Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
WhatsApp
Copy
Ezekiel 22
Listen to the Word
Initializing audio...
Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.
WhatsApp
Copy
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
WhatsApp
Copy
And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
WhatsApp
Copy
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
WhatsApp
Copy
Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
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.
WhatsApp
Copy
Ezekiel 22 Study & Commentary
Ezekiel 22 - The Sins of the City: A detailed catalogue of Jerusalem's moral and ritual failures, including blood-shedding, oppression of the poor, and the profanation of the Sabbath. God looks for a man to "stand in the gap" but finds none.
THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
1. The Dross in the Furnace: God compares Israel to dross (impurities) that remains when silver is melted. They will be gathered in the "midst of Jerusalem" to be melted by His fury.2. Universal Corruption: Rebuking all classes: prophets, priests, princes, and the people of the land.
3. The Gap (v. 30): God seeks an intercessor to prevent the destruction, but the moral decay is so absolute that no one is found.
PRACTICAL LESSONS
1. Standing in the Gap: The vital importance of intercessory prayer and moral leadership in a declining culture.2. Social Justice: God takes the mistreatment of the "stranger, fatherless, and widow" as a direct offense against His holiness.
