And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah's house, which looketh eastward; and behold, at the door of the gate were five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
Ezekiel is an exile in Babylon when the Spirit carries him in vision to the east gate of the temple in Jerusalem. Twenty-five men stand there, two of them named, and God brings the prophet to that spot to hear what they are planning.
This is not a fresh start. The chapter closes off a section of the prophecy that began in chapter 8:
Chapter 11 fully confirms all this, and it completes this part of the prophecy. In the vision Jehovah shows Ezekiel the excessive, scoffing presumption of the leaders in Jerusalem. Their counsel to king Zedekiah ruined him and ruined them. It flatly contradicted Jehovah's message through Jeremiah — whose own style and imagery they seem to have borrowed to suit their purpose.
Chapter 8 also showed twenty-five men in the temple. Commentators differ on whether this is the same group. Kelly says it is not:
The number twenty-five is the same in both places. That is no good reason to identify the scoffers described here with the sun-worshippers between the porch and the altar of Ezekiel 8. Here the leaders at least were princes of the people, not of the sanctuary or of the priests. The earlier scene showed the religious apostasy. This one shows the boldness and unbelief of their civil chiefs — and they stand in the doorway of the gate of Jehovah's house.
F. W. Grant explains why the number matches: these men stand for the whole people.
They are twenty-five men — the number of the priests given earlier. But these are not the priests. They represent, one may say, everyone the priesthood represented: the people at large. That is why their number is the same.
The verse names two of the men and their fathers, and the names carry meaning:
Among them, two prominent men recall in their very names the false hopes that are misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers," and he is the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names.
They knew Jeremiah's letter to the exiles and mocked it. In its place they had a slogan of safety — the city is the cauldron, and they are the flesh kept safe inside it:
They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave wicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience to Jehovah and His Word... They knew the letter Jeremiah had sent to the elders in exile. Jeremiah believed God's Word that the captivity would be long, so he told them, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem, and "the flesh" means themselves. Just as the cauldron itself keeps the flesh inside from the fire, so they felt secure in the doomed city.
God heard every word spoken in that gateway, and He answers the men with their own saying:
Their secrets were out in His light. Jehovah listed their murderous deeds, then turned their own proverb back on them. It was their slain who were the flesh, and the city the cauldron. He tells them to get out — but not to escape, as they expected. Jehovah would bring the dreaded sword on them, outside the city they clung to so closely, and He would hand them over to strangers for judgment. He declares that He would judge them at the boundary of Israel, and they would know that He is Jehovah.
The chapter does not stop with the men at the gate. The same vision turns to the captives far from the city:
In Ezekiel 11 God judges the leaders of iniquity. They comforted themselves with the thought that no enemy could take the city... One of these wicked men dies in front of the prophet, and that draws out the prophet's sorrow and his prayer for Israel. In reply, God distinguishes those in Jerusalem from the captives. As for the captives, God had been a sanctuary to them wherever they were. He would restore them and give them back the land. He would purify them and give them a new heart.
- Seen — The Spirit carries Ezekiel to the east gate to watch the nation's civil leaders. The vision completes what began in chapter 8.
- Named — Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears" and Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers." Their names are full of promise; their counsel contradicts God's word.
- Heard — Their advice rejected Jeremiah's letter. They traded it for a slogan: the city is the cauldron, we are the meat, the fire cannot reach us.
- Answered — God turns their proverb against them. The slain are the meat, and He will bring the leaders out and judge them at the border of Israel.
- Spared — The same chapter promises the captives a sanctuary wherever they go, a return to the land, and a new heart.
And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and give wicked counsel in this city
In a vision, Ezekiel sees twenty-five of Jerusalem's leaders — the men who advised the king. God names them on the spot as the source of the city's ruin. The verse raises a hard question. What happens when the men who guide a nation are the ones God blames for its ruin?
One writer identifies these men as the advisers around King Zedekiah. They borrowed the language of God's own prophet and used it for their own ends:
In the vision of Jehovah, Ezekiel is shown the scoffing presumption of the leaders in Jerusalem. They advised king Zedekiah to his ruin and their own. Their advice flatly contradicted Jehovah's message through Jeremiah, whose style and imagery they seem to have borrowed to suit their own purposes.
Commentators differ on who the twenty-five were. Kelly calls them the leaders who advised the king. Another writer takes the number as pointing to the priesthood:
Ezekiel 11 reveals the spirit of unbelief that dominated those living in Jerusalem. The prophet sees twenty-five princes of the people. These twenty-five men were, I judge, the high priest and the twenty-four heads of the priestly divisions. This shows the terrible state of affairs when the official leaders of religion were the prime movers in idolatry and every sin. They believed Jerusalem could not be captured, in spite of Jeremiah's earlier warnings.
Two of the men are named. Their names carried the very hopes that were misleading the people:
Among them, two prominent men recall in their very names the false hopes that were misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers," and he is the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names. These are the men, God tells Ezekiel, who set aside Jeremiah's call. Jeremiah told the captives to build houses in the place of their captivity, which was to be long. These men say to build in Jerusalem instead. Judgment is not near, they say.
The charge is not incompetence. It is defiance of what God had already said:
The priests and the leaders of the nation were steeped in wickedness, and defied God and the judgments His prophets had announced. They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave wicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience against Jehovah and His Word.
That defiance had a public shape. God's word through Jeremiah called for submission and patience. These men promised the opposite:
They were the evil counsellors who thwarted His word through the prophet to Zedekiah. Jeremiah urged the Jews in Jerusalem to submit to the king of Babylon. He urged the captives to build houses, plant gardens and raise families in exile, and to pray for the peace of the city. This was to go on until the seventy years were complete and a remnant should return to Jerusalem. The false prophets predicted smooth things both at home and abroad. They stirred up rebellion under the cover of patriotism. They used Jehovah's name while encouraging disobedience under His humbling hand.
Nothing they planned in private stayed hidden. God handed their secrets to His prophet:
This is why God called Ezekiel with such emphasis to prophesy against them. The Spirit of Jehovah is said to fall upon him, with a renewed charge to speak in Jehovah's name. Their secrets were out in His light.
These same men shut the scattered people out of the sanctuary. God's answer went past the leaders to the ones they excluded:
"The inhabitants of Jerusalem" boasted at that time in the official leadership of God's people. They had turned the real Israel away from the place of Jehovah's name and sanctuary. These hard leaders claimed the outward position, but "all the house of Israel" were scattered! Where, then, should they find a sanctuary? These place-loving leaders, who "devise iniquity and give wicked counsel," had shut them out of the sanctuary of God at Jerusalem. Listen to the heart-cheering answer in verse 16: the Lord says, "I will be to them as a little sanctuary."
One writer draws out the lasting pattern:
In a day of sin and ruin it is always like this. Those who boast in their long history, their order, their succession and their rule as a family possession they alone own are only ripening for divine judgment. Meanwhile the most criticised and despised are the ones who have the truth and the blessing, in humbling and weakness.
- Counsel — The sin named here is advice. These men devised iniquity and then packaged it as guidance for a whole city.
- Contradiction — Their counsel was wicked because it defied what God had said through Jeremiah. Submit, settle, wait out the seventy years.
- Cover — They spoke God's name, borrowed the prophet's imagery, and called rebellion patriotism. Names meaning "the Lord hears" and "Jehovah delivers" carried the false hopes the people leaned on.
- Exposure — Their secrets were out in His light. God told His prophet what they were planning behind Jerusalem's walls.
- Reversal — The leaders who held the sanctuary were ripening for judgment. God promised to be a little sanctuary to the scattered people they shut out.
who say, It is not the time to build houses this is the cauldron, and we are the flesh.
The Spirit brings Ezekiel to the east gate of the temple, where twenty-five men are advising a city already under sentence. Their proverb about the pot and the meat sounds like calm confidence, and God answers it word for word.
An earlier vision showed idol-worship in the temple. This scene turns to the city's political leaders, and one writer names whose word they were blocking.
The number twenty-five also appears in Ezekiel 8, but that is no good reason to identify these scoffers with the sun-worshippers there. Here the leaders at least were princes of the people, not of the sanctuary or of the priests. The earlier scene set out the religious apostasy. This one sets out the boldness and unbelief of their civil chiefs. Yet they stand in the doorway of the gate of the Lord's house. They were the evil counsellors who blocked His word through the prophet to Zedekiah. Jeremiah urged the Jews in Jerusalem to submit to the king of Babylon. He urged the captives to build houses, plant gardens and raise families in their exile, and to pray for the peace of the city. They were to do this until the seventy years ended and a remnant returned to Jerusalem.
Commentators differ on who the twenty-five were. Another writer takes them for the temple's own leaders.
The prophet sees twenty-five princes of the people whom God describes as "men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city" (Ezek. 11:2-3). These twenty-five men were, I judge, the high priest and the twenty-four heads of the divisions of the priests. That shows the terrible state of affairs, when the official leaders of religion were the prime movers in idolatry and every sin. They regarded Jerusalem as unconquerable, despite Jeremiah's earlier warnings.
The image of pot and meat is not a complaint. It is a boast, and it depends on how a cooking pot works.
They knew of Jeremiah's letter, which he sent to the elders taken away as captives. In that letter Jeremiah believed God's word about the long captivity, and gave the advice, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that advice, which God had given. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The cauldron means the city of Jerusalem, and the flesh means themselves. The cauldron protects the flesh from the fire, and in the same way they felt secure in the doomed city.
The passage names two of the twenty-five, and their names say aloud what the group believed.
Among them, two prominent men recall in their very names the false hopes which are misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "the Lord delivers," the son of Benaiah, "the Lord builds up." Their words match their names… Judgment is not near, they say. They imply that the time to act this way never will come… The words, vague as they may seem, can hardly be anything but mockery.
Translators have not agreed on the first clause of the verse.
Verse 3 is not entirely clear, and translators and interpreters differ over the detail, while the general truth seems plain enough. The Septuagint takes it as a question: "Have not the houses been newly built?"… Others take it as: "It is not near to build houses." That is, the time of peace for such work is far off. They were determined to resist the Babylonians to the last, despite the prophet's warning.
The Lord does not argue with the saying. He keeps the picture and changes who is who in it.
They set themselves against the true prophets. They even turned Jeremiah's figure into ridicule, by making it a phrase that suited their own policy… The Lord recounts their murderous doings, then throws their proverb back at them. It was their slain who were the flesh, and the city the cauldron. He tells them to get out, but not to escape as they expected… He would judge them at the boundary of Israel, and they would know that He is the Lord. So the city would not be a cauldron to them, nor they flesh inside it.
The men who misled the people meet a worse end than the people they misled.
Already the prophet sees the slain in the city, killed at the hands of those who have misled them… But a more severe judgment still waited for the deceivers of the people themselves. God would not allow the city to be even the tomb of such men.
- Counsel — the twenty-five stood at the gate of God's house and gave advice against God's word. Jeremiah had told the exiles to build houses where they were.
- Cauldron — their proverb meant the city would shield them, as a pot shields meat from the fire. It was mockery of the prophets, not a lament.
- Confidence — the names Jaazaniah and Pelatiah, "the Lord hears" and "the Lord delivers," show how religious language can prop up a false hope.
- Caution — the first clause is hard to translate, and readings differ, though the general sense is clear.
- Consequence — God took the figure back. Their slain were the meat, and He brought them out of the city to judge them at the border, so that they would know He is the Lord.
Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.
In a vision, Ezekiel stands at the gate of the temple, where twenty-five men are giving counsel to a city already marked for destruction. God's answer to their confident talk is a short command to His prophet: speak against them.
These men stood at the gate of God's house while leading the people away from His word. Commentators differ on who they were. One view ties them to the priesthood:
The prophet sees twenty-five princes of the people whom God describes as "the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city." These twenty-five men were, I judge, the high priest and the twenty-four heads of the priestly divisions. That shows the terrible state of things, when the official leaders of religion were the ones leading the way in idolatry and every sin.
Another reading keeps them separate from the priests seen earlier in the book:
The number twenty-five is the same, but that is no good reason to identify the scoffers described here with the sun-worshippers seen between the porch and the altar in Ezekiel 8. Here the leaders at least were princes of the people, not of the sanctuary or of the priests. The earlier scene showed how their religion had fallen away. This one shows the boldness and unbelief of their civil leaders, even though they stood in the doorway of the gate of Jehovah's house. They were the evil counsellors who thwarted His word through the prophet to Zedekiah.
Their advice contradicted what God had already said through Jeremiah, who had written a letter to those already taken captive.
They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave wicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience against Jehovah and His Word… They knew of Jeremiah's letter which he had sent to the elders who were carried away captives. In that letter, Jeremiah, believing God's Word concerning the long duration of the captivity, gave the advice, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. They said the city was the cauldron and they were the meat in it. As the meat in the cauldron is kept from the fire by the cauldron itself, so they felt safe in the doomed city.
Two of these men carried names that echoed the very hopes they were feeding the people:
Among them, two leading men carry in their very names the false hopes that are misleading the people. There is Jaazaniah, "the Lord hears," the son of Azzur, "the helper." And there is Pelatiah, "Jehovah delivers," the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names.
God says the word twice — "prophesy against them; prophesy" — and puts His Spirit on the man He sends. The repetition matches what these men had done to God's messengers.
It is certain that they set themselves against the true prophets. They even turned Jeremiah's figure of speech into ridicule, making it a phrase that suited their own policy. That is why Ezekiel was called with such emphasis to prophesy against them. The Spirit of Jehovah is said to fall on him, and he is charged again to speak in Jehovah's name, for their secrets were out in His light.
God does not use Ezekiel's name here. He calls him "son of man," and that title shows where God now stands toward His people.
So the voice of God speaks to Ezekiel as to a "son of man." The title suited the testimony of a God who now spoke from outside His people. He was no longer among them. Instead He was judging them from the throne of His sovereignty. It is Christ's own title, seen as rejected and outside of Israel, though He never stops thinking of the blessing of the people in grace. This puts the prophet in connection with the position of Christ Himself.
The message did not end with these leaders. The chapter turns to those already scattered.
In Ezekiel 11 God judges the leaders of iniquity, who comforted themselves with the thought that the city could not be taken. They would be brought out of it and judged at the border of Israel. One of these wicked men dies in front of the prophet, which brings out the sorrow of the prophet's heart and his prayer for Israel. In reply, God separates those in Jerusalem from the captives. As to the latter, God had been a sanctuary to them wherever they were. He would restore them, and give them back the land. He would purify them, and give them a new heart.
- Counsel — The men at the gate gave advice that opposed what God had already spoken through Jeremiah. That is what made it wicked.
- Confidence — They called the city a cauldron that would keep them safe, like meat shielded from the fire, and laughed at God's word through Jeremiah.
- Command — God's answer to organised unbelief is not silence but a doubled charge to speak, with His Spirit falling on the messenger.
- Cost — Their secrets were already open in God's light. God brought them out of the city they trusted and judged them at the border of Israel.
- Continuation — The same chapter that judges the leaders promises the scattered captives a sanctuary, a return, and a new heart.
And the Spirit of Jehovah fell on me, and said unto me, Speak, Thus saith Jehovah Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; and the things that come into your mind, I know them.
Ezekiel is an exile when a vision carries him to Jerusalem, where the leaders are giving confident advice to a doomed city. In verse 5 the Spirit comes on him, and God's first word to those leaders is that He already knows their thoughts.
The men at the gate were not neutral advisers. They had a policy of their own, and a use for the prophets' words.
There is no doubt that they set themselves against the true prophets. They even turned Jeremiah's figure of speech into a joke, making it a phrase that favoured their own policy. That is why the call for Ezekiel to prophesy against them came with such emphasis. The Spirit of Jehovah is said to fall upon him, with a renewed charge to speak in Jehovah's name, for their secrets were out in His light.
The phrase "the Spirit fell upon me" is not unique to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel describes the Spirit falling upon him (Ezek. 11:5). Believers of New Testament times, in Samaria and at Caesarea, could speak of the same thing as their own experience. The Spirit fell on them, and Peter says of the company in the house of Cornelius that He came "as on us at the beginning" (Acts 8:16; 10:44; 11:15).
The thought God exposes is their boast earlier in the chapter about the cauldron and the flesh. It mocked a letter Jeremiah had sent to the exiles.
They knew of Jeremiah's letter, which he had sent to the elders who were carried away captive. Jeremiah believed God's Word about the long captivity. So in that letter he gave the advice, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem, and "the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron keeps the flesh inside safe from the fire. In the same way, they felt secure in the doomed city. Then the Spirit fell upon Ezekiel and he spoke Jehovah's message.
The word behind this phrase turns up in very ordinary places.
The same word is used in Ex. 20:26 for the steps of an altar, as in 1 Kings 10:19 of a throne; 2 Kings 9:13, the stairs; and 2 Kings 20:9, the degrees of a sundial… Ezek. 11:5, "the things that come into your mind"… The word it comes from means simply to go up — to ascend.
This verse is one of the passages that say God alone knows what people think. One writer shows what that means for Jesus.
He who saw the faith of the five men also perceived the reasoning of the scribes. He did this in His own all-knowing spirit (compare John 2:24; John 6:61). It was not by a power given to Him for the moment, as might have been the case with a prophet. No one but God could see into the secret workings of a man's spirit. Solomon admitted this in his prayer (1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 6:30; Ezek. 11:5). So when the Lord answered the thoughts of the Pharisees, He gave them proof of what His person is. Who else could "hear them thinking"?
God does not state His knowledge and leave it there. They had claimed the city as their protection. His answer takes them out of it.
The destruction was coming fast. Even so, God meets it with another prophetic warning. He who knew all their thoughts would soon give them His full answer… They defied the sword, even while they trembled at it. Jehovah would bring that sword upon them. He would take them out of the city they had defiled, so that they fell by the sword at the border of Israel.
What was true of them is true of everyone, and God's word is the instrument that brings it home.
Omniscience has searched every human being, whether he is aware of it or not. This will be made clear "in the day when God judges the secrets of men." God's word searching "the thoughts and intentions of the heart" now is how He brings His knowledge to bear on our conscience before that day.
- Secrets out. The leaders had a private policy. Their secrets were already out in God's light, and the Spirit comes on Ezekiel to say so.
- Thoughts climb. The phrase pictures what comes up in the mind. The same word covers steps, stairs and the marks on a sundial.
- Slogans exposed. Their boast about the cauldron mocked Jeremiah's letter. It made the doomed city their shield.
- Divine mark. Only God can read the inner workings of a person's spirit. So when Jesus answered unspoken thoughts, He showed who He is.
- Answered. God never leaves what He knows unanswered. It met these men with judgment. It meets us now through His word searching the heart.
Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
Jerusalem was a doomed city, and its leaders had a saying that made them feel safe inside it. In this verse God answers that saying by naming the dead they had left in the streets.
God speaks these words to a specific group. Twenty-five men were standing at the east gate of the temple. The verses just before call them princes of the people. One writer separates them from the idol-worshippers seen earlier in the book: these men were civil leaders, not priests.
In Ezekiel 8 there were also twenty-five men, sun-worshippers standing between the porch and the altar. That matching number is no good reason to treat them as the scoffers described here. Here the leaders at least were princes of the people, not of the sanctuary or of the priests. The earlier scene showed how the people had abandoned true worship. This one shows the boldness and unbelief of their civil leaders, even though they stood in the doorway of the gate of the LORD's house. They were the evil counsellors who blocked His word sent through the prophet to Zedekiah.
These men kept repeating a saying. The city was a cooking pot, they said, and they were the meat inside it. The picture promised safety, and it mocked the advice Jeremiah had sent to the exiles.
They knew about the letter Jeremiah sent to the elders taken away as captives. Jeremiah believed God's word that the captivity would last a long time, so his advice in that letter was, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that advice, which God had given. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem; and "the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron keeps the flesh away from the fire. In the same way, they felt safe in the doomed city.
God does not argue with the proverb. He points to the dead in the streets, and to who put them there.
Already the prophet sees the slain in the city, slain at the hands of those who have misled them. These dead would fulfil the picture. They were clearly the flesh in the cauldron. But a harsher judgment was still waiting for the deceivers of the people themselves. God would not allow the city to be even a tomb for such men. He would take them out of the city they had defiled, and before their death they would see the disasters they had brought on the people.
The charge is not new in the book. Earlier Ezekiel had pleaded for the people. The answer he received pointed to the blood already spilled, and to what the people were saying about God.
There was no room for intercession to prevail. "Then he said to me, The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.' As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will bring their deeds upon their heads."
They had made a joke of the prophet's warning. So God takes their own picture and hands it back with the roles switched. Their protection becomes their expulsion.
They set themselves against the true prophets, and even turned Jeremiah's figure into a joke by making it a phrase that suited their own policy. That is why God called Ezekiel with such emphasis to prophesy against them. The Spirit of the LORD fell on him, with a fresh charge to speak in the LORD's name, for their secrets were out in His light. After listing their murderous doings, the LORD throws their own proverb back at them. It was their victims who were the flesh and the city the cauldron. They themselves are told to get out — but not to escape as they expected. The LORD would bring on them the sword they dreaded, and outside the city they clung to so closely, for they would be handed over to strangers for judgment. He solemnly declares that He would judge them at the border of Israel, and they would know that He is the LORD.
- Boast. The leaders called Jerusalem a cooking pot and themselves the meat. A pot keeps the meat off the fire, so they felt safe inside the doomed city.
- Charge. Verse 6 answers the boast with a body count. Those same leaders had filled the streets with people they killed.
- Knowledge. Their scheming was never private. God sent Ezekiel to speak, for "their secrets were out in His light."
- Reversal. The victims, not the schemers, are the meat in the pot. The schemers are pulled out of the city they clung to, to meet the sword they feared.
- Outcome. The walls they trusted could not save them. Judged at the border of Israel, they would learn at last who had been speaking to them.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and it is the cauldron; but you will I bring forth out of the midst of it.
Jerusalem's leaders had a saying: the city was the cooking pot and they were the meat inside it — safe, sealed in, untouchable. God answers by leaving their picture intact and changing only one thing: who the meat is. (Older translations read "flesh" where the ESV has "meat.")
The saying was not a complaint but a claim of safety, built on how a pot works over a fire.
In regard to the judgment they said, "It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh." They knew about Jeremiah's letter to the elders of those taken away captive. In that letter Jeremiah believed God's Word that the captivity would be long, and gave this advice: "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They mocked that advice, which came from God. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem, and "we are the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron itself protects the flesh inside from the fire. In the same way, they felt safe inside the doomed city.
Two of the men behind the saying carried names that advertised the very hope they were selling.
Among them, two leading men carry in their very names the false hopes that are misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers," and he is the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names… Jerusalem, surrounded by all its enemies, may indeed look like nothing but a cauldron, with "we are the flesh in it." Then so be it, they say: we can accept that place and everything we find in it. The words, vague as they may seem, can hardly be anything but mockery.
The reply does not argue with the image. God lists their murders, then swaps the roles in their own saying.
That is why God called Ezekiel to prophesy against them with such marked emphasis. The Spirit of Jehovah is said to fall on him, and he is charged again to speak in Jehovah's name, for their secrets were out in His light. Then Jehovah lists their murderous doings and throws their proverb back at them. Only it was their slain who were the flesh and the city the cauldron, while they themselves are told to get out, but not to escape as they expected.
The pot they trusted becomes the one place they cannot stay.
Already the prophet sees the slain in the city, slain at the hands of those who have misled them. These would fulfil the picture: they are the flesh in the cauldron, clear for all to see. But a still harsher judgment waited for the deceivers of the people themselves. God would not allow the city to be even the tomb of such men. They defied the sword even while they trembled at it, and Jehovah would bring it on them. He would take them out of the city they had defiled, to fall by the sword at the border of Israel.
God takes up the same picture again later, with the pot loaded and boiling.
So the cauldron is filled with the pieces of flesh and the best bones, boiled hard along with the rest of the bones. That is the terrible picture Jehovah later explains, pointing back to their own proud boast (chapter 11) that Jerusalem kept them safe. For as the flesh never trusts God for eternal life or an absolute remission of sins, so mere religiousness is apt to presume on the permanence of God's promises, with no concern at all for His will or His glory.
The same writer carries the warning past Israel.
From the very first, God kept His right to judge every departure from Him… The deep fault of the Christian world, as of Israel, is to claim, in its most guilty and unfaithful state, the exemption from judgment that belongs to God's purposes of grace. Judah was never prouder in its claims, or louder about its own safety, than on the eve of judgment that spared no one.
- Their pot — they read Jerusalem as a vessel that shields the meat from the flame, and read themselves as the meat.
- Their mockery — they threw back Jeremiah's word to build houses; men named for God's hearing and God's rescue used His name to sell false hope.
- His reversal — God keeps the picture and moves them out of it: the people they killed are the meat, not them.
- Their removal — the city will not even be their grave; God brings them out and judges them at the border by the sword they defied.
- Our warning — God fills that pot and boils it later; the loudest claims of safety can come on the eve of judgment.
Ye have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah.
These words are aimed at Judah's own leaders, standing at the gate of God's house in Jerusalem. God's answer turns on a strange fact: the thing they feared is the thing He promises to send.
The twenty-five men Ezekiel sees are the nation's civil leadership, and they were actively working against the message God had sent through Jeremiah.
Twenty-five men also appear in Ezekiel 8, worshipping the sun between the porch and the altar. That matching number is no good reason to treat the scoffers described here as the same men. Here the leaders at least were princes of the people, not of the sanctuary or of the priests. The earlier scene showed the nation's religious unfaithfulness. This one shows the boldness and unbelief of its civil chiefs, even though they stood in the gateway of Jehovah's house. They were the evil counsellors who blocked His word through the prophet to Zedekiah.
Their slogan — the city is the pot, we are the meat — was a claim to be safe where they were.
In regard to the judgment they said, "It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh." They knew about the letter Jeremiah had sent to the elders in captivity. Jeremiah believed God's word that the captivity would last a long time, so he told them, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They ridiculed that divinely given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem, and "the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron keeps the fire off the flesh inside it. In the same way, they felt safe in the doomed city.
Even their names carried the promise they were trading on.
Among them, two leading men carry in their very names the false hopes that are misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers," and he is the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names.
This is the heart of the verse. Their fear of the sword was real, and it changed nothing.
God would not even let the city be a grave for such men. They defied the sword while they trembled at it, and Jehovah would bring that sword upon them. He would take them out of the city they had defiled, and they would fall by the sword at the border of Israel. Before they died, they would see the disasters they had brought on the people.
God takes their own saying and hands it back with the parts reassigned.
Jehovah lists their murders, then throws their own proverb back at them. The flesh was the people they had killed, and the cauldron was the city. They themselves are told to get out — but not to escape, as they expected. He would bring the dreaded sword on them outside the city they clung to so closely. He would hand them over to strangers for judgment.
The judgment had a purpose. It would settle who had been speaking to them all along.
Thrown out of the city, they would face judgment at the border of Israel. There they would learn, to their complete dismay, that it was Jehovah who had been speaking to them. They had broken His rules while claiming the privileges that belong to His chosen people, and they had followed the rules of the nations around them.
The same presumption can dress itself in religion in any age.
For as the flesh never trusts God for eternal life or for a complete remission of sins, so mere religiousness is apt to presume on security.
- Boast — They called the city a cauldron and themselves the meat in it. The walls would keep the fire off, they thought, so they mocked the advice to settle down in exile.
- Fear — They trembled at the sword and defied it at the same time. God answers by sending the very thing they dreaded.
- Reversal — God turns their own proverb around. Their victims are the meat, and they themselves go outside the pot.
- Removal — The pot they trusted would not hold them. God orders them out of the city, hands them to strangers, and judges them at the border.
- Knowledge — The sword has an aim. At the border they would know who had been speaking to them: Jehovah, whose commands they broke while claiming His privileges.
And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
The leaders in Jerusalem had a slogan. The city was a cooking pot, they said, and they were the meat inside it, safe from the fire. God's reply takes that picture apart. The pot will not hold them, because He will lift them out and hand them to foreigners.
The boast came from the nation's leaders. They already knew what God had said about the exile.
They knew about the letter Jeremiah had sent to the elders taken away into captivity. In that letter Jeremiah believed God's Word that the captivity would last a long time, and he gave this advice: "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They laughed at that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. By "this is the cauldron" they meant the city of Jerusalem, and by "we are the flesh" they meant themselves. The cauldron protects the flesh inside it from the fire, and in the same way they felt safe in the doomed city.
God does not argue with the slogan. He keeps the picture but swaps the roles, and He cancels the part they gave themselves.
After listing their murderous deeds, Jehovah throws their own proverb back at them. The flesh was the people they had killed, and the city was the cauldron. He tells them to get out — but not to escape, as they expected. Jehovah would bring the dreaded sword on them, and outside the city they clung to so tightly. He would hand them over to strangers for judgment.
Leaving the city is not a rescue. The place they treated as a shelter will not even hold their graves. Behind this lies a double life: they took God's privileges and copied everyone else's practices.
God would not allow the city to be even the tomb of such men. They defied the sword, even while they trembled at it. Jehovah would bring it on them. He would take them out of the middle of the city they had profaned, so that they fell by the sword at the border of Israel… Thrown out of the city, they would be judged at the border of Israel. There they would learn, to their utter shame, that it was Jehovah who had been speaking to them. They had broken His ordinances while claiming the privileges that belong to His chosen people, and had followed the ordinances of the nations around them.
What the verse threatens happened in detail. The king and the nobles were taken outside the land they trusted and sentenced by a foreign court.
As the king of Judah and his men of war flee, the army of the Chaldeans chases them and overtakes them. Zedekiah is captured and taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar pronounces judgment on him.
To "execute judgments upon you" is not only punishment. It is how God means to be recognised. One commentator contrasts this with the way God makes Himself known in the gospel.
This is how Jehovah reveals Himself. The Father reveals Himself to our souls by the gospel, by the spirit of adoption. But Jehovah makes Himself known by His judgments — by using His power on the earth.
The same chapter splits the people in two. The ones already far from the city are the ones God keeps.
In Ezekiel 11 God judges the leaders of wrongdoing, who comforted themselves with the thought that the city could not be taken. He would bring them out from the middle of it and judge them at the border of Israel… In reply, God distinguishes those in Jerusalem from the captives. As to the captives, God had been a sanctuary to them wherever they were. He would restore them, and give them back the land. He would purify them, and give them a new heart… But as for those who followed their detestable practices, God would repay them in judgment for their ways.
- Boast — The leaders called Jerusalem their pot and themselves the meat, safe from the fire. They laughed at the advice to settle down in exile.
- Answer — God keeps their picture but changes who is who. Their victims are the meat, and He orders them out.
- Out — Leaving the city is the sentence, not the escape. The place they profaned will not even be their grave.
- Strangers — They claimed God's privileges and copied the nations around them. So God hands them to those nations for sentencing.
- Known — The purpose goes past punishment. Through these judgments people learn who Jehovah is. The captives far away learn the same name another way: God gives them back their land and a new heart.
Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the borders of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.
Ezekiel 11 closes a vision in which God passes sentence on Jerusalem. God speaks verse 10 to the city's leaders, who were sure Jerusalem could not fall.
The threat belongs to one vision that runs across four chapters.
Chapters 8 to 11 really form the parts, according to the chapters, of one connected vision. First, it sets out the extreme idolatry of Judah in Jerusalem, beginning with the house of God. Second, God orders the destruction of all left in the city, except a marked remnant of those who sighed and cried over all the abominations done there — a destruction that begins at the Lord's sanctuary itself. Third comes the part played by the cherubim and the other agents of divine judgment, before the glory of the Lord slowly takes each step of departure. Fourth comes the announcement of woes on the princes and the people still left.
These leaders had a saying: the city is the pot, and we are the meat in it. One writer explains the picture and what they were mocking.
They devised mischief and gave wicked counsel — counsel of disobedience against the Lord and His Word. About the judgment they said, "It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh." They knew of Jeremiah's letter, sent to the elders who had gone into captivity. In that letter Jeremiah believed God's Word that the captivity would be long, and he gave this advice: "Build houses and live in them." They ridiculed that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem, and "the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron itself protects the flesh inside from the fire. In the same way, they felt safe in the doomed city.
God does not argue with the saying. He hands it back with the roles swapped, and sends the sword they dreaded.
After recounting their murderous doings, the Lord turns their proverb back on them. Only it was their slain who were the flesh, and the city the cauldron. They themselves are told to get out, but not to escape as they expected. The Lord would bring the dreaded sword on them, and outside the city they clung to so tightly. He would hand them over to strangers for judgment.
They would not die inside the walls they trusted. They would die outside them, at the border of the land.
God would not allow the city to be even the tomb of such men. They defied the sword, even while they trembled at it. The Lord would bring it upon them. He would take them out of the middle of the city they had profaned, to fall by the sword at the border of Israel. Before their death they would see the disasters they had brought on the people. Cast out of the city, they would be judged at the border of Israel. There they would learn, to their utter confusion, that it was the Lord who had been speaking to them. They had broken His ordinances and followed the ordinances of the nations around them, while they claimed the privileges belonging to His chosen.
The verse ends with a promise of knowledge. In Ezekiel this phrase carries a particular weight, and it is not the knowledge that saves.
This knowledge of the Lord is by the judgment itself, not by any resulting spiritual knowledge of Him... It will be through judgment that all the nations shall know that the Lord is God.
The chapter does not end with the sword. God separates the exiles from the confident men in the city.
In Ezekiel 11 God judges the leaders of iniquity. They comforted themselves with the thought that the city could not be captured. He would bring them out from the middle of it and judge them at the border of Israel... In reply, God distinguishes those in Jerusalem from the captives. As for the captives, God had been a sanctuary to them wherever they were. He would restore them, give them back the land, purify them, and give them a new heart. They would be His people, and He would be their God.
- Boast — The leaders said the city would shield them like a pot shields the meat inside it. They mocked the prophets who said otherwise.
- Reversal — God keeps their picture but swaps the parts. Their victims are the meat, and they must get out of the pot.
- Border — God leaves them not even a grave inside Jerusalem. He takes them out past the walls they trusted and judges them at the edge of the land.
- Knowledge — They come to know "that I am the LORD" by the judgment itself, not by any spiritual knowledge of Him that follows.
- Remnant — The same chapter that condemns the confident gives the scattered a sanctuary in God Himself, a return to the land, and a new heart.
This shall not be your cauldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst of it I will judge you in the borders of Israel;
The leaders of Jerusalem had a slogan about a cooking pot and its meat. Here God takes that slogan out of their mouths and hands it back reversed: the walls they trusted will not hold them, and He will judge them somewhere else.
Meat in a pot sits over the fire but never touches it — the metal takes the heat. That is the security these men claimed, and their saying mocked a prophet's letter.
About the judgment they said, "It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh." They knew of Jeremiah's letter to the elders taken away as captives. In that letter Jeremiah believed God's Word about the long captivity, and he advised them, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They laughed at that God-given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem; and "we are the flesh" means themselves. The cauldron itself keeps the flesh inside it away from the fire, and in the same way they felt secure in the doomed city.
God does not argue with the figure. He accepts it, then reassigns the parts. The men who thought they were the protected meat are not even in the pot.
They set themselves against the true prophets. They even turned Jeremiah's picture into a joke, using it as a phrase that suited their own policy. That is why God called Ezekiel with such emphasis to prophesy against them. Jehovah's Spirit is said to fall on him, and Jehovah charges him again to speak in His name, for their secrets were out in His light. Jehovah lists their murderous doings, then throws their own proverb back at them. It was their slain who were the flesh and the city the cauldron. He tells them to get out — but not to escape as they expected.
Leaving the city sounds at first like rescue. It is the opposite. Judgment "at the border of Israel" takes them away from the one thing they trusted and kills them where no walls stand.
Already the prophet sees the slain in the city, slain at the hands of those who have misled them. These would fulfil the figure, and be clearly enough the flesh in the cauldron. But for the deceivers of the people themselves, a harsher judgment still waited. God would not allow the city to be even the tomb of such men. They defied the sword, even while they trembled at it, and Jehovah would bring it on them. He would take them out of the city they had profaned, to fall by the sword at the border of Israel. Before their own death they would see the disasters they had brought on the people.
The border is not only where they die. It is where they learn the contradiction they had been living in: high claims on God, and habits borrowed from everyone else.
Cast out of the city, they would face judgment at the border of Israel. There they would learn, to their utter confusion, that it was Jehovah who had been speaking to them. They had broken His ordinances, while they claimed the privileges belonging to His elect and followed the ordinances of the nations around them.
One writer traces the same instinct beyond Jerusalem. Treating a religious position as a guarantee did not die with these leaders.
No doubt salvation was always of God and in sovereign grace, and Christianity makes this clearer and more certain than ever. But from the first God kept His right to judge every departure from Him. No one should be so ready and so thorough in confessing their sins as those who admit that all they enjoy and boast in comes from His grace. Yet the diseased spot in Christendom, as in Israel, is this: it claims the safety that belongs to God's purposes of grace for its most guilty state, a state fallen away from God. Judah was never higher in its claims or louder in its sense of security than on the eve of unsparing judgment.
The chapter does not stop at the border of Israel. Within a few verses the tone changes.
A message of mercy follows the message of judgment. Verses 14-21 are still to be fulfilled in that nation.
- Slogan — They said the city was a pot and they were the meat inside it: shielded from the fire by the very walls around them.
- Reversal — God keeps their picture and swaps the roles. Their victims are the meat. God pulls them out.
- Removal — Leaving the city is not escape. The place they trusted will not even be their grave.
- Recognition — At the border they learn who Jehovah is: the God whose rules they broke while claiming His privileges.
- Restoration — The same chapter that empties the city turns to mercy. Judgment clears the ground; mercy has the last word.
and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah, in whose statutes ye have not walked, neither have done mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.
God is not speaking here to the nation as a whole. He speaks to the priests and leaders who treated His warnings as a joke. One writer explains the boast they kept repeating and where it came from:
The priests and the leaders of the nation were deep in wickedness. They defied God and the judgments His prophets had announced. They planned harm and gave wicked advice. Their wicked advice was disobedience to Jehovah and His Word. About the coming judgment they said, "It is not the time to build houses; this is the cooking pot and we are the meat." They knew about Jeremiah's letter to the elders who had been taken away as captives. Jeremiah believed God's Word that the captivity would last a long time, so he advised them, "Build houses and live in them" (Jer. 29). They laughed at that advice, though God had given it. They still thought they were safe in Jerusalem. The "pot" meant the city of Jerusalem, and they were the "meat." Just as meat in a pot is kept from the fire by the pot itself, so they felt secure in the doomed city.
The verse names what these men got wrong. God takes them out of the city they clung to and judges them at the border. Only there will they feel the standard they ignored:
Jehovah declares that He would judge them at the border of Israel, and they would know that He is Jehovah. So the city would not be a cooking pot for them, and they would not be the meat inside it. Jehovah would judge them at the border instead. Only then would they feel whose statutes they had not walked in, and whose judgments they had not carried out, while they lived by the rules of the nations around them.
What makes the charge sting is that these men never gave up their claim on God. They wanted the standing without the statutes:
They would be thrown out of the city and judged at the border of Israel. There, to their utter shame, they would learn that it was Jehovah who had been speaking to them. They had broken His ordinances. All the while they claimed the privileges that belonged to His chosen people, and followed the ordinances of the nations around them.
The verse points to "the rules of the nations that are around you." Israel was never meant to copy the nations they left or the nations they moved in among. One writer roots this in who Israel belonged to:
So the ways, the habits and the customs of other people were no guide for them. How could they be? Israel was something neither the Egyptians nor the Canaanites could claim, or ever become. They were the Lord's own special people, whom He had chosen for Himself.
Another writer adds what this meant in daily practice, and what it cost when Israel ignored it:
They had not one good practice to gain from the nation they left or the nation they came among. They were to keep Jehovah's ordinances and statutes and walk in them: the man who did these would live. When they turned from Him in disobedience, the evil ways of both nations were their utter ruin.
This phrase runs through Ezekiel, and it does not always mean the same thing. One writer draws a line between knowing God through judgment and knowing Him in the heart:
So this knowledge of Jehovah comes by the judgment itself, and not by any spiritual knowledge of Him that follows... It will be through judgment that all the nations will know that Jehovah is God.
These men never openly dropped God's name. One writer shows why that half-and-half position is the dangerous one:
There may be no deliberate plan to give up His worship. It may only be what they count a small matter: going along with idol worship now and then while still claiming His name. But God rejects any such unholy compromise outright. And that is quite apart from the danger, for those who allow it, of turning away from Him altogether. It strikes at His majesty, at holiness and truth, and is intolerable in His eyes.
- Copied. They did not deny God. They copied the nations around them instead of keeping His rules.
- Claimed. They kept the privileges of God's chosen people but dropped His statutes. The verse condemns the mixture, not open revolt.
- Confident. They mocked the prophet's warning with a slogan: the city was the pot, and they were the safe meat inside it.
- Cast out. God takes them out of the city they trusted. He judges them at the border, where their boast cannot follow.
- Convinced. They do come to know that He is the LORD. But they learn it through the judgment itself, not through a changed heart.
And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. And I fell down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?
In a vision, Ezekiel prophesies against the leaders of Jerusalem, who are sure the city will stand. One of them drops dead as he speaks, and the prophet falls on his face and cries out for the survivors of his nation.
Two of these men carried names that echoed the hopes the people were resting on:
Two prominent men among them carry in their very names the false hopes that are misleading the people. Jaazaniah means "the Lord hears," and he is the son of Azzur, "the helper." Pelatiah means "Jehovah delivers," and he is the son of Benaiah, "Jehovah builds up." Their words match their names. God tells Ezekiel that these are the men who push aside Jeremiah's call. Jeremiah told the captives to build houses in the place of their captivity, since it was to be long (Jer. 29:5). These men build in Jerusalem instead. Judgment is not near, they say.
Pelatiah dies at the exact moment Ezekiel speaks. One writer asks whether this was vision only, or something that really happened:
While Ezekiel prophesies like this, one of these leaders dies. It is Pelatiah, the man whose name spoke falsely of deliverance and building up. This is still a vision. Yet one would argue that it really happened at the time. Such a proof has always gone with true prophecy, that God was speaking in it. There was to be no deliverance and no building up in the way they imagined. But, as before, the heart of the prophet trembles at the judgment he sees, for he stands truly before God for the people. Again a question rises in his heart, as it had before: can anyone survive it?
Another writer names the mood behind their boasting:
Ezekiel 11 reveals the spirit of unbelief that ruled the people living in Jerusalem... They regarded Jerusalem as unconquerable, despite Jeremiah's earlier warnings.
Ezekiel is an exile, and the men in the city scorn him and his fellow captives. His reaction to the death is still sorrow:
Then, as Ezekiel prophesied, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died (v. 13, 14), which drew the prophet out into sorrow and intercession for the remnant. For the captive loved the men, scornful though they might be, who lived in Jerusalem.
Another writer, commenting on the same cry in chapter 9, shows what it says about the prophet's heart:
Ezekiel the priest cries out on behalf of the residue, the remnant, the few survivors of a great people (compare 11:13). He was a man of compassion who cared for the nation, for God's people... The urgent cry to the Lord God shows that Ezekiel was in communion not only with the remnant but also with God. The grief and horror of the moment was also to be found in God's heart.
God answers the fear behind the cry. The remnant He owns is not in the city, but among the exiles the city despised:
It is only a moment of dismay. The Lord answers his confusion in grace. He explains that these people, the objects of His divine judgment, are not that remnant. His brothers are not men like these. They are the ones the prophet could own as true kindred, and they truly represent the house of Israel. Their place is among the very exiles to whom the people then living in Jerusalem were saying, "Get far away from Jehovah," as if they had no claim on Him... No, says the Lord: it is among these that I am.
God's answer sets a pattern that holds far beyond Ezekiel's day:
In a day of sin and ruin it is always like this. Some men boast in long history, order, succession and rule, as if these were theirs by descent and theirs alone. They are only ripening for divine judgment. Meanwhile, the most criticised and despised are the ones who hold the truth and the blessing, in humiliation and weakness. This matches what Jehovah promised here: to be a little sanctuary to the scattered Jews in the countries where they came.
- Names — Pelatiah's name meant "Jehovah delivers," his father's "Jehovah builds up." Both promised what God was refusing.
- Sign — he dies while Ezekiel is still speaking. Such proof has always gone with true prophecy: God Himself was speaking.
- Cry — the death drives the prophet to his face. He pleads for men who scorned him, and God shares that grief.
- Answer — these men are not the remnant. God's people are the exiles whom Jerusalem told to get far away.
- Sanctuary — those who boast in position ripen for judgment. The despised and scattered receive God Himself as a little sanctuary.