Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 11:6

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Judgment on Jerusalem’s leaders (11:1-13)

At the east gate of the temple, where God’s chariot-throne had temporarily stopped (see 10:19), Ezekiel saw in vision a group of twenty-five of the city’s political leaders. The wrong advice of these men was one reason why Jerusalem was heading for certain ruin (11:1-2). (At the time of this vision, the last great siege of Jerusalem, foretold in earlier chapters, had not yet happened.)

Jeremiah had been telling the people that to fight against Babylon was fatal, for God had sent the Babylonians to punish Jerusalem. The city should therefore surrender (Jeremiah 21:8-10). These leaders, on the other hand, were stirring up the people to resist Babylon. They recommended that building programs in the city be stopped so that more men would be available to fight. They were confident that they were safe in Jerusalem. The city walls would protect the inhabitants from the Babylonians, just as a cooking pot protects the flesh inside it from the fire (3-4).

God’s word to Jerusalem’s leaders is that he knows what they are thinking, but the city will fall in spite of their confidence (5-6). The innocent people, whom these corrupt leaders have killed, are now the fortunate ones, for they will be spared the bloodshed that is to come upon Jerusalem. They are the only pieces of flesh to be safe from the fire. As for the leaders, they will be taken out of the cooking pot, dragged out of their imagined security in Jerusalem, and executed at the border of Israel as the victorious Babylonian armies return home (7-12). (For the fulfilment of this prophecy see 2 Kings 25:18-21.)

Ezekiel saw one of Jerusalem’s leaders drop dead as he was speaking. The prophet was again filled with fear as he saw the determination of God to punish his rebellious people (13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said unto me, Speak. Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will bring ye forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah; for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you."

"Speak, Thus saith Jehovah" We believe that Cooke is correct in his understanding that Ezekiel, "While still in his trance received the inspiration to prophesy the words of this paragraph in the very presence of the elders who were present in Ezekiel's house."International Critical Commentary, p. 122. In view of the attitude of the Jerusalemites toward their brothers in captivity, the words must have provided great comfort and encouragement to the elders who had sought counsel from Ezekiel.

"Your slain… they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron" "Their proverbial phrase about the flesh and the caldron undergoes a gruesome change in the usage of it here by Ezekiel. It is not the false leaders but their victims who are the real elite of the city and who deserve to be cherished within the holy city."WE, p. 138. A moment later, the prophet added the words, "This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof" (Ezekiel 11:11). 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.

Taylor interpreted this remark as being the equivalent of a declaration that, "The only good Jerusalemites are the dead Jerusalemites!"J. B. Thompson, p. 110.

"Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel… I will judge you in the border of Israel" The prophecy is doubled for emphasis. Those false leaders of the arrogant Jerusalemites will be slain by the sword, far away from their fancied security in Jerusalem. "Over seventy of those captured with the fall of Zedekiah were judged and executed by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (in Hamath) on the far northern border of Israel, where Nebuchadnezzar had set up his headquarters (2 Kings 25:18-21; Jeremiah 52:24-27)."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 500. What a remarkable fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy this proved to be!

Keil commented here that, "The wicked men who boasted of their security in Jerusalem would not find security, either in Jerusalem, or anywhere in Israel; but they would be led out of the land by their enemies and slaughtered in the border of Palestine."Carl Friedrich Keil, Keil-Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 147. Jeremiah 52:9-10 records the judgment of those Jerusalem leaders by Nebuchadnezzar, and his slaughter of them at Riblah in Hamath.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Now Ezekiel attacks, as it were, in close combat, the buffoons who trifled with God by their jests, and brings forward that; sense which I have just before touched on, and of which the prophecy of Jeremiah was full, in a different manner to that. which they imagined. Ye, says he, have slain many; the city was full of many slaughters: therefore the pot was full of flesh; this flesh was cooked: there is no longer any room in the vessel. You must therefore of necessity be cast forth as froth, or as foul flesh, for which no vessel is found for cooking it. We see, then, that the Prophet here treats them wittily, and plays off jests in answer to them; meanwhile he strikes a deadly wound, when he shows that they joked so petulantly to their own destruction, and boasted that Jeremiah was their adversary. Hence he confirms the prophecy of Jeremiah, and yet he does not interpret it, because Jeremiah had spoken properly and clearly, when he said that they were flesh. The meaning was the same as if God were to pronounce that he would consume them in the midst of the city. It happened as we have formerly seen; for he scattered some of the people, and slew some with the sword, and some with hunger. Whatever it is, the prophecy of Jeremiah will always be found true, namely, that God had cooked the Jews with the fire of the Chaldees. (Jeremiah 1:13.) But since they had perverted that doctrine, the Prophet does not regard the meaning of Jeremiah, but shows that they never profited while they turned their backs on God. Ye shall not be flesh, says he, but your slain were flesh: ye have refilled the caldron, that is the city with the slain; now there is no room for you. What therefore remains, but that God should cast you out as foul flesh? Neither will he cook you, says he, nor will he consume you in a caldron, but where he has stretched you at full length on the earth, there will he consume you. Now, therefore, we see how great a destruction the Jews had brought upon themselves, when they took the liberty of joking and jesting at the Prophets. Hence he says, they had filled the city with the slain He does not mean that men had been openly put to death in Jerusalem, but this form of speech embraces all forms of injustice; for we know that God esteems those homicides who oppress miserable men, overturn their fortunes, and suck innocent blood. Since, then, God esteems all violence as slaughter, he properly says, that the city was filled with the slain The Jews might object that no one had brought violence upon them; they could not be convicted in the sight of men; but when their wickedness was so gross among themselves, that they did not spare the wretched, but cruelly afflicted them, he says that the city was filled with the slain He now adds, when the city was full of flesh there was no more place for them, and he now shows that although Jeremiah had predicted that they should be cooked with the fire of the Chaldeans, yet they had advanced so far in wickedness, that they were unworthy of being cooked within the city. Hence, says he, a greater vengeance from God awaits you, since ye proceed to provoke his anger more and more. It follows —

Smith's Bible Commentary

Let's turn now in our Bibles to Ezekiel, chapter 11.

Now Ezekiel is in Babylon during the time of these prophecies, but the Spirit of God transports him back to Jerusalem. And there he sees things that are transpiring in Jerusalem.

Now as a background, there are some Jewish zealots who are still in Jerusalem who have rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and they are thinking that they are going to be successful in their rebellion. There are false prophets in Jerusalem that are encouraging the people in their rebellion, telling them that they are going to push Nebuchadnezzar right out of the picture. Jeremiah is in Jerusalem saying, "Don't listen to the false prophets. They are prophesying to you lies in the name of the Lord. You'd be much better off to surrender to the Babylonians, because if you try to resist you will be slain by the sword and the pestilence and the famine. So, surrender to Nebuchadnezzar." But Jeremiah is accused of treason and is imprisoned by Zedekiah the king.

But they have sent messengers, the false prophets, to those in Babylon, saying, "Hang loose, it won't be long. We'll defeat the Babylonians and you're going to be allowed to come back to Jerusalem. You'll be allowed to dwell in Jerusalem, so don't build houses. Just hang loose, deliverance is coming soon." But Ezekiel is there in Babylon saying, "Settle down, build houses. It's going to be a long time before there is any return back to Jerusalem. So, just realize that those that are in Jerusalem are going to be destroyed and the false prophets with them."

So, you have a confusing situation in that you have false prophets that are encouraging a soon victory over the Babylonian army. You have the true prophets of God, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, that are speaking God's truth and saying, "No, we are not going to conquer over Babylon, that God is judging the nation Israel for their sins, because they've turned against God and it's going to be a long period of judgment. You're going to be in Babylon," as Jeremiah said, "for seventy years, so make the best of it. Settle down, make the best of it there, because you're not coming back in a hurry."

Now Ezekiel is in Babylon, but there in Babylon occasionally he gets carried by the Spirit back to Jerusalem where he beholds the things that are happening in Jerusalem and he relates them to the people there in Babylon. And so in chapter 11 we have another one of these instances where:

The spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looks eastward: and behold at the door of the gate there were twenty-five men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur ( Ezekiel 11:1 ),

Now, this is not the Jaazaniah among the twenty-five men that he had seen earlier in a vision. That was the son of Shalman, I think it was. But this is a different Jaazaniah, probably a popular name. I don't know why.

and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, and they were the princes of the people. Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and they are giving wicked counsel to the city: They are saying to them, [Look,] it isn't near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh ( Ezekiel 11:1-3 ).

The destruction isn't near. The city is like a caldron in which we are protected from the fire. Babylon's fires may burn, but they won't burn us, because the city is the caldron and we are like the flesh. It's going to be a long time before the heat will ever get to us. So just go ahead and build your houses and settle down, because we are protected by this city from Babylon.

Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. 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 ( Ezekiel 11:4-5 ).

Notice that. God says, "I know the things that are coming into your mind, everything." That's sort of a heavy thought isn't it? " I the Lord," He said, "do search the hearts." God knows every thought that comes into your mind; nothing is hid from Him with whom we have to deal. Actually, the Bible says, "All things are naked and open before Him" ( Hebrews 4:13 ). "I know everything that comes into your minds."

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with slain ( Ezekiel 11:6 ).

That is, by their false counsel they have encouraged the people to rebel, but all it's going to do is multiply the number of people that will be killed. As Jeremiah was saying to them, "Surrender and you can save your lives. They will be merciful to you if you surrender. You know, they'll take you to Babylon, give you a nice place to live an all, but surrender to them, don't resist." But these men by their false prophecies encouraging them to resist were only multiplying the number of people who were to be killed.

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: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it ( Ezekiel 11:7 ).

So the people that have already died, they're the only ones that are going to be protected from the fire of Babylon. They are the flesh, they are the ones who are going to be protected, but you are going to be carried away captive. You're going to be led out of this city.

You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 11:8-10 ).

Interesting prophecy, "I shall judge you in the border of Israel." Now, when the Babylonian army came against Jerusalem and conquered it, the king, Nebuchadnezzar, remained in the city of Riblah, which is on the border of Israel. And they brought them to Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah where he judged them. Zedekiah you remember was captured and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and there Nebuchadnezzar killed his sons, right before his eyes, and then put his eyes out and he took him captive unto Babylon. And so a very fascinating prophecy of Ezekiel who is over in Babylon, really not knowing what's going on except by the Spirit of God, as he is taken back and sees these things and he predicts the fact that they will be judged in the borders of Israel, which indeed they were.

And this city shall not be your caldron ( Ezekiel 11:11 ),

It will not be a protection to you. It's not going to save you from the Babylonian fire.

neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel ( Ezekiel 11:11 ):

Again repeated, and thus they were.

And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes ( Ezekiel 11:12 ),

God's indictment against them, "Now, you've not walked in My statutes."

neither have you executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen round about you ( Ezekiel 11:12 ).

So their failure was to not walk in the ways of the Lord, but to follow the patterns of the heathen society around them, or to succumb to the mores.

Now, there is strong pressure upon us as Christians to forsake the statutes of God and to walk according to the popular mores of our society. There's tremendous pressure in our society today to accept things that God has condemned. And this pressure of the society is such that if you dare to condemn those things that God has condemned then you're looked upon as some kind of a religious nut, a prude, a backwards individual. "Don't you realize that times have changed? We're not living back in the Victorian age any longer. This isn't a Puritan society." And this tremendous pressure, to do what? Exactly what the children of Israel did that brought their destruction. Forsake the commandments, the statutes, the judgments of God, and start living like the people around you. But we dare not, for as sure as God did judge the nation Israel, so will He judge us if we do the same things.

Now, it came to pass, when I was prophesying, that [this fellow] Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah died ( Ezekiel 11:13 ).

So while he was there prophesying to them, this guy fell over dead. That's powerful preaching.

Then I fell on my face ( Ezekiel 11:13 ),

Now, it wasn't something that Ezekiel was expecting, because it shocked him.

I fell on my face, and I cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? ( Ezekiel 11:13 )

Are you going to wipe them all out, Lord?

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your own family, and all of the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given for a possession ( Ezekiel 11:13-15 ).

They're saying that this land is ours, we are not going to be defeated; we are not going to fall.

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come ( Ezekiel 11:16 ).

God said, "I will watch over them in the lands where they've been driven. I will be to them a little sanctuary there." God will preserve His people even though they've been driven throughout the world.

Now, that of course, again, is another amazing prophecy, because though the Jews have been hated, scorned, discriminated against, perhaps more fiercely than any other nationality, yet, in spite of two thousand years without a homeland, they have continued to exist as a race of people. Nothing short of a divine miracle. There has been no other national ethnic group in the history of man that has been able to remain as a national identity for more than five generations without a homeland. If they don't have a nation that they can say, "That's our homeland," they have lost their national ethnic identity in five generations. That is why you never meet an Ammonite, a Hittite, Perizzite, or any of these other people that were once great and powerful nations. Because without a national homeland, they've lost their national ethnic identity. And yet the Jew remain because God made them a little sanctuary. God was watching over to preserve them and they remained an ethnic group, a national identity, for more than two thousand years after having been driven from their homeland in the first captivity of Nebuchadnezzar. Of course, they went back for a period of time, but then since 70 A.D. they've been driven out of the land and still to the present day, whether they be in China, whether they be in Germany, whether they be in Russia, whether they be in Yemen or Africa, or the United States, the Jew has been able to maintain his national identity because God has made them a sanctuary. And you can only explain it by that fact. Because no other nation, no other ethnic group has been able to maintain an identity. So the Lord promises to be a little sanctuary in all of the lands where they've been scattered.

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel ( Ezekiel 11:17 ).

Now this is not referring to the re-gathering after the Babylonian captivity, but is more of a reference to the present re-gathering.

And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you ( Ezekiel 11:18-19 );

Now, that has not yet been fulfilled. God is gathering them back in the land, but this new Spirit that God has promised has not yet been fulfilled. It will take place when God defeats Russia's invasion of Israel. And we'll get to that as we move on in Ezekiel chapter 39, the last verse of 39, God declares that in the day in which He is sanctified before the nations of the earth, He will again put His Spirit upon the nation of Israel. So this prophecy is relating to chapter 39 and to a day that is yet future, when God manifests Himself unto these people in such a dramatic way and He puts His Spirit upon them again.

I will give them one heart, I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh ( Ezekiel 11:19 ):

Now Paul the apostle tells us in the New Testament that blindness has happened to Israel in part until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. God's Spirit in the present time is working primarily among the Gentile nations, among you who have been called of God. Actually, among all men. Not that the Jews are excluded, because the gospel is open to all men, but there seems to be a national blindness on these people in regards to Jesus Christ. And it is interesting, I have talked to some of them who are extremely knowledgeable of the scriptures. And you wonder, when they know the scriptures so well, why is it that they do not see that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah? You wonder how they can just explain away those prophecies, Daniel chapter 9, Isaiah 53 , Psalm 22 , Zechariah chapters 11 through 12 and all. You wonder, how can they not see the truth that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah? And there can only be one explanation, and that is what Paul gave us, that there is a blindness that has happened to these people.

A couple of years ago when we were in Israel and I was speaking at a congress in which the Christians from all over the world were seeking to demonstrate to Israel our support of them as a people, I received a letter from one of the rabbis in Jerusalem. And the letter was a rebuke for my being there at that congress showing support for the nation of Israel. He said, "You have no right being here, for Israel has no right to be existing as a nation." This same rabbi had sent a letter to King Hussein in Jordan and asked the Jordanian king to annex Measharim into Jordan, because they wanted nothing to do with the modern state of Israel. They said, "Israel has no right being a state, and you as a minister have no right being here supporting the nation of Israel."

Well, I had been witnessing to these guides for quite some time and they do know the scripture quite well. And I showed them the letter and I said, "Look what one of your rabbis sent me." And they read the letter and they were horrified, because they appreciate the fact that I love Israel and had been supporting Israel. And they said, "Ah, don't pay any attention to that, Chuck, they're a bunch of religious nuts. They're radicals, you know. They don't know what they're talking about. They're just religious radicals. Don't pay any attention to that." I said, "But they're rabbis." "Ah, it doesn't make any difference. They're nuts, you know, just don't pay any attention to them." And I said, "Have you ever stopped to think that those rabbis that rejected Jesus from being the Messiah were perhaps just like them, some religious fanatics? And that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, but these religious fanatics rejected Him, and here you are two thousand years later, in spite of all of the evidence, still following the religious nuts of those days." They didn't have any answer. But surely anyone looking at the evidence of prophecy and of the life of Jesus Christ must conclude that if Jesus wasn't the Messiah, there never will be a Messiah. It would be impossible for any man to come along today and prove that he was of the lineage of David. No one has his genealogy and can trace it back to David any longer. So, God is going to change their hearts, though. This stony heart is going to be turned to a heart of flesh.

Ya know, one thing about the Jewish people is that they are a very dynamic people. They're very alive. They love to sing, they love to show their feelings in dancing and in singing. And quite often over there, the bus drivers and the guides, they'll get together and they'll sit at a table and they'll start singing their Jewish, typically Jewish, songs and they really get into it. I mean it's a ya know, "Hah..." and the whole thing ya know and the dancing and they get up and they start dancing around and singing. They really get into it. And it's a lot of fun, because they are such a dynamic people. They're exciting to be around. Oh, I can hardly wait until they get turned on to Jesus Christ. With all of that excitement and all of that expression that they have when they really discover the true Messiah, what a glorious day when the heart of stone is replaced; God does a heart transplant and He puts in a heart of flesh.

That they may walk in my statutes ( Ezekiel 11:20 ),

You see, this is the thing they had failed to do and that's why the judgment was coming.

that they will keep my ordinances, and do them: that they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 11:20-21 ).

Now, at this point, these cherubims representing the glory of God and the presence of God that was once there in the temple but was lifted from the temple, out to the porch, from the porch to the east gate. Now he watches as the Spirit of God is removed even from the east gate of the temple to the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem.

Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above [them]. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city [the Mount of Olives]. And afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God [back] into Chaldea [back to Babylon], to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake to them of the captivity all of the things that the LORD had showed me ( Ezekiel 11:22-25 ).

So, he was taken by the Spirit, went through these interesting experiences, and then brought back and shared with these people that were around him there the vision that God did give to him.

Now, it is interesting, the glory of the Lord, the last place there on the mount to the east of Jerusalem. It was on this same mountain that Jesus ascended into glory. It was on this same mountain that Jesus came in His entry to Jerusalem as the King, as the Messiah, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, "Behold, rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee, but He is lowly, sitting on the colt, the foal of an ass" ( Zechariah 9:9 ). And it is upon this same mount that Jesus will return. As Zechariah said, "And He shall set His foot in that day on the Mount of Olives, and it will split in the middle" ( Zechariah 14:4 ), an all, and right there where he saw the glory of the Lord departing from the mountain there on the east, there is where the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ will come. And again, as He comes into Jerusalem, the glory of God's presence once more returning to the land and the beautiful restoration of God and the glorious kingdom of God when it comes.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The assurance of judgment on the people of Jerusalem 11:1-13

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Ezekiel was to prophesy against these leaders. The Spirit came upon him and instructed him to tell them that the Lord knew what they were thinking (cf. Ezekiel 2:2; Ezekiel 3:24; Ezekiel 13:1-3; 2 Peter 1:21). God always knows what His people are thinking (cf. Psalms 139:1-6; Daniel 2:30; Acts 1:24). In this case their thinking was in rebellion against what He, through Jeremiah, had told them to do. Furthermore, they had slain many innocent people in Jerusalem by perverting justice and taking advantage of the weak.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city,.... Had killed many of the prophets of the Lord that had been sent unto them, and had shed much innocent blood; and not only had unjustly condemned many to die, and had put them to death without a cause; but also the death of all those that were slain while the city was besieging, and when it was taken, were owing to their advice and counsel, in encouraging them to hold out, and not deliver up the city; fancying they should be able to defend it, contrary to the declarations of the Lord by the prophet; wherefore their death is laid to such advisers, and they are called their slain:

and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain; such numbers of innocent persons being put to death, as in the times of Manasseh,

2 Kings 21:16; or so many dying of the famine, pestilence, and sword, during the siege, and at the taking of Jerusalem.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Moreover the 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 five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.   2 Then said 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 caldron, and we be the flesh.   4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.   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: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.   8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.   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.   10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.   11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:   12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.   13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

      We have here,

      I. The great security of the prince's of Jerusalem, notwithstanding the judgments of God that were upon them, The prophet was brought, in vision, to the gate of the temple where these princes sat in council upon the present arduous affairs of the city: The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the Lord's house, and behold twenty-five men were there. See how obsequious the prophet was to the Spirit's orders and how observant of all the discoveries that were made to him. It should seem, these twenty-five men were not the same with those twenty-five whom we saw at the door of the temple, worshipping towards the east (Ezekiel 8:16; Ezekiel 8:16); those seen to have been priests or Levites, for they were between the porch and the altar, but these were princes sitting in the gate of the Lord's house, to try causes (Jeremiah 26:10), and they are here charged, not with corruptions in worship, but with mal-administration in the government; two of them are named, because they were the most active leading men, and perhaps because the prophet knew them, though he had been some years absent--Pelatiah and Jaazaniah, not that mentioned Ezekiel 8:11; Ezekiel 8:11, for he was the son of Shaphan, this is the son of Azur. Some tell us that Jerusalem was divided into twenty-four wards, and that these were the governors or aldermen of those wards, with their mayor or president. Now observe, 1. The general character which God gives of these men to the prophet (Ezekiel 11:2; Ezekiel 11:2): "These are the men that devise mischief; under pretence of concerting measures for the public safety they harden people in their sins, and take off their fear of God's judgments which they are threatened with by the prophets; they gave wicked counsel in this city, counselling them to restrain and silence the prophets, to rebel against the king of Babylon, and to resolve upon holding the city out to the last extremity." Note, It is bad with a people when the things that belong to their peace are hidden from the eyes of those who are entrusted with their counsels. And, when mischief is done, God knows at whose door to lay it, and, in the day of discovery and recompence, will be sure to lay it at the right door, and will say, These are the men that devised it, though they are great men, and pass for wise men, and must not now be contradicted or controlled. 2. The particular charge exhibited against them in proof of this character. They are indicted for words spoken at their council-board, which he that stands in the congregation of the mighty would take cognizance of (Ezekiel 11:3; Ezekiel 11:3); they said to this effect, "It is not near; the destruction of our city, that has been so often threatened by the prophets, is not near, not so near as they talk of." They are conscious to themselves of such an enmity to reformation that they cannot but conclude it will come at last; but they have such an opinion of God's patience (though they have long abused it) that they are willing to hope it will not come this great while. Note, Where Satan cannot persuade men to look upon the judgment to come as a thing doubtful and uncertain, yet he gains his point by persuading them to look upon it as a thing at a distance, so that it loses its force: if it be sure, yet it is not near; whereas, in truth, the Judge stands before the door. Now, if the destruction is not near, they conclude, Let us build houses; let us count upon a continuance, for this city is the caldron and we are the flesh. This seems to be a proverbial expression, signifying no more than this, "We are as safe in this city as flesh in a boiling pot; the walls of the city shall be to us as walls of brass, and shall receive no more damage from the besiegers about it than the cauldron does from the fire under it. Those that think to force us out of our city into captivity shall find it to be as much at their peril as it would be to take the flesh out of a boiling pot with their hands." This appears to be the meaning of it, by the answer God gives to it (Ezekiel 11:9; Ezekiel 11:9): "I will bring you out of the midst of the city, where you think yourselves safe, and then it will appear (Ezekiel 11:11; Ezekiel 11:11) that this is not your caldron, neither are you the flesh." Perhaps it has a particular reference to the flesh of the peace-offerings, which it was so great an offence for the priests themselves to take out of the caldron while it was in seething (as we find 1 Samuel 2:13; 1 Samuel 2:14), and then it intimates that they were the more secure because Jerusalem was the holy city, and they thought themselves a holy people in it, not to be meddled with. Some think this was a banter upon Jeremiah, who in one of his first visions saw Jerusalem represented by a seething pot,Jeremiah 1:13. "Now," say they, in a way of jest and ridicule, "if it be a seething pot, we are as the flesh in it, and who dares meddle with us?" Thus they continued mocking the messengers of the Lord, even while they suffered for so doing; but be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong. Those hearts are indeed which are made more secure by those words of God which were designed for warning to them.

      II. The method taken to awaken them out of their security. One would think that the providences of God which related to them were enough to startle them; but, to help them to understand and improve those, the word of God is sent to them to give them warning (Ezekiel 11:4; Ezekiel 11:4): Therefore prophesy against them, and try to undeceive them; prophesy, O son of man! upon these dead and dry bones. Note, The greatest kindness ministers can do to secure sinners is to preach against them, and to show them their misery and danger, though they are ever so unwilling to see them. We then act most for them when we appear most against them. But the prophet, being at a loss what to say to men that were hardened in sin, and that bade defiance to the judgments of God, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon him, to make him full of power and courage, and said unto him, Speak. Note, When sinners are flattering themselves into their own ruin it is time to speak, and to tell them that they shall have no peace if they go on. Ministers are sometimes so bashful and timorous, and so much at a loss, that they must be put on to speak, and to speak boldly. But he that commands the prophet to speak gives him instructions what to say; and he must address himself to them as the house of Israel (Ezekiel 11:5; Ezekiel 11:5), for not the princes only, but all the people, were concerned to know the truth of their cause, to know the worst of it. They are the house of Israel, and therefore the God of Israel is concerned, in kindness to them, to give them warning; and they are concerned in duty to him to take the warning. And what is it that the must say to them in God's name? 1. Let them know that the God of heaven takes notice of the vain confidences with which they support themselves (Ezekiel 11:5; Ezekiel 11:5): "I know the things which come into your minds every one of them, what secret reasons you have for these resolutions, and what you aim at in putting so good a face upon a matter you know to be bad." Note, God perfectly knows not only the things that come out of our mouths, but the things that come into our minds, not only all we say, but all we think; even those thoughts that are most suddenly darted into our minds, and that as suddenly slip out of them again, so that we ourselves are scarcely aware of them, yet God knows them. He knows us better than we know ourselves; he understands our thoughts afar off. The consideration of this should oblige us to keep our hearts with all diligence, that no vain thoughts come into them or lodge within them. 2. Let them know that those who advised the people to stand it out should be accounted before God the murderers of all who had fallen, or should yet fall, in Jerusalem, by the sword of the Chaldeans; and those slain were the only ones that should remain in the city, as the flesh in the caldron. "You have multiplied your slain in the city, not only those whom you have by the sword of justice unjustly put to death under colour of law, but those whom you have by your wilfulness and pride unwisely exposed to the sword of war, though you were told by the prophets that you should certainly go by the worst. Thus you, with your stubborn humour, have filled the streets of Jerusalem with the slain," Ezekiel 11:6; Ezekiel 11:6. Note, Those who are either unrighteous or imprudent in beginning or carrying on a war bring upon themselves a great deal of the guilt of blood; and those who are slain in the battles or sieges which they, by such a reasonable peace as the war aimed at, might have prevented, will be called their slain. Now these slain are the only flesh that shall be left in this caldron,Ezekiel 11:7; Ezekiel 11:7. There shall none remain to keep possession of the city but those that are buried in it. There shall be no inhabitants of Jerusalem but the inhabitants of the graves there, no freemen of the city but the free among the dead. 3. Let them know that, how impregnable soever they thought their city to be, they should be forced out of it, either driven to flight or dragged into captivity: I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, whether you will or no, Ezekiel 11:7; Ezekiel 11:9. They had provoked God to forsake the city, and thought they should do well enough by their own policy and strength when he was gone; but God will make them know that there is no peace to those that have left their God. If they have by their sins driven God from his house, he will soon by his judgments drive them from theirs; and it will be found that those are least safe that are most secure: "This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the flesh; you shall not soak away in it as you promise yourselves, and die in your nest; you think yourself safe in the midst thereof, but you shall not be long there." 4. Let them know that when God has got them out of the midst of Jerusalem he will pursue them with his judgments wherever he finds them, the judgments which they thought to shelter themselves from by keeping close in Jerusalem. They feared the sword if they should go out to the Chaldeans, and therefore would abide in their caldron, but, says God, I will bring a sword upon you (Ezekiel 11:8; Ezekiel 11:8) and you shall fall by the sword,Ezekiel 11:10; Ezekiel 11:10. Note, The fear of the wicked shall come upon him. And there is no fence against the judgments of God when they come with commission, no, not in walls of brass. They were afraid of trusting to the mercy of strangers. "But," says God, "I will deliver you into the hands of strangers, whose resentments you shall feel, since you were not willing to lie at their mercy." See Jeremiah 38:17; Jeremiah 38:18. They thought to escape the judgments of God, but God says that he will execute judgments upon them; and whereas they resolved, if they must be judged, that it should be in Jerusalem, God tells them (Ezekiel 11:10; Ezekiel 11:11) that he will judge them in the borders of Israel, which was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar slew all the nobles of Judah at Riblah in the land of Hamath, on the utmost border of the land of Canaan. Note, Those who have taken ever so deep root in the place where they live cannot be sure that in that place they shall die. 5. Let them know that all this is the due punishment of their sin, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God against them: You shall know that I am the Lord,Ezekiel 11:10; Ezekiel 11:12. Those shall be made to know by the sword of the Lord who would not be taught by his word what a hatred he has to sin, and what a fearful thing it is for impenitent sinners to fall into his hands. I will execute judgments, and then you shall know that I am the Lord, for the Lord is known by the judgments which he executes upon those that have not walked in his statutes. Hereby it is known that he made the law, because he punishes the breach of it. I will execute judgments among you (says God) because you have not executed my judgments,Ezekiel 11:12; Ezekiel 11:12. Note, The executing of the judgments of God's mouth by us, in a uniform steady course of obedience to his law, is the only way to prevent the executing of the judgments of his hand upon us in our ruin and confusion. One way or other. God's judgments will be executed; the law will take place either in its precept or in its penalty. If we do not give honour to God by executing his judgments as he has commanded, he will get him honour upon us by executing his judgments as he has threatened; and thus we shall know that he is the Lord, the sovereign Lord of all, that will not be mocked. And observe, When they cast off God's statutes, and walked not in them, they did after the manners of the heathen that were round about them, and introduced into their worship all their impure, ridiculous, and barbarous usages. When men leave the settled rule of divine institutions, they wander endlessly. Justly therefore was this made the reason why they should keep God's ordinances, that they might not commit the abominable customs of the heathen,Leviticus 18:30.

      III. This awakening word is here immediately followed by an awakening providence, Ezekiel 11:13; Ezekiel 11:13. Here we may observe, 1. With what power Ezekiel prophesied, or, rather, what a divine power went along with it: It came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died; he was mentioned (Ezekiel 11:1; Ezekiel 11:1) as a principal man among the twenty-five princes that made all the mischief in Jerusalem. It should seem, this was done in vision now, as the slaying of the ancient men (Ezekiel 9:6; Ezekiel 9:6) upon occasion of which Ezekiel prayed (Ezekiel 11:8; Ezekiel 11:8) as he did here; but it was an assurance that when this prophecy should be published it should be done in fact. The death of Pelatiah was an earnest of the complete accomplishment of this prophecy. Note, God is pleased often-times to single out some sinners, and to make them monuments of his justice, for warning to others of what is coming; and some that thought themselves very safe and snatched away suddenly, and drop down dead in an instant, as Ananias and Sapphira at Peter's feet when he prophesied. 2. With what pity Ezekiel prayed. Thought the sudden death of Pelatiah was a confirmation of Ezekiel's prophecy, and really an honour to him, yet he was in deep concern about it, and laid it to heart as if he had been his relation or friend: He fell on his face and cried with a loud voice, as one in earnest, "Ah! Lord God, wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? Many are swept away by the judgments we have been under; and shall the remnant which have escaped the sword die thus by the immediate hand of heaven? Then thou wilt indeed make a full end." Perhaps it was Ezekiel's infirmity to bewail the death of this wicked prince thus, as it was Samuel's to mourn so long for Saul; but thus he showed how far he was from desiring the woeful day he foretold. David lamented the sickness of those that hated and persecuted him. And we ought to be much affected with the sudden death of others, yea, though they are wicked.