Folks, here's the deal. The Lord tells Ezekiel to act out a prophecy, so he packs his bags as if he's leaving and sets up a bunch of signs that show it's a prophecy and not just him, you know, going on vacation or something. The Lord tells him that since everyone's been ignoring His warnings, this should be a sign of what's gonna happen. C'mon, man!

My father used to say that you can't reason with unreasonable people, and that's exactly what's going on here. The Lord says that even though it looks like Ezekiel is leaving, he's not leaving for real. He's saying "Hey, this is what's gonna happen to you if you don't listen to me." See here, Jack - this is a literal prophecy, not a metaphorical one. I'm not joking.

So the Lord tells Ezekiel to go back and tell the people what he saw, and to give them a message that if they don't change their ways, they'll be exiled from the land. What was that?! He's not gonna let them get away with their stubbornness and wickedness. I tell ya what - He's gonna punish them and exile them, and they won't even get to take their stuff with them. Excuse me - that's gonna be a harsh punishment.