In this chapter, we read of the threat of judgment and the promise of mercy. We also read that this is the conclusion of this vision.
1. Ezekiel is shown political and moral corruption in Jerusalem.
2. We learn that the exiles and not the inhabitants of Jerusalem are being protected by God.
3. The glory of the Lord leaves Jerusalem.
This is the continuation of Ezekiel’s vision, which began in chapter 8. Ezekiel tells us that the Spirit lifted him up and took him to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east, Ezekiel 11:1 / Ezekiel 10:19.
At the entrance, he sees twenty-five men, Ezekiel 8:16, including Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, Ezekiel 11:1. These two men are singled out amongst the twenty-five men who are giving counsel, Ezekiel 11:1.
Plumptre, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jaazaniah means God hearkens; Azzur means The Helper, Pelatiah means God rescues, and Benaiah means God builds.’
Jaazaniah and Pelatiah were obviously well-known men, which is why they are named; they would definitely be known to the prophet. These leaders of the people are giving wicked counsel according to God, Ezekiel 11:2.
Again, there might be the inference that the prophet is surprised, for these are men he would know and would not expect to be involved in anti-Jehovah propaganda.
Their counsel was, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it’, Ezekiel 11:3. With an illustration of a cooking pot with fresh meat in it ready to be cooked, they were saying, ‘don’t relax and settle, prepare for war’.
Wiersbe, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The innuendo in this metaphor was that the people in Jerusalem were choice cuts of meat while the exiles in Babylon were just the scraps and rejected pieces.’
This contradicted what God was saying through Jeremiah to those in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was being told to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 21:8-10. This was not only the way to save their lives, but it was also the will of God.
The people in Jerusalem thought that God was with them; they believed Jeremiah was wrong. They thought that because they were left and Jehoiachin and the rest were away in Babylon, they were the good guys, and the exiles were the bad guys. They were doing what God had said, Jeremiah 29:5.
Ellison, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Jeremiah, they were trusting in themselves, not God. ‘For them the exiles under Jehoiachin were the offal thrown out on the dung-heap of Babylonia, they were the good flesh preserved by God in Jerusalem.’
This is exactly the thought in Ezekiel 11:15: the pot, the city, and the people. Ezekiel is told to prophesy against them, Ezekiel 11:4.
Ezekiel is told what to say by the Spirit of God and he says that God knows exactly what they are thinking, Ezekiel 11:5. Paul says that God will one day judge the secret things of men, Romans 2:16. Then God says, the city is a pot of sorts, but it is that because of what the leaders have done, Ezekiel 11:6.
They have made it a pot, and the meat is all those who have suffered death because of the wicked counsel of these men, Ezekiel 11:6-7. However, God’s message for these men shows His sovereignty, which they would not accept. The bodies they had thrown are the meat, and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it, Ezekiel 11:7.
Block, in his commentary, says the following.
‘No longer is Jerusalem a crock in which food is securely stored; she is a pot over the fire in which the meat is cooked.’
Their statement showed that they feared the sword coming on them in the city, Ezekiel 11:8. God would not even allow that small privilege of ever saying they were right, for they would be judged by the sword outside the city, Ezekiel 11:9.
They would be judged at the ‘border of Israel’, Ezekiel 11:10-11. This tells us that the king, his sons, and the leaders of Israel were taken by Nebuzaradan and judged at Riblah.
Riblah was on the extreme border of the promised land, even beyond Damascus. This undoubtedly refers to the historical account of the times in 2 Kings 25:18-21, and Jeremiah 52:3-11.
Trapp, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In the northern border, even at Riblah, 2 Kings 25:6 / 2 Kings 25:21 / Jeremiah 52:10 / Jeremiah 52:26 / Jeremiah 52:27,’
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The brutal fact was that all of the citizens who would survive the vengeance of the Babylonians’ campaign against Zedekiah would be deported. Their expectancy of a long residency in Jerusalem was a vain and hopeless fantasy.’
When this happens, then they will know that He is LORD, then they will know why they are punished, Ezekiel 11:12.
In the vision, Pelatiah drops dead, Ezekiel 11:13. This shocked the prophet to exclaim, ‘Are you going to kill everyone?’ Ezekiel 11:13 / Ezekiel 9:8. Ezekiel is worried and hurting for his people because he thinks God is going to wipe them all out. God says, ‘Let me tell you the kind of people we are talking about’, Ezekiel 11:14-15.
Here is where Ellison’s quote above fits in exactly. Ellison, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Jeremiah, they were trusting in themselves, not God. ‘For them the exiles under Jehoiachin were the offal thrown out on the dung-heap of Babylonia, they were the good flesh preserved by God in Jerusalem.’
Taylor, in his commentary, says the following concerning Ezekiel 11:15.
‘The scornful Get you far from the Lord (AV, RV) is reminiscent of David’s lament in 1 Samuel 26:19, “They have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’’
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning Ezekiel 11:15.
‘What an arrogant, cruel, selfish people were the Jerusalemites. They were willing to write off as lost forever the deported thousands who had already been removed from Jerusalem. They had pre-empted for themselves the lands and houses and wealth of the exiles, and are here represented as saying to the exiles, ‘God is through with you!’ How wrong they were.’
That is exactly what the people in Jerusalem thought, but God shows Ezekiel that they have got it the wrong way around. Those in Jerusalem may have the temple for a sanctuary, Ezekiel 11:16, but we will soon see God’s glory leave that sanctuary at the end of the vision.
Morgan, in his commentary, says the following concerning Ezekiel 11:16.
‘For the period of their absence from their land and the earthly temple, He would be their Sanctuary.’
However, for those in exile, God will be their sanctuary. He will provide them with the care, protection, and presence that they need from Him until He chooses to send the book. To the exiles are given all the promises for the future, Ezekiel 11:17-18.
This is signified in the example of heart surgery. God will give them a new heart, but only those who want a new heart, Ezekiel 11:19-20 / Jeremiah 31:31-34 / Ezekiel 37:21-28. There are always too many who harden their hearts continually and who will now allow the stone heart to be touched or removed by the Lord, Ezekiel 11:21.
As the cherubim moved, so did the glory of God move; the cloud of God’s glory was being carried by God’s chariot throne, by the cherubim, Ezekiel 11:22. We see the Lord forced out of His own sanctuary. He clearly stated that He had been driven out, Ezekiel 8:6.
No longer did He dwell in the midst of His people; the glory of the LORD is now hovering over the Mount of Olives, Ezekiel 11:23. The glory that left the temple was the same that had guided Israel, Exodus 13:21 / Exodus 14:19-20.
God’s glory covered Mount Sinai, Exodus 24:15-18; it filled the temple, 2 Chronicles 7:1, and it filled the tabernacle, Exodus 40:34. The ritual may continue, but the offerings and sacrifices meant even less than they had done. God’s temple without God is useless. God’s temple without God is no longer God’s temple, Revelation 2:5 / Revelation 3:14-22.
So, he returns from his vision to the elders in Telabib, Ezekiel 11:24 / Ezekiel 8:1. They are waiting for some word from him, and he tells them all that God had shown him in the vision, Ezekiel 11:15.
Instead of being tempted to only mention the man in linen marking out the righteous, Ezekiel tells it all; he tells the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27. This vision has now ended.