CONFIRMING THE CAPTIVITY Having proclaimed the departure of His glory from His house and His city, God confirmed that captivation is near; by symbolic acts, likenesses and proverbs; advising the people and the rulers to listen to the true prophets, and to reject the counsel of the false ones. 1- Going out of his place 1-6. 2- Covering his face 7-16. 3- Eating his food with trembling 17-20. 4- The people disregard the true prophecy 21-28. 1- GOING OUT OF HIS PLACE Before the persistence of the people on disbelieving the prophets concerning the departure of the Lord from His house and His city, His forsaking the protection of His people, and allowing their captivation to chasten them, the prophet Ezekiel had - by a divine command - to materialize his mission through his behavior; to become a symbol to Israel. The Lord said to him: “I have made you a sign to the house of Israel” (Ez 12:6). And as the prophet said: “I am a sign to you” (Ez 12:11). By day, he set forth from his place and went to another place; in the hope that they may realize that they are likewise going to depart from their land and be taken into captivity. But by evening, he came back to his house in darkness, dug through the wall, and then departed in secret, carrying his belongings on his shoulders. It is as though, having disbelieved the fulfillment of captivation, it will happen by night; while they sleep in the midst of the inner darkness, and unprepared. Their king will also be carried away against his will. So, the prophet, while portraying what would be the condition of the thousands of captives, people were regarding his behavior with astonishment. Ezekiel became a sign to his people; doing his best to reveal what would come to happen to them. By going out of his house by night carrying his belongings on his shoulders; he proclaims that their sins would bring them into captivity: would make them lose their land, their possessions, their people, and their freedom; namely, they would lose their human rights. Our Christ became a sign; according to the prophecy: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Is 7:14). From God the Father, He, in the fullness of time, came down from heaven to our earth as though by night; descended to us, we, who sit in darkness, carrying our sins on His shoulder; to reveal our captivation in the bondage of the devil. But He did not stop at revealing the bitterness of our condition, like what Ezekiel did, but He granted us freedom from servitude; and brought us back to His heavenly house, carrying a new nature, that enjoys the pledge of the eternal glory. It is as though the prophet only diagnosed the ailment and clarified its danger; whereas our Christ - the true Physician - offered His life on the cross, to heal us. 2- COVERING HIS FACE Zedekiah, king of Judah, was to be carried by night to Babylon; yet, according to the prophet Jeremiah (32:5), he did not see it, as his eyes were put out in Riblah (2 Kings 25:4-7; Jer 52:8, 11). And as St. John Chrysostom says: [He did not see Babylon although he was carried into it... as his eyes were put out in Judea. At the same place 5 where he broke the oath, he got the punishment1.] Because he broke an oath and betrayed a covenant, even though with a heathen; he got a double punishment: captivity and blindness. If this is the fruit of betraying a covenant with man, how would it be, if it is with God?! It makes the soul lose its freedom and inner insight; and man would submit to an inner servitude and an inner blindness. 3- EATING HIS FOOD WITH TREMBLING Having become a sign to his people, the prophet Ezekiel performed another symbolic act to confirm the realization of captivation. The Lord commanded him, saying: “Son of Adam, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. And say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dread, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it” (Ez 12:18, 19). It is a horrible portrait of man’s life in sin, that consummate the previous portrait. Those who were carried into captivity against their will, have lost their inner insight; while those who were left in their land, have entered into a state of hunger with grief; and of thirst with anxiety. Sin makes man lose his inner fulfillment, his being watered together with his peace; that is why the Lord Christ says: “I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). He is the source of our inner fulfillment, and spiritual quench. Ezekiel ate his bread with quaking and drank his water with dread and anxiety (Ez 12:18); whereas our Christ has offered His body and His blood, given as living Bread, that rids us of anxiety, and brings us into his eternal joy. 4- DISREGARDING THE TRUE PROPHECY The false prophets made use of some popular proverbs to make people doubt the true prophecies; like: “The days are prolonged, and every vision fails” (Ez 12:22). By this popular proverb, many counted the visions of prophets as false and mere threats that would never be realized. This way of thinking prevailed in all ages. The devil makes man doubt the divine word. In the apostolic era, some people doubted the second advent of Lord Jesus, saying: “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Having been difficult for some people to believe this proverb, sowing doubt was tried by another way: not to reject the prophecy altogether, but to claim that it will be realized after a long time, not in their own time: “The house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off” (Ez 12:27). That is the work of the devil, continuously sowing doubt in God’s words; or claiming that it is of times far off, to make man live negligently outside the commandment. That is why the Lord always confirms: “None of My words will be postponed any more; but the word which I speak will be done” (Ez 12:28). The time is near, and all the words of God to us will be realized. And the word of God is clearly announced “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Mat 24:37). 1 Concerning Statues, homily 19:11. 6 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 12 O LORD, MAKE ME A SIGN Lord, make me a sign! You, who became a sign for my sake; a sign in Your amazing virginal birth. And a sign in Your resurrection from a sealed tomb! Make me a sign, to testify to Your wonders in my new life! Bring out of my barrenness, spiritual fruits! To turn the corrupt tomb of my heart, Into a heavenly sanctuary! Grant me Your risen life, To fill me with joy and praise! You have made Your prophet Ezekiel a sign; He came out by night, carrying his belongings, After digging through the wall; As though going into captivity. And You My Lord, became a sign; From God the Father You came; You came down to our land, As though to the shadows of death, Carrying Your cross! You dug the wall separating us from the Father; And so set us free of captivity! Grant me to become a sign; So that my heart would set forth, as though from the darkness of sin; Crossing the broken down wall, and the open gate of heaven. Carrying You, my only and precious belonging! Instead of escaping as though to captivity, Your Holy Spirit would lift me up to the bosom of the Father. You commanded Your prophet Ezekiel to eat his bread with quaking, And to drink his water with dread and anxiety! You counted him as though in prison, Eating the bread of affliction. I confess to You, O Lord, that I am a prisoner of my sins; My bread has turned into bitterness. Grant me Your heavenly Bread: Your sacrifices body and blood. To free me of my captivity; And to grant me freedom, joy, and rejoice. Let me abide in You, and You in me, O the desire of my heart. To become truly an amazing sign, The work of Your hands!
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