I’ve observed the way God often moves and it’s different than the way we like. He is very, very slow in a word coming to pass, and then when it does, it’s like an explosion you can’t keep up with. This seems to be true in both good and bad ways.
The people ignored Ezekiel’s because of this, not realizing that the patience of God had been his kindness. They told Ezekiel that his prophecy’s of doom and gloom for Israel never came to pass, or that they were about something that would happen in the distant future. They didn’t need to worry about it.
But the time had come. God said the delay was over and judgment was imminent. The people just laughed it off. Unfortunately it would be too late when they found the truth.
In the meantime God was still trying to wake them up. He had Ezekiel re-enact an explicit moment of packing up, digging through the mud walls and escaping into the night. He did this to try to provoke them to question what Ezekiel was doing.
God then prophesied that the “Prince” would try to escape through the night with his royals but would be caught. And that is exactly what happened. King Zedekiah tried to escape in the night and was caught, his sons and royals executed in front of him and he was carried off into captivity.
The people had “eyes to see but could not see and ears to hear but could not hear.”. This is a description used even in the New Testament to say that that a persons hearts were hard and rebellious.
