Single lesson
Ezekiel Packs for Exile
Ezekiel 12:1–20
This lesson follows Ezekiel’s acted warnings in order and helps students connect the people’s choices in the passage with the outcomes God announces. Students will examine what the signs meant and what the repeated words reveal about God.
Before you teach
In Ezekiel 12:1–20, Yahweh speaks to Ezekiel among a rebellious house that does not see or hear rightly. God tells Ezekiel to act out moving into exile, then explains that the sign concerns the prince in Jerusalem and the house of Israel. A second sign shows fearful eating and drinking because of coming judgement on the land.
Students will be able to sequence Ezekiel 12:1–20, identify the people’s choices named in the passage, and explain the outcomes of exile, scattering, fear and desolation that God declares.
Welcome: Notice the repeated warnings
5 minIntroduce the lesson by asking students to listen for repeated ideas as the passage is read: seeing, hearing, moving, fear, exile, and knowing Yahweh. Explain that this is a warning passage about judgement. It uses acted signs to communicate God’s message, not a scene for students to imitate as if danger were a game.
Ezekiel 12:2, Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:18, Ezekiel 12:19
Read and explain: The sign of baggage and escape
10 minRead Ezekiel 12:1–7 aloud. List the actions in order: prepare baggage, move by day, go out in the evening, dig through the wall, carry the baggage on the shoulder, and cover the face. Note that Ezekiel obeys exactly. God says this action is a sign to the house of Israel, so students should ask what the sign points to.
Ezekiel 12:3, Ezekiel 12:4, Ezekiel 12:5, Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:7
Discuss: Choices in the passage and their outcomes
9 minRead Ezekiel 12:8–16. Ask students to identify the people’s condition and actions named in the text: they do not see or hear, and later the land is marked by violence. Then trace the outcomes God states: exile, captivity, scattering, and a few left alive. Emphasise the repeated purpose statement, that they will know that Yahweh is God.
Ezekiel 12:2, Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:14, Ezekiel 12:15, Ezekiel 12:16, Ezekiel 12:19
Make and respond: Build a text-true sequence line
10 minStudents create eight small cards or strips, each showing one stated part of the passage: rebellious house, pack baggage, evening departure, dig through wall, carry in the dark, “What are you doing?”, “I am your sign”, and trembling bread and water. In pairs, place them in order and add a verse reference to each. Keep the focus on what the signs mean in the text.
Ezekiel 12:2, Ezekiel 12:4, Ezekiel 12:5, Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:9, Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:18, Ezekiel 12:19
Closing: What does this passage teach about God and people?
6 minReview the sequence and ask for one sentence from each student beginning with either “This passage shows God...” or “This passage shows people...”. Close with the sober point that these signs are warnings of judgement for a rebellious people. The passage ends with waste and desolation, and with the repeated statement that they will know Yahweh.
Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:15, Ezekiel 12:19, Ezekiel 12:20
Questions to explore
How does the passage describe the people before Ezekiel performs the sign?
Use the exact description in the opening verses, then connect it with the later statement about violence in the land.
Ezekiel 12:2, Ezekiel 12:19
Which actions in Ezekiel’s sign are later explained as pointing to exile and captivity?
Match the acted details such as baggage, darkness, and the wall with God’s explanation of what will happen.
Ezekiel 12:4, Ezekiel 12:5, Ezekiel 12:6, Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:12
What results does God say will come upon the people and the land?
Look for the words about exile, scattering, fearfulness, dismay, laid waste, and desolation.
Ezekiel 12:11, Ezekiel 12:14, Ezekiel 12:15, Ezekiel 12:19, Ezekiel 12:20
Make, think or respond
Ezekiel Warning Sequence Line
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pens or markers
- scissors
- sticky tape or desk space
- Bible
Try it together
- Make eight cards labelled with stated parts of the passage: rebellious house, pack baggage, go out in the evening, dig through the wall, carry baggage in the dark, “What are you doing?”, “I am your sign”, trembling bread and water.
- Work in pairs to place the cards in order from Ezekiel 12:2 to Ezekiel 12:19.
- Write at least one verse reference from the passage on each card.
- Choose two cards and explain aloud what outcome or warning they point to in the passage.
This activity keeps students close to the text by sequencing only details that are actually stated and linking the signs to God’s warning message.
Adapt for your group
- For students who need more support, provide the card titles already written and ask them to match each one with the correct verse reference.
- For stronger readers, ask them to add a second line under each card explaining whether it shows the people’s condition, Ezekiel’s sign, or God’s announced outcome.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: “Lord Yahweh, thank you for speaking clearly. Help us listen carefully to your word, understand your warnings, and respond with honesty before you.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Ezekiel 12
1 Yahweh’s word also came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, you dwell in the middle of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are a rebellious house.
3 “Therefore, you son of man, prepare your baggage for moving, and move by day in their sight. You shall move from your place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.
4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for moving. You shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as when men go out into exile.
5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your baggage out that way.
6 In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face, so that you don’t see the land, for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.”
7 I did so as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for moving, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought it out in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.
8 In the morning, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
9 “Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’
10 “Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.” ’
11 “Say, ‘I am your sign. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.
12 “ ‘The prince who is among them will bear his baggage on his shoulder in the dark, and will go out. They will dig through the wall to carry things out that way. He will cover his face, because he will not see the land with his eyes.
13 I will also spread my net on him, and he will be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.
14 I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands. I will draw out the sword after them.
15 “ ‘They will know that I am Yahweh when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
16 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 nations where they come. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”
17 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
18 “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness.
19 Tell the people of the land, ‘The Lord Yahweh says concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the land of Israel: “They will eat their bread with fearfulness and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.
20 The cities that are inhabited will be laid waste, and the land will be a desolation. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.