Ezekiel 24

Ezekiel 24:1-2

[1] Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day" (Ezekiel 24:1-2).

One of the unique things about the book of Ezekiel, is that it contains more references to the dating of events than any other Old Testament book. Because of this, Ezekiel's prophecies can be dated rather precisely. Ezekiel contains 13 references to dates, 12 of which specify when Ezekiel received a message from God. The 13th is the date when the messenger arrived to report that Jerusalem had been captured (January 8, 585 B.C.) (Ezekiel 33:21). 

At the dating of 24:1-2, Ezekiel had been conducting his ministry for about 4 1/2 years (July 31, 593 B.C. to January 15, 588 B.C.). 

Ninth year... tenth month... tenth day of King Zedekiah's reign. The date was January 15, 588 B.C. God instructed Ezekiel to write the date down as a record, because that was the day that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem. 

The details of the event are recorded in 2 Kings 25:1-12. Jeremiah also recorded the event and its date in Jeremiah 39:1, and 52:4.

[1] Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around (‭‭2 Kings 25:1).

[1] In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it (Jeremiah 39:1)

[1] Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around (Jeremiah 52:4).

Ezekiel 24:3-14

Ezekiel 24:3-14 is another parable of judgement that Ezekiel was instructed to tell the "rebellious house" of Judah This time it was about a cooking pot which was filled with every good piece of meat, choice cuts and the choicest flocks, and fire fueled by bones to boil and simmer the meat.(Ezekiel 24:3-5).

The parable is a symbolic description of Jerusalem being burned and destroyed by her enemies, along with all its inhabitants. 

The cooking pot symbolized Jerusalem, "the bloody city" and the contents of the pot symbolized the city's inhabitants, the Judeans. Remember from chapter 23 that the Judeans had the blood of their children on their hands because they offered them as sacrifices to Molech, and therefore Jerusalem was "the bloody city."

Describing the same event as Ezekiel, the prophet Jeremiah had a vision of a pot of which God said calamity would come upon from the north, on all inhabitants of the land.

God said that He was going to call all the families of the north to come and lay siege against the walls of Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. They would utter God's judgements against them because they had forsaken God, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands (Jeremiah 1:13-16).

God proclaimed "Woe" (judgement) upon the bloody city twice in this parable (Ezekiel 24:6,9).

After the contents of the pot are burned up, the empty pot was to be put back on the fire to melt the filthiness and to consume the scum (Ezekiel 24:11).

In Ezekiel 24:13-14, God makes it clear that He is going to follow through with these promises; they will not be revoked. 

God said that He had cleansed Judah and they were not cleansed, therefore they will not be cleansed of their filthiness anymore, until He has caused His fury to rest upon them (Ezekiel 24:13).

[14] "I, the Lord, have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, nor will I spare, nor will I relent; according to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you,” says the Lord God.’ ” (Ezekiel 24:14).

The time of judgement had come. It was too late for Judah to repent. 

Ezekiel 24:15-27

As a prophet of God, Ezekiel's life was not easy. God instructed him to say and do some very difficult things which his audience did not agree with. It is probable that he was hated and despised by them. The cost of following God was high.

We can assume that one of the most difficult things that Ezekiel had to endure as a prophet of God, was the loss of his wife. The Bible does not provide any other information about her or their marriage. The only reason that we know that Ezekiel was even married is because we are told so in Ezekiel 24:15-18. We can only imagine that she and the other wives of the prophets suffered in their own ways. 

Ezekiel was married, but God took away his wife by way of death. She was "the desire of his eyes" (Ezekiel 24:16).

We do not know how she died, but it sounds as if it was sudden, All we know is that God was the one who took her. He said, "I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke" (Ezekiel 24:16).

Not only did God take Ezekiel's wife from him by causing her to die, but then He instructed Ezekiel not to mourn or weep for her death, because her death and Ezekiel's lack of mourning for his wife, were going to be a sign to Judah. 

When you stop and think about it, this seems extremely cold and callous. The God of love who places such a high value on marriage, causes a man's wife to die, and then instructs him not to mourn or even cry over her death?! Furthermore, the purpose of her death and Ezekiel's lack of mourning is just to give a sign to Israel?! It seems harsh.

It is difficult for many people today to understand that God has plans and purposes that are greater than ours. And though He loves His people, He uses them in whatever ways suit His purposes. The purpose of Ezekiel's wife, at least the purpose that we are informed of, was to die in order to be a sign to God's kingdom of people. We struggle with that because this is not the image of God that we are taught about in our churches - the all loving God who wants to shower us with blessings, happy marriages, and safety.

But the real God has a plan and purpose, and His people are part of that plan. In a way, they are expendable. He sends them out to do His work which might cost them everything. He loves His people, but His primary concern is not what car you buy, whether or not you buy that new house, or how happy you are. His primary concern is that "His kingdom come and His will be done."

The prophet Hosea also suffered because of his wife, but in a different way than Ezekiel. He was directed by God to take a harlot as a wife and to bear children with her, whom He described as "children of harlotry". His purpose of having Hosea do this was because "the land had committed great harlotry against Him" (Hosea 1:2). Similar to the death of Ezekiel's wife being a sign to Israel, Hosea's harlot wife and children were also a sign to Israel. These men certainly did not live lives of great happiness and bliss that we are taught in our churches that Christians will live if they follow Christ. They probably experienced the joy that comes from being obedient to God, but they suffered tremendously for their obedience. They truly lived as if their lives were not their own, which is a New Testament principle that Christians are to live by because they have been bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Ezekiel said, "So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded" (Ezekiel 24:18).

Ezekiel did not hesitate to obey God's command, although it must have been difficult not to take any time to mourn his wife's death. 

When the people saw Ezekiel, they asked him, "Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?" (Ezekiel 24:19).

Ezekiel responded, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God : ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord ’ ”' (Ezekiel 24:20-24).

When God profaned the temple, and their children whom they left behind were slain, they were to do as Ezekiel had done, and not mourn or weep for them. They would sulk in their iniquities and mourn with one another. When this happened, they would know that God is the Lord. 

Chapter 24 concludes by God saying to Ezekiel that when He takes Jerusalem and Judah's children from them, someone who escaped the captivity will come to him to inform him that Jerusalem had been captured. When that happens, he will no longer be mute, but able to speak. This will be a sign to Judah, and they shall know that God is the Lord (Ezekiel 24:25-27; 33:21).