Ezekiel 11

This is the final chapter of the vision of the Jerusalem temple that begins in chapter 8 of the Book of Ezekiel. The vision was given in the sixth year after King Jehoiachin was taken captive. The glory of God, which had stood at the east gate of the temple in Ezekiel 10, leaves the city entirely in this chapter, and the vision comes to an end.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The Spirit brings Ezekiel to the east gate of the temple. Twenty-five men are there, among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. They devise wicked counsel, saying, "This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh."
• Verses 5–12 God declares that the flesh is the slain whom they have killed in the city, while they themselves will be brought out of it and judged by the sword at the border of Israel. The reason is that they have forsaken God's statutes and followed the manners of the heathen.
• Verse 13 While Ezekiel is prophesying, Pelatiah dies. Ezekiel falls on his face and cries out, asking whether God will make a full end of the remnant of Israel.
• Verses 14–21 The inhabitants of Jerusalem tell their brethren in exile that the land belongs to them. God, however, says that He will be a sanctuary for a little while to those who have been scattered, and that He will gather them again and give them the land. He also promises to give them one heart, a new spirit, and a heart of flesh. By contrast, those whose hearts go after detestable things He will repay according to their ways.
• Verses 22–25 The cherubim lift up their wings, and the glory of God goes up from the city and stands upon the mountain on the east side of the city. In the vision Ezekiel is brought back to the exiles in Chaldea, and he tells them what he has seen.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 11:16 "Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come" (KJV). This is a promise that God will be with the exiles even in a land far from the temple.
• Ezekiel 11:19 "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." It parallels the new-heart promise of Ezekiel 36:25–27.
• Ezekiel 11:23 "And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city." This is the climax of the vision of chapters 8–11.

People and Places

• Ezekiel: The prophet who sees the vision in the place to which he had been carried in the Babylonian exile. God addresses him as son of man, a phrase used in the Book of Ezekiel in the sense of "son of a human," that is, a human being.
• Jaazaniah: The son of Azur and a prince of the people. He is a different person from Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan mentioned in 8:11.
• Pelatiah: The son of Benaiah and a prince of the people. He died while Ezekiel was prophesying.
• Cherubim: Heavenly beings who bear up the glory of God.
• The mountain on the east side of the city: Many interpreters identify it as the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem.
• Chaldea: The region of Babylon, where Ezekiel and the exiles were living.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 3 The Hebrew behind "It is not near; let us build houses" is difficult, and translations render it variously as a statement or a question. It is generally read as the boast of the leaders remaining in the city that they are as safe as meat in a caldron. Some interpreters contrast it with Jeremiah 29:4–14, where the exiles are told to build houses.
• Verse 16 The word rendered "little" can be understood either as "for a little while" or as "a small sanctuary." The Jewish Talmud is reported to have interpreted it as referring to the synagogue and the house of study.
• Verses 19–20 This promise is connected with the new covenant of Jeremiah 31. In the New Testament it is read alongside 2 Corinthians 3:3–6, which speaks of writing "not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." The Reformed tradition frequently cites this passage as showing that regeneration is the work of God. The Wesleyan tradition emphasizes it together with the promise of sanctification, in which the Holy Spirit renews the heart.
• Verse 23 The glory that departs to the mountain on the east returns from the east in chapter 43. Some interpreters link this mountain with the Mount of Olives from which Jesus ascended, but the text itself does not say so.
• Verse 13 The text does not explain why Pelatiah died.

In the Korean Church

The "stony heart" and "heart of flesh" of verse 19 are frequently cited, together with 36:26, in sermons on repentance and the renewal of the heart.