Ezekiel’s Six Special Prophetic Acts

Prophet Ezekiel not only needed to verbally deliver God’s message, but also had to ensure that God’s people could see with their eyes and hear with their ears. This poor prophet had to use many strange methods to convey his message, performing actions that spoke much louder than words. He used six distinct ways to tell God’s people that Jerusalem was doomed.

The first method was simple: He drew the city of Jerusalem on a brick. Then he laid siege to it, built siege works and ramps around it, set up battering rams on all sides, and encamped against the city. This was a sign for the people of Israel.

The second method: God commanded him to lie on his left side for 390 days, representing the 390 years of Israel’s sin. Afterward, he was to lie on his right side for 40 days, representing 40 years of Judah’s sin. To ensure Ezekiel fulfilled this, God bound him so he couldn’t turn over until the days of the siege were completed.

The third method involved a strict diet to symbolize Jerusalem’s plight during the siege. He was to eat only 230 grams of bread and drink only half a liter of water daily. Furthermore, he had to bake his bread over dried human excrement and eat it. God said this demonstrated how dire Jerusalem’s condition would be.

The fourth method was shaving his head and beard: He shaved his beard and hair, divided the hairs into three piles, burning one-third with fire, chopping another third with a knife, and scattering the remaining third to the wind. God then instructed Ezekiel to take a few hairs from the scattered third and wrap them in the hem of his garment. From these few, he was to throw some into the fire to burn; fire would then spread from there to the whole house of Israel, symbolizing the fate of the people of Jerusalem at the hands of their enemies.

The fifth method involved his belongings: He put his clothes into a bag, dug a hole in the wall, and then secretly slipped out at night. Ezekiel essentially performed a street theater act, foreshadowing future events. Later, Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, escaped from Jerusalem through a gate between two walls near the king’s garden.

The sixth method was the most difficult: When his wife died, God forbade him to mourn. God said that when Jerusalem fell, the people would be so utterly shocked that they wouldn’t be able to believe it, or even cry. They would be bewildered and overwhelmed. Ezekiel was not to grieve for his wife because, through this act, he was to illustrate the people’s reaction to losing Jerusalem.

Through Ezekiel, God used these various special prophetic acts to tell the people of Judah, “A ruin, ruin, ruin! I will make it a ruin! This also shall not be, until he comes to whom the judgment belongs, and to him I will give it”