The parable of the boiling pot
24
📚Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,24:1-2 January 15,588 BC. This was the beginning of the siege that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (Jeremiah chapter 52).⚜
2 📚“Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon lays siege against Jerusalem this very day. 3 📚And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:
“Put on a pot; put it on,
and also pour water into it.
4 📚Gather the pieces of meat into it,
every good piece, the thigh,
and the shoulder;
fill it with the choicest bones.
24:4 The people who had been left in Jerusalem when others went into exile in 597 BC thought they were spared because they were the best of all. See Jer 17:9.⚜
5 📚Take the best of the flock,
and under the pot burn
wood for the bones,
and make it boil well,
and let them cook its bones in it.
6 📚For thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the city of bloodshed 📖,
to the pot whose scum is in it,
and whose scum has not gone out of it!
Bring it out piece by piece,
without drawing lots.
7 📚For her blood is in the midst of her.
She placed it on the top of a rock;
she did not pour it on the ground,
to cover it 📖 with dust.
8 📚That it might cause fury to come up
to take vengeance, I have placed her
blood on the top of a rock,
so that it would not be covered.
24:8 God would listen to the cry for vengeance coming from the innocent blood that had been shed.⚜
9 📚“Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I will make the pile for the fire great.
10 📚Heap on wood, kindle the fire,
cook the flesh, and spice it well,
and let the bones be burned.
11 📚Then place it empty on the coals there,
that its bronze may become hot and burn,
and that its filthiness may be
melted in it, that its scum
may be consumed.
24:11 After many had been slaughtered and some removed from the city to go into exile, Jerusalem was to be destroyed by fire (Jer 52:12-14).⚜
12 📚She has worn herself out
with lies, and her great scum has not
gone out of her.
Her scum will be in the fire.
24:12 Fire was all that was left for Jerusalem. No other attempt at purification had been effective.⚜
13 📚“In your filthiness is lewdness.
Because I have cleansed you,
and you were not cleansed,
you will not be cleansed from
your filthiness any more,
until I have caused my fury
to rest on you.
14 📚“I, the LORD, have spoken it. It will come to pass, and I will do it. I will not turn back, and I will not spare, and I will not repent. They will judge you according to your ways and according to your deeds, says the Lord God”.
24:3-14 The cooking pot is Jerusalem, the people there are the meat and bones. Compare Ezek 11:3-12. In Ezek 11:3 the leaders thought that the cooking pot would be like a wall to protect them. Here God says it will be the place where that people will be destroyed.⚜
Death of Ezekiel’s wife
15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 📚“Son of man, see, I am going to take away from you the delight of your eyes with one blow. Yet you must not mourn or weep, your tears must not run down. 17 📚Do not cry out, do not make any mourning for the dead. Bind your turban on your head, and put your shoes on your feet. And do not cover your lips, and do not eat the bread of men”.
18 📚So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I had been commanded.
19 📚And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing have to do with us?”
20 Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 📚Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: See, I am going to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, and your soul’s desire; and your sons and your daughters, whom you left behind will fall by the sword. 22 📚And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your lips, or eat the bread of men. 23 📚And your turbans will be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet. You will not wail or weep, but you will pine away for your evil deeds, and groan for one another. 24 📚Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you. You will do everything just as he has done. And when this takes place, you will know that I am the Lord God.
25 📚“Also, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, and what they have set their minds on, their sons and their daughters, 26 📚that he who escapes on that day will come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears? 27 📚On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escapes, and you will speak, and be mute no longer. And you will be a sign to them; and they will know that I am the LORD”.
24:15-27 Once again Ezekiel’s behavior was an object lesson to the people (vs 24,27). Compare Ezek 12:11. “Delight of your eyes” in v 16 was Ezekiel’s wife (v 18). The death of his wife whom he dearly loved was a picture of the death (destruction) of Jerusalem dearly loved by the people there (v 25). They would have to keep their turbans and sandals on, they would not be able to cover the lower part of their faces or eat the food of mourners because they would be captives of Babylon’s army and on the move into exile.⚜
24:27 After the exiles arrived in Babylon their mouths would be open and there would be time for lamentation, tears and mourning.⚜