The second division of the Book contains the messages of the prophet concerning the reprobation of the chosen nation. These fall into three parts. In the first, by symbolism and speech he described the results of reprobation. In the second he declared its reason. In the last he proclaimed its righteousness. The results of reprobation were first symbolically set forth in four signs. These were immediately followed by general denunciations. Finally, the cause of the coming judgment and its process were dealt with at length.
In the present chapter three of the signs are described. The first was a tile on which the prophet was charged to portray a city. Around this he was to depict the process of siege. Having done this, he was to place between himself and the model a flat piece of iron. This sign was intended to foretell the taking of Jerusalem by an army, by the will, and under the direction, of Jehovah, whose representative in the sign Ezekiel was.
The second sign consisted of a posture. For 390 days he was charged to lie on his left side, and for forty days on his right, prophesying against Jerusalem during the whole period. It was a long and tedious process of bearing the iniquity of the house of Israel in the sense of confessing it, and so revealing the reason for the siege and the judgment.
The third sign was the food which he should eat during the period. It was to be of the simplest and scantiest, and cooked in such a way as to indicate uncleanness. The sign was intended to predict the famine and desolation which would accompany the judgment against Jerusalem.