Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed.
God tells Ezekiel to leave the cooking pot on the fire, but now the meat is gone and the pot itself glows red on the coals. Why must the city burn, and why can its filth not be scoured away?
The pot was their own boast
The people of Jerusalem had already used this image, and they used it to comfort themselves. One writer explains what they meant by it:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThey still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase "this is the cauldron" means the city of Jerusalem; and "we are the flesh" means the people themselves. Just as the cauldron protects the flesh inside it from the fire, so they felt secure in the doomed city.
God takes their proverb and finishes it for them. Another writer links the whole parable to that boast:
William KellyJehovah explains the figure with an eye to their own fond boast in chapter 11 of security in Jerusalem. For the flesh never trusts God for eternal life or complete forgiveness of sins. In the same way, mere religion is apt to presume that God's promises cannot fail, while paying no regard to His will or His glory.
Set empty on the coals
The earlier verses had the pot full — choice pieces, the thigh, the shoulder, the best bones. Now the pot stands empty on the fire. One writer reads that emptying as the removal of the people themselves:
Numerical Bible NotesThe city itself was a cauldron whose rust was in it, and the rust could not be scoured out. So judgement falls on the whole of it. No lot has fallen on it to spare anyone… The very city emptied of its inhabitants must go down in the fire of His anger.
Why the metal must glow
The verse dwells on the metal. The pot is heated until its copper burns — the metal older translations call brass. One reference work gives its meaning:
Morrish Bible DictionarySince brass is a mixture of metals, copper is probably the metal Scripture often refers to… Brass stands for righteousness according to the claims of God on man, as in the bronze altar… that is, righteous judgement according to responsibility.
The glowing metal, then, is not random violence. It is righteous judgement, measured by what God had a right to expect.
Nothing superficial
A dirty pot can be rinsed. A pot burned empty until the corrosion melts out of it is finished. One writer presses that point:
William KellyIn verses 9-14 we see that Jerusalem would be taken and destroyed in no superficial way. This is described as a continuation of the earlier picture. Jehovah now lets it be known that the bones are not the only thing to be burnt. The city itself is pictured as the cauldron, set on the coals no longer with water but empty. Its copper glows, its filthiness melts inside it, and its scum is consumed… Disciplinary measures had long failed, and proper government according to His law was despised.
The empty pot is not God's first move. It is what remains after every gentler correction has failed.
Why the corrosion would not come off
What had eaten into the city? One writer traces the defilement to blood that was never covered:
Numerical Bible NotesShe had taken life — life that God had made sacred, even when it was rightly taken and the blood had to be poured out to Him. That blood was never poured out. It stayed to defile her. She even set it on the bare rock in open view. So it cried out openly for vengeance, and God in His turn set her blood on the bare rock, so that it should not be covered.
Cleansing offered, cleansing refused
The verse ends with the corrosion consumed. It would not come off any other way, so it burns with the pot. One writer gives the reason:
J. N. DarbyJerusalem should be set as a caldron on the fire to melt and consume the whole. God had purged her, but she was not purged; and now He causes His fury to rest upon her.
Notice the order. The purging came first, and she would not be purged. Only after that does the fire melt and consume the whole.
Summary
- Boast. The people said the city was their pot and they were the meat inside it, safe from the flame. God answers the taunt by putting the pot on the fire.
- Blood. Her guilt went as far as blood, left uncovered in open view. That defilement stayed on her and cried out for vengeance.
- Emptied. The choice pieces are gone and the vessel stands alone on the coals. The city emptied of its people must go down in the fire of His anger.
- Bronze. The glowing metal stands for righteous judgement, measured out according to responsibility.
- Refused. He had purged her and she was not purged. What would not be scoured off must now be melted out — the fire takes the corrosion and the pot that held it.