Signs of the Siege (2 of 2)

In context

Ezekiel carries his baggage out through a hole dug in the wall, in the dark, with his face covered: a sign that the prince in Jerusalem will go into exile, and that he will be brought to Babylon, “yet he will not see it, though he will die there” (Ezekiel 12:3–13). The Lord names Noah, Daniel and Job, men so righteous that in a land under judgment they “would deliver only their own souls” (Ezekiel 14:14, 20).

It is a hard reading in places, told in pictures: Jerusalem as a baby left in an open field, whom the Lord tells to live, then raises and takes as his own, but who is unfaithful and even sacrifices her children to idols (16:4–21); and Samaria and Jerusalem as two unfaithful sisters, Oholah and Oholibah (23:1–4).

The people had a proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” The Lord says they will use it no more, as Jeremiah also says (Ezekiel 18:2–4; Jeremiah 31:29–30). “I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord, and he calls Israel to turn and live (Ezekiel 18:31–32). Ezekiel is told to write down the day the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem; later his wife, “the desire of your eyes,” dies, and he is told not to mourn, as a sign (24:1–2, 15–24).