Commentary on Ezekiel Part 6 (No. F026vi)

Chapter 21

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²"Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel ³and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. ⁴Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north; ⁵and all flesh shall know that I the LORD have drawn my sword out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. ⁶Sigh therefore, son of man; sigh with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes. ⁷And when they say to you, 'Why do you sigh?' you shall say, 'Because of the tidings. When it comes, every heart will melt and all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will be fulfilled,'" says the Lord GOD. ⁸And the word of the LORD came to me: ⁹"Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, Say: A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, ¹⁰sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Or do we make mirth? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood. ¹¹So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be handled; it is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. ¹²Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all the princes of Israel; they are delivered over to the sword with my people. Smite therefore upon your thigh. ¹³For it will not be a testing--what could it do if you despise the rod?" says the Lord GOD. ¹⁴"Prophesy therefore, son of man; clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yea thrice, the sword for those to be slain; it is the sword for the great slaughter, which encompasses them, ¹⁵that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword; ah! it is made like lightning, it is polished for slaughter. ¹⁶Cut sharply to right and left where your edge is directed. ¹⁷I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken." ¹⁸The word of the LORD came to me again: ¹⁹"Son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall come forth from the same land. And make a signpost, make it at the head of the way to a city; ²⁰mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah and to Jerusalem the fortified. ²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim, he looks at the liver. ²²Into his right hand comes the lot for Jerusalem, to open the mouth with a cry, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. ²³But to them it will seem like a false divination; they have sworn solemn oaths; but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be captured. ²⁴"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in them. ²⁵And you, O unhallowed wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, ²⁶thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; things shall not remain as they are; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. ²⁷A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it; there shall not be even a trace of it until he comes whose right it is; and to him I will give it. ²⁸"And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter, it is polished to glitter and to flash like lightning-- ²⁹while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you--to be laid on the necks of the unhallowed wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. ³⁰Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, skilful to destroy. ³²You shall be fuel for the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered; for I the LORD have spoken."

Intent of Chapter 21

21:1-32 Oracles on the Sword

One of four usual instruments of God’s judgment (14:21; Isa. 34:5; Rev. 6:8; compare 6:11. See also Jeremiah 14:12; and Jer. 5:6.

21:1-7 Due to the perversion of doctrine in Israel that we saw condemned in chapter 20 (Part V), and it creating heterodox opinions in all santuaries, not only in Judah and Jerusalem but throughout all Israel with the Mystery and Sun Cults on an ongoing basis against the Biblical doctrines, causing the dispersion of Israel in 722 BCE and again here in the period leading to 586 BCE leading to the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian captivity for Judah (No. 250B); and again finally in 70 CE (see Sign of Jonah ... (No. 013), and the war with Rome and the fall of the Temple (No. 298) until the Last Days, (and in Israel through Hillel #195, 195C) when it will fall on all mankind.

Here all flesh refers to Judah (v. 4) which will be cut down. All men (all flesh v. 5) will see the terrifying judgments (Jer. 4:9). (See also Fire From Heaven (No. 028).)

21:8-17 See Song of the Sword (Jer. 50:35-37).

God’s Judgment is irrevocable. His flashing sword cuts a toll across the land (6:3).

v. 12 Smite upon the thigh as a sign of mourning (Jer. 31:19).

21:18-23 The Sword of Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar). As God’s judgment the sword of Babylon is brought to Rabbah and to Jerusalem; perhaps from Riblah (comp. 2Kgs. 25:6). The King determines which rebel to attack first by divination: Belomancy (casting arrows with the names of the victims on the heads); consulting the teraphim (Hos. 3:4). Although plural they can represent one or more small idols. In Gen. 31:19, 34-35 they are small and portable and easily concealed. They were the household gods of Laban (Gen. 31:30). They were made of precious metals and were valuable to the heirs and may have had property values or titles as well. They were used by Israelites cultically in the period of the Judges (Judg. 17:5; 18:14,17,20).

The teraphim in 1Sam.19:13,16 in the house of David and Michal was a similar size to that of a man, or at least his head.They came from the pre-Israelite past and were condemned (1Sam. 15:23;

2Kgs. 23:24). It is not clear how they were used but they may have been a yes or no configuration like the priests used the Urim and the Thummim and were drawn by lot. Zechariah 10:2 also includes them as instruments of false prediction.

The small size of the Teraphim was also taken over into the idols of the supposed “saints” and can be seen in Medieval churches, such as those in southern France. Also Hepatoscopy was used (reading the markings on sheep livers). The sword was about to fall on Jerusalem due to its idolatry and so idolatry was used (by God) through the king of Babylon) to destroy it, and again in 70 CE.

Rabbah was the Ammonite capital (Jer. 49:3).

21:25-27 The sword was destined to cut down Zedekiah as Judah’s king (Jer. 21:7). In verse 27 it goes forward to the end days, and the return of the Messiah to the Kingship, whose right it is.

vv 28-32 The sword against Ammon (v. 20) (comp. also the phraseology in v. 28 with v. 8).

Judah’s co-conspirators the Ammonites, will also succumb to the sword of God’s wrath (25:1-7). It is also thought that this oracle, as also in vv 18-24, may have come from the time of the assassination of Gedaliah (Jer. 40:13-41:18).

Chapter 22

¹Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²"And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominable deeds. ³You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! ⁴You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by the idols which you have made; and you have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. ⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult. ⁶"Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. ⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. ⁸You have despised my holy things, and profaned my sabbaths. ⁹There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and men in you who eat upon the mountains; men commit lewdness in your midst. ¹⁰In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they humble women who are unclean in their impurity. ¹¹One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles his sister, his father's daughter. ¹²In you men take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and increase and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD. ¹³"Behold, therefore, I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been in the midst of you. ¹⁴Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. ¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you. ¹⁶And I shall be profaned through you in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the LORD." ¹⁷And the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁸"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver and bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace, have become dross. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As men gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. ²¹I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. ²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you." ²³And the word of the LORD came to me: ²⁴"Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed, or rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵Her princes in the midst of her are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. ²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without redress. ³⁰And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. ³¹Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their way have I requited upon their heads, says the Lord GOD."

Intent of Chapter 22

22:1-31 Oracles of Indictment

22:1-16 The writ of indictment here contains a catalogue of sins (18:5-18) including idolatry (6:2-14; 14:3-5), injustice (18:12), violence (7:23), defamation and slander (Jer. 6:28), adultery and fornication (18:6; Jer. 3:1-4), and extortion. The OARSV n. says that the list is reminiscent of the regulations in the Holiness Code, Lev. Chs. 17-26.

In scorn and anger (cf. strike my hands together 6:11; 21:14,17) God is to wreak punishment upon this “Bloody City” (see Nahum 3:1 referring to Nineveh).

vv. 12-16 deals with the sin of usury in Israel and this sin has never been more prolific than it is now in the Last Days and the main guilty parties (US and UK) have to be driven to the ground and punished for it. They were to be scattered for it previously (v. 15). Under Messiah it will be different. The system will revert to the Law (L1) and persistent usury will result in penalties for theft, and then death. Banks and usury were only allowed into UK under the Normans to fund their wars.

22:17-22 The judgment and correction process will be like a smelter in which base metals are removed; so also Judah must endure the rigourous refining process and be cleansed, or purified, of her baseness (Isa. 1:22-25; Jer. 6:27-30). The sins of Israel are the result of its prophets and priests who have no fear of God and profane His Laws. Prior to the destruction of Israel the sheep have to be torn from the hands of the shepherds (Ezek. 34:1-31 below), which is underway now (see Measuring the Temple (No. 137)).

22:23-31 Some scholars think that this Oracle comes after Jerusalem’s fall in 587 BCE; v. 31 and “describes Judah’s sinfulness in retrospect.” (see e.g. OARSV n.); although prophecy is not hindsight. All classes of Judean society were corrupt (Jer. 8:8-10); princes, priests (Jer. 2:8; Zeph. 3:4), nobles (Mic. 7:30, prophets (13:10-16, and people (12:19) and it is worse now than it ever was, and all must be punished over all Israel and all the Gentile associates, and finally, the whole world.

Chapter 23

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²"Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; ³they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. ⁴Oho'lah was the name of the elder and Ohol'ibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oho'lah is Sama'ria, and Ohol'ibah is Jerusalem ⁵"Oho'lah played the harlot while she was mine; and she doted on her lovers the Assyrians, ⁶warriors clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. ⁷She bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and she defiled herself with all the idols of every one on whom she doted. ⁸She did not give up her harlotry which she had practiced since her days in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her. ⁹Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. ¹⁰These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed upon her.¹¹"Her sister Ohol'ibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt than she in her doting and in her harlotry, which was worse than that of her sister. ¹²She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. ¹³And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. ¹⁴But she carried her harlotry further; she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chalde'ans portrayed in vermilion ¹⁵girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonians whose native land was Chalde'a. ¹⁶When she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them in Chalde'a. ¹⁷And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust; and after she was polluted by them, she turned from them in disgust. ¹⁸When she carried on her harlotry so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned from her sister. ¹⁹Yet she increased her harlotry, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt ²⁰and doted upon her paramours there, whose members were like those of asses, and whose issue was like that of horses. ²¹Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts. ²²Therefore, O Ohol'ibah, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³the Babylonians and all the Chalde'ans, Pekod and Sho'a and Ko'a, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and warriors, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. ²⁵And I will direct my indignation against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. ²⁶They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels. ²⁷Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to the Egyptians or remember them any more. ²⁸For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust; ²⁹and they shall deal with you in hatred, and take away all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your harlotry ³⁰have brought this upon you, because you played the harlot with the nations, and polluted yourself with their idols. ³¹You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. ³²Thus says the Lord GOD: "You shall drink your sister's cup which is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in derision, for it contains much; ³³you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, is the cup of your sister Sama'ria; ³⁴you shall drink it and drain it out, and pluck out your hair, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD. ³⁵Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore bear the consequences of your lewdness and harlotry." ³⁶The LORD said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oho'lah and Ohol'ibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds ³⁷For they have committed adultery, and blood is upon their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the sons whom they had borne to me. ³⁸Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my sabbaths ³⁹For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And lo, this is what they did in my house. ⁴⁰They even sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and lo, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments; ⁴¹you sat upon a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. ⁴²The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns upon their heads. ⁴³"Then I said, Do not men now commit adultery when they practice harlotry with her? ⁴⁴For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oho'lah and to Ohol'ibah to commit lewdness. ⁴⁵But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is upon their hands." ⁴⁶For thus says the Lord GOD: "Bring up a host against them, and make them an object of terror and a spoil. ⁴⁷And the host shall stone them and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. ⁴⁸Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. ⁴⁹And your lewdness shall be requited upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD."

Intent of Chapter 23

23:1-49 Allegory of the sisters, Oholah and Oholibah (Comp. ch 16).

23:1-4 We see that Israel’s apostasy began in Egypt (20:5-9). This text is a play on words regarding the sins of Israel. Oholah “she who has a tent” (i.e. Samaria) and Oholibah “my tent is in her” (i.e. Jerusalem). The word play suggests that although Samaria had a sanctuary (tent) the santuary was in Jerusalem and hence emphasising the enormity of Judah’s apostasy, especially considering that Israel had itself been sent into captivity, in three phases. Firstly the tribes east of the Jordan, Reuben, Gad and half Menasseh by Pul or Tiglath Pileser III and then the tribes west of the Jordan by Shalmaneser V in 722 BCE and which were now North of the Araxes mixed among the Hittite Celts and the Scythians. The third phase was Judah here. The texts refer to the pagan santuaries in both lands that have corrupted both elements (16:16) not only in Palestine but everywhere they are domiciled. Regarding the marrying of sisters: see Gen. 31:41; Lev. 18:18.

23:5-10 Oholah Like Hosea (8:9-10); Isa. (7:1-9); and Jeremiah 4:30 we see the same word for lovers in Ezek. 23:9). Ezekiel in prophecy treated foreign alliances as disloyalty to God, though alternatives were not always politically available. The texts are full of them. Jehu (842-815 BCE) surrendered to Shalmaneser III of Assyria; Jehoahaz (815-801 BCE) paid tribute to Adad-Nirari III; Menahem (745-738 BCE) paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III (2Kgs. 15:19-29); and Hoshea (732-724 BCE) paid tribute to Shalmaneser V (2Kgs. 17:1-14) (cf. OARSV n. also). They went into captivity in 722 BCE north of the Araxes and the Assyrians replaced them with Cutheans and Medes as well as some remnants and some of Judah and Benjamin in Galilee.

23:11-21 Oholibah - Judah like Samaria was tributary to Assyria: Ahaz (735-715 BCE) to Tiglath Pileser III (2Kgs. 16:7-9); Hezekiah (715-687 BCE) to Sennacharib (2Kgs. 18:1-36); and Manasseh (687-642) to Esarhaddon. Judah made alliances with Babylon; Hezekiah with Merodach-Baladan (2Kgs. 20:12-21) Jehoiakin and Zedekiah with Nebuchadrezzar (2Kgs. 24:1; comp. Jer. 22:18-23; 2Kgs. 24:17; comp. Jer. 27:1-22) as well as with Egypt (Jer. 2:18,36). OARSV n. considers that in both instances there may be other cases not known to us (Hos. 7:11). There is no doubt that the prophet is directed by God to teach against the dangers of syncretism and apostasy (2Kgs. 16:7-19).

23:22-35 The faithlessness of Israel and Judah both religious and political was to be punished.

The Babylonians – and their Aramean mercenaries (Pekod Jer. 50:21; Shoa and Koa) and Assyrian Auxiliaries were to devastate the land (strip you and leave you naked).

From the north – The usual invasion route from Mesopotamia into Palestine (Jer. 4:6; 6:1; 25:9). The oracle of the cup of wrath (vv. 32-34) we see here assigns Samaria’s fate to Jersualem (Jer 25:15-29; Hab. 2:16) as it is now in the hands of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Simeon and a few of the remnant and the Cutheans and Medes in Samaria.

23:36-49 The punishment for adultery is stoning and so Judah is to be punished for her adultery (in human sacrifice, pagan worship, profanation of the Sabbath) as is Samaria both in the remnant and the immigrants there (Jer. 4:30). It has been, and will be, right to the end, and the Return of Messiah, punished with death (cf. 282E).

Chapter 24

¹In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: ²"Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also; ⁴put in it the pieces of flesh, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. ⁵Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it; boil its pieces, seethe also its bones in it. ⁶"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and whose rust has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. ⁷For the blood she has shed is still in the midst of her; she put it on the bare rock, she did not pour it upon the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. ⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. ¹⁰Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil well the flesh, and empty out the broth, and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its filthiness may be melted in it, its rust consumed. ¹²In vain I have wearied myself; its thick rust does not go out of it by fire. ¹³Its rust is your filthy lewdness. Because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your filthiness, you shall not be cleansed any more till I have satisfied my fury upon you. ¹⁴I the LORD have spoken; it shall come to pass, I will do it; I will not go back, I will not spare, I will not repent; according to your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord GOD." ¹⁵Also the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁶"Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep nor shall your tears run down. ¹⁷Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners." ¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹And the people said to me, "Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?" ²⁰Then I said to them, "The word of the LORD came to me: ²¹'Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. ²²And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners. ²³Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another. ²⁴Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.' ²⁵"And you, son of man, on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their heart's desire, and also their sons and daughters, ²⁶on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. ²⁷On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer dumb. So you will be a sign to them; and they will know that I am the LORD."

Intent of Chapter 24

24:1-27 The Beginning of the End

24:1-14 The allegory of the cauldron (Jer. 1:13-19) combines two themes (some think perhaps from two oracles OARSV n). In the cauldron (Jerusalem (11:3-12), everyone (both good and bad: 21:4; Mic. 2:2-3), will be boiled as the beseigers heap wood from seige equipment around the city. The contents will be throughly boiled and the pot emptied after the seige, and the bones burned (from the sacking of the city). The text introduces the theme of corrosion in vv. 6 and 11, referring to Jerualem’s bloody past (22:2-12; Gen. 4:10-11). Here God places the responsibility for Jerusalem’s sin back to the murder of Abel by Cain and Ezekiel takes the future of the Holy Land on to the return of Messiah and the entire Millennium based on Jerusalem as its Holy Place, and the blood cries out against it. It must all be refined (22:17-22) and its corrosion burned out.

v. 1 The date of the oracle is the tenth day of the tenth month in the Ninth Year of Jehoiakin’s captivity (590 BCE). The date can be determined from the text and note in ch 1. (And not as per the n. in the OARSV here.)

24:15-27 Oracle at the death of Ezekiel’s Wife Ezekiel was instructed here that God was about to take his wife (the delight of his eyes) away from him, but he was to forego mouning and not weep. So he spoke in the morning and in the evening his wife died and then next day he continued to speak to them.

This was to be a sound witness to the people that the loss of cherished persons was to be faced and that it would bring a numbing inexpressible grief (comp. Jer. 16:1-4).

24:25-27 When word of the fall of Jerusalem reached Ezekiel (33:21-22) he was to be relieved of the burden of his speech impediment and his tongue would be loosed and he could speak again (3:24-27) and he would proclaim a new message (see F026 (Part I explanation re the Second Part). See also Bullinger’s notes to vv. 26, 27 below where these following chapters 25-32 were concerning other nations and other prophecies until he received notice of the fall in the twelfth year and began to speak more encouragingly of the future of his people.

Our next task is to deal with the interim prophecies of chapters 25-32 in Parts VII and VIII.

Bullinger’s Notes on Ezekiel Chs 21-24 (for KJV)

Chapter 21

Verse 1

the LORD . Hebrew. Jehovah . App-4 .

Verse 2

Son of man. See note on Ezekiel 2:1 .

holy. See note on Exodus 3:5 .

the land of Israel = the soil of Israel, Hebrew. 'admath Israel . See note on Ezekiel 11:17 .

Verse 3

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .

draw forth My sword , See note on Ezekiel 5:2 , Ezekiel 5:17 , and Ezekiel 12:14 .

the righteous , &c. Therefore Ezekiel 18:2 , Ezekiel 18:3 , is not yet ful filled, but corresponds with the green tree and the dry of Ezekiel 20:47 .

the righteous = a righteous one.

the wicked = a lawless one. Heb, rasha'. App-44 .

Verse 5

it shall not return , &c.: i.e. until it has executed its mission.

Verse 7

spirit. Hebrew. ruach, App-9 .

saith the Lord GOD = [is] Adonai Jehovah's oracle. See note on Ezekiel 2:4 .

Verse 9

the LORD = Jehovah. App-4 . Some codices, with three early printed editions (one Rabbinic in margin), read Adonai. App-4 .

A sword , a sword. Figure of speech Epizeuxis ( App-6 ), for emphasis = a great or sharp sword.

Verse 10

make a sore slaughter. Figure of speech Polyptbton ( App-6 ), for emphasis. Hebrew to slay a slaughter.

glitter = flash as lightning.

should we then make mirth? or, "should we flourish [the sceptre of My son (i.e. of Judah? "

it, &c. i.e. "Jehovah's sword despiseth the [wooden] sceptre of My son (i.e. Judah), as [it despiseth] every tree". The Ellipsis is to be thus supplied.

rod = sceptre.

Verse 11

the slayer : i.e. the king of Babylon.

Verse 12

it : i.e. the sword of Jehovah, the king of Babylon.

princes = leaders.

be = come.

terrors by , &c. = who shall be delivered to the sword with My People.

smite therefore , &c. This was the symbol of grief in man, as beating the breast was in woman.

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