Ezekiel 11: 9 – 25
‘Deep stew’ Part 2
9 “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you. 10 You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 11 This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. 12 And you shall know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” 13 Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?” 14 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD. 22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. 24 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the LORD had shown me.
A famous statement to sailors is, ‘ stay with your vessel’. During a storm when your boat looks as though it will sink, people panic and try to abandon ship. Many cases prove that it would have been better to remain with the ship, which in many cases will not sink, and it is easier to be found by rescue parties.
9 “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you. 10 You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 11 This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel.”
In Jerusalem the leaders of the Jews were calling the city a caldron [ a protective pot ] They felt that the walls of the city would protect them from any Babylonian assault. In truth the Holy Yahweh announced a ‘death verdict’. The ones who had gained power by the sword would either die in like manner by the sword or be captured. We read about this in the book of 2 Kings,
5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon. 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around. 11 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. 13 The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. 15 The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network. 18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 19 He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.”
These captives would not receive any mercy, as they showed no mercy to their fellow countrymen. They would be forced marched to the border of Israel as we have read and there slain as a sport by their enemy the Babylonians.
Verse 12 of Ezekiel goes on to say,
12 And you shall know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.
One thing we forget about is that we are depraved sinners. We are not good naturally. When we roll out of bed in the morning we already have three strikes against us. We battle the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Our God Loves us and wants us to prosper even in this cursed world. To do this He has given us instructions to follow and if we obey we come out successful in all areas. Our Holy Creator King has separated us from the worldly systems just as He separated out the Jews to be a special people unto Himself. He warned the Israelites not to copy any of the customs and religious practices of the pagan nations. He had warned them that by failing to heed His warnings would lead to their destruction.
We learned that the Israelites not only incorporated the evil of the surrounding nations, they became more evil than the foreign countries that surrounded them. Are we any different from those who lived in the past? Nope! Today believers are probably more tempted based on technology to conform to the ways of the world. Our lives are temporary at best. We need to cling to our God and to all that He says so that we can win the race and not be defeated.
They say that ‘proof is in the pudding’. They would not listen to all of God’s warnings so they will learn the hard way. The end result would show them that the Holy Yahweh was truly still on His Throne. He was the God Who alone established a Covenant with the nation of Israel. He told them if they obeyed Him they would be blessed. If they turned away from Him they would suffer the consequences.
The Israelites ignored and totally rejected His commandments. They had chosen to adopt the principles, rules, and customs of the pagan nations. They adopted all things, not just some things of these heathens. They added worship to these false gods while at the same time claiming sole rights to the only true and living God – Yahweh. They put their Holy and Loving God on the same level as worthless, lifeless idols.
God called out a man from Iraq by the name of Abram. He told him that He would make a nation come out from his descendants, a people solely and uniquely, from all the people who dwelt on the earth. God would succeed with His plan no matter what, even to the extent of raising up another Abraham and starting over again. See, this is a major reason for the judgment. Abraham’s descendants had forsaken God’s Torah [instructions] The Holy God had to act to preserve what little good was still left.
Ezekiel verse 13 then goes on to say,
“13 Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”
The way these people were in their arrogant ways, I would have felt very comfortable if Ezekiel responded in this manner after Pelatiah dropped over dead. ‘Ah, way to go Lord, one evil man down, and a whole lot to go.’ Now you know and so do I in the right manner, this would not be a godly response. In the long run you have to stop and realize that this man’s destiny is hell. You only get one chance to make the right decision in this temporary existence and this man was one who chose the wrong path. He is lost for eternity.
Pelatiah’s name means ‘Yahweh Delivers’. This may have been the reason why Ezekiel reacted in such a manner. In this lifetime one thing that keeps us going is hope. There was always a hope that the Magnificent Almighty God would relent of His promise to judge. When this guy ‘Yahweh Delivers’ dropped over dead, Ezekiel lost all hope that anyone of his countrymen would be spared.
Ezekiel verses 14 and 15 read,
14 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
Our Holy God responded to Ezekiel’s actions and set the record straight. The evil men who are set apart to be destroyed by God are not who Ezekiel thinks they are. Those left in Jerusalem considered that the exiles were not Jews but foreigners. They believed that such exiles had no part in the land of Israel. The men of Jerusalem gave no respect, honor, and credit to the Holy Yahweh, but they had no qualms in speaking for Him.
God’s view of the exiles, if they ever checked with Him was far different than theirs. God had promised the exiles in Babylon that He would still be with them even though they were taken out from the land of Israel. He promised to restore the faithful back to their homeland. They were the ones who God favored not those who were presently in the country of Israel.
How about you? How do you want God to deal with you? Do you want to be restored? He stands at the door of your heart and wants to be there for you, but it is up to you to choose.
In Ezekiel verse 16 we read,
16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’
Psalm 7 informs us that our God observes everything that is going on in the world and He Is in the process of judging evil, “11 God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” In the book of Micah chapter 6 we find out how our God wants us to behave, ““8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
There were no feelings of sorrow, regret, or mercy coming from the Jews living in Jerusalem towards their fellow countrymen who were cast away as prisoners in Babylon. These captives had their share of hardships. Probably most had close relatives who were murdered. When they were taken away from their homeland, it wasn’t an easy or enjoyable experience. They were forced marched to a land they never saw before. I am sure they experienced severe treatment from their captors. Then they were placed in an area in Babylon and told to live out the rest of their lives there. They knew that they would probably never see their country again. And now another great blow is thrown against them. Their own countrymen are saying that they no longer count - That they aren’t important to God. How cruel is that?
So, our Great God makes a statement to those mockers in Jerusalem. ‘Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh’. Basically, He goes on to tell them who dwell in the land of Israel, ‘You, I AM against. Them, I AM for.’ His opinion was the direct opposite of their viewpoint.
The Holy God Is clearly angry over this rotten attitude and words of the people in Jerusalem. Even though the exiles would have no visible sanctuary, He would be their sanctuary where those in captivity could run. The Holy Yahweh would watch over and protect every Jew who was taken captive. Their situations would change in due time.
Remember that God had removed His Presence from the Temple. He had declared it to be just an ordinary building. The Temple was no longer the Sanctuary of the Holy Yahweh. God Is informing the exiles that He IS moving His Sanctuary to them, which He refers as the righteous remnant.
A key lesson learned here is the fact that our external circumstance does not truly indicate our actual and proper standing with God. We see some who never have a problem in life – health, wealth, and success. Others, including myself, endure just the opposite. Those who appear safe and secure may be far from God, while those of us who are going through difficult times may be right in God’s plan. I like to think that for us, this is our hell, and that this is the worse it can get. For others this is their heaven and this is the best it will ever get for them. So, let them enjoy their heaven right now.
In Ezekiel verses 17 and 18 we read,
“17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.”
I am not sure if you are aware of this, but in many cases throughout the Lord’s prophecy we see the fulfillment happen more than just once. For example, we see that this exile sent the Jews of the northern kingdom to Assyria. Now the kingdom of the South [Judah] is being sent into exile to Babylon. The Lord even told them the amount of years that they would be sent away from the Promised Land – 70 years. Our Lord fulfilled His promise to bring His people back to Israel.
Then we see in the New Testament that the people of Israel were scattered again principally around 70 AD. Our Lord again fulfilled His promise to bring the Jews back to their inheritance and it was accomplished on May 14, 1948. He continues to bring more and more of His people back to Israel even today. We find out in Genesis chapter 15 the Holy Yahweh’s land grant to Israel,
‘13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
God over and over expressed how He would bless His people if they would return to Him. Deuteronomy chapter 30 gives us our Lord’s words of hope,
1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
When anyone gets right with God with all his heart, mind, and strength he/she wants to be free. So, they under the guidance of the Holy Spirit get rid of sinful practices, which caused them to be disciplined by the Holy Lord in the first place. You can see this mentioned by the Lord in verse 18. By getting rid of the detestable idolatry the Lord established a new covenant [contract] with them as reflected in Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34,
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
To help them be able to walk in obedience to His ways, He will pour out His Spirit. Joel 2: 28 – 29 reveals this to us, 28 “ And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
“19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
We need to do something. We need to move to God and His ways. If we take away the ‘abominable things’ then He takes away the stony heart. The new birth and repentance and doing away with sin are all part of the right progress.
We need to receive an ‘undivided heart’. Our sinful hearts are too focused on self. We need to obtain a singleness of purpose – that is – to only be focused on the Lord Almighty. As a result of this new perspective we will no longer have our heart set on the things of the world. We will find everything we need in Him.
Jeremiah 32: 38 – 44 tells us, “38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’ 42 “For thus says the LORD: ‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43 And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,’ says the LORD.”
Our Holy God will take away the hard heart of stone and replace it with a tender receptive and responsive heart of flesh. We cannot make all this happen ourselves. We must be born again, then our precious Holy Spirit will renew a right spirit within us. We will then truly become His people and He will be our God.
“21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.”
God does not make things complicated for us. We do a great job on that all by ourselves. We reap what we sow. God went down in writing that He would continue to judge those bent towards evil. We are responsible for our own sinful choices. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves when all the wrong that we have done comes crashing down on our heads.
“22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.”
The east mountain is the Mount of Olives. The Holy Yahweh had finally left Jerusalem. The invading Babylonians were now un-hindered to do their horrible evil upon the Jews in Jerusalem.
Acts 1: 6 – 11 tells us that our Lord Jesus also left this earth from this same spot,
“6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Our Lord Jesus left the Temple and the city and returned to Heaven.
“24 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the LORD had shown me.”
Ezekiel’s vision came to an end and the Holy Spirit transported him back to Babylon. ‘The vision that I had seen went up from me.’ It was a vivid way of depicting the fact that the vision was not just in his mind but that it had come from God and returned to God.
