More than any other prophet, Ezekiel uses gestures to provoke his audience to question him. The gestures are a kind of street theater to capture the attention of an unreceptive audience, On one occasion, Ezekiel was told to take a brick, sketch a city on it, build miniature siege works against it, and put a metal plate between himself and city; he then was told to lie on his left side for 390 days, then on his right side for forty days. He had also to eat bread made of different grains (as one might in a siege) and ration his water. This action was an anticipation of the disasters lying ahead for the people when Jerusalem would be destroyed (chapter 4). The prophet was evidently actiing out the disaster that the people were refusing to face as they clung to hopes of a speedy return to their normal lives in Judah. The people will lie helpless as they "bear their punishment." The prophet's sign of not mourning one's wife in 24, 15-27 is an example of a sign provoking a reactiion: "Then the people asked me, Will you not tell us what all these things that you are doing mean for us?" (24,19)
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