The message of Ezekiel was given after the first exiles had been taken captive from Judah to Babylon (597 BC, 2Kg 24:12-16) and continued to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (586 BC, cf. Ezk 33:21; Jr 39:1; 2Kg 25:1-12). While Ezekiel was proclaiming the word of the Lord to the captives in Babylon, Daniel was serving the royal court of Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah was ministering in Jerusalem under siege. For further details of Judah’s history in Ezekiel’s time see the Introduction to Jeremiah.
Author. The author is “Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi” (1:3). Like Jeremiah (Jr 1:1) and Zechariah (Zch 1:1; Neh 12:4, 16), Ezekiel was also a priest. They were the only prophet-priests, and all three prophesied during the exilic or postexilic periods. Although he was from a priestly family and knowledgeable about priestly duties and temple details, nothing is recorded about his service as a priest.
The name Ezekiel means “God will strengthen” or “God will harden.” His name indicates his character and task because when the Lord called him to be a prophet, He told Ezekiel the people would not heed His message. However, the Lord would give Ezekiel “a forehead harder than flint” in order to carry God’s word to a resistant people (3:4-11).
The internal evidence of Ezekiel’s authorship is strong. The autobiographical style of the book and the frequent first-person pronouns identify him as the writer. “I,” “me,” and “my” are in almost every chapter of the book (cf. 2:1-10).
Ezekiel’s ministry began “in the thirtieth year” (1:1), probably a reference to his age. Thus he was commissioned as a prophet at the same age he became qualified to enter the priesthood (cf. Nm 4:3). Based on this, he was born in 627 BC. He was deported to Babylon with King Jehoiachin (1:2; 33:21) in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (597 BC; cf. 2Kg 24:14) and ministered to the exiles in Babylon before and after the fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel lived with a group of captives in the Babylonian city of Tel-abib on the Chebar River (3:15). The location of the settlement is unknown, but the Chebar River has been identified with the Grand Canal in Babylon, perhaps where the captives mourned for fallen Jerusalem (Ps 137:1).
In Babylon he lived in his own house (8:1) where the exiled elders of Israel came to speak with him (3:24; 8:1; 14:1; 20:1). Ezekiel had a beloved wife, but apparently no children. During his ministry, his wife died, but the Lord forbade him to mourn. Her death and his handling of grief were a sign to the exiles (24:15-17). Many events in the prophet’s life were object lessons to Israel from the Lord (e.g., 3:24-26; 4:12; 5:1; 24:27). He apparently died in Babylon among the captives, but no details are known.
Date. Ezekiel began prophesying in the “fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile” (593 BC; 1:2), with his last dated prophecy being “in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month” (March 26, 571 BC; 29:17). So Ezekiel’s prophetic activity spanned at least 22 years (age 30 to 52; 593–571 BC). For the book’s many chronological notations see Introduction: Structure and Style.
Until the 20th century, few Bible scholars questioned the unity, authorship, or date of Ezekiel. Yet, when some critical scholars questioned the historicity of the Babylonian destruction of Judah, they dismissed Ezekiel entirely. Contemporary archaeology and biblical studies, however, have corroborated the events of Ezekiel.
Other critics suggest the book is postexilic, written about 400 BC by an unknown redactor. They deny Ezekiel’s authorship for three main reasons. First, they doubt a prophet would give such harsh messages of judgment along with words of comfort. However, most OT prophets spoke both judgment and comfort. Second, they allege that Ezekiel has an Israelite viewpoint, rather than a Babylonian perspective. This is not problematic because Ezekiel and his readers were Israelites in exile. Third, these critics suggest the message of Ezekiel is drawn from fictional accounts and fanciful stories. This rationalistic presupposition denies both the history of Babylon and the supernatural quality of God’s revelation (for more detailed responses to these critics, see Gleason L Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, rev. ed. [Chicago: Moody, 1996], 410-413; and John B. Taylor, Ezekiel: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC, ed. D. J. Wiseman [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1969], 13-20).
Ezekiel was consistently included in the Hebrew canon, although there was rabbinic controversy concerning the millennial sacrifices in Ezekiel in contrast to the Mosaic law (Nm 28:11; Ezk 46:6). The rabbis struggled with this issue (b. Sab. 13b) and decided that this controversy would await clarification until the days of the Messiah (Seder Olam 26; Rashi; Radak). In the Hebrew canon, Ezekiel follows Isaiah and Jeremiah among the Major Prophets. In the Greek canon, which the English arrangement follows, Ezekiel was placed after Lamentations, since that small book by Jeremiah, Ezekiel’s contemporary, shares a similar message.
Recipients. Ezekiel lived among the Jewish exiles in Babylon and proclaimed God’s message to them (2:3; 3:1). He warned the captives not to believe the false prophets who denied God’s coming judgment of Jerusalem and called them to repent and turn back to the Lord. His prophecies of judgment to the Gentile nations served as a message of hope for the Jewish people, reminding them of God’s faithfulness to avenge His people. His message of the millennial kingdom was a beacon of hope for captives, awaiting the King Messiah.
Structure and Style. The book of Ezekiel has several major structural and stylistic characteristics.
1. The book has a chronological arrangement, evident from the dates of the messages (1:2; 8:1; 20:1; 24:1; 29:1, 17; 30:20; 31:1; 32:1, 17; 33:21; 40:1). The “year of the exile” indicates the year that began with King Jehoiachin’s exile (597 BC, 2Kg 24:8). The majority of Ezekiel’s prophecies are arranged chronologically, starting with “the fifth year” of the exile, (592 BC, Ezk 1:2) and ending with “the twenty-fifth year of our exile,” (40:1, 573 BC).
The only chronological exceptions are the prophecies introduced in 29:1, 17. These two variations may be explained because they are grouped topically as part of the prophecies against Egypt (chaps. 29–32). Ezekiel is the only Major Prophet with such a precise chronological arrangement, although the Minor Prophets Haggai and Zechariah have a similar arrangement.
2. Ezekiel also has structural balance, with a distinct order and harmony throughout. The book begins with Ezekiel’s call to ministry (chaps. 1–3). The first major section focuses on the judgment of Judah (chaps. 4–24), while the last section addresses the restoration of Judah (chaps. 33–48). These two extremely opposite perspectives are divided by a section dealing with God’s judgment on the nations for their treatment of Israel and Judah (chaps. 25–32).
3. The book uses several literary devices. Ezekiel used more symbols, allegories, and object lessons than any other prophet. He presented God’s messages in dramatic and forceful ways to compel Israel to respond. He used proverbs (12:22-23; 16:44; 18:2-3), visions (chaps. 1–3; 8–11; 37; 40–48), parables (chaps. 17; 24:1-14), symbolic actions (chaps. 4–5; 12; 24:15-27), and allegories (chaps. 16–17).
Themes. Glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is a major theme in the book, and it is presented in visions unique to Ezekiel. He focused on the glory and character of the Lord, beginning with the vision of God’s glory when he was commissioned, and continued to refer to the glory of the Lord throughout, concluding with “The LORD is there.” (1:28; 3:12, 23; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23; 39:11, 21; 43:2-5; 44:4; 48:35). He showed the glory of the Lord departing from the temple in judgment (9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-25) and the return of His glory at the end of days in the millennial temple (43:1-5).
Son of Man. Ezekiel is called “son of man” 94 times by the Lord (e.g., 2:1; 3:1; 4:1; 5). This expression indicated Ezekiel’s mission and status as a representative of humanity, and the distance between humanity and God. In Scripture “son” often goes beyond a physical descendant to denote association or identification. This title highlights Ezekiel’s role and task.
Ezekiel’s “son of man” is distinct from Daniel’s use, which is a messianic title (Dn 7:13; 8:17). The phrase “son of man” is used 85 times in the NT, primarily in the Gospels, almost always by Jesus referring to Himself (e.g., Mt 8:20; 11:19; 12:8; Rv 1:13) When Messiah Jesus used the title “Son of Man,” He was referring to Daniel’s messianic use as prophecy of the One who would be “given dominion, Glory and a kingdom” (Dn 7:13-14; Mk 14:62; Rv 1:7).
For the sake of His name. The book also emphasizes the consistent character of the Lord, which caused God to act in judgment as He did. God declared 15 times that He had behaved “for the sake of His name” to keep His name from being profaned (e.g., 20:9, 14, 22, 39, 44; 36:20-23 [twice in 23]; 39:7 [twice], 25; 43:7-8).
Know that I am the LORD. Moreover, God said He had acted so that the people would “know that I am the LORD.” This phrase is used over 60 times in the book (e.g., 6:7, 10, 13-14; 7:4; 39:22) to stress His identity as the covenant-keeping One. He always acts to make Himself known.
The Lord GOD. Ezekiel used the identification “the Lord GOD” (Adonai Yahweh) 217 times. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase occurs only 103 times. This name stresses both God’s sovereign authority and His covenant-keeping faithfulness (Otto Eissfeldt, “ ‘adhon,” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. John T. Willis [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974], 1:62-63).
Judgment and hope. In light of God’s consistent character, the book includes the themes of both judgment and hope. Ezekiel was commissioned to deliver a message of judgment (chaps. 2–3) and declared judgment to those who lived in iniquity and continued in false hope (37:11). On the other hand, Ezekiel later was recommissioned to give a message of deliverance and hope, based on God’s faithfulness to His covenants and mercy to those who would turn to Him (chap. 33).
The messianic theme is not as prominent in Ezekiel as in Jeremiah or Isaiah. However, there are strong messianic aspects to the book. The Messiah is presented as (1) a sprig from the line of David (17:22); an allusion to Is 11:1; (2) the future rightful King (Ezk 21:26, 27; cf. Gn 49:10; Rv 5:5); (3) the horn the Lord will cause to sprout, an intertextual link to the Davidic promise in Ps 132:17; (4) the True Shepherd who will restore Israel (Ezk 34:11-31; cf. Jr 23:5-6; Jn 10:1-10); and (5) the King Messiah and Son of David who will reign over the messianic kingdom from Jerusalem (Ezk 37:15-28).
The book of Ezekiel begins with the prophet’s call to ministry, in which he has a vision of divine glory (chaps. 1–3). The first half of the book focuses on God’s coming judgment of Judah for their iniquity and call for repentance (chaps. 4–24). The next section is prophecies of God’s judgment of the Gentile nations for their treatment of the Jewish people (chaps. 25–32). The book closes with the regathering of the Jewish people to Israel, their rebirth, and details of the coming millennial kingdom and the messianic reign in a restored Jerusalem (chaps. 33–48).
COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL
I. Prophetic Call to Ministry (1:1–3:27)
God’s commission of Ezekiel is the longest prophetic call in the Bible. Like Moses (Ex 3:1-10), Jeremiah (Jr 1:1-10), and Isaiah (Is 6:1-10), Ezekiel was called and prepared for his ministry by a supernatural encounter with the holiness of the Lord.
A. Call from Priest to Prophet (1:1-3)
1:1-2. Ezekiel was called as a prophet in the thirtieth year, probably a reference to his age. Ezekiel was a priest (cf. v. 3), and 30 was the age he would enter the Lord’s priestly service (Nm 4:3). The vision came On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, (Tamuz 5/July 31, 593 BC, 2Kg 24:8-17).
Ezekiel had been taken into captivity with King Jehoiachin (March 597 BC, 2Kg 24:12-15), and settled among the exiles of Judah by the river Chebar, off the Euphrates River. There the heavens were opened and Ezekiel saw visions of God (cf. Ezk 1:4–2:7). God’s messages to Ezekiel were often in the form of visions (cf. 8:1; 9:1; 10:1; 11:24; 12:27; 37:1, 11; 40:1; 43:1-3).
1:3. That the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel indicates the exactness and seriousness of his call. Ezekiel was a priest, and was given the additional ministry of prophet. Ezekiel’s mandate for his ministry was by the hand of the LORD, signifying the powerful call of divine revelation, a phrase repeated six times in the book (3:14, 22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1).
B. Visions of the Throne of the Lord (1:4–2:7)
This section describes Ezekiel’s vision of God’s holiness (1:4-28) in detail and his specific call (2:1-7).
1. Vision of the Four Living Beings (1:4-14)
1:4. This vision of God (cf. v. 1) was shown to Ezekiel first: As I looked, behold (cf. v. 5) a storm wind … a great cloud … with fire flashing … continually and bright light. This was a storm-like manifestation of the Lord. There was something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire, a word used only twice in the OT, both times describing God’s glowing splendor (cf. v. 27; 8:2).
1:5. The figures resembling four living beings are later identified as cherubim (cf. 10:1). Angels in this category have special access to God (cf. 28:14, 16) and serve as guardians of His holiness and His throne chariot (Gn 3:22-24). On the ark of the covenant, gold images of cherubim, with outstretched wings, guarded the mercy seat where the glory of the Lord was enthroned (Ex 25:17-22; Nm 7:89; 1Sm 4:4; 2Sm 6:2, Pss 80:1; 99:1; Is 37:16). Since the earthly tabernacle and temple were a copy of the heavenly reality (Heb 8:5), Ezekiel’s vision was a glimpse of the actual throne chariot of God borne by cherubim.
These figures had the appearance or likeness of human form. The terms “resembling” “appeared,” and “were like” are used in Ezk 12 times to emphasize that the descriptions are impressionistic because the vision is so difficult to describe (cf. vv. 5, 10, 16, 22, 26; 2:8; 8:2; 10:1; 10:10, 21-22; 23:15).
1:6-7. The angelic beings had human form but should not be mistaken for mortals. Each of the four living beings had four faces and four wings, enabling them to move in all directions as needed. Their legs were straight, implying they were standing upright. Their feet were like a calf’s hoof, perhaps indicating agility (Ps 29:6; Mal 4:2), and were like burnished bronze, seeming highly polished and not like ordinary animal hooves.
1:8-9. They had wings on four sides, as well as human hands, giving them both supernatural and natural characteristics. Two of the four wings of each one were outstretched so that their wings touched one another, forming a connecting square. Having faces on four sides of their heads, they could simultaneously see in all directions. They were able to travel straight in any direction and could change direction but did not turn, indicating the supernatural movement.
1:10. The front of each cherub was the face of a man, and on the right side was the face of a lion. The left side was the face of a bull, and the face of an eagle was apparently in the back (cf. Rv 4:7). Perhaps these images represent intelligence, courage, strength, and speed.
1:11. Two of the four wings on each cherub were spread out above, and were touching a wing of a cherub on either side, forming a square with a cherub at each corner. The other two wings on each cherub were covering their bodies in reverence as they served the Lord in His holy presence (cf. 1:23; Is 6:1-3).
1:12. The cherubim always moved straight forward, so they could go in any direction without turning. Their movement was directed by the spirit (e.g., Gn 1:2; 6:3; Ex 31:3; Ps 139:7), a reference to the Holy Spirit of God’s guidance of these beings (cf. Ezk 1:20; Ex 13:21-22; Nm 9:15-23; Mt 4:1).
1:13-14. In the midst of the living beings was something … like burning coals of fire … like torches. This image of lightening … flashing from the fire and the urgency of the cherubim running to and fro like bolts of lightning indicate the power and urgency of God’s message.
2. The Vision of the Four Wheels (1:15-21)
Following the description of the living beings is the vision of the wheels, one of the most familiar, but enigmatic, images in Ezekiel. This is a description of the throne chariot (cf. v. 26) of God Almighty with its awesome wheels (vv. 15-18) and cherubim/living beings (vv. 19-21).
1:15-17. The second part of the vision, concerning the wheels, is introduced with I looked (cf. v. 4). On the earth beside each of the living beings was a wheel of sparkling beryl, a transparent golden green gemstone. One wheel was within another so they could move in four directions without turning as they moved (v. 7).
1:18. The rims of the wheels were lofty and awesome, tall, and terrifying in appearance (cf. v. 5). This majestic quality was intensified by the rims being full of eyes all around. This indicates the divine omniscience of the all-seeing Lord God, who rides on this throne chariot (cf. 2Ch 16.9; Pr 15:3).
1:19-21. The living beings and the wheels were connected in movement (cf. v. 12), because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. The wheels were an extension of the cherubim beneath the Almighty seated on His throne chariot. As He directed the cherubim, the wheels responded and the chariot would go in any direction.
3. The Vision of the Expanse (1:22-25)
1:22-23. There was a covering over the heads of the living beings … something (cf. comments on v. 5) like an expanse, which separated the beings from the glory of the Lord (cf. Gn 1:6-7). The expanse had the awesome gleam of crystal, a shining brilliance John used to describe the throne of the Lord—as “clear as crystal” (Rv 4:6). The outstretched wings of the cherubim joined together, covering their bodies in reverence (cf. Ezk 1:11).
1:24-25. When the wings of the cherubim moved, the sound was like abundant waters, as intense as the voice of the Almighty (shaddai). It was the sound of tumult like … an army camp, with many soldiers marching in rank. This was similar to thunder, which sometimes is heard at God’s presence (cf. 43:2; Jb 37:4-5; 40:9; Pss 18:13; 104:7). When the cherubim stood still, they dropped their wings (vv. 24-25). The voice from above the expanse over the heads of the cherubim was the voice of the Lord (cf. v. 28).
4. The Vision of the Throne (1:26-28)
1:26. Above the expanse was something resembling (cf. comments on v. 5) a throne. It looked like lapis lazuli (“sapphire”), a costly azure-blue gemstone. Seated on this shining blue throne was a figure with the appearance of a man.
1:27-28. His body looked like glowing metal and something like fire, surrounded by a radiance, like the appearance of the rainbow. This dazzling image of the beauty of the Lord is described by the apostle John in his vision of God’s heavenly throne (Rv 4:3).
This figure is identified as having the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Therefore, Ezekiel responded in worship and awe. He fell on his face (cf. Ezk 3:23; Gn 17:3) and heard a voice speaking. This should always be a believer’s attitude toward the Lord when considering His glory and majesty.
Ezekiel did not see the Lord God Himself (cf. Gn 16:13; Ex 3:6; 33:20; Jdg 13:22; Jn 1:18), but certain manifestations. It was an indescribable likeness of Him or a theophany (cf. comments on Ezk 1:5; 8:2), symbolically communicating the revelation of the glory, power, and majesty of the Lord (cf. Ex 40:34; Is 6:3). The Lord’s glory is a key idea in Ezekiel (see Introduction: Themes).
5. The Task for Ezekiel, the Son of Man (2:1-7)
As God spoke (1:28), He empowered Ezekiel (2:1-2), explained Ezekiel’s mission (2:3-5), and challenged him to be fearless, despite difficulty (2: 6-7).
2:1-2. God called Ezekiel Son of man, (see Introduction: Themes). God told Ezekiel to stand so He could speak with him. Then the Holy Spirit empowered Ezekiel to obey. In the OT period, the Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell believers as He does in the church age (Rm 8:9). Instead, He temporarily indwelt selected individuals for specific divine service (cf. Ezk 3:24; Ex 31:1-11; 1Sm 10:9-11; Ps 51:11).
2:3-4. Ezekiel needed supernatural power to carry God’s message to a resistant audience, the sons of Israel … a rebellious people who were stubborn and obstinate (cf. 3:7). “Rebellious” occurs eight times in chaps. 2 and 3 (2:2, 4, 6, 8; 3:9, 26, 27), and seven times elsewhere in Ezekiel (12:2, 3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3; 44:6). This description emphasizes that the Jewish people were determined in their disobedience to the Lord, but also that their God was determined in His faithfulness to them, sending His messenger to declare His word to them. The message from the Lord GOD (see Introduction: Themes) was to the Jewish people who had already gone into Babylonian exile.
2:5. Ezekiel had to deliver God’s message, whether they listen or not (cf. 2:5, 7; 3:11). Israel is called a rebellious house in Ezekiel 12 times (2:5-6, 8; 3:9; 26–27; 12:3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3) to underscore their defiance against God. Despite their attitude, by Ezekiel’s message they would know that a prophet has been among them.
2:6-7. The Lord told Ezekiel three times neither fear them nor fear their words. Ezekiel needed this encouragement because opposition was certain and the task was difficult. It would be like working among thistles and thorns and as dangerous as sitting on scorpions. Even so, Ezekiel was to neither fear their words nor their presence. God again commanded Ezekiel to speak My words … whether they listen or not (cf. 2:4, 3:11).
God’s encouragement to Ezekiel to be fearless in his task was a bridge between the vision when he was called to ministry (1:4–2:7) and the message of his ministry (2:8–3:11).
C. The Message for Ministry (2:8–3:11)
1. The Vision of the Scroll (2:8–3:3)
2:8. In contrast to Israel’s rebellious attitude toward God and His word (vv. 3, 5), Ezekiel was obedient to listen to what the Lord was speaking to him and to Open his mouth and eat what God was giving him. He was to internalize the word of the Lord and live by it (Dt 8:3; Mt 4:4).
2:9-10. A hand gave Ezekiel a scroll. The hand was possibly the hand of a cherub (cf. 1:8), but the One speaking was the Lord (cf. vv. 7-8). The scroll had writing on the front and back, unusual since most scrolls were written on only one side. Writing on both sides shows the intensity of warning and severity of judgment (cf. Zch 5:3; Rv 5:1). The double-sided message was of lamentations, mourning and woe. This summarizes the judgment messages of Ezekiel (Ezk 4–32).
3:1-3. God repeated the command to eat this scroll (cf. 2:8) and speak to the house of Israel. Ezekiel opened his mouth, and the Lord fed him the scroll. Although the message of judgment was woeful (cf. 2:10), the scroll tasted as sweet as honey because it was God’s word (cf. Ps 19:10; Jr 15:16; Rv 10:9-11).
2. The Delivery of God’s Word to Rebellious Israel (3:4-11)
3:4. Ezekiel was commanded to go to the house of Israel. The phrase house of Israel, or a variation, is used more than a hundred times to identify the Jewish people as a whole, both Israel and Judah, in the land of Israel or in exile (cf. 2:5; 6:11; 8:11-12). God said speak … My words to them.
3:5-6. Ezekiel was sent to a people who understood his language. There was no barrier for his message to the Jewish people in Babylonian exile who should listen to Ezekiel’s message.
3:7. Although there was no language or cultural barrier, yet the house of Israel would not … listen to Ezekiel because they were not willing to listen to the Lord. Their sin extended to the whole house of Israel. This does not imply that every Israelite rejected God, for Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were all ministering faithfully during these years. A faithful remnant of Israel heeded their message. This general description of stubborn and obstinate refers to all parts of Israel without distinction (from the priests and leaders to the common person) rather than every individual Israelite without exception.
3:8-9. The Lord prepared Ezekiel for his difficult task by making the prophet’s face as hard as their faces. The word for hard (hazaq) is the root of Ezekiel’s name (y’khezqel) and means “God will strengthen” or “God will harden.” This is a play on words because the people were hardened in their obstinacy, but Ezekiel was made hard/strong for his prophetic mission. Ezekiel’s name was a reminder of God’s faithfulness and the source of his strength to meet the hardest opposition.
God would also make Ezekiel’s forehead … harder than flint (cf. Jos 5:2-3). The hard stone used to make knives and tools showed Ezekiel’s determination to deliver God’s message. God commanded Ezekiel not [to] be afraid of them or be dismayed before them (cf. Ezk 2:6-7; Jr 1:17). Though opposition was certain, Ezekiel had nothing to fear because God would enable him to meet the resistance of the rebellious house (cf. Ezk 2:5).
3:10-11. God commanded Ezekiel to take into your heart all—to listen carefully to all my words. Ezekiel was identified with the Jewish people in exile as the sons of your people. However, the prophet heard and obeyed God’s word, although the exiles did not. Ezekiel announced thus says the Lord GOD and was responsible to proclaim God’s word whether they [would] listen or not (cf. 2:5, 7).
D. The Motivation for Ministry (3:12-27)
Seeing the vision of God’s glory gave Ezekiel perspective for his task (1:4–2:7). God provided the message of His word (2:8–3:11), and the hand of the Lord empowered him for the ministry (1:3). This section shows Ezekiel being guided by the Spirit to his place of ministry (3:12-15) and appointed as God’s watchman to Israel (3:16-21), with certain restraints (3:22-27).
1. Ezekiel Led by the Spirit (3:12-15)
3:12-14a. The Spirit (cf. 2:2) lifted Ezekiel up, and he heard the rumbling sound (cf. 1:24) of the praise Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place and the sound of the wings of the living beings (cf. 1:15). Several times the Holy Spirit transported Ezekiel in a vision, not physically, to give him instruction (cf. 8:3; 11:1; 24; 37:1; 43:5).
3:14b-15. As Ezekiel understood God by consuming His words (cf. 2:8–3:4) and seeing the vision of His presence (1:22-28; 3:12-13) he felt, as God did toward Israel’s sin, embittered in … rage.
Ezekiel was guided by the hand of the LORD … strong on him. This picture of God’s power and authority to direct appears in Ezekiel seven times (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1), and about 90 times in the OT. This does not mean the Lord has actual hands, but it is a figure of speech for God’s guidance.
Ezekiel was directed by the Spirit to go to the exiles … at Tel-abib, the Jewish area in Babylon on the river Chebar (cf. 1:1). He sat there for seven days, but he did not deliver a message. His presence caused consternation, as the exiles wondered what he would say.
2. Ezekiel Appointed as a Watchman for the House of Israel (3:16-21)
3:16-17. After seven days of silence, the word of the LORD appointed Ezekiel a watchman to the house of Israel. Watchmen were stationed on city walls, hilltops, or watchtowers to warn of approaching enemies or any impending danger (e.g., 2Sm 18:24-25; 2Kgs 9:17; Is 62:6-7; Jr 4:5; 6:1). Watchman is often a term used for God’s prophets (e.g., Is 56:10; 62:6-7; Jr 6:17; Hs 9:8).
3:18. As God’s watchman, Ezekiel was responsible for sounding God’s warning of impending judgment to the house of Israel. He was to warn both the wicked (vv. 18-19) and “the righteous” (vv. 20-21).
3:19. A wicked person would surely die unless he turned from his wicked way. Those who refused to heed God’s warnings to repent would die in [their] iniquity. Ezekiel obeyed God by warning the wicked. Ezekiel was not responsible if they did not turn from [their] wickedness in response to his message.
3:20-21. A righteous man was required to continue faithfully in righteousness, heeding the prophet’s warnings, rather than slipping into sin. So he also needed to be warned to prevent his turning from his righteousness and committing iniquity, for which he would then die.
Ezekiel was not accountable for the response to his message but was only accountable to obey God by delivering His message. People who refused to heed his warning had only themselves to blame. If Ezekiel did not deliver the message: his blood I will require at your hand (vv. 18, 20); if he did deliver God’s word: you have delivered yourself (vv. 19, 21).
3. Ezekiel’s Physical Restraints by the Lord (3:22-27)
3:22-23. The hand of the LORD directed Ezekiel to the plain where God would speak to him. Here Ezekiel saw the glory of the LORD (cf. 1:28) for the second time. Again he responded in reverence and fell on his face.
3:24. The Spirit again entered Ezekiel and made him stand up (cf. comments on 2:2), giving him instructions and strength for his ministry.
Along with his specific message from the Lord, Ezekiel was given specific restrictions in communicating God’s message. First, he was to shut himself up in his house. He should stay at home. He was not a prisoner, but his field of ministry was confined to his house, with limited contact with the community (cf. 5:2; 12:3). Instead of his going out, the leaders came to him at his house to receive God’s word (cf. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1).
3:25. Ezekiel had to stay at home for his own protection, or the people would put ropes on him and bind him. If he would go out among the people at this point, his message would be rejected and his opponents might attack him.
3:26. The second restriction concerned his ability to talk. God would make Ezekiel’s tongue stick to the roof of his mouth so that he would be mute and not speak rebukes to them. Ezekiel experienced temporary dumbness so that he could not speak to the people. This muteness, however, was not continuous (v. 27) or permanent (33:22). He would speak only when and what God directed.
3:27. There is no contradiction between Ezekiel’s commission as a watchman (vv. 16-21) and his prohibition against speaking to the people (v. 26). Ezekiel only spoke God’s message and at God’s time. God told him: But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth. When he was silent, it was because God had not spoken. When he spoke, it was because God had given him a message: Thus says the Lord GOD (cf. 2:4).
A person’s reception or rejection of Ezekiel’s message was a reflection of his openness to God (cf. Ex 16:8; 1Sm 8:7). The section closes, He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse. This is similar to Messiah Jesus’ words: “He who has ears, let him hear” (Mt 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mk 4:9, 23; Lk 8:8; 14:35; Rv 2:7).
II. Exilic Judgment of Judah (4:1–24:27)
The book opens with Ezekiel’s dramatic call to ministry by the vision of God’s glory. He was given the task of watchman for Israel to proclaim God’s message of impending judgment to resistant Israel (chaps. 1–3). This first half of the book of Ezekiel is the prophet’s message of God’s coming judgment of Judah (chaps. 4–24). Ezekiel was to explain to the Jewish people already in Babylonian captivity the causes and details of God’s impending judgment on Jerusalem for her sin (chaps. 4–11), warn the exiles against false hope of victory over Babylon (chaps. 12–19), and review the history of Judah’s iniquity (chaps. 20–24).
A. Necessity of Judah’s Judgment (4:1–11:25)
As a watchmen Ezekiel had to confront Israel with her sin and warn her of impending judgment (cf. 3:17). He used dramatic signs (chaps. 4–5), sermons (chaps. 6–7), and visions (chaps. 8–11).
1. Four Signs of Coming Judgment on Jerusalem (4:1–5:17)
While confined to his home (cf. 3:24), Ezekiel delivered God’s message of the coming siege of Jerusalem, enacted in four dramatic signs.
a. Sign of the Brick (4:1-3)
4:1. For the first sign, Ezekiel was to get a brick and inscribe on it the familiar outline of Jerusalem. Soft clay tablets were commonly used in Babylon for writing, and bricks were common building materials.
4:2. After drawing the image of Jerusalem, Ezekiel was to lay siege against the Jerusalem image on the brick to demonstrate the city’s future. Ezekiel was to attack this Jerusalem image with a siege wall … a ramp … camps … battering rams. This depicted upcoming events during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (cf. 2Kg 25:1; Jr 24:1; 52:4). Ezekiel was called to ministry in 593 BC (cf. 1:2), and these signs were probably enacted a short time afterward. If so, these warning signs were given about seven years prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
4:3. Finally, Ezekiel set … up against the Jerusalem image an iron plate … as an iron wall. The iron plate was the iron griddle commonly used for making bread. The description of it as an iron wall showed the inescapable Babylonian siege wall against Jerusalem. Ezekiel was commanded to set your face toward it (Jerusalem) to show God’s inescapable judgment. This phrase, set your face, is used of judgment 14 times by Ezekiel (4:3, 7; 6:2; 13:17; 14:8; 15:7 [twice]; 20:46; 21:2; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2). Jerusalem had no hope of escaping God’s judgment by defeating Babylon. Ezekiel’s role-play with the brick was for a sign to the house of Israel (cf. 12:6, 11; 24:24-27; Is 8:18; 20:3).
b. Sign of Ezekiel’s Lying on His Sides (4:4-8)
4:4-5. God used Ezekiel’s posture as a second sign. Ezekiel was to lie on his left side to emphasize the iniquity of the house of Israel, the northern kingdom (since Judah is mentioned separately, v. 6). His actions would not bear their iniquity but highlight the nation’s sin (taking the Hb. literally as “lift up” not bear). He was to lie there for three hundred and ninety days, corresponding to the years of their iniquity. The three hundred and ninety may refer to the years of golden calf worship initiated by Jeroboam in the northern kingdom, which continued until the fall of Jerusalem (975–586 BC; 1Kg 12:20-33).
4:6. After remaining on his left side, he was to lie down a second time, now on his right side, and lift up or highlight the iniquity of the house of Judah (the southern kingdom) for forty days. The forty likely refers to the years of Judah’s idol worship and iniquity during Manasseh’s wicked reign (697–643 BC; 1Kg 21:10-16; 23:26, 27).
Ezekiel did not remain in this position 24 hours a day, because the very next sign (Ezk 4:9-17) includes some other actions that required Ezekiel to move around. He probably remained in this position for a portion of each day as a sign of the sin of Israel and Judah.
4:7. Ezekiel was commanded set your face (cf. v. 3) toward the siege of Jerusalem. He was to have his arm bared, illustrating military readiness.
4:8. To symbolize the confinement the Jewish people would suffer during the Babylonian siege, God had Ezekiel put ropes on so he could not turn from one side to the other. Apparently Ezekiel was tied up only during the time each day when he lay on his side, but moved around at other times until he had completed the roleplay of the days of siege.
c. Sign of the Unclean Food (4:9-17)
4:9-10. The severity of the siege of Jerusalem is Ezekiel’s third role-play sign. He had to put wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt into one vessel and make them into bread. These are common food grains in Israel (cf. 2Sm 17:27-29) but would usually be cooked separately and not mixed together. However, food was so scarce during the siege that several grains had to be combined to have enough for one loaf. Ezekiel had to eat this bread during the three hundred and ninety days he was lying on his left side. He was to weigh out just twenty shekels (about eight ounces) of this bread to eat each day for his ration.
4:11. His daily water ration was only a sixth … of a hin (20 ounces). These meager rations predicted the famine conditions during the siege of Jerusalem (cf. vv. 16-17).
4:12-13. Most repulsive to Ezekiel was the command to bake this barley cake, which included the other grains as well (cf. v. 9), using human dung for fuel. The Mosaic law gave specific instructions for the disposal of human excrement, and using human excrement for any purpose is a violation of Torah (cf. Dt 23:12-14). However, siege conditions in Jerusalem would destroy most trees, camels, cattle, and donkeys, so there would be no wood or animal dung for cooking fuel. Ezekiel was to eat the barley cake (bread) … in their sight, as a sign that they would eat their bread unclean, in violation of God’s dietary laws, when the Lord would banish them among the nations (Gentiles).
4:14. Ezekiel begged God not to ask him to violate His law, Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never been defiled … [or eaten] any unclean meat. As a devout Jew, Ezekiel had always kept God’s dietary and purity laws (cf. 1:3; Lv 22:8; Dt 14). Therefore, he begged for mercy not to be required to break God’s law.
4:15. God mercifully answered Ezekiel’s plea, saying, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung … to prepare your bread so he would not be defiled. Ezekiel was willing to face the rejection of his message without fear (2:1-7), the mental anguish of muteness without complaint (3:26-17), and suffer the physical pain of lying on his side for a year without lament (vv. 1-8), but he pled for mercy not to violate the God’s law.
4:16-17. God broke the staff of bread in Jerusalem, meaning He destroyed the food supply during the Babylonian siege, so the people would eat bread by weight and with anxiety (cf. 12:19; Lm 1:11; 2:11-12, 19) and drink water by measure and in horror (Lm 4:4-5, 9). Both food and water would be rationed, just as Ezekiel had modeled (cf. Ezk 4:10-11). Jerusalemites would waste away, or starve to death, (cf. Lm 4:8-9) because of their iniquity.
d. Sign of Ezekiel’s Shaved Head and Divided Hair (5:1-17)
5:1. God commanded Ezekiel to shave his head and beard with a sharp sword like a barber’s razor. Using a sword for a razor prefigured military assault. The book of Ezekiel uses sword 80 times to describe military attack (e.g., 6:11; 25:13). Moreover, shaving one’s head and beard was a sign of mourning (cf. 7:18; Jb 1, 20; Is 15:2-3; Jr 7:29; 48:37) and humiliation (2Sm 10:4-5; Is 7:20), emotions appropriate for defeat. He was to collect the hair, put it on scales for weighing, and divide the hair to be used as a sign.
5:2. God commanded Ezekiel to take one third of his hair to the center of the city to burn it there; one third he was to strike with the sword; and one third he was to scatter to the wind. These actions illustrated what would happen to the inhabitants of Jerusalem when the city would fall to Babylon: a third of the people would die by the sword; a third would perish when the city burned; and another third would be exiled.
5:3-4. A few strands of hair remained after the burning, striking, and scattering. Ezekiel was to bind these in the edges of his robes to represent God’s preservation of a remnant in the midst of judgment. Even the few hairs were not safe, however, because God commanded Ezekiel to toss some of them in the fire, depicting the suffering and death awaiting even the remnant. This judgment was for all the house of Israel.
5:5. The Lord highlighted the city He chose (Dt 12:5; 2Ch 6:6; Ps 132:13) and loves (Ps 87:2) above all others, saying, This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations (cf. Ezk 38:12). Jerusalem’s unique importance to God is not a simple geographic location, although in the Middle Ages both Rabbinic and Christian literature and maps oriented the whole world toward Jerusalem. The Lord was highlighting Jerusalem’s historical and redemptive position (cf. Is 2:1-4; Mc 4:1-3). Jerusalem was the recipient of God’s word, the dwelling place of His glory, and the object of His love (Ps 48:2; Neh 1:9; Zch 8:2; Mt 23:37).
5:6-7. Tragically, in spite of this exalted position, Israel rebelled (cf. 2:3) against God’s ordinances, acting more wickedly than the Gentile nations … which surround her.
5:8. Because the people of Jerusalem rejected God’s love and laws, He emphatically stated His decision: thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you’ (cf. 13:8; 21:3; 26:3; 28:22; 29:3, 10; 30:22; 34:10; 35:3; 39:11). She would be judged in the sight of the nations. God’s judgment, the destruction of Jerusalem, would be a public event.
5:9-10. Because of all Jerusalem’s abominations (ritual uncleanness and moral impurity) something would happen that had never been done or would ever happen again in Israel. The famine would be so severe that fathers will eat their sons … and sons will eat their fathers. Because of the extreme famine conditions, some people would resort to cannibalism rather than starve. This horror had been predicted in the law prior to the conquest of the promised land and settlement of Jerusalem (Dt 28:53-57; Lv 26:29). During the siege some parents killed their healthy children for food (2Kg 6:28-29; Lm 2:20; 4:10). Apparently adults were consumed for food as well, however, it is not clear how they died (Jr 19:9). This abhorrent behavior added to their sin, and God would execute judgments on them and scatter them to every wind, meaning expel them from the land in every direction.
5:11-12. Because they had defiled My sanctuary the temple, with detestable idols and … abominations, the Lord would withdraw His presence from them (cf. chap. 10) and judge them without pity, using the full fury of the four judgments: plague, famine, sword, and scatter[ing] (cf. 7:15-16; 14:21; Lv 26:25-26; Dt 32:23-25; Jr 14:11, 22; 24:10). Jerusalem, the object of God’s unique favor, would soon become the object of His unique judgment.
5:13. God’s judgment would last until the fury of His wrath was appeased. The emphasis is on the divine source of each judgment: I, the LORD, have spoken … (vv. 13, 15, 17). God’s judgment would continue until He had poured out His wrath upon them.
5:14-15. God’s judgment on Jerusalem would be humiliating. She would be a desolation and a reproach among the nations (cf. Lm 2:15). Yet those ridiculing nations would be horrified at what was happening to Jerusalem, and the carnage in the city would be a warning to them.
5:16-17. When the divine judgment of deadly arrows of famine … wild beasts … plague, and the sword would (cf. vv. 11-12) fall, God declared that it would demonstrate that I, the LORD, have spoken.
2. Messages of Coming Judgment (6:1–7:27)
Following his four dramatic signs (chaps. 4–5), Ezekiel delivered two sermons, both beginning with the phrase “The word of the LORD came to me” (6:1, 7:1). The first message concerned the cause for judgment, Israel’s idolatry (chap. 6). The second message depicted the nature of Israel’s judgment (chap. 7).
a. Message: Idolatry, the Cause of Judgment (6:1-14)
6:1-3. God commanded Ezekiel to set his face (cf. 4:3) against the mountains of Israel … hills … ravines … and the valleys. This was judgment on the Jewish people, not the geography, for engaging in pagan worship at shrines throughout Israel (cf. 2Kg 21:2-6, 10-15; Jr 2:20-28; 17:1-3; 32:35). Instead of being faithful to worship the Lord in His temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish people followed the pagan practices of the Gentiles and set up pagan shrines throughout the land. Consequently God would bring a sword of judgment (cf. Ezk 11:8; 14:17; 29:8; 33:2) to destroy Israel’s high places of pagan worship.
6:4-5. Both the false places of worship and the worshipers would be destroyed. God would make the slain worshipers fall in front of their idols.
6:6-7. God told Ezekiel that when the people saw the slain, then they would know that I am the LORD. This key phrase know that I am the LORD occurs more than 60 times in Ezekiel (e.g., vv. 7, 10, 13, 14; 7:4; 27; 11:10; 25:17; 39:22) and refers to God’s design in judgment. God intended Israel to see His predictions of judgment fulfilled so Israel would recognize the God who made them come to pass.
6:8. God would judge the wicked, but He would leave a remnant because of His faithfulness to His chosen people (cf. 5:3-5; 12:16; Gn 12:1-3; Jr 31:31-40). Not all the Jewish people would be destroyed. Some would escape the sword when Israel was scattered among the countries.
6:9-10. The Jewish people who escape and live among the nations will remember God’s character and how the Lord had been hurt by Israel’s adulterous hearts when they turned away from God. Adulterous hearts refers to the spiritual immorality of idol worship, an act of unfaithfulness parallel to marital infidelity. They would also remember God’s faithfulness and know … I am the LORD who always does what He promises, even inflict this disaster for judgment for disobedience. They would know God never speaks in vain.
6:11-12. Because of all the evil abominations Ezekiel is to clap his hands … stamp his foot, (cf. Jb 27:23; Lm 2:15; Ezk 21:14, 17; 22:13; 25:6; Nah 3:19) and say, Alas! in derision. Destruction would be by the sword, famine and plague—a summary of the judgment announced by Ezekiel’s fourth sign (cf. Ezk 5:11-12). Those in Jerusalem who escaped one calamity would only find another waiting to strike them as God fulfilled His wrath on them.
6:13. The message of judgment on the Jewish people who engaged in pagan worship (cf. vv. 1-7) is repeated in graphic summary. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill … under every green tree … every leafy oak. Often altars of the high places were built among stately trees, which represented growth, fertility, and the habitation of spirits (cf. Hs 4:13). God had given His people a land rich with natural resources, but the people defiled His land and used it to offer soothing aroma (incense) to all their idols.
6:14. God would strike their habitations with judgment, making them more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah. Although the exact location is unknown, the point is clear: judgment on Israel’s idolatry would make the land a ruin. The result of judgment will be the acknowledgment of God’s supreme authority: thus they will know that I am the LORD (cf. vv. 7, 10, 14).
b. Message on the Nature of Judgment (7:1-27)
7:1-2. The emphasis on the word of the LORD (cf. 6:1) in this message is the culmination of judgment: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. The word end is used five times in this message (vv. 2 [twice], 3, 6 [twice]), predicting the judgment on the four corners of the land and indicating that no part of Israel or Judah would escape God’s judgment.
7:3-4. The emphasis is on the holiness and wrath of God. The people would realize that God, being righteous, would punish sin. God vowed to send My anger against Israel because of her abominations (cf. 5:8). God would judge according to your ways (cf. vv. 4, 8-9, 27) without pity. Being judged on the basis of ways/conduct is mentioned 41 times in Ezekiel (e.g., vv. 8, 9, 27; 9:10; 16:43; 22:31). God would hold them accountable for their wicked actions. Then Israel would know that I am the LORD (cf. 6:7).
7:5-6. The Lord GOD gave a shout of warning: A disaster, unique disaster … (twice for emphasis) behold it is coming. The Hebrew phrases are short, staccato, and emphatic. The words coming or has come occur six times in vv. 5-7. This is urgent news of immediate certainty.
7:7. Jerusalem’s coming doom was certain: the day is near. There would be tumult (confusion, panic) rather than the joyful shouting associated with pagan worship on the mountains (cf. 6:1-5).
7:8-9. God would pour out His wrath of judgment (9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18). The destruction would come as predicted, so those affected will know that I, the LORD, had done the smiting. This is a variation of the other statements about knowing the Lord as a result of prophecies of judgment against Israel being fulfilled (cf. 6:7).
7:10-11. Behold, the day! Judgment was imminent, for the rod (or branch) has budded, arrogance has blossomed. The almond tree is the first tree to bloom in Israel (Jr 1:1-12). Just as the budding of the almond branch indicated spring, so the sin of the people signaled God’s coming judgment. Israel’s violence had blossomed and grown into a rod of wickedness.
7:12-13. Judgment was imminent: The time has come, the day has arrived (cf. vv. 5-7, 10). God’s wrath was against all their multitude, and the nation’s economy would collapse. After Jerusalem fell, nothing of value would remain, so neither the buyer would rejoice nor the seller mourn over business deals. The judgment could not be averted by any means.
7:14. Even sounding the trumpet to make everything ready for war would be a useless defense against God’s wrath.
7:15-16. Israel would have no defense and no escape from the wrath of the Lord’s judgment by sword, plague, and famine (cf. 5:12). People who escape to the field would be hunted down and killed by the sword. Those who sought protection within the city walls faced plague and famine (cf. Jr 14:18). The few survivors will hide in the mountains … mourning … each over his own iniquity, recognizing their sin and God’s just judgment.
7:17-18. God’s judgment will cause everyone to become weak with fear. Their hands will hang limp and knees will become like water (cf. 21:7). They will act like mourners dressed in sackcloth … shuddering … overwhelmed with shame (for their sin) … cutting their hair in grief, causing baldness (Gn 37:34; 1Sm 3:31; Jb 16:15; Is 58:5; Jr 6:26).
7:19. They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become … abhorrent because it could not deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD, nor could it fill their stomachs. Their gold and silver idols (cf. Jr 10:1-10) were useless. They could not defend them against God’s judgment or stop the famine. The idols were thrown into the street because idolatry had become … abhorrent. The word abhorrent (niddah) is used of ceremonial impurity (Lv 15:19-33; Nm 19:13-21). The people would feel revulsion toward their idolatry, which was the cause of their iniquity and stumbling.
7:20. The Lord’s house, the beauty of His ornaments, had been transformed by the images of their abominations and … detestable things. Idolatry was rampant during the siege of Jerusalem. After the Babylonian captivity idolatry would become an abhorrent thing to them. Jewish history has shown that after the return from Babylon, idolatry was no longer practiced in Israel.
7:21-22. The Jewish people wrongly believed that, because the ark of the covenant was in the temple, Jerusalem was safe from destruction (cf. 1Sm 4-7). Yet God would give His temple into the hands of the foreigners as plunder to spoil and profane My secret place, the Holy of Holies (Jr 52:17-23). Israel’s sin was so serious that not even the temple would escape God’s judgment (Mc 3:12).
7:23-24. God’s command to Make the chain previews the people of Jerusalem being taken captive in chains by cruel Babylon, the worst of the nations, (cf. 28:7; Jr 6:23; Hab 1:5-11). God will bring Babylon to possess everything. Israel’s confidence (pride) in her strong ones, her soldiers, and pagan holy places would prove useless.
7:25-26. The people will respond to the disaster with anguish and a futile search for peace, but there will be none. No sooner would one catastrophe befall than rumor would come of another on the way. The people would seek a word from God, a vision from a prophet … priest, and elders, but He would not respond because they had rejected God’s word already given by His prophets.
7:27. Hearing the message of judgment, the king (Jehoiachin), who was already in Babylonian captivity (cf. 1:2), would mourn. The prince (Zedekiah, cf. comments on 12:8-11), would be clothed with horror, and the people … will tremble. There would be no direction from the Lord, or leadership from the monarchy, leaving the people terrified. The Lord would deal with them according to their conduct. The Lord is not random in His judgment, but after He gave repeated warning to repent, His wrath will fall based on the conduct of the people. This standard of judgment is mentioned five times in chap. 7 (vv. 3-4, 8-9, 27) and reiterated throughout the book (cf. 9:10; 11:21; 16:43; 18:30). The judgments were based on the behavior of the people and designed to make them know that I am the LORD (cf. 6:7).
3. Vision of Coming Judgment (8:1–11:25)
Since his call to ministry, Ezekiel had received a vision of God’s glory (chaps. 1–3), had acted out four signs (chaps. 4–5), and had given two messages on judgment (chaps. 6–7). Now he is given a vision, with four parts focusing on judgment: (1) the wickedness of the people in the temple, chap. 8; (2) the slaughter of the people of Jerusalem, chap. 9; (3) the departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple, chap. 10; (4) and judgment on evil rulers as the glory of the Lord departed, chap. 11.
As Ezekiel was transported in a vision to Jerusalem (cf. 3:14; 11:1, 24; 37:1; 43:5) his body remained in Babylon. The elders seated before him did not see the vision of God, which Ezekiel later described to them (11:24-25).
a. Vision of the Wickedness in the Temple (8:1-18)
8:1. The vision occurred in the sixth year (of Jehoiachin’s exile, cf. 1:2) in the sixth month on the fifth day (Elul 5/September 17, 592 BC). This was exactly 14 months after Ezekiel’s first vision (1:1-2).
Ezekiel was sitting in his house with the elders of Judah. Although Ezekiel’s ministry beyond his house was limited (cf. 3:24), the elders of the community could come to his house, where they received Ezekiel’s message. The expression the hand of the Lord GOD fell on him (cf. 1:3; 3:14, 22) indicates direction from God, not that He has a literal hand (cf. 8:3).
8:2. Ezekiel saw a likeness as the appearance of a man (lit., fire). The figure seems to be more than an angelic being, but rather like a manifestation of God (cf. 1:26). From His loins (waist) down He was like fire, and above his waist His appearance was as bright as glowing metal (cf. 1:4). Ezekiel did not say that he saw God, but described the likeness as the appearance of the supernatural being, which was “the glory of God” (v. 4; cf. comments on 1:5; 1:26-27).
8:3. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel up (cf. 3:14; 11:1, 24; 37:1; 43:5) between earth and heaven and transported him in visions to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court of the temple. Here he saw the seat of the idol of jealousy. This idol was an insult to God, who was righteously provoked to jealousy because of this pagan god receiving worship that was due Him alone (Ex 20:4; cf. Dt 4:23-24).
8:4-6. While Ezekiel was looking at the idol of jealousy, the glory of the God of Israel (cf. 1:28; see Introduction: Themes), which he had seen on the plain, (cf. 3:23) asked him a rhetorical question: Do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing … that will drive God far from My sanctuary? God will not share His glory with an idol (cf. Is 42:8). As horrible as was the idol of jealousy, Ezekiel would see still greater abominations (cf. Ezk 8:13, 15).
8:7-9. Then God brought Ezekiel to the entrance of the court of the temple, probably the inner court, where he saw a hole in the wall, and the entrance where he saw the wicked abominations being committed there.
8:10. Ezekiel entered and saw every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things … the idols of the house of Israel … carved on the wall. This is an unveiled presentation of God’s view of idolatry (Rm 1:21-23).
8:11. In the room stood seventy elders of the house of Israel. These were the leaders of Israel (cf. Nm 11:16-17) who should have prevented sin, not perpetuated paganism by offering incense in their censer to the idol of jealousy. The presence of Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan is noteworthy because everyone else in Shapan’s family had remained faithful to the Lord (cf. Jr 26:24; 39:14; 40:5).
8:12-13. God told Ezekiel these elders of the house of Israel sought to justify their sin by saying The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land. They thought the sins they were committing in the dark were unseen by God. They imagined God had abandoned them in time of trouble (cf. 9:9). They rationalized worshiping other gods for their protection.
The people’s progression of idolatry went from open worship on the mountains’ high places to idolatry in the temple. Yet this was not the full extent of Israel’s wickedness. Ezekiel would see still greater abominations (cf. vv. 6, 15).
8:14-15. God brought Ezekiel to the entrance of the [north] gate of the Lord’s house, the outer court of the temple, where he saw women … weeping for Tammuz. Worship of Tammuz, a Babylonian agricultural fertility god involved beseeching him for rain with weeping and gross acts of immorality. These women of Israel had replaced the worship of the Giver of rain (Lv 26:4; Dt 11:14) with debased paganism. Yet Ezekiel was to see still greater abominations (cf. vv. 6, 13).
8:16. Then God brought Ezekiel into the inner court of the LORD’s house … at the entrance to the temple … between the porch and the altar, the area near the bronze altar on which sacrifices were offered (cf. 1Kg 6:2-3). Here the priests of Israel should have offered sacrifices and cried out to God for mercy (cf. Jl 2:17). Instead, Ezekiel saw about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east … prostrating themselves … toward the sun. These men, probably priests since they were in the temple, had literally turned their backs on the Lord and were worshiping the sun (Dt 4:19).
8:17 The house of Judah had commit[ted] the abominations … which filled the land with violence—cruelty, corruption, mistreatment of widows and orphans, and immorality. These practices provoked God to anger and would bring His judgment (cf. Ex 22:21-22; Is 1:17; 10:1-2; Jr 5:26-29; 22:3).
The expression putting the twig to their nose is probably an idiom meaning “to sneer” at someone, or it could be part of ceremonial nature worship. Whichever, the gesture was a gross insult to God.
8:18. God’s response to these abominations was resolute: I indeed will deal [with them] in wrath and … have no pity nor … spare. God would not listen to a last-minute cry in My ears with a loud voice. Certainly, God hears all things. However, because of their abominable sin, He would not respond to their voice and spare them.
b. Vision of the Slaughter in Jerusalem (9:1-11)
The second part of this vision is the carrying out of God’s judgment on Jerusalem for the wickedness described in chap. 8.
9:1. The Lord cried out … with a loud voice (cf. 19:19, Ps 29:3-5), indicating urgency, and the opposite of the ineffectual plea of the people (cf. Ezk 8:18). Draw near, O executioners of the city, literally “those who punish.”
9:2. Then six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, (cf. 8:3) the direction from where the Babylonians would invade Jerusalem (cf. Jr 1:14). The area where the worship of the idol of jealousy had taken place. They each had his shattering weapon in his hand, probably a club or a battle-ax.
Distinct from the group was a seventh figure, a certain man who wore linen clothing, suggesting dignity and purity (cf. Dn 10:5; 12:6-7). His work of marking the righteous (those who shared God’s view of sin) for preservation (Ezk 9:4) suggests He was perhaps the “angel of the LORD,” the pre-incarnate Messiah (e.g., Gn 16:7-14; 22:11-15; 31:11-13; Jd 2:1-3). He carried a writing case, literally, a “case for the scribe” that held reed pens and an inkhorn. He stood beside the bronze altar, the symbol of God’s righteousness requirement of sacrifice (Lv 1).
9:3-4. Now the glory of … God began to move away from the temple. From the threshold of the temple He gave instruction to the man clothed in linen. Go through … Jerusalem and mark, with the tools in the writing case, on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations … being committed. As in Elijah’s day, there was a faithful remnant in Judah who had “not bowed the knee to Baal” (cf. 1Kg 19:18). God knew those who had remained faithful to Him, and He would spare their lives when He judged the nation through the Babylonians. This is similar to applying blood to the doorposts at Passover to be spared from death (Ex 12:23) and the seal on the 144,000 faithful witnesses in the tribulations (cf. Rv 7:3-4).
9:5-7. The others, the six men, were commanded to go through the city … and strike those without the mark. But they were not to touch any man … who had the mark made by the man in linen. But everyone who did not have a mark from the scribe was to be destroyed without exception—do not … pity and do not spare. Judgment was to be started with the elders in the temple (cf. 1Pt 4:17) who had turned their backs on God (cf. Ezk 8:16) and had led the people astray. Their dead bodies would defile the temple, but the temple had already been defiled with their idolatrous practices of the wicked. The Babylonians did this exactly because they “had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm” (cf. 2Ch 36:17-20).
9:8. Grief stricken, Ezekiel fell on his face and cried, Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel? Like Abraham, Moses, and Amos, Ezekiel loved the Jewish people despite their sin (cf. 11:13; Gn 18:20-33; Ex 32:11-14; Am 7:1-9).
9:9-10. God explained the iniquity of … Israel and Judah was very, very great (doubled for emphasis) and filled with blood (cf. 8:17) and full of perversion. They wrongly thought, the LORD has forsaken them and does not see, (cf. 8:12). However, He corrected them: My eye does see and would have no pity on their wicked conduct, which would bring judgment upon their heads (cf. 7:4, 9; 8:18; 24:14).
9:11. The man clothed in linen … reported … I have done just as You have commanded me (cf. v. 4). He had marked the righteous for protection, because each person’s destiny is determined by his relationship with the Lord.
c. Vision of the Departure of God’s Glory from the Temple (10:1-22)
This vision continues the departure of the Lord from His temple, a process begun in 9:3. God is too holy to share His dwelling place with idolatry. The images of the Lord are similar to those in chap. 1.
10:1-2. The man clothed in linen is told to take … coals of fire (1:13, cf. Is 6:6) … and scatter them over the city. God would use the burning coals of judgment to purify Jerusalem (Neh 11:1; Is 52:1).
10:3-5. God’s departure from Jerusalem is in stages (cf. vv. 18-19). Now the glory of the LORD went up … to the threshold of the temple (cf. 9:3). The image of the cherubim is similar to the vision in chap. 1.
10:6-7. The man clothed in linen who had marked the righteous for protection now received fire from a cherubim … and went out to bring judgment on Jerusalem (e.g., Jr 4:4; 11:14-17; 15:14; 17:4; 21:12; 2Kg 25:8-9).
10:8-13. More detail is given about cherubim and the wheels (cf. 1:15-21): their whole body … backs … hands … wings and … wheels were full of eyes. This probably represents divine omniscience. They are like the four creatures John saw surrounding God’s throne and covered with eyes (Rv 4:8).
10:14. Here the faces of the beings are of a cherub … a man … a lion, and an eagle. The face of the bull is replaced by a cherub (cf. 1:10), without further physical description. Some have suggested that this is a scribal error, copying “cherub” for “bull,” but there is no textual support for this. More likely, the face of a bull was the normal understanding of the image of a cherub because in the ancient Mesopotamian empire of Akkadia the kuribu (cognate term for Hb. cherub) were portrayed as bulls.
10:15-17, 20-22. The description of the cherubim similar to that in chap. 1.
10:18-19. The departure of the glory of God is presented in stages. The Lord was resolved to depart from the temple, for He would not share His dwelling place with idols that had polluted His sanctuary. Then the cherubim rose up (v. 15). God moved from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the temple (cf. 9:3), while the cherubim remained on the “right side of the temple” (v. 3). The Lord went up and sat (figuratively, because the Lord God does not have a literal physical body) on the throne (10:4). Finally, the Lord with His throne chariot and the cherubim departed from the threshold of the temple. After they stood still at the entrance of the east gate (vv. 18-19) … the Glory of the God of Israel hovered before leaving (v. 19).
d. Judgment on Jerusalem’s Rulers (11:1-25)
The account of the “twenty-five” wicked “men” underscores the need for judgment (11:1-21).
11:1. While God’s glory hovered in departure, the Spirit lifted Ezekiel (cf. 3:8, 14; 11:24; 37:1; 43:5) and took him to the east gate of the LORD’s house facing the Mount of Olives. At the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, probably not the same twenty-five who were worshiping the sun at the temple. They are at a different location, the east gate, not the inner court (8:16), and were not serving as priests. Furthermore, this was Jaazaniah son of Azzur, rather than the son of Shaphan (cf. 8:11).
11:2-4. Instead of being righteous leaders, these men would devise iniquity and give evil advice to Jerusalem. Using a proverb, Is not the time near to build houses? This city is the pot and we are the flesh, they encouraged the Jerusalemites to build houses, a sign of peace and safety (28:26), and forget the prophet’s predictions of the coming Babylonian invasion. They said Jerusalem was like a pot on the fire that would keep the meat (flesh) from burning, so the people were safe. God said this was evil advice. Because of this false optimism, and ignoring the word of the Lord concerning judgment, God told Ezekiel to prophesy against them (twice for emphasis).
11:5-7. The Lord knew their thoughts. He replied with an altered imagery of the meat and the pot to foretell judgment. The righteous men who had been slain in this city had been Jerusalem’s hope to turn the city back to the Lord. The city was the pot, but it was surrounded by the fires of judgment of the coming Babylonian attack.
11:8-12. They feared a sword (an attack), but for their evil God would bring His sword upon them in judgment (cf. 6:3). The people would be driven out of the … city, and God’s sword would begin at the border of Israel. This was fulfilled literally when the captives of Jerusalem were deported or killed at the border city of Riblah, Nebuchadnezzar’s siege headquarters near Syria (cf. 2Kg 25:18-21; Jr 52:8-11, 24-27). When this happened, then they would know that I am the LORD.
11:13. When Pelatiah, one of the 25 men who had given evil advice (cf. v. 1) died, it foreshadowed the judgment that would soon destroy all of Jerusalem and confirmed the prophet’s message. Again, Ezekiel cried out, … Alas, Lord GOD! a plea for God’s mercy not to bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end (cf. 9:8).
11:14-15. God’s response to Ezekiel was twofold, one of personal and then of national encouragement. It is the first promise of restoration in Ezekiel. Although natural disasters and military calamity would result in the death of the righteous along with the wicked, a righteous remnant would remain.
First, He showed Ezekiel that those already in exile in Babylon would be preserved. They were his brothers … relatives … fellow exiles, not just his physical relatives, but also the Jewish people.
Second, God reminded Ezekiel of Jerusalem’s need for judgment, and the justice of God. Those still in Jerusalem thought the people in exile (whom God had just said were the true remnant) were far from the LORD, just because they were outside the land of Israel. God had given Israel the land (Gn 12:7; 15:18; Dt 34:4), but He had also said He would remove them from it for disobedience (Dt 28:36, 64-68). Being outside Israel did not mean God had forgotten His promises. He would always preserve a remnant (Ezk 6:8; 12:16; Jr 31:35-37).
11:16. The faithful remnant in Babylon, although away from the temple in Jerusalem, (which would soon be destroyed) had the Lord for a sanctuary for them … in the countries where they had gone. The Lord was accessible to faithful Jews wherever they were geographically.
11:17. Even with judgment looming and the glory of the Lord departing from the temple, there was yet a future for Israel nationally. God promised, I will gather you from … the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. The remnant of Israel could look forward to a national restoration to the promised land. A partial restoration took place after the Babylonian captivity (cf. Ezra and Nehemiah), but there will be a greater restoration in the future. This promise goes beyond the return from Babylon. It points to the new covenant and a future gathering of Israel at the end of days (cf. 36:24-38; 37:11-28; Jr 16:14-16; Is 11:11). The events described here are kingdom events, e.g., purification from sin and perfect obedience, neither of which happened at the return from Babylon. Israel’s future return will be accompanied by spiritual renewal.
11:18-20. When the Jewish people come back to the land at the end of days, they will remove all its detestable things and all … abominations (cf. v. 21). The land will be purged of idolatry, and the people purified to the Lord. He will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them … and give them a heart of flesh. This is a picture of the new covenant described by Jeremiah (cf. comments on Jr 31:31-34), not anything that occurred at the return from Babylon. God’s purpose in giving Israel one heart and a new spirit is so they will walk in My statues and keep My ordinances.
The Jewish people are always His people, whether in faith or disbelief, obedient or in sin (cf. Rm 11:1, 27-28). Though Hosea described a time when God called Israel “not My people” (Hs 1:9), that is not to say God fully cast off Israel. As Hosea said, for “the LORD loves the sons of Israel though they turn to other gods” (Hs 3:1). For a fuller discussion of Israel’s status in unbelief, see Hs 3:1-5. When the Jewish people are faithful to the Lord, however, they will have a spiritual experience that matches their national relationship with the Lord and they will be My people, and I shall be their God (cf. Ezk 14:11; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Hs 2:23).
The new covenant (cf. Jr 31:31) was inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Messiah Jesus (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; Heb 8:6-13; 9:15; 10:14-16; 12:24). But the ultimate fulfillment of physical and spiritual blessings awaits Israel’s national recognition of her Messiah Jesus when they call upon Him at His return (cf. Zch 12:10). The Church today is participating in the spiritual aspects (not the physical or national benefits) of the new covenant, having been grafted into the new covenant (see comments at Rm 11:17-24). By faith in Jesus all who believe in Him are redeemed and indwelt by His Spirit (Rm 8:9), but these blessings to the Church (made up of both non-Jewish and Jewish believers in Messiah Jesus, Eph 2:11-22) have not superseded God’s promises to Israel (Rm 11:27-29).
11:21-22. After the confirmation of the hope of the new covenant, the focus is redirected to the glory of God departing from the temple. Those in Jerusalem whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations (cf. v. 18) would be judged for their conduct (cf. comments on 7:27). The abominable acts of Israel caused God’s spirit to depart (chaps. 8–11), beginning with the cherubim lift[ing] up their wings … and the glory of the God of Israel hover[ing] over them. Soon God’s glory would leave completely.
11:23. As the glory of the LORD (cf. 1:28) left Jerusalem it lingered and then went up from the midst the city and stood over the mountain … east of the city, the Mount of Olives. This departure signaled Jerusalem’s doom. The city would be devoid of God’s blessing, but Ezekiel predicted a return of the departed glory via the Mount of Olives (cf. 43:1-3). At His triumphal entry, Jesus retraced this route as if to indicate the glory of the Lord returning (Lk 18:29-40).
11:24-25. Ezekiel’s vision ended as it began as the Spirit lifted (cf. 3:14; 8:3; 11:1; 37:1; 43:5) him up and carried him back to the exiles in Chaldea. As the vision left him he told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown him.
B. Futility of Judah’s False Optimism (12:1–19:14)
Although Ezekiel had shown through signs, sermons, and visions (chaps. 4–11) the necessity of Jerusalem’s judgment, the people refused to believe him. Therefore (in chaps. 12–19) the Lord gave Ezekiel a new series of 11 signs and messages to show Jerusalem it had no hope of escape from judgment.
The phrase, “The word of the LORD came to me,” introduces 10 of the 11 messages in this section (12:1, 17, 21; 13:1; 14:2, 12; 15:1; 16:1; 17:1; 18:1). The phrase emphasizes the importance of the message. Only the final message, a lament (19:1), begins without this phrase, because it sums up the whole section.
1. Two Signs of Impending Captivity (12:1-20)
a. Sign of the Baggage and the Hole in the Wall (12:1-16)
The Babylonian takeover of Judah was progressive. The first deportation had occurred in 597 BC during the reign of Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried into exile. Ezekiel gave his action signs to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, confirming the coming fall of Jerusalem. Following a long siege, Jerusalem fell in 586 BC. Ezekiel gave this message to his fellow exiles in Babylon to portray what would happen in Jerusalem.
12:1-2. Because of the people’s unbelief, Ezekiel gave two more action messages. He said, They have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house (cf. 2:5-8; 12:2, 3, 9). Israel’s blindness and deafness were willful disobedience and disbelief (cf. Dt 29:1-4; Is 6:9-10; Jr 5:21; Mt 13:13-15; Ac 28:26-28). Even those already in captivity could not believe Jerusalem would fall.
12:3-4. The first sign had two aspects: baggage (vv. 3-4) and a hole and blindfold (vv. 5-7). Ezekiel, in Babylon, acted out a scene that would occur in Jerusalem. He packed his baggage for exile … in their sight. This phrase is repeated seven times in this section (vv. 3 [twice], 4 [twice], 5, 6, 7). God wanted them to see what He was going to do and to understand that Jerusalem would fall and everyone in the city would go into captivity. Ezekiel was to bring the baggage out by day … then go out at evening as a role-play “as a sign to the house of Israel” of people going into exile.
12:5-7. The second aspect predicting the coming exile included a hole and blindfold, which followed immediately, at evening in their sight (cf. v. 3). Ezekiel had to dig a hole through the wall and take his baggage on his shoulder … in the dark. Then he was to cover his face, blindfold himself, so that he could not see the land, as a sign to the house of Israel. The people would be carried to Babylon and never again see their land. The Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years, so few people who went into captivity lived to return to Israel (cf. Jr 25:8-11; 2Ch 36:20-21). Of course, by the time the book of Ezekiel was completed, the captivity had already begun. The original readers would see that Ezekiel had predicted their exile, though they had not believed him. They themselves, would never see their land again.
12:8-11. The Lord explained that this burden (message) concerned King Zedekiah, the prince in Jerusalem, as well as the whole house of Israel. Ezekiel often called the kings of Judah prince, meaning “leader,” not the son of the king (cf. 7:27; 21:25; 34:24; 37:25). Ezekiel’s actions were a sign to the people already in captivity and the king that the nation would certainly go into exile, into captivity.
12:12-16. The sign of the hole in the wall (v. 5) previewed the prince[’s] (Zedekiah’s) attempted escape from Jerusalem in the dark … through the wall. He would be caught in God’s snare, and Nebuchadnezzar would bring him to Babylon, but he will not see it and he will die there. This was dramatically and precisely fulfilled in 586 BC. After a failed escape attempt from Jerusalem, Zedekiah was captured by Babylonian troops, his sons were killed before his eyes, then he was blinded by Nebuchadnezzar and carried off to Babylon where he eventually died in prison (cf. 2Kg 25:1-7; Jr 52:4-11).
Judah would fall to Babylon, but a few Jerusalemites (cf. Ezk 6:8) would be spared from the sword … famine and … pestilence to be scattered among the nations, so that they may know that I am the LORD.
b. Sign of Trembling While Eating and Drinking (12:17-20)
12:17-20. In this simple sign, Ezekiel was to eat … bread (his meals) with trembling and drink … water with quivering and anxiety. Ezekiel’s actions represented the daily terror the inhabitants of Jerusalem would experience in the siege and famine (cf. 4:16). God had stripped the land of its fullness, and His judgment fell because of their violence, cruelty, and injustice (cf. 7:23; 8:17). God’s purpose: so they would know that I am the LORD (cf. 6:7).
2. Five Messages on the Certainty of Judgment (12:21-14:23)
After his dramatic role-plays, Ezekiel gave a series of five messages (12:21-25; 12:26-28; 13; 14:1-11, 12-23) followed by two signs of exile and trembling (12:1-20). Judgment was certain, and there was no hope for rescue from the Babylonians.
a. First Certainty of Judgment Message: Correcting the Proverb About Visions (12:21-25)
12:21-23. The Lord asked Ezekiel about a popular proverb … concerning the land of Israel … the days are long and every vision fails. That is, time is going by (the days are long), but the message of the prophets (the vision) never comes true (fails). Instead, God would make this proverb cease. When they saw the judgment, they would say, The days draw near and the fulfillment of every vision has come about.
12:24-25. Every hopeful vision and flattering divination that said Jerusalem would never fall was the message of false prophets. They contradicted the judgment prophecies of God’s true messengers, in both Jerusalem (cf. Jr 28:1-4) and Babylon (cf. Jr 29:1, 8-9). Judgment was imminent; God would perform His word (cf. Ezk 12:28).
b. Second Certainty of Judgment Message: Correcting the Proverb About Delay (12:26-28)
12:26-28. The first proverb (vv. 21-25) doubted the fact of God’s judgment. This proverb said judgment was just not imminent: the vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off. Even those Israelites who believed the message of the prophets thought the prophecies would not happen until the distant future. However God said, None of My words will be delayed any longer. The judgment spoken of by the prophets was about to happen. Certainly, whatever the Lord speaks, will be performed.
c. Third Certainty of Judgment Message: Against False Prophets and Prophetesses (13:1-23)
In his third message Ezekiel denounced the false prophets (vv. 1-16) and the prophetesses (see vv. 17-23) who were responsible for the people’s false hope, leading them away from God. Ezekiel first condemned their sin and then pronounced judgment.
13:1-3. The source of the message of the false prophets was their own inspiration (cf. v. 17), not from the Lord. God declared Woe to the foolish prophets who got their message from their own spirit, yet truly had seen nothing. Woe, in the Scriptures means “alas” or “how tragic.”
13:4. Their message was not only false, it was also dangerous. The false prophets were like foxes among ruins. Instead of preventing destruction, they promoted disaster, toppling the stones and living as scavengers off the lies they told.
13:5. The false prophets had not gone up to build the breaks in the wall. Israel’s moral walls were ready to collapse, but the false prophets did not stand in the battle to defend the people.
13:6-9. Although the false prophets claimed to represent God, He had not sent them. In fact because of their false words and lying divination[s], He was against them.
The false prophets would be excluded from the community of Israel. First, they would have no place in the council of God’s people; they would no longer have a leadership role. Second, they would not be written down in the register of the house of Israel; they would be forgotten (cf. Ezr 2:62). Third, the false prophets would never again enter the land of Israel; they would die in captivity.
13:10-12. Judgment on the false prophets was definitely because they misled My people Israel saying, Peace! when there [was] no peace (cf. 13:16; Jr 6:14; 8:11; 23:17; Mc 3:5). Although the people were disobedient, God still identified them as My people (cf. 13:9, 10, 18, 19, 21, 23; 14:8, 9). God faithfully loves His chosen people, even in the midst of discipline. They are always beloved because of His faithful love and covenant with them (Rm 11:28).
The deceptive ministry of the false prophets was like a damaged wall covered with whitewash. Instead of calling Israel’s attention to the serious cracks in its moral foundation (cf. 13:5), these prophets were applying plaster to hide the cracks. The false prophets were compounding Israel’s difficulties by hiding problems that needed to be corrected. When flooding rain … hailstones … violent wind are sent by the Lord, He will tear down the wall … plastered over by the false prophets.
13:13-16. The violent wind of God’s wrath of rain and hailstones would lay bare the wall and its foundation (cf. v. 11) and the false prophets would be gone, for they said peace for her when there is no peace.
13:17-19. Ezekiel was told, set your face (cf. 4:3) against the false prophetesses, the daughters of your people who were prophesying from their own inspiration (cf. v. 2). True prophetesses ministered in both Old and New Testament times (Ex 15:20; Jdg 4:4-5; 2Kg 22:14; Ac 21:8-9). However, these false prophetesses were mediums or sorceresses.
The Lord said, Woe to the women [the false prophetesses], as He had to the false prophets (cf. v. 3). They would sew magic bands on all wrists and made veils to fit people of every stature to deceive the people. Scripture strictly forbids occult practices (cf. Lv 19:26, 31; Dt 18:10-14). By their occultism these false prophetesses would hunt down the lives of My people or preserve the lives of others for their own evil purpose. They used their evil practices in matters of life and death.
By their false teaching and occult practices these women ensnared people who were looking for powerful answers, but rejected the message of the Lord’s prophets. For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, probably in payment for divination since food is better than gold in time of famine, these women profaned the Lord to His people. They sought to exercise diabolical power to put to death some … and to keep others alive who should not live. God was clear: these prophetesses were lying to My people (cf. v. 9).
13:20-21. God was against their magic bands, which they used to hunt lives (cf. vv. 18), preventing people from believing the Lord. He would tear off their magic bands … and tear off their veils and deliver His people from their hands. These women would be exposed as sorceresses, and people would no longer be entrapped (be in your hands). Instead they would know that I am the LORD (cf. 6:7).
13:22-23. The prophetesses had disheartened the righteous with their lies and encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way. God would judge the prophetesses and deliver My people out of your hand. He would end false visions and divination (cf. Dt 18:10) from Israel and save His people from their terrible deception. Likewise, today followers of the Lord should never consult mediums or fortunetellers or dabble in the occult. These are sinful practices, and their answers are never from God.
d. Fourth Certainty of Judgment Message: Condemnation of Idolatry (14:1-11)
14:1-3. Though Ezekiel was still confined to his house (3:24) some elders of Israel went to see Ezekiel to seek a message from him (cf. 8:1).
God revealed to Ezekiel the spiritual condition of these elders. They had set up their idols in their hearts and put stumbling block[s] of their iniquity before their faces (cf. 7:19; 14:3-4, 7; 18:30; 44:12). They followed the teaching of the false prophets and prophetesses. The Lord did not want to be consulted, a technical term for seeking an oracle from a prophet (cf. 2Kg 1:6; 3:11; 8:8), by these hypocritical elders who had idols in their hearts. God knew they worshiped idols, and they did not sincerely want to hear from Him.
14:4-5. However, God would answer them because He wanted to lay hold of (“capture”) the hearts of those who are estranged from Him because of their idols.
14:6. Therefore, His urgent message was Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. Before judgment fell, God called for repentance. God constantly calls sinners back to His love.
14:7-8. The warning against idolatry applied to the house of Israel (cf. vv. 3, 7) as well as to immigrants (ger, “alien”). The law of Moses required these non-Jews who stay[ed] in Israel to obey the laws of God, since they functioned as part of the community of Israel (cf. 47:22-23; Lv 16:29-30; 17:12-16; 18:26; Nm 15:13-16; Is 56:3-8).
If an Israelite or an immigrant who separates himself (apostatized), then dared to inquire of the Lord, He will … answer but not the way the apostate expected. God would respond in judgment and would set His face against that man (cf. 4:3). God would make him a sign and a proverb (cf. 23:10; Jb 17:6; 30:9; Ps 44:14; Jr 24:9; Jl 2:17), so people would know about him and use his name as a bad example (e.g., calling a person who commits treason “Benedict Arnold”) and cut him off from among My people (cf. 13:9).
14:9-11. In the phrase but if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak, the word prevailed is better translated with a negative connotation such as “enticed” or “seduced.” It probably refers to a false prophet who could be bribed into giving a message (cf. Ex 22:16; 2Sm 3:25; 1Kg 22:19-23; Jr 20:7).
Both the false prophet … and the inquirer will bear the punishment of their iniquity. The goal is for the house of Israel to no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God (cf. comments on 11:20; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Hs 2:23).
e. Fifth Certainty of Judgment Message: Unavailing Prayer of Noah, Daniel, and Job (14:12-23)
14:12-20. If a country sins against God so He stretches out His hand against it, the judgment might come by famine (v. 13), beasts (v. 15), sword (v. 17), and/or plague (v. 21; cf. 5:17). Judgment is so certain that even though these righteous men Noah, Daniel and Job pray for it, they could deliver only themselves (cf. Jr 15:1; Gn 15:6). They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.
These three men are strong examples of faith in the Scriptures (Gn 6-9; Jb 1; Dn 6:3). Ezekiel’s spelling of Daniel (in Hb.) differs slightly from the usual spelling of the prophet Daniel. Such a minor difference in name spelling is common (cf. “Azariah” = “Uzziah,” 2Kg 15:1; 2Ch 26:1; “Jehoram” = “Joram,” 2Kg 3:1; 8:16; “Coniah” = “Jechoniah” Jr 22:24; 24:1). The alternative spelling of his name is inconsequential.
14:21. With the general principle established, namely, that in a wicked society the prayers of righteous people will result only in their own deliverance and not that of the broader community, Ezekiel applied it to Jerusalem. If those righteous men, Daniel, Job, and Noah, could not save a wicked land, how could Jerusalem hope to escape without righteous leadership? God would send His four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague (cf. 5:17).
14:22-23. After the judgments, survivors of the siege of Jerusalem will be left and brought to Babylon. God’s justice would be vindicated, and Ezekiel will be comforted. Ezekiel had been brokenhearted over Jerusalem, but when he sees the wicked conduct and actions of these survivors it will confirm that God’s judgment of Jerusalem was not done in vain, whatever I did to it (cf. Gn 18:25).
3. Three Parables on Judgment (15:1–17:24)
After his two signs (12:1-20) and five messages (12:21–14:23) regarding impending judgment, Ezekiel gave three parables (chaps. 15–17) to show there was no possibility of deliverance.
a. Parable of the Fruitless Vine (15:1-8)
15:1-5. In this parable the grape vine illustrates Israel’s condition. Grape vines cannot be used to build anything, not even a peg to hang any vessel. Furthermore, even if the branches are used for fuel and the middle is charred, it cannot be made into anything. Israel is often pictured as a vine, but she had not produced the spiritual fruit God intended (cf. Ps 80:8-18; Is 5:1-7; Jr 2:21; Hs 10:1).
15:6. Just as the wood of the vine is used for fire for fuel, so God has given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15:7-8. God’s judgment was certain: I will set My face against them (for emphasis twice; cf. 4:3). Jerusalem had surrendered to Babylon in 597 BC and escaped total destruction. However, God would bring Babylon back to finish the judgment in 586 BC. Although they had come out of the fire of 597 BC, the fire would yet … consume them in 586 BC. There was no cause for optimism. God would make the land desolate, because they acted unfaithfully to Him.
b. Parables of Unfaithful Jerusalem (16:1-63)
(1) Parable of the Rescued Infant Who Became the Adulterous Wife (16:1-43)
In this extended parable, Jerusalem is portrayed as an abandoned infant who is rescued by the Lord, betrothed to Him, but then becomes an unfaithful wife (cf. Hs 1–2; Jr 2; Is 1:21; 50:1). First her sin is described (vv. 3-34), then her punishment (vv. 35-53), and finally her restoration (vv. 53-63). The parable is spoken to Jerusalem as the representative of the Jewish people, and may also be understood as a chronological illustration of Israel’s history.
16:1-3. Jerusalem is depicted as an unwanted child from the land of the Canaanite, whose father was an Amorite and … mother a Hittite (cf. v. 45). The Amorites were a large tribal group living in Canaan prior to the conquest. Their name is sometimes a synonym with Canaanite (Gn 10:16; 48:22; Jos 5:1; 10:5; Jdg 1:34-36). The Hittites were another people living in Canaan prior to the conquest who had frequent interaction with Israel (cf. Gn 15:20; 23:10-20; Nm 13:29; Jdg 3:5; 1Sm 26:6; 1Kg 10:29). This is not the literal genealogy of Abraham or a specific individual from Jerusalem. Rather, it is a moral genealogy of the Jewish people. The pagan occupants of the land should have been driven out at the conquest to protect Israel from adopting their pagan worship. However, Israel failed to expel them and instead adopted their pagan abominations, behaving as if they were the spiritual children of Canaan (cf. Ex 23:23-24; Dt 12:30; Nm 33:55; 1Kg 11:1-8).
16:4-5. Jerusalem is represented as an abandoned infant. In biblical times, after the navel cord was cut, a newborn was then washed and rubbed with salt to clean and dry the skin. Then the infant was wrapped in cloth for warmth. But these things were not done for Jerusalem. No one looked on her with pity or had compassion. Instead the baby was thrown out into the open field, for she was abhorred. The cruel practice of infanticide was prevalent in the ancient world. It was a common pagan practice to leave unwanted children in fields or by the side of the road to die. It was less sophisticated than modern abortion, but it had the same result and wide social approval.
16:6-7. As the Lord passed by He saw the newborn, still unwashed from its birth, squirming in [her] blood. He did not leave her to die; He said Live! God’s basic desire for all people, proclaimed in one word, is Live! Historically, this parable mirrors God’s choice of Abraham (Gn 12:1-3; Dt 6:6-8).
The Lord made the child grow. She became numerous, literally “a myriad,” which may refer to the patriarchal period when Israel increased from a few in number to a multitude who left Egypt (cf. Ex 12:37-38; Ac 7:14). She grew naturally like plants of the field (i.e., “grew like a weed”). When she grew up to the age of sexual maturity, the age for fine ornaments, her breasts … formed and … hair … grown, she was still naked and bare, in a destitute state, as Israel was in the wilderness.
16:8. God again passed by and noticed she was at the time for love, that is, of marriageable age. God then entered into a covenant of marriage with her. He spread His skirt over her and covered [her] nakedness. He swore to her and entered into a covenant, and she became Mine. The symbolic act of a man spreading his skirt (lower part of his garment) over a marriageable woman signified protection and betrothal (cf. Ru 3:9). God pledged His fidelity to the Jewish people, as represented by Jerusalem, and took her as His own. He chose her because He loved her, not because of any individual qualities that drew her to Him (Dt. 7:6-9). This could refer to the giving of Sinai covenant (cf. Jr 2:2; 3:1; Hs 2:2-23; Mal 2:14).
16:9-14. God bathed and anointed her with oil, then clothed her in splendor: embroidered dress, porpoise skin sandals, fine linen and silk, bracelets, a necklace, a ring, and a beautiful crown on her head. This passage describes in figurative fashion all of God’s provision for Israel when He chose her and made Jerusalem the nation’s capital.
Jerusalem also was given the choicest foods: fine flour, honey, and olive oil. Everything she could possibly need or want, her gracious, generous “Husband” lavished on her. She was exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty and became famous throughout the nations. Her beauty … was perfect because of the splendor of the Lord that he bestowed on her. Historically, this suggests that under God’s blessing during the reigns of David and Solomon Jerusalem became a magnificent city and Israel a powerful nation (cf. 1Kg 10:4-5).
16:15-16. Sadly, Jerusalem turned from the Lord to focus on herself, and she trusted in her beauty and played the harlot because of her fame. Jerusalem forgot the One who had rescued her and cared for her. She turned away from the Lord and worshiped other gods (cf. Dt 6:10-12; 8:11-20). Beginning in Solomon’s reign (1Kg 11:7-13, 970 BC) until Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar (586 BC), Israel and Judah constantly turned from God to idols. Despite brief times of revival, their direction was downward to iniquity.
16:17-19. The people of Jerusalem took every blessing God had given them and used them to play the harlot and worship the idols in high places. She took all the beautiful things given to her by God (vv. 9-14) and corrupted them with idol worship (vv. 17-22). She even used His gold and His silver to make pagan worship symbols—male images (phallic symbols). They took the incense and fine flour God gave them to offer before the idols.
16:20-21. Worst of all, they took the children borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols … you slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols. God called these innocent children His children. The abomination involved sacrificing sons and daughters alive, placing them in the red-hot altar to Molech, and burning them alive in the Kidron Valley (cf. 2Kg 21:6; Jr 7:30-32; 19:4-5; 32:35). The altars built to honor Molech were small or large iron stoves, ornamented with the hands and arms of Molech. When the altars were heated red hot, children would be placed in those hands and burned alive as an offering to Molech, an act called “passing through the fire” (cf. 23:26-39). Child sacrifice is so abhorrent to the Lord, it is specifically forbidden (Lv 18:21; 20:2-5; Dt 12:31; 18:10).
16:22. Jerusalem could fall into these wicked practices because she did not remember the Lord had rescued her in the days of [her] youth.
16:23-26. The Lord cried to Jerusalem for her wickedness: Woe, woe to you! (twice for emphasis, cf. 13:3, 18; 24:6, 9; 34:2). The people had built a shrine and … a high place in every square … at the top of every street (cf. v. 31), and it was filled with pagan altars. Her worship of idols is graphically portrayed as a once-beautiful woman, now a prostitute, who would spread [her] legs to every passer-by.
16:27. So God stretched out His hand against her and allowed her enemies who hate[d] her to diminish [her] rations, referring to the sacking of Jerusalem. Yet Jerusalem did not change her evil behavior. Even the pagan Philistines who plundered Israel (2Ch 21:16-17) were ashamed of Jerusalem’s lewd conduct.
16:28-29. Jerusalem’s harlotry included following the gods of the Egyptians (v. 26) … Assyrians (v. 28) … and Chaldea (Babylon, v. 29), but her lust (pagan worship) was not satisfied. Mentioning these nations implies not only Jerusalem’s worship of their gods, but also her depending on foreign military alliances instead of trusting the Lord.
16:30. The heart of the Jewish people was languishing (sick or weak), which motivated them to abandon God and multiply evil. Jerusalem behaved like a bold-faced (shameless) harlot.
16:31-34. Yet she did not behave like a typical harlot who took money for sexual acts. Jerusalem bribed her lovers to come to her for harlotries. Because you give money and no money is given to you, she was different (lit., “the reverse”) from prostitutes to whom men give gifts—she gave gifts to all her lovers to bribe them. Her wickedness was worse than adultery and ordinary prostitution.
16:35-37. Jerusalem had degenerated from beautiful royalty (cf. v. 13) to a detestable harlot (vv. 35, 36). Her sins were summarized: detestable idols, sacrifice of sons … to idols, multiple lovers.
16:38-39. So God would judge her like women who commit adultery or shed blood. God would use her lovers (the pagan nations) to destroy her. They would tear down the shrines, strip her of her clothing … and … leave her … naked. This parallels the punishment prescribed for a woman caught in adultery (cf. Gn 38:24; Lv 20:10; Dt 22:21-24). Jerusalem would again be as defenseless before her enemies as she had been when she was an infant rescued by the Lord (cf. vv. 4-8).
16:40-41. God had said that if a city in Israel practiced idolatry its people were to be killed by the sword and the city was to be burned (cf. Dt 13:15-16). God would cause a sword to fall on Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians (cf. Ezk 23:47). After Jerusalem’s fall Babylon would burn her houses and execute the Lord’s judgments on it. God’s judgment on Jerusalem would finally stop her from playing the harlot.
16:42. After her destruction God would calm His fury. God’s jealous anger is not petty or vindictive. Instead it is an essential display of His absolute holiness (cf. Ex 20:1-3; Is 6:3; 42:8; 45:5-7)
16:43. The root of Jerusalem’s sin was her failure to remember the days of her youth (cf. vv. 22, 61, 63). All her beauty and success were from the Lord’s gracious favor. Turning from Him, she cut herself off from the source of blessing. Worse, she betrayed and angered the One who loved her and had raised her to greatness. He wanted only to bless her.
(2) Parable of the Sisters: Jerusalem, Sodom, and Samaria (16:44-59)
The first parable of Jerusalem is the story of Jerusalem as an adulterous wife (vv. 1-43). The second parable is an analogy of Jerusalem and the wicked sisters Samaria, and Sodom (vv. 44-59). If Jerusalem’s depraved sisters were judged for their sin, how could Jerusalem, who was even more wicked, hope to escape?
16:44-45. This proverb like mother, like daughter is applied to Jerusalem. Her actions (that of her citizens) were characteristic of her family heritage. Her mother had loathed her husband and her children. Ezekiel repeated the ancestral background of Jerusalem for emphasis. Jewish Jerusalem behaved just like the city’s past pagan residents (cf. comments on v. 3).
16:46-48. In this family story Samaria, to the north, and Sodom, to the south, are Jerusalem’s sisters. The daughters are residents of the cities. Both cities were known for their wickedness. Yet, Jerusalem acted more corruptly in all her conduct.
16:49-50. The guilt of Sodom was twofold. First, she had abundant food, but did not help the poor and needy. Second, the Sodomites committed abominations, referring, at least in part, to their sexual misbehavior before the Lord (cf. Gn 19:4-5; Lv 18:22-23; Rm 1:18-22). Thus Sodom is often mentioned as an example of depravity (e.g., Dt. 29:23; 32:32; Is 1:9-10; 3:9; Jr 23:4; Lm 4:6; Mt 10:15; 11:23-24). Therefore, God removed Sodom and her daughters (surrounding areas) in the famous judgment of fire and brimstone (cf. Gn 19:23-25).
16:51-52. The sin of Samaria was syncretistic worship after Solomon’s kingdom was divided (930 BC). Jeroboam set up gold calf altars in Dan and Bethel combining paganism and biblical worship (1Kg 12:25-33; Hs 8:5; Am 8:14). Yet, Samaria did not commit half of Jerusalem’s sins. Under God’s judgment, Assyria destroyed Samaria and the northern kingdom fell (721 BC, 2Kg 17). But Jerusalem’s sins were such a disgrace that she acted more abominably than they, so in comparison Sodom and Samaria would appear righteous.
16:53. Having announced judgment on Jerusalem for her sin, the LORD indicated there was yet hope. The Lord will restore the captivity of Sodom … Samaria … and Jerusalem. There will be a national restoration of these cities in the millennial kingdom, with Jerusalem in the forefront (cf. chaps. 33–48).
16:54-58. Jerusalem would feel ashamed of her sin. In the day of her pride, when Jerusalem was deep in sin, she would not let the word Sodom be heard from her lips. However, once Jerusalem’s wickedness was uncovered, she became the reproach of her pagan neighbors, Edom (cf. 2Kg 8:20-22; 2Ch 28:17; Ob) and the Philistines (Jos 13:2; Jdg 13:1; 1Sm 4:2; 14–17). Jerusalem would be restored, but she would first have to bear the penalty of her abominations.
16:59. God’s faithfulness to His covenants concludes the parable. Jerusalem had despised the oath by breaking the covenant with spiritual adultery (cf. vv. 15-43). This was the Mosaic covenant, the only covenant Israel entered into through an oath (cf. Ex 24:7-8; Dt 28:14-68; 29:10-21). The nation, represented by Jerusalem, had broken that covenant and would suffer the consequences of being dispersed from the land, exactly as described in the covenantal agreement (Dt 28).
(3) The Faithfulness of God and the Everlasting Covenant (16:60-63)
16:60. Despite Israel’s failure to be faithful to Him, nevertheless the Lord will faithfully remember His covenant He made with her in the days of [her] youth. This is the unconditional Abrahamic covenant (Gn 12:1-3; 17:7, 13, 19; 1Ch 16:17; Ps 105:10). Then He would establish the everlasting covenant, the new covenant (Jr 31:31-34; Ezk 11:18-20, 36:26-28, 37:26-28). The unfaithfulness of people does not change the faithfulness of God (cf. Lv 26:42-45; 2Tm 2:13; Rm 11:29).
16:61-63. When God establishes the new covenant Jerusalem will remember and be ashamed of her sinful past. Then Jerusalem will be restored and even the sisters Sodom and Samaria shall know that I am the LORD … when I have forgiven you for all that you have done.
c. Parable of the Two Eagles (17:1-24)
Chapter 16 presented the theological background for Jerusalem’s condition. Chapter 17 is a parable with a more political perspective. For the history of the events, see 2Kgs 24:8-20; 2Ch 36:9-13; Jr 37; 52:1-7.
17:1-2. God commanded Ezekiel to tell a riddle and parable to the house of Israel. A riddle in Hebrew is an enigmatic saying that teaches a lesson and often requires explanation (e.g., Jdg 14:12-19). A parable is a story that teaches a lesson. Here the story with explanation is presented in cycles (Ezk 17:3-10; 11-21), and concluded with an epilogue of hope (vv. 22-24).
17:3-4, 11-12. First, came the riddle of the eagle and the cedar. The eagle pictured the beauty and power of Babylon (v. 12), and Lebanon (v. 3) stood for Jerusalem (v. 12). The eagle had gone to Lebanon and plucked off the top of the cedar tree and replanted the bough in a land of merchants … city of traders (Babylon). Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and took its king (v. 12), the top shoot of the tree, and her princes and brought them to … Babylon and replanted the shoot there (cf. 2Kg 24:8-16). This referred to Nebuchadnezzar’s attack on Jerusalem (597 BC) when he deposed King Jehoiachin and took him prisoner to Babylon (2Kg 23–24).
17:5-6, 13-14. Yet he (the eagle i.e., Nebuchadnezzar) did not destroy the land completely, but took some of the seed of the land and … planted it in fertile soil so that it sprouted (v. 6) into a spreading vine. Nebuchadnezzar weakened Jerusalem, but he did not destroy it at that time. Instead he set up Zedekiah as a vassal king (planted … in fertile soil). Jerusalem’s military might was gone, but as long as Israel was in subjection to Nebuchadnezzar, her people could continue to live in peace. The eagle took Zedekiah, a member of the royal family, and put him under oath (v. 13) to be loyal to Babylon. Though he took away into exile the mighty of the land (cf. 2Kg 24:14) and Judah was in subjection, she could continue as long as she kept her treaty/covenant with Nebuchadnezzar.
17:7-8, 15. This parable is of the second eagle and the vine. Another … eagle similar to the first, came along and the vine was encouraged toward him. This new eagle was Egypt (v. 15), which influenced Zedekiah to rebel against Babylon. Judah sent envoys to Egypt, seeking horses and troops from the Egyptians (v. 15). When Ezekiel spoke this prophecy (592–91 BC; 8:1; 20:1) Zedekiah’s final revolt had not yet happened (588 BC), so Ezekiel predicted Zedekiah’s revolt about three years before it happened.
17:9-10, 16-21. The consequences for Jerusalem, the vine (v. 8), would be disastrous. Babylon would pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, and Jerusalem would completely wither because Jerusalem despised the oath (cf. Jr 27). Zedekiah would die in Babylon because Pharaoh … will not help him in the war. God would spread His net and snare over Zedekiah to bring him to Babylon with his troops, and Jerusalem would fall by the sword, and the survivors would be scattered (cf. 2Kg 24).
17:22-23. The parable of the eagles ends with a Messianic promise, using similar imagery but in a new way. In the future, the Lord GOD will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and … plant it on a high … mountain of Israel. The Jewish people will not be destroyed because God will restore them to their land in the end times. The transplanting of the young twig a tender one has messianic implications (Ps 89; Is 11:1; Jr 23:5-6; 33:14-16; Zch 3:8; 6:12-13). The Messiah is called a shoot from the root of Jesse, King David’s father. This is the One whom God would establish as King over Israel. When He reigns as a stately cedar, He will meet all the needs of His kingdom (i.e., He will bear fruit) and provide protection for all. Birds (nations) of every kind will … nest in the shade of its branches (Mt 13:31-32), indicating that His reign will have a worldwide scope. The mountain of Israel refers to Mount Zion and the temple, where Messiah Jesus will reign as King (cf. Ezk 20:40; Ps 2:6; Mc 4:1-3). When the Messiah reigns from Mount Zion, all the trees of the field (the nations) will know that I am the LORD (cf. Is 56:7; Is 11:1-9).
17:24. God has a plan for all nations. The Lord has the right to bring down … and dry up world powers, but His plan for the nations will be fulfilled in the restoration of Israel under the reign of King Messiah. Then all the nations of the earth will know I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it.
This prophecy (vv. 22-24) was not fulfilled when the Jewish people returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity (cf. 11:17). The fulfillment awaits God’s establishment of Israel in the millennium under the Messiah Jesus. At that time God’s kingdom will encompass the entire world (cf. Dn 2:44-45; Zch 14:3-4, 16-17; Hab 2:14).
4. Message on Individual Responsibility (18:1-32)
Having shown the justice of God’s judgment on the nation in the three previous parables, Ezekiel next demonstrated that individuals in Judah are not victims of their parents’ bad behavior but that they share responsibility for judgment because of their own sins.
18:1-4. A familiar proverb is again used (cf. 12:21-28) to correct Israel’s wrong ideas: The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge (cf. Jr 31:29-30). This proverb replaces personal responsibility with blame, i.e., “What is happening to us is not our fault! We are suffering because someone else sinned.” People were accusing God of punishing them unjustly (cf. v. 25).
This proverb may have arisen from a misunderstanding of the consequences of sin. The Lord visits “the iniquity of the father on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” (cf. Ex 20:5; 34:7; Dt 5:9). The point is that the wicked behavior of one generation has ongoing consequences to the next. It does not mean one person is punished for the sin of another. Everyone is personally responsible to God for his or her sins. All souls are mine said God, and The soul who sins will die (cf. v. 20).
18:5-18. The example of three generations illustrates God’s point. First, God gave the example of the “righteous” father who “practices justice” (vv. 5-9); second, the “violent son” of that righteous father (vv. 10-13); and third, the righteous son of a violent father (vv. 14-18). Each case described the individual’s actions and God’s response.
18:5-9. In the example of the first generation was the righteous man who practices justice (toward his fellow man) and righteousness (toward God). He did not worship idols (cf. 8:12; 16:24-25, 31, 39; 18:15; 22:9). He kept himself morally pure; he did not defile his neighbor’s wife by committing adultery with her (Ex 20:14; Lv 20:10). He maintained personal purity by not having intercourse with his wife during her menstrual period (forbidden according to Lv 18:19). He did not oppress anyone. He was concerned for social justice (cf. Dt 24:13-15). He did not commit robbery (Ex 20:15) or even lend money on interest (Dt 23:19-20). He gave food to the hungry and clothing to the needy (Dt 15:7). He kept away from iniquity and executed true justice. He was a sterling example of righteousness, obeying the statutes and ordinances of the Lord. As a result, God announced that he is righteous and will surely live.
18:10-13. In the example of the second generation was the righteous man’s violent son who sheds blood. He was the wicked opposite of his father in every detail (defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, worships idols, lends money on interest). He will not live! He has committed all these abominations … his blood will be on his own head. Despite having a righteous father, the wicked son is responsible for his own behavior.
18:14-18. In the example of the third generation was the son of the violent man who has observed all his father’s sins but does not do likewise. Instead, this man followed in the righteous path of his grandfather (cf. vv. 6-9). He executes God’s ordinances and walks in His statutes; he will not die for his father’s inequity, he will surely live.
18:19-20. Each person is responsible for his own behavior. The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity (see comments at vv. 1-4). The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. The proverb about the father’s eating sour grapes (v. 2) was completely false. When the people were judged it was not for someone in the past generation who sinned, but because the people in the present generation were sinful.
18:21-23. God called the nation to turn back to Him and escape judgment. If the wicked man turns from all his sins and keeps God’s decrees he shall … live (cf. 14:6; Pr 28:13). The phrase turns from means to “repent” (cf. Ezk 14:6). The Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (v. 32; 33:11). He wants people to turn from their wicked ways and live.
18:24. But God does not simply excuse the sins of someone who has been walking in righteousness and then turns away to iniquity. He will die. None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Righteousness must be consistent, not random.
18:25-28. A person who once followed God’s law but who later turned to idolatry or immorality was no longer righteous. His past righteousness would not negate his present sins. But when this formerly righteous person, who became wicked, repents and turns away from his wickedness … and practices justice … he will save his life. God is willing to forgive and receive the repentant individual.
18:29-32. Israel charged God with unrighteousness, but God responded with a challenge: Is it not your ways that are not right? (cf. Jb 40:8). God reminded Israel of the responsibility of individual behavior: I will judge you … each according to his conduct. This is a call to repent and turn away from … transgressions. Then God would give them a new heart and a new spirit (cf. Ezk 11:19; 36:26; Jr 31:31-34) in right relationship with Him. He repeated, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezk 18:23; 33:11) and declared, Therefore, repent and live. Despite God’s compassion on the wicked and His call to repent, He also decrees the death of the wicked and holds those who fail to repent accountable. In this God is glorified as the Just Judge of all the earth.
5. Parable of Lamentation for Israel’s Final Kings (19:1-14)
The section on the futility of false optimism (spanning chaps. 12–19) concludes with a lament or funeral poem/song over Israel’s final kings. This is the first (19:1-14) of five laments in Ezekiel. Three others are for Tyre (cf. 26:17-18; 27:1-36; 28:12-19), and a fourth is for Egypt (32:1-16).
19:1-2. This was a lamentation for the princes of Israel, the last four kings reigning in Jerusalem (cf. comments on 7:27; 12:8-11). The dirge was not over one individual. It was sung for the “demise” of the Davidic dynasty just prior to the fall of Jerusalem. It opens with the image of lions, which are common representations of the Davidic dynasty and Jerusalem (e.g., Gn 49:9; 1Kg 10:19-20; Is 29:1; Rv 5:5). The mother lioness is the nation of Israel who reared her cubs (that is, from whom came these kings).
19:3-4. The first of the lion cubs was Jehoahaz, the wicked son of good king Josiah (2Kg 23:24-32, reigned 609 BC). He learned to tear his prey and devoured men, doing evil in the sight of the Lord. During his three-month reign, he made a reputation for cruelty, and nations heard about him. He was captured and deposed by Pharaoh Neco II, who brought him with hooks, probably literal hooks in his nose attached to a rope-leash, and paraded as a conquest trophy to Egypt, where he died in captivity (cf. 2Kg 23:31-34; Jr 22:11-12).
19:5. The next of her cubs who was king of Judah was Jehoiakim (reigned 609–598 BC). Judah’s hope was lost under his pro-Egyptian rule. He is not highlighted in this lament. The lioness then took another of her cubs and made him a young lion—a ruler. This was Jehoiachin (2Kg 24:8-17; 2Ch 36:8-10).
19:6-9. Jehoiachin’s wicked rule (598–597 BC) was cruel. He learned to tear his prey … and devoured men (cf. v. 3). He destroyed Judah’s fortified towers and laid waste Judah’s cities. His corrupt reign appalled his citizens. Then nations, Babylon and her allies, set against him and caught Jehoiachin. The captured king was brought to the king of Babylon … in hunting nets, a description which conjures the image of hunting animals by spreading nets over a pit. Parading prize captives as wild animals was a common practice. Jehoiachin was imprisoned for 37 years Although released by Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, Jehoiachin never returned to Judah, the land he had ravaged by his irresponsibility (2Kg 24:8-17; 25:27-30; Jr 52:31-34). So his voice would be heard no more … in Israel.
19:10-11. The lament changes from the image of lions to a vine, a frequent figure of Israel (cf. Is 5:1-7; Ezk 15; 17:5-10; Mt 21:33-41). Zedekiah, Israel’s final king (ruled 597–586 BC), is the prince addressed here. The mother, Israel, was like a vine. In her past glory, Israel was fruitful, prospering under the blessing of God by abundant waters (Dt 8:7-8). She was full of branches producing many rulers. Her branches were fit for scepters of rulers and raised above the clouds, showing the grandeur of the Davidic dynasty.
19:12. But now the vine was plucked up in fury and cast down. Its strong branch was torn off. An east wind (Babylon, from the east) decimated the vine, the land of Israel, and the Davidic kings. Its strong branch, the king, was torn off, so the nation withered and fire consumed it.
19:13-14. In judgment, God uprooted the nation, deporting her to Babylon: now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. After Zedekiah was overthrown the Davidic line of kings ended, and there [was] not in it a strong branch, a scepter to rule in Judah. Zedekiah was the last king from the Davidic dynasty until Messiah Jesus came, just as the prophets foretold (Gn 49:10; Dn 9:26; Lk 1:30-33). Not until Jesus returns will a son of David sit on a throne in Jerusalem to reign as Israel’s king (cf. Dn 2:44; Is 52:1-10; Jr 23:3-8).
C. History of Judah’s Iniquity (20:1–24:27)
This review of Judah’s history of iniquity demonstrates Israel’s continuing pattern of sin. Chapter 19 showed that the end of the Davidic line was certain. What follows are further messages of judgment: a review of Israel’s history (chap. 20); the sword that would strike Jerusalem (chap. 21); prophecies of judgment on Jerusalem for specific sins (chap. 22); and a comparison of the northern kingdom (Oholah/Samaria) and the southern kingdom (Oholibah/Judah), highlighting Judah’s greater corruptions (chap. 23). It ends with the parable of the boiling pot and the example of Ezekiel’s grief over the fall of Jerusalem (chap. 24).
1. Message of Israel’s Past Rebellion and Restoration (20:1-49)
a. Israel’s Past Rebellion (20:1-32)
20:1-3. This is the third dated prophecy of Ezekiel (cf. 1:2; 8:1), about 11 months after the previous recorded date (cf. 8:1). The date emphasizes its importance: The seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, in the seventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile (10th of Av, August 14, 591 BC). The message was given when certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD (cf. 8:1; 14:1). This is a technical term for seeking an oracle from God, but He refused to respond to their request: I will not be inquired of by you (cf. comments on 14:3). The answer God gave was not a response to their question.
20:4. God asked Ezekiel, Will you judge them? (expressed twice for emphasis). In Hebrew it is not so much of a question as a command to “Arraign these people!” (cf. 22:2). God commanded Ezekiel to review Israel’s history to make them know the abominations of their fathers as the basis for making a judgment. Ezekiel was to act as the prosecuting attorney and judge (cf. 22:2b), and he presented the evidence of Israel’s sin in overview: (1) God’s choice of Israel and deliverance from Egypt (20:1-9); (2) the people’s movements from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh-barnea (20:10-17); (3) their wilderness wanderings (20:18-26); and (4) their idolatry after entering the land of Israel (20:27-31).
20:5-6. The history of Israel begins with the Abrahamic covenant: On the day God chose Israel to be His people (cf. Gn 12:1-3; 15; 17:1-8) and swore to the descendants of … Jacob (Gn. 26:2-5; 28:1-14).
God made Himself known to them in … Egypt to Moses at the burning bush: I am the LORD your God (cf. Ex 3:1-10). While in Egyptian slavery, God swore to bring them out from … Egypt into a land that I had selected for them … a land flowing with milk and honey, a fruitful land (cf. Ex 3:8; Lv 20:24; Nm 13:27; Jr 11:5), the glory of all lands. Israel is God’s chosen land for His chosen people (cf. Dt 7:6-11; 8:7-10; 12:5-11; Jr 3:19).
20:7-8. God loved them (cf. Dt 7:6-9) and asked Israel to cast away … the idols of Egypt. The book of Exodus did not detail Israel’s religious life in Egypt, but this verse indicates they had taken on the paganism of Egypt while living there 400 years. Even Moses failed to keep the most basic command to obey the Abrahamic covenant and circumcise his sons as commanded by God (cf. Gn 17:10-14; Ex 4:24-25).
But Israel rebelled against God’s command. They did not listen to Him or cast away the detestable things … or forsake the idols of Egypt (cf. Ezk 23:3; Jos 24:14). Even in Egypt Israel deserved judgment but was spared from God’s wrath and given an opportunity to believe and obey by His Passover deliverance (cf. Ex 12:13).
20:9. God’s faithfulness to Israel was, and is, based on His grace, mercy, and His zeal to safeguard His own reputation, for the sake of My name (cf. vv. 14, 22; 36:21; Dt 7: 6-9; Is 37:35; 43:25). The name of God expresses His character; His reputation among the godless nations was at stake in His covenant faithfulness toward His people (cf. Ezk 36:20-23; Ps 23:3; Is 48:9-11). The Lord would not allow His name to be profaned (ridiculed, treated as less than holy) in the sight of the nations by failing to care for His people (cf. Nm 14:15-16), so He took them out of … Egypt.
20:10-12. When they left Egypt, God brought them into the wilderness where He gave them My statutes and … ordinances at Sinai (cf. Ex 19–34). God gave His sabbaths as the sign of the Mosaic covenant (cf. Ex 31:13-17). These elders listening to Ezekiel were reminded of the purpose of the statutes. First, if a man observes them, he will live (cf. Lv 18:4-5), that is, have a right relationship with the Lord. Second they would know, in an intimate, personal way that I am the LORD who sanctifies them (cf. Ex 31:13; Lv 20:8). This is not works righteousness. Obedience to the law must be motivated by faith (cf. Gn 15:6), not empty ritualism (cf. Is 1:11; Am 4:21-24).
20:13. Rather than keep God’s commandments, the house of Israel rebelled against Him even in the wilderness (cf. Nm 10:11–14:35) and continued in idolatry (Ezk 20:16). They did not walk in God’s statutes and they greatly profaned the sabbaths. Since the Sabbath was one of the primary signs of the Mosaic covenant (cf. Ex 31:13-17; Is 56:1-8), observance of the Sabbath was an outward sign of inward devotion to the Lord. Failure to keep the Sabbath was one of the causes of God’s judgment and the 70-year captivity (22:8, 26; 23:38; 44:24; 45:17; 46:3; Jr 17:19-27; 25:8-11; Neh 13:17-18).
20:14-17. For their disobedience in the wilderness, the people deserved to die, but for the sake of [His] name (vv. 9, 14, 22) God spared them. There was specific judgment against the generation who doubted God at Kadesh and believed the evil report of the 10 spies (Nm 13–14). They were not brought into the land of promise, but their children born in the wilderness entered the land along with Joshua and Caleb (Nm 14:30-31).
20:18-22. God repeated His offer of blessing and His call to their children in the wilderness to obey: Do not … defile yourselves with … idols. Instead He required them to recognize that I am the LORD your God (18:19, 20); walk in My statutes … sanctify My sabbaths. But the second generation rebelled as their parents did. Yet God preserved them, acting in mercy for the sake of My name (vv. 21b-22; cf. 20:9, 14).
20:23-24. God did not destroy them for their sin, but He swore to them (cf. Dt 28) that if they sinned, he would scatter them among the nations (Dt 28:64-68).
20:25-26. If they chose to disobey God He would abandon them to their sin and its consequences. He gave them (over to) statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. Some have suggested this is a reference to the Mosaic law being too hard to keep. However, this view should be rejected because it lowers the intrinsic quality of the Mosaic law as an expression of God’s righteousness found in Scripture. The NT declares that God’s law is “holy, righteous, and good” (Rm 7:12), and even sinners must “agree that the law is good” (Rm 7:16; 1Tm 1:8). Further, God said the one who keeps His law will live (cf. Ezk 20:11; Lv 18:4-5). It is better to see these statutes and ordinances as commandments of the pagan religions that Israel followed. Once the people rejected God’s law, they turned to pagan religions, and the Lord gave them over to those practices, until the time of judgment fell. They became unclean by observing the ordinances of paganism, such as the sacrifice of their firstborn (cf. Ezk 16:20). God’s giving over of the people to sin was His judicial act. Because they refused to follow His righteous ways, God would abandon them to the consequences of their actions (cf. Rm 1:24-28; 2Th 2:11-12).
20:27-29. When God brought the people into the land which I swore to give to them (cf. Gn 12:1-7; Ex 33:1-3; Dt 34:4), they still blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me. Sin is very personal to the Lord. They adopted Canaanite religion and offered … their sacrifices to idols on every high hill and under every leafy tree (6:14).
20:30-32. The house of Israel worshiped detestable things and defiled themselves after the manner of their ancestors, with idolatry and child sacrifice, causing their children to pass through the fire (cf. comments on 16:20). Therefore God would not be inquired of by these elders (v. 3). This review of Israel’s history proved Israel wanted to be like the nations … serving idols/gods of wood and stone.
b. Israel’s Future Restoration (20:33-44)
20:33-34. Despite their past failures, the Lord God would make Himself known to Israel with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and even with wrath poured out. This recalls God’s deliverance of Israel in the past (cf. Ex 6:6; 32:11; Dt 4:34-35; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; Ps 136:10-12). He would faithfully continue to be king over Israel (e.g., Ps 145:1; Is 32:22). God would bring the Jewish people out from all the lands where you [were] scattered. This likely refers not to the return from Babylon because of the universal scope of the return. Therefore it predicts the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to Israel before the future tribulation.
20:35-36. After their return to the land of Israel, God will drive some of those who returned out to the wilderness, where God’s judgment would begin. This wilderness judgment refers specifically to the events in the period before the return of the Messiah, commonly called the tribulation. Revelation 12:14 describes the woman, Israel, fleeing to the wilderness in the second half of the tribulation. There will be a purging process as in the wilderness wanderings when Israel left Egypt.
20:37. God would discipline those who had rebelled, using His rod to correct His people. Through this process, the Shepherd of Israel (cf. Gn 48:15; Ps 23:1; 80:1; Mt 2:6; Heb 13:20) will bring you [Israel] into the bond of the covenant. This is not the Mosaic covenant, which Israel had broken and invalidated by her unbelief (cf. Ezk 16:59; Jr 31:31-32). This is the new covenant, an everlasting covenant, enacted to restore Israel to the Lord (cf. Ezk 16:60; Jr 31:31-33). The new covenant was inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Messiah Jesus (cf. Lk 22:20), but awaits its fulfillment when He returns and fulfills all the promises to faithful Israel. On the relationship of the new covenant to the other covenants, see comments on Jr 31:31-37.
20:38. At that future time, God will purge those rebels who do not belong to Him. Those who transgress against the Lord would not enter the land of Israel, just as the generation who left Egypt did not enter the promised land because of their disbelief (Nm 14:32-33). These events were not fulfilled in the Babylonian exile. Those who returned were not the purified nation that this passage describes. God’s process of purification means only those faithful to Him will enjoy the covenant of blessing.
20:39. Using irony, God said for now, Go serve … idols; this was Israel’s current spiritual condition. But later, at the end of days, the nation will surely listen to the Lord and honor My holy name (39:7; 43:7).
20:40-41. Then on the Lord’s holy mountain … the high mountain of Israel, the temple mount (Pss 2:6; 3:4; 15:1; Is 11:9; 56:7; 57:13; 65:11; Ob 16; Zph 3:11), the whole house of Israel will serve the Lord in the land of Israel. He will accept the people, and seek their contributions and … gifts (cf. 40:38-43) because they would be offered from a pure heart (cf. Ps 24:4-6). God will prove Himself holy among you in the sight of the nations.
Israel had profaned her God, turning away from Him to idolatry. In the future, however, the nation will set God apart so all the nations will sense God’s holiness (Is 56:1-8). This did not happen at the return from Babylon, and it is not happening now through the Church. These events are future, when Israel recognizes Jesus as Messiah (Zch 12:10), and all Israel will be saved (Rm 11:26-27).
20:42-44. God’s restoration of Israel has two key changes: First, there will be a true recognition of God. Israel will know that I am the LORD. The nation will know Him in a personal intimate way, as He revealed Himself by covenant to Abraham (Gn 15:1-18), to David (2Sm 7:8-24), and in the new covenant (Jr 31:31-34). The Lord will keep His word for My name’s sake to demonstrate His covenant loyalty in fulfilling His promises and for His honor (cf. Ezk 20:5-9; 36:21; Rm 11:27). Second, this knowledge of God is a result of repentance when Israel comes to the Lord. She will remember the ways she had defiled herself and will loathe herself for all the evil she has done (cf. Ezk 6:9; 16:61; Zch 12:10ff.). The shame Israel should have felt when she sinned in the past will finally be manifested when God restores her in the future.
That God will bring about these conditions in the future and is not producing them in the present era through the Church derives from His sovereign purposes for Israel the nation. God formed Israel to mediate His name to the world (Ex 19:6; Is 43:7; 44:23; 60:7, 13, 21; Ezk 39:13; Zch 2:5). Israel fulfills this mission almost exclusively as God reveals Himself to the world through her display of holiness (Dt 4:5-6; 26:18-19). He also reveals Himself through His historical acts with Israel as a nation, including judging the people (Dt 29:24-25; Ezk 5:8, 13; 6:14; 7:9; 12:15-17; 15:7; 21:5; 39:21-24) and rescuing and restoring them (Ex 6:7; 7:5; 14:4, 18; Jos 2:10; Pss 67:1-2, 7; 102:13-15; Is 49:26; 52:7-10; 55:3-5; Ezk 36:22-36; 39:27). Even Israel’s failure did not cancel this purpose, her failure being foreknown by God (Dt 29:4; Is 29:10; Ps 69:22-23; Is 42:16-19; 43:8-13, 22-28). But failure and judgment are not the end of Israel’s story. God also promised to restore the nation and cause her to fulfill His purpose for her (Lv 26:43-44; Is 11:11-12; 48:9; Jr 30:3, 10, 11; 31:8; Ezk 20:33-44; 34:11-16; Am 9:11-15), after which time she will radiate God’s glory to the world. Robert L. Saucy (“Is Christ the Fulfillment of National Israel’s Prophecies? Yes and No!” unpublished paper presented at the Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, November 2010, 17) writes:
These prophecies of Israel’s restoration and fulfillment of purpose refer to the same Israel who had a history of disobedience. It is the blind and deaf disobedient servant to which the spiritual transformation and restoration as a nation are promised again and again in Isaiah, not a new spiritual Israel [that is, the Church]. According to Ezekiel it is the Israel that God brought out of the land of Egypt and who had profaned the Lord’s name by their disobedience (20:9, 13, 16, 21-22) that is going to be renewed and restored through a new purging even as their fathers were judged in the wilderness (20:34-44).
It is Israel as a nation, and not … people gathered from all nations as is the church today. In connection with the promise of a new covenant, the Lord declared that only if the fixed orders of nature ceased would “the offspring of Israel also … cease from being a nation before Me forever” (Jer. 31:35-36, emphasis added). It is as a nation among nations that Israel will become a blessing to other nations that they might receive the same salvation and become God’s people alongside of it (see Is. 19:23-25).
The Church does not fulfill Israel’s promises related to the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Saucy argues, “As a spiritual community of God’s people, the church cannot manifest a paradigm of the kingdom of God before the nations as is prophesied through the theocracy of Israel, where all of the structures of human society are ruled by God and there is no Caesar governing the people along with Christ, as is true during this age of the church” (Saucy, 18). The prophecies regarding Israel’s restoration include an incomparable display of God’s power and glory, something not seen in the demonstration of the present manifestation of the kingdom in the Church. “Israel’s witness to the nations was to be primarily through God’s historical actions in restoring and blessing that nation before the eyes of the world. Freed from the persecution and oppression of the nations, the spiritually transformed Israel would live in their land in God’s peace and prosperity, exalted among the nations who look to the God of Israel for the same blessing” (Saucy, 19). But the Church witnesses through its suffering (Jn 15:18-21; Ac 9:15; 1Pt 4:12-19), and at the end of the age, the Church wanes in its influence (see Mt 24:10-12, 37-39) and evil becomes pervasive (2Th 2:3-12; Rv 19:17-19). These points illustrate that the Church is not the means whereby these purposes of God will be realized. The restoration of Israel in the future is what Ezekiel pictures.
c. Parable of the Forest Fire (20:45-49)
20:45-46. After an overview of Israel’s past and future, Ezekiel focused on the imminent judgment for sin. Ezekiel was told to set your face (cf. 4:3) in judgment against three areas. Teman, a poetic term for “south” as well as the proper name of a city in Edom, to Judah’s south (cf. Am 1:12; Jr 49:7). The south is the Negev, the southern region of Israel.
20:47. Although Babylon’s army could come from the north (cf. 9:1-2) and the focus of their attack was on Judah, their invasion would cover the whole land south to north (cf. 21:4). God was going to devastate Judah by fire, a phrase often used of judgment and invasion (cf. 15:7; Is 10:16-19; Jr 15:14; 17:4, 27; 21:14). No one would escape. It will consume every green tree … as well as every dry tree.
20:48-49. The people mocked Ezekiel, saying he was just speaking in parables, and they refused to understand them. But God said, all flesh will see that I, the LORD have kindled the fire and it shall not be quenched. The upcoming sword judgments (chap. 21) are inevitable.
2. Four Messages of the Sword (21:1-32)
Because the people mocked Ezekiel’s message about the fire (20:45-49), God gave him four specific messages of coming judgment by the sword, a term used 15 times in this chapter to emphasize the violent form His judgment would take against the people.
a. The Sword Drawn (21:1-7)
21:1-2. Ezekiel was to set his face (cf. 4:3) toward Jerusalem, speak against the sanctuaries (the temple), and prophesy against the land of Israel. God was against (cf. 5:8) His land, His Holy City, and His dwelling place. The Lord emphasized His relationship and ownership.
21:3-5. Although Babylon was the immediate instrument of judgment, God was clearly behind this judgment: I will draw My sword (vv. 3, 5) and I will cut off. In the course of war … both the righteous and the wicked would die. Just as a forest fire burns both the dry and the green trees, so judgment would be indiscriminate. War and natural disaster sweep away everyone in their path, the guilty as well as the innocent (cf. Lk 13:1-4). Scripture teaches that each individual is responsible for his own righteousness or wickedness before the Lord (cf. comments on chap. 18), but it does not promise that the righteous will supernaturally escape disaster. Ezekiel stressed the extent of the coming judgment, against all flesh from south to north (cf. 20:47). When judgment came, then the people would know that … the LORD had drawn My sword (cf. v. 3).
21:6-7. Ezekiel was brokenhearted about their sin and the coming judgment (cf. 9:8; 11:13). God commanded him to show his breaking heart and bitter grief by groaning in their sight—he was to “cry out and wail” (v. 12). So when the people ask Why do you groan? Ezekiel was to explain to them it was because of the news that the fall of Jerusalem was coming. The awful realization of their judgment would be devastating. Every spirit will faint (cf. 7:17). Yet there was no doubt: Behold, it comes and it will happen, declares the Lord GOD.
b. The Sword Sharpened (21:8-17)
21:8-10. God’s drawn sword was sharpened (vv. 9, 10, 11) and polished (vv. 9, 10) to move fast and flash like lightening (vv. 10, 15) ready for the slaughter of His judgment. This song to the sword of judgment shifts to the image of a rod that will fall in judgment on every tree (cf. comments on 20:47).
The term rod (shevet) simply means a stick. One use for it is the scepter of a king (cf. Gn 49:9-10), used like a shepherd’s rod to rule and direct his people. Thus, Ezekiel was saying that the people had rejected God’s rod of rulership, so now He would use the sword over them instead. But seeing the rod as a scepter and referring to God’s rulership seems foreign to this passage. Another usage of the word “rod” is a rod of discipline, in the way that a shepherd uses a rod to discipline the flock (cf. Ps 23:4; Pr 10:13, 13:24; 23:13). Hence, it frequently refers to God’s chastisement (2Sm 7:14, Jb 9:34; 21:9). This makes sense in context. Israel had despised God’s earlier attempts to use a rod to correct her, so God would now use a sword.
21:11-12. The polished sword is given to the slayer to execute judgment on God’s people and … against all the officials of Israel. Because of the number of slain, God told Ezekiel to Cry out and wail (cf. v. 6) and strike your thigh in grief. The leaders had rejected God’s leadership, and they would be removed from leadership.
21:13. This would be a time of testing. The rod (septer) which despises will be no more (cf. v. 10). This is somewhat obscure because the object of the statement is unclear. However it seems to point to the interruption of the Davidic line, which came because the officials had rejected living in righteousness under Davidic leadership. So it would be no more until the coming of Messiah (cf. Gn 49:10).
21:14-17. Here the work of the sword is stressed. Both Ezekiel, the son of man (20:14), and the LORD (20:17) would clap their hands in judgment, a phrase that bookends this section (vv. 14, 17; cf. 6:11; 22:13). The sword would strike repeatedly, which is the sense of the phrase let the sword be doubled the third time, so that the people’s hearts may melt (cf. v. 7) in fear. Swift judgment would come from the glittering, highly polished, sword … striking quickly like lightening (cf. 20:10) from all sides (to the right … to the left) as it relentlessly pursued the people. It would stop only when God would clap My hands together and appease My wrath.
c. The Sword Directed Toward Jerusalem (21:18-27)
21:18-19. Although unaware of it, Nebuchadnezzar was directed by the Lord to overthrow Jerusalem. God told Ezekiel to mark out two ways (routes) for the sword of the king of Babylon. Ezekiel was to make a signpost … at the … way to the city of Jerusalem. This seems to be a symbolic act, rather than posting a literal sign, or drawing the route Nebuchadnezzar would take regarding the attack on Jerusalem.
In 588 BC three vassal states were seeking independence from Babylon: Tyre (north of Israel along the Mediterranean coast), Ammon (east of the Dead Sea) and Judah. Nebuchadnezzar led his forces north and west from Babylon along the Euphrates River to quell the rebellions.
21:20-23. At Rabbah (north of Damascus) Nebuchadnezzar came to a parting of the way and had to decide which nation he would attack first to control the rebellion and which route to take. Nebuchadnezzar used common practices of Babylonian divination to determine his course of action: shakes the arrows, similar to drawing straws; consulting his household idols, the portable images (cf. Gn 31:19; Hs 3:4) of the family gods, and examining the liver of a sacrificed animals. By themselves these practices could do nothing, but God worked through them to accomplish His plan: into Nebuchadnezzar’s right hand would come the lot for Jerusalem. That would be the signpost (the route) they would take to set battering rams against the gates … to build a siege wall against Jerusalem.
21:24-26. Israel’s leaders had made the iniquity … transgressions … and sins of the nation to be remembered … uncovered … and appear, so they would be taken captive, seized with the hand. King Zedekiah, the wicked one, the prince of Israel (cf. 12:8-11), would be stripped of authority (his turban and crown symbolize royalty and will be removed). Nebuchadnezzar would take the king captive, abase that which is high, and exalt the low, leaving only the poorest people in the land (2Kg 25:4-12).
21:27. With the deportation of Zedekiah, Davidic kingship ended in Israel. The triple use of a ruin stressed that Israel’s throne was to be absolutely desolate. It will not be restored until He comes whose right it is, and the Lord will give it to Him. This prophecy of the restoration of the Davidic kingship is a deliberate reference to Gn 49:10. Although the NASB takes the word “Shiloh” in Gn 49:10 as a proper name, it is better understood as “He whose right it is” (HCSB; see comments on Gn 49:10 for the reasons that this is a preferable reading.) Ezekiel 21:27 uses the same words in Hebrew, the difference being that Gn 49:10 has them in a contracted form, while Ezkekiel has them in an expanded form. Regardless, Ezekiel is referring to the prediction of the Messiah in the Torah. Jerusalem would fall and Zedekiah would be taken away, but God has a faithful long-range plan. The line of David would be restored when Messiah, the righteous God-appointed King, came.
Between the time of Zedekiah and Jesus, Israel did not have a Davidic king. There were no valid claims to the throne until Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to present himself as Messiah King. Only after His resurrection did His faithful disciples recognize Him (cf. Zch 9:9; Mt 21:1-11; Rv 5:5; 19:11-16; 20:4). One day, the Messiah will return in victory, be recognized by the nation of Israel, and reign from His throne in a restored Jerusalem as King of Israel.
d. The Sword Directed Toward Ammon (21:28-32)
21:28. The judgment of Ammon concludes the sword oracles. Ammon, part of modern Jordan whose capital is named for this ancient kingdom, was a pagan nation whose deity was “the detestable Molech” (1Kg 11:7; Ezk 16:20-21), the god of child sacrifice (Lv 18:21). They were perpetual enemies of Israel (cf. Dt 23:3-4; Jdg 3:13, 10:6–11:28; 1Sm 11:1-11; 2Kg 24:1-2; 2Ch 20:1-23). Both Ammon and Judah became vassals to Babylon (Jr 27:1-7). When Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, Ammon’s destruction was delayed (cf. Ezk 21:18-23). After Jerusalem’s fall, the Ammonites organized a coup that caused the death of Gedaliah, the Babylonian appointed Jewish governor of Judah (cf. Jr 40:13–41:10), hoping to keep Babylon’s army focused on Judah.
21:29-32. Despite Ammon’s false visions of security, her day of judgment has come … the time of the punishment of the end. God’s indignation against Ammon’s personal wickedness (cf. 1Kg 11:7) and their enmity toward Judah (cf. Am 1:13-15; Zph 2:8-11) would cause Him to hand Ammon over to brutal men, the Babylonians who were skilled in destruction. They would be fuel for the fire of God’s wrath in their own land. Ammon is at the head of the list of seven nations to be judged for their mistreatment of Israel (cf. 25:1-7).
3. Three Messages on the Defilement and Judgment of Jerusalem (22:1-31)
a. Cause of Jerusalem’s Judgment (22:1-16)
22:1-2. The opening of this section is another legal indictment against Jerusalem (see comments on 20:4).
22:3-5. There are two charges against Jerusalem: First, shedding blood (repeated seven times in this message, vv. 2-4, 6, 9, 12-13, 27) underscores Jerusalem’s sin of extreme violence (cf. 7:23; 8:17; 12:19). Second, is the defilement by worshiping idols, a frequent charge against Israel (e.g., 5:11; 8:10; 14:3). These two sins violated the Mosaic law concerning Israel’s relationship with man and God (cf. Dt 6:5-9; Lv 19:9-18). When judgment came, nations near and … far would mock Jerusalem, who had considered herself beyond the reach of judgment.
22:6-12. The rulers of Israel led the country into violating the Mosaic law (e.g., Ex 20:1-17) in many categories: disrespecting father and mother (Ezk 22:7); breaking My sabbaths and apostasy (vv. 8-9); sexual immorality/lewdness (vv. 10-11); coveting/financial corruption—injured your neighbors for gain by oppression (v. 12). The root cause: you have forgotten Me (cf. 23:35; Is 17:10).
22:13-14. Because of their dishonest gain and bloodshed, God would smite (“clap”) His hand (cf. 6:11; 21:14, 17) in judgment. The question, Can your heart endure? demands a negative response. Jerusalem’s courage would fail.
22:15-16. God would scatter them among the nations for their disobedience, as the law demanded (cf. Lv 26:27-39; Dt 28:64-68). Israel did profane (defiled) God’s law (cf. Ezk 22:6-2), now she would profane herself in the sight of the nations (cf. v. 8). In exile, she would understand the character of the God she had scorned and forgotten: you will know that I am the LORD.
b. Means of Judgment (22:17-22)
22:17-18. The smelting furnace is the next image of judgment. Dross is the scum of impurity that forms on the surface of molten metal when it is refined. Israel had become like the dross of bronze … tin … iron and lead to the Lord. Because of her sin, Israel needed purification (cf. Ps 119:119; Pr 25:4-5; Is 48:9-11).
22:19-22. Just as metals are melted in a refiner’s furnace, God would gather the people in the midst of Jerusalem. The city became the crucible as the fire of God’s wrath melted her as silver (cf. Is 1:22, 25; 48:10; Jr 6:27-30). God’s judgment would force the people to acknowledge Him: and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.
c. The Recipients of Judgment (22:23-31)
Here the recipients of the judgment are divided into groups: “prophets” (22:25, 28), “priests” (23:26), “princes” (23:27), and “people of the land” (22:29).
22:23-24. The physical land literally suffered the consequences of the people’s sin. God promised the blessing of rain for obedience (cf. Dt 28:12), but the consequence of sin would be drought (cf. Dt 28:23-24). The land had not been cleansed, a term for ceremonial purification, or rained on because of God’s indignation.
22:25. The conspiracy of false teaching by prophets was like a roaring lion (cf. 19:1-19; 1Pt 5:8) that devoured lives, destroying the people with their corrupt teaching (cf. Ezk 13:18). They had taken treasure and precious things, a term Jeremiah used for temple articles (cf. Jr 20:5), for their own use, and they caused the deaths of many men, resulting in many widows in the community (Ezk 22:8; Ex 22:22; Dt 10:18; Is 10:1-2).
22:26-27. Judah’s priests did violence to My law and profaned My holy things (cf. v. 25; Zph 3:4). They made no distinction between the holy and the profane, the main duty of the priests (Ezk 44:23; Lv 10:10-22; 11:47; 20:25; Jr 2:8). They ignored God’s sabbaths (Ezk 20:16, 21, 24), the sign of the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel (Ex 31:13). Instead of lovingly shepherding the people (cf. Ezk 34:5), they were like wolves … shedding blood … destroying lives … for dishonest gain.
22:28. The prophets, who should teach God’s truth, instead taught false visions and covered their divining lies as whitewash covers a broken wall (cf. 13:8-16). They declared, Thus says the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken.
22:29 Iniquity characterized the whole society from the civil and spiritual leadership down to the people of the land (am ha’aretz), a term meaning the common man. Virtually the entire populace was involved in oppression and robbery and they wronged the poor, needy and sojourner (cf. 21:6-12).
22:30-31. God wanted faithful followers. He searched for a man in the land, to build up the wall (cf. 13:5; Ps 106:23) and stand in the gap to obey Him and defend His honor. Yet He found no one (cf. Gn 18:23-33). Consequently, they would be consumed … with the fire of My wrath (cf. Ezk 21:31). Israel had brought judgment upon their heads, according to their sinful behavior (cf. 7:3).
4. Parable of the Two Adulterous Sisters: Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-49)
a. Infidelity of the Sisters: Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-21)
23:1-3. This is a parable similar to the story of Sodom and Samaria, the sisters of Jerusalem, (16:44-59). Here two women (sisters) shared the same moral degradation of being a harlot in Egypt from their youth. The emphasis in this parable is on the political alliances with pagan powers, while the earlier parable of the sisters (chap. 16) was about idolatry.
23:4. The older sister was Oholah, (“her tent”), who represented Samaria, and the northern kingdom of Israel; and the younger was Oholibah, (“my tent is in her”) who represented Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah. The word “tent” was often used of the tabernacle, God’s sanctuary (cf. Ex 29:4, 10-11, 30). The name Oholah connotes that the sanctuary associated with this sister was of her own making, since corrupted worship of the Lord was established in the northern kingdom by Jeroboam when the kingdom divided in 931 BC. By contrast, the name Oholibah connotes that God’s true sanctuary was in her midst, in the temple in Jerusalem. Both kingdoms belonged to the Lord they became Mine and … had sons and daughters.
23:5. The sin of Oholah/Samaria was reliance on the Assyrians. Israel had a long relationship with Assyria. Jehu (841–814 BC) allied Israel with Assyria and submitted himself as a vassal (2Kg 10:32-34). Menahem (752–742 BC) paid tribute to Assyria (2Kg 15:19-20). The prophet Hosea (760–720 BC) rebuked Israel for her dependence on Assyria instead of on the Lord (cf. Hs 5:13-14; 7:11; 8:9; 12:1). Hoshea was on the throne when the northern kingdom fell to Assyria (2Kg 17:3-4) in 721 BC. Samaria did not trust the Lord for protection or stay faithful to Him but instead made an alliance (“played the harlot”) with Assyria, leading to her downfall.
23:6-10. Oholah was attracted to the rich purple clothing and desirable appearance of the powerful Assyrian officials; she lusted after all their idols and defiled herself. God gave Israel, the northern kingdom, over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted, and Assyria took Israel’s sons and daughters captive to Assyria and killed many of the people with the sword (cf. 2Kg 17; 721 BC).
23:11-13. Jerusalem saw God’s judgment on Oholah (Samaria), and it should have been a warning, yet Oholibah was more corrupt than her sister. Even after Israel’s captivity to Assyria, Judah’s King Ahaz (2Kg 16:1-20, 735–716 BC) sought an alliance (lusted after) with the Assyrians, refusing Isaiah’s message (cf. Is 7:7-9).
23:14. When Judah became a vassal state to Egypt (2Kg 23:29-37) she wanted out of that political oppression. Instead of turning to the Lord, she increased her harlotries and made an alliance with the Chaldeans (Babylonians). She began worshiping Babylonian gods, which were often portrayed on a wall (cf. Jr 22:14; Ezk 8:10).
23:15-16. Jerusalem was attracted to their military might, their belts, and turbans. She lusted after the Babylonians for military protection, and sent messengers to them asking for aid.
23:17-18. When the Babylonians came they did not give the help Jerusalem expected. Instead they defiled her, and she became disgusted with them. In turn, God became disgusted with Jerusalem’s lustful behavior as He had with Samaria her sister.
23:19-21. Jerusalem multiplied her harlotries, remembering the pagan practices of the days of her youth … in … Egypt (vv. 3, 19, 21). Ezekiel presented a graphic picture of her lewdness to clearly portray their spiritual degradation. Judah lusted after them, for their political alliance (2Kg 24:1; 25:1; Jr 37:5-8) and followed their pagan religious practices.
b. Punishment of the Sisters (23:22-35)
Ezekiel gave four oracles of judgment against the sisters, beginning with the phrase, Thus says the Lord GOD (vv. 22, 28, 32, 35). The focus of the judgments is on Oholibah, Jerusalem.
23:22-26. First Oracle of Punishment: The Attack of the Lovers. God would arouse (to wake up, to incite) Jerusalem’s allies/lovers against her from every side. The combined army of the Babylonians and her allies Pekod, Shoa, and Koa (small Aramean tribes in eastern Babylonia), along with all the Assyrians, would come against Jerusalem. The highest command of governors … officials … men of renown … riding on horses would carry out an intense military campaign: weapons, chariots, war wagons, buckler, shield, and helmet to deliver the Lord’s judgment. His wrath would be delivered by the cruel hand of Babylonia’s gruesome customs: they would cut off your nose and … ears. Even survivors of battle would fall by the sword … or be consumed by the fire. Everything of beauty and value they would strip away.
23:27. The Babylonian captivity would cure Judah’s lewdness and … harlotry. She would no longer seek pagan idols or alliances or remember Egypt for help.
23:28-31. Second Oracle of Punishment: Given Into the Hand of Your Enemy. This oracle is similar to the first (cf. vv. 22-27), but adds: Babylon would deal with you in hatred and leave Jerusalem naked and bare. All this would be done to you because she played the harlot with the nations and you have defiled yourself with their idols (cf. 6:9).
23:32-34. Third Oracle of Punishment: The Cup of God’s Judgment. This is a poetic oracle of certain doom on Jerusalem. The symbol of a cup of judgment is frequently used in Scripture (e.g., Ps 75:8; Is 51:17-23; Jr 25:15-19; Hab 2:16). This cup is large, deep and wide … and contains much. The contents are sorrow, horror, and desolation. Jerusalem was certain to drink it and drain it, for her judgment would be extensive.
23:35. Fourth Oracle of Punishment: The Reasons for Judgment. This final oracle presents the main reason for the judgments. God said they had forgotten Me (cf. 22:12). The importance of remembering the Lord’s faithfulness is a key theme in Scripture (e.g., Ex 13:3; Dt. 4:9-10; 8:2; Ps 77:11). God reminded Jerusalem she had cast Me behind your back (cf. Jr 32:33) forgetting Him, so she must bear the punishment for her lewdness (cf. Ezk 23:8, 27, 44).
c. Conclusion of the Message to Oholah and Oholibah (23:36-49)
23:36-39. The conclusion is a summary of their abominations. The lowest point of their unfaithfulness to the Lord beyond their spiritual adultery and the blood … on their hands was sacrificing their sons, whom they bore to Me to the idols. The Lord considered their children His children. The altars built to honor Molech were little more than stoves that would be heated to red-hot temperatures. They also had carved in their lids the hands and arms of Molech. When the altars were heated, children would be placed in those hands and burned alive, an act called “passing through the fire” (cf. 16:20-21; Jr 7:31). Heartlessly, on the same day they slaughtered their children they would enter the temple and defile My sanctuary with their corrupt worship. Their wicked presence profaned My sabbaths.
23:40-41. Their failure to trust God in every area of life was expressed in spiritual adultery and political alliances with pagan nations: they have sent for men … from afar. Both sisters prepared themselves (bathed, painted their eyes, decorated themselves with ornaments) to entice foreign nations into alliances, which were forbidden by God (cf. Dt 17:14-20). They prepared a table that should have been used for God’s incense and His oil, but instead offered to their lovers.
23:42-44. This is a vivid picture of Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women, (symbolizing Israel and Judah), preparing themselves for the men as they put on bracelets and crowns until they were worn out by adulteries.
23:45. The righteous men who would judge them were like Ezekiel, who would pronounce judgment on them. The judgment for adultery was death, usually by stoning (cf. Lv 20:10, 27). Adultery is not a casual, private sin. It has the serious consequences of shed blood because such a woman destroys lives and blood is on their hands (cf. Pr 6:24-26; 9:18; 23:27-28). Thus, Israel and Judah’s spiritual adultery from the Lord was reprehensible and would bring judgment.
23:46-47. They would be given over to terror and plunder … and be stoned with stones … cut … down with swords … their children killed … and their houses would be burned with fire. These events describe the plunder and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
23:48-49. God would make lewdness cease from the land (cf. v. 27) after they bore the penalty of worshiping … idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.
5. Parable of the Boiling Pot (24:1-14)
The third series of judgments on Judah (cf. chaps. 4–11; 12–19; 20–24) concludes in chap. 24 with two additional messages of the inevitability of God’s wrath.
24:1-2. The specific day of calamity was the ninth year … tenth month … tenth day since King Jehoiachin’s exile (10 Tevet/January 15, 588 BC). The king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem this very day. This was the exact day Ezekiel had been pointing to for over four years and is significantly mentioned elsewhere in Scriptures (2Kg 25:1; Jr 39:1; 52:4).
24:3-5. In this parable the rebellious house of Israel (cf. 3:9) is described as being inside a cooking pot. This was similar to Ezekiel’s earlier message to the leaders who thought they would be safe in the city (chap. 11). The people of Jerusalem who were spared the initial deportation to Babylon (2Kg 24) thought the worst was over and that they were safe in Jerusalem. However, even the choicest of the flock were not safe. The pot would boil vigorously and bones would seethe in it. All would be destroyed.
24:6. The parable was explained using two similar statements: Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the bloody city (vv. 6-8, 9-14), a statement of their sad future and of the cause for their judgment (cf. 22:1-16). In this parable, Jerusalem is like a rust-encrusted cooking pot, a reference to the iniquity of the people. The rust had not gone out of it, but surfaced during cooking. Her corruption could not be hidden.
People in Jerusalem had felt secure from Babylon’s onslaught inside the walled city. But when the city fell they would be taken out of it piece after piece, like removing every piece of meat from a pot without making a choice. That is, every inhabitant without exception would be removed from the city for exile.
24:7-8. Jerusalem would be judged, For her blood is in her midst. The city was guilty of bloodshed (cf. 22:1-6). The Lord said Jerusalem had shed innocent blood, and the evidence was in plain sight, openly displayed as she placed it on the bare rock. That blood was crying out, figuratively speaking, for vengeance. She did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust (Gn 4:10; Lv 17:13-14; Jb 16:18; Is 26:21). Because Jerusalem had openly shed the blood of others, God’s wrath would come up to take vengeance, and He would openly shed her blood on the bare rock.
24:9-10. This statement of judgment begins: Woe to the bloody city! continuing the image of the pot around which God would make the pile (of wood for the fire) great. The flesh in the pot was to be cooked well and the bones to be burned. This forecast the burning of Jerusalem by Babylon.