Ezekiel 11:1

THE DEPARTURE OF GOD'S GLORY

This chapter concludes the section of Ezekiel 8-11 with the departure of God's glory. That momentous event is recorded in the last paragraph of the chapter; and prior to that there are recorded two very important messages: (1) for those remaining in Jerusalem, and (2) for the exiles in Babylon, in Ezekiel 11:1-13, and in Ezekiel 11:14-25 respectively.

Howie expressed a view held by some that, "This is not a continuation of the vision that began in Ezekiel 8, but another vision is included here because of its content."[1] We reject this altogether; because, (1) there has been no record thus far in these chapters of Ezekiel's having been transported back to the Chebar; (2) when he was transported back to the Chebar, the elders were still waiting there for his vision to end and for the explanation of it that Ezekiel then shared with them; and (3) the dramatic double message of these first 21 verses was extremely pertinent to Ezekiel's ability to answer the questions of the elders that had brought them to Ezekiel in the first place.

These reasons, which to us seem unanswerable, entitle us to receive this whole chapter as the concluding section of these four chapters describing Ezekiel's vision-journey to Jerusalem.

The practical divisions of the chapter are:

(1) God's Spirit takes Ezekiel to the outer eastern gate of the temple where he sees a group of twenty-five men, apparently the and governmental leaders of the nation, two of whom are named (Ezekiel 11:1-2);

(2) their light-hearted parable reflecting their false sense of security is turned around upon them and made to reflect a prophecy of their doom (Ezekiel 11:3-12);

(3) Ezekiel's vision is confirmed by the sudden death of Pelatiah (Ezekiel 11:13);

(4) God comforted the exiles with a message of blessing and protection, recognizing them as the "righteous remnant," actually, the "true Israel of God," thus completely negating the claims of the crooked leaders in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:14-21);

(5) God's glory is forever separated from the secular temple of Israel (Ezekiel 11:22-23); and

(6) God's Spirit transports Ezekiel back to his residence on the Chebar in Babylon where the elders are still there waiting to hear his message.

Ezekiel 11:1-2

"Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah's house, which looketh eastward: and behold, by the door of the gate five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and that give wicked counsel in this city."

The mention of Jaazaniah and Pelatiah in that group of twenty-five men, along with their designation as "princes of the people" leads to the conclusion that all of these men were governmental and leaders of the people. The particular meaning of the four proper names in 1 was given by Plumptre. Jaazaniah means God hearkens; Azzur means The Helper, Pelatiah means God rescues, and Benaiah means God builds.[2] It has been suggested that the reason behind the giving of these names was to show the contrast between what their names meant and the wickedness of their counsel. Jaazaniah is distinguished from other persons with that name. We have no further information about either one of them beyond what is given here.