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Ezekiel 12

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The Sign of Imminent Exile 1–16

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The word of Jehovah also came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of the rebellious house, that have eyes to see, and see not, that have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house. ​
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Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. ​
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And thou shalt bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing; and thou shalt go forth thyself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.
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Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. ​
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In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the land: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. ​
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And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. ​
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And in the morning came the word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
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Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? ​
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Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are. ​
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Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. ​
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And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. ​
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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. ​
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And I will scatter toward every wind all that are round about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. ​
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And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries. ​
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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 nations whither they come; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. ​

The Sign of Fear and Desolation 17–20

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Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
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Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with fearfulness; ​
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and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and despoiled of all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. ​
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And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

Judgment Will Not Be Delayed 21–28

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And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, what is this proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? ​
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Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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 fulfilment of every vision. ​
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For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. ​
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For I am Jehovah; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
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Again the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
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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 times that are far off. ​
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Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 12

Verse 2

a rebellious house — 'Rebellious' is meri, the word for stubborn resistance, applied to the house first in 2:5–8 and again in vv.3, 9, 25 here. 'Eyes to see, and see not' is the charge of Jer 5:21, and Christ applies the thought to his hearers in Mark 4:12, 'seeing they may see, and not perceive'.

Verse 3

stuff for removing — 'Stuff' is keli, a vessel or baggage, and 'removing' is golah, exile, so the bundle is an exile's. He is to carry it out 'by day in their sight'. 'It may be they will consider' is like the 'It may be' of Jer 36:3 and 36:7, as in the 'If so be' of Jer 26:3, where the LORD leaves room for them to turn back.

Verse 5

Dig thou through the wall — Ezekiel is to make the opening and carry his bundle out through it 'in their sight', so the escape is shown to them beforehand. When Jerusalem was taken, 'the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls' (2 Kgs 25:4).

Verse 6

I have set thee for a sign — 'Sign' is mopheth, a wonder, the word for the wonders of Egypt (Deut 6:22); in Ezekiel it is used of the prophet himself here, in v.11 and in 24:24, 27. 'Twilight' (alataph), thick darkness, occurs outside this chapter only in Gen 15:17. The covered face is explained in v.12.

Verse 7

I did so as I was commanded — Ezekiel does each part in the sight of the people: the stuff by day, the wall at evening, the load on his shoulder in the twilight. His obedience is recorded in the same words at 24:18 and 37:7. 'Stuff for captivity' repeats the 'stuff for removing' of v.3.

Verse 9

What doest thou? — The people ask what the act means, and the LORD has the prophet answer in vv.10–11. The same question comes in 24:19, 'Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?', and in 17:12 the LORD himself asks the 'rebellious house', 'Know ye not what these things mean?'

Verse 10

This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem — 'Burden' (massa) is the weighty word of Isa 13:1 and Mal 1:1. 'Prince' is nasi, Ezekiel's word for the ruler of Jerusalem, as in 21:25, 'profane wicked prince of Israel'. The king's flight by night and his blinding (2 Kgs 25:4–7) show that the prince is Zedekiah.

Verse 11

I am your sign — Ezekiel states the meaning of his act plainly: 'like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them', and they shall 'go into captivity'. The record of the deportations bears it out, as when Nebuzaradan 'carried away captive certain of the poor of the people' (Jer 52:15).

Verse 12

he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground — The prince 'shall go forth' by night with a load on his shoulder through the wall, as Ezekiel did. When the city was broken up the king left 'by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden' (2 Kgs 25:4) and was overtaken in the plains of Jericho (25:5). The covered face points to v.13.

Verse 13

My net also will I spread upon him — The net and snare are the LORD's own, as in 17:20 and Hos 7:12. 'Yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there' came true in Zedekiah: his eyes were put out, he was carried to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:7) and put 'in prison till the day of his death' (Jer 52:11).

Verse 14

I will draw out the sword after them — The scattering 'toward every wind' and the sword drawn out 'after them' are the words of 5:12 and of the curse in Lev 26:33, 'I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you'. 'All his bands' meets 2 Kgs 25:5, 'all his army were scattered from him'.

Verse 15

when I shall scatter them among the nations — The recognition, 'they shall know that I am the LORD', is placed at the scattering itself, as it was at 6:7 and 6:14. The exile 'among the nations… in the countries' is what Lev 26:33 had foretold. In Ezekiel the LORD is known by what he does, in judgment first and later in the gathering.

Verse 16

a few men of them — 'A few men' is literally 'men of number', a counted remnant that the LORD will 'leave' from the sword, famine and pestilence, as in 6:8. They are to 'declare all their abominations among the heathen', so that the nations learn the reason for the fall, which Jer 22:9 gives: 'they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God'.

Verse 18

eat thy bread with quaking — 'Quaking' is ra'ash, a shaking, and 'carefulness' (de'agah) is anxiety, found in Ezekiel only here, in v.19 and in 4:16. The act enacts the siege foretold there, 'I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem'. Lam 5:9 describes the later experience: 'We gat our bread with the peril of our lives'.

Verse 19

drink their water with astonishment — 'Astonishment' (shimmamon) occurs only here and in 4:16. The land is to be left desolate 'because of the violence of all them that dwell therein', the 'violence' named of the city in 7:23 and 8:17, and the 'blood' of 9:9. Mic 7:13 has the same reason: the land desolate 'because of them that dwell therein'.

Verse 22

The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth — A mashal, a saying in circulation in Israel, holding that delay proves failure. The same scoffing returns in the last days: 'Where is the promise of his coming?' (2 Pet 3:4). 'Prolonged' here is arak, a different word from the 'prolonged' of vv.25 and 28 (mashak), which means drawn out.

Verse 23

The days are at hand — The LORD answers the proverb with one of his own: 'The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision' (literally 'the word of every vision'). The nearness is declared in 7:7, 'the day of trouble is near', and by Zeph 1:14. He will make the saying 'cease', as he did the proverb of 18:2–3.

Verse 24

vain vision nor flattering divination — 'Vain' is shav', empty, and 'divination' (miqsam) occurs only here and in 13:7. The next chapter deals with those who give such visions: 'They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them' (13:6).

Verse 25

the word that I shall speak shall come to pass — The LORD answers the saying of v.22 with 'in your days, O rebellious house', not at a distance. The verb 'prolonged' is now mashak, to draw out. 'Perform' is the verb 'do', as in Num 23:19, 'hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?'

Verse 27

for many days to come — This is a second saying, different from that of v.22: not that the vision fails, but that it belongs to 'the times that are far off'. Daniel is told of a vision, 'yet the vision is for many days' (Dan 10:14), so a distant fulfilment is possible in Scripture. Of Jerusalem's fall it was not true, as the answer in v.28 states.

Verse 28

There shall none of my words be prolonged any more — The reply covers both sayings: 'the word which I have spoken shall be done'. It was fulfilled within the lifetime of the hearers. In the twelfth year of the captivity, 'one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten' (33:21).