Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity

Ezekiel 24:1-14

In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat,  all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;    take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.

‘Woe to the city of bloodshed,  to the pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! Take the meat out piece by piece in whatever order it comes.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the wood high. So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred.

It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire.

Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Why?

The time of God's judgment is coming, and the Lord asks Ezekiel to put the pieces of meat in the cooking pot.

This pot is the city of Jerusalem, the Lord hoped they could be clean but they would not be cleansed from their impurity. 

The time has come for the Lord to act. There is no pity, nor relent of the Lord.

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時間是西底加王做王第九年，此時審判的日子到了，過去以西結一直在提醒耶路撒冷的人，他們一直認為城牆堅固，像銅，於是用生銹的鍋來比喻耶路撒冷。最好的肉和骨放在鍋中，指的就是最尊貴的人，王室成員、貴族等。鍋長銹，就要把湯倒出，把肉取出。全部都要挑出來，表示沒有一個人能存活，留存。

鍋繼續燒乾，為要潔淨這鍋，湯倒出來，即血倒出來，倒在磐石上，無法掩蓋，在土裏會滲入看不見。這銹用火也除不掉。神為人開路，給機會，人卻不願被潔淨，因此神把鍋毀滅。

人容易有錯誤的安全感！神容不得一絲一毫的罪，肉是最好的，但是有銹，整鍋倒掉，神定的日子主的話必定成就。

How?

Am I a rusted pot, with impurities, and not clean! May the Holy Spirit remind me and clean me.