Sign of the Siege of Jerusalem

1Co 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

Eze 4:1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Eze 4:2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. (Websters)

Eze 4:3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Ezekiel was told to write on a tile, perhaps a moist clay tablet used for writing; cuneiform writing is one of the oldest forms of writing, or perhaps it was a brick tile, one by two feet in dimensions. He could have drawn on it with a piece of charcoal, it doesn't say. He was to draw an outline of Jerusalem. He was to show it under siege with an iron pan, or a plate of iron between the city and Ezekiel. This was as a sign to the people. The iron pan was to symbolize that the siege could not be broken.

The Siege

2Ki 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

Trees were cut down and dirt brought in to build a mount or ramp to get high up where the walls were weaker, then they could erect towers to use catapults or battering rams against the walls to break through.

Ezekiel's life was to be used for signs to the exiles. Hosea was asked to marry a prostitute as a sign to Israel.

Hos 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

So the prophet was not only to speak the word of God, but he was to be an illustration of his message if so required. Are we illustrating what a child of God should be like as we walk among the people of the world?

Eze 4:4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
Eze 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

He was to lie on his left side for 390 days, each day standing for a year, according to the iniquity of the house of Israel. For 390 years Israel had been worshipping other gods.

Compare this to Numbers 14:34.

Num 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

In this verse Israel was given a year of wandering for every day they spied out the land. They were punished because of their fearful unbelief. They feared the people of the land more than they feared and trusted in the Almighty God of Israel. Ezekiel was to illustrate the sin of Israel by laying on his left side for 390 days, each day standing for a year of their rebellion.

Eze 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

After this he was to lay on his right side for forty days, each day standing for a year of Judah's rebellion. This man of God had to endure hardships, as Jesus submitted "not my will but thine be done", so did Ezekiel submit, for he had the Spirit of God in him to accomplish what God required of him. If you are spirit filled, you have what you need to do what God has purposed for you to do. Are we doing God's purpose? That doesn't mean we are to be laying around watching TV. Ezekiel was told to lay down for God's purpose. What is God saying to you and to me?