(2.) THE SYMBOL FROM BREAD AND WATER (Ezekiel 12:17-20)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—The prophet is commanded to take his ordinary meals as a man under great apprehensions. It is not, as in chap. Ezekiel 4:16, that he is thus to indicate a dreadful scarcity approaching, but rather the felt pressure of that calamity, as if the evil threatened would take away all relish for sustenance to the body (Ezekiel 12:18). Ezekiel speaks in the Word of the Lord “of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the country of Israel;” a message is to be forwarded to the people who had not been carried into captivity, to declare that they should be affected with anxiety and surprise, “because its land,” i.e., ferusalenis, “becomes desolate from its fulness;” where once were life and plenty, the supply of population, animals, grain, &c., would be grievously and surprisingly diminished.
HOMILETICS
When the evil consequences of sins have to be encountered then there may be trouble.
I. On men.
1. An apparently foolish course may be appointed by the Lord, but “the foolishness of God is wiser than men.”
2. Hard service may have to be undertaken for the gracious Master, but “most gladly will I glory in infirmities if the power of Christ rest upon me.”
II. On the necessaries of life. Supplies for the body may become not sources of comfort but of suffering. Food and drink shall cause a strain and pain. The bread be bread of affliction.
III. On population, agriculture, commerce. Depression and decrease ensue. A nation no more than an individual can escape from the due reward of its deeds.