christ Jesus.

The people in exile deserved to be in exile. But because God was gracious to them, he promised to gather them from the nations. And we deserve to be sent out of God’s presence to be punished for ever. But because God is gracious to us, he has promised to gather us from the nations where we live and to bring us into his presence in the new heavens and earth when Christ comes again.

Verses 1 to 16

Having said that, let’s turn to Ezekiel 12 which can be divided into two main parts: verses 1 to 20 and verses 21 to 28. Verses 1 to 20 contain two more sign-acts, similar to what we had in chapter 4. And verses 21 to 28 contain two speeches against sceptics.

Let’s consider the two sign-acts in verses 1 to 20. We begin with an accusation. The Lord said to Ezekiel that he — Ezekiel — is living among a rebellious people. And that confirms for us what I’ve just been saying. The people who had already been sent into exile were no better than the people who remained in Jerusalem, because they too were a rebellious people. Instead of obeying the Lord, they rebelled against him. Instead of doing his will, they went astray. The Lord says about them that they have eyes to see, but they do not see; and they have ears to hear, but they do not hear. He doesn’t say what it is that they refuse to see and hear, but we can take it that he means they refuse to see and hear the truth of God’s word or they refuse to see and hear the significance of what has happened to them: that God has sent them into exile because of their persistent sin and rebellion. And by saying that they have eyes and cannot see and they have ears and cannot hear, he’s saying that there’s something wrong with them. There’s something wrong with them, because they should be able to see and hear, but they can’t. Why can’t they? It because they are rebellious: they are sinfully inclined to disregard God.

And since this is the case, then the Lord wanted Ezekiel to perform the first of these two sign-acts. So, this is an action which Ezekiel is to perform and the action signifies something. It means something. What he does symbolises what God will do to them. And so, te Lord commanded Ezekiel to pack his belongings for exile. And then, once he had packed his bag, he was to set out from his house to another place. And he was to do this in the daytime when everyone could see him. The Lord then says that the people who are watching him might understand what he was doing. After all, they have eyes to see what he’s doing and ears to hear anything he says. They might get it. But perhaps not, since they are a rebellious people who are sinfully inclined not to see and hear and understand what God is saying to them.

The Lord repeats his command to Ezekiel in verse 4 that in the daytime he’s to act out going into exile. However, in the evening he’s to do something else. In the evening he’s to stand outside his house and dig a hole in the wall, which was easy to do because buildings in those days where made with dried mud and not brick. And then he’s to reach in and take hold of his belongings and bring them out through the hole. He was then to put his belongings on his shoulder and carry them away. Furthermore he was to cover his face so that he would not be able to see the land. This was God’s sign to the people of Israel in exile.

In verse 7 Ezekiel reports that he did as the Lord commanded. During the day, he packed his bag for exile. In the evening he dug through the wall and took away his belongings, carrying them on his shoulder. So, that’s what he did. What did it mean? That’s what verses 8 to 14 tell us.

The Lord instructed Ezekiel to say to the people when they ask him what he’s doing that this is a message from the Lord concerning the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel who are there in Jerusalem. When he mentions the prince in Jerusalem, he’s referring to King Zedekiah, whom the Babylonians appointed as king in place of Jehoiachin. And it’s likely that the Lord refers to him as a prince and not as a king because he didn’t really have any power. He had to do what the Babylonians wanted. So, this is a message from the Lord about Zedekiah and all the people left in Jerusalem.

And Ezekiel was to say to the exiles that what he did — packing his bag for exile and digging a hole in the wall — will be done to the people in Jerusalem. So, just as he packed his bag for exile, so the people of Jerusalem will have to pack their bags for exile. He means that when the Babylonians attack the city, they will take away many of the people. And you can read about it in 2 Kings 25.

And then the Lord explains in verse 12 that Zedekiah will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and will leave through a hole in the wall. That also matches what we read in 2 Kings 25 where it says that Zedekiah and his men fled at night through one of the gates in the wall of the city and the king and his men fled for their lives. In Ezekiel 12 the Lord says he will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. It’s possible the Lord means that he wore a disguise. Or perhaps he means he left when it was dark and could not see anything. And the Lord then says in verse 13 that he will spread his net for Zedekiah; and Zedekiah will be caught in God’s snare. And sure enough, according to 2 Kings 25, Zedekiah was captured by the Babylonians. God snared him by using the Babylonians to capture him. And they took out his eyes so that he became blind and he was taken away to Babylon as the Lord foretold in verse 13 of Ezekiel 12. And in that verse, the Lord says that he will not see Babylon. And he did not see it, because he was blind. And the remainder of his possessions and people were scattered to the wind, pursued by the Babylonian soldiers with their drawn swords. What the Lord foretold through Ezekiel took place just as he said it would.

And according to verses 15 and 16, whenever the Lord disperses the survivors through the countries, then they will know that he is the Lord. That is to say, they will know that the Lord is the covenant-keeping God who has done to them everything he said he would do to them, according to the terms of his covenant with them, because they did not repent and return to him. And in the countries where he scatters them they will acknowledge their detestable practices. And so, they will confess their guilt. And isn’t that what we see in Nehemiah 1 and Daniel 9? In Nehemiah 1 we read how Nehemiah received word when he was in exile that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins. And he bowed before the Lord and began to pray. And in his prayer he confessed his own sins and the sins of God’s people and how they had acted wickedly towards God. And in Daniel 9, Daniel is praying to the Lord and he too confessed how they have sinned and done wrong. Just as the Lord said they would, the people living in exile came to know that he is the covenant-keeping God and they acknowledged before him their detestable practices and their guilt.

Verses 17 to 20

That’s the first of the two sign-acts. The second is in verses 17 to 20 where the Lord commanded Ezekiel to tremble as he ate his food and to shudder in fear as he drank his water. So, we’re to imagine Ezekiel shaking his hand as he lifted his fork and cup to eat and to drink. And we can imagine the fork missing his mouth and water falling from his cup.

That’s what he was to do. What does it mean? Look at verse 19. It’s another message about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel. So, this is a message about the people back home. They will eat their food in anxiety and they will drink their water in despair because the land they live in will be stripped bare. It will be stripped bare by the Babylonians when they invade the land and when they strip the land of the people by killing them or taking them away into exile. And we’re to imagine people, sitting at home, and they’re scared and nervous, because they’ve heard the Babylonians are coming to get them. They try to eat, but they cannot, because they’re too frightened.

And the Lord explains that the land will be stripped because of their violence. God has seen their violent ways and he has seen the things they have done to one another. And so, he’s going to send the Babylonians who will strip the land the way locusts strip the countryside. The towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. In this way, the Lord will clear the land of the wicked. He will cleanse the land of all that defiles it as he did in the days of Noah’s flood. And those who are spared will know that he is the covenant-keeping God he has done to them what he said he would do, according to the terms of the covenant, because they did not repent and return to him.

And so, those are the two signs-acts. In the first, Ezekiel depicted the exile when the people in Jerusalem will be taken away by the Babylonians. Zedekiah their king will also be taken away. The city is doomed. And in the second, he depicted the fear of the people who have heard that the Babylonians are coming to get them.

Verses 21 to 28

That’s the first main part of the passage. The second part contains two speeches against sceptics. And these sceptics are probably among the exiles in Babylon. So, these are people who were hearing God’s word to them through Ezekiel about Jerusalem and its fate. But instead of believing what they heard, they were sceptical about it. And so, the Lord addresses these sceptics in this part of the chapter.

Firstly, the Lord quotes a proverb which was going around among them in those days: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing.’ People were saying that what the Lord foretold through Ezekiel was not going to happen. Ezekiel was saying that Jerusalem will fall and the people will be killed or exiled. But it’s not going to happen.

That’s what sceptics were saying. But what does the Lord say? Take a look at verse 23. This is what the Sovereign Lord says who is king over all: I am going to put an end to this proverb. And he’s going to put an end to the proverb by ensuring that what was foretold happens just as he said it would. And so, Ezekiel was to warn the people that the days are near when every vision the Lord has revealed will be fulfilled. Everything the Lord has announced through his prophets will come true. And so, they will no longer be able to claim that the visions Ezekiel had received were false visions or flattering or empty divinations, because everything the Lord has said will happen. What he has foretold will be fulfilled without delay. In fact, look at what he says to them in the second half of verse 25: in your days, God will fulfil whatever he has said. So, it will happen in your lifetime. It will happen soon. You think these things will never happen and each new day will be the same as the last day. But the Lord will come to judge his people and to bring down on their heads what they have done.

That’s the Lord’s first speech to the sceptics. The second is in verses 26 to 28. Again the Lord quotes what people were saying. This time people were saying, not that the visons will never be fulfilled, but they won’t be fulfilled in our lifetime. The vision Ezekiel sees is for many years from now. It’s not about us. It’s about the distant future.

That’s what people were saying. And the Lord assures them that none of his words to them will be delayed any longer. Whatever he says will be fulfilled. And it will be fulfilled soon.

Application

The scepticism of the people in those days is similar to the scepticism which the Apostle Peter addresses in his second New Testament letter where he wrote about the day of the Lord, when the Lord Jesus Christ will come in glory and with power to judge the living and the dead. On that day, he will acquit his people who trusted in him and will bring them into the new heavens and earth to live with God for ever. And on that day, he will condemn all those who did not trust in him for eternal life and he will send them away to be punished for ever for all that they have done wrong.

And Peter writes about scoffers who scoff about the Lord’s coming. And he says that these scoffers will come in the last days. The phrase ‘the last days’ refers to the time between the Lord’s ascension to heaven and his coming again to judge the world. And so, we’re living in the last days. And Peter is saying that throughout the period of the last days, scoffers will come and they will keep coming. In every generation, scoffers will appear and they will all say the same kind of thing. They will say: ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?’ The Bible says that the Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. And God has sent his preachers into all the world to tell people that Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And the sceptics say: Where is this coming?

And according to Peter, they will say, ‘Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ And that sounds a lot like what the sceptics were saying in Ezekiel’s day: that the days go by and every vision comes to nothing. Ever since the beginning of creation, the days go by and Christ has not come. Nothing is going to happen. No one is going to come. The world is just going to keep going as it always has since the beginning of creation. The day of judgment will never come.

And do you remember what Peter said in response? He says that the sceptics deliberately and wilfully forget that in the beginning God intervened in history to form the dry land out of the water. And they also deliberately and wilfully forget that in the days of Noah God intervened in history to send a flood to destroy all of life. And they also deliberately and wilfully forget that God has promised that he will intervene in history once again when he breaks into the world on the last day to destroy the world. Peter says that the world as we know it is reserved, not for water as if was in the days of Noah, but for fire. It’s being kept for the day of judgment and for the destruction of ungodly men and women.

The scoffers say that since the beginning of creation, every day has been the same and one day follows another and that’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it always will be. But no, says Peter: In the beginning, God broke into the world to form the dry land; then, in the days of Noah, God broke into the world in order to flood the earth; and one day, God will come again in the person of his Son to destroy this world and to destroy all who have disobeyed him. Scoffers may scoff, but they’ve got it wrong, because the day of the Lord is coming.

In Ezekiel’s day, the Lord spoke to the exiles about the coming judgment on Jerusalem and how he was going to send the Babylonians to destroy the city and to take the king and some of the people into exile. They would have to pack their bags in haste because of what was coming on them. The Lord spoke to them about the fear of the people and how they would eat their food in fear and trembling, because the enemies were upon them. And the Lord wanted the people in exile to understand that they too were sinners who deserved to be condemned and destroyed like the people in Jerusalem. He wanted them to acknowledge their guilt and to confess the detestable things they had done. And he wanted them to turn from their sins and to return to him, because if they return to him he will freely pardon them.

But instead of confessing their sins and returning to him, they dismissed his word. They scoffed. Instead of taking to heart the warnings, they doubted them. ‘It’s never going to happen’, they thought. Or, ‘If it happens, it’s not going to happen to us.’ And so, instead of humbling themselves before the Lord, they disregarded the word of the Lord. They scoffed.

And we must not be like them. We must believe everything the Lord has said in his word.

And when we hear about the coming judgment, we should humble ourselves before the Lord, because we know that we deserve to suffer it, because we’re sinners and every day we sin against the Lord and we disobey him and we fall short of doing his will. We deserve to suffer it, because even our best deeds are spoiled by sin. When we hear about the coming judgment, we should humble ourselves before the Lord and confess to him that we deserve to suffer his judgment, because of all the ways we have fallen short.

But when we hear about the coming judgment, we should also rejoice and give thanks to God for Christ our Saviour who has made peace for us with God. Because of Christ, we’re not condemned, but we have eternal life. He suffered the wrath and curse of God which we deserve in order to satisfy the justice of God which was against us. And that means all who are trusting in Christ for salvation can look forward to his coming, because when he comes, it will not be to condemn us, even though that’s what we deserve, but it’s to bring us into the presence of God, where we will see the glory of God in the face of Christ and we’ll live with him for ever and for ever with that fullness of joy which Christ has prepared for all his people. When we hear of the coming judgment, we should fall down and give thanks to God for Christ our Saviour who has saved us from the eternal punishment we deserve and has given us instead the hope of eternal life.

And out of gratitude to God for what he has done for us by his Son, we should make it our aim to live for him and to do all things for his glory. We should give up our sins and we should do what is right in his sight, loving him with all of our being and loving the people around us, which is his will for us. And in this way we demonstrate our gratitude to him for his kindness to us in Christ our Saviour.