NOTES for Eze 12:1-28

¹The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.

³Therefore, 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 be a rebellious house.

⁴Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.

⁵Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

⁶In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

⁷And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

⁸And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,

⁹Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?

¹⁰Say 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.

¹¹Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

¹²And 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.

¹³My 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.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

¹⁶But 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.

¹⁷Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁸Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

²¹And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²²Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

²³Tell 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.

²⁴For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵For 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.

²⁶Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷Son 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.

²⁸Therefore 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.

Once again the prophet preaches through a symbolic action, carrying his belongings out of the house and breaking through the wall. We understand what he means or, more precisely, what the Lord entrusted Ezekiel to say. But why must the prophecy about Jerusalem's fate be proclaimed not to its inhabitants, but far from the city, in the land of Babylon?

Apparently because the prophet is addressing the exiles: those who have not lost their inner ties with their native city and are at the same time able to heed his words and understand them better than most of those who remained in Jerusalem. These very exiles, separated from the main body of the people and having experienced and reconsidered much, can become not yet the faithful remnant, but already a likeness of that remnant which preserves faithfulness and is therefore the seedling of a restored people. They can once again become bearers of the teaching of faith and are therefore already ready to hear and receive prophetic words. If this is so, it must be affirmed that prophecy must not cease and that the corresponding proverb is false. It is true that the apostle Paul will later begin to teach that “prophecies will cease” (1 Cor 13:8), but in fact he will be speaking about something else: even if prophecies cease, love will never disappear. Those who repeated this proverb during the prophets' lifetime thereby revealed that they had lost hope in the Lord and did not know His love.

Therefore, when we hear popular sayings today as well, such as “we are not saints” or “miracles do not happen,” we should not yield to them. It is better to turn once more to the Source of faith.

Other notes

For Eze 12:1-28