Ezekiel Chapter 4

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Introduction: We continue in our study on the book of Ezekiel. In chapter 3, we saw God giving Ezekiel a commission to be a watchman to the house of Israel. In chapter 4, the prophecy of the book begins in earnest. The theme of this chapter is the sign of the (clay) tile. It deals specifically with the siege of Jerusalem in verses 1-8 and the famine the inhabitants will suffer in verses 9- 17. The prophecy begins with an object lesson upon a piece of clay tiling.

I. The Sign of the Clay Tile

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.

Ezekiel was directed to take a tile, set it in front of him, and then draw a representation of the city of Jerusalem upon it. The idea is of clay-fired building material.

Ancient Babylonians routinely wrote ‘cuneiforms’ upon such clay tablets before they were dried and hardened. That may be what is in view here.

Upon the tile, Ezekiel was also directed to portray a battle scene upon it. A siege, complete with forts, siege mounds, and encampment of soldiers, was to be portrayed upon the clay tablet by Ezekiel. What is unfolding is a graphic description of the final siege against Jerusalem.

It should be recalled that Ezekiel wrote from within Babylon and prior to the final fall of Jerusalem. At hand is a graphic prophecy of the impending final fall of Jerusalem.

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.

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.

Ezekiel was then directed to take an iron pan and set it up between himself and the portrayal of Jerusalem on his clay tablet. The iron likely was a symbol of the hardness of the hearts of Israel and its color symbolized the blackness of their sins.

Ezekiel was represented as God and how the sins of Israel had separated between them. The result was the impending final siege by Babylon against Jerusalem. The sign clearly was that the sin of Israel had brought about the final destruction looming against them. All of this clearly was designed to be a sign to the house of Israel.

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