Ezekiel 12:8

_AND 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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

We gather from these words of the Prophet, that he was himself derided when he began to migrate: then that he dug through the wall by night secretly, and thus carried away his baggage. For those who think that the Israelites enquired about this, as if it were unknown to them, do not sufficiently consider the Prophet’s words. For the repetition of the epithet _rebellious house _is not in vain; for if this question had proceeded from mere folly, God would not have called them rebellious. This epithet, then, refers to the present passage, and thus we may determine that the Israelites asked the Prophet deridingly, what does this mean? For he seemed to them to be trifling, and thus they jeered at him; for we know the audacity of the nation in despising their Prophets. It is not, then, to be wondered at, when they obtained a plausible ground for it, if they commented rather freely upon what th...

1-16 By the preparation for removal, and his breaking through the wall of his house at evening, as one desirous to escape from the enemy, the prophet signified the conduct and fate of Zedekiah. When God has delivered us, we must glorify him and edify others, by acknowledging our sins. Those who by afflictions are brought to this, are made to know that God is the Lord, and may help to bring others to know him....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 12:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD, etc. This formula, so familiar in Isaiah and Jeremiah, appears for the first time in Ezekiel, but occurs repeatedly afterwards, especially in this chapter (verses 8, 17, 21, 26. and again Ezekiel 13:1; Ezekiel 14:2, _et al._)_. _The teaching by "the visions of God" ceases, and that of direct message or symbolic acts is resumed. In each case the point aimed at was the same. The people who heard the one or saw the other were to be taught how utterly groundless was the hope that Jerusalem could hold out against its enemies. The interval between the two was probably a short one, and the new teaching, we may conjectu

AND IN THE MORNING CAME THE WORD OF THE LORD UNTO ME, SAYING. That is, in the morning after he had done all the above things commanded him; explaining the meaning of them, and showing to whom they belonged....

CHAPTER S 12-19 Signs, Messages, and Parables _ 1. Signs given through the prophet (Ezekiel 12:1) _ 2. The message of speedy judgment (Ezekiel 12:21) 3. The message against false prophets and prophetesses. (Ezekiel 13:1) 4. The message against the elders (Ezekiel 14:1) 5. The parable of the vine given to the fire (Ezekiel 15:1) 6. The parable of the abandoned child and Israel's whoredom (Ezekiel 16:1)

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 sy

_in the morning_ This circumstance might seem to imply that the prophet really performed the actions described. But though in this case performance of the action was not an impossibility it was probably only narrated (see on ch. 4). The natural sequel of the action (supposing it done), the curiosity of the people, is described, just as the action itself was, as if it had literally been shewn....

CHAPTER SEVEN SYMBOLS AND SERMONS 12:1-14:23 This section does not begin with a chronological note, but in all likelihood the symbolic actions and oracles recorded here date from the same time frame as those in the preceding section. According to the modern calendar, that would be in the summer of 592 B.C. Ezekiel's purpose here is to defend and reinforce the announcement of Jerusalem's coming judgment. This material may be divided into four subdivisions with each subdivision itself being a logical bifid. Ezekiel has here incorporated (1) two symbolic actions which he performed (Ezekiel 12:1-22); (2) two popular sayings which he corrected (Ezekiel 12:17-20); (3) two scathing oracles which he delivered ...

SYMBOLS OF EXILE, FLIGHT, AND FAMINE Ezekiel's audience being blind to the meaning of the vision he has just described, he is commanded to give them, in new symbolic actions, a further representation of the coming fate of Jerusalem and its king and people. He is told to gather together such things as one leaving home would take with him, and to carry these out of his house by day. At night he is to dig a hole in a wall, and pass through it with his face covered and his baggage on his shoulder. When the people ask hun next morning what these proceedings mean he is directed to tell them that the action of the daytime is a symbol of the captivity awaiting Jerusalem, and that the action of the evening foreshadows the secret flight which Zedekiah will attempt, and the punishment of blindness which will prevent him from seeing the land of his exile (Ezekiel 12:1). Another symbolic action,