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In a curiously strange manner Ezekiel was called upon by the Lord to become a spectacle and a sign to the people of Israel. Of this we may be assured, he would not be ignored. His actions would become the conversation of the day. Most definitely a very effective way of getting the attention of the people. He was to demonstrate artistic ability by chiseling a replica of the city of Jerusalem on a large white brick. Eze. 4:1 Having accomplished his engraving of the city he was to prophesy, by portrayal, the judgments of the Lord against the city. In miniature he showed the impending war and capture of the city of Jerusalem. His actions were a sign and a warning to Israel. Eze. 4:2-3 However strange or harsh the manner of His speaking, the Lord is faithful and merciful to warn mankind of any impending judgment. Life today is filled with the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies pertaining to the end of the age. Not all have by any means been fulfilled but we are in progress of seeing the signs recorded in the Word come to pass. It is time to heed them and react accordingly.
Periodically, in the scriptures there are indications or small hints of things to come. The idea of an innocent man, called of the Lord, bearing the iniquity of a nation is one of them. Eze. 4:5 How can we help but think of one who would come and bear not just the sin of a nation but the sin of the whole world. The totality of the sin of the ages was laid upon the Lord Jesus, who as the Lamb of God carried the penalty of sin for every individual ever to be born into this world. Isa. 53:6 Never having sinned, yet Jesus, became the totality of sin for us that we might possess His righteousness.
2 Cor. 5:21
Ezekiel was to lay on his left side for three hundred ninety days for Jerusalem and the tribes in Jerusalem, called Israel, which would be the number of days of their siege and on his right for forty days for Judah. Eze 4:4-6 In addressing them as Israel he would be speaking to the full complement of twelve tribes. When the message was to Judah is had to be related to the days after the division and the departure of the ten tribes who would become known as the northern tribes, Samaria or Israel. The two tribes remaining in Jerusalem were called Judah. Thus the prophecy was against Jerusalem and its inhabitants. According to Matthew Henry in his Commentary this would have been accomplished when the Chaldean army besieged Jerusalem. Jer. 52:4-6 However they had to withdraw and fight the invading Egyptians whom they defeated and then returned to Jerusalem to finish their destruction of the city of Jerusalem. Jer. 37:5-8