Ezekiel 24:1-14, The Siege Begins

I grilled out the other day for the first time. Sometimes after cooking on the grill there will be small remnants of the meat you cooked still on the grate. You heat up the grill to very hot to burn that residue off. This is a picture of how God will judge Jerusalem and how the siege against the city will purify it.

1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of Yahweh came to me: 2 “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:

The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible notes:

The ninth year (of King Jehoiachin’s exile), the tenth month, and the tenth day is equivalent approximately to January 15, 588 BC. Ezekiel’s dating here departs from the pattern he has employed elsewhere in the book, which is based on the year of King Jehoiachin’s exile. The present date is apparently based on King Zedekiah’s regnal years instead and corresponds precisely to that of 2 Kings 25:1 (cf. Jer 39:1; 52:4). The Lord commands Ezekiel to record this date because it is the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel had been predicting this for five years and now it is here. Yahweh tells Israel a parable concerning Jerusalem’s judgment.

“‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. 4 Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones; 5 take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.

Jerusalem has become a cooking pot, besieged by Babylon, roasting the inhabitants inside the city, “all the choice pieces.” The vigorousness of the cooking will be such that even the bones will be cooked.

6 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! Take the meat out piece by piece in whatever order it comes.

7 “‘For the blood she shed is in her midst: She poured it on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground, where the dust would cover it. 8 To stir up wrath and take revenge I put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.

The callousness of Israel’s shedding of blood is that she did nothing to cover it up. No dust absorbed the blood, no one sought to wash it away. This was like inviting a relative’s blood vengeance for the victim. As she shed blood on bare rock, so Yahweh would shed her blood, stirring up wrath and vengeance.

9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the wood high. 10 So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred. 11 Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away. 12 It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire.

Once the cooking of the meat and bones is done, the pot itself will be cooked to burn off its impurities. This highlights the severity of the judgment against her. In point of fact, Jerusalem’s walls were destroyed as was its temple, something Israel had trouble comprehending. Her sickness required severe treatment.

13 “‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

14 “‘I Yahweh have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Yahweh.’” (Ezekiel 24:1-14)

Israel will be clean again, but not until Yahweh’s severe judgment is completed and His anger has subsided.