Ezekiel 4:5 - A Sign of Jerusalem's Siege

Audio Bible

Context

A Sign of Jerusalem's Siege
…4Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5For I have assigned to you 390 days, according to the number of years of their iniquity. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned to you 40 days, a day for each year.…

Cross References

Numbers 14:34
In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.Leviticus 26:18
And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.Leviticus 26:21
If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.Leviticus 26:24
then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.Leviticus 26:28
then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I, will punish you sevenfold for your sins.2 Kings 17:7-23
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods / and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. / The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. ...2 Kings 18:11-12
The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. / This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.2 Kings 24:3-4
Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, / and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.2 Chronicles 36:15-17
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. / But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. / So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,Jeremiah 25:11
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.Jeremiah 29:10
For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.Hosea 3:4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.Hosea 4:1-3
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! / Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. / Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.Matthew 23:37-39
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate. / For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

three.

1 Kings 12:33
So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Jeremiah 52:30
In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

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Ezekiel 4

For I have assigned to you 390 days
This phrase indicates a symbolic action commanded by God to the prophet Ezekiel. The 390 days represent a period of judgment corresponding to the years of Israel's iniquity. In biblical numerology, numbers often have symbolic meanings, and here, the number 390 is significant as it correlates to the years of sin and rebellion by the northern kingdom of Israel. This prophetic act serves as a visual representation of the duration of Israel's disobedience and the ensuing punishment. The use of days to symbolize years is a common prophetic device, seen also in Numbers 14:34 and Daniel 9:24-27.

according to the number of years of their iniquity
This phrase underscores the direct correlation between the duration of the symbolic act and the years of Israel's sin. The northern kingdom of Israel, distinct from Judah, had a history of idolatry and rebellion against God, beginning with Jeroboam's establishment of golden calves in Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-30). The phrase highlights the concept of divine justice, where the punishment is proportionate to the offense. This principle is echoed in other scriptures, such as Galatians 6:7, which states that a man reaps what he sows.

So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel
Ezekiel's act of bearing the iniquity symbolizes the burden of sin carried by the prophet on behalf of the people. This act of bearing iniquity is a type of Christ, who ultimately bore the sins of humanity on the cross (Isaiah 53:4-6, 1 Peter 2:24). The phrase also reflects the role of a prophet as an intercessor and representative of the people before God. In the cultural context of ancient Israel, prophets often performed symbolic acts to convey God's message, making the abstract concept of sin and judgment tangible to the people.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Ezekiel
A prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the Israelites during their Babylonian exile. Known for his symbolic actions and visions.

2. House of Israel
Refers to the northern kingdom of Israel, which had fallen into idolatry and was eventually conquered by Assyria.

3. Babylonian Exile
The period when the Israelites were taken captive by Babylon, a significant event in Jewish history that serves as the backdrop for Ezekiel's prophecies.

4. 390 Days
Symbolic of the 390 years of iniquity that the house of Israel had committed, as represented by Ezekiel's symbolic act of lying on his side.

5. Iniquity
Refers to the sin and rebellion against God that led to Israel's downfall and exile.

Teaching Points

Symbolism in Prophecy
Ezekiel's actions serve as a visual representation of God's message. Consider how God uses various means to communicate His truth to us today.

The Weight of Sin
The 390 days symbolize the prolonged period of Israel's sin. Reflect on the seriousness of sin and its long-term consequences in our lives.

God's Justice and Mercy
While God judges sin, His ultimate goal is restoration. Contemplate how God's justice is always accompanied by His desire for repentance and reconciliation.

Personal Responsibility
Ezekiel's bearing of iniquity highlights the importance of personal responsibility in addressing sin. Evaluate areas in your life where you need to take responsibility and seek God's forgiveness.

Historical Context and Relevance
Understanding the historical context of biblical events enriches our comprehension of Scripture. Study the historical background of biblical passages to gain deeper insights.

Lists and Questions

Top 10 Lessons from Ezekiel 4What are the key themes in Ezekiel's life story?Ezekiel 4:4–5: How could someone realistically lie on one side for 390 days without serious health complications or interruptions? How does Micah 4:8 align with other prophecies about Zion's future when some passages (e.g., Ezekiel 5) predict destruction rather than restoration?Ezekiel 4:6: How do the 40 days for Judah align with or contradict other biblical timelines found in Kings and Chronicles?

(5) The years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days.--Comp. Numbers 14:34. In regard to the number of the years, see Excursus II. at the end of this book.

(6) The iniquity of the house of Judah forty days.--This forty days is clearly subsequent and additional to the 390 days, making in all a period of 430 days. (On these numbers see Excursus II. at the end of this book.) The great disproportion between the two is in accordance with the difference in the two parts of the nation, and the consequent Divine dealings with them. Judah had remained faithful to its appointed rulers of the house of David, several of whose kings had been eminently devout men; through whatever mixture with idolatry it had yet always retained the worship of Jehovah, and had kept up the Aaronic priesthood, and preserved with more or less respect the law of Moses. It was now entering upon the period of the Babylonish captivity, from which, after seventy years, a remnant was to be again restored to keep up the people of the Messiah. Israel, on the other hand, had set up a succession of dynasties, and not one of all their kings had been a God-fearing man; they had made Baal their national god, and had made priests at their pleasure of the lowest of the people, and in consequence of their sins had been carried into a captivity from which they never returned.

EXCURSUS B: ON CHAPTER 4:5, 6.

The explanation of the periods of time here mentioned has occasioned great difficulty and difference of opinion among the commentators. The subject may be best approached by first observing what points are clearly determined in the text itself, and then excluding all interpretations which are inconsistent with these.

In the first place, it is expressly stated in each of these verses that these days represent years. No interpretation, therefore, can be admitted which requires them to be literal days. Secondly, it is plain that the period is one of "bearing their iniquity"; not a period in which they are becoming sinful, but one in which they are suffering the punishment of their sin. Thirdly, it is plain from the whole structure of the symbolism that this period is in some way intimately connected with the siege of Jerusalem. Finally, the two periods of 390 and of forty days are distinct. If the symbolism was carried out in act, they must have been consecutive, and it is still the natural inference that they were so, even if it was only in vision. The two periods together, then, constitute 430 days; yet this is not to be emphasised, since no express mention is made of the whole period.

These points of themselves exclude several of the explanations that have from time to time been put forward. Among these must be mentioned, first, one which has perhaps been more generally adopted than any other of its class, the supposition that the 390 years of Israel's punishment are to be reckoned from some point in the reign of Jeroboam to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. This, however, was far more a period of accumulation of Israel's transgression than of suffering its punishment; neither in this case could the period be fairly considered as extending beyond the end of the kingdom of Israel (which lasted in all but 253 years) unless it was also extended indefinitely. Moreover, expositors who adopt this view are quite unable to give any satisfactory account of Judah's forty years; for the proposal to reckon them from the reformation of Josiah is quite at variance with the character of the period described.

Every attempt to make these periods refer to a future time, stretching on far beyond the date of the prophecy, fails for want of any definite event at the end of either 390, 40, or 430 years.

The periods cannot be understood of events occurring in the course of the siege because, as already said, the numbers are expressly said to stand for years. Moreover, even if they could be taken of literal days, there would be nothing to correspond to them, since from the investment of the city to the flight of Zedekiah was 539 days, and to the destruction of the Temple twenty-eight days more (2Kings 25:1; 2Kings 25:3; 2Kings 25:8). . . .

Verse 5. - Three hundred and ninety days, etc. The days, as stated in ver. 6, stand for years according to the symbolism (with which Ezekiel was probably acquainted) of Numbers 14:34. How we are to explain the precise number chosen is a problem winch has much exercised the minds of interpreters. I will begin by stating what seems to me the most tenable solution. In doing this I follow Smend and Cornill in taking the LXX. as giving the original reading, and the Hebrew as a later correction, made with a purpose.

(1) Jerome and Origen bear witness to the fact that most copies of the former gave 190 years, some 150 and others, agreeing with the Hebrew, 390. The first of these numbers fits in with the thought that Ezekiel's act was to represent the period of the punishment of the northern kingdom. That punishment starts from the first captivity under Pekah about B.C. 734. Reckoning from that date, the 190 years bring us to about B.C. 544. The punishment of Judah, in like manner, dates from the destruction of Jerusalem in B.C. 586, and the forty years bring us to B.C. 546, a date so near the other, that, in the round numbers which Ezekiel uses, they may be taken as practically coinciding. It was to that date that the prophet, perhaps, unacquainted with Jeremiah's seventy years (Jeremiah 25:12), with a different starting point ( B.C. 600) and terminus ( B.C. 536), looked forward as the starting point of the restoration of Israel. It is obvious that Ezekiel contemplated the contemporaneous restoration of Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 16:53-55; Ezekiel 37:19-22; Ezekiel 47:13), as indeed Isaiah also seems to do (Isaiah 11:13, 14), and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:6, 12, 27). The teaching of Ezekiel's acts, then, had two distinct purposes.

(a) It taught the certainty of the punishment. No plots, or rebellions, or alliances with Egypt, could avert the doom of exile from these who should survive the siege of Jerusalem.

(b) It taught the exiles to accept their punishment with patience, but with hope. There was a limit, and that not very far off, which some of them might live to see, and beyond which there lay the hope of a restoration for both Israel and Judah. If that hope was not realized to the extent which Ezekiel's language impiles, the same may be, said of the language of Isaiah 40-66, whether we refer those chapters to Isaiah himself or to the "great unknown" who followed Ezekiel, and may have listened to his teaching. . . . Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

For I
וַאֲנִ֗י (wa·’ă·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

have assigned
נָתַ֤תִּֽי (nā·ṯat·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

you the years
שְׁנֵ֣י (šə·nê)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 8141: A year

of their iniquity
עֲוֺנָ֔ם (‘ă·wō·nām)
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

according to the number
לְמִסְפַּ֣ר (lə·mis·par)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4557: A number, definite, indefinite, narration

of days
יָמִ֔ים (yā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

you lie down, 390
שְׁלֹשׁ־ (šə·lōš-)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

days;
י֑וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

so you will bear
וְנָשָׂ֖אתָ (wə·nā·śā·ṯā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

the iniquity
עֲוֺ֥ן (‘ă·wōn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

of the house
בֵּֽית־ (bêṯ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of Israel.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

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Ezekiel 4:5 Catholic BibleOT Prophets: Ezekiel 4:5 For I have appointed the years (Ezek. Eze Ezk)