Symbol of the Cooking Pot
June 21, 2020
Commentary
Chapter 24 concludes the third series of judgments on Judah. Ezekiel’s final prophecies of doom against Jerusalem came in the ninth year (of King Jehoiachin), in the 10th month on the 10th day (vv. 1-2). The king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem that very day. This was the day Ezekiel had been pointing to for over four years. He told the rebellious house of Israel a parable about a cooking pot being filled with water and choice cuts of meat being boiled (vv. 3-5).The people thought that being in the pot (Jerusalem) would keep them safe; but the pot was actually their place of destruction.
Ezekiel explained the parable through two similar statements (vv. 6-8, 9-14), each beginning with the words, “Woe to the city of bloodshed” (vv. 6, 9). Ezekiel said Jerusalem was like a pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! In the fire of God’s judgment Jerusalem’s “impurities” floated to the surface. Her corruption could not be hidden. She was as unappealing as rusty scum floating on the surface of a meal being cooked. The meal was ruined by the rusty scum, so the contents of the pot were dumped. People in Jerusalem who had felt secure from Babylon’s onslaught would be dragged from the city into exile with no regard for their position in society. The cause for the dispersion was repeated (vv. 7-8): bloodshed poured out openly on rocks, not … where the dust would cover it. That blood was crying out, figuratively speaking, for vengeance.
Ezekiel’s second statement of judgment dealt specifically with the rusty pot (vv. 9-14). The meat in the pot was to be cooked “well done,” picturing the slaughter of the Jerusalemites by Babylon. The empty pot (Jerusalem without its inhabitants) was to be set on the coals and its impurities melted away. The city itself had to be destroyed to remove its impurities.
Application
Just as Jerusalem felt secure I should never get the idea that our country is exempt from the punishment of God. There is always a pay day some day.
Ezekiel 24:1– 14 (NET)
1 The Lord’s message came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month: 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. 3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Set on the pot, set it on, pour water in it too;
4 add the pieces of meat to it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choice bone of the flock, heap up wood under it; boil rapidly, and boil its bones in it.
6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot is in it, whose rot has not been removed from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it.
7 For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance, I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.
9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high.
10 Pile up the wood, kindle the fire; cook the meat well, mix in the spices, let the bones be charred.
11 Set the empty pot on the coals, until it becomes hot and its copper glows, until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed.
12 It has tried my patience; yet its thick rot is not removed from it. Subject its rot to the fire!
13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean. You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness until I have exhausted my anger on you.
14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Illustration: Selling Hope on the Ash Heap of Destruction
In late 18th century Poland, the Kaiser’s forces were burning all the Jewish villages. One village had been burned and nothing was left standing. As the sun came up the next morning an old Jewish gentlemen pounded a few boards together, made a sellers stall and opened it up for business. A young man walked passed, stared in disbelief and asked, “What are you selling among these ruins. The man smiled and said, “I am selling hope. You can sell water on a dry desert, so the place to sell hope is on the ash heap of destruction.” (Tim Zingale – Sermon Central).