Ezekiel 4 Devotional

Carrying the Guilt of Others

“Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side.”Ezekiel 4:4 (BSB)

Ezekiel's ministry begins with silent theater. He sketches Jerusalem on a brick, builds a model siege around it, and sets up an iron plate between himself and the city (4:1-3). Then he lies on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40, bearing the iniquity of Israel and Judah, a day for each year (4:4-6). His food and water are measured out, picturing the hunger coming to the city (4:9-11, 16-17).

Two things stand out. First, God listens. When Ezekiel protests that he has never eaten anything unclean, God changes the fuel for baking his bread (4:14-15). The LORD who gives hard commands is not deaf to his servant's conscience. Second, the prophet is made to carry the guilt of others, at least in picture. Hebrews says Christ offered himself once to take the sins of many on himself (Hebrews 9:28), and he did it in reality. The guilt Ezekiel portrayed was truly carried at the cross, so it no longer has to be carried by you.

To think about: What guilt are you still trying to carry yourself, and what would it mean to trust that Christ has already borne it?