Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

This week has been a tough one for me to study and prepare the lesson so there will probably be more quotes from other sources than personal commentary in this week’s notes.

Having to work late and struggling through lack of sleep at night and the head cold that caused it during the day had greatly reduced my ability to effectively study and prepare.

God however can and often does make masterpieces from our messes.

Pray

Understand the Context

Last week we were in Chapter 3 and finished looking and God’s directives to Ezekiel before giving him messages to be delivered to the people.

Chapters 4–5 describe several prophetic actions God gave Ezekiel to act out.

First, Ezekiel laid siege to a brick he had made, foreshadowing Jerusalem’s final siege (4:1-3).

Second, the prophet was to lie on each side for a designated number of days, representing the years of the people’s iniquity (4:4-8).

Third, God told Ezekiel to prepare only a small ration of food and water each day, portraying the terrible conditions Jerusalem’s siege would bring (4:9-17).

Fourth, God told Ezekiel to shave his head bald (5:1-12).

The prophet was to burn a third of his hair, hack a third of it to pieces with a sword, and scatter a third of it to the wind.

Finally, he was to take a few hairs and bind them in the edges of his robe.

The prophet’s actions depicted God’s judgment; yet, God would begin a new work with a faithful remnant one day (5:13-17).

The Lord called on Israel’s mountains to witness His people’s punishment (6:1-10).

The nation had worshiped idols and also worshiped the Lord in prohibited ways outside Jerusalem.

Many had rejected God, who soon would overthrow their places of worship (6:11-14).

God pronounced doom on Israel for its iniquity (7:1-4).

He would show no pity on the day of disaster (7:5-13), and the people’s silver and gold would not be able to deliver them (7:14-19).

God would give their possessions to foreigners, for the land was full of wickedness (7:20-24).

People finally would seek God, but their seeking would come too late (7:25-27).

Ezekiel 8–11 describes a vision God gave Ezekiel to reveal events leading to Jerusalem’s judgment.

The Spirit of God first transported Ezekiel in a vision to Jerusalem (8:1-4).

The Lord then showed His astonished prophet scenes of Jerusalem’s great wickedness (8:5-18).

God’s judgment was imminent.

Evil abounded, and God would pity His people no longer (9:1-11).

God’s glory prepared to abandon the temple (10:1-5).

The Lord instructed His heavenly host as departure preparations began (10:6-14).

His glory, exalted by heavenly attendants, rose up and hovered at the east gate of the Lord’s house (10:15-22).

[LifeWay Adults (2021).

Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide - ESV - Winter 2022.

LifeWay Press.]

We have a couple of verses at the beginning of Chapter 11 we will look at to complete our context for the main passage starting in verse 14.

Let’s see what God wants to tell us through the prophet Ezekiel about His desire to save and regenerate His people then and now .

Explore the Text

Although Ezekiel is in exile in Babylon, his visions in the first part of the chapter are in the temple and city of Jerusalem and the people who had not yet been exiled.

The most basic meaning of awon is “iniquity.”

The word signifies an offense, intentional or not, against God’s law.

[Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr.

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words 1996 : 122.

Print.]

But with the word “devise” preceding it we know these offenses were not only intentional but also planned and coordinated, then they were “given” to the people as counsel or as “good advice”, adding to their wickedness by leading others away from God and His holiness.

This first phrase of the wicked men in verse 2 is translated two different ways in the English versions I read.

One way is in the negative like we have here in the ESV.

The other like in the CSB which the quarterly uses is in the positive “Is not the time near to build houses”.

One suggests it is time to build implying a since of safety, the other suggests it is not time implying they expect to be driven from their homes or for them to be destroyed again soon.

Since the counsel was wicked, we know that their perspective is not as God’s.

Since we know that God is going to exile and destroy Jerusalem soon then a false since of security would be the counsel against God’s so the CSB and the more positive translations are probably more accurate in this context.

The second phrase took a little more investigation and I’m still not 100% sure of its original meaning.

If they think they are the “meat in the cauldron”, God is saying they are not.

There are 2 other passages about meat in a cauldron one is a negative and the other positive.

The negative is in 1 Sam 2:14, where other “worthless men” the sons of Eli would use a fork to grab what they wanted from the people’s sacrifices at Shiloh.

This is probably the same perspective the leaders in Ezekiel’s time have of themselves believing they are the “best parts” of the city people.

This is the improper and wicked self-elevating thought which leads to their twisted view of the other passage of “meat in cauldron” outside of the book of Ezekiel.

2 Chronicles 35:13 is during the Great Passover when Josiah was king and “contributed” to the feast and sacrifices on behalf of the “lay people”.

To make sure everyone was able to participate on that day “they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people”.

All the people were blessed because of Josiah’s desire to honor God and to help all the people obey the Passover so that all the food was consumed before the sun went down.

The wicked counselors of Ezekiel’s day may be comparing themselves to these “holy offerings” and attribute themselves as the means of God’s blessing to the people of the city.

God however says this is not true and commands the prophet to speak against them.

God’s truth of these men’s wickedness was so great that as a symbol of His truth and of how quickly His judgement was coming that Pelatiah, died as Ezekiel spoke God’s words (Eze 11:13).

God had shown Ezekiel a sampling of the terrible abominations the people were committing (8:5-18) and the wickedness of the leaders still in the city.

However, the hope remained that they could turn to God and receive His forgiveness and healing.

They were not doomed to die no matter what happened.

Ezekiel needed to take God’s message of truth to them so they would understand the reality of the situation.

God calls on believers today to present the truth in the face of false hope.

Some people do not believe in God and establish their own standards of morality.

Other people affirm they believe in God, but their lives show they believe God doesn’t really care about the sin they commit.

Still others worship the false gods of other religions or place their trust in worldly things, such as money or power.

Believers need to present the truth without apology, for it is the world’s only hope.

[LifeWay Adults (2021).

Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide - ESV - Winter 2022.

LifeWay Press.]

The word here for “inhabitants” is also translated as “to dwell, sit, abide, inhabit, remain.”

[Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr.

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words 1996 : 64.

Print.]

The last two definitions seem to be what this context point toward as the “remaining inhabitants” of Jerusalem are speaking to those whom the Lord has already driven away.

This may also be a part of their incorrect view of self-righteousness in that “they” got to stay because “they” were chosen by God and the currently exiled were the sinful ones.

They wrongly attributed being on God’s land with having God’s presence.

Those who are not exiled are chaff.

The exiled are redeemable.

God directly repudiates their egocentrism.

[Hamilton, Victor P. “Ezekiel.”

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible.

Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995.

569.

Print.

Baker Reference Library.]

Ezekiel denounced Jerusalem’s population for its self-righteousness.

The prophet Jeremiah challenged the same kind of false thinking when he admonished the people not to trust in their temple, but to trust in God (Jer.

7:2-4).

Ezekiel knew God spoke the truth, but would God ever redeem the situation?

[LifeWay Adults (2021).

Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide - ESV - Winter 2022.

LifeWay Press.]

These were the words of the people and wicked leaders who were still in Jerusalem and were about to be judged and exiled, God however had a different pronouncement.

God affirms the leaders view that He did in fact “remove” and “scatter” the exiled population, but he directly confronts their view that He is bound to be worshipped only at the temple or in “His land”.

By being their “sanctuary” while in other countries it shows that the place of worship is not at necessary as the proper direction or focus of the worship.

God is spirit and not contained in a building therefore we can still worship Him anywhere.

Rev 21:22 is the final place of worship where He is the object of worship, and His presence is the only “temple” needed.

God is not tied to the land as they thought or even the temple.