Ezekiel 12:1-16

Ezekiel 12. Exile Foreshadowed.

Ezekiel 12:1. Flight from the Beleaguered City. Ezekiel's message of doom has surely been made plain enough, but the rebellious house will not listen; for one thing, their confidence in the indestructibility of the monarchy and the throne made such a message incredible. Well then, if they will not hear, they must be made to see; and again, as before (4) Ezekiel incarnates his message. By his conduct, he becomes a prophetic sign. In the daytime, before the eyes of the people, he packs a few belongings together, such as an exile might take with him to the land for which he was destined; then, having thus stimulated their curiosity, he carries them on his shoulder in the dead of night through a hole which he had dug in the wall (apparently of his house). In the morning, in answer to their astonished queries, he tells them plainly that it is a prophetic symbol of exile. But more, it symbolises king Zedekiah's stealthy attempt (cf. prince, Ezekiel 12:12) to escape (2 Kings 25:4) ; and the description of his face so covered that he could not see the ground is so plain an allusion to his blinding by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:7) that some have supposed the passage to be written after the event. But Ezekiel, with his peculiar gifts, may very well have had a presentiment of the fate of Zedekiah. Thus sternly does he tear from them the illusion of the indestructibility of the monarchy; but this whole tragic experience is meant to teach the people the true character of their God.