And thou, lie upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it the number of the days that thou liest upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.
God tells Ezekiel to lie on his left side and take the guilt of the house of Israel onto himself, day after day, with the siege of Jerusalem pictured in front of him. The command raises three questions: what "bearing" another's sin means, why 390 days, and what God was saying to the exiles who watched.
Here the prophet's own body becomes the message. One writer shows how every part of the sign points back to the besieged city.
He is to lie on his side, the left one, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. He is to bear this 390 days, each day of penalty matching a year of their iniquity... The siege of Jerusalem is, we may say, the object-lesson running through it all. As he lies under the burden of their sin, he is to bare his arm and prophesy against the city. He is not to turn from one side to the other until he has completed the days of the siege.
To bear punishment sounds like the language of sacrifice, so the phrase needs care. Older translations read "bear their iniquity", and the writers quoted here use that wording. One writer compares how Scripture uses the words for "bearing sin":
The word always used for bearing the consequence of our own or a father's sin... is not bearing it in another's place, but as a consequence falling on oneself... in Ezekiel's case he clearly did not bear it in another's place. He stood as their representative, just as in the ordinary case.
The sign worked because of the prophet's own heart. He did not act out the guilt of others as a detached performer.
Israel's sin was greater than Judah's, but Israel is seen here as a whole. The prophet does more than keep the whole nation in view. He is to identify himself with their iniquities. However little the guilty nation felt it, this godly prophet surely felt his nation's sin. He owned it before God and accepted the consequences of it. No doubt God sustained him; otherwise he could never have stayed like that for so long.
That is not unique to Ezekiel. One writer draws the same lesson for anyone who prays for God's people:
By grace, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we must put ourselves in the place of those whose case we want to bring to God... Nothing shows the Spirit of Christ more clearly than this: sharing fully in the sorrowful state of God's people caused by their sins. It is in this way that saints may bear one another's burdens.
Commentators differ on how to count the 390 years. One reading starts when God tore the ten tribes out of Solomon's hand:
I have no doubt that a sounder view counts the 390 years of Israel from Jeroboam. It was to Jeroboam that the prophet Ahijah announced from Jehovah the gift of the ten tribes, torn out of Solomon's hand. And the forty years of Judah point to the reign of Solomon himself, which settled the ruin even of that most favoured part of the people.
Another writer starts at the same point, but applies the years to the whole nation and to the length of the siege itself:
There is no reason why the 390 years should not be years of God's forbearance with the nation as a whole. Date them from the split of the kingdoms under Jeroboam to the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, and we get almost exactly this length of time... It is striking also that the actual siege of Jerusalem lasted about the 390 days of the prophet's burden.
For the exiles watching, the sign looked back and forward at once.
The prophet's position reminded the captives of the shameful history of their long unfaithfulness. But there was more. The Lord told Ezekiel that He had laid the years of their iniquity on him, and that he would bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. So the sign pictured the real punishment that was now to fall on the nation.
- Years counted. Each day on the prophet stands for a year of the nation's sin. God keeps an exact record of a history the people had long forgotten.
- Sin pictured. The prophet's body becomes the sermon. He lies beside the pictured city, so the watchers see the siege and not just the guilt.
- Burden borne. He represents the people; he does not take their place. He feels and owns what their sin brings, but he does not atone for it.
- Heart engaged. He does not stand apart from the guilty. Sharing the shame of God's people is what fits anyone to pray for them.
- Judgment came. The sign was not only a picture. The punishment it showed did fall, and the siege lasted about as long as his burden.
And I have appointed thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
God tells Ezekiel to lie on his left side and carry the guilt of the northern kingdom. Each day stands for a year of that guilt. Two questions follow: which years are counted, and in what sense a prophet can bear another's guilt. (Older translations say "iniquity" here where the ESV says "punishment." The writers quoted below use the older wording.)
The number is not arbitrary. It is a tally of the history that brought Jerusalem to its siege.
God pronounced a general judgment on the condition of Israel. Besides that, Jerusalem appears before God whom she had despised. All the iniquity of the people, now at its height, was resting on her. The prophet was acting out the siege of Jerusalem. He was also to point out the years of iniquity that had led to this judgment: for Israel in general, 390; for Judah, 40.
The picture is symbolic, and objections about a man staying flat for over a year miss what the text actually asks.
In his own person Ezekiel had to experience the great degradation and judgment that was to fall on all the people. The critical school has invented all kinds of theories to explain, or rather explain away, the divine command given to the prophet. They say he may have suffered from some form of epilepsy or catalepsy. They also say no man could lie on his left side for 390 days without a break. But the text nowhere says the prophet was to be in that position day and night through those allotted days. The 390 and 40 days are symbolic. They mean years, giving a total of 430 years. This reminds us of Exodus 12:40-41, where Israel's stay in Egypt is given as 430 years.
Because the day-for-a-year measure is spelled out here, some have used it as a master key for unlocking other prophecies. One writer warns that the very explanation limits its reach:
The symbolic siege of Ezekiel is another witness called to support the system (Ezek. 4:4-9). Here again we have to note that the argument built on it is not for the dates in Ezekiel's prophecy, where it is recorded, but for Daniel and John, where it is not. From such special instances, so carefully explained, it would seem safe to conclude that a day not so applied was to be taken literally.
The words sound like the language of sacrifice, so the distinction matters. Examining how the phrase is used across Scripture, one writer concludes:
The only apparent exceptions I am aware of, and they are only apparent, are Leviticus 16:22, the scapegoat, and Ezekiel 4:4-5, 6... in the case of Ezekiel it was clearly not vicarious, but representative, and the same as the ordinary case.
Standing in for others still cost him. Ezekiel took his people's guilt on himself in feeling as well as in posture.
The sin of Israel exceeded that of Judah. But Israel is looked at as a whole. The interests of the whole nation are not only before the prophet's eye; he is to identify himself with their iniquities. The guilty nation may have felt little. Yet this godly prophet surely felt deeply and owned before God the sin of his nation, and accepted its consequences... He bore their iniquities in spirit before God, in the remarkable position these verses describe. God sustained him; otherwise he could never have stayed like that for so long.
Commentators differ on how to date the period. One reckoning starts it with the tearing of the ten tribes from Solomon's house:
I have no doubt that the sounder view counts the 390 years of Israel from Jeroboam. It was to Jeroboam that Ahijah announced from Jehovah the gift of the ten tribes, torn out of Solomon's hand. On this view the forty years of Judah point to the reign of Solomon himself, which settled the ruin even of that most favoured part of the people.
Another reading takes the 390 years as God's patience with the whole nation:
Date them from the separation of the kingdoms under Jeroboam to the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, and we have almost this exact length of time... Judgment had already begun, while the long-suffering of God tempered it through all this period. It is striking too that the actual siege of Jerusalem lasted about the 390 days of the prophet's burden.
A long count of years is a long record of failure, and the record is not only Israel's.
How solemn is the testimony God gives about man, seen in his responsibility to walk by the light given him! He does not only go farther and farther from God. He breaks down from the very first. Every fresh means of calling him back only proves how completely alienated he is in heart and will. So no flesh can glory in His presence. May we glory in the Lord! Not the first man, but the second, has glorified God.
- Counted — Each day on Ezekiel's side stands for a year of his nation's guilt. The sign tallies history; it is not a random ordeal.
- Concrete — The days are symbolic. They are not a claim that a man lay motionless for over a year.
- Carried — He bears the guilt as a representative. He feels and owns his people's sin before God; he does not pay for it in their place.
- Contested — Commentators differ over what the 390 years measure: Israel's guilt from Jeroboam, or God's patience with the whole nation up to the city's fall.
- Conclusive — The long count shows man breaks down from the start. No flesh can boast; not the first man but the second glorified God.
And when thou hast accomplished them, thou shalt lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days I have appointed thee each day for a year.
God tells Ezekiel to act out his message with his own body: 390 days on his left side for Israel, then forty days on his right side for Judah, one day for each year. That raises three questions: what the days measure, which forty years are meant, and how a prophet can "bear" someone else's sin.
Ezekiel does not just speak this message. He lies down and acts it out, and the siege of Jerusalem is what the whole scene pictures.
He is to lie on his side, the left one, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. He is to bear this 390 days, each day of penalty corresponding to a year of their iniquity. But this is not all. When he has finished this, he is to lie again on his side, the right one. Now he is to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days, each day once more given for a year. Through it all, we may say, the siege of Jerusalem is the object-lesson.
Some readers insist that prophecy must always be read literally. One writer answers that two passages suggest otherwise.
Those who insist on a literal reading often raise another point, and it deserves notice — days put for years. They deny this, even though both Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 plainly suggest the idea.
Others take this scale and apply it to prophecies where God gives no such key. One writer questions that move.
The symbolic siege of Ezekiel is another witness called to support the system (Ezek. 4:4-9). Here again we must note something. Men build an argument on it, not for the dates in Ezekiel's own prophecy, where we find the key recorded, but for Daniel and John, where we do not. Scripture explains these special cases with care. So it seems safe to conclude that a day not used this way was meant literally.
Commentators differ on which forty years Judah's days count. One writer counts Israel's years from Jeroboam, the man given the ten northern tribes, and traces Judah's forty back to Solomon's own reign.
I have no doubt that a sounder view counts the three hundred and ninety years of Israel from Jeroboam. It was to Jeroboam that Ahijah announced from the Lord the gift of the ten tribes, torn out of Solomon's hand. And the forty years of Judah point to the reign of Solomon himself. His reign decided the ruin even of that most favoured part of the people. Hardly anyone could see, under the wealth and wisdom of the king, where the idolatry then practised would lead.
Another writer puts dates to the 390 days, and points to a later king for Judah's forty years.
The 390 days probably run from the division of the kingdom in B.C. 975 to 588, the destruction of Jerusalem — 388 full years, or 390 in round numbers. "Israel," as often, stands for the ten tribes. It is not so clear what the 40 years for Judah refer to. They were for the iniquity of Judah. They may refer to the reign of Manasseh before his captivity and reformation. That reign is pointed out as the crowning sin of Judah, and the reason they were sent into captivity. 2 Kings 21:11-13.
The older translations these writers use read "bear the iniquity." So did Ezekiel carry Judah's guilt away in their place, as the scapegoat did? One writer says no.
The only apparent exceptions that I am aware of, and they are only apparent, are Leviticus 16:22, the scapegoat, and Ezekiel 4:4-5, 6. But the first is "he shall carry them into a land not inhabited," and in Ezekiel's case it was plainly not substitution but representation, the same as the ordinary case.
The sign cost Ezekiel more than time. One writer looks at what the prophet carried inside while he lay there.
The sin of Israel exceeded that of Judah, but Israel is looked at as a whole. The interests of the whole nation are before the prophet's eye, and he is to identify himself with their iniquities. However little the guilty nation may have felt it, this godly prophet without doubt felt it deeply and owned the sin of his nation before God. He accepted the consequences of it. Whether for three hundred and ninety days for Israel or forty days for Judah, he bore their iniquities in spirit before God. God sustained him, without doubt; otherwise he could never have stayed like that for so long.
- Counted — every day Ezekiel lay there stood for a year of the nation's sin. God kept the account long before He acted.
- Explained — God states the day-for-a-year scale here and in Numbers 14:34. Where Scripture gives no such key, one writer reads a day as a day.
- Disputed — some trace Judah's forty years to Solomon's reign, others to Manasseh's. The commentators do not agree.
- Represented — Ezekiel did not carry Judah's guilt away as a substitute. He stood as a sign of the judgment coming on them.
- Felt — the guilty nation felt little. The prophet felt their sin and owned it before God, and God held him up through every day.