The Strand Study Bible

EZEKIEL 10:20

EZEKIEL 11:13

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5 And the SPIRIT OF THE LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. 6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: 9 but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. P 8 Ye have 10 feared the sword; 9 and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. P 9 9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. P 10 9 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. P 11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; 9 but I will judge you in the border of Israel: P 12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my 11 statutes, neither executed my judgments, 12 but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. 13 And it came to pass, when I proph- esied, that 13 Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, 14 Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 20 1 This is the living creature that I saw un- der the God of Israel 2 by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims. 21 Every one had 3 four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward. Ezekiel 11 Jerusalem’s wicked leaders Date - 591 BC/AM 3409 1 Moreover the 4 SPIRIT lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD’S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate 5 five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and 6 Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 Then said 7 HE unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: 3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the 8 caldron, and we be the flesh. 4 Therefore prophesy against them, pro- phesy, O son of man.

1. Ezk 1:22 2. Ezk 1:1 3. Ezk 1:6,10 4. Ezk 2:1-2 & 3:12,14,24 5. Ezk 8:16 Note - Ezekiel saw twenty-five men (lay leaders) at the eastern gate of the Temple. These were not the same twenty-five men (priests) he had seen earlier worshipping the sun (Ezk 8:16). These men (lay leaders) were responsible for giving false hope to Jerusalem’s inhabitants con- cerning the city’s welfare (vs 2-3). 6. Ezk 11:13 7. Ezk 8:1-5 & 9:1 & 11:1,5 8. Note - The cook- ing pot ( caldron; city), which meta- phorically protects the meat ( flesh ; people) within it, would not save the Jews in Jerusalem (vs 4-12). 9. Fulfilled - II Ki 25 (Fall of Judah) 10. Jere 42:16 11. or, “commands” 12. Ezk 8:10-16 13. Ezk 11:1 14. Ezk 9:8

11:13 Ezekiel’s message of devastation (vs 4-12) was so powerful that one of the twenty-five men (Pelatiah) dropped dead during his preaching. At that point Ezekiel lost his train of thought and feared that what had happened to Pelatiah would happen to all the Jews. Remember Ezekiel 9:8? Ezekiel was acutely aware of what was about to happen to those in Jerusalem who had been affected by the sin of others (Ezk 9:5-6). No doubt, Ezekiel’s mind went back to Cainan (Ham’s son – Gen 9:20-26) and Moses and Joshua and David’s wives, and he thought to himself, “We’re all doomed ( wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? ).” Needing some quick encouragement, the Lord immediately reminded Ezekiel of two great truths: 1. Just because I’m judging others doesn’t mean I’m judging you (vs 14-16) Ezekiel may have been affected by the sin of others, but he was not being judged by God. It is never the will of God that the judgment due to the wicked should come upon the righteous (Gen 18:25). Derek Prince in Shaping History Through Prayer & Fasting notes: If we have been made righteous by faith in Christ, and if we are leading lives that truly express our faith, then it is never God’s will that we be included in the judgments which He brings upon the wicked. 1 Other people’s sin may affect us ( Exo 20:5 , Mt 5:10-11 and II Tim 3:12), but that doesn’t mean that God is mad at us. Was God mad at David when Saul’s sin was affecting him? I think not. Prince goes on to note:

Persecution comes from the wicked upon the righteous; but judgment comes from God who is righteous, upon the wicked. Thus, persecution for righteousness and judgment for wickedness are opposite to each other in their origin, their purpose and their result. 1

2. Just because it’s bad now doesn’t mean it’ll be bad later (vs 17-21) The future is as bright as God’s promises (Jn 14:1-3). 1 Prince, Derek, Shaping History Through Fasting & Prayer, Old Tappan, NJ, Revell, 1973. Print.