The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapter 24

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 us. It will be either a 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

Ezekiel 24 begins on January 15, 588 BC, when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem. The prophecies are coming true—Nebuchadnezzar is attacking.

In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, write down the name of this 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.

You may remember from chapter 11 that Jerusalem's 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 needs to be cleansed. God's intolerance of sin moves Him to action. Sin cannot be tolerated by God.

In verse 13, God says, “I would have cleansed you.” This is a reflexive verb in Hebrew—God Himself would have cleansed them. He is preaching the gospel: one case of judgment provides cleansing, not obliteration. It takes God to do that. That's why Jesus is essential—the sacrifice must have infinite value for us to be free.

But they refused. They desired idolatry, creating gods in their imagination. So wrath must be spent on them, like people in a boiling pot, obliterated, and the pot cleansed in fire until pure.

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. As I have done, so you will do; 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, and his muteness will be lifted—with the horrible news that the sanctuary has fallen.

Ezekiel's wife was the desire of his eyes—precious, his treasure, the object of his affection. She dies suddenly by God's direct hand. Ezekiel must not mourn outwardly—no weeping, no tears, no customary grief. He groans silently.

The exiles see this and ask, “What does this mean for us?” It illustrates the profaning of the temple, their pride, desire, and delight. As Ezekiel treasured his wife, they treasured the temple. But the temple hosted idolatry, like an adulterous wife.

Ezekiel stands as a sign. His silent grief shows how bad sin is. Under God's judgment, you grieve without normal means to cope—no numbness, no shock, no relief. It's grief without end, like pain without endorphins.

As Son of Man, Ezekiel foreshadows Christ, who bore our griefs (Isaiah 53:4). Christ bore the grief of forsakenness—“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”—sweating blood in agony, so we avoid it.

Takeaways

The boiling pot reveals an illusion of safety outside God's will—like thinking hell is not bad. Comfort in sin creates no urgency for repentance. Treasure security in God alone.

The loss of Ezekiel's wife motivates us not to treasure sin. God cleanses sin through judgment. The only escape is Christ's judgment—God does not judge twice. He took the greatest treasure, marriage, and its greatest tragedy to show sin's grief.

If this stirs confusion or questions—why such harsh illustration?—you understand. From a Godward view, it reveals His justice. Don't treasure sin as they treasured the profaned temple. Treasure God, who cannot be taken away. Christ bore our griefs so we never have to.