4 "As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. 5 "For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity , three hundred and ninety days ; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel . 6 "When you have completed these , you shall lie down a second time , but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah ; I have assigned it to you for forty days , a day for each year . 7 "Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8 "Now behold , I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege .
9 "But as for you, take wheat , barley , beans , lentils , millet and spelt , put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side , three hundred and ninety days .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 4:4-9
Commentary on Ezekiel 4:1-8
(Read Ezekiel 4:1-8)
The prophet was to represent the siege of Jerusalem by signs. He was to lie on his left side for a number of days, supposed to be equal to the years from the establishment of idolatry. All that the prophet sets before the children of his people, about the destruction of Jerusalem, is to show that sin is the provoking cause of the ruin of that once flourishing city.
Commentary on Ezekiel 4:9-17
(Read Ezekiel 4:9-17)
The bread which was Ezekiel's support, was to be made of coarse grain and pulse mixed together, seldom used except in times of urgent scarcity, and of this he was only to take a small quantity. Thus was figured the extremity to which the Jews were to be reduced during the siege and captivity. Ezekiel does not plead, Lord, from my youth I have been brought up delicately, and never used to any thing like this; but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and never had eaten any thing forbidden by the law. It will be comfortable when we are brought to suffer hardships, if our hearts can witness that we have always been careful to keep even from the appearance of evil. See what woful work sin makes, and acknowledge the righteousness of God herein. Their plenty having been abused to luxury and excess, they were justly punished by famine. When men serve not God with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies in the want of all things.