I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.
Ezekiel 12:13 (NIV)

I have been experiencing acute frustration of late with multiple situations in life. Despite stark differences in the situations, there is a common thread woven into each one. People who are blind to the implications and consequences of their own words and actions. At best, this leads to foolishness. At worst, it can be incredibly destructive.

The ancient King Zedekiah had a similar malady. Babylon had already successfully attacked Jerusalem. Ezekiel and his fellow Hebrew exiles in Babylon were part of the spoils of the first defeat. But the Babylonians didn’t destroy Jerusalem at first. They wanted to control it as a vassal state, squeeze more money out of it in taxes and tributes, and command the remaining Hebrews. Zeke and the first wave of exiles were, in a sense, hostages to help ensure the loyalty of the Hebrews still living in Jerusalem.

Zedekiah, the King back in Jerusalem was a poor leader who was blind to his own foolish actions. First, Zedekiah refused to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah and others. He continued to allow the Temple to be used as a carnival of pagan idols and worship despite God’s warning of the consequences of His wrath for doing so. Second, when a new Pharaoh rose to power in Egypt, Zed saw it as an opportunity to create an alliance with Egypt to win independence from Babylon. It was one of the most foolish miscalculations in history.

In today’s chapter, God tells the prophet Ezekiel to act out a little performance art piece in front of all his fellow exiles. He packs his things as if he’s going on a journey, digs a hole in the wall, crawls through it, with his things and wanders off. And, God tells him to cover his face while he does it so that he can’t see.

God anticipates, the reaction of all his fellow Hebrews as he acts out this strange pantomime. He tells Zeke to prepare for them to ask, “Dude! What are you doing?!”

The prophesy was about Zedekiah. He will pack his things and be taken into exile, but “he will not see it.”

2 Kings 24-25 tells the rest of the story. When Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, learns of Zedekiah’s treachery, he acts quickly. The Babylonians march on Babylon for the second time, lay siege to it, and eventually take it by force. This time, the city is completely destroyed along with Solomon’s Temple, and most of the citizens are slaughtered. As for Zedekiah? He is forced to watch the Babylonians murder his children with his own eyes. They then plucked out his eyes so that it was the last thing he ever sees. The Babylonians then bring the blinded Zedekiah back to Babylon.

There are different kinds of blindness. Zed was spiritually blind to the terrible consequences that pagan worship had wreaked on the culture and life of Jerusalem. He was deaf to the prophets trying to get him to open the eyes of his heart to see the truth. Zed was situationally blind to the political realities around him. The new pharaoh was never going to be strong enough to defeat the Babylonians, and he wasn’t strong enough to protect Zed from Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath. His physical blindness was a tragic reminder.

In the quiet this morning, as I meditated on these things, I heard the words of a confidant yesterday as I vented my frustration with one of those situations I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

“He doesn’t see it,” my friend said to me emphatically referencing an individual whose blindness to the consequences of his actions were making me want to pull my hair out. “He doesn’t see it,” my friend repeated, adding, “and he never will.” Wendy made the same observation.

Ugh!

I am reminded this morning that even Jesus experienced similar frustration with His disciples and His people: “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus said, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

It gives me a little comfort to remember that Jesus knows my frustration even as He calls me to exhibit the spiritual fruit of patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control with those who frustrate me. It also reminds me that I have had my own bouts with spiritual and situational blindness along the way, and God has always been patient with me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.