Ezekiel 24

1-14 The Boiling Pot

In the 9th year, 10th month, 10th day [2 Kings 25:1], God tells Ezekiel to mark the day: The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem.

• Tell the rebellious house an allegory of water poured into a pot [see also Jeremiah 1:13], filled with all the good pieces and choice bones, pile the logs [other translations say “bones”] under it and boil the meat. This refers back to the proverb recited by arrogant leaders in 11:3. According to Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, the choice pieces are the leaders, who will suffer a long time, because meat takes a long time to boil, while the bones are the poorer people, used as fuel for the fire and consumed quickly.
• Woe to the city whose pot is rusted:
• Empty it, for the blood she shed is in it.
• She placed the pot it on a bare rock instead of burying it. Jerusalem shows no remorse over the innocent blood she has shed.
• I will empty it on a bare rock so it will be exposed.
• Build a big fire under the pot that will consume not only the meat but the pot itself, consuming the rust.
• In vain I have tried to cleanse you of your lewdness; now you shall not be cleansed again.
• The time has come for me to act; I will not relent.

15-27 Ezekiel’s Bereavement

• God tells Ezekiel he is about to lose “the delight of your eyes,” but he is not to show the usual signs of mourning.
• Ezekiel reports this to the people in the morning, and in the evening his wife dies, and Ezekiel does as he was commanded. We don’t usually hear of Ezekiel as an example of anything, but his level of trust, obedience and fortitude is amazing. God uses him to report the atrocities that will happen – one after another – and then does not permit him to express his mourning over the loss of his wife.
• This is a sign to the people of the losses they will suffer, after which they also will not be permitted to mourn.
• Instead, they will pine away in their iniquities.
• God tells Ezekiel that when he receives the report of Jerusalem’s destruction his mouth will be opened to speak.
• “And you shall be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”