The Inescapable God Text: Ezekiel 12:8-16
Introduction: The Prophetic Street Theater
We live in an age that is allergic to authority and deaf to instruction. Men want a god, to be sure, but they want one who mumbles, who offers vague spiritual sentiments, and who, above all, does not interfere. They want a god who can be kept safely in the attic of their lives, brought down for holidays, but who never dares to walk into the living room and rearrange the furniture. But the God of Scripture, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is not that kind of god. He is the living God, and He is a speaking God. And when His people stuff their ears with the wax of rebellion, He has other ways of getting His message through.
Before the passage we are considering today, God had commanded His prophet Ezekiel to engage in a bit of what we might call prophetic street theater. He was to pack his bags in broad daylight, as though for exile. He was to dig a hole through the wall of his house and crawl out in the evening, with his face covered. This was not some bizarre, personal compulsion. This was a living, breathing, walking sermon. It was a sign. God was turning His prophet into a message board, because the designated recipients of the message had decided they were done listening to words.
The people of Israel, specifically the "rebellious house" in Jerusalem, were living in a state of profound denial. They were on the brink of catastrophic judgment, but they had convinced themselves that all was well. They were like men sunbathing on the deck of the Titanic, complaining about the volume of the ship's orchestra. They had eyes, but they refused to see the iceberg. They had ears, but they refused to hear the warnings. And so God says, "Fine. If you will not hear My words, you will watch My prophet." This is the context for our text. The people have seen Ezekiel's strange behavior, and their curiosity is finally piqued. They are asking, "What are you doing?" And God is ready with the answer.
This is a profound lesson for us. When a culture refuses to hear the plain preaching of the Word, God does not go silent. He begins to speak in other ways, through judgments, through providential absurdities, through the slow-motion collapse of the institutions that rebels have built for themselves. He writes His message in the collapsing birth rates, in the spiraling debt, in the cultural confusion. The message is always getting through. The only question is whether we have the humility to receive it.
The Text
And in the morning the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ Say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.” ’ Say, ‘I am a wondrous sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’ The prince who is among them will carry his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there. And I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. So they will know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. But I will spare a few of them from sword, famine, and pestilence that they may recount all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am Yahweh.”
(Ezekiel 12:8-16 LSB)
The Meaning of the Sign (vv. 8-11)
We begin with God's instruction to Ezekiel after his performance has had its intended effect.
"And in the morning the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ Say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.” ’ Say, ‘I am a wondrous sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’" (Ezekiel 12:8-11)
God's timing is perfect. He lets the strange sign simmer in the minds of the people overnight. Then, in the morning, when their questions are buzzing, He delivers the interpretation. Notice how God refers to them: "the house of Israel, the rebellious house." This is not a term of endearment. It is a formal, covenantal indictment. They are in rebellion against their covenant Lord, and their rebellion is the central issue. Their problem is not a lack of information but a defiant will.
The oracle, God says, concerns "the prince in Jerusalem," who at this time was King Zedekiah, and "all the house of Israel who are in it." No one is exempt. The judgment is not just for the common folk; it is for the leadership, the top of the pyramid. Our modern world loves to think that judgment is only for the little people, while the elites who cause the problems get a pass. God says otherwise. Judgment begins at the top.
Then comes the key: "I am a wondrous sign to you." Ezekiel's actions were not his own; they were a divine prophecy in motion. "As I have done, so it will be done to them." This is a bedrock principle of divine communication. God's warnings are not abstract threats. They are previews of coming attractions. The exile Ezekiel acted out is the exile they will live out. The packed bags, the hole in the wall, the covered face, it is all going to happen. God is telling them that history is about to imitate art, or rather, imitate prophecy.
The Fate of the Prince (vv. 12-14)
God then zooms in on the fate of their leader, King Zedekiah, with stunning precision.
"The prince who is among them will carry his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there. And I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them." (Ezekiel 12:12-14)
Every detail of Ezekiel's prophetic drama is now applied directly to Zedekiah. The king will make a desperate, pathetic attempt to escape Jerusalem under the cover of darkness. He will not exit through the main gate in a royal procession, but will be smuggled out through a hole in the wall, like a common thief. He will cover his face, not as a disguise, but in shame, so that he cannot look upon the land he has forfeited through his rebellion.
But his escape will fail. God says, "I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare." This is the language of absolute sovereignty. Zedekiah may think he is fleeing the Babylonians, but he is running straight into the net of God. The Babylonians are merely the instrument. Yahweh is the hunter. This is a crucial theological point. God is not a spectator to history; He is its author. He does not simply react to what pagan kings do; He uses pagan kings to accomplish His covenantal purposes. Nebuchadnezzar is God's battle axe.
And the prophecy becomes even more specific and, frankly, more terrifying. God will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, "yet he will not see it, though he will die there." This must have sounded like a bizarre riddle to the original hearers. How can you be brought to a place and die there, but never see it? The answer is found in the historical fulfillment recorded in 2 Kings 25. When Zedekiah was captured, the Babylonians executed his sons before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes. He was then taken in chains to Babylon, where he died. He was in Babylon, but he never saw it. God's Word is not a collection of general religious ideas; it is surgically precise. He means what He says, and He does what He says He means.
And not just the king, but his entire support structure, his helpers and troops, will be scattered to the wind. The whole rebellious apparatus will be dismantled. When God judges a nation, He does not just trim the hedges. He pulls the whole thing up by the roots.
The Great Lesson of Judgment (vv. 15-16)
Finally, God explains the ultimate purpose behind this devastating judgment. It is not arbitrary destruction. It is a severe, pedagogical act.
"So they will know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. But I will spare a few of them from sword, famine, and pestilence that they may recount all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am Yahweh.” (Ezekiel 12:15-16)
Here is the refrain that echoes throughout the book of Ezekiel: "So they will know that I am Yahweh." This is the point of everything. God's judgments are self-revelations. When His people forget who He is, when they begin to treat Him like one of the local idols they can manage and manipulate, He reminds them of who He is through judgment. He is Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, the sovereign Lord of history, the one who holds kings and nations in His hand. They will learn this lesson through the bitter experience of exile. The scattering is not the end of the story; it is the classroom.
But the judgment, though severe, is not total. God's grace is always at work, even in the midst of wrath. "But I will spare a few of them." This is the doctrine of the remnant. God never abandons His covenant purposes entirely. He always preserves a seed, a small group through whom He will continue His work of redemption. This remnant is not spared because they were less sinful. They are spared by grace alone.
And what is the purpose of this remnant? Two things. First, they are to "recount all their abominations among the nations where they go." They are to become witnesses. Their testimony will not be one of self-righteousness, but of confession. They will explain to the pagan nations exactly why this happened. They will say, "We are not here because our God was weak. We are here because our God is holy, and we were rebels." This is a stunning reversal. The shame of exile becomes the platform for declaring the righteousness of God. Their confession vindicates God's justice before a watching world.
The second purpose is for the remnant themselves: "and may know that I am Yahweh." The lesson must be learned by God's own people. The remnant that returns from exile will be a people who have been disciplined, humbled, and who now understand who their God is. The fire of judgment is a purifying fire. It burns away the dross of idolatry and self-reliance, leaving behind a people who know, in the depths of their being, that Yahweh alone is God.
Conclusion: Knowing God in Judgment and Grace
This passage is a stark and necessary reminder for us. We also live in a rebellious house. Our nation, and sadly, much of the visible church, has eyes but does not see, and ears but does not hear. We have grown comfortable with our syncretism, our therapeutic moralism, and our casual disregard for the holiness of God. We think that because judgment is delayed, it has been canceled. We have adopted the proverb of the unfaithful in Ezekiel's day, "The days are prolonged, and every vision fails."
But God's patience is not permission. The nets of His judgment are being laid, even when we do not see them. The symbolic acts of judgment are all around us, in the unraveling of our social fabric and the decay of our institutions. God is speaking, and He is warning.
The central lesson is that everyone, in the end, will know that He is Yahweh. The question is how we will learn that lesson. Will we learn it the easy way, through repentance and faith, bowing the knee to King Jesus now, while it is still the day of grace? Or will we learn it the hard way, as Zedekiah did, caught in the snare of our own rebellion, blinded by our arrogance, and dragged into an exile of our own making?
The good news is that even in judgment, God remembers mercy. He is still in the business of preserving a remnant. He is still calling a people out of Babylon. And the ultimate sign He has given us is not a prophet packing his bags, but His own Son, carrying a cross. Jesus went into the ultimate exile, into the outer darkness of the cross, bearing our abominations, so that we, the rebellious house, could be spared. He was caught in the net of God's wrath so that we could be set free.
Therefore, the call is simple. Look at the sign of the cross. Hear the word of the gospel. And repent. Turn from your rebellion, and trust in the crucified and risen Prince of Peace. For it is only by His grace that we can truly come to know that He is Yahweh, not as our Judge, but as our Father.