1 The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, thou dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house."
Israel is the rebellious house. They refuse to use their God-given senses to see Him and His work.
3 "Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shall remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house."
Ezekiel is to move as a sign to Israel of what God has in store for them.
4 "Then shall thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shall go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.
5 "Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby."
Ezekiel is to pretend that he is running from the Babylonians and being carried away into exile.
I wonder what his wife thought about all this.
6 "In their sight shall thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shall cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel."
Six years after the prophecy in chapter one was given, Babylon captured Jerusalem, King Zedekiah fled the city through a hole in the wall, and King Nebuchadnezzar caught him, put out his eyes and carried him into Babylon. Zedekiah never saw the land he died in; the land Ezekiel is now in and covering his eyes so he can’t see it.
7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I dug through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
The wall he dug through was his own house’s wall, not the wall around Jerusalem. Ezekiel is still in Babylon.
8 And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,
9 "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, "What do thou?'"
There were, of course, questions about Ezekiel’s actions.
10 "Say thou unto them, 'Thus says the Lord God; This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.'
11 "Say, 'I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.
12 "'And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.'"
Zedekiah tried to disguise himself as he fled, which would have entailed wrapping his head.
13 "'My net also will I spread upon 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.'"
Zedekiah certainly died in Babylon without ever seeing it.
14 "'And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.'"
Anyone who tries to help the king of Judah will be scattered, chased and killed.
15 "'And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.'"
The rest of Israel/Judah will be carried away into captivity.
16 "'But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"
God did direct Nebuchadnezzar to leave those few righteous Jews who still served Him (remember the mark by the angel in linen?) to till the land. This is the remnant.
17 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 "Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;"
New play-acting; eat and drink like you are scared.
19 "And say unto the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.'"
Jerusalem will be afraid and will not have enough to eat or drink.
20 "'And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.'"
21 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
22 "Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?"
Evidently they were saying in Jerusalem that the worst was over and that all the prophets were lying. There would be no more judgment from God. Jeremiah is also prophesying at this time in the middle of Jerusalem, but is warning of the final destruction.
23 "Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel;' but say unto them, 'The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.'"
It became obvious that those saying God wouldn’t do any more punishment were the ones who were wrong.
24 "For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel."
God put an end to the false and arrogant prophets who discouraged the people from listening to Him. He killed them all or had them taken into slavery.
25 "'For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it,' says the Lord God."
And this isn’t all going to happen years down the road, either. It happened in their life time.
26 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Next vision… (this is the fifth one in this chapter alone.)
27 "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesied of the times that are far off.'"
Those in captivity with Ezekiel were saying that his visions were for the far future, not their time.
28 "Therefore say unto them, 'Thus says the Lord God; There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done,' says the Lord God."
Uhhh, no. This is going to happen Now!