Ezekiel 4:4-8 - Prophesy against her

4:4,5

Ezekiel is the given more dramatic work to do. Presumably the model of the siege was something of a permanent fixture outside his house. First he was to lie on his side for 390 days, this was the “number of days as the years of their sin”. There is no agreement on how exactly this 390 years is counted. Israel, the northern kingdom had been conquered by the Assyrians, while Judah was not. After their conquest, the people of Israel were scattered all over the place, and other peoples were moved into Israel. This was the Assyria practice, aimed at reducing the possibility of rebellion. This “contamination” was also the reason that Samaria was regarded with deep suspicion and even hostility by “proper Jews”, something we see in the gospels. “You will bear the sin of the people”. This should not be read in the sense of Ezekiel bearing the sin of the people in place of Israel. Rather he is signifying the punishment of Israel for her sin.

4:6-8

He is then to lie down on his right side for 40 days, representing the sin of Judah. The exact mechanics of this are not clear. Eg whether he lay on his left side for part of the day for 390 days, and then a successive 40 days. Or whether the 40 days was concurrent with the last 40 days of the 390. I think the latter is the more likely.It is clear from Scripture that when God’s plans come to fruition that Israel and Judah are united again. Ezekiel is also to prophecy against Jerusalem. Ezekiel would be constrained until the siege was finally over.