This parable represented the siege of Jerusalem, which began on the day that Ezekiel told this story.
The Lord instructed Ezekiel to note permanently the day this revelation came to him because it was the very day that Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. This day fell on January 15, 588 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 25:1; Jer. 39:1; 52:4).332Ezekiel's ability to announce the beginning of the siege from Babylon validated his ministry as a prophet. The Jews later memorialized this special day with an annual fast (Zech. 8:19). The prophet was also to deliver a parable to the Jewish exiles the same day. They were part of the "rebellious house"of Israel, one of God's favorite titles for His people Israel in this book.
In this parable, the people were to put a bronze (v. 11) cooking pot (caldron, Heb. sir) on the fire and pour water into it. Then they were to put various pieces of choice meat into the pot. They were to build a strong fire under it so the water would boil and the meaty bones would cook.333
There is no indication that this was another of Ezekiel's acted parables. Rather it seems to have been a message that the prophet spoke without dramatizing it by really boiling meat in a caldron.
24:6 Ezekiel was then to announce woe on the bloody city (no longer the holy city) of Jerusalem (cf. Nah. 3:1), which the pot represented (cf. 11:3, 7, 11; Jer. 1:13-14). The pot had rust (Heb. hel'ah) in it that evidently stood for the blood of the people slain there (cf. 22:1-16). Ezekiel was then to draw several pieces of meat out of the pot at random perhaps signifying God's rescuing a remnant from judgment.
24:7 Blood was in Jerusalem's midst like the blood of a sacrifice that had not been drained out on the ground and covered up (atoned for) as the Law prescribed (Lev. 17:13). Israel's sins were open for all to see, as blood on a bare rock (cf. Isa. 3:9). Not only was Jerusalem a city that had shed much innocent blood, but it was an unacceptable sacrifice to God because of the blood that was in it.
24:8 Therefore Yahweh was draining the blood out of Jerusalem by allowing the Babylonians to slay the Jews in it. The innocent blood that the Jerusalemites had shed had cried out to God for Him to take vengeance and to execute wrath on the murderers, as Abel's blood had done (Gen. 4:10; cf. Isa. 26:21). As the people of Jerusalem had shed blood openly, so the Lord would shed their blood openly, on the bare rock of Jerusalem.
"The severe judgment sent by God upon Judah should be ample warning to those today who share the same callous disregard for the value of human life, both the born and the unborn."334
This second oracle stresses not the boiling of meat in the pot but the cleansing of the pot by superheating, a second stage in God's judgment process.
24:9-10 The Lord pronounced woe on the bloody city of Jerusalem and promised to make the pile of bones of the slain inhabitants great. Therefore Ezekiel was to kindle a strong fire, to boil the meat well, to mix in the spices normally used when meat was cooked this way, and to let the bones burn. All this symbolized the fierceness of the attack on Jerusalem and the many people that would die there.
24:11 Then Ezekiel was to keep the empty caldron on the coals with the fire burning hotly under it so it would glow and all the impurities in it would burn up. This represented the continuing purification of Jerusalem after all the Jews had left it. It would remain empty, and that condition would free it from all sinful pollution for many years to come.
24:12 Jerusalem had wearied Yahweh as He toiled to scour its sin away in the past. The city would remain under judgment because its rust-like sin needed purging away (cf. 36:22-32).
24:13 Adultery in its many forms was part of Jerusalem's filthiness. It clung to the city even though the Lord had sent many prophets to clean it up and had already deported many of the people (in 605 and 597 B.C.). Now it was time for a thorough purging of the pot by the fire of God's wrath since cleansing with water had not been effective.
In conclusion, the Lord promised that this judgment would come as He had predicted. He would not change His mind or mitigate the punishment. He would thoroughly judge the people because of their conduct and actions. They would be the meat and He would provide the heat.
"God's mercy prompts Him to withhold judgment as long as possible to enable people to repent (cf. 2 Peter 3:8-10), but He does not wait indefinitely. A time comes when God punishes wickedness."335
