Ezekiel 4 - Write Loud and Shout

Okay, lets just be honest here.  There is a lot of really weird stuff in this chapter.  I am with Gina G...Ezekiel just does not fit the "flannel graph" picture of God we have.  In fact, some of the stuff in this chapter if put into a flannel graph would be down right disgusting.  I don't know any one that wants to see a representation (in any way shape or form) of bread being baked over human excrement (vs 12).  I would have been at least mildly interested to see what kind of clay representation he could have made of Jerusalem and it certainly would have been entertaining see him destroy the clay model.  It kinda made me think back to when I was a kid and would set up vast amount of those green army men in the yard and then wipe them out in a glorious battle scene.  Clearly there is some cultural references at play here that we may not fully understand with the lying on his side for well over a year and the very specific ingredients to the bread he was to eat during that time (it was a kind of bread that was typically used in times when food was scarce).   But all the weirdness aside the end of this chapter is very powerful.

"He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin." vs 16 & 17


Why is all of this happening....BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN.  At the end of the day...weirdness of this chapter and the sometimes apparent harshness of God in the Old Testament aside...it comes back to us.  They were being punished because they strayed away from what God wanted for them and from them.  And they suffered for it.  Important for us to consider when we are faced with the daily decisions of God's way....or our way.

Mathew McCabe