Bible Lesson: Parables Of The Old
Testament: The Boiling Pot.
Spoken By: Ezekiel.
Location: Babylon.
Bible Text:
Ezekiel 24:1-5 NLT
1 On January 15, during the ninth
year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from
The Lord:
2 “Son of man, write down today’s
date, because on this very day the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar)
is beginning his attack against Jerusalem.
3 Then give these rebels (The
rebellious house – KJV) an illustration with this message
from
The Sovereign Lord:
“Put a pot on the fire, and pour
in some water.
4 Fill it with choice pieces of
meat— the rump and the shoulder and all the most tender cuts.
5 Use only the best sheep from the
flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot.
Bring the pot to a boil, and cook
the bones along with the meat.
The Players:
Ezekiel:
The
(married) Prophet of The Lord.
The King of
Babylon:
King Nebuchadnezzar.
The Coals:
Chaldean Persecution And Death:
Vs 9 The fuel beneath her.
Vs 10 heap on the wood! Let the fire roar
Vs 11 the coals. Heat it red hot!
Vs 12 the fire.
Jerusalem:
Vs. 3 The rebellious house
Vs.
6 The bloody city; city of murderers; unclean cooking pot
Vs 9 City of murderers
Vs 12 The city of lies
Vs 13 The city of impurity, lewdness, corruption, and idolatry
(KJV & NLT)
The
Story:
Ezekiel 24:6-27
NLT
6 “Now this is what The Sovereign
Lord says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers!She is
a cooking pot whose corruption can’t be cleaned out. Take the meat
out in random order, for no piece is better than another.
7 For the blood of her murders is
splashed on the rocks. It isn’t even spilled on the ground, where
the dust could cover it!
8 So I will splash her blood on a
rock for all to see, an expression of My anger and vengeance against
her.
9 “This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers! I Myself
will pile up the fuel beneath her.
10 Yes, heap on the wood! Let the
fire roar to make the pot boil. Cook the meat with many spices,
and afterward burn the bones.
11 Now set the empty pot on the
coals. Heat it red hot! Burn away the filth and corruption (froth,
scum).
12 But it’s hopeless; the
corruption can’t be cleaned out. So throw it into the fire.
13 Your impurity is your lewdness
and the corruption of your idolatry. I tried to cleanse you, but you
refused. So now you will remain in your filth until my fury against
you has been satisfied.
14 “I, the Lord, have spoken! The
time has come, and I won’t hold back. I will not change my mind,
and I will have no pity on you. You will be judged on the basis of
all your wicked actions, says the Sovereign Lord.”
(The Death of
Ezekiel’s Wife)
15 Then this message came to me from
The Lord:
16 “Son of man, with one blow I
will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any
sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears.
17 Groan silently, but let there be
no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your
sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any
food brought to you by consoling friends.”
18 So I proclaimed this to the
people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next
morning I did everything I had been told to do.
19 Then the people asked, “What
does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”
20 So I said to them, “A message
came to me from The Lord,
21 and I was told to give this
message to the people of Israel. This is what The Sovereign Lord
says:
I will defile My Temple, the
source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in.
Your sons and daughters whom you
left behind in Judah will be slaughtered by the sword.
22 Then you will do as Ezekiel has
done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating
the food brought by friends.
23 Your heads will remain covered,
and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep,
but you will waste away because of your sins. You will groan among
yourselves for all the evil you have done.
24 Ezekiel is an example for you;
you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will
know that I am The Sovereign Lord.”
25 Then The Lord said to me, “Son
of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and
glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest treasure—I will also
take away their sons and daughters.
26 And on that day a survivor from
Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what has happened.
27 And when he arrives, your voice
will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol
for these people. Then they will know that I am The Lord.”
The ancients had a
saying "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind
exceedingly fine,"
and how true it is.
Galatians 6:7
KJV
Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Hebrews 10:30
KJV
For we know Him
that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith
The Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people.
God's people, were
unfaithful to the one who had lead them out of 400 years of slavery
to freedom.
Judges 2:13,14
KJV
13 And they forsook The Lord, and
served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 And the anger of The Lord was hot
against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that
spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round
about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
From the very
beginning God's people, were a rebellious lot.
Ezekiel warned,
this time there would be no deliverance.
Babylon's king
would kill and carry away into captivity, Jerusalem's people.
So many, even in
our day, think that God does not see or know what they do, but of
course they are dead wrong!
Psalm 11:4,5 NLT
4 But The Lord is in His holy
Temple; The Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone
closely, examining every person on earth.
5 The Lord examines both the
righteous and the wicked..."
Proverbs 5:21
KJV
For the ways of man are before the
eyes of The Lord, and He pondereth all his goings.
Proverbs 15:3
KJV
The eyes of The Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 16:2
NLT
People may be pure in their own
eyes, but The Lord examines their motives.
Jeremiah 17:10
KJV
I The Lord search the heart, I try
the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and
according to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 23:24
KJV
Can any hide himself in secret
places that I shall not see him? saith The Lord. Do not I fill heaven
and earth? saith The Lord.
Jeremiah
32:18,19 KJV
18 Thou shewest loving kindness unto
thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the
bosom of their children after them: the Great,The Mighty God, The
Lord Of Hosts, is His name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in
work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men:
to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit
of his doings:
Israel had great
pride in the temple at Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 24:21
NLT
This is what The Sovereign Lord
says: I will defile My Temple, the source of your security and
pride,
The Chaldeans would
destroy the temple.
The Jews, had
great pride in their temple at Jerusalem, and yet they did not live
in faithfulness to the God of the temple!
Doesn't this sound
familiar, and it is the same in all generations.
Matthew 7:21-23
KJV Jesus Christ
21 Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of My Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
Faithful temple
workers, prophesying, performing exorcisms, and wonderful religious
works, called by Jesus Christ “workers of iniquity?” Yes!
Ephesians 2:8,9
KJV
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
The Gift Of God (Jesus
Christ):
9 Not of works (secular
or religious), lest any man should boast.
So why, oh why were
they called “workers of iniquity?”
They were called so
because of their pious airs, were leading countless people into lost
eternity.
Why were they lost,
they were lost because though they were steeped in religiosity, they
refused any obedient personal relationship with the God of the
temple!
II Timothy 3:1-5
KJV
1 This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, high minded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Our Living God,
Admonishes Us Today:
I Chronicles
28:9 KJV
"...know
thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and
with a willing mind: for The Lord searcheth all hearts, and
understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him,
He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee
off for ever.
Hebrews 12:1,2
KJV
1 Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus The Author And
Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of The Throne Of God.
Jeremiah
29:13,14 KJV
13 And ye shall seek Me, and find
Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith
The Lord..."
