Ezekiel Packs for Exile

The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel among a people God called rebellious. They had eyes and ears, but they were not truly seeing or listening. So God told Ezekiel to pack baggage for moving and take it out by day where people could watch, as if he were going into exile.

Ezekiel obeyed. By day he brought out his baggage. In the evening he dug through the wall with his hand. Then, in the dark, he carried the load on his shoulder while people watched. God had made him a sign to the house of Israel.

The next morning, when people asked what he was doing, God gave the meaning. This sign concerned the prince in Jerusalem and the house of Israel. Ezekiel's actions showed what would happen to them. They would go into exile, and the prince would carry baggage in the dark and go out through the wall.

God said the prince would be caught and taken to Babylon, yet he would not see that land, though he would die there. The people around him, including his helpers and troops, would be scattered. A few would remain from sword, famine, and pestilence, and they would speak of their sins among the nations.

Then God gave Ezekiel another sign. He was to eat his bread with shaking and drink his water with trembling. This showed that the people of Jerusalem and the land of Israel would eat and drink in fear. Their cities would become waste places, and the land desolate, because of the violence of those living there.