CHAPTER 22

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. 3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. 5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. 7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. 9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. 10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. 11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

God is acting as "prosecutor" and calls upon Ezekiel to be the "judge" of the case against Jerusalem and Judah. God begins His prosecution case with the statement that the "city" is a "bloody city." Let me add that the word "abominations" here means something morally disgusting. The "city" has been morally disgusting because of the following sins:

1. Shedding blood and making idols (verse 3),
2. not caring for the elderly (verse 7),
3. oppression of strangers (verse 7),
4. despising God's proclaimed sabbaths (verse 8),
5. partaking of feasts to idols (verse 9),
6. defiling mothers and wives that are "set apart for pollution (Leviticus 18:19) (see verse 10),
7. adultery (verse 11),
8. immoral business practices and extortion (verse 12).
   

These sins were not discovered as isolated incidents; but rather as prevalent among the people!

The REASON for these sins being prevalent is stated in the last part of verse 12, "thou has forgotten Me, saith the Lord God."

13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. 14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

With such a case presented, the people are found "guilty." It is their own actions which caused their "days to draw near" (verse 4), and for God to bring remonstrative action.

Who will be able to withstand God when He comes for judgment? (verse 14). It WILL happen! How can guilty man stand before a Holy God and answer adequately for sin? It is impossible!

It will be the same in the final judgment day. God is Creator and Owner of all things. How can a man stand before God and say that He HAS anything with which to PAY for his own atonement? It is IMPOSSIBLE! The only satisfactory conclusion is that man must SURRENDER to God and plead for mercy based upon the atonement made in Christ's blood.

Judah is to be "scattered among the heathen." And in the final judgment day, God will scatter the unrepentant among the heathen in that fiery place called hell.

17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

Now God likens Judah to silver heated in the furnace. Instead of coming out pure, the nation comes out as "dross."

They had long since failed to approach God with a repentant heart and beg for His forgiveness. Therefore, the sacrifices of their hands were an "abomination" to God rather than a fitting means of atonement. (See Jeremiah 6:20)

God is perfectly holy and righteous. His presence is as a "consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). When men face God in eternal judgment, they will not be tried for their goodness or works. They will be tried according to the perfection of God. The only way to receive absolution is to surrender to Christ, so that He can say He has paid the price for our atonement.

23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

The whole of the nation is found unholy. The prophets, priests, princes and people are found guilty. The prophets have told lies (verse 28); the priests have defiled the sacrifices (verse 26); the princes (leaders) have taken advantage of their position and accosted the people (verse 27); and the people have subjected the poor among themselves to robbery and have "oppressed the stranger" (verse 29).

Again, these weren't isolated incidents, but prevalent actions.

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

God said that He looked for ONE person who would "stand in the gap" for Him, but "found NONE." (Verse 30) What a sad situation! Probably, the only prophet of truth left in the nation at this time was Jeremiah. And he was subjected to prison and refused the ability to speak freely. People had "cut off" the truth of God, determining to live in the sickness of sin.

It is for THIS (or THESE) reasons God brought destruction and captivity upon the land. Many times I have been asked by unbelievers how the loving God I describe could allow such a thing to happen. THIS is why! This chapter outlines the facts of the Prosecutor's case against the nation.

Today, I pray, that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ will not be found "guilty" as the nation of Judah was in that day. Today, I pray, that the people of Christ will "stand in the gap" for the Lord; stand proclaiming the truths of God's deliverance to those who surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.