Ezekiel 24
Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem
Set the pot on the fire
1The LORD gave me a message in January, two years before Jerusalem fell: [1] 2Human, I want you to write down today’s date. Today, the king of Babylon will start laying siege to Jerusalem. 3And I have a story I want you to tell the rebellious people of Israel. Tell them that the LORD God says this:Get a large cooking pot.
Add water.
Shoulder, legs,
Add best bones for cooking.
Boil the meat.
Don’t forget to add the bones.
God explains the symbolic cooking pot
6Then the Lord God explained what he had said:I’ve got bad news for Jerusalem, the city that loves to kill people. Jerusalem is the pot, but it’s rusted. Throw away the worthless meat. 7You are such blatant killers that you left blood on the rocks. You didn't bother trying to hide it in the dirt. 8I'm going to keep that blood lying there on the rocks as a symbol of why I am so angry with you.
9The Lord God said:
Too bad, city of killers.
I'm getting a lot of firewood.
Boil the meat well done.
Save the broth and burn the bones.
Lingering above the coals
Until the fire consumes the rust. [2]
The rust won’t come off.
But the corrosion stuck.
So, you’re stuck with it
Until my anger is satisfied
With the punishment I give you.
Ezekiel’s wife dies, but he can’t mourn
15The Lord came to me with a message:16Human, I'm about to kill something you love. But I don't want you to mourn in public and I don't want you to cry about it. Don't let those tears slip out. 17You can groan silently but I don't want you to publicly mourn this loss. Put on your turban in the morning and, as usual, slip into your sandals. Don't wear anything that would suggest you are mourning and do not eat with the people who are gathered to mourn.
18One morning I was out talking with the people and by the time I got home in the evening, my wife had died. The following day I did what I had been instructed to do.
19The people saw that, and they said, “Why are you acting this way? Do you have some kind of message for us?” 20The Lord told me to tell them this:
21The LORD God says: I know you are proud of your Temple in Jerusalem. But I'm going to turn it into just another plug of ground. When this happens, swords will kill the relatives you left behind.
22Then, you are going to behave the same way Ezekiel is behaving right now. You won’t wear mourning clothes, and you won’t eat with the mourners. 23You won’t remove your head turbines or your sandals to express your grief. You won’t cry or mourn in public. But you will spend the day quietly grieving about your sins and talking with one another about them.
24So, consider Ezekiel as an example for you to follow when this happens to Jerusalem.
25As for you, human, when I take from these people what they love so much, there’s something I want you to do. 26When Jerusalem falls, someone will escape and bring the news to you. 27On the day you get that news I will give you back your ability to speak. [3] And when this happens, people will recognize that it's a sign from me.
Footnotes
The text more literally puts the date at “ninth year, tenth month, tenth day.” Scholars generally say that Ezekiel has been basing his calendar on when Judah’s King Jehoiachin was taken captive, in 597 BC. So, this sets the date at about 588 BC. Scholars say Ezekiel probably referred to the Jewish lunar calendar when he mentioned the tenth month, Tevet (parts of December-January) and the tenth day. Most Bible scholars and archaeological evidence suggests Jerusalem fell in the summer of 586 BC. But many scholars say it happened a year earlier, in 587 BC. The difference spins around how to interpret the reigns of kings.
Don’t try this at home. Fire can remove a layer of rust, but it can also crack and warp the metal, even of an iron skillet. To remove a modest amount of rust, try a vinegar bath. For more severe rust, use electrolysis. A 12-volt battery charger works well. But you’ll need some washing soda and a scrub pad.
God temporarily took away Ezekiel’s ability to speak. He did this the night before Jerusalem fell (Ezekiel 33: 21-22).
Discussion Questions
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