And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.
6 “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
13 “Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 22 ESV
Ezekiel 22: 1-12 Shedding of Blood
36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38Look, your house is left to you desolate.… Matthew 23: 36-38
1-12 Will you judge the bloody city - Thou shalt not kill, if we remember, this was one of the list of 10 commandments, a short list, but they dealt soundly with man's relationship to God and also that of his fellow man. The price of shedding innocent blood was clarified as well.
…5And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man: 6Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind. 7But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”… Genesis 9: 5-7
Declare to her all her abominations - Ezekiel was God's judge sent to indict Jerusalem for her crimes. Some of these may have been hidden to others, like the leaders that Ezekiel was shown in prior chapters, engaged in idolatry at the temple of all places. With God nothing is hidden, and knowing this should set our affections and attentions right, based upon God's omniscience rather than an outward religion towards man. People need to be told what God considers sin, not what society considers to be or not to be, for that will change, but God does not. He holds the keys to eternity, and all else are pretenders at importance, for nothing compares to God.
…26Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.… Acts 20: 26-28
The appointed time of your years has come - This would be familiar from their reading about the nations in the land before them, the fullness of God's wrath. Now it was Jerusalem's turn, for she was engaged in the same sin as those who were destroyed before her, like Sodom and Philistia.
…4Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”… Romans 2: 4-6
…15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.… Genesis 15: 15-17
…19For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.” 20Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, 21I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”… Genesis 18: 19-21
I have made you a reproach to all the nations - They are considered a shame rather than a light, something to mock, but they are also a rebuke not only to themselves buy others, in that God has shown no favoritism in sin. He punishes those even who consider themselves set apart, and the church today is no exception. We should not misinterpret God's patience and grace. We should give no occasion to bring reproach upon the name of Christ that we have used in the word Christian.
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?… 1 Corinthians 5: 1-2
…23“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people. 24No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people. 25If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.… 1 Samuel 2: 23-25
The princes of Israel in you - They were all bent on blood, and this in several ways:
1. They refused to listen to Jeremiah when God sent him to warn against war with Babylon, and then they rebelled again which has cost many needless lives. People look to their leadership for guidance, but these princes sent them forward as fodder, sacrifices to their own egos and rebellion.
2. They, like Ahab's wife, used violence to take what they wanted and ignore the ancient tribal lines. Kings should protect against mob rule, against the mafia, and all other sorts of bullying, but these allowed it to their own means of gain. The rich were not held accountable and their lives were more valued.
3. They caused their children to be passed through the fire, aborting their young as a sacrifice to an idol, but this is no different than us today, for a human life is still taken at the ideal of someone who decides for them.
Father and mother are treated with contempt - Some were waiting along the fence, like vultures, ready to swoop down and take what the parents had worked hard for. The young were allowed to show disrespect to the elderly, and they did not care for them when they were old. The Bible speaks to relations between children and parents, yet here, like all falling societies, the youngest and the eldest are least esteemed.
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”… Ephesians 6: 1-3
…4“I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.” 5The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. Isaiah 3: 4-5
The sojourner suffers extortion - Of all places this should be where a sojourner was safe, that the people held up the moral values given to them by God and were a light to all coming out of the dark. It is causing the name of Jacob to stink once again in the land.
Fatherless and widows are wronged - They would take their property, and many women were made widows indeed by their husband's desire to share in the fickleness of the age. Like their heathen neighbors they wanted divorce to be quick and easy. The Rabbis that taught allowances for this were the most popular.
…26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless. 27Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1: 26-27
Profaned my Sabbaths - They caused the sojourner to work on them, and they use the plural here which means they profaned the Sabbath feasts as well as the weekly Sabbath. The Jews of Christ time would keep the Sabbath, but in a legalistic fashion that lost the spirit of it, adding to it their traditions, and not coming with humility before the Lord. The Christian church should take care in her teachings on this as well, for God looks at the heart.
…26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.… 1 Corinthians 11: 26-28
They commit lewdness in your midst - They slandered, saying someone had committed a crime worthy of death, and sent this person to an unlawful sentence. They ate upon the mountains, the high places, those of idols and temple prostitutes, the people were given to immoral behavior from the leadership on down. We should be warning of the wrath to come, but what a mockery when the church is calling itself of God, but living like the world.
…10I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?… 1 Corinthians 5: 10-12
…8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers! 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.… 1 Corinthians 6: 8-10
Commits abomination with his neighbor's wife - Now at many evangelical churches no one would say a word, and someone who did would be called unloving, the elders, deacons and pastors would be just like these apostate priest, false prophets and wicked princes in Jerusalem. They would say, "we are loving them through it." Paul wouldn't have approved of their method or interpretation.
…4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord. 6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?… 1 Corinthians 5: 4-6
You have forgotten Me -
“But at the heart of all these outward displays of wickedness was the main cause: ‘You have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ When one forgets God and leaves his ways, the path into every kind of abomination opens before him.” (Alexander)
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