29. To where must the prophet Ezekiel now be brought, and what are we interested to learn respecting him now?

²⁹ As the celestial chariot, with Jehovah seated upon the sapphire throne above it, stands at the outer eastern entrance of the temple, what instructions are to be given to the prophet Ezekiel? But first he must be brought from his position in the inner court of the temple in order to view what may be seen from the outer eastern gate that looked toward the Mount of Olives. We are interested to learn what he sees and hears there.

Chapter 11

Disappointment in Store for Overconfident Ones

1. Whom, in vision, did Ezekiel now get to see in the eastern gate of the temple, and what were they saying?

IN HIS next vision, what does Ezekiel see happen? Listen: “And a spirit proceeded to lift me up and bring me to the eastern gate of the house of Jehovah that is facing eastward, and, look! in the entrance of the gate there were twenty-five men, and I got to see in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. Then he [Jehovah] said to me: ‘Son of man, these are the men that are scheming hurtfulness and advising bad counsel against this city; that are saying, “Is not the building of houses close at hand? She is the widemouthed cooking pot, and we are the flesh.”’”—Ezekiel 11:1-3.

2. What do we note about the identity of these twenty-five men, and what political movement were they scheming?

² Apparently these are not the twenty-five men whom Ezekiel saw earlier in the inner court of the temple, worshiping the sun to the east, before the slaughter work was ordered to begin upon the unmarked inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 8:16) Nor is this Jaazaniah the son of Azzur the same as the Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan whom Ezekiel saw engaged in idolatrous worship inside a temple building. (Ezekiel 8:11) These latter twenty-five men are said to be “princes of the people,” hence governmental princes and not religious princes of the temple. Evidently, in this year 612 B.C.E., more than three years before the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem began, King Zedekiah of Jerusalem had not yet rebelled against the king of Babylonia to whom he had pledged submission. (2 Chronicles 36:11-13; 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:1) But these twenty-five “princes of the people” were likely scheming in favor of such a rebellion, for they were “advising bad counsel against this city.” But they were confident that no harm would come.

3. To what did those twenty-five men liken Jerusalem’s walls and therefore themselves, how were they reasoning, and what did they now need?

³ Those schemers and bad counselors of the king of Jerusalem likened the city to a widemouthed cooking pot or caldron, one made of iron. The city walls were like the sides of that metallic pot, unbreachable. Inside those walls, like flesh that is to be cooked, those twenty-five princes would be safe. Safe inside, they would never be dispossessed, and so was it not the time to build houses for permanent occupancy? They could make sure of their permanent residence by appealing to Egypt against the king of Babylon. They did not believe the predictions of the prophet-priest Jeremiah concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem. They needed to have a double warning of this from Jehovah. “Therefore,” said Jehovah to Ezekiel, “prophesy against them. Prophesy, O son of man.”—Ezekiel 11:4.

4. What now happened to Ezekiel proved the truth of what action of the spirit as mentioned in 2 Peter 1:21?

⁴ What now happened to Ezekiel proves how true