Ezekiel 12:1 - Meaning and Application

Perhaps Ezekiel had thought back often, with joy, on the vision of God’s glory he had seen. Since that vision had passed from him, he may have wished to see it again. After seeing it once, and then a second time, he may have hoped to be honored a third time. Yet we do not read that he saw it again, and still the word of the Lord came to him. God has spoken in many ways to the fathers, and people often heard God’s words even when they did not see visions of the Almighty (Hebrews 1:1). Faith comes by hearing that sure word of prophecy, which is more reliable than vision. We can keep fellowship with God without sudden religious excitement or outward ecstasy.

In these verses, the prophet is told, first, how to act out the coming captivity of Zedekiah, king of Judah. That was the message that needed to be announced, and it was announced to people already in captivity. As long as Zedekiah sat on the throne, they comforted themselves with the hope that he would hold firm against the king of Babylon. Zedekiah was planning to shake off Babylon’s rule, and these poor captives likely expected great things from that plan. He may even have secretly encouraged them to hope that he would soon rescue them or exchange prisoners and win their release. While they were being fed with these empty hopes, they could not settle down to accept their suffering or learn from it. So it was necessary, though very hard, to convince them that Zedekiah, instead of being their deliverer, would soon suffer the same fate as they did.

One might think it would have been enough for the prophet simply to say this in God’s name, as he does later (Ezekiel 12:10). But before he gives the prophecy in words, he must first give it as a sign. He must speak to their eyes before he speaks to their ears. The reason for this method is given in (Ezekiel 12:2): they are a dull, stubborn people who will not pay attention to what they only hear, or will soon forget it. It will leave no deep impression on them. He lives among a rebellious house, a people whom it is nearly impossible to do any good. They have eyes and ears, but they do not use them. They were idolaters, and their character matched the idols they worshiped, which have eyes but do not see, and ears but do not hear (Psalm 115:5, Psalm 115:6, Psalm 115:8).

Those are rightly called rebellious who shut their eyes to God’s light and stop their ears to God’s law. If people know what is right, have the means to learn it, and still refuse, their ignorance is no excuse. It adds rebellion to their sin. None are so blind or so deaf as those who will not see and will not hear. They do not see, and they do not hear, because they are a rebellious house. The fault lies in themselves. The darkness in the mind comes from stubbornness in the will.

This is why Ezekiel must speak to them by signs, as one might teach deaf people. By this means they might be taught, or at least shamed. Ministers must fit their approach not only to people’s weakness, but also to their willful resistance. If they live among rebellious people, they must speak more plainly and more forcefully, and take the course most likely to reach them. In that way, those hearers will be left without excuse.

The prophet must also use a method that would stir and affect them. He must gather everything needed for a move (Ezekiel 12:3). He must pack as one preparing for a journey, with clothes and money. He must move from one place to another like someone unsettled and forced to leave. He must do this by day, while the people watch. He must bring out all his household goods so they can be packed and sent away (Ezekiel 12:4). Since the doors and gates were either shut or guarded by the enemy, he must dig through the wall and carry his goods out through that opening (Ezekiel 12:5). He must bear them on his own shoulders because he has no servant to help him. He must do this at twilight so he will not be noticed. Then, after he has saved what he can of his belongings, he must himself slip away in the evening, before their eyes, with fear and trembling, and go as people go into captivity (Ezekiel 12:4).

That means he must cover his face (Ezekiel 12:6), either because he is ashamed to be seen and afraid to be recognized, or as a sign of deep sorrow and distress. He must go away like a poor trader who has to shut up his shop, hides his head, and leaves his country. In this way Ezekiel himself becomes a sign to them. And if he seemed reluctant to go through all this trouble, and to expose himself to mockery and ridicule, God steadies him by saying, "Perhaps they will think about it, and be turned from their empty confidence, though they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 12:3).

We should never give up on even the worst people, because they may still come to their senses and repent. That is why we must keep using the proper means to convict and convert them, while there is still life and hope. Ministers should be willing to go through the most difficult and inconvenient tasks, as Ezekiel was in this moving, even if success seems only possible, not certain. If only one soul is awakened to think carefully, our care and labor will be well spent.

Ezekiel also obeyed God promptly and fully in the command he received (Ezekiel 12:7): "I did as I was commanded." In this he teaches all of us, especially ministers. We should obey every command of God gladly, even the hardest ones. Christ learned obedience, and so must we all. We should do all we can for the good of other people’s souls, and take on any trouble that may help correct those who are not persuaded. "We do all things," that is, we are willing to do anything, "for your edifying," for your spiritual good.

We should also feel in ourselves the very things we want to awaken in others. When Ezekiel was to give his hearers a sad picture, he himself took on a sad appearance. And we should hold this world loosely and be ready to leave it, carrying out our goods as people preparing to move, because here we have no lasting city. "Arise, depart, for this is not your rest, because it is polluted." You live among a rebellious house, so prepare to move. Who would not be willing to leave such a house, such a wicked world as this?

Second, he is told what words to use to explain these signs and actions, just as Agabus, when he bound his own hands and feet, explained whose binding was being shown by it.

But notice this: God did not explain the sign to Ezekiel until the next morning. He kept the prophet waiting so that Ezekiel would keep depending on him for guidance. What God does, and what he tells us to do, may be unclear at first, but it will become clear later.

The people were expected to ask what the sign meant, or at least they should have asked (Ezekiel 12:9). God says, “Has the house of Israel not said to you, ‘What are you doing?’” Yes, he knew they had. Even though they were a rebellious people, they were still curious about God’s message, like those who “seek God daily” (Isaiah 58:2). So the prophet had to do something strange, so they would ask about it, and then they might pay attention to the answer and benefit from it. Some take this to mean they had not asked at all, as if God were saying, “Has this rebellious house not even asked you, ‘What are you doing?’” In that case, the instruction would be to tell them anyway, even without their asking.

This shows that when God sends messages through his ministers, he notices how people receive them. He listens to what we say back, and he is displeased if we ignore his words without thinking about them. After hearing God’s word, we should ask our ministers for further help, and then we will keep growing in knowledge if we keep seeking it.

The prophet must also explain the meaning of the sign. In general, God says, “This warning concerns the prince in Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 12:10). The exiles knew who that was, and they took comfort in the fact that they still had a ruler in Jerusalem, and that Israel still seemed to remain there. But God tells them that Ezekiel’s actions were a picture of what would happen to their friends in Jerusalem. “I am your sign,” he says (Ezekiel 12:11). Just as a minister’s life should teach people what they ought to do, God’s dealings with people also warn others what they must expect. When ministers are moved around and unsettled, it reminds people that life in this world is also uncertain and always changing. When trouble is coming, Christ told his disciples, “They will lay hands on you first” (Luke 21:12).

The people would be carried away into captivity (Ezekiel 12:11). God says, “As I have done, so it will be done to them.” They would be forced from their homes and never return, and their place would no longer know them. We cannot call any home our final resting place, because we do not know how far we may be moved before we die.

The prince would also try in vain to escape, because he too would go into captivity. Jeremiah had told Zedekiah, the king of Judah, the same thing directly: “You will not escape, but you will surely be taken” (Jeremiah 34:3). Ezekiel now says it to the people who trusted this king and expected help from him. He would carry some of his own valuables on his shoulder. God’s judgments can turn a prince into a porter, a man who carries loads. The one who once had his royal symbols carried before him, and walked proudly through the city at midday, would now carry his own goods on his back and slip out by night. Sin makes a terrible change in people. Because the enemy watched every gate to the palace, they would dig through the wall to get out. Men would become their own house-breakers and carry off their own belongings, because war destroys the order of property and right.

He would also try to escape in disguise, with a cover over his face so that he could only look ahead and could not see the ground. The man who once wanted to be seen in all his glory would now be afraid to be seen at all. So no one should become proud of being noticed, or overly pleased with looking around, when he sees a king hiding his face and unable to see the ground.

God says the prince would be captured and taken to Babylon (Ezekiel 12:13). “I will spread my net over him,” the Lord says, “and he will be caught in my snare.” It would look like the net and snare of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, but God claims them as his own. Anyone who thinks he can escape the sword of the Lord will find himself caught in God’s net.

Jeremiah had said that King Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon and then go to Babylon. Ezekiel says he would be brought to Babylon, yet he would not see it, even though he would die there. Some might try to claim the prophets disagreed, because one said he would see Babylon’s king and the other said he would not see Babylon. But both were true. He did see the king of Babylon at Riblah, where judgment was passed on him for rebellion, and there his eyes were put out, so he did not see Babylon when he arrived there. The exiles hoped their prince would come as a conqueror and rescue them, but he would come as a prisoner, and his shame would deepen their grief. They would have little joy in seeing him when he could not even see them.

All those who surrounded him and supported him would be scattered and made helpless (Ezekiel 12:14). God says, “I will scatter all who are around him to help him,” and he would be left without aid. He would scatter them among the nations and through the countries (Ezekiel 12:15), so they would become signs of God’s justice wherever they went. Yet someone might still ask whether they could gather again, since a man who flees once may fight another day. God answers no: “I will draw out the sword after them.” His sword would find them wherever they went, and when God draws his sword, it always does the work he intends.

Still, some of Zedekiah’s scattered men would escape (Ezekiel 12:16). God says, “I will leave a few of them.” Though all would be scattered, not all would be destroyed. Some would have their lives spared as a precious gift. And the purpose of this mercy is important: “That they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go.” Their trouble would bring them to their senses, and they would admit that God was right in all that had come upon them. They would openly confess the sins that had made God contend with them. In that way, their escape would show mercy, and they would also give God a proper and thankful response by acknowledging his goodness in sparing them.

So when God has rescued us in a striking way from dangers that surrounded us, we should see one purpose in that mercy, among others: we were spared so that we might glorify God and help others by confessing our sins with a humble heart.

Those whom suffering brings to this point are made to know that God is the Lord, and they may also help bring others to know him. See how God brings good out of evil. The scattering of sinners, who had brought much dishonor and harm to God in their own land, becomes the scattering of repentant people, who will bring him much honor and service in other lands.

The Levites, the tribe set apart for God’s service, were once divided and scattered through Israel as a curse. Yet God turned that curse into a blessing. Because they were spread among the tribes, they had the best chance to teach Jacob God’s laws.