Ezekiel acts out the coming siege of Jerusalem. The tile, iron pan, measured food and prolonged posture of the prophet portray a city surrounded, cut off and brought to famine because of its iniquity.
The tile and the siege (Ezekiel 4:1–3)
Ezekiel sketches Jerusalem on a tile and portrays the city under siege, setting up a fort, a mound, a camp and battering rams. An iron pan between the prophet and the city signifies a barrier as the siege is enacted before the people.
The appointed days (Ezekiel 4:4–8)
Ezekiel lies on his left side for 390 days for the iniquity of Israel, then on his right for 40 days for Judah. Yahweh appoints each day for a year. The sign declares the accumulated iniquity and approaching judgment of Israel and Judah.
Rations during the siege (Ezekiel 4:9–17)
The prophet prepares bread from several grains and legumes, eating it by weight and drinking water by measure. The restricted food portrays famine. The initial command to bake with human dung signifies defilement among the nations; after Ezekiel protests that he has not polluted himself, cow’s dung is permitted instead.
Yahweh will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. The people will eat and drink carefully and in astonishment, wasting away because of their iniquity.
The chapter’s message
Ezekiel’s enacted signs make the siege visible to the exiles. Jerusalem’s scarcity and defilement are consequences of accumulated sin, and the measured bread and water show the severity of the coming distress.