John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 4:10-11

"And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink." — Ezekiel 4:10-11 (ASV)

This confirms what I have said, namely, that the scarcity should be such that the Prophet dared not eat even that bread to satiety: you shall eat, he says, bread by weight, that is, twenty shekels. These are not complete rounds, so the meaning is that God commanded His prophet to live sparingly.

When the city was besieged, bread was distributed in pieces to each person. So God says here that the Jews would be almost famished during the siege, so that they would have bread only by a fixed, small weight. What follows is more miserable: the lack of water, for this is the last stage of calamity when thirst oppresses us.

It seems hard, indeed, to lack wine, but when water is deficient, this, as I have said, is the last stage of famine. And this the Prophet denounces against the Jews when he says, water was not given to him during the time of the siege unless by measure. I will leave the rest until tomorrow.

Prayer:

Almighty God, since You have thus far sustained us by Your inestimable clemency, grant that we may not abuse Your goodness, and by our perverseness provoke Your vengeance against us. But may we anticipate Your judgment, and so submit ourselves to You that You may take us into Your confidence and protect us against all our enemies. Then supply us bountifully with whatever is needful for us. And since You wish us to restrain our natural desires, may we never be deficient in spiritual food, but be continually refreshed with it, until at length we enjoy that fullness which is promised to us and laid up for us in heaven by Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We saw in yesterday’s lecture that as many days were assigned to the siege of the city of Jerusalem as the years in which they had provoked God’s wrath. For, as I have said, God did not determine the siege's length merely as a punishment for their wickedness, because such an approach would have meant Israel was not specifically punished for the duration of their sin. But the meaning is that, just as for four hundred and thirty years they did not cease to accumulate God’s vengeance upon themselves, so now the time had come to pay them the wages they had earned.