A Parable For A Rebellious House

Ezekiel 24:1-14 KJV Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. [3] And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: [4] Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. [5] Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein. [6] Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. [7] For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; [8] That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. [9] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. [10] Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. [11] Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. [12] She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. [13] In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. [14] I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

I. INTRODUCTION -- HOG-KILLING TIME

I will never forget as a young boy during the winter time every year when Emmett Grimsley, one of our neighbors would kill one of his hogs. I never say the actual killing of the animal when they would take a .22 rifle and shoot it in the head. Nor would I see the actual cleaning, gutting, and all that goes along with the preparation of the animal to freeze.

However, more times than one I saw Mr. Grimsley and his brother-in-law take the head of that hog and drop it down into a huge pot of boiling water. They had one of the old big black kettles and would build a huge wood fire under it and fill the pot about ¾’s full. Once the water began to bubble and brew they would drop that entire head down in the water. Eyes, ears, tongue, and everything else that goes along with it would be boiled out of the skull of the hog.

Their purpose was to make “hogs head” cheese or maybe better known to some as “souse.” They would have a large ladle to pull off the material from the pot and drop it over in another large metal pot and then they would let it cool until it congealed. They would add spices and such to it so that it would be edible during the rest of the winter and early spring.

I tried a bit one time and it was so good that I have never needed any more and probably won’t for the rest of my life! That is how good that stuff is! But Mr. and Mrs. Grimsley and all their kin-folks thought it was the greatest stuff in the world.

In all of that process, I would notice something though about that process. They would leave that old skull sitting that water and it would boil on for the rest of the day. As it boiled, there seemed to be more and more scum that would rise to the top of the pot and if the water level was high enough it would drop over into the fire. If the water level was lower it would sit in the pot and the scum would rise to the top of the pot and it would stick. As the day went on the ring around the top would become more disgusting looking and it would almost bake into the ring of the pot.