EZEKIEL LESSON 11
We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 11:1 "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."
These 25 men were similar to the 25 priests and high priest
worshipping the sun god in chapter 8. They were actually supposed to
be leaders of the people. They had led their people into the worship
of a false god. Jaazaniah and Pelatiah were both princes, or leaders,
in Jerusalem. They were, probably, some of the ones that caused
Jeremiah's problems.
Ezekiel 11:2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these [are] the
men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
There is nothing more evil than a wicked ruler, who leads others
into their sin. Their counsel was evil. They were the blind leading
the blind, and they will both fall.
Ezekiel 11:3 "Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses:
this [city is] the caldron, and we [be] the flesh."
These false predictions were things these fleshly people wanted
to hear. These were false predictions of good times. They were told to
go ahead and build houses here. They would not follow God's advice and
surrender to the Babylonians. Jeremiah told them to build houses in
captivity. They would be in Babylon for a long time. Time proved
Jeremiah right, and these false prophets wrong. "Caldron" meant a
boiling pot, or pan. This meant they thought they were protected,
because they were in this walled city.
Ezekiel 11:4 " Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son
of man."
Ezekiel is to denounce their prophecy by giving the true prophecy
from God.
Ezekiel 11:5 "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."
One great advantage that God has, is that He knows our every
thought, as well as our deeds. We do not even have to speak, He knows
what we are thinking. He looks into the heart of man and knows whether
he is evil, or good. Notice, what empowered Ezekiel to speak this
truth; the Spirit of the LORD fell upon him.
Ezekiel 11:6 "Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye
have filled the streets thereof with the slain."
Their disobedience to God will cause many more to die than has
been necessary. God has given them every opportunity to repent, and
they have not. Their unfaithfulness and disobedience has caused their
number of slain to be multiplied.
Ezekiel 11:7 "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."
The dead bodies would be the flesh in this walled city. God will
let Babylon take them captive. Many will die by the sword, but many
more will die by famine and pestilence.
Ezekiel 11:8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword
upon you, saith the Lord GOD.
These are those who thought they had escaped, but are hunted down
and die of their greatest fear; the sword.
Ezekiel 11:9 "And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and
deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments
among you."
This is speaking of those who are taken into Babylon in chains.
They, and their children, will remain there 70 years. God has judged
them, and each of them are punished accordingly.
Ezekiel 11:10 "Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in
the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD."
We know that so many died by the sword, they did not even bury
them. They just left their bodies for the vultures and the wild
beasts. The easiest death of all was the death by the sword, because
it was swift.
Ezekiel 11:11 "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:"
Jerusalem, with its wall, had always been a place of protection.
Now, it will not be. God has judged them, and in so doing, took His
hedge of protection away from them.
Ezekiel 11:12 "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."
The sad thing is, these are God's chosen people. They had not
walked daily in the protection He had provided. We have said before,
that those who keep God's commandment are the children He protects.
They had picked up worship of false gods from their heathen neighbors.
They did not stop going through the motion of worshipping God, but
their hearts were far from God. They had worshipped false gods, along
with doing the rituals of service to God. They had committed spiritual
adultery.
Ezekiel 11:13 "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?"
The death of this evil leader brought such shock to Ezekiel, that
he feared God would kill all of them, and not leave a remnant. We saw,
in a previous lesson, how those who had not bowed their knee to the
false gods were marked upon their foreheads, and not destroyed. The
destruction in this vision was so great it overwhelmed Ezekiel, and he
fell on his face pleading for the remnant to be spared.
Ezekiel 11:14 "Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,"
There was a break from the other prophecy here. Ezekiel hears the
Word of God again. He gives answer to Ezekiel's question.
Ezekiel 11:15 "Son of man, thy brethren, [even] thy brethren, the
men of thy kindred, and all 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 in possession."
Some of Ezekiel's own people were involved in this revolt against
God. Remember, he had been a priest, so many of the people who came to
worship God were classified as Ezekiel's brothers. They were not
obedient to God. They wanted to stay and claim the land God had given
them by inheritance. They had forgotten that the land was one of the
blessings, if they obeyed God.
Ezekiel 11:16 "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."
God is not just in Israel. He will be with them in their
captivity, wherever they are. They had put much emphasis on the temple
in Jerusalem. They knew the presence of God had been there. They
thought of the temple and God as being inseparable. They had forgotten
that God was in the wilderness with His people 40 years on their way
to the promised land. If they will be faithful to Him and be obedient,
He will be with them and protect them, even in a foreign land. God is
omnipresent. He can be everywhere all at the same time.
Ezekiel 11:17 "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."
God will bring His children home after their captivity. He will
be with them in Babylon, but even better is the promise that He will
bring them back into their own land. The remnant, who do not die, will
go back into the land promised to them through Abraham.
Ezekiel 11:18 "And they shall come thither, and they shall take
away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations
thereof from thence."
There must be a spiritual cleansing in the land. Most of the
detestable things would have been burned up in the fire, but anything
left, must be destroyed. They must completely cleanse their land from
idolatry and false prophets.
Ezekiel 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a
new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their
flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:"
God will change them from the inside. He will give them hearts
with feelings to replace the stony hearts they had before. The heart
is the center of what we are. God will begin with that, and make them
new creatures in Him. The one heart is speaking of their being
spiritual unity among them. God will write His laws upon their hearts.
Ezekiel 11:20 "That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine
ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be
their God."
Salvation is a daily walk. Their new lives will be one of
obedience, love and respect for their God. God is not so interested in
the formality of sacrifices, as He is in His people loving Him and
obeying Him. It will be their desire to keep His ordinances. They will
not do it from obligation, but because they love Him.
Ezekiel 11:21 "But [as for them] whose heart walketh after the
heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will
recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD."
Each person has a free will to worship whom they will. God will
not force them to worship Him. If they choose the nothings of this
world, like false gods and idols, they will fall into their own traps.
God will not help them. God will repay them for their evil, if they
are stubborn and will not give up their false gods.
Ezekiel 11:22 "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."
This beautiful presence of God that is almost unexplainable lifts
up above them. This depature of the divine glory in Ezekiel's vision
is a signal that this vision is over.
Ezekiel 11:23 "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."
God has removed Himself from His city, Jerusalem. His protection
is gone. It is as if He is saying, I have spoken, now, let it be. His
presence is on the mountain overlooking the city.
Ezekiel 11:24 "Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me
in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the
captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me."
You remember, in the early part of this vision, that God had
taken Ezekiel by the hair and raised him up to receive this vision.
This is just saying, that he was returned to Chaldea where he had been
captive at the beginning of this vision. The vision of the wheels and
the presence of God went away from Ezekiel, and he remained in
Chaldea.
Ezekiel 11:25 "Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the
things that the LORD had shewed me."
This is a short sentence that means so much. Ezekiel, who was
captive with many from Israel, spoke to his fellow captives. This
prophecy has a promise of restoration to their homeland, to those who
truly believe in God. Some of this is an explanation of why they had
these troubles. Some of this is showing the terribleness of the
decision those made, who stayed in Jerusalem. The hope is in the
remnant who God will be with, even in their captivity.
Ezekiel 11 Questions
1. What lifted Ezekliel up?
2. Where did He take Ezekiel?
3. How many men did he see there?
4. Who were the 2 princes in verse 1?
5. Who did these men remind us of?
6. What did God tell Ezekiel about these men?
7. Their counsel was _______.
8. What terrible advice did they give the people?
9. What is a "caldron"?
10. Verse 5 says God empowered Ezekiel, how?
11. Who was to blame for the people being slain in the city?
12. What are the various ways the people will be killed?
13. He would deliver them to ___________.
14. Verse 10 says the judgement came for what purpose?
15. What is the sad thing about all of this?
16. Where had they picked up worship of false gods?
17. What effect did it have on Ezekiel, when Pelatiah died?
18. What question did Ezekiel ask God?
19. What had they forgotten about the land?
20. Where is God?
21. What is verse 17 speaking of?
22. What kind of cleansing is verse 18 speaking of?
23. How will God change them?
24. Salvation is a __________ walk.
25. What will happen to the people, who choose the false gods over
God?
26. What does the lifting of the glory of the God of Israel signal?
27. How did Ezekiel get back to Chaldea?
28. What did Ezekiel do, when he got back?
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