Ezekiel's vision of the departure of Yahweh's glory (chs. 8-11) now reached its climactic conclusion.
11:1 The Spirit next lifted Ezekiel up in his vision and transported him to the east (main) gate of the temple courtyards where God's glory had moved (cf. 10:19). There the prophet saw 25 of the governing leaders of the people of Jerusalem, including Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah.172These 25 civic leaders were not the same individuals as the 25 sun-worshipping priests whom Ezekiel had seen earlier (8:16).173Gates were the traditional places where city elders administered justice and conducted legal matters.
11:2-3 The Lord told Ezekiel that these men were those who were planning wickedness and giving bad advice to the residents of Jerusalem. They were encouraging the people either to feel secure by advising them to build homes and plan on living long in Jerusalem (cf. 28:26) or to prepare for battle rather than submitting to the Babylonians.174The true prophets, like Jeremiah, however, were telling them to submit to the Babylonians (Jer. 21:8-10).175These wicked leaders were comparing the people of Jerusalem to meat in a clay cooking pot. They were saying that the people were as secure in the city, even though they were uncomfortably "hot,"as meat inside a kettle is safe from the fire outside it. The walls and fortifications of the city, and God Himself, they said, would amply protect the people from the fiery hostility of the Babylonian army.
11:4-6 Ezekiel was to prophesy against these leaders. The Spirit came upon him and instructed him to tell them that the Lord knew what they were thinking (cf. 2:2; 3:24; 13:1-3; 2 Pet. 1:21). God always knows what His people are thinking (cf. Ps. 139:1-6; Dan. 2:30; Acts 1:24). In this case their thinking was in rebellion against what He, through Jeremiah, had told them to do. Furthermore, they had slain many innocent people in Jerusalem by perverting justice and taking advantage of the weak.
11:7-9 Jerusalem had become like a cooking pot in that these slain people were like meat in it. It was a secure place only for those who had already died there. Nevertheless the Lord would remove the living from the "pot."Jerusalem would provide no refuge for the living. The Lord would bring the sword of the invader down on them. He would bring them out of the city into the hands of the invading enemy soldiers who would kill and capture them.
11:10-12 The Jerusalemites would die violently at the hands of their enemy all the way to the borders of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 25:18-21; Jer. 52:8-11, 24-27), not just in the city. The walls of the city would not defend them from the fires of Babylonian invasion (cf. v. 3). Then they would know that the Lord was God. This punishment would come on the people because they had been unfaithful to the Mosaic Covenant but had followed the laws of their surrounding neighbor nations.
"This message was exactly the opposite of what Jerusalem's leaders considered appropriate. They saw the exiles as unfortunate victims of their own bad luck and poor judgment for having somehow gotten exiled instead of having been spared as the present leaders had been."176
11:13 In his vision Ezekiel saw Pelatiah ("Yahweh rescues") die (cf. v. 1).177This was a sign that God would judge the people as He had said. Pelatiah's death greatly affected Ezekiel (cf. Acts 5:5). He wondered if God would deliver anyone in Jerusalem. He fell on his face before the Lord and asked Him if He was going to destroy the godly remnant of the nation as well as the wicked (cf. 9:8). The compassion of Ezekiel came out again as he saw God judging the sinful Jews of Jerusalem.
"Perhaps Ezekiel felt that Pelatiah's sudden death signaled a decision by God that there would be no remnant, hence his cry, Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?' (v. 13)."178
All societies tend to put in leadership or allow to rise to leadership individuals who reflect, appeal to, and will carry out the expectations and values of the majority. These judgments on Israel's leaders view them as reflections of and manifestations of a corrupt society. Ezekiel saw in the death of its leaders the death of all the people, whom the leaders represented.
11:14-15 The Lord then replied that many of the Jews in Jerusalem were saying that the Judahites who had gone into captivity were the ones that God was judging. They believed that the Jews left in Jerusalem were the remnant that God would preserve and bless. They incorrectly believed that Israel's future lay with the Jews in Jerusalem rather than with the Jews in exile.
11:16 Ezekiel was to respond to these Jerusalem Jews by saying that though God had driven the exiles from their land He would be with them and would provide a refuge for them in Babylon. He Himself would be a sanctuary for them even though they were far from the temple sanctuary in Jerusalem. Israel's future did not lie with the Jews still in Jerusalem but with those in Babylon.
11:17-18 The Lord also promised to assemble the Jews in exile from the various places where they had scattered from the Promised Land and to give them that land again.179When they came back into the land they would purify it of all the things that made it detestable and abominable to the Lord (cf. 5:11; 7:20).
"Such words have a Mosaic ring about them, as if the promised land of Canaan is being held out to the wilderness wanderers once again. The desert experience would not last for ever: one day they would possess the land--not by arrogant claim (as in verse 15), but by a gracious gift of God--and their worship would be purified of all the foreign, corrupting influences that had beset the Israelites since Joshua's day."180
"The promise of restoration to the land, though declared in the blessings of the Mosaic covenant (Lev 26:40-45; Deut 30:1-10), was based on the eternal covenants to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3), David (2 Sam 7:12-16), and Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34)."181
11:19-20 The Lord also promised to give His people a united desire and commitment (cf. 36:26; Exod. 14:5; 1 Sam. 14:7; 27:1; 2 Sam. 7:3; Jer. 32:39). He would put a new attitude within them (cf. Ps. 51:10). This "spirit"would enter into them when God would pour out His Spirit on them (36:26-27; Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:33; Joel 2:28-29). He would remove their hard hearts and give them hearts that were responsive to Him so they would obey His commands and do His will. Then they would enjoy an intimate relationship with God and He with them.182
"After the exile when many Jews returned to a restored province of Judah in fulfillment of prophecy (Ezra 1:1), they were careful to avoid idolatry (Ezra 4:1-3; 6:19-21; Neh 8-10). Nevertheless, their obedience was not complete (Ezra 9:1-2, 10-15; 10:15, 44; Neh 5:1-9; 13:7-29), nor was their experience of promised blessings (Ezra 9:8-9; Neh 9:32-37). Thus the radical spiritual transformation of the people and the associated physical blessings promised in this and other prophecies of the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 34:20-31; 36:24-38; 37:15-28) await fulfillment in a future messianic age."183
Single-minded devotion to God is what He always requires and what His grace makes possible (cf. Matt. 4:10; 6:24-34; Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22).
11:21 In the present, the Lord promised to bring judgment down on those who pursued the detestable and abominable idolatries that had polluted His people.
11:22-23 Ezekiel then saw in his vision the glory of God depart from the temple gate and from the city of Jerusalem. He saw the cherubim under Yahweh's throne-chariot bear the Lord east from the entrance of the temple to the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. The removal of God's blessing signaled the end of His longsuffering with His sinful people, and it opened the way for His judgment to fall on them (cf. Rom. 1:18-32). From this point on in Ezekiel--until 43:1-4, in which the prophet saw in another vision the glory of God returning to the city--the prophet saw the Lord's presence and glory removed from Jerusalem.
"There is an interesting Midrash (commentary) which reads: Rabbi Jonathan said, Three years and a half the Shekinah stayed upon the Mount of Olives, in the hope that Israel would do penance; but they did none.'184All readers of the New Testament know this was the length of the earthly ministry of our Lord to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Sadly enough, they did not repent and He did depart from them (cf. Hosea 5:15 with Matt. 23:37-39). . . . From this very place the Lord Jesus Christ left the earth (Acts 1) and to it He will return (Zech. 14; cf. also Luke 21:20 with Matt. 24:3; Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:11-12)."185
Perhaps the Lord's presence stood over the Mount of Olives, rather than departing from it (v. 23), because the Lord was waiting to execute His judgment on the city (cf. Zech. 14:4; Luke 19:41).186
11:24-25 The Spirit then returned Ezekiel in his vision to Babylon. The vision was over, and the prophet related all that God had shown him to his fellow exiles.
