Up until now, although Jerusalem had been defeated, Babylon had allowed her to remain, but now that will end with this siege (v2). Ezekiel is to act out another parable, this time with a cooking pot filled with the choicest of meats (v3-14). The point being made is that despite the great privileges that the people of Jerusalem had experienced, they were a people guilty of bloodshed and corrosion. What they did for the Lord was spoilt and contaminated by their sin, and therefore they would face wrath. There is a great challenge for all of here, to consider if our service for the Lord is contaminated by us not treating others well and other sin also.

Ezekiel is then told the sad news that the delight of his eyes, his wife will die (v15-16). Shockingly he is called not to follow the normal pattern of mourning (v16-18). When people asked why, this was another parable pointing to the pain of the Lord in losing the delight of His eyes, Jerusalem, a place created to be holy and to worship the Lord (v19-24). The people are not to mourn as God’s judgment would be fair.

We see here how sin greatly affects the Lord. Sin is painful to the Lord and He would ultimately send His son into the suffering of the pain that sin causes. We must never see any sin as a casual matter and every treat it lightly.