The Moment Everything Reached the Boiling Point

Kids Lesson: The Story of Two Sisters and the Boiling Pot

Review

God reminded His people of their whole history. He rescued them from Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and brought them into their own land.

Even though God was faithful, the people kept choosing idols again and again.

God warned them many times through prophets, but they would not listen.

The leaders of the nation turned away from God and taught others to do the same.

The people acted like God did not see what they were doing.

God told Ezekiel to speak clearly so His people would understand the danger they were in and turn back before it was too late.

Two Sisters and the Boiling Pot (Ezekiel 23–24)

The story of two sisters who made very bad choices.

Ezekiel tells about two sisters who were supposed to love God with all their heart.

Instead, they kept running to other nations, pretending those nations would keep them safe.

They trusted armies instead of God.

They copied other people instead of obeying God.

And their choices hurt everyone around them.

God said these sisters were like His people.

He had rescued them, blessed them, protected them.

But instead of staying close to Him, they ran away again and again.

So God sent Ezekiel to tell them the truth so they would turn back before things got worse.

Then in chapter 24, God gave Ezekiel another picture.

He told him to put a pot on the fire and fill it with pieces of meat.

The pot got hotter and hotter until everything began to burn.

God said His people were like that pot.

He was warning them that judgment was coming and that it would expose everything hiding inside their hearts.

Kids, here is what God wants you to hear:

God loves His people too much to let them run into danger without warning them.

When God says “turn around,” it is because He wants to save you, not punish you.

Background Information

Before we read, we need cultural and theological understanding so the shock of Ezekiel 23 and 24 lands where it should.

1. Ezekiel 23 uses shocking marital imagery intentionally.

Israel’s covenant with God is pictured as a marriage in Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 23 is the most graphic of them all.

The language is not sinful. It is intentionally uncomfortable.

God uses their own behavior, in their own terms, to expose decades of political adultery with Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon.

2. The sisters represent Samaria and Jerusalem.

Oholah (Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom)

Oholibah (Jerusalem, capital of the Southern Kingdom)

The names mean:

Oholah: Her own tent

Oholibah: My tent is in her

Meaning: Samaria set up its own worship, but Jerusalem was the place where God Himself had put His name.

3. Their “lovers” are foreign alliances, not romance.

Political treaties, military dependencies, and spiritual compromise.

Their downfall came from trusting nations instead of the Lord.

4. Chapter 24 is dated the exact day Babylon begins the siege.

Ezekiel 24:1  the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day

This is ground zero for the fall of Jerusalem. God marks the moment so they will know this was His judgment, not bad luck.

5. Ezekiel’s wife dies that night.

Her death becomes a sign. The people will lose what is precious to them: the Temple. And they will not be able to mourn in their usual rituals because the judgment is too severe and too sudden.

The point is not coldness. It is the urgency and gravity of their spiritual collapse.

Sermon Introduction

God sometimes speaks in a way that jolts His people awake.

Ezekiel 23 and 24 are written like a shock to the heart.

They do not whisper. They confront.

They remind us that God will not let His people dress up sin or excuse disobedience.

God refuses to pretend that unfaithfulness is normal.

We live in a world that prefers soft warnings.

We want God to speak gently about sin.

But sometimes the only way we hear Him is when He speaks in a way that shakes us awake.

These chapters are God saying, “You cannot sleep through this.”

God confronts because He loves His people too much to let them destroy themselves.

He exposes what we hide.

He interrupts what we excuse.

He rescues us from the danger we walk toward with blind confidence.

1. God exposes our unfaithfulness so we will see the truth we have tried to hide.

Ezekiel 23:36–39 (KJV)

36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;

37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

38 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.

A. God names our idols so we cannot hide behind religious language.

Ezekiel uses the marriage covenant to reveal the covenant they broke; adultery.

Amber Canavan teaching the kids the 10 Commandments. She said pretending to be married when you are not.

Hosea did this with gentleness. Ezekiel does it with fire because they refused gentleness.

The sisters show both kingdoms guilty.

Ezekiel 23:4  These were their names; Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

Their alliances were spiritual adultery. They trusted what they could see. They distrusted the God who had saved them.

B. God describes their sin in terms they would feel.

The explicit language is not crass or unnecessary. It is diagnostic. God refuses to let sin sound respectable.

Their political deals are described as romances because they loved their idols.

Their rebellion is told like a story so they cannot pretend it was minor.

C. God removes every excuse.

Both sisters end in disaster. The story makes it clear. Sin follows a path.

Their fall was not sudden. It was a long habit of drifting from God.

God exposed their sin not to humiliate them but to save them.

Transition: If chapter 23 reveals the truth they tried to hide, then chapter 24 reveals the moment they ran out of time to ignore it. God announces judgment not as cruelty, but as a final call to return to Him before destruction comes.

2. God announces judgment not as cruelty but as a final call to return to Him before destruction comes.

Ezekiel 24:1–5 (KJV)

1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.

A. Judgment is always God’s last option.

Ezekiel 24:1 marks the fall of Jerusalem to the exact day.

Ezekiel 24:2  write thee the name of the day, even of this same day

God had warned them for centuries. They hardened themselves.

Judgment is never a surprise to those who listen. It is only a surprise to those who refuse to hear.

B. The boiling pot reveals the truth they denied.

They once bragged the city was their pot of safety.

Ezekiel 11:3  This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh

God says the pot is not protection. It is exposure. The filth will boil to the surface.

Ezekiel 24:11  I will set it empty upon the coals, that the brass of it may be hot

God’s fire is purifying, not petty. He is uncovering what they hid.

C. The judgment reveals God’s righteousness.

Ezekiel 24:14  I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass.

God’s justice is not impulsive. It is measured, righteous, and patient.

When God acts, He acts to restore truth in a world full of lies.

Transition: So what happens when God exposes our sin and announces judgment? He does not walk away. He calls His people to respond. Repentance. Faith. A willingness to trust Him even when obedience costs everything.

3. God calls His people to respond with repentance, faith, and a willingness to trust Him when obedience costs everything.

Ezekiel 24:16–24 (KJV)

16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

19 And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

22 And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.yes

A. Ezekiel’s personal loss becomes a sign to the nation.

Ezekiel 24:16  Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke

He is told not to mourn because the judgment will be too overwhelming for Israel to process.

God is showing that their relationship with Him has been wounded far deeper than they realized.

B. Repentance begins when excuses end.

Israel could no longer blame Babylon. God was the One acting.

Their false hopes had to die before true hope could grow.

Repentance is recognizing our idols cannot carry us, save us, or satisfy us.

C. Faith is rebuilt when we trust God’s heart even in His hardest words.

God’s warnings come from love. He wounds to heal.

God was not trying to ruin them but rescue them from self destruction.

Faith is choosing God as the only safe place to stand even when the fire is hot.

4. The God who unmasks our idols is the same God who frees us through the gospel.

A. The conviction Ezekiel brings is the same conviction the Spirit brings today.

John 16:8 – The Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Conviction is not God pushing us away but pulling us toward truth.

Conviction is grace dressed like fire.

B. Exposure is how God prepares the heart for redemption.

2 Corinthians 7:10 – Godly sorrow leads to salvation without regret.

Israel’s idols had to be exposed before healing could begin.

Our idols must be dethroned before Christ can be enthroned.

C. The gospel frees us from what idolatry traps us in.

Romans 6:6 – We are no longer slaves to sin.

Galatians 5:1 – Christ has made us free; stand in that freedom.

Idols promise control but only deliver bondage; Christ delivers freedom.

D. The warning of judgment points us toward the mercy of Christ.

Romans 2:4 – The goodness of God leads us to repentance.

The God who exposes sin is the God who forgives sin through Christ.

The fire of conviction is meant to drive us to the cross, not into despair.

Transtion: Ezekiel exposes idols. Jesus destroys them. Ezekiel reveals the wound. Jesus heals it. Ezekiel’s story of fire wakes us up. Jesus’ grace brings us back to a place of rest.

This is exactly where the text pushes us.

Conclusion

What Do We Do With Chapters Like This?

We let these chapters read us instead of skimming them.

We ask where we have trusted everything except God.

We ask where we have dressed up sin in respectable clothing.

We ask where God has warned us and we pushed His voice away.

We walk forward as a repentant people.

Not afraid of God, but grateful He refuses to let us pretend.

A church that hears God clearly is a church God will use powerfully.

When we face our idols honestly:

The grace of Christ becomes bigger.

Our witness becomes stronger.

We remember these chapters are written to awaken, not to shame.

God was not rubbing their sin in their faces.

He was trying to bring them home.

The God who exposes is the same God who forgives.

The God who warns is the same God who rescues.

The God who refuses to let us pretend is the God who refuses to let us perish.

These chapters show a God who loves too deeply to stay silent.

He will not watch His people burn their lives down without speaking.

He confronts because He is committed to saving.

He warns because He is committed to restoring.

WHERE THE TEXT LEAVES US

Come back. Trust Him.

Maybe you need to share this story. Remember the Prodigal Son rehearsed a speech he never gave. Your friend my be out there rehearsing a speech, and need to hear come home.

James 5:19–20 “19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Let the God who will not let you pretend lead you into the life you were meant to live.