Thu, 21 September, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Ezekiel 24:1-14

¹ In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: ² “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³ And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Set on the pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
⁴ put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
⁵ Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.

⁶ “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. ⁷ For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. ⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. ¹⁰ Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. ¹² She has wearied herself with toil; its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! ¹³ On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. ¹⁴ I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel give us many illustrations of what is going on in Jerusalem while he is in exile in Babylon. In today’s reading, Ezekiel tells the people that the the siege of Jerusalem is like a pot set on to boil too long. The pot is left in the heat long after the water boils away and the meat and bones are burned up.

In the same way, the corrupt nation of Judah will be “burned up” in the siege. The picture here is of a fire that burns away all those who are sinful. Since the people refuse to repent, the corruption is removed only by removing those who are corrupt. And so God sends the siege to burn up the corruption. But this cleansing is just a temporal cleansing, gained by removing the sinners from life. It is not a saving cleansing where the sinners are made right with God and purified of their sins for eternity.

What do we learn from this?

God hates sin and He will punish it. Those who do not repent will experience the full wrath of God poured out upon their guilt. But this won’t be like the mythical purgatory, where your sins are slowly burned off, eventually leaving you purified and ready to stand in God’s presence. The problem is not just that you have sinned but that YOU are sinful. No amount of burning will remove the corruption from you and leave you purified and able to stand before God. Those in hell experience the wrath of God against their sin for eternity. It will never end, because they will never be pure for the fires of hell are not redemptive, but punitive.

Where is Christ in this passage?

God speaks through Ezekiel telling of the judgment coming upon Jerusalem because of their sin. But this has only come upon them because they have rejected the cleansing He has offered. God says He would have cleansed them, but they have refused it.

The cleansing from sin that God offers comes through trusting in God’s provision for salvation. He has given a substitute who will take the punishment for the sins of those who trust in Him. And the substitute has earned the perfect salvation we need, and He offers it freely to those who come to Him in faith.

The substitute God has provided is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, who came to earth to bear the sins of His people. Through faith in Him, we can be cleansed from every sin and made right with God. We can be purified from our corruption and made acceptable in God’s presence to spend eternity with Him in heaven.