Ezekiel 12

Bible study with Dr. Chuck Missler

REVIEW

God was using Ezekiel not just to talk to those of Judah but to us as well, in terms of the idols that we worship and the false prophets that compete for our ears.

Moral Necessity of the Captivity
Ezekiel was dealing with the objections of men who thought the present storm would pass, who saw no calamity ahead, and who held that the Lord would never repudiate his people.

Ezekiel 4-11
Ezekiel's task had been to show the necessity of Jerusalem's judgment because of its disobedience. He had demonstrated the fact of the siege through a series of signs, and then he explained the reason for the siege through two messages and an extended vision.

Ezekiel 12-19
However, the people were still not ready to accept the fact of Jerusalem’s fall. Therefore, Ezekiel gave a new series of signs and messages: Any optimism would be futile; Jerusalem’s fate had been sealed. (These messages were in the 11-year interval between the second and final deportations.)

Symbols, Allegories, Parables
By symbolical actions, allegories, and parables, Ezekiel demonstrated the moral necessity of the captivity. He gave two symbolical representations of flight from the besieged city (Ezekiel 12:1-20); expostulated with false prophets (Ezekiel 12:21-14:23); pictured Israel as a useless vine
(Ezekiel 15); allegorically recalled Israel's long history of unfaithfulness to her bridegroom (Ezekiel 16); returned to the metaphor of the vine to emphasize Zedekiah’s disloyalty (Ezekiel 17); answered objections to divine punishment by an analysis of individual responsibility (Ezekiel 18); and, burst forth into a dirge over the princes of Judah and over Judah itself (Ezekiel Chapter 19).


GOD WARNS US OF OUR CLOSED EYES AND EARS (Ezekiel 12:1-2)
Cf. Deuteronomy 29:3-4; Isaiah 6:9-10; Jeremiah 5:21; Acts 28:26-27

The Israelites WILLFULLY remained blind and deaf to God's Truth.

Once the Pharisees accused Jesus of working His miracles by the power of Satan, Jesus began withholding His message from them. That led to the 7 Kingdom Parables of Matthew 13, where the disciples asked Him why He started speaking in parables. In His answer, Jesus quoted from Ezekiel 12:2 and Jeremiah 5:21 (Cf. Matthew 13:11-15).


GOD INSTRUCTS EZEKIEL TO LEAVE AS IF IN EXILE (Ezekiel 12:3-7)

The people recognized the meaning of Ezekiel’s actions because six years earlier they had made similar preparations for their own deportation to Babylon. This first action in the daytime was followed by a second action in the evening. In other words, this was symbolic to indicate they were going to be fleeing the city to try to avoid capture.

Ezekiel was trying to wake his people up from complacency. They knew their city was under vassal rule, but they had the attitude that it was just temporary, that things would get better. With this mentality, they thus refused to listen to the warning of the prophets, not to either Ezekiel or Jeremiah.
God also instructed Ezekiel to cover his face, as if afraid of being recognized by anyone meeting him. This symbolized that the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily and afraid to look around; hurried should be their flight.


EZEKIEL EXPLAINS TO HIS PEOPLE WHAT HE IS DOING (Ezekiel 12:8-11)

Having Ezekiel act out God’s warning, God was able to gain the attention of His people and therefore deliver His message.

Ezekiel, in what he did in the presence of the exiles, was expressing the events that would soon come to pass in Jerusalem.


ZEDEKIAH: "THE PRINCE AMONG THEM" (Ezekiel 12:12-14)

Zedekiah was Judah’s last king (599 to 588 BC), the youngest son of Josiah and Hamutal (Jeremiah 1:3; 37:1) and brother to Jehoahaz (2 Kings 24:17-18; 23:31). He was ten years old when his father died and 21 years old when he mounted the throne.

Zedekiah was originally named Mattaniah. However, when Nebuchadnezzar deposed Zedekiah’s nephew, Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah. This proves that Nebuchadnezzar treated his vassal kindly, allowing him to choose a new name and confirming it as a mark of his supremacy (Zedekiah is Hebrew: "Righteousness of YHWH"). This name was to be the pledge of his righteously keeping his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar who made him swear by God (Ezekiel 17:12-16; 2 Chronicles 36:13).

Had Zedekiah kept his oath of fealty he would have been safe but dependent. Unfortunately, because he was weak, vacillating, and treacherous, he brought ruin on his country and on himself.

It was through the anger of YHWH against Judah that Zedekiah was given up to his own rebellious devices, "stiffening his neck and hardening his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel" who warned him by Jeremiah; like Pharaoh of old, he would "not humble himself" (2 Chronicles 36:12-13; Jeremiah 38:5; 39:1-7; 52:1-11; Cf. Jeremiah 21; 24; 27; 28; 29; 32; 33; 34; 37; 38).

Ezekiel 12:12 refers to Zedekiah's disguising himself, or sign of mourning, and through some freshly made exit from the palace, "went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls" (Jeremiah 39:4), while Ezekiel 12:13 offers an ironic paradox.

Josephus related that Ezekiel sent this prophecy to Jerusalem, and that Zedekiah, finding an apparent discrepancy in the words that he should not see Babylon, and those of Jeremiah, hardened himself in his rebellion (Jeremiah 32:4; 34:3).

Jeremiah 32:4-5
And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.

Jeremiah 34:3
And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.


2 Kings 25:3-7 (Cf. Jeremiah 52:8-11)
And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.


Josephus
On the 9th day of the 4th month in the middle of July after a year and a half’s siege (from the 10th month of the 9th year to the 4th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah) about midnight a breach was made in the wall.

The Babylonian princes took their seats in state in the middle gate, between the upper and the lower city. Zedekiah fled in the opposite direction, namely, southwards, with muffled face to escape recognition, and like one digging through a wall to escape, between the two walls on the east and west sides of the Tyropoeon valley, by a street issuing at the gate above the royal gardens and the fountain of Siloam.


Zedekiah was overtaken in the plains of Jericho. He was taken for judgment to Riblah at the upper end of Lebanon; there Nebuchadnezzar first killed his sons before his eyes, then caused the eyes of Zedekiah to be "dug out" (Jeremiah 39; 52:4-11). Thus were fulfilled the ostensibly inconsistent prophecies.

Zedekiah died in Babylon. He never saw Babylon because he was blinded.



Josephus
[The following was excerpted from Josephus, Flavius; Whiston, William: The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1987, S. 273.]

Now Zedekiah was twenty-and-one years old when he took the government; and had the same mother with his brother Jehoiachin, but was a despiser of justice and of his duty, for truly those of the same age with him were wicked about him, and the whole multitude did what unjust and insolent things they pleased

...for which reason the prophet Jeremiah came often to him, and protested to him, and insisted, that he must leave off his impieties and transgressions, and take care of what was right, and neither give ear to the rulers (among whom were wicked men) nor give credit to their false prophets who deluded them, as if the king of Babylon would make no more war against him, and as if the Egyptians would make war against him, and conquer him, since what they said was not true; and the events would not prove such [as they expected].

Now as to Zedekiah himself, while he heard the prophet speak, he believed him, and agreed to everything as true, and supposed it was for his advantage; but then his friends perverted him, and dissuaded him from what the prophet advised, and obliged him to do what they pleased.

Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were coming upon the people, which when he heard, he sent accounts of them unto Jerusalem; but Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies, for the reason following:—It happened that the two prophets agreed with one another in what they said as in all other things, that the city should be taken, and Zedekiah himself should be taken captive; but Ezekiel disagreed with him, and said, that Zedekiah should not see Babylon; while Jeremiah said to him, that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds; ...and because they did not both say the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein, although all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies, as we shall show upon a fitter opportunity.

Now the city was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. They were indeed only generals of the king of Babylon, to whom Nebuchadnezzar committed the care of the siege, for he abode himself in the city of Riblah. The names of these generals who ravaged and subdued Jerusalem, if anyone desire to know them, were these: Nergal Sharezer, Sangar Nebo, Rabsaris, Sarsechim, and Rabmag;

...and when the city was taken about midnight, and the enemy’s generals were entered into the temple, and when Zedekiah was sensible of it, he took his wives and his children, and his captains and friends, and with them fled out of the city, through the fortified ditch, and through the desert; ...and when certain of the deserters had informed the Babylonians of this, at break of day, they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah, and overtook him not far from Jericho, and encompassed him about. But for those friends and captains of Zedekiah who had fled out of the city with him, when they saw their enemies near them, they left him and dispersed themselves, some one way and some another, and every one resolved to save himself;

...so the enemy took Zedekiah alive, when he was deserted by all but a few, with his children and his wives, and brought him to the king. When he was come, Nebuchadnezzar began to call him a wicked wretch, and covenant-breaker, and one that had forgotten his former words, when he promised to keep the country for him. He also reproached him for his ingratitude, that when he had received the kingdom from him, who had taken it from Jehoiachin, and given it him, he had made use of the power he gave him against him that gave it: "but," said he, "God is great, who hateth that conduct of thine, and hath brought thee under us." And when he had used these words to Zedekiah, he commanded his sons and his friends to be slain, while Zedekiah and the rest of the captains looked on; after which he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him, and carried him to Babylon.

And these things happened to him, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold to him, that he should be caught, and brought before the king of Babylon, and should speak to him face to face, and should see his eyes with his own eyes; and thus far did Jeremiah prophesy. But he was also made blind, and brought to Babylon but did not see it, according to the prediction of Ezekiel.


God is LITERAL
What do we learn from this? God is literal. He places His Word even above His Name (Psalm 138:2).  Every time the Word of God is applied by another servant of God in the Scripture, it is always literal.

When Daniel read Jeremiah who spoke of the 70 years of captivity, Daniel took Jeremiah literally, not allegorically nor figuratively. Every time Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, He applied it literally (Mattew 5:17).

Nebuchadnezzar vs. Zedekiah
Zedekiah was a deceptive, wicked fellow, and had broken his treaty with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king, was more honorable than Zedekiah, the man on Israel’s throne. Zedekiah, for breaking his oath of allegiance, was blinded and died in captivity in Babylon (Ezekiel 17:1-21).


2 Kings 25:10-2
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

Here, the chronicler called Zedekiah "king." However, Ezekiel never conveyed that title to Zedekiah, for Zedekiah was never really king. Ezekiel always referred to him as “prince.” Ezekiel was more precise, more technically accurate.


The further significance of the covered face (Ezekiel 12:12) is found in the fact that Zedekiah was blinded at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar’s orders, and from that time could not see the ground on which he trod.

The Siege
The terrible siege soon followed (Jeremiah 38:9) so that mothers boiled and ate the flesh of their own infants (Lamentations 4:5,8,10) and the visage of their nobles was blacker than coal, their skin clave to their bones and became withered.


THE ISRAELITES WILL KNOW THAT GOD IS THE LORD (Ezekiel 12:15-16)

The capture of the king would naturally be followed by the dispersion of his adherents, some of whom would fall by the sword, while a few (Hebrew, men of number; i.e., easily counted) would escape to some nearby country, where they might hope to find a refuge. There they would have to tell their tale of shame, and to let the heathen know that YHWH was thus punishing their abominations (Cf. Ezekiel 14:22-23).

The Lord’s preserving the survivors will make clear to the nations that the catastrophe to his people was due not to his impotence but to his justice. He is concerned for the honor of his name (Cf. Ezekiel 14:21-23).


ISRAEL WILL BE LAID TO WASTE (Ezekiel 12:17-20)

Ezekiel's pantomime was intended to frighten and warn
Far from being fortunate as the exiles in Chaldea regarded them, the Jews in Jerusalem were truly miserable, for the worst is before them, whereas the exiles have escaped the miseries of the coming siege.


EVERY PROPHECY WILL BE FULFILLED (Ezekiel 12:21-28)

Throughout history, there has been the cry of those of little, or of no, faith, who doubt that God's prophecies or promises would ever be fulfilled (Amos 6:3; Isaiah 5:19; Jeremiah 17:15; Matthew 24:48; 2 Peter 3:4). These people have even coming up with the two sayings:

1. "The days go by and every vision comes to nothing"
2. "The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future"

The first saying expressed the people's doubts about the fact of God’s judgment. The second saying expressed their doubts about the imminency of God’s judgment.

Here, we see God directly addressing such a sentiment, ensuring us that He will fulfill EVERY prophecy.

False prophets had been contradicting God's true messengers in both Jerusalem (Jeremiah 28:1-4) and Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1, 8-9). Their optimistic predictions would soon cease as God hastened to fulfill His word.

Imminence (“about to occur”)
Cf. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Matthew 24:48-50; 25:5

It is clear that Jesus Christ wanted us to be in a position of moment-by-moment expectation. We tend to stay closer to Him if we know that He might drop in on us at any moment.

2 Peter 3:3-4
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

The Israelites were scoffing at prophecy. There are different ways to deny a truth. One is to say that God didn't say that. Another is to claim that was not what God meant, that He really didn't mean it literally, He meant it spiritually, or some fuzzy other way that defies the way of any tangible reality. Here, the Israelites expressed skepticism about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:5-6
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

One thing that is not obvious at first is the link between prophecy and creation. The important thread is the concept that God intervenes in man's history, that man's history did not just happen by the random events of the cosmos. God created man. The concept of God creating man is consistent, and part of the concept that God will also intervene in man’s history. God cares, He is involved. We are not an accident.

The Coming Surprise
It shall again be the characteristic of the last times, when "faith" shall be regarded as an antiquated thing, seeing that it remains stationary (Luke 18:8), whereas worldly arts and sciences progress, and when the "continuance of all things from creation" will be an argument against the possibility of their being suddenly brought to a standstill by the Coming of the Lord (Isaiah 66:5; 2 Peter 3:3, 4).

The very long-suffering of God, which ought to lead men to repentance, is made an argument against His Word (Ecclesiastes 8:11; Amos 6:3).