At the risk of being called out for being a holier than thou bible thumping Christian.... I have to ask again....
You know, I just can't get a handle on where you are going with choosing these verses to post. So, since you won't respond to my question.... I'll do some digging on my own.
, there are three sections to Ezekiel's book. Chapter 22 falls toward the end of the first section.
These tell about the destruction of Jerusalem and the sin that made it necessary. Ezekiel began his prophecy in the 5th year of Jechoiachin's captivity. (593/592). The one on the throne sent the man in linen to scatter fire over the city.
God told Ezekiel to declare judgement against Jerusalem. The words of this prophecy are like the judge’s words in a court. Ezekiel had to accuse Jerusalem and Judah because of the sins of the inhabitants. So,
he speaks to Jerusalem as if the city itself was guilty for those sins
Verses 1-5 Ezekiel must tell the people what their crimes are. This is not a matter of history.
The people in the city are now doing these evil things. They have killed so many people in the city of Jerusalem.
They have turned from the real God to serve false gods. They are guilty of every evil deed.
They are wicked and cruel. That is why they are suffering now. Soon the final punishment from God will come to them. God will destroy Jerusalem.
The nations round about could see the sin of Jerusalem. They could see that it was guilty of so many evil things.
And they laughed at the city.
Verse 6
The chief cause of the evil behaviour in Jerusalem was its leaders. They should have led the people to do the right things. They should have taught them the law of God. But,
the leaders were even more guilty than the rest of the people.
Manasseh had been a bad king. He ruled for 55 years (
2 Kings chapter 21).
Then there was a good king. Josiah ruled for 31 years (
2 Kings chapters 22 to 23). But his efforts to bring the people back to God did not last. After him,
there were more bad kings. And
the nation was as bad as it was before.
All the leaders were using their power for their own desires. They even caused the deaths of many people in Jerusalem.
Verse 7 Ezekiel makes a list of the wrong things that the people did in Jerusalem.
Verse 8 The leaders did not respect God.
Verses 9-12 The law says that
we should not be false witnesses (
Exodus 20:16). We should speak the truth. But
in Jerusalem, the inhabitants told terrible lies.
- What they said was false. As a result, they killed innocent people.
- We should worship only the one real God (Exodus 20:3-4). But the people served false gods in every high place.
- The list continues with all kinds of sex sins. All of these sins are against the laws of God.
- The reason for many of their crimes was the people’s desire for money. They murdered and they cheated.
- The main cause of all their sins was that they had forgotten the Lord God. They did not remember that they were responsible to him.
Verses 13-16 God struck his hands together, because of his anger. In other words, we could say that
he shook his fist at them. This means that
God would punish them. Jerusalem would not stand through the days of punishment. God had told the people that
he would destroy Jerusalem. They could not stand against God.
They did not have enough courage. And, of course, they were not strong enough.
Some people would escape death in Jerusalem. But
God would scatter them across the nations. From that time, they would stop serving false gods.
They would be ashamed of what they had done. They will then know that
the Lord is God.
Verses 17-22 The fire melts metals. The things that are not pure metal rise to the top. The worker will throw this rubbish away.
The people in Judah are like this rubbish. The Lord will throw them away.
When the workman makes silver pure, the heat of the fire melts the metals. At the right heat, other metals will remain in the fire as one removes the silver. To the man who makes things of silver, such waste metals are of no use. To the Lord, the people in Judah are like these waste metals.
The Lord uses this process to show how he will kill the people in Jerusalem. The fire (which means his anger) will burn against them. He will send the army of Babylon to carry out the punishment. They will destroy Jerusalem and they will kill its inhabitants. They will burn the city with an actual fire.
The fire that destroys is a picture in words. It shows what actually happened in the years 588 to 586 BC. Ezekiel wrote this about three years before it happened. And then the people will know that this is a punishment from the Lord.
Verses 23-24 God had promised rain to the Israelites if they obeyed him. He promised to stop the rain if they did not obey him (
Deuteronomy 11:14-17).
They did not obey him and he was angry with them. Therefore, there was no rain on the land.
Verses 25-29 The leaders had worked together for their own benefit. They did not care about the people.
The leaders simply wanted to become rich. They did not serve God or obey him. The result of their evil acts was that many people died.
The priests should have taught the people to know God. They should have been the agents of God for the people. They should have obeyed the law of God and they should have taught the people as well. But
the priests did not obey the law and they did not teach the people. They did not respect the temple or the work of God. They did not keep the Sabbaths as special days.
They did not respect the Lord God.
The leaders of Jerusalem were wicked men. They killed people and they stole their wealth.
The prophets should have spoken against these evil deeds. But they did not do so. Instead, they
gave false Prophecies. They spoke as if these deeds were good.
They lied. They said that they spoke the Lord’s messages. But the Lord had not spoken to them. (See
Ezekiel 13:1-23)
The people did what their leaders did. They cheated and they robbed the poor people, the weak people and the foreigners.
Verses 30-31 There were true prophets, for example Ezekiel and Jeremiah. But
the leaders and the people would not listen to the true prophets. God looked for someone who would lead the people to do the right things. Such a person would cause them to repent and to turn to God.
That person would be like a workman who repairs a wall. Or he would be like
a soldier who defends the gap in a city’s wall. His actions would be
the opposite of the actions of the false prophets. They were acting like
bad workers who merely cover a weak wall with paint.
- So, God looked for a man whom he could trust. He looked for a man who could come to him on behalf of the country. God did not want to destroy the country. But there was no other way. Such a man did not exist. So, God destroyed Judah. His anger was like a fire that nobody could put out.
- Ezekiel wrote this as if it had already happened. But the final disaster was still a few years ahead. The end would happen in 586 BC.
With all that quoted.... let me ask again....
