CHAPTER 12 Sep. 16 
Judah’s Exile
The word of Yahweh also came to me saying, 2Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious people, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are rebellious people. 3Therefore, you son of man, prepare what you need for a journey into exile and move by day in their sight. You shall move from your place to another place in their sight: perhaps they will consider, though they are rebellious people. 4You shall bring forth your belongings by day in their sight, as belongings for exile; and you shall go forth at evening in their sight, as when men go forth into exile. 5Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out that way. 6In their sight you shall carry it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you don’t see the land; for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel. 7I did as I was commanded: I brought forth my belongings by day, as if for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and carried it on my shoulder in their sight. 8In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me, saying, 9Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’10Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the people of Israel who are in it’. 11Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. 12The prince who is among them shall carry his belongings on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby. He shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. 13My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. 14I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his armies; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries. 16But I will preserve a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 17Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; 19and tell the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein. 20The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 21The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 22Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every prophetic vision fails? 23Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but tell them, The days are at hand, and the fulfilment of every prophetic vision. 24For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25For I am Yahweh. I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed. It shall be no more deferred; for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, says the Lord Yahweh. 26Again the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 27Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off. 28Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: None of My words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord Yahweh.

Commentary

13:5 God is so sensitive to prayerfulness. He condemns the leaders of Israel for not stopping the gaps or building the wall, i.e. interceding, for Israel. If only there had been a prayerful minority, God would have changed the whole course of His dealings with Israel. But petty materialism and self small-mindedness was what stopped those leaders from doing their job.
13:9 Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel- Ezekiel seems to be writing this in the context of the first wave of captives taken to Babylon. The false prophets amongst them were saying that all would be well with Jerusalem (:16); whereas Ezekiel spoke on God’s behalf in revealing the sins going on there, and saying that because of them, the rest of Judah would be taken captive. Although it was God’s purpose to restore the captives to Judah, these false prophets would die in Babylon and not return there. This kind of thing has gone on from the time of the serpent in Eden- questioning God’s word, and saying what others would like to hear as if it is from God.
13:11 You, great hailstones, shall fall- Note the sudden change of pronoun. This is an example of how God personally addresses the natural creation. He may be speaking to the Angels who control it, and yet there is also the sense within the Bible that God is somehow in conscious, active dialogue with the natural creation, and hasn’t merely left it ticking on mindless clockwork.
13:18 Any attempt to manipulate or get power over other people within God’s family, be it done consciously or unconsciously, should be outlawed for us by the simple consideration that they are in fact God’s people and not ours.