Ezekiel 24
McGeeEzekiel 24:1
PARABLE OF THE BOILING POTIn chapter 24 we have the parable of the boiling pot and the death of Ezekiel’s wife. God will use both of these to speak to the people. This is the first time that Ezekiel has dated his message. At this very moment Nebuchadnezzar was breaking through the wall of Jerusalem. There was no television in that day to let Ezekiel know what was happening. There was no satellite to convey this message from Jerusalem to Babylon. The only way he could get this message was by God revealing it to him. The liberal theologians have always had a problem with this verse; one of them has said, “This verse forces on us in the clearest fashion the dilemma that either Ezekiel was a deliberate deceiver, or he was possessed of some kind of second sight.” He certainly was possessed of second sightGod’s sight, by the way. The liberal doesn’t recognize it as that, of course.
Ezekiel 24:6
Again, Jerusalem is called “the bloody city.” There is a pot, and there is scum in the pot. The pot is the city of Jerusalem; the citizens are in that pot. Their sin is the scum that’s in the pot. Sometimes we hear somebody say concerning another group of people, “They are the scum of the earth.” Do you want to know what God says? He says your sin and my sin is the scum of the earth. Listen carefully: We are all in the same pot. The pot of Jerusalem is the pot of the world for you and me today. I get a little weary of all this talk about different “ethnic groups.” We’re all in the same pot, and we are the scum of the earththat is, our sin is the scum of the earth. I don’t know how you could say it more strongly than that.
Ezekiel 24:15
Apparently, the prophet had married a lovely, young Israelite girl, and they loved each other. But down there in captivity, she became sick and died. I imagine it was a heartbreak to Ezekiel, but again he must act a part:
Ezekiel 24:17
God told him, “Don’t act like you’re mourning at all.” And the people didn’t understand it. The people came to Ezekiel and said, “What in the world does this mean? Your wife has died, and you are not mourning at all! What kind of man are you?” All of this Ezekiel is doing to get a message through to the people. Verse Eze_24:24 is the key to this entire Book of Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 24:24
At that very moment, Jerusalem was being destroyed, and later on word came to the captives about its destruction: “And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten” (Eze_33:21). Into the camp came these stragglers; they must have looked terrible. They said, “We’ve escaped from the city. The false prophets were wrong. The city is burned. The temple has been leveled, and the city is debris and ashes.” Ezekiel was right in not mourning. The reason they were not to mourn is found in verse Eze_24:27:
Ezekiel 24:27
“They shall know that I am the Lord.” Jerusalem was God’s city, and the temple was His house. They were God’s witness to the world. And when the people of Israel failed, God said, “I will destroy even My own witness on the earth. I want you to know the city is destroyed. The rest of your people are being brought into captivity. But there’s no use weeping, there’s no use howling to Me now. I have done thisI am responsible for it.” To each of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus said, “You had better be careful of your witness to the world, or I will come and remove your lampstand.” The lampstand of all seven of those churches has been removed, my friend. Not one of those churches remains today. This ought to be a message to us: If you are a Christian and are not going to stand for God today, He will remove your lampstandthere will be no light. This is a strong message; it is not the lovey-dovey, sloppy stuff we hear so often. This is Ezekiel, and he is speaking for God. He has said again and again, “The word of the LORD, came unto me, saying.” If you want to argue with his message, take it to the Lord, but remember He’s right and we are the ones who are wrong.