Ezekiel 24
The Parable of the Pot
Open your Bibles to…
Ezek. 33:33 And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Pray
Intro
√ The parable of the pot
We’re in the 3rd major division of God’s message to the Jewish people regarding His coming judgment of the Nation.
It’s the last chapter devoted to
…and Ezekiel’s prophecies to the Gentile nations also scheduled for punishment.
As such there’s not much “good news” here, rather, it is a very bleak picture because it records the transition of God’s prediction of judgment…
…to the actual fulfillment of those predictions.
Ap. Vindication
The person who is not familiar with the Bible usually has a somewhat romanticized view of what it must be like to be a prophet of God.
They think of Elijah calling fire from heaven.
Nathan calling David out.
Daniel interpreting the hand writing on the wall.
It all sounds so glorious! Yet, the reality is that most of God’s prophets were ignored by the people they were sent to help!
Noah was mocked for building an ark.
Elisha was teased for his bald head!
Jeremiah was imprisoned.
And our dear friend Ezekiel was thought of as a madman!
The point is that it’s not always easy to be a prophet of God!
People get mad at you, ignore you, will sometimes even try to kill you!
Especially if what you’re predicting doesn’t come to pass right away.
So, when the prophecy you spoke does finally come to pass there’s a sigh of relief because you find yourself vindicated (ref. Ez. 33:33)…
…but as in Ezekiel’s case there is also a sigh of remorse because the destruction that he had warned his people of is actually coming to pass.
D Day (vs. 1-2)
Ezek. 24:1 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day.
√ D Day
The day that Ezekiel had been predicting for four years finally comes to pass…
…the day that Nebuchadnezzar began his siege against Jerusalem!
D-Day!
Dooms Day for both the people of Jerusalem and the city it self.
Notice that God gives Ezekiel the exact date that the siege began as…
“the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month” ~ vs. 1
That is, the ninth year, tenth month, and tenth day of king Zedekiah’s rule in Jerusalem.
In English that works out to be January 15, 588 BC.
Interesting because the writer of 2nd Kings, and Jeremiah confirm that Ezekiel was correct that was the exact day the siege began.
2Kings 25:1 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
And…
Jer. 39:1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.
And…
Jer. 52:4 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
That’s significant because Ezekiel was in Babylon, hundreds of miles from Jerusalem, a journey of months.
There was no phone, fax, TV, or satellite communication from Jerusalem back to Babylon.
The only way to get a message back to Babylon would have been by courier ~ a delay of at least 4-6 weeks!
The point is that there’s no human way possible for Ezekiel to know in Babylon the very day that Nebuchadnezzar would begin his attack on Jerusalem!
So how would Ezekiel know it was on that day the attack on Jerusalem would begin? God told him…
Ezek. 24:1 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day.
Another proof text of the divine inspiration of the scripture!
The Parable of the Pot (vs. 3-5)
Ezek. 24:3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Put on a pot, set it on,
And also pour water into it.
Ezek. 24:4 Gather pieces of meat in it,
Every good piece,
The thigh and the shoulder.
Fill it with choice cuts;
Ezek. 24:5 Take the choice of the flock.
Also pile fuel bones under it,
Make it boil well,
And let the cuts simmer in it.”
√ The parable of the pot
Poor Ezekiel! Remember earlier he had cried out to God…
“No more parables!” ~ Ezek. 20:49
Yet, here the Lord gives him another parable to teach the people…
…the parable of the pot.
Here God tells the people to put a pot on a stove and fill it with water and choice cuts of meat.
Bring it to a boil and let it cook ~ doesn’t sound bad!?
But, while we haven’t yet got to the interpretation the people listening to Ezekiel were probably a little nervous about it because it was similar to the word of God given in chapter 11.
Ezek. 11:2 And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city,
Ezek. 11:3 who say, “The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, (pot) and we are the meat.’
The difference is that in chapter 11 the leadership of Jerusalem saw themselves as “meat” in the “pot”…
…that is, they thought the walls of Jerusalem would be a shield (like a pot) to protect them from Nebuchadnezzar.
God turns that idea around and says that the very city that they thought would protect them…
…would become the “pot” in which they would have their “gooses cooked”!
Not a pleasant thought!
The Meaning of the Pot (vs. 6-8)
Ezek. 24:6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Woe to the bloody city,
To the pot whose scum is in it,
And whose scum is not gone from it!
Bring it out piece by piece,
On which no lot has fallen.
Ezek. 24:7 For her blood is in her midst;
She set it on top of a rock;
She did not pour it on the ground,
To cover it with dust.
Ezek. 24:8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance,
I have set her blood on top of a rock,
That it may not be covered.”
√ The meaning of the pot
The interpretation of the parable isn’t as easy as some, but it’s not too difficult if we take what we know and then use it to understand what we don’t know!
The pot ~ Jerusalem
The meat ~ Rebellious people in the city
The “scum” of the pot, or “rust” (NASB) is what we have to figure out. Note that the Lord says in vs. 6…
‘Woe to the bloody city,
To the pot whose scum is in it,
And whose scum is not gone from it!
The idea that God is communicating is that Jerusalem was like a cooking pot that was encrusted with rust and impurities.
So, when the pot is heated up to cook the meat the rust and impurities rise to the surface of the stew spoiling the quality of the meat.
Therefore, the meat is ruined and good for nothing and must be tossed out.
So, the scum, or rust, is the corrupt behavior of the people that God had been working to remove but could not…
…for the people would not repent of their sin.
Specifically God was angered that their corruption had grown to the point that the people of Jerusalem routinely spilled the blood of the innocent (vs. 3-4).
So, just as the meat was tossed out in the parable so the people of Jerusalem would be picked out and dragged from the city.
Make the Pot Hot (vs. 9-14)
Ezek. 24:9 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Woe to the bloody city!
I too will make the pyre great.
Ezek. 24:10 Heap on the wood,
Kindle the fire;
Cook the meat well,
Mix in the spices,
And let the cuts be burned up.
Ezek. 24:11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals,
That it may become hot and its bronze may burn,
That its filthiness may be melted in it,
That its scum may be consumed.
Ezek. 24:12 She has grown weary with lies,
And her great scum has not gone from her.
Let her scum be in the fire!
Ezek. 24:13 In your filthiness is lewdness.
Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed,
You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore,
Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.
Ezek. 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken it;
It shall come to pass, and I will do it;
I will not hold back,
Nor will I spare,
Nor will I relent;
According to your ways
And according to your deeds
They will judge you,”
Says the Lord GOD.’ ”
√ Make the pot hot
As we saw in the previous verses the meat in the pot represents the people in Jerusalem and the pot represents the city.
Here in these verses God declares that the evil and sin of the people was so great that it had actually contaminated the city itself!
So, God declares here that He is going to purge the city itself of evil by destroying not just the people…
…but the city too ~ her walls, palaces, houses and even the Temple.
√ Leave the pot on the fire
In vs. 9 God identifies Jerusalem as the…
“bloody city”
…a reference to the character of the city that allowed, even encouraged the killing of the innocent.
So, God tells us in vs. 11 how He plans to cleanse the city of her sin…
Ezek. 24:11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals,
That it may become hot and its bronze may burn,
That its filthiness may be melted in it,
That its scum may be consumed.
That is, God’s plan for Jerusalem is to do to her what a cook might do with a pot that was so rusted and contaminated that it was no longer good for cooking.
Ex. Don’t try this at home!
I remember when my brothers and I were little that we were constantly destroying my mom’s copper kettles by turning on the flame without having first put water into the kettle!
The flame burns right through the bottom of the kettle.
So, that’s the picture that God employs here as He describes His plans for purifying the corrupt city of Jerusalem.
It will be like a man who emptied a pot and put it on the fire so that it will melt and thereby clean away the contamination.
The idea here is that once a pot is rusted through it’s not longer good for cooking.
The only thing you can do with it is melt it down and try to reclaim some of the bronze to make something new with.
That’s what God has planned for Jerusalem!
The city itself was so filled with corruption that it couldn’t be repaired.
The only course of action was to burn the city to the foundations and start over!
That is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did!
Ex. The work of king Josiah
One of the good kings of Judah who went throughout Judah and Israel cleanings the land of idols and idol worship.
He did so by killing off all the idolaters, burning their bones on the pagan altars, and then burning the altars themselves.
The fire purified the unholy by reducing it to ashes.
In a similar way that’s what God has planned for Jerusalem because the city was filled with idols and stained with the blood of innocent people offered to the false gods.
Ap. Sometimes you just need to burn it!
If sin has taken control of your life and you find yourself trapped by it sometimes the best thing to do is to take what cause you to sin and burn it!
Ex. Books of magical arts (witchcraft)
When Paul was in Ephesus…
Acts 19:16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Acts 19:18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
Acts 19:19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Maybe you’re trapped by some sin tonight, perhaps you need to prayerfully consider putting it in the fire so that you can be free of its power!
The Sign of Ezekiel (vs. 15-17)
Ezek. 24:15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.
Ezek. 24:17 Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”
Ezek. 24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.
Ezek. 24:19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”
Ezek. 24:20 Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 24:21 “Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezek. 24:22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.
Ezek. 24:23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another.
Ezek. 24:24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
√ The sign of Ezekiel
Wow, being a prophet is even tougher than we thought!
Poor Ezekiel is told that his most precious treasure, his wife, the “desire of his eyes” is going to be taken from him…
…and that he isn’t to cry over her death!
Bear in mind that we’re talking about Middle Eastern culture here!
You’re supposed to make a huge dramatic display of grief when a family member dies!
They even had professional “wailers” whom you could hire to come to the funeral to make a big show of how sad you were at the death of a loved one.
So, God tells Ezekiel that when his wife dies that he is supposed to keep it quiet, to show no emotion at all…
…rather he’s supposed to just quietly sigh!
Why?!
To get the attention of the stubborn Jewish captives to whom Ezekiel was preaching!
That is, when they learned of the death of his wife and saw his muted reaction they were mesmerized because they couldn’t figure out what it all meant.
Ezek. 24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.
Ezek. 24:19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”
God then connects the dots for the people by telling them that when news of Jerusalem’s destruction reaches their ears that they will act just like Ezekiel.
That is, they will be so overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction, the city, the people, the Temple…
…that they will be so numb with sorrow and grief that they won’t be able to do anything but sigh quietly.
In that sense Ezekiel’s response to the death of his wife, the desire of his eyes…
…would be a sign of how the Jewish captives in Babylon would respond months from now when word reached them of Jerusalem’s destruction.
Ap. What about Ezekiel’s wife!
Did God kill her off just to make a point to the people?
I don’t think so as that interpretation doesn’t match the heart of God.
I think a better interpretation is that Ezekiel’s wife was probably already ill and near death, so God simply uses the situation to make a point.
Mute no more! (vs. 25-27)
Ezek. 24:25 “And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:
Ezek. 24:26 on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears;
Ezek. 24:27 on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’ ”
√ Mute no more
It’s been a while so you may not remember that at the beginning of Ezekiel’s ministry to the Jewish captives in Babylon that God made him mute.
Ezek. 3:25 And you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them.
Ezek. 3:26 I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house.
Ezek. 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
He was only allowed to speak when God gave him a word to share.
The rest of the time he didn’t talk!
But in these closing verses God promises to vindicate Ezekiel in the eyes of the captives by losing his mouth once news of Jerusalem’s destruction reached Babylon.
That news came some two years later as recorded in the 33rd chapter of Ezekiel.
He writes…
Ezek. 33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!”
Ezek. 33:22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.
Close
√ The parable of the pot
All of God’s servants will one day be vindicated before those who…
Mocked
Persecuted
Rejected
…the work or message that they brought to an unbelieving world.
Until that time our job is to be faithful and do what God has given us to do, and speak the message He’s given us to share.
Blessed are you if you endure!