Ezekiel Chapter 11

At a Glance

  • Ezekiel 11 shifts focus from the descent of judgment into a note of impending deliverance and restoration.
  • Yet the chapter also introduces a hopeful countercurrent: a promise that God will gather the remnant and deliver them from the midst of the city.
  • As the narrative unfolds, the Lord explains that the leaders’ conspiratorial plans have not gone unseen.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Ezekiel 11 sits in a section of the book that interweaves denunciations of corruption with promises of future restoration.

EZEKIEL CHAPTER 11

Chapter Overview

Ezekiel 11 shifts focus from the descent of judgment into a note of impending deliverance and restoration. The prophet is carried to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, where twenty-five men, leaders among the people, are described as devising mischief and giving wicked counsel. The Lord identifies them as those who imagine security by inwardly making plans while outwardly feigning religiosity. The Spirit of the Lord empowers Ezekiel to pronounce judgment upon these leaders for their deceit and manipulation.

Yet the chapter also introduces a hopeful countercurrent: a promise that God will gather the remnant and deliver them from the midst of the city. The imagery of the caldron and the flesh reappears, but with a shift—while the city has become a place of judgment for the wicked, the faithful remnant will be drawn out and spared, and God will judge the evildoers at the border of Israel. This tension—impending judgment on the city versus the salvation of a faithful remnant—frames the chapter’s movement.

As the narrative unfolds, the Lord explains that the leaders’ conspiratorial plans have not gone unseen. The prophet’s lament at Pelatiah’s death underscores the personal cost of national sin and the fragility of human hope. The chapter ends with the reminder that God’s acts are not merely punitive but corrective, aiming to restore a faithful remnant and renew the possibility of life within a polity under divine sovereignty.

Historical & Literary Context

Ezekiel 11 sits in a section of the book that interweaves denunciations of corruption with promises of future restoration. The political and religious leadership—“princes of the people”—are indicted for their schemes that jeopardize the welfare of the city and its people. The book’s structure often uses dramatic dialogue and symbolic language to reveal the inner workings of leadership and the people’s response to divine instruction.

The genre remains prophetic-apocalyptic, but with a more concrete social dimension: the leaders’ schemes threaten the sanctuary’s integrity and the people’s safety. The “remnant” motif and the border-of-Israel frame prepare readers for a broader eschatological hope: God will preserve a faithful community beyond present calamities. Ezekiel’s rhetoric—through the Spirit’s empowerment and the calling forth of judgment—emphasizes God’s active governance amid human political dynamics.

Key Themes

- Leadership accountability: false counselors and scheming leaders will face divine rebuke and judgment.

- The remnant as hope: God preserves a faithful minority and restores life beyond catastrophe.

- Divine discernment of motives: God knows the thoughts and plans of the heart, not just outward acts.

- Judgment as purifying discipline: consequences for deceit aim to realign the community with God’s purposes.

Modern Application

Ezekiel 11 challenges leaders and laypeople to assess integrity in governance and spiritual leadership. It warns against spiritual manipulation, hypocrisy, and the pursuit of power under the cover of religion. For contemporary readers, the chapter invites reflection on how institutions and communities respond to truth-telling, reform, and accountability.

Practically, it encourages cultivating honest leadership, transparent decision-making, and a commitment to the welfare of the vulnerable. It also offers hope for communities experiencing decline: even when leadership is compromised, God remains committed to a remnant through whom life can be renewed.

- Ezekiel 7 (impending judgment and urgent call to repentance)

- Jeremiah 6:26-30 (the warning against deceitful leaders)

- 2 Kings 17:20-23 (137 historical remnant motifs)

- Romans 11:5 (remnant theology in a later biblical context)

- Moses (leadership authority and intercession)

- Nehemiah (reform-minded reformer under pressure)

- Jesus (fulfillment of righteous judgment and mercy toward the faithful)

- Paul (theology of the remnant and God’s faithfulness)

Chapter Text

1

Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

2

Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:

3

Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.

4

Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

5

And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

6

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

7

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

8

Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

9

And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

10

Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

11

This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:

12

And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.

13

And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

15

Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

16

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

17

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18

And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

19

And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20

That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21

But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

22

Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

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.

24

Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

25

Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.

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