Ezekiel: For His Gloryഉദാഹരണം

Here we reach a turning point for Israel and the prophet. 

Finally, after years of prediction and warning, the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem begins (vv. 1-2). It is the beginning of the end for the city. The parable that follows makes it clear that Jerusalem will be no protection for its inhabitants (vv. 3–14). While it begins with a happy cooking song (vv. 3–5), the song then changes to a minor key (vv. 6–14). God then attacks Jerusalem, describing it as "a city of bloodshed" (vv. 6, 9; cf. ch 22), full of corrosion. Human blood is spilled and even left out in the open (vv. 7–8; cf. Lev. 17:13). The corroded pot (v. 6) symbolizes the city, rotten to the core. The ‘meat’ (v. 10) is Jerusalem, its people, who will be cremated without regard for their rank or importance. A bonfire is then made to cleanse the pot (v. 11). This is a terrifying picture of the annihilation of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. In His wrath, God’s judgment comes – a judgment that is just, irreversible and chilling. 

It is also a turning point for Ezekiel, both good and heartbreaking (vv. 15– 27). It is good because a messenger tells him that his tongue will soon be loosened (vv. 25–27; cf. 3:26). The heartbreaking element is that his beloved wife will be taken away from him as a sign-act for the people (vv. 15–24). Yet although ‘the delight of [his] eyes’ dies (v. 16), the prophet is not allowed to mourn publicly. What is the meaning of this? It is that Jerusalem – the delight of the exiles’ eyes – will be destroyed, but they are not to mourn as if it were an unexplained tragedy. Instead they are to groan to one another as they accept their guilt and the fact that Jerusalem’s destruction is God’s just punishment for their sin.

Reflection

To be God’s servant can be very costly. We only have to think of Christian martyrs and missionaries to see this. Yet we can trust in God’s sovereign plan, the mysterious ways He uses us for His purposes of salvation. Perhaps Ezekiel’s wife’s death might have led some to repent. Ezekiel’s suffering in a sense shared and anticipated the suffering of God, who gave up His own Son – the ultimate turning point in history – so that many more might be saved.