Out of the Pot and into the Fire

Series on Ezekiel

I. The Fall of Jerusalem

O. Fury Boiling, Text: 24:1-14

Title: Out of the Pot and into the Fire

Introduction

In Ephesians 6 Christians are warned to put on the whole armor of God because we battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We fight an invisible enemy that is treacherous. We are armed with the Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. Thus armed we can prevail, but we must understand and believe the Word of the Lord. In Romans Paul gives us a full explanation of the grace of God towards sinners. By God’s grace we are justified, adopted, fully accepted and enabled, but says Paul, Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. People can disregard and despise God’s grace by refusing to keep His commandments. Israel did that. They were chosen but not choice. They gladly received His promises, but then ignored His threats and did as they pleased. Since they were the “chosen” people they figured they could sin with impunity. That ends in the present passage. Let us consider a foolish hope, a frank assessment, and a fearful judgment.

I A Foolish Hope

The people remaining in Jerusalem thought they had escaped punishment, but the chapter opens with Ezekiel being ordered to record the date, because this is the day that the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. It is the end. In chapter 11 they had a proverb that Jerusalem was the pot and they were the meat, safe in that pot. They deemed themselves the select and choice cuts, while those who had been carried off were the inferior portions. Now God turns their proverb around in verses 3-5, Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces-the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones; take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’” Zechariah later refers to this date, the tenth month and the tenth day, in 8:19 of his prophecy. The exiles apparently remembered this date with prayer and fasting because of the awful judgment of God, but Zechariah predicting the future blessings says that the fast will be turned into a happy festival. How did they make this terrible self-righteous mistake? What mistaken notions led them to their conclusions? First, 113 years earlier Jerusalem was the only city in Syria-Palestine that had held out against Sennacherib and the Assyrians, and thus they assumed they would always escape. Secondly, Jerusalem, Zion, was the city of God according to Deuteronomy 12:11, Then to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name-there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the LORD. They expected Him to defend it at all costs. Thirdly, Jerusalem was the city where David had been promised, according to II Samuel 7, that his heir would sit on his throne forever, so how could it be destroyed? All this was foolish because God would keep His promises, but not in the way they expected. Christ would be the heir to David’s throne and a New Jerusalem would be established above which is the mother of us all.

II A Frank Assessment

Long before God has predicted through Isaiah 4:4 that they would come to this place of shame, The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. The bloodiness is exactly what God uses here in Ezekiel 24 to describe all the crimes of that society. The awfulness of the sin is amplified because this is a crime scene investigation picnic. In verses 7 and 8 we see that they were so bold and uncaring that they are pictured as not even trying to hide the evidence of their crimes, 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. To stir up wrath and take revenge I put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered. In verses 11-13 we see how deep and abiding their boldness in sinning was. In the end in verse 11 the empty pot itself is to be on the fire to burn away the impurities of their sins, but even that will not suffice, Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows so its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away. It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire. 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. Many people today, even in the Church, think they can sin with impunity. We should learn from this that that is a foolish hope and there will always be a frank assessment by God. As Paul says in Galatians 6:7, Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

III A Fearful Judgment

The fearfulness of the judgment is emphasized in the text. For example in verse 5 it boils well, in verse each part is accounted for, none escape, in verse 9 the wood is piled high for a great fire, in verse 1o the bones are charred, and in verse 11 the copper of the pot glows. And so we read in verse 14, I the LORD 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 LORD. These things were written, not only for them, but for us as Paul says upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The author of Hebrews repeatedly reminds New Testament Christians of this as in 10:26-31, If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. In verse 13 God says he tried to cleansed them but they would not, and I am reminded of the precious invitation of Isaiah 1: 18 where God says to Israel, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Now in Ezekiel 24, the offer is withdrawn. Let us not continue in sin that grace may abound. Let us give diligence to make our calling and election sure.