Question 1

What is the meaning of the mixed grains in Ezekiel’s bread?

Accepted Answer

The mixed grains show how bad the coming famine would be. Wheat was normal for bread, barley was poorer food, and the other things were usually animal feed. Putting them all together in one loaf shows that people in Jerusalem would be glad to eat whatever they could find just to stay alive. It is a picture of want and shame, not of a rich table. God is warning that because of their sin, the people who stay in the city will face long hunger and very low-quality food.

Question 2

Why did Ezekiel have to eat bread by weight and drink water by measure?

Accepted Answer

Ezekiel’s small daily ration shows the deep scarcity that would come during the siege. His bread is weighed out, about enough for one thin meal a day, and his water is strictly measured to a small amount. This is not a diet choice but a sign of famine. God says this is how the people in Jerusalem will eat and drink, with fear and worry, never sure if there will be enough for the next day, because God is judging their iniquity.

Question 3

Why was Ezekiel told to bake his bread over dung, and what does that mean?

Accepted Answer

Baking bread over human dung would make the food unclean and disgusting. God uses this shocking picture to show how the people of Israel will eat defiled bread among the nations where they are driven. They will no longer enjoy pure food in their own land, but will live in shame and uncleanness among Gentiles. The dung also hints at lack of normal fuel and the misery of siege. It is meant to stir a strong sense of how low sin would bring them.

Question 4

Why does God allow Ezekiel to use cow’s dung instead of human dung?

Accepted Answer

When Ezekiel cries out that he has always kept himself from unclean food, God listens and gives him a change. God allows him to use dried cow’s dung instead of human dung to bake the bread. This still shows poverty and lack of fuel, but it is less defiling for Ezekiel. This small change shows that, even in judgment and hard commands, God can be gentle with His servant. He does not cancel the sign, but He takes Ezekiel’s conscience seriously.

Question 5

What does it mean that God will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem?

Accepted Answer

The “staff of bread” is a picture for the support that food gives to life, like a staff supports a person who leans on it. When God says He will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, He means two things: He will cut off normal supply so there is not enough, and even what little remains will not truly satisfy or strengthen them. People will eat in fear, drink in shock, and still waste away. It shows that God, not food alone, keeps people alive.

Question 6

Why does God say the Israelites will eat defiled bread among the Gentiles?

Accepted Answer

God is saying that because of their sin, His people will be driven out of their land and scattered among foreign nations. There, they will no longer be able to keep their food laws as before, and their meals will often be unclean or mixed with practices that dishonor God. Eating defiled bread among the Gentiles pictures loss of holiness, loss of freedom, and loss of the special place they once had. Their sin leads to both physical and spiritual disgrace.

Question 7

How does Ezekiel’s objection about unclean food help us understand him?

Accepted Answer

When Ezekiel cries, “Ah Lord GOD” and says he has never eaten anything forbidden, it shows he has been careful to obey God’s laws from his youth. He is not trying to escape hardship, but he is deeply troubled by being asked to do something that feels morally filthy. His honest plea shows a tender conscience and a real desire to stay clean before God. At the same time, he is willing to submit when God adjusts the command but keeps the hard sign in place.

Question 8

What does this passage teach about sin and its consequences?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows that sin is not a light matter. The people’s iniquity leads to very real, painful results: famine, fear, exile, and shame. God pictures them eating tiny rations of poor bread, drinking measured water, and wasting away together. Their suffering is tied directly to turning from God and taking His gifts for granted. The scene warns that walking away from God’s ways eventually affects every part of life, from food and safety to honor and joy.

Question 9

How can Ezekiel’s acted-out famine speak to believers today?

Accepted Answer

Ezekiel’s acted-out famine reminds believers not to take daily bread or spiritual food for granted. God can break the staff of bread when people ignore Him and live in stubborn sin. While this passage describes a specific judgment, it still warns against treating God’s kindness lightly. It calls people to value both physical provision and the deeper life that comes from listening to God. It can lead someone to examine where they may be drifting and to turn back in repentance.

Question 10

What was happening to God’s people when these signs were given?

Accepted Answer

At this time, many from Judah were already in exile, and the city of Jerusalem faced a coming siege. The people had long turned from God, and now the warnings of hunger and defeat were about to become real. Ezekiel, living among exiles, was told to act out what would soon happen in the city: long months of shortage, weighed bread, measured water, and deep fear. His strange way of living was a living picture to show that judgment for sin was near.

Ezekiel 4:9

¶ Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

The Defiled Bread

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Ezekiel 4:9

¶ Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

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The Defiled Bread

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