The End at Last

Some people say that the anticipation of something is almost as good as the thing itself. The drumroll is the exciting bit. It is the lead-up where the magic happens. Those people have clearly never read the book of Ezekiel!

After 23 long chapters, we are finally there! The end has come to Jerusalem. After half the book, pretty much telling us it was going to happen, it is actually happening—the end is here. Well, almost! At this point, Nebuchadnezzar has arrived at Jerusalem and besieged it. And now it is just a matter of time until the city cracks under the pressure. This is the beginning of the end for the once-proud city of David.

And Ezekiel is given two messages on that day. One to do with a pot or cauldron, and the other far more personal, involving his beloved wife. Both are tragic in their own way. They are no longer warning the people—it is too late for that. There is no call to turn and avoid disaster. Now it is more about explaining the disaster that is now taking place, making sense of what they will discover by other means in a few months' time when the news makes it from Jerusalem.

This is Ezekiel's final word concerning his own people until the news of Jerusalem's fall, after the siege, reaches them in chapter 33 some three years later. But again, there is much for us too. A warning about leaving things too late, about ignoring God's word and what is going on in the world around us, about carrying on oblivious when there is important work to be done. This will be his final word for Jerusalem and the exiles for many years. So what will God say through him? Just two points this morning.

First: The Condemned Cauldron (Verses 1–14)

This is one of those rare occasions when we can date a prophecy exactly. It is the 15th of January, 587 BC—a date that would literally go down in history. In his talks on Zechariah, Steve has mentioned that this date was commemorated with a fast by those in exile. And when they returned, they had to decide whether to still fast for it. But the picture given to Ezekiel is not one of fasting. Anything but. This seems to be a joyous song about food. We still have those—'Food glorious food!' 'Polly put the kettle on!' 'Just one Cornetto!' It links back to chapter 11, where Israel were considering themselves the meat in the cauldron, the best bit of the stew, the prime cut! And yet here they are again, singing about how wonderful they are. All the good pieces, choice bones, the choicest of the flock, and so well cooked. This is not just stew; this is M&S stew. Well, not quite, though Marks of Marks and Spencer was Jewish! Spencer was from Skipton! Anyway, I am digressing.

Whether they were reading themselves into it or just rejoicing in some good food, the Jews in Jerusalem were sorely mistaken. Because that day, disaster would strike. The Lord's sword, sharpened and drawn, would arrive. Nebuchadnezzar would arrive at Jerusalem and besiege it. They would be shut up in the city like meat in a cauldron. But the twist here is that this stew is not for eating. It sold itself as M&S stew, but in reality, it was tainted meat, disgusting, wrong!

There is corrosion in the pot. Some translations have this as rust, the red colour reminiscent of blood. But the pot is copper we are told, which does not rust. It is more likely just a nasty pot, one that has repeatedly not been properly cleaned before being put away. I know someone who got a George Foreman grill and did not think it needed cleaning after use. The gunk from marinated chickens, burgers, and peppercorn steaks just sat there between uses. And the gunk, over time, began to accumulate, just given a fleeting wipe each time. And the person continued to use it. The gunk would come off on the food, blackened, but there. She offered to cook something for me on it once. The surface of the gunk was shiny! The fat had settled on the top! I said no! I tried to clean it for her, but the gunk was about half an inch thick. She ended up throwing it out instead.

It is that kind of pot. You would not want anything cooked in it. The gunk, the scum as one translation puts it, has built up, and all it does is corrupt and taint anything put in. That is you, Jerusalem, says the Lord to Ezekiel. A rebellious house, a bloody city, a scummy, gunky cooking pot! Nebuchadnezzar will pick you out of the pot. But not picking the best pieces—he is not bothered. He is not going to eat it; he is going to destroy it!

And God is behind this. He has set the blood shed by the inhabitants of Jerusalem on bare rock to cry out to him, to bear witness to the bloodshed they have caused. The law required any blood spilled to be covered over with earth as a mark of respect, reverence, for a life ended. But in Jerusalem, it seems they did not bother. Killing was so commonplace, so normal, they did not bother to cover it. They left the bloodstain on the ground. Imagine going to a city and seeing bloodstains on the pavement! A city where killing is so common they do not bother cleaning up after it anymore. So the Lord has let all the blood shed by the city be visible to him. Setting the blood before his eyes, he comes at them with wrath!

Whatever is left in the cauldron will be poured out over the fire—destroyed, burnt up. Then even the pot itself, the cauldron, will be burnt up. What is the point of a cauldron that makes all its contents inedible! So no, even the cauldron will be melted down on the hot coals of the fire. They would not turn and be cleansed. They would not repent of their ways, so now disaster comes to the city. The time has arrived; it is too late now.

The same is true for us, you know. There will come a day when it is too late. Every day is a new opportunity to turn to God in faith and repentance. But one day, there will be no days. The time will have arrived—'the Day', as it is called in Scripture, or 'the Day of the Lord', when Jesus returns and time runs out. There is sometimes an idea that goes around that everyone will be given a second chance on that final day. But there is no evidence of that in Scripture. As far as I can see, the idea comes out of Mormonism, not Christianity. It sounds nice in a way. But if it is not true, then we run the risk of giving people an excuse not to turn to Jesus now. 'Do not worry, you will be given another chance.' But we are not given biblical warrant to say that. Everywhere in Scripture, we are told not to delay, that we have opportunity in this life, but then that is it.

Hebrews 9:27 tells us: 'It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement.' There is no guarantee of another chance. There is no guarantee of another day. Jesus could return this afternoon, this evening, tonight! The Israelites seemed to think they had all the time in the world—eating, drinking, singing—until Nebuchadnezzar arrived and time ran out.

So it is with us. Jesus said: 'Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.'

If you have not turned to Jesus for forgiveness, turn now, turn today! The Bible does not promise us tomorrow. The Israelites ran down the clock and were lost. Do not make the same mistake they did.

Second: Sadness Silenced (Verses 15–27)

The Lord tells Ezekiel that he is about to take away from him the delight of his eyes—his wife. That very day, his wife will die. But Ezekiel is not to cry. He can sigh, but not so that others hear. Instead, he is to carry on as normal. He is to get up, get dressed, and carry on. He is not to accept the customary meals given by friends and relatives to comfort the mourning—the bread of men, as it is called here.

Ezekiel speaks to the people, presumably telling them what we heard in the first point. And Ezekiel does as he was commanded, we are told. He gets up the next day and carries on as normal. Now this may sound harsh, and in many ways it is. This is the final and hardest of all his acted-out parables. It would not have been completely unknown to him, though. Priests were already expected not to mourn loved ones in the same way as everyone else if they were on active duty in the temple. The temple was supposed to be a picture of Eden—and there is no death or mourning in Eden. So priests were forbidden from going near the dead body of a loved one unless they were a close blood relative. A wife was not a blood relative, so not included in those exceptions. High priests were seemingly not allowed any exceptions. But even with those cases, it would not be expected that they carry on as normal, that they not weep or cry. Just that they did not take part in the normal mourning rituals. Here Ezekiel is asked to go beyond what might be expected.

And it is noticed—it seems so strange, so heartless. It is not as though Ezekiel is an old man with an elderly wife, which would be hard enough. But Ezekiel is only about 34 here. His wife, in the culture of the times, would probably only be in her twenties. And she has had it hard. She has had to face the ridicule of everyone along with Ezekiel. Ezekiel may not even have been able to speak to her for four years, as we are suddenly told in verse 37 that his muteness will soon be lifted. From chapter 3 onwards, Ezekiel had only been able to speak what God had commanded for the people! He may not even have been able to say goodbye. So to not mourn would be strange.

But Ezekiel has a word from the Lord for the exiles. God is about to do the same to them. He took the delight of Ezekiel's eyes, and now he is going to do the same to them! That temple in Jerusalem—the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in—well, I am about to hand it over to heathen warriors to desecrate. And the sons and daughters you have got back there will die too. But you will not mourn that day. You will not even know it has happened; you will carry on as normal. There was no 24/7 satellite news, no social media. It could take weeks, months for news to travel. The temple will be destroyed, and they will not know. They will still be rotting in their sin.

When the news does arrive, they will finally know that all Ezekiel has been saying is true. But news will not arrive until chapter 33! They will have no idea on the day itself. They may be laughing and joking, with no idea their loved ones have perished, no idea that the temple, that their beloved Jerusalem, has fallen, and the temple destroyed.

In some ways, it is hard to see why they would be so bothered, given what we have been hearing about their behaviour and attitude towards God. But I imagine for some, a remnant, there would be sadness as God's presence would seem to have left his people. For others, it might be the same remorse they would feel if the symbol of their nation or city was destroyed. Most Parisians were sad about the fire at Notre-Dame, even if they were not religious. I imagine New Yorkers would mourn if someone knocked down the Statue of Liberty. We may moan about Parliament, but I imagine most of us would be genuinely emotional if some foreign power came and destroyed the Houses of Parliament and knocked down Big Ben. Yes, I know the real name is the Elizabeth Tower! That really would mean the nation was over, would it not!

And that would be what the Jews were feeling. This is it now. Jerusalem is taken. The temple has fallen. Our children slaughtered. The survivors in exile. We are finished! But they were not finished, though it must have felt like it. But that day was still to come. For now, we have the smaller picture in the death of one beloved person. And so often, that is enough, is it not? That is enough pain and anguish in that. Most of us know that kind of experience.

Mini-Days of the Lord, when our world seems to fall apart. Little foretastes. Little reminders that our world is not what it should be. They feel big, and in many ways they are. Every death is unnatural. Every disaster an unwelcome intruder in our world. Some philosophers try to tell us that these things are a natural part of life, that we should just get used to them and accept them. But the Bible says this was not the way our world was supposed to be.

When Jesus was confronted with the seemingly meaningless death of some people from Galilee, he said: 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?' And then he tells them to repent! To be prepared for this themselves. Every death is tragic in its own way—unnatural, uncomfortable, unpleasant. But Jesus said these things are a reminder to turn away from sin and turn to God. This is something all of us will face, not just the worst of us. So all of us need to be ready.

Jesus has done everything we need to be ready by dying on the cross in our place and rising again. All we need do is put our trust in him. We do not know when that day is coming. Ezekiel, though, is a bit of a special case. He is told his wife will die—or pretty much told. He is told afterwards that it is for a lesson for the people. Now we are not told the details, are we? She could have been ill for a long time. She could have tripped and fallen. Who knows? We know that God knew.

We are told in Hebrews 2 that the power of death is held by the devil—that other unwelcome visitor. But he can do nothing without God's permission. God used this as a teaching aid for the people. Ezekiel could have been up in arms. 'Why have you taken my beloved? You did not do this to Abraham! You let him have Isaac back! Why not my wife?' And yet we know all our days are in his hand. We saw a few weeks ago how God could expand the lifespan of King Hezekiah 15 years with a mere word. Our lives, every day, are in his hand. Every day we have is a gift from the Lord. He does not owe us it; he does not owe us anything.

And Ezekiel's wife probably, hopefully, understood this. Perhaps she, like Paul, would say: 'It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now, as always, Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death.' If my death brings honour and glory to God, if by my death I can see people turn back to the Lord, then it will have been worth it. If God can use my death to save others, then so be it! We know many in the early church were convicted by the testimony of dying Christians. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. I wonder how many people down through the years have been saved at funeral services. Such a strange time, and yet God uses it.

And I think Ezekiel understood this. Because he did what the Lord commanded. He carried on as normal. And he spoke the words God had commanded him. As to what happens next with God's people, we are left with a drumroll. A pause, a break. God turns Ezekiel's attentions elsewhere. Now that Jerusalem is done for, his focus turns to the nations, and for the next nine chapters, we get God's judgements on the nations. But do not worry, that is not today. We are going to pick that back up in January. So we have our own little build-up and anticipation and drumroll!

Conclusion

Over the past few weeks, we have seen God warn the people again and again about what is to come. He has been patient with them. He has shown them where they needed to change. He has given them lessons from their own history. But they have been oblivious, unhearing, unfeeling. The Scripture says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.' Let us not be those who harden our hearts against God's word, but those who listen. Who learn from Israel's mistakes. And who keep on trusting and relying on God, and keep listening to his word. Let us pray.