EZEKIEL LESSON 12


     We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 12:1 "The word of the LORD
also came unto me, saying,"

     The vision of Ezekiel ended in the last lesson. This Word of God
was spoken to Ezekiel, and not in a vision.

     Ezekiel 12:2 "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a
rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears
to hear, and hear not: for they [are] a rebellious house."

     Their rebellion was against God. They were not obedient. They
were stiff-necked and rebelled against all authority over them. They
hear the message Ezekiel brings them with their outer ears, but they
do not take it into their beings.  They can actually see the captivity
around them, but they still do not believe it to be punishment from
God for their sins. Rebellion is a serious sin. I Samuel 15:23 "For
rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as]
iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the
LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king."

     Ezekiel 12:3 "Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for
removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from
thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will
consider, though they [be] a rebellious house."

     God has not been able to reach them with Words He has spoken
through Ezekiel, now He is telling Ezekiel to do something that they
can see with physical eyes. The thing God has Ezekiel to do, is to
show them, in the physical, what will happen. It is an example for
them. He says pack all your things, and stack them outside your house,
in the daylight, so they can see. It appears, that Ezekiel would just
carry with him the things he could move quickly with. Perhaps, just
the things he could carry on his back. He will move to another
dwelling.

     Ezekiel 12:4 "Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in
their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in
their sight, as they that go forth into captivity."

     This is a visual message of God to them, about going into a
strange land of captivity.

     Ezekiel 12:5 "Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry
out thereby."

     Ezekiel was not to go out the door. His digging through the wall
indicates an escape.

     Ezekiel 12:6 "In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy]
shoulders, [and] carry [it] forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover
thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee [for] a
sign unto the house of Israel."

     This, again, indicates escape by night. The face being covered is
so they will not be recognized and sent back. Ezekiel's actions will
be a visible sign to the people of their fate.

     Ezekiel 12:7 "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."

     This shows the obedience of Ezekiel. He did everything, just as
God had commanded him to do.

     Ezekiel 12:8  "And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto
me, saying,"

     He moved during the night, and this is, perhaps, the very next
morning.

     Ezekiel 12:9 "Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the
rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?"

     God asks Ezekiel if this sight lesson had caused the house of
Israel to take notice and ask why this is done? At this point, God has
sent them message after message, in all sorts of ways. They are so
rebellious, they might not have even taken heed of this.

     Ezekiel 12:10 "Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This
burden [concerneth] the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of
Israel that [are] among them."

     The prince, here, is speaking of Zedekiah. Burden, in this
instance, is speaking of this prophecy. Zedekiah would be led away
captive into Babylon, because his eyes have been poked out. The
prophecy is not exclusively for him though. It is for all of Israel.
Zedekiah was spoken of as prince, because Ezekiel never did recognize
Zedekiah as king.

     Ezekiel 12:11 "Say, I [am] your sign: like as I have done, so
shall it be done unto them: they shall remove [and] go into
captivity."

     The things that had happened to Ezekiel, in front of them, was a
sign of what would happen to Zedekiah and the Israelites with him.
They would be led away captive.

     Ezekiel 12:12 "And the prince that [is] among them shall bear
upon [his] shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall
dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face,
that he see not the ground with [his] eyes."

     He definitely cannot see the ground with his eyes, because they
blinded him, before they left for captivity with him. He will be shown
no special privileges, even though he was Nebuchadnezzar's uncle. His
sons had been killed before him, and then, his eyes had been put out.
He will even carry his own belongings on his own shoulders. They had
tried to escape by a hole in the wall.

     Ezekiel 12:13 "My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall
be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon [to] the land of
the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there."

     We see his attempt at escape did not work. He, with his men were
caught. Zedekiah dies during his captivity in Babylon.  He was caught
up in the captivity, just like those Israelites under him.  In the
captivity, no special favors were shown to those who had a high rank.

     Ezekiel 12:14 "And I will scatter toward every wind all that
[are] about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out
the sword after them."

     The capture of Zedekiah would cause his followers to scatter.
They would be afraid and run, when their ruler is taken.

     Ezekiel 12:15 "And they shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I
shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the
countries."

     Now, we see the purpose in this. God will prove to them that He
is God. Their false gods will not be able to help them against God. It
is God that scatters them, even though, the physical enemy is Babylon.
God is using Nebuchadnezzar to carry out His punishment on them.

     Ezekiel 12:16 "But I will leave a few men of them from the sword,
from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all
their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall
know that I [am] the LORD."

     The few, who are spared, will admit the abominations they had
been involved in. The heathen will even know why this terrible siege
has come upon God's people. There will be no doubt left, who is God.

     Ezekiel 12:17 "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,"

     There seemed to be a passage of time between the other statement
and the one beginning here. Moreover, shows it to be a continuation of
the last statement though.

     Ezekiel 12:18 "Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink
thy water with trembling and with carefulness;"

     This is another visual example of what will happen to them. Bread
will be extremely short and the quaking would be from weakness as well
as fear. Even good clean water will be extremely short during this
time. We know that the famine is so great, many will starve to death.
Not only had the war kept them from producing food, but the natural
elements did not cooperate with them either. God has spoken this
terror, and it is so. The carefulness spoken of would be to make sure
there was enough food left for another day. Remember, Ezekiel is
giving them an example of what will come on them. They had not heeded
the warnings. Now this, along with the warnings, were to make them
listen and take heed.

     Ezekiel 12:19 "And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith
the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [and] of the land of
Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their
water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that
is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein."

     When the people ask Ezekiel, why is he doing this? He is to
answer them in this way. They had brought this on themselves by their
evil lifestyle. The word "all" lets us know that the sin was
widespread, not to just a few.

     Ezekiel 12:20 "And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid
waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I [am]
the LORD."

     They surely cannot say that God did not warn them. He has told
them over and over. Not only did He speak to them in words, but He
showed them an example through Ezekiel. It seems so strange for the
man of God to have to go through all of this. He must experience this,
so he can truly understand what they are going through.

     Ezekiel 12:21  "And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,"

     Again, there is another break here to show that God is speaking
to Ezekiel another time.

     Ezekiel 12:22 "Son of man, what [is] that proverb [that] ye have
in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every
vision faileth?"

     The visions that fail are the visions of the false prophets. It
seems a great deal of time took place, even after the immediate attack
on Judah, before Jerusalem was destroyed. The people in captivity, as
well as those in Judah, did not believe God would destroy Jerusalem.
The sad thing is, about 70 years will pass before they will go back
into the land. The people did not want to trust Ezekiel's vision,
because it was bringing bad news. They wanted to believe the false
prophets who said they would be back in Jerusalem within 2 years.

     Ezekiel 12:23 "Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I
will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a
proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the
effect of every vision."

     Ezekiel must tell them that the time for waiting is up. The
taking of the land is now. There will be no need for anymore warning.
The true prophet of God will generally see the fulfillment of his
prophecy. In this case, it is very near.

     Ezekiel 12:24 "For there shall be no more any vain vision nor
flattering divination within the house of Israel."

     This divination is like fortune telling. It is speaking of the
false prophecy that was given. God will stop the mouths of these false
prophets. Generally, the way He stops them, is with death.

     Ezekiel 12:25 "For I [am] the LORD: I will speak, and the word
that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged:
for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will
perform it, saith the Lord GOD."

     He not only stops the mouth of the false prophet, but He speaks
the truth to them through Ezekiel. His prophecies come true, because
the prophecy is from God. Now, He has set a definite time. This will
take place in the lifetime of those He is speaking to. He, again,
reminds them of their rebellion toward Him. When God says it, it
happens.

     Ezekiel 12:26  "Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,"

     This means there was an interval of time between the last
statement and this to Ezekiel.

     Ezekiel 12:27 "Son of man, behold, [they of] the house of Israel
say, The vision that he seeth [is] for many days [to come], and he
prophesieth of the times [that are] far off."

     God stresses to Ezekiel the error in them thinking this prophecy
is for sometime far in the future. They thought this would happen to
some future generation, surely not to theirs.

     Ezekiel 12:28 "Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which
I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD."

     Because they have believed this way, God says the time is now. At
least in the last few verses, they have realized that Ezekiel is a
true prophet. They just believe his prophecy is for the far distant
future. God sets them straight. The time is now. The reason God had
waited as long as He did is in the next Scripture. II Peter 3:9 "The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." There comes a time when He
will wait no longer. That time is here, for them. God is not a man,
that He should lie. Whatever He says, will be.







                         Ezekiel 12 Questions


1.  What is different about this Word from the Word in the previous
    chapter?
2.  What does God call Ezekiel in verse 2?
3.  Who does he dwell in the midst of?
4.  Who was the rebellion against?
5.  Why was it necessary to give them this message again?
6.  Quote 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 23.
7.  What did the Lord tell Ezekiel to do in verse 3?
8.  Why is he doing this?
9.  What would Ezekiel move?
10. The digging in the wall indicates an __________.
11. Why was his face covered when he moved?
12. What is the house of Israel called in verse 9?
13. Who is the prince in verse 10?
14. In what condition is Zedekiah carried to Babylon?
15. What is "burden" in verse 10, speaking of?
16. Why did Ezekiel speak of Zedekiah as a prince?
17. Who was Zedekiah related to?
18. Zedekiah dies in ____________.
19. Where does God scatter them?
20. What do the few who are left do?
21. Ezekiel was to eat the bread with ___________.
22. He was to drink water with ____________ and with ___________.
23. Which visions fail?
24. What is the divination in verse 24?
25. What will God do to the false prophets?
26. What does God stress in verse 27?
27. What is one thing they finally decided about Ezekiel's prophecies?