Chapter 11

1 The presumption of the princes. 4 Their sin and judgment. 13 Ezekiel complaining, God sheweth him his purpose in saving a remnant, 21 and punishing the wicked. 22 The glory of God leaveth the city. 24 Ezekiel is returned to the captivity.

1. Moreover. The events of ch. 11 do not follow chronologically those of chs. 9, 10. The vision appears to return to give further details regarding the moral condition of Jerusalem’s leaders.

East gate. The place to which Ezekiel had seen the cherubim go (ch. 10:19).

Five and twenty men. The same number that he had seen worshiping the sun in the inner court (ch. 8:16), but probably not the same group. Those were possibly priests (see on ch. 8:16), whereas these seem to have been secular leaders. However, the evidence of a distinction is not conclusive.

Jaazaniah. The name means “ Yahweh hears.” Some have suggested that because of their significance the names here given were intended to bring out the false hopes with which the people deluded themselves. Azur possibly means “one helped”; Pelatiah means “Yahweh sets free”; and Benaiah, “Yahweh builds.” If the significance of names is the point of emphasis, the sudden death of Pelatiah (v. 13) would be strikingly impressive. On the other hand, Jaazaniah and Pelatiah may have been singled out simply because they were well-known leaders of apostasy.

3. It is not near. The Hebrew of this half-proverbial saying is so tersely expressed that it is obscure. The passage reads literally, “not near to build houses. It [the city] the caldron, we the flesh.” There may be a jeering reference to the message that Jeremiah had sent to the captives in Babylon to build houses and to make themselves comfortable, for the time of the Captivity would be long. This message angered many of the captives, and they sent letters to Jerusalem demanding that Jeremiah be punished (Jer. 29:24–28). The saying of the princes was possibly in contradiction to Jeremiah’s message, which stated: “The time to build houses for a long captivity is not near.”

Some think the reference is to the rebellious leaders in Jerusalem, who, ignoring Jeremiah’s warning concerning the impending destruction of the city, continued to lay plans for building operations in the doomed city.

The metaphor of the caldron seems to be borrowed from Jeremiah (see Jer. 1:13). The meaning may be that as a caldron protects the flesh in it from the fire, so the walls of the city will protect its inhabitants from the army of the Chaldeans. The LXX has the saying in the form of a question expecting a positive answer, “Is not the time near to build houses?” The attitude thus expressed clearly reflects the self-confident boasting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (see Jer. 28:3). Jeremiah had counseled the Jews that were in the city to go out and surrender to the Chaldeans (Jer. 21:9). This counsel they insolently rejected, by choosing to remain in the “caldron.” This thought fits the context of the chapter, because the narrative proceeds to show that this “privilege” would be denied them. It is also possible that the metaphor means that as the “caldron” is the place where the “flesh” belongs, so Jerusalem is where its inhabitants belong—implying that they will remain there. Compare Jer. 13:12.

5. I know the things. Because of His omniscience God is cognizant of the real aims, wishes, and motives that underlie outward acts (see 1 Chron. 28:9; Prov. 15:11; Jer. 17:10).

6. Your slain. Probably thus named because executions had been carried on without a warrant from God. There may be a reference also to those slain as a result of the Babylonian atrocities. Because of their moral and religious defection the leaders of Jerusalem were accountable for this slaughter.

7. They are the flesh. The people boasted of the protection of their city, and had no intention of heeding Jeremiah’s instruction to abandon the city and surrender to the Chaldeans (Jer. 21:9). But Ezekiel’s solemn warning was that only those whom they had slain would be granted this privilege of remaining inside the city. The living would suffer their doom outside the city walls.

10. Ye shall fall. Historically fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar’s general, after the capture of Jerusalem, carried the people of the land to the king at Riblah, a town 10 mi. (16 km.) south of Kadesh. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced judgment upon the captives, slew Zedekiah’s sons before the king’s eyes, and executed others. After being blinded, Zedekiah and the remnant were transported to Babylon (see 2 Kings 25:6, 7).

13. Died. Ezekiel saw the death of Pelatiah only in vision, but the incident was doubtless predictive. Compare the death of Hananiah (Jer. 28:17).

14. Again the word. This appears to be a continuation of the previous prophecy, a response to the prophet’s intercession. The description of the further removal of the cherubic formation (vs. 22, 23) clearly connects this message with the preceding (see ch. 10:18, 19).

15. Thy brethren. That is, those who were with Ezekiel in exile.

Kindred. Heb. geХullah, a word that refers to the duties of the goХel, the blood relative who took up the cause of his near of kin (Lev. 25:25, 48; see on Ruth 2:20).

Get you far. An expression of arrogant confidence devoid of sympathy for the banished. The inhabitants of Jerusalem exhibited a “holier than thou” attitude toward those who were exiles in Babylon.

16. As a little sanctuary. Or, “a sanctuary for a little [while].” The word translated “little” may be either an adverb or an adjective. The idea of “a sanctuary for a little time” seems to be the sense intended here. God still regarded His remnant. Through them He planned to accomplish His purposes. He aimed that the Captivity should be a salutary discipline to lead His people back to Him as a preparatory movement that would open the way for the accomplishment of His long-delayed purposes.

17. Give you. The arrogant boasters would be thrust out and the exiles whom they disdained would be gathered again and would possess the land (see Num. 14:3, 31, 32).

18. Take away. Historically, this was partially fulfilled in the abhorrence with which the Jews regarded idolatry after their return from captivity. But God’s purposes far exceeded this. In vs. 18–21 God outlines His plans for the future of the new Israelite state. The passage is a forecast of conditions as they would have been if Israel had fully accepted and followed the divine program.

19. One heart. Oneness of purpose and of action would characterize the new Israel of God. Unfortunately the failure of Israel prevented the fulfillment of this promise. Jesus prayed that the blessing might be fulfilled in the Christian church. His prayer was briefly realized in the fervency of the early church, the multitude of whom “were of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32). Unfortunately, the unity was of short duration. Grievous wolves, not sparing the flock, entered in and tore the believers asunder (Acts 20:29). There has been disunity in the Christian world ever since, a condition that will continue until, at the return of our Lord, “we all come in the unity of the faith” (Eph. 4:13).

Stony heart. The experience of the changed heart is descriptive of the experience of the new birth, more fully revealed in the NT (John 3:3–8; etc.; see ML 24), though by no means applicable only to the Christian Era. God’s means of salvation have been the same in all ages, but there has been a gradual unfolding of the divine purpose; not that God holds men in ignorance to their disadvantage, but their unwillingness to accept the revelations from heaven often places a limitation on what God is able to reveal. Precious rays rejected make impossible the sending of further illumination. This was the case with Israel. Had the returning exiles fully entered into the experience here described, more and more light would have been sent. Unfortunately, they were content with the crippling restrictions posed by their interpretation of the old covenant, and so the fuller light of the gospel came only with the Messiah.

20. Walk in my statutes. Only those who have a heart renewed by divine grace can keep the law of God, “because the carnal mind … is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). The promise of enabling power through the indwelling Spirit was an essential feature of God’s everlasting covenant with man. This point Israel had failed to grasp. Men believed that salvation could be secured by their own efforts. They refused to submit themselves to “the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). They saw no need of a Saviour, no need of conversion. They completely spurned the experience that alone would enable them to keep His law.

I will be their God. God planned that the glorious experience here described should be realized after the return from Babylonian captivity. Because the returning exiles failed to fulfill the new-covenant conditions upon which their spiritual prosperity was based, the promise was never fulfilled. God’s promises are conditional. Nevertheless, that which God could not accomplish through the literal seed of Israel, He will accomplish through the spiritual seed (Rom. 9:11). The ultimate fulfillment of this glorious prospect will come at the close of the millennium (Rev. 21:3).

21. Whose heart. Human responsibility, because of the power of choice, will see some choosing “detestable things.” God would have all to be saved, but He will not force the will. Consequently those who are lost will perish as a result of their own choice and not because of any failure on the part of God’s grace.

22. Cherubims. Compare ch. 10:18, 19.

23. The mountain. Probably the mountain that was later known as the Mt. of Olives, a ridge of three principal summits 2,700 ft. (823 m.) above sea level across the Kidron east of Jerusalem. The city has an altitude of 2,500 ft. (777 m.). The site where the divine glory rested after departing from the Temple (DA 829) was the spot from which Jesus later “beheld the city, and wept over it” (Luke 19:37–41). It was from here that He announced the second destruction of the rebellious and stubborn city (Matt. 24) and proclaimed the signs of His second advent. From the same mountain He made His visible ascension into heaven (Luke 24:50, 51; Acts 1:11, 12). Upon this eminence the New Jerusalem will make its descent (Zech. 14:4, 5, 9; see GC 662, 663).

24. In a vision. See on ch. 8:3.

25. Spake unto them. The elders of Judah (ch. 8:1) had probably waited till Ezekiel came out of his vision and were thus present and conditioned to receive the communication from the Lord.

Ellen G. White comments

19  CH 500; TM 261; SL 90; 5T 218; 8T 136