The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapter 24 (Part 1 of 2)
The Two Kinds of Judgment
We finally come to chapter 24, a particularly difficult passage. God shows us two kinds of judgments. As we live our lives, there will ultimately be a judgment for each of us. It will either be the judgment expressed on Christ or a judgment we endure for eternity.
God creates a rare sermon intended to elicit an emotional response. This will bother our emotions dramatically as we examine it.
The Parable of the Boiling Pot
In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day, the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.”
Speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Put on the pot, put it on, and also pour water in it; put in it the pieces, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest of the flock, and also pile wood under the pot. Make it boil vigorously. Also seethe its bones in it.’”
Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the bloody city, to the pot in which there is rust and whose rust has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making a choice. For her blood is in her midst; she placed it on the bare rock. She did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust, that it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance; I have put her blood on the bare rock, that it may not be covered.”
Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, boil the flesh well and mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty on its coals, so that it may be hot and its bronze may glow and its filthiness may be melted in it, its rust consumed. She has wearied Me with toil, yet her great rust has not gone from her. Let her rust be in the fire! In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I would have cleansed you, yet you are not clean, you will not be cleansed from your filthiness again until I have spent My wrath on you. I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity, and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.
This is January 15, 588 BC, when Jerusalem begins to be attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. The prophecies are coming true. Remember chapter 11, where leaders told the people they were safe in Jerusalem like meat in a pot. God takes that proverb and turns it against them. You think you're safe like meat in a pot—until the pot is put on the fire.
Jerusalem is now experiencing what it's like to be meat in a boiling pot. This illustrates one form of judgment: sin needing to be cleansed. God's intolerance of sin moves Him to action. Sin cannot be tolerated by God. He reveals both kinds of judgment.
In verse 13, God says, “I would have cleansed you,” using a reflexive verb in Hebrew. It means “I Myself would have cleansed you.” An action goes out from God and returns to Him for cleansing to occur. He preaches the gospel: one case of judgment provides cleansing, saving rather than obliterating. It takes God Himself, which is why Jesus is essential. The sacrifice must have infinite value for us to be free.
Yet they are not clean because they reject God for idolatry and sin. Wrath must be spent on them, like people in a boiling pot, obliterated. Then the pot is placed in a fiery furnace to cleanse its rust, ensuring purity in God's dwelling place.
The Sign of Silent Sorrow
The word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.”
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. The people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?”
Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men. Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities and you will groan to one another.’” Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”
As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters, that on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears? On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escapes and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”
At Jerusalem's fall, an escapee will inform Ezekiel, lifting his muteness with the horrible news that the sanctuary has fallen.
This relates to the sign of silent sorrow illustrated by Ezekiel's wife's death. She was the desire of his eyes—precious, his treasure, the object of his affection. Nothing sinful in his love for her; it was as it should be.
God takes her suddenly, directly by His hand, no secondary cause. Ezekiel cannot express outward grief—no mourning, weeping, or customary rituals—only silent inward grief. The exiles see this and ask what it means for them.
She illustrates the profaning of the temple, their pride, desire, and delight. Their affection for the temple mirrors Ezekiel's for his wife. But the temple hosted abominable idolatry, like an adulterous wife. Since they profaned it, God profanes it, showing sin's abhorrence.
Ezekiel is the sign. His grief pictures judgment on sin and idolatry. The twist: you grieve without means to cope. God removes common grace for enduring pain. No numbness, shock, or relief—just raw grief, like unending pain without endorphins.
Christ as the Son of Man
The second judgment manner: Ezekiel, called Son of Man, bears the grief meant for the people. This foreshadows Isaiah 53:4—Christ bore our griefs and sorrows on the cross. He bore the grief of no normal endurance, sweating blood in agony, crying, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” He bore wrath's grief so we never have to.
Takeaways
The boiling pot shows an illusion of safety outside God's will—like claiming hell isn't bad. Comfort breeds no urgency for repentance. Security in philosophies reverses like meat in a pot on fire. Treasure security in God alone.
The loss of Ezekiel's bride motivates not treasuring sin. God cleanses sin through judgment. Only Christ's judgment escapes double jeopardy—God judges sin once on Him. He took the greatest human tragedy—losing a spouse—to illustrate sin's grief under wrath.
Feel the weight: the tragedy of losing wholeness in marriage pales beside God's wrath for sin. If this stirs confusion or questions, you've grasped it. From a Godward view of sin, we see His justice. Don't treasure sin as they did the profaned temple. Pursue no sin.
