Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 18
Flesh in the Pot
The first time the Elders came to sit before Ezekiel was in the 6th year in the 6th month. 6 in the Bible is the number of man. Man was created on the 6th day. That first time the number 6 was associated with man it was good. God looked at everything he made on the 7th day and declared it all very good.
But after man sinned the number 6 is no longer used in a good way. After the fall the number 6 is connected to the pride of man and of course his sin. 6 is man’s number and man is now a sinner so after the fall the number 6 is connected to sin. The beast and the antichrist will be totally filled with pride and both deceiving men and abusing men. They will be all about sin, sin, sin. So the number they get associated with them is 666.
Those Elders came in pride and in sin. We know that because we looked at when they came the 2nd time and the 3rd time and still in pride and not repentant of sin. It is not a coincidence that they came on 66. The 6th year 6th month.
A lot has happened between then and chapter 24. There has been a lot of object lessons and powerful preaching full of vivid descriptions. Like the two eagles and the unfaithful vine. And one of the recurring themes in all of it was that Judgment is coming and we know from last time that God did not want to have to do it.
He would have rather found a man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge but he could find none.
And we talked about the remnant that God has in Jerusalem and how they will be protected and they will come out of Jerusalem and God will use them to encourage those already in captivity when they see their ways.
But God could not use them to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. Most likely I think reason is found in the list of things in the surrounding verses that God gives why each group was disqualified.
Things like using oppression, stealing, and oppressing the stranger wrongfully. And of course lying. God is still going to use them but He could not use them in the huge way of calling the nation back to God. They could not be used to stand in the gap and make up the hedge on a national level.
You will find in the Bible different levels of usefulness to God. Some will take the vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor too far. And teach that you are either one or the other. That you are either fit to be used greatly or not at all and there is no in-between.
That is not biblical. The remnant in Jerusalem is an example. They will be used to be an encouragement to those already in captivity, but they could not be used to make up the hedge.
Over 3 years has now passed since the Elders came the first time. It is now the 9th year 10th month and what Ezekiel has been saying was going to happen has started. The Babylonian army has marched to Jerusalem and setup a siege of Jerusalem. Nothing going in and nothing going out.
No trade and no food coming in. Things are going to get difficult fast and they will just keep getting worse until the city breaks down enough that the walls really cannot be defended.
Ezekiel 24:1 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,
Ezekiel 24:2 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.
This siege will last until the 12th year 10th month. So that is 3 years.
During that 3 years God is going to have a different direction for Ezekiel’s preaching. For most of that time Ezekiel will not be preaching to Israel. But before God has Ezekiel change directions He has, you guessed it, two more object lessons for Israel.
The first one is, well, disgusting, and the second one is well, incredibly hard.
These will not take us long to go over them. So we will look at them before we sing. One this week the other one next week. And for the messages after we sing we will be in the book of Acts.
The first object lesson. God tells Ezekiel to get out a big pot and cook meat in it.
I can visualize this. A very long time ago by brother in law Ken took me into Tijuana for what he called real Mexican food. We drove way past all the tourist areas to this little place on the side of the road. Kind of a shack really with a few picnic tables.
And outside near the shack was these huge pots that were sitting over a wood fire. They would slow cook their pork in those pots for a long time. You could just walk up and look in the pot. Looked great. Smelled good.
And yes the food was amazing. But Richard will be shocked with this. No cheese. Cheese on a taco is an American thing. So cooking meat in a large pot over a fire can be really good. Cooking meat that way is not disgusting.
But for this object lesson / parable God has Ezekiel cook it in such a way that it is disgusting. Filthy.
Ezekiel 24:3 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:
Ezekiel 24:4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
Very important here. What kind of meat went into the pot? Every good piece. And choice bones. So only the good ones. The ingredients put in by the one cooking was the best.
This is what God did with Israel. He gave them the best of the land. Filled with milk and honey. God sent the early rain and the latter rain. God gave them victories. God gave them His precious Word.
God gave them mercy and grace and help and resources. Everything that God put into Israel was good, so for the object lesson God has Ezekiel only put in the best.
Ezekiel 24:5 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.
Now if you put the best into the pot, what should you get out? The best. That should be the expectation.
Now comes the preaching that goes with the visual of the pot cooking.
Ezekiel 24:6 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.
Ezekiel 24:7 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;
Ezekiel 24:8 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.
Ezekiel 24:9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
Ezekiel 24:10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
God put good into Israel. The best ingredients, but what came out? God says it well in verse 6. whose scum is therein
The people watching the object lesson could see Ezekiel put in the good ingredients. They that hear the message would at first look and say it does not seem to fit with the object lesson. But then the cooking is done and guess what the results are, they are scum.
So good ingredients went into Israel but scum was the result and in this object lesson Ezekiel put in good ingredients but scum was the result. What a visual of the reality of the situation.
Ezekiel 24:11 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.
Ezekiel 24:12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
Ezekiel 24:13 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.
Ezekiel 24:14 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.
What a visual of what God thought of the good going in and the bad that came out. God has one more object lesson for Ezekiel and then God will turn his preaching to other countries until near the end of the siege.