word. Apart from the word of the Lord, he has nothing to say. The enforced silence lasts for six or seven years, until the news of the fall of Jerusalem reaches the exiles (33:22) Ezekiel doesn’t always speak his messages. Sometimes he acts them. He lies on his side, cuts his hair and remains silent, to convey aspects of suffering and grief. He draws an outline of Jerusalem on a clay tile, and builds a model siege around it. He pretends he is God laying
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