NOW YOU SON OF MAN, GET YOURSELF A BRICK, PLACE IT BEFORE YOU  (5:1-17; 12:3-16; 1Sa 15:27 15:28; 1 Ki11:30 11:31; Isa20:2-4; Jer13:1-14; 18:2-12; 19:1-15; 25:15-38; 27:2-22; Ho1:2-9; 3:1-5; Ho12:10) "And now, son of man, take a large brick and set it down in front of you" (NLT)

To summarize events to this point (Ezekiel is laid out very chronologically) remember that Ezekiel’s ministry began with a dramatic personal encounter with the "glory of the LORD", a good place for every minister and ministry to have it's inception. After emphasizing that Ezekiel's ministry would not be well received, the Lord appointed him as the watchman who was to sound the alarm of coming judgment to the exiles in Babylon.  In Chapters 4-24 we see and hear watchman’s cry. The specific prophecy that begins this chapter is the first of a series of prophecies addressing the coming fall of Jerusalem, these prophecies being given over a year’s time in the next 4 chapters (through 7:27).

Richards quips that Ezekiel "begins his confrontation with his stubborn community by “playing toy soldier.”  (Richards, L. (1991). The Bible reader's companion. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.)

Craigie writes "Ezekiel’s ministry as such begins abruptly. The call and commission are complete; now the action must begin. And if Ezekiel had not been thoroughly prepared for his task, the first job he was given to do would have seemed very curious; “take a brick”, God says to him! The prophetic ministry, as becomes so clear in the life of Ezekiel, involves more than preaching; he is to begin by being a map-maker and model-builder. But actions may speak as loudly as words. The actions that Ezekiel is now to undertake will communicate as forcibly as a sermon the divine message."

"Get yourself a brick" "Get" is a command in Hebrew. Some commentaries take the events in these next 2 chapters as the effects of a vivid imagination and not visible events that the other Jewish exiles could witness. Verse 4 clearly calls this first one a "sign" which leaves little doubt that these strange depictions were to "point out the way" as is the function of any sign and that could hardly be possible if these were events that occurred only in Ezekiel's mind. The use of real life events as a mode of teaching is found (albeit to a lesser extent) in the records of other prophet’s. And so we encounter Isaiah walking “naked and barefoot” for three years (Isa 20:3); Jeremiah  wearing yokes of wood (Jer27:2) and Hosea being called to marry Gomer, a harlot (Hosea 1-3).

God's selection of a "brick" is interesting because Jerusalem was a city built with stones (1Ki10:27) on a rock foundation and the man made brick was the primary material used for construction of buildings in Babylon, where stones were scarce.

"Bricks"  were not like the rectangular brick we encounter today. One ancient historian records "Let the bricks be two feet long, one foot broad, and four inches thick.” On a surface as large as this the whole siege might be easily portrayed. In Babylonia there was a lack of both timber and stone, and the thick clay deposited by the overflowing rivers was the only material adaptable to building.

The New Unger's Bible Dictionary has an describes "bricks" in Babylon: "The following account taken from Maspero (Dawn of Civilization, pp. 622–23) especially applies to Mesopotamia and Egypt: “In the estimation of the Chaldean architects stone was a matter of secondary consideration. As it was necessary to bring it from a great distance and at considerable expense, they used it very sparingly...Crude brick, burnt brick, enameled brick, but always and everywhere brick was the principal element in their construction. The soil of the marshes or of the plains, separated from the pebbles and foreign substances which it contained, mixed with grass or chopped straw, moistened with water, and assiduously trodden under foot, furnished the ancient builders with material of incredible tenacity. This was molded into thin, square brick, eight inches to a foot across and three or four inches thick, but rarely larger. They were stamped on the flat side, by means of an incised wooden block, with the name of the reigning sovereign (See the example on the left of a characteristic square, tile-like Assyrian brick inscribed with King Shalmanesser's name & title [from Smith's Bible Dictionary] Some peasant houses found near Babylon have bricks containing King Nebuchadnezzar’s stamp! Bricks were in essence the books of that time and whole libraries of these have been brought to light in recent excavations)."  (The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Chicago: Moody Press.)  Babylonian bricks were "made with clay mixed with chopped straw or grass that, on decaying, released acids that gave the substance greater malleability. The brick maker added water, kneaded the mixture by foot, and molded it into square bricks, each about 8-12 inches across and 3-4 inches thick....Babylonian bricks were commonly burned in brick kilns (cf Ge11:3) rather than sun-dried. Sun-dried bricks disintegrated easily in heavy rainfall, whereas bricks burned in a kiln were virtually indestructible" (Tyndale Bible dictionary. Page 237. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers)  Smith's Dictionary adds that "the bricks in use among the Jews...possessed more of the character of tiles." (KJV translates the Hebrew as "tile")

"Place it before you" literally before your face

AND INSCRIBE A CITY ON IT, JERUSALEM.  (Jer6:6; 32:31; Am3:2) "on it scratch a city, Jerusalem" (NJB), "draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem" (DRA), "Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it" (NLT), "scratch lines on it to represent the city of Jerusalem" (TEV)

What is fascinating in this "sign of the brick" is that Jerusalem was built with stones on a rock foundation. Brick was a symbol of Babylon and was instrumental in Nimrod's instigation of rebellion against Yahweh at Babel (Ge10:10 Ge11:3). To depict Jerusalem with a symbol indigenous to idolatrous, rebellious Babylon would suggest that the holy city had become even worse than Babylon in her morals and idolatry.

"Inscribe" (chaqaq) means to engrave, inscribe, mark out, make meaningful marks on an object, to chisel or hew out on stone.

Matthew Henry comments that "It was Jerusalem’s honour that while she kept her integrity God had graven her upon the palms of his hands (Isa49:16), and the names of the tribes were engraved in precious stones on the breast-plate of the high priest; but, now that the faithful city has become a harlot, a worthless brittle tile or brick is thought good enough to portray it upon. This the prophet must lay before him, that the eye may affect the heart."

News of Ezekiel’s strange action would have spread quickly through the community of Jewish exiles and they would have come to watch. The meaning of the display would not be too difficult to discern. There beloved city, Jerusalem surrounded by siege-works certainly indicated that it would again be besieged by an enormously powerful army. Imagine what must have gone through the minds of the exiles. Surely, in this case the sign would be as impressive and perhaps even more so than any spoken utterance. Ezekiel's was demonstrating that "A picture is worth a thousand words!" because pictures convey strong, memorable images and pictures etched on bricks would not quickly fade away.

"Lay siege" (matsowr) describes the process of shutting up and confining a city, and methodically attacking the walls (see Dt 20:19). Ezekiel  would be very familiar with the significance of a "siege" for he had been carried captive to Babylon after the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC (2Ki24:10-16), and he was writing these prophecies before the final siege (2Ki25:1-11). Quite likely many of the exiles in his audience were also all too familiar with the picture of a siege.  Keep in mind that Jerusalem was a well-fortified city and it would take Babylon months to capture it.

A siege or prolonged military blockade of Jerusalem would force it to surrender by taking away the advantage of the city’s defensive walls by cutting outside contact and halting the flow of food, supplies, and weapons.

Who is to lay siege against Jerusalem in this drama? Obviously Ezekiel would be the one laying siege, but the prophet was God’s representative, thus clearly this was symbolic of Jehovah Himself besieging His beloved Jerusalem "the city of...God, His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth"! (Ps 48:1-2) How this must have hurt the heart of the LORD (see Ezek 6:9a 6:9b) Who centuries latter lamented "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!" (Mt23:37-38)

The siege of Jerusalem in spite of Zedekiah’s Egyptian alliance, had been decreed. Ezekiel begins his with the siege sign some four years before it came — in this chapter we are somewhere between the fourth month of the fifth year (Ezek1:1 1:2) and the sixth month of the sixth year (Ezek 8:1) of Zedekiah and the siege began in the ninth year recorded as follows "Now it came about in the ninth year of his (Zedekiah's) reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a siege wall all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah." (2Ki25:1 25:2).

BUILD A SIEGE WALL: "build forts against it" (ASV), "building strong places against it" (BBE), "build attack walls around it" (GWT)

In Deuteronomy we find a description of a "siegework", Moses instructing Israel that "When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls."  (cf Deut 20:19, 20) And so in ancient warfare, hewn trees together with earth and other materials at hand were used to form an embankment (raised structure to enclose or confine) around the besieged city. This "siege wall" not only cut off the besieged city from the surrounding country, but also served as a base of operations for the besiegers.

RAISE UP A RAMP: "cast up a mound against it" (ASV), "and making high an earthwork against it" (BBE), "throw up a mound round about it" (Brenton's of Lxx), "put up dirt ramps around it" (GWT)

The second phase of the siege involved throwing out from the "siege wall" one or more mounds, banks or ramps in the direction of the city (cf 2Sa20:15; 2Ki19:31 32). These ramps were gradually increased in height until they were about half as high as the city wall. On these mounds or “siege walls” the army could erect towers from which slingers and archers might attack effectively. The ramp provided a relatively smooth incline up which siege towers and Battering rams could be pushed up to the walls.

PITCH CAMPS: "set camps also against it" (ASV), "and put up tents against it" (BBE), "have troops ready to attack it" (GWT)

AND PLACE BATTERING RAMS AGAINST IT ALL AROUND.: "placing engines all round it for smashing down its walls" (BBE), "On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. " (CEV), "and place battering rams all around it" (GWT)

Once the ramps were built the battering rams were brought forward to begin hammering the city walls which were progressively weakened.

"Battering rams" is an interesting Hebrew word kar (plural = karim) which initially referred to a “lamb” (Deut32:14  1Sa15:9) or full grown rams. This Hebrew word and the Latin word Aries (ram) was transferred to the battering ram which was used to “butt,” like a ram, against the walls of a besieged city, and which, in Roman warfare, commonly terminated in a ram’s head in bronze or iron. Ezekiel is the only Old Testament writer who utilizes this word for a battering ram in this verse and (Ezek 21:22). The "engine" consisted of a large wooden beam suspended on a frame in a fashion that allowed it to be worked back and forth so that it could be driven with force and beat down fortified massive stone walls and city gates. The end of the beam that impacted against the wall was often shaped like the head of a ram (click thumbnail to enlarge)  A crew of several men would operate the war engine which was armored to afford protection, since the city’s defenders naturally would fire upon them as they worked to breach the city. The whole engine was mounted on wheels for easy movement up an earthen ramp and position it at the base of the walls of a city under siege.

The following excerpt from the International Bible Encyclopedia (click for article on "siege") describes a "battering ram" "The earthworks having been thrown up, and approaches to the walls secured, it was possible to set and to work the battering-rams (karim =plural; kar = singular) which were to be employed in breaching the walls (Ezek4:2), or in bursting open the gates (Ezek21:22). The battering-rams were of different kinds. On Assyrian monuments they are found joined to movable towers holding warriors and armed men, or, in other cases, joined to a stationary tower constructed on the spot. When the men who are detailed to work the ram get it into play, with its heavy beams of planks fastened together and the great mass of metal forming its head, they can hardly fail to make an impression, and gradually, by the constantly repeated shocks, a breach is opened and the besiegers are able to rush in and bear down the defenders. It is to the shelter furnished by these towers that the prophet Nahum refers (Nahum2:5) when he says,"The mantelet is prepared," and that Isaiah points when he declares that the king of Assyria "shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield (maghen), nor cast up a mound against it" (Isa37:33). Ezekiel has the same figure when, describing the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, he declares that he shall "cast up a mound" against her, and "raise up the buckler," the buckler (qinnah) being like the Roman testudo, or roof of shields, under cover of which the besiegers carried on operations (Ezek26:8). Under the shelter of their movable towers the besiegers could push forward mines, an operation known as part of siege craft...."

The following comments are somewhat speculative and thus against the usual approach of these verse by verse notes so read them with that thought in mind. While one cannot be dogmatic, clearly this wall indicates a barrier between Ezekiel and Jerusalem because God tells him to "set it up...between...". Furthermore since Ezekiel is God's representative to the rebellious house, it would follow that the iron wall represents a barrier between God and the house of Israel. A parallel thought is found in Isaiah where the prophet records that Israel's "iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." (Isa 59:2) Jeremiah laments to God that "Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through." (Lam3:44) In fact, as the siege progressed, Jerusalem would cry out for deliverance, but God would not answer her prayers. The Pulpit Commentary feels that this "spiritual" meaning (which is probably the most common interpretation of the iron wall) is out of harmony with the context.

AND SET YOUR FACE TOWARD IT SO THAT IT IS UNDER SIEGE AND BESIEGE  IT: "Then fix your gaze on it; it is being besieged and you are besieging it" (NJB),  "Turn your face toward the city as if to attack it. Then surround it and attack it" (ICB) "Turn toward it and demonstrate how the enemy will attack Jerusalem" (NLT) "Turn your face toward the city as if you were going to attack it, and then attack it" (GWT), "Stare fixedly at it and regard it as in a state of siege, and besiege it." (WBC)

"Set your face" Several times in this book Ezekiel sets his face in the direction of the target of judgment , in Ezek6:2 "toward the mountains of Israel" and in  Ezek21:2 "toward Jerusalem". In Jeremiah we find God say referring to Jerusalem " I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good," declares the LORD. "It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire."  (Jer21:10).

In Ezekiel's call and preparation God had equipped him for this task instructing him "Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house." (Ezek 4:8-9) The point is that God equips us for the work He calls us to. A NT prayer found in Hebrews emphasizes this principle, the writer praying for the saints that  "the God of peace, Who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip (katartizo means to make someone completely adequate or sufficient so that they might fulfill the task for which they were prepared) you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Heb13:20 21) Dearly beloved saint, whatever God has clearly called you to do, He will fully furnish you to allow you to fulfill your call. Now we understand better why Ezekiel's face had been hardened.

THIS IS A SIGN TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL: ( Isa8:18; Heb2:4) "This will be a warning to the people of Israel." (NLT)

The fact that this drama was "a sign" clearly indicates that "the house of Israel" was the "audience" who saw Ezekiel's "silent movie". This group of Jewish spectators is then taken as representative of the whole house of Israel. Be aware however that there is an exception to the meaning below in verse 5, where "the house of Israel" in context refers to the 10 northern tribes. (as does Ezek 37:16)

"Sign" ('owth or 'owt) is used 9 times in Ezekiel (12:6, 11; 14:8 20:12 20:20 21:19 24:24, 27). A "sign" generally describes something that points to or represents something larger or more important than itself.  In the present context the "sign" represents a non-verbal symbol or signal which is meant to be a discernible indication of what is not itself directly perceptible (the exiles can neither see the city of Jerusalem or its destruction). In this case the visible drama was a foreshadowing of coming events in Jerusalem in 586BC (cf Isa 20:3). We might say that Ezekiel was presenting a "preview of coming attractions".  Simeon addressing Mary the mother of Jesus declared one of the most famous "signs" declaring "Behold, this Child (Jesus) is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed..." (Lu2:34) even as the rebellious house of Israel would refuse to hearken to Ezekiel's sign(s). (cf Ezek 3:7)

John MacArthur makes a good observation supporting the argument that Ezekiel only lay supine part of each day  -- "It is not necessary to assume that Ezekiel was in the prone position all the time. It was doubtless part of each day, as his need for preparing food (4:9) indicates."

"Left side" probably refers to the "north", the geographic location of the 10 northern tribes of Israel. 

The following note is somewhat technical but explains why it is "fair" to interpret "left side" as "north" and "right side" (Ez4:6) as "south". The Hebrew word for left (sema'liy) is derived from the Hebrew root (semo'wl) which is also translated "left" but in Ezek 16:46 is translated "north" -- "Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north (semo'wl, KJV translates it "at the left hand") of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south (yamiyn; KJV translates it "at the right hand") of you, is Sodom with her daughters." The Hebrew word (yamiyn) which is translated "south" in Ezekiel 16 is the source of the Hebrew word translated "right" in Ezekiel 4:6. In sum, it is reasonable to interpret Ezekiel's positioning on his left side with his head toward the east and facing to the north (the northern kingdom of Israel) and on his right side as facing toward the south (the southern kingdom of Judah).

YOU SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITY FOR THE NUMBER OF DAYS THAT YOU LIE ON IT: (Lev10:17; 16:22; Nu14:34; 18:1; Isa53:11 53:12; Mt8:17; Heb9:28; 1Pe2:24)

"390 days" Suffice it to say that the interpretation of this number is fraught with difficulty and commentaries vary widely. For that reason I will avoid speculating on the interpretation, which is made even more confusing by the Greek translation (Septuagint) which renders the number as "190"! This drama does indicate that there was a beginning and an end.

Craigie makes an excellent point that "it would be a mistake to take the numbers to be the central aspect of this symbolic action. For the audience at that time, the most evident aspect of the action would be that day after day, month after month, there was Ezekiel prostrate on his side on the ground, symbolising the weight of God’s punishment on his people. It was the length and continuity of the actions that would carry such impact to the audience; only after the actions were completed would the numbers suddenly assume significance." 

I HAVE ASSIGNED IT TO YOU FOR FORTY DAYS, A DAY FOR EACH YEAR: (Da9:24 25 26; 12:11 12:12; Rev9:15; 11:2 11:3; 12:14; 13:5)

"Arm bared" is a symbol of energetic action as in Is52:10 (The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.). The prophet was not to be an apathetic spectator of the siege which he was thus dramatizing, but actively to dramatize the event. This picture of the prophet not merely resting on his side and folding his hands as a man at ease might do, but instead looking intently, with bare outstretched arm at the scene inscribed on the brick, must have added to the startling effect of this "sign to the house of Israel".

Note that “set thy face,” is specially characteristic of Ezekiel (4:3).