真理对抗谎言
以西结书四章1至17节
1人子啊，你要拿一块砖摆在你面前，将一座耶路撒冷城画在其上。
2又围困这城，造台筑垒，安营攻击，在四围安设撞锤攻城，
3又要拿个铁鏊放在你和城的中间，作为铁墙。你要对面攻击这城，使城被困，这样，好作以色列家的预兆。
4你要向左侧卧，承当以色列家的罪孽；要按你向左侧卧的日数，担当他们的罪孽，
5因为我已将他们作孽的年数，定为你向左侧卧的日数，就是三百九十日，你要这样担当以色列家的罪孽。
6再者，你满了这些日子，还要向右侧卧，担当犹大家的罪孽。我给你定规侧卧四十日，一日顶一年。
7你要露出膀臂，面向被困的耶路撒冷，说预言攻击这城。
8我用绳索捆绑你，使你不能辗转，直等你满了困城的日子。
9你要取小麦、大麦、豆子、红豆、小米、粗麦，装在一个器皿中，用以为自己做饼；要按你侧卧的三百九十日吃这饼。
10你所吃的要按分两吃，每日二十舍客勒，按时而吃。
11你喝水也要按制子，每日喝一欣六分之一，按时而喝。
12你吃这饼像吃大麦饼一样，要用人粪在众人眼前烧烤。
13耶和华说：以色列人在我所赶他们到的各国中，也必这样吃不洁净的食物。
14我说：哎！主耶和华啊，我素来未曾被玷污，从幼年到如今没有吃过自死的，或被野兽撕裂的，那可憎的肉也未曾入我的口。
15于是他对我说：看哪，我给你牛粪代替人粪，你要将你的饼烤在其上。
16他又对我说：人子啊，我必在耶路撒冷折断他们的杖，就是断绝他们的粮。他们吃饼要按分两，忧虑而吃；喝水也要按制子，惊惶而喝；
17使他们缺粮缺水，彼此惊惶，因自己的罪孽消灭。
信息分享
这些假先知的足迹遍布耶路撒冷和巴比伦，他们不断向犹太人预言，被掳生涯很快结束，他们很快可以重回故土。反之，以西结的任务，却是要向同胞传讲一个不受欢迎的信息：「你们还要留在巴比伦很久。」当人们已听信有人将谎言当作真理，以他们接受的方式传讲给他们，要说服他们接受真理，终非易事。
为此，神便教导以西结，透过至少四个象征性行为和实物的公开示范，向百姓说明被掳的原因和有关的事实。第一个象征性行动，是把耶路撒冷城画在一块泥版上，然后，再造一些高台堡垒、军营和撞锤等武器的模型，模拟耶路撒冷遭到围攻的情景。
在做完这幅围城的景象之后，以西结再以另一个令人心碎的象征性行动，来说明围城的时间（4至8节）和城内的恐怖状况（9至17节）。其实，百姓依然在被掳之中，便足以证明以西结的信息和警告是正确的；然而，他们仍然不肯听信神的真先知──以西结。
神为何要祂的百姓遭逢此劫，被掳到一个敬奉异教偶像的远邦为奴呢？因为他们背逆神的律法，并公然拜其他偶像。神施予这一切惩罚，内在的目的和愿望是要百姓回转，重新归向祂。
神会用不同的方式来管教我们，但目的却始终如一：引领我们到一个新的境地，完全顺服祂完美的旨意。祂对待我们，如同父亲对待儿女，为的是要我们更像祂儿子耶稣基督。我们愿意听从祂的管教吗？
TRUTH VERSUS UNTRUTH
Ezekiel 4: 1-17
1 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.
2 Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around.
3 Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
7 “Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it.
8 And surely I will restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.
9 “Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.
10 And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it.
11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink.
12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”
13 Then the LORD said, “So shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”
14 So I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth.”
15 Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread,
17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity.
Message
These false prophets were active in both Jerusalem and Babylon. They repeatedly said the captivity would soon be over and the Jewish people would return to their own land. On the other hand, Ezekiel had the unwelcome task of saying, “You will be in Babylon for a long time.” But it is always hard to convince men and women of the truth when they have been convinced of an untruth by a person who is dogmatic in their way of speaking.
To help Ezekiel convey the real truth about the captivity and the reason for it, God gave him at least four symbolic actions or object lessons which he was to publicly demonstrate. The first one was a clay tablet with a drawing of the city of Jerusalem on it. Ezekiel was to draw mounds against it, with camps and weapons of war around it.
This picture of a besieged city was followed by heart breaking symbols of both the length of the siege (vv.4-8) and the dreadful conditions inside the city (vv. 9-17). But the people still refused to listen to God’s true prophet, Ezekiel, even though their own continuing captivity proved the truth of his message and warnings.
Why did God allow His people to come to this disastrous situation far away from their own land and becoming slaves to a foreign heathen power? It was because they disobeyed God’s laws and because of their outright idolatry. God’s underlying objective and hope in all of this was to persuade His people to turn back to Himself.
God’s dealings with us are different but His objective is the same that we might be brought to a fresh place of surrender to His perfect will. He deals with us as His children with the purpose of our becoming more like His Son, Jesus Christ. Are we allowing Him to do this?