The Siege of Jerusalem
The word of the Lord went to Ezekiel in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month and told him to write down the name of that day. For that was the day when the King of Babylon had laid siege to Jerusalem. Then he was to tell that rebellious house this parable:
“Set on the pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces,
the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.”
-Ezekiel 24:3-5
Therefore the Lord said, “Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. 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 the dust. To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she shed, that it may not be covered.” -Ezekiel 24:6-8
The Lord continued that He would also make the pile great. Heap logs on the fire and to boil the meat well, mix the spices, and let the bones be burned up.
Then set it empty upon the coals, so that it would become hot and it’s copper would burn, so it’s uncleanness would be melted in it, its corrosion consumed.
On account of their uncleaned lewdness, because the Lord would have cleansed them but they were not, they would not be cleansed anymore until the Lord had satisfied His fury on them.
“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 24:14
Ezekiel’s Wife Dies
The word of the Lord went to Ezekiel and told him that He was about to take the delight of his eyes away from him at a stroke, but he was not to mourn or weep or let tears run down. He was to sigh, but not aloud, or make no mourning for the dead.
Ezekiel spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening his wife died. The next morning, he did as he was commanded.
The people asked him why he was acting the way he was and he was to tell the people what the Lord had said. According to the Lord, Ezekiel told them that they too would have the delight of their eyes taken away and their sons and daughters would fall by the sword.
They were to do as Ezekiel had done and not cover their lips or eat the bread of men. Their turbans should be on their heads and their shoes on their feet. They should not mourn or weep, but would rot away in their iniquities and groan to one another.
“Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign;
according to all that he has done you shall do.
When this comes, then you will know
that I am the Lord God.”
-Ezekiel 24:24
On the day when this happened, a fugitive came to Ezekiel and reported to him the news. On that day, his mouth opened to the fugitive, and he would speak and no longer be mute. So, Ezekiel would be a sign to them, so they would know the Lord.
Prophecy Against Ammon
The word of the Lord went to Ezekiel and told him to prophecy to the Ammonites. He was to say that because they said, ‘Aha!’ over the sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile; therefore they would be handed over to the people of the East for possession, and they would set their encampments among them and make their dwellings in their midst.
They would eat their fruit, and drink their milk. Rabbah would be made a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Because they had rejoiced with all the malice within their souls against the land of Israel, therefore God had stretched out His hand against them, and would hand them over as plunder to the nations.
They would be cut off from the people and would be made to perish out of the countries. They would be destroyed. Then they would know that God is the Lord.
Prophecy Against Moab and Seir
Moab and Seir said the house of Judah was like all the other nations, therefore the Lord would lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, and give it along with the Ammonites, to the people of the East as a possession. The Ammonites would be remembered no more among the nations, and God would execute judgments upon Moab.
Prophecy Against Edom
Since Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and had grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, therefore the Lord would stretch out His hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. It would be made desolate. From Teman to Dedan, they would fall by the sword.
Vengeance would be laid upon Edom by the hand of God’s people Israel, and they would do in Edom according to the anger and wrath of the Lord, and they would know His vengeance.
Prophecy Against Philistia
Tyre said, ‘Aha, the gate of the people is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste.” Therefore, the Lord was against them and would bring many nations against them as the sea brings the waves.
The walls of Tyre would be destroyed, and the towers broken down. The soil would be scraped from her and made into bare rock. She would become plunder for all the nations, and her daughters would be killed by the sword.
From the north, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would be sent upon them and he would kill them with the sword. He would set up a siege wall against them and direct the shock of the battering rams against their walls. He would kill the people and their mighty pillars and towers would fall to the ground.
He would plunder their riches and loot their merchandise. Their stones and timber and soil would be cast into the the midst of the waters. The music of their songs would be stopped and they would be made a bare rock. It would be a place for the spreading of nets and would never be rebuilt.
The coastlands would shake at the sound of their fall, and all the princes of the sea would step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They would clothe themselves with trembling, and sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled by them.
They would raise a lamentation over them and say,
“How you have perished,
you who were inhabited from the seas,
O city renowned,
who was mighty on the sea;
she and her inhabitants imposed their terror
on all her inhabitants!
Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall,
and the coastlands that are on the sea
are dismayed at your passing.”
-Ezekiel 26:17-18
“For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God.” -Ezekiel 26:19-21