Ezekiel 11 Study Notes: Judgment on the Leaders and a New Heart
At the temple’s east gate God condemns twenty-five men whose boast pictured Jerusalem as a pot protecting them, and Pelatiah dies as Ezekiel prophesies. God promises to gather the exiles and grant them a new spirit and soft heart, then His glory leaves Jerusalem for the mountain to its east.
General
The leaders said the city was the pot and they were the meat. How does the LORD turn their saying around (11:7-11)?
Answer: Those they killed are the meat; the leaders will be driven out
The leaders’ saying (11:3) pictured Jerusalem as a sturdy pot and themselves as the choice meat kept safe inside it, which is why God answers that Jerusalem will not serve as their pot (11:11). The LORD knows their thoughts (11:5) and answers that the people they have killed and left in the streets are the real meat in the pot (11:6-7). As for the leaders, He will drive them from Jerusalem, hand them over to foreigners, and judge them by the sword at the border of Israel (11:8-11). The reason is that they ignored His laws and copied the ways of the surrounding nations (11:12). Israel had long been warned not to adopt the customs of the surrounding peoples (Leviticus 18:3).
- Ezekiel 11:3 (BSB)“They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’”The leaders’ saying compares the city to a cooking pot and themselves to the meat inside.
- Ezekiel 11:7 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.”The LORD answers that the slain are the meat, but He will remove the leaders from the city.
- Ezekiel 11:10-12 (BSB)“You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.””They will be struck down by the sword at Israel’s border because they followed the nations’ ways instead of His statutes.
- Ezekiel 7:23 (BSB)“Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.”Earlier the LORD charged that land and city alike were filled with bloodshed and violence, the killings 11:6 condemns.
- Leviticus 18:3 (BSB)“You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.”The law forbade Israel to copy the customs of Egypt and Canaan, the very conduct for which these leaders are judged.
Theological
How does the LORD invert the leaders’ proverb of the pot and the meat (11:7-11)?
Answer: Those they killed are the meat; the leaders will be driven out
The proverb (11:3) expressed the rulers’ confidence that Jerusalem would shield them, the confidence God denies when He says Jerusalem will not serve as their pot (11:11). The LORD, who knows what rises in their minds (11:5), reverses the image: the victims of their violence are the meat in the pot (11:6-7), while the rulers will be expelled from the city, given into foreign hands, and judged by the sword at Israel’s border (11:8-11). The ground of the judgment is covenant unfaithfulness, for they neither walked in God’s statutes nor kept His ordinances but conformed to the nations (11:12). The law had long forbidden Israel to adopt the customs of the surrounding peoples (Leviticus 18:3). The refrain that they will know He is the LORD shows that the judgment reveals God’s own character.
- Ezekiel 11:3 (BSB)“They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’”The leaders’ saying compares the city to a cooking pot and themselves to the meat inside.
- Ezekiel 11:7 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.”The LORD answers that the slain are the meat, but He will remove the leaders from the city.
- Ezekiel 11:10-12 (BSB)“You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.””They will be struck down by the sword at Israel’s border because they followed the nations’ ways instead of His statutes.
- Ezekiel 7:23 (BSB)“Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.”Earlier the LORD charged that land and city alike were filled with bloodshed and violence, the killings 11:6 condemns.
- Leviticus 18:3 (BSB)“You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.”The law forbade Israel to copy the customs of Egypt and Canaan, the very conduct for which these leaders are judged.
General
After the cherubim took flight, where did the LORD’s glory go when it rose from the city (11:22-23)?
Answer: Over the mountain that lies on the city’s east side
The cherubim spread their wings, wheels alongside, while Israel’s God in His glory was above them (11:22). The glory lifted from the center of Jerusalem and came to rest above the mountain on its east side (11:23). This is the last stage of the departure that began at the temple doorway (9:3; 10:18-19): God’s presence has now left both the temple and Jerusalem. When the ark was captured in Eli’s day, the mother of Ichabod mourned that the glory had departed from Israel (1 Samuel 4:21-22); here the departure is even more serious, because God Himself withdraws. Then the Spirit carries Ezekiel back to Chaldea among the exiles, and he reports everything he was shown (11:24-25). Later in the book Ezekiel sees the glory coming back from the east (43:2).
- Ezekiel 11:22-23 (BSB)“Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.”The cherubim rise, and the glory leaves the city and stands over the mountain to its east.
- Ezekiel 11:24-25 (BSB)“And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me, I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.”The Spirit brings Ezekiel back to Chaldea among the exiles, and he tells them what he saw.
- 1 Samuel 4:21-22 (BSB)“And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed. “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.””When the ark was captured, Eli’s dying daughter-in-law named her son Ichabod in grief that Israel’s glory was gone, a loss Ezekiel now sees in a far deeper form.
- Ezekiel 10:18-19 (BSB)“Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.”The earlier stages of the departure, from the temple doorway to its eastern gateway.
- Ezekiel 43:2 (BSB)“and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.”In the later vision Ezekiel sees Israel’s God in His glory returning from the east.
Theological
Where does the glory come to rest when it finally rises from Jerusalem (11:22-23)?
Answer: Over the mountain that lies on the city’s east side
With the cherubim and wheels lifted, the glory of Israel’s God leaves the center of Jerusalem and settles above the mountain to its east (11:22-23), completing the staged withdrawal from the temple (9:3; 10:18-19). The holy God abandons the city He had chosen to the judgment its idolatry deserved. The capture of the ark in Eli’s day had prompted the lament that the glory had departed from Israel (1 Samuel 4:21-22); in Ezekiel the departure is the direct act of God Himself. The vision then ends with Ezekiel carried back to Chaldea among the exiles, where he reports everything he had been shown (11:24-25). The departure is not final: the book’s closing vision shows the glory returning from the east with a voice that thunders like rushing water (43:2).
- Ezekiel 11:22-23 (BSB)“Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.”The cherubim rise, and the glory leaves the city and stands over the mountain to its east.
- Ezekiel 11:24-25 (BSB)“And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me, I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.”The Spirit brings Ezekiel back to Chaldea among the exiles, and he tells them what he saw.
- 1 Samuel 4:21-22 (BSB)“And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed. “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.””When the ark was captured, Eli’s dying daughter-in-law named her son Ichabod in grief that Israel’s glory was gone, a loss Ezekiel now sees in a far deeper form.
- Ezekiel 10:18-19 (BSB)“Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.”The earlier stages of the departure, from the temple doorway to its eastern gateway.
- Ezekiel 43:2 (BSB)“and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.”In the later vision Ezekiel sees Israel’s God in His glory returning from the east.
General
What did the LORD say the twenty-five men at the east gate were doing (11:1-2)?
Answer: Scheming evil and advising the city wickedly
The Spirit lifts Ezekiel to the LORD’s house at its eastern gate, where twenty-five men are gathered, among them two of the people’s leaders: Jaazaniah son of Azzur, along with Pelatiah son of Benaiah (11:1). The LORD tells Ezekiel that these men scheme wrongdoing and offer wicked advice in the city (11:2). God’s reply that Jerusalem will not serve as their pot (11:11) shows they were counting on the city to protect them from the sword they feared (11:8). Elsewhere the LORD charges Jerusalem’s officials with shedding blood for dishonest gain (22:27), and the prophet Micah described Jerusalem’s leaders leaning on the LORD while claiming that no disaster could reach them (Micah 3:11). Ezekiel is told to prophesy against them (11:4).
- Ezekiel 11:1-2 (BSB)“Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.”At the east gate Ezekiel sees twenty-five men, including two named leaders, and the LORD calls them plotters of evil.
- Ezekiel 22:27 (BSB)“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.”The LORD later describes Jerusalem’s officials as wolves who shed blood for gain, the same kind of wicked leadership.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah rebuked Jerusalem’s leaders for corrupt rule while assuming that no harm could come to them, a similar misplaced confidence.
Theological
What charge does the LORD bring against the twenty-five leaders gathered at the east gate (11:1-2)?
Answer: Scheming evil and advising the city wickedly
At the east gate Ezekiel sees twenty-five men, including two of the people’s leaders, Jaazaniah son of Azzur, along with Pelatiah son of Benaiah (11:1). The LORD identifies them as men who scheme evil and give corrupt advice in the city (11:2), and their slogan (11:3), answered by God’s word that Jerusalem will not serve as their pot (11:11), expresses a false security grounded in Jerusalem itself rather than in obedience to God. The indictment fits the book’s wider charge against Jerusalem’s officials, who shed blood for unjust gain (22:27), and echoes Micah’s rebuke of rulers who presumed on God’s presence while practicing injustice (Micah 3:11). God commands His prophet to speak against them (11:4).
- Ezekiel 11:1-2 (BSB)“Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.”At the east gate Ezekiel sees twenty-five men, including two named leaders, and the LORD calls them plotters of evil.
- Ezekiel 22:27 (BSB)“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.”The LORD later describes Jerusalem’s officials as wolves who shed blood for gain, the same kind of wicked leadership.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah rebuked Jerusalem’s leaders for corrupt rule while assuming that no harm could come to them, a similar misplaced confidence.
General
According to 11:19-20, how will the returning people come to follow God’s statutes?
Answer: God will renew their hearts and place a new spirit in them
After promising to gather the exiles and give them back the land, God says that when they return they will clear out all its idols and detestable things (11:17-18). Then He makes a promise about what He Himself will do: give them an undivided heart and a new spirit inside, remove the stony heart, and replace it with a living heart of flesh, in order that they live by His decrees and obey His laws; they will belong to Him as His people, with Him as their God (11:19-20). A heart of stone is hard and unresponsive to God; a fleshly heart is alive and responsive. Obedience is the result of God’s work, not the reason for it. This is regeneration, God giving new spiritual life to people who cannot produce it themselves. God repeats the promise later, adding that He will place His own Spirit in them and make them able to obey (36:26-27). Jeremiah speaks of God writing His law on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), Jesus teaches that a person must be born anew through the Spirit (John 3:5-6), and Paul says God saves out of mercy, by the Holy Spirit’s renewal, not by our deeds (Titus 3:5). Those who keep chasing after idols will receive what their own ways deserve (11:21).
- Ezekiel 11:19-20 (BSB)“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.”God promises an undivided heart, a new spirit, and a living heart in place of a stony one, so that His people live by His decrees.
- Ezekiel 11:21 (BSB)“But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.””Those whose hearts keep chasing idols will receive what their own ways deserve.
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God restates the promise and adds that He will place His own Spirit in them and move them to obey His decrees.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God writes His law on His people’s hearts, the same inward change.
- John 3:5-6 (BSB)“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.”Jesus teaches that entrance into God’s kingdom requires being born anew by the Spirit, the new life Ezekiel foretells.
- Titus 3:5 (BSB)“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”Paul grounds salvation in God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit’s renewal rather than human deeds.
Theological
What does 11:19-20 identify as the source of the restored people’s obedience?
Answer: God will renew their hearts and place a new spirit in them
Having promised regathering and the purging of the land’s abominations (11:17-18), the LORD declares His own sovereign work: He will give singleness of heart, place a new spirit inside them, remove the stony heart, and supply a living heart of flesh, in order that they live by His decrees and obey His laws, and sealed by the covenant promise that they will be His people and He their God (11:19-20). The order is decisive: renewal precedes and produces obedience. This is regeneration: God Himself gives new life to hearts that are hard and unresponsive, and His grace surely brings about the obedience He promises. Ezekiel 36:26-27 restates the promise, adding that God will place His own Spirit in them and move them to obey His decrees; Jeremiah 31:33 describes the new covenant law written on the heart; Jesus teaches the necessity of new birth through the Spirit (John 3:5-6); and Paul grounds salvation in God’s mercy through the renewal of the Holy Spirit, not in righteous deeds (Titus 3:5). Those whose hearts remain devoted to idols receive what their own ways deserve (11:21).
- Ezekiel 11:19-20 (BSB)“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.”God promises an undivided heart, a new spirit, and a living heart in place of a stony one, so that His people live by His decrees.
- Ezekiel 11:21 (BSB)“But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.””Those whose hearts keep chasing idols will receive what their own ways deserve.
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God restates the promise and adds that He will place His own Spirit in them and move them to obey His decrees.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God writes His law on His people’s hearts, the same inward change.
- John 3:5-6 (BSB)“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.”Jesus teaches that entrance into God’s kingdom requires being born anew by the Spirit, the new life Ezekiel foretells.
- Titus 3:5 (BSB)“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”Paul grounds salvation in God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit’s renewal rather than human deeds.
General
What happened while Ezekiel was prophesying against the leaders, and how did he respond (11:13)?
Answer: Pelatiah died, and Ezekiel fell down pleading for the remnant
Pelatiah son of Benaiah, one of the two leaders named in 11:1, died while Ezekiel was still speaking (11:13). Ezekiel’s response was not triumph but grief: he threw himself facedown and called out loudly, asking whether the Lord GOD would wipe out what was left of Israel entirely. It is the same anguished plea he had made during the vision of slaughter (9:8), and it recalls the prophet Amos begging God to forgive Jacob (Amos 7:2). God answers His prophet’s cry with a promise: He will gather a remnant from the exiles and change their hearts (11:14-20).
- Ezekiel 11:13 (BSB)“Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?””Pelatiah dies while Ezekiel is prophesying, and Ezekiel falls facedown crying out over the remnant.
- Ezekiel 9:8 (BSB)“While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?””During the earlier vision of judgment Ezekiel made the same cry, asking if God would destroy the whole remnant.
- Amos 7:2 (BSB)“And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?””Amos also begged the Lord GOD to forgive, asking how Jacob, being so small, could survive the judgment.
Theological
What event interrupted Ezekiel’s prophecy, and what was his response (11:13)?
Answer: Pelatiah died, and Ezekiel fell down pleading for the remnant
During Ezekiel’s prophecy, one of the leaders named at the gate (11:1), Pelatiah, died (11:13) while the word of judgment was still being spoken. Ezekiel’s response was intercession: he threw himself down on his face and cried aloud, asking whether the Lord GOD would make a full end of Israel’s remnant. He had made the same plea in the vision of chapter 9 (9:8), and his intercession stands in line with Amos pleading for Jacob (Amos 7:2). The divine answer that follows (11:14-20) shows that God’s judgment does not cancel His purpose to preserve and renew a remnant for Himself.
- Ezekiel 11:13 (BSB)“Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?””Pelatiah dies while Ezekiel is prophesying, and Ezekiel falls facedown crying out over the remnant.
- Ezekiel 9:8 (BSB)“While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?””During the earlier vision of judgment Ezekiel made the same cry, asking if God would destroy the whole remnant.
- Amos 7:2 (BSB)“And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?””Amos also begged the Lord GOD to forgive, asking how Jacob, being so small, could survive the judgment.
General
Jerusalem’s people claimed the exiles were far from the LORD. What did the LORD say He had been to the exiles (11:15-16)?
Answer: Their sanctuary for a while in the lands where they were scattered
The people left in Jerusalem looked down on the exiles, saying they were far from the LORD and that the land now belonged to those still in it (11:15). God answered that, although He had sent the exiles far off into other nations, He Himself had been their sanctuary for a time in the lands where they had gone (11:16). A sanctuary is a holy place where God meets His people; while His glory was leaving the temple in Jerusalem, God was present with the despised exiles. He also promised to gather them and give them back the land (11:17). Jeremiah received a similar message, that God regarded the exiles as good and would bring them home (Jeremiah 24:5-7). Later, survivors in the ruined land make a similar claim to own it (33:24).
- Ezekiel 11:15 (BSB)““Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’”Jerusalem’s inhabitants claim the exiles are far from the LORD and the land is theirs.
- Ezekiel 11:16-17 (BSB)“Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’ Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’”God says He has been a sanctuary to the exiles for a time and will gather them back.
- Jeremiah 24:5-7 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.”God told Jeremiah He regarded the exiles as good figs and would watch over them and bring them back.
- Ezekiel 33:24 (BSB)““Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’”Later, people in the ruined land make a similar claim that the land belongs to them.
- Psalm 90:1 (BSB)“A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.”Moses confesses that the Lord Himself has always been His people’s dwelling place, as God is a sanctuary to the exiles.
Theological
In answer to Jerusalem’s claim that the exiles were far from the LORD, what does God declare Himself to have been for them (11:15-16)?
Answer: Their sanctuary for a while in the lands where they were scattered
The inhabitants of Jerusalem reasoned that the exiles had been cut off from the LORD and that the land was now theirs (11:15). God overturns their reasoning: though He scattered the exiles among the nations, He Himself has been a sanctuary to them for a short time in those countries (11:16), and He will gather them and restore the land to them (11:17). God’s presence with His people is not confined to the temple; the glory departing Jerusalem is the same glory that met Ezekiel among the exiles by the Kebar (1:28). The same reversal appears in Jeremiah’s vision of the good figs, where the exiles, not those left behind, are the objects of God’s favor (Jeremiah 24:5-7), and the presumption of those who stay in the land surfaces again in 33:24. Moses had confessed long before that the Lord Himself is His people’s dwelling place (Psalm 90:1).
- Ezekiel 11:15 (BSB)““Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’”Jerusalem’s inhabitants claim the exiles are far from the LORD and the land is theirs.
- Ezekiel 11:16-17 (BSB)“Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’ Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’”God says He has been a sanctuary to the exiles for a time and will gather them back.
- Jeremiah 24:5-7 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.”God told Jeremiah He regarded the exiles as good figs and would watch over them and bring them back.
- Ezekiel 33:24 (BSB)““Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’”Later, people in the ruined land make a similar claim that the land belongs to them.
- Psalm 90:1 (BSB)“A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.”Moses confesses that the Lord Himself has always been His people’s dwelling place, as God is a sanctuary to the exiles.