Ezekiel 11:1-13

Ezekiel 11:1 ESV

1 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Here we see the spirit lifted him up

The spirit of God is now hovering above the city

We see 25 men at the city gateway

these are not the same 25 that we saw worshiping the sun in Chapter 8

this is a different group of men

We see specifically Ezekiel calls out 2 of the 25

The gate would have been the location of justice and legal matters

would have been the courtroom

In Ezekiel 11:2-3

Ezekiel 11:2–3 ESV

2 And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’

We see here that these men were plotting evil

they were giving wicked counsel or instruction to the city

The elders were encouraging other members of Jerusalem to ignore Ezekiel's warnings

telling them to disregard a Babylonian invasion

Urging people to build houses

building houses was a sign of peace

a sign of coming progress

this was wrong instruction

They were safe in the city like meat in the Cauldron

the meat in the Cauldron is safe from the surrounding fire

thus those within Jerusalem’s walls would be safe from what is outside

build within the city

Ezekiel 11:4–5 ESV

4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.” 5 And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.

Because of these false teachings

God tells Ezekiel to prophecy against them

Here God tells through Ezekiel's prophecy that He knows what is in their mind

The general understanding of this is that God knew they were still worried of such attack

Ezekiel 11:6–12 ESV

6 You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. 8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. 9 And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. 10 You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 12 and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

Here Ezekiel goes back to the meat in the cauldron

He states that these elders have multiplied the slain

they have laid the bodies of the slain within the streets

they have killed those who were righteous

those who could have helped correct the city

instead God then tells the elders you will be removed from the city

you will be placed outside the cauldron

you will be taken captive by foreigners

God then states that they have feared the sword

Now God will bring the sword down on the city

God’s wrath on Jerusalem is about to fall down

He is going to let them be taken captive

he is going to bring down the sword against them

He will judge them at the border

Which brings us back to the courtroom style the elders used at the east gate

God then delivers the age free command

I will not allow you to be in the cauldron

i will put you outside of it

I will let you feel my wrath

you will be judged at the border

not even in your own land

which you believe is safe

Ezekiel is telling the people you have disobeyed the Lord

for this you must pay the price

that price is judgment from the Lord