Ezekiel 24:6

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. WOE TO THE BLOODY CITY ... THE POT WHOSE SCUM IS THEREIN - not ordinary, but poisonous scum, i:e., the people's all-pervading wickedness. BRING IT OUT PIECE BY PIECE - "bring it," the contents of the pot-its flesh; i:e., 'I will destroy the people of the city, not all at the same time, but by a series of successive attacks.' Not as Fairbairn 'on its every piece let it (the poisonous scum) go forth.' LET NO LOT FALL ON IT - i:e., no lot, such as is sometimes cast, to decide who are to be destroyed and who saved: as, for instance, David used a line in smiting the Israelites - "With two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive" ...

1-14 The pot on the fire represented Jerusalem besieged by the Chaldeans: all orders and ranks were within the walls, prepared as a prey for the enemy. They ought to have put away their transgressions, as the scum, which rises by the heat of the fire, is taken from the top of the pot. But they grew worse, and their miseries increased. Jerusalem was to be levelled with the ground. The time appointed for the punishment of wicked men may seem to come slowly, but it will come surely. It is sad to think how many there are, on whom ordinances and providences are all lost....

Verse Ezekiel 24:6. _LET NO LOT FALL UPON IT._] Pull out the flesh indiscriminately; let no piece be _chosen_ for _king_ or _priest_; thus showing that all should be involved in one indiscriminate ruin....

SCUM - Better, rust (and in Ezekiel 24:11). BRING IT OUT PIECE BY PIECE - It, the city; bring out the inhabitants, one by one, clear the city of them, whether by death, exile, or captivity. LET NO LOT FALL UPON IT - In the captivity of Jehoiakim and in that of Jehoiachin, some were taken, others left. Now all shall be removed....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 24:1 IN THE NINTH YEAR. We pass from the date of Ezekiel 20:1 to B.C. 590, and the very day is identified with that on which the army of Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (Jeremiah 39:1; 2 Kings 25:1). To the prophet's vision all that was passing there was as plain as though he saw it with his own eyes. The siege lasted for about two years. The punishments threatened in Ezekiel 23:1, had at last come near. We may probably infer that a considerable interval of silence had follo

WHEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, WOE TO THE BLOODY CITY,.... Here the parable begins to be explained; and shows that by the pot is meant the city of Jerusalem, called the bloody city, because of the blood of the prophets, and of righteous persons, and of innocent babes, that was shed in it; and which was the cause of the judgments of God coming upon her, which would issue in her destruction, and therefore "woe unto her"; see Matthew 23:37: TO THE POT WHOSE SCUM IS THEREIN, AND WHOSE SCUM IS NOT GONE OUT OF IT; when a pot boils, a scum arises, and appears upon the top of the water, which the cook usually takes off: this denotes the filthiness and wickedness of the people of the Jews, which would work up and be seen by the judgments of God upon them; yet should not be removed, but continue on them, unrepented of, and unpardoned. It signifies that they would remain harde

Ezekiel 24:1. The exact date is given by the prophet. It was the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year. What happened also on that date we find recorded in 2 Kings 25:1: “And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.” How did Ezekiel know about all this? It was the Lord who gave him this information and led him to record the date. This is the statement of the second verse: “Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day, the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.” What does higher criticism have to say to this? We quote a recent commentator: “These verses

EZEKIEL 24. THE LAST MESSAGE BEFORE THE FALL OF THE CITY. Ezekiel 24:1. The Rusty Caldron. We now reach the last message delivered by Ezekiel before the fall of the city; and, curiously enough, it was delivered on the opening day of the siege (2 Kings 25:1) an event of which Ezekiel must have known by his gift of second sight. In a probably acted parable, the city is compared to a pot filled with pieces of flesh (=the inhabitants), including choice pieces (= the leaders). But beneath the pot a huge fire is blazing, symbolic of the siege. Then, after boiling, the pieces are taken out in any order, symbolic of indiscriminate dispersion; but, as the pot is rusty, it is set again empty upon the furious fire, to be cleansed of its rust by the flames. The rust is symbolic of the blood, shed in injustice an

THE BLOODY CITY. See note on Ezekiel 22:2. SCUM. verdigris. Occurs only in this chapter. LET NO LOT FALL, &c. Signifying that the city was to be destroyed, not lotted out to or by the conquerors....

The rusted caldron set on the fire (1) Ezekiel 24:1. A caldron is to be set on the fire, filled with water, pieces of flesh cast into it and fuel piled under it that it may boil furiously. The caldron is Jerusalem; the pieces of flesh the inhabitants; the fire and boiling the siege with its terrible severities. The pieces of flesh shall be pulled out of the caldron indiscriminately, symbol of the universal dispersion when the siege is over. (2) Ezekiel 24:6. Explanation: these sufferings are judgments for the sins of the city, its bloodshed and uncleanness, which are public and open. This blood and filthiness cleaves to it like rust to a caldron. (3) Ezekiel 24:9. Rising anew into tones of menace the divine voic