12:1–2 The response of the exiled elders who have heard Ezekiel’s vision (chs. 8–11) is not recorded. Based on the focus of this oracle, however, they are apparently unreceptive. It is not only the elders and people of Jerusalem who are a rebellious house but also those with the prophet in exile (12:2). The actions described here are to be performed “in their sight.”76 Like their ineffectual idols, however, they have eyes but see nothing and have ears but are without hearing (v. 2). The echoes of earlier prophecies (Isa. 6:10; Jer. 5:21) are unmistakable here. The exiles still have the heart of stone the Lord described in Ezekiel 11:19, not the responsive heart of flesh he has promised to give them in the future. A rebellious house will not pay attention to conventional preaching, so Ezekiel is instructed to return to the medium of performing sign-acts, whose odd nature is designed to provoke curiosity and questions (cf. Ezek. 12:9). As the people observe his bizarre actions, they are provoked to think more deeply about their situation. In this case the sign is designed to evoke personal and painful memories on the part of his fellow exiles as they watch him prepare for exile, just as they themselves had done. Yet, even though they see Ezekiel’s signs, they do not understand, just as the Lord anticipated (v. 9).

12:3–7 Ezekiel’s first sign involves acting like a refugee, preparing to leave home and set off to an unknown future. He is to pack a bag with a few possessions, as those going into exile would—whatever he can carry, which might be as little as an animal skin to hold water and serve as a pillow, a mat on which to lie, and a bowl from which to eat and drink.77 He is then to walk from his house as if leaving forever (v. 4). The preparations for departure are to be made during the day, when people will see his odd behavior, but the departure is to be in the gathering gloom of dusk, highlighting the metaphorical night that has descended on the exiles (v. 4). In an added twist Ezekiel is to dig through the mud-brick wall of his house (v. 5), which seems to have a dual function. On the one hand it symbolizes a desperate attempt to escape the Babylonians by fleeing from the besieged city of Jerusalem at night, while on the other it symbolizes the Babylonians’ digging through the walls to bring Zedekiah out as a captive (cf. v. 12). Ezekiel is also to cover his face so that he cannot see the land he is leaving. In this way the prophet will act as a sign of the coming fate of those who remain in Jerusalem and the land of Judah: they will go into exile and never again see their homeland. Unlike his compatriots, Ezekiel is not rebellious, so he does exactly what the Lord commands. Like other prophets, he is not merely the Lord’s messenger; sometimes he himself is the message.

12:8–16 As anticipated, Ezekiel’s fellow exiles fail to grasp what they are seeing, not because the sign is inherently too difficult to understand but because they are a “rebellious house” (v. 9). The basic meaning of the sign-act is crystal clear: those who remain behind in Jerusalem will not find it a safe haven when the Babylonians come (cf. the proverb about the cauldron and the meat; 11:7). Instead, they too will find themselves defeated and exiled, as Ezekiel’s hearers had been. This would be a very discouraging message for those among the exiles still hoping for a swift return home, which explains part of their reluctance to accept the prophet’s words. Their attention is clearly captured by the prophet’s behavior, however, so they ask him, “What are you doing?” (12:9).

The Lord’s explanation of the sign, given the following morning, unfolds the meaning of the sign-act in an additional direction that is not self-explanatory. Though there is nothing in the sign to suggest this interpretation, the Lord declares that the sign relates not simply to ordinary Jerusalemites but also to her “prince,” Zedekiah, whom he describes as the “burden” or pack that the prophet has been carrying.78 This is the first time Israel’s reigning king has been the focus of the prophet’s attention, though it will certainly not be the last (chs. 17; 19). His title here, “prince” (Hb. nasiʾ), seems to mark him out as little more than an old tribal chieftain rather than a true king. He is a mere placeholder for the man Ezekiel views as the legitimate king, Zedekiah’s nephew Jehoiachin, earlier deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.79

Zedekiah will join Jehoiachin in exile, a fate he did not see coming because he was like the exiles, who had “eyes to see, but see not” (12:2). As a result of his lack of insight, he will leave the land with covered face, never to see the land again.80 This prophecy is fulfilled with unexpected precision in 2 Kings 25. The Babylonians capture Zedekiah and his remaining troops as they seek to flee by night from the besieged city. They make it only as far as Jericho before being overtaken. Zedekiah himself is taken to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where, after being forced to watch his sons’ execution, his own eyes are put out (2 Kings 25:7), so that he quite literally does not see the land of Babylon to which he is taken and where he will die (Ezek. 12:13).

Zedekiah’s painful judgment and exile are not merely the work of Nebuchadnezzar, however. The Lord is the hunter who spreads his net and captures him in his snare, and it is the Lord who brings him to Babylon, where he will die (v. 13). Babylon is called the “land of the Chaldeans” here in the sense that this ethnic group governs the empire at the time, even though they are not native to the area. The Lord’s sovereign judgment will likewise be unleashed against all Zedekiah’s helpers and troops, scattering them from the land in all directions. After all, it is “all the house of Israel who are in [Jerusalem]” as well as their prince who forms the burden; they will be carried out of the city into exile, like so much trash being taken to the dump (v. 10).

As in chapter 5, however, a tiny remnant81 will escape from the deadly trio of the sword, famine, and pestilence as witnesses of the Lord’s justice and power (v. 16). In their own exile they will finally acknowledge their former abominations and that everything that has happened to them has been the Lord’s just judgment. In that way they will come to “know the Lord,” not as their savior and redeemer but simply as the just judge of all the earth who holds people to account for their behavior. All this is a sign to those already in exile, rather than to those still in Jerusalem (v. 11). After all, the residents of Jerusalem are not witnesses of the prophet’s actions; only his fellow exiles see Ezekiel’s sign-act. They, therefore, should repent of their rebelliousness and acknowledge the Lord.

12:17–20 A second sign-act is added at this point. The prophet is instructed to tremble and shake while eating and drinking, representing the fear and anxiety the residents of Jerusalem will face at the prospect of the impending Babylonian invasion. This underlines the emotional impact the Babylonian invasion will have on the most basic activities of life: eating and drinking. Indeed, the destruction and pillaging will impact not merely Jerusalem but all the inhabited cities of Judah. But the ultimate reason for the coming destruction is not Babylonian expansionism but the sins of the people, who have filled the land with violence (v. 19). Along with the remaining inhabitants of the land (“they,” v. 16; who will “know that I am the Lord”), those already in exile (“you”; v. 20) will also be confronted with the same reality when they see Ezekiel’s prophecies of devastation and depopulation of the land being fulfilled. The implications for Ezekiel’s immediate audience, who have already been scattered from the land, are obvious. They should acknowledge their own sins, which provided just grounds for the Lord’s actions against his people. By repenting they can perhaps come to know the Lord as their refuge and sanctuary in exile, not simply as their judge (11:16). Instead of feeling sorry for themselves or blaming God for their difficult life, they too should sigh and mourn over the sins of Jerusalem (cf. 9:4) and acknowledge the Lord’s justice as well as his mercy to them, even in exile.