Cooking with Poo

Message Listening Guide

Guiding Question: What do you do when someone won’t change their wrong behavior, in spite of persistent warnings?

Background: Ezekiel was a priest exiled to Babylon in 597 BC. While in exile, the Lord appointed him as a prophet to speak to a rebellious people—both those in exile and those still in Judah.

Ezekiel Acting Out:
Ezekiel’s brick and siege (vv. 1–3): A visual prophecy of Jerusalem’s coming siege by Babylon. God often spoke through Ezekiel using sign-acts—symbolic actions meant to dramatize divine messages.
Lying on his side (vv. 4–8): Ezekiel lies immobilized—first for Israel, then Judah—symbolizing the long years of national guilt and the weight of judgment.
Rationed food and unclean cooking (vv. 9–17): He eats minimal, defiled food, portraying the scarcity and shame that people in Jerusalem will endure during the siege.

Biblical Context: This judgment wasn’t arbitrary or sudden. God had warned His people for generations—beginning with the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28:45–57, echoed throughout the prophets. But the people persisted in sin and ignored His pleas to repent.

The Point: Persistent sin leads inevitably to painful consequences.

Application:
God’s warnings are invitations to repent; He is patient, not passive.
God is a righteous judge—because He is good, He will deal with sin.
True Christians walk in ongoing repentance, not stubborn resistance.

Closing Reflection: Ezekiel bore the weight of judgment symbolically—bound, defiled, and burdened. Jesus, the greater prophet, bore it literally. He wasn’t just a symbol of sin; He became sin for us, so that we might be restored.