A. Ezekiel's initial warnings chs. 4-7

In this section, Ezekiel grouped several symbolic acts that pictured the destruction of Jerusalem (4:1-5:4) and several discourses that he delivered on the subject of Jerusalem's destruction (5:5-7:27). Most of the exiles believed that the Jews who had gone into captivity would return to the Promised Land soon and that God would not allow the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. Ezekiel presented a very different picture of the future.

 1. Dramatizations of the siege of Jerusalem chs. 4-5

The Lord had shut Ezekiel's mouth (3:26), so the first prophecies he delivered were not spoken messages but acted-out parables (cf. 1 Kings 11:30; 22:11; 2 Kings 13:17; Isa. 20:2-4; Jer. 13:1-14; 19:1-10; Acts 21:10-11). Ezekiel evidently appeared somewhat like a mime who dramatized a message without speaking a word.

 2. The judgment coming on Judah chs. 6-7

The Lord commanded Ezekiel to announce prophetic messages to the Jews in captivity after his time of imposed silence ended (cf. 3:26-27). In these messages the prophet elaborated some of the symbols he introduced in chapter 5. The first message dealt with the causeof the judgment, namely, idolatry (ch. 6), and the second with the natureof the judgment (ch. 7).