1. What was the cause of the spiritual blindness and deafness of Israel?
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The cause was their being rebellious: “(1) The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying, (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” (Ezekiel 12:1-2).
Moses made a profound declaration concerning the rebellion of Israel long before the days of Ezekiel (Deuteronomy 31:24-27).
The pleas for the history of rebellion to change were not heard (II Chronicles 30:1-9; cf. Deuteronomy 9:24 and Acts 7:51-52).
God had warned them not to rebel (Isaiah 1:20).
Yet, they just had a desire not to listen to God (Isaiah 30:9-11).
At this point, they were “gone” (Jeremiah 5:23 and Hosea 4:1-8).
They chose not to see or hear (Jeremiah 5:21).
2. What did Ezekiel do, under instruction of the Lord, by day in the sight of Israel?
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In being a sign unto Israel, Ezekiel was to remove stuff he had prepared from one place to another through the wall: “(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. (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. (5) Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. (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. (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” (Ezekiel 12:3-7).
Other prophets did things as lessons too (Isaiah 8:18; 20:1-6, Jeremiah 13:1-11; 27:1-8, and Micah 1:1-9). Ezekiel has already done things as a lesson (Ezekiel 4:1-5:7).
The Lord is having Ezekiel do this in the event that they might consider what they were seeing him do (Deuteronomy 32:29).
Ezekiel is willing to do whatever the Lord says, even in the most difficult of situations (Ezekiel 24:15-18).
3. What was Ezekiel supposed to tell those who asked him what he was doing?
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“(8) And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, (9) Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? (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. (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. (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. (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. (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. (15) And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries” (Ezekiel 12:8-15).
They were curious when they saw some of what Ezekiel did (Ezekiel 24:19).
The description of a burden by a prophet was language used when telling of coming judgment (Isaiah 13:1 and Malachi 1:1).
The princes and all others (Jeremiah 25:15-18).
The sign Ezekiel served as was about them going into captivity (Jeremiah 29:20).
The flight of the prince to no avail (Jeremiah 39:1-5).
The helpers scattered (II Kings 25:4-5).
Then they would find out that the Lord is (Ezekiel 39:28; cf. Lamentations 5:1-22).
4. Why was the Lord going to leave “a few men” from what was going to happen to Israel?
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“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” (Ezekiel 12:16).
We know there was a remnant (II Kings 19:30-31, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 10:20-22, Isaiah 37:31, Jeremiah 23:3, Ezekiel 6:8, and Romans 11:1-5).
The remnant was to declare what they did, etc. (Ezekiel 14:22-23) and we later see that happened (Daniel 9:1-19).
5. Why was Ezekiel supposed to eat his bread with quaking and drink water with trembling and carefulness?
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To be a sign of the desolation coming: “(17) Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, (18) Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; (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. (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” (Ezekiel 12:17-20).
Desolation was coming and such was to be dreaded (Jeremiah 9:10-11; 25:9; 34:22).
6. Was the Lord going to continue prolonging His Judgment on Israel?
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No: “(21) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (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? (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. (24) For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. (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. (26) Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, (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. (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” (Ezekiel 12:21-28)
They thought things were not near (Ezekiel 11:3). They thought the visions were not true (Jeremiah 5:12-13).
When Judgment is not immediate, people begin to downplay the consequences for their sins (Ecclesiastes 8:11 and II Peter 3:1-14).
This proverb [saying] was going to end. They no longer were going to be able to say it is not going to happen, for it was “at hand” and no longer prolonged. We see this happened (Lamentations 2:17 and Zechariah 1:6).
They convinced themselves that the times prophesied of were “far off”. That is the mindset of sinners (Isaiah 28:14-15).
Again, the Lord confirmed that what He said was going to come and no longer be prolonged (Numbers 23:19).