Ezekiel 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.” Moreover, etc.
The word connects what follows with the word of the Lord which began in
ch.20:2. That connection is, indeed, sufficiently indicated by the
recurrence of
the formula, “Wilt thou judge?” (see note on ch.20:4). In obedience to the
commands which
that question implied, Ezekiel has once more to go through
the catalogue of the sins of
that he applies the very epithet of bloody city (Hebrew, oily of bloods) which
Nahum (Nahum 3:1) had applied to
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.” As in the great indictment of Isaiah (Isaiah 1:15, 21;
4:4), the sins of murder and idolatry are grouped
together. She sins as if with
the purpose “that her time” (i.e. the time of her
punishment) “may come.”
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.” Thou hast caused thy days to draw
near, etc.
As in v. 3, the days and the years are those of God’s judgments. The people
had made NO EFFORT TO AVERT THEIR DOOM THROUGH
REPENTANCE. They had, as it were, RUSHED UPON THEIR
APPOINTED FATE! So, though in another sense, the righteous lives
of the faithful are said, in II Peter 3:12, to “hasten
the coming of the day
of God.” Exceptional
evil and exceptional good alike hasten the approach
of the day which is to decide between the two.
5 “Those that be near, and those that be far
from thee, shall mock
thee, which art infamous and much vexed.” Those that be near, etc.
The Hebrew words are both feminine, and refer to
the neighboring and
distant cities which took up their proverbs of reproach
against the city, once
holy and faithful, now infamous (Hebrew, defiled
in name) and much vexed.
The last words point to another
form of punishment.
in a state of moral
tumult and disorder as the consequence of its guilt (compare
Amos 3:9; Deuteronomy
7:23; Zechariah 14:13, where the same word is
rendered by “tumults”
and “destruction”).
6 “Behold,
the princes of
to shed blood.” For the
“bloodshed,” which was conspicuous among the sins,
compare ch.9:9; 16:38; 23:37, 45; and for
special instances of that sin among
its princes, those of Manasseh (II Kings 21:16) and Jehoiakim
(Ibid. ch.24:4).
To their power; Hebrew, each
man according to his arm, i.e. his strength.
There was no restraint
upon the doer of evil other than the
limitation of his
capacity.
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.” We
pass to sins of another kind.
The fifth commandment was trampled underfoot as well as the
sixth, and
THE
BLESSING OF CONTINUED NATIONAL EXISTENCE! (Exodus
20:12)
was thereby forfeited. The widow and the orphan and the
stranger (we note in
that last word the width of Ezekiel’s sympathies) were
oppressed (compare the
same grouping in Deuteronomy 27:16, 19).
Social Sins (v. 7)
The wickedness of
of religion — idolatry, sabbath-breaking,
profanation of sacred things, etc.
It was witnessed in gross outrages of social rights. FAILURE
IN RELIGION
LEADS TO FAILURE IN SOCIETY! Social wrongs are sins in the sight of
Heaven which God observes, condemns, and punishes.
·
LOSS OF FILIAL REVERENCE. “They have set light by father and
mother,” The Hebrew Law attached great weight to the duty children
owe
to their parents (Exodus 20:12).
The requirement to honor father and
mother was “the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:2).
The breach of this law was a sin
in the sight of God; so the prodigal son
confessed that he had sinned
against Heaven (Luke 15:21). Christ
condemned the mean devices by
which some Jews in his day endeavored to
escape from their filial duty
(Matthew 15:4-6). In this respect, the East,
which we often despise for its
supposed corruption and barbarism, is in
advance of the West. One of the
most ominous portents among us is a
growing levity in the treatment
of parental claims. No doubt it is well that
the old stiffness of the family
relationship has broken down, and that there
is more mutual confidence
between parents and children than there was in
the olden times. Parental
tyranny is no more admirable than filial rebellion.
The formal manners which
separated the older generation from the
younger were hurtful to both.
But with a fuller recognition of the rights of
the young, and a greater freedom
of intercourse between the older and the
younger members of a family, we
are in danger of losing filial reverence —
one of the most sacred of
duties. Well might King Lear exclaim:
“Sharper
than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a
thankless child!”
regulations of the Jewish Law in
favor of “the stranger that is within thy
gates.” In spite of the supposed Jewish exclusiveness — a trait of
late
Judaism rather than of ancient
Israelite manners — the foreigner had a
higher status in
at
peculiar wickedness. The Jews
were reminded that because they had been
received as guests in
feel peculiar sympathy with
aliens. Let us beware of selfish national
exclusiveness. This is not
patriotism; it is narrow-minded, selfish injustice
and inhumanity. Observe some of
the cases in which the sin of oppressing
strangers may be committed.
Ø
Unkindness to foreign immigrants.
Ø
Cruelty to foreigners abroad.
of a poor law, special attention
was given to the provision for orphans and
widows by private charity under
the Jewish economy. But the rough justice
of the East often failed to
secure to the helpless even their own rights.
Times of lawlessness were times
when those poor persons suffered
grievously. There is always a
danger that the helpless should be trodden
down in the fierce race of life.
We are called to higher alms — to
sympathy and mutual helpfulness.
8 “Thou
hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my
sabbaths.” Mine holy things, etc. The words take in the whole range of
Divine ordinances as affecting both things and persons.
(For “profaning
sabbaths,” see ch.20:16.)
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.”
Men that carry
tales, etc. Hebrew, men
of slanders (compare Exodus 23:1;
Leviticus 19:16). The sin of the informers, ever ready to
lend themselves to plots
against the life or character of the innocent, was then, as
at all times, the besetting
evil of corrupt government in the East. Compare the story of Naboth
(I Kings 21:10)
and of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:13). (For eating on the mountains,
see note on
ch.
18:6; and for lewdness, that on ch.16:43.) What
the lewdness consisted in is
stated in the following verses.
10 “In
thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have
they humbled her that was set apart for
pollution.” This,
well-nigh the vilest
of all forms of incest, against which the horror naturalis of the heathen, as in the
story of Hippolytus, uttered its protest,
would seem to have been common among
the corruptions of
described in the second clause, see notes on ch.18:6.)
11 “And
one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’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 neighbors by
extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.”
The list of sins follows on the lines of Leviticus 18:9,
15. (For those in v. 12,
see notes on ch.18:12.) It is to be remarked, however, that
the prophet does
not confine himself to the mere enumeration of specific
sins. These are traced
to their source in that “forgetting God” which was at once THE
STARTING
POINT and THE
CONSUMMATION of all forms of
evil (compare
Romans 1:28).
The Reproach of
Patriot as he was, Ezekiel was not, like some sincere
patriots, blind to his
country’s faults. His
conscience and judgment were enlightened, and his
emotional nature was rendered especially sensitive, so that
a just and deep
impression was made upon his mind by the contemplation of
his
countrymen’s errors and iniquities. Leaders of public
opinion, teachers of
the time, are ever in danger of flattering those among whom
their lot is
cast, with whom their interests are identified. Yet Ezekiel
proves himself to
have the true spirit of the prophet, who rises superior to
this temptation,
and whose motto is, “Be just, and fear not!”
·
THE REASONS FOR REPROACH EXISTING IN THE MORAL
CONDITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF
of the people’s sins is both a
long and an awful one. It suffices to mention
these as boldly charged upon
them by the faithful prophet of the Lord.
1. Idolatry.
2. Violence and murder.
3. Disregard of parents.
4. Oppression of strangers, of the widows and fatherless.
5. Profanation of the sabbath.
6. Lewdness and vile indulgence of lust.
7. Bribery.
8. Extortion.
Was ever such an indictment
brought against a community? The marvel is,
not that the threatened judgment
came, but that it was so long delayed.
·
THE REPROACH AS BROUGHT BY MEN AGAINST THE
INHABITANTS OF
incredible, that the highly
favored
very heathen for degradation in iniquity and moral debasement. But the
language of Ezekiel is explicit;
and he would be more likely to soften than
to exaggerate the charge.
defiled, full of tumult! How are
the mighty fallen! The city of the great
King, the seat of the
priesthood, — infamous among the
surrounding idolaters for flagitious
violation of those very moral laws which the city was
consecrated to
conserve!
·
THE REPROACH BROUGHT BY GOD AGAINST THE
INHABITANTS OF
reproach is beyond all rhetoric,
all denunciation. “Thou hast forgotten me,
saith the Lord God.” Here, indeed, was
the real secret of the defection and
rebellion, of the vices and crimes of the sons of
Jehovah in memory, they would have kept themselves free
from the errors
and. the follies into which they fell. After all that the
Lord had done for
them, after all His forbearance
and long-suffering, they nevertheless forgot
Him! There was but one hope for
restoration — that they should bring again to memory Him whom they had
not only forsaken, but forgotten.
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.” I have smitten my hand. The gesture, as in ch.21:14, 17,
was one of indignant, and, as it were, impatient command.
Dishonest Gain (v. 13)
before our children, in their
copy-books, the motto, “Honesty is the
best
policy;” but in the
experience of life it is found that dishonesty is often a
more successful worldly policy.
Thieves fatten on their booty, and
swindlers live in lordly
palaces. There is not only the vulgar dishonesty that
steals by direct robbery. We
have our civilized and refined dishonesty — a
dishonesty which contrives to
keep on the near side of the law, and yet is
not the less real theft. The
“sweater” is a thief. The promoter of bubble
companies is a robber on a
colossal scale. (Drug dealing is attractive to
many – CY – 2014). The breadth of the area embraced, the number
of
the dupes victimized, and the
amount of the gain realized, do not destroy
the guilt of the robbery; they heighten it.
There was a certain frank daring
about the old highwaymen which
entitled them to the respect of those who
condemned their lawlessness, in
comparison with which the sneaking
dishonesty of those who steal
without risking their lives or liberties is a
despicable cowardice.
text Ezekiel associates
dishonest gain with blood-guiltiness. The thief is
near to becoming a murderer; the
burglar carries firearms. The immense
growth of the custom of insuring
the lives of young babies, together with
the frightful extent of infant
mortality, forces us to the conclusion that,
either by neglect — the crudest
kind of murder — or by the more merciful
means of direct suffocation,
numbers of children are yearly slaughtered by
their parents for the sake of
the paltry gain obtained from the insurance.
We cannot say much of the old pagan
habit of exposing children while this
more vile, because more cunning
and mercenary, crime is commonly
committed in Christian England.
It is the duty of all good citizens to be on
the watch for cases of cruelty
to children among their neighbors — often
practiced in the decent homes of
thrifty folk. (Like the abortion industry’s
55,000,000 lives snuffed out for
“convenience” – CY – 2014). In other
ways
theft may mean murder — slow
murder of the most painful kind. The customer
helps to murder the shopkeeper
when he takes an unjust advantage of
competition. He who steals a man’s livelihood virtually
steals his life, for it
is no credit to the thief that
his victim may be saved from starvation by the
charity of others.
HEAVEN. God has
smitten his hand at it. Dishonesty can only appear the
best policy for a season. In the
long run the old proverb is certain to justify
itself.
Ø
National dishonesty will bring vengeance on a nation. The English
cotton-trade has suffered
materially through the cheating custom
of adding weight to goods
shipped to the East by sizing the fabric.
If trade with lower races is
corrupt, unjust, and cruel, the wrong
will be avenged either by the
loss of the trade or in the hatred earned
by the traders. The oppression
of the poor in our midst by those who
make dishonest gains in grinding
down their employees will be
assuredly avenged by some awful
social revolution, unless the
injustice is speedily atoned for
by more fair treatment.
Ø
Private dishonesty will bring vengeance on the sinner. God sees
and judges the man who
enjoys dishonest gain. If he does not
suffer on earth from the
enmity he has stirred, this Dives will
certainly not be carried
with the Lazarus he oppressed to
Abraham’s bosom. (Luke
16:19-31). His gold will scorch him
like fire in some dread
hell.
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.”
Can thine heart endure, etc.?
The question implies an answer
in the negative. Heart
would fail and hands wax feeble in the day of the
Lord’s judgment. (See
Revelation 6:12-17). The doom of exile
and dispersion
must come, with all its horrors; but even here,
forgotten (ch.21:32). Her punishment was to do its work,
and to consume
her filthiness out of her.
A Total Collapse (v. 14)
Ø
A stout heart. The sinner believes in himself. He feels brave and
confident. No doubt this temper
of mind will help him over a
number of difficulties. But
will it stand in the awful day of
Divine judgment?
Ø
Strong hands. The sinner is conscious of strength in himself
and in his possessions, in
his body and mind, and in the
resources of his ill-gotten
gain. The wicked king owns his army;
the bad millionaire holds
his money; the sinful man of humbler
pretensions relies on his
wits, his energy, or at worst on his luck.
Ø
Present prosperity. The text refers to future days, when God will deal
with the sinner. Those days have
not yet dawned, and all is fair at
present. The natural tendency is to believe that the
world will
continue as it is now. “For as in the days that were before the
Flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until
the day that Noah entered into
the ark”
(Matthew
24:38; see II Peter 3:4).
plainly suggests only one dismal
answer. The delusive hope must fail.
Note the grounds of the certain
failure.
Ø
Human feebleness. It is a case of the strength of man matched against
the might of God. Who can doubt
the issue? In such a contest the
stoutest heart must fail and the
strongest arm go down. Man is the
lord of creation; but he is a
feeble insect before Omnipotence.
Ø
Divine constancy. “I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.” God is
true to His word. He does not
mock His children with idle threats.
They are sure to fail.
Ø
Changed circumstances. “In the days that I
shall deal with thee.”
Those days have not yet
arrived. Therefore we cannot comfort
ourselves that we shall be safe in the future because we are
comfortable enough at
present. The coming days will wear a new
aspect. We are not
fortified against winter storms by the enjoyment
of summer sunshine. The
ease with which we glide down the stream
is no guarantee that the
thunder of the falls will never be reached.
The delusive hope which
shines fair in the old times of Divine waiting
will be shattered to
fragments in the new days of Divine judgment.
but the doleful silence with
which it is received suggests the misery that is
to follow. If heart and hand
fail, the ruin and wretchedness must be
complete. While a good man
fighting against adversity is said to be a sight
for the admiration of gods as
well as men, a bad man crushed by misery is
only an object of horror. The stout heart of honest intentions can bear up
against unmerited woes and find
in its own fortitude a certain solace. But
this solace will be wanting in the collapse of the false hope of the sinner.
Then will follow the deepest
misery, the sense of being confounded, the
helplessness of being swept away
in a flood of destruction. Pain is not the
worst evil. The depth of hell is
reached when heart and strength fail, and
the sinner loses all power to
withstand his fate. Hence the supreme need
OF A
SAVIOUR! (Romans 8:1).
16 “And
thou shalt take thine
inheritance in thyself in the sight of the
heathen, and thou shalt
know that I am the LORD.” Thou shalt
take thine
inheritance, etc.;
better, with the Revised Version, Keil, and most
other
commentators, shalt be
profaned in thyself, etc. The
prophet is still speaking
of punishment, not of restoration.
The Prophet on the Judgment-Seat
(vs. 1-16)
As among men there occurs, now and again, a great assize, when
evil
deeds are examined and flagrant offenders judged, so God
has His seasons
when high-handed
crime is arrested, and the offenders feel the reality of
Divine justice. Penalties are not awarded in the dark. Good men see
clearly
the equity of the proceeding and the extreme patience of
the Judge. God
places His doings in the public light.
·
THE INDICTMENT. It is
a long indictment, and embraces all classes of
people.
1. Gross abuse of power. The princes — i.e. heads of tribes — used their
power for the destruction of
life, not to preserve it. The scepter was turned
into a dagger. Even neglect to protect innocent life
becomes murder.
2. Idolatry. “The city maketh idols against herself.” In
treason. It was the rejection
and humbling of their proper King.
3. Murder. “The city sheddeth
blood.” He who begins to despise God soon
learns to under-value human life. Their children were made to pass through
the fire. Violence against
property and life abounded.
4. Filial disobedience. “In thee have they set light by father and
mother.”
The slaughter of innocent children soon produced its natural
fruit.
Children grew up without natural affection. (II
Timothy 3:3) If the
central sun be destroyed, the planets
will soon rush headlong to
mutual destruction.
5. Tyranny. “They have dealt by oppression with the
stranger: they have
vexed the
fatherless and the widow.” All regard for humane virtues, for
common morality, had vanished. It is the custom throughout the East to
show hospitality to strangers.
This is considered a virtue of the first order;
yet even this ordinary virtue
was trampled underfoot.
6. Profanity. “Thou hast despised mine holy things, and
hast profaned my
sabbaths.” In
tokens of His presence and favor
which He had not given unto others;
therefore to profane these
sacred tokens was to disgrace God in the eyes of
the surrounding heathen. It was
as if a soldier on the battle-field trailed his
country’s flag in the mire. It was
as if a married woman should fling her
wedding ring into the fire.
7. Murderous intrigues. “Men
carry tales to shed blood.” Untruthfulness is
a common sin among the
Orientals. Lying intrigues, to encompass a rival’s
death, are plentiful as laws. This sin the Hebrews had copied from their
neighbors. (and could have been avoided had they obeyed God in
destroying the Canaanites - CY -
2022)
8. Unchastity and adultery. “They commit lewdness.” The sanctity of the
marriage-tie disappeared.
Virtuous affection was strangled by animal lust.
Incest and other abominations followed. (LGBTQ in modern times for
example - supported by search
engines who donate part of their profit - CY
-2022) The people gradually sank to the level of the beasts. (II Peter 2)
All the special dignity and nobleness of manhood died out. Degradation of
humanity spread.
9. Judicial bribery. “They have taken gifts to shed blood.”
Not an
upright
judge remained.
Wickedness, like an epidemic (what if the concept of
wickedness was handled by the
media [even local media like the New Era]
like they do Covid-19 - daily
cramming down the throats of its readers -
same for TV - get immunity
through vaccine - can’t get a job
if you are not saved - etc. - CY
- 2022) spread and infected every
office and every rank. The
fountain of justice became a fountain of
corruption and death.
10. Avarice. There were gains that were dishonest. Extortion was on
every
side. Avarice, like a cancer,
had eaten out all the healthy flesh of honor and
sincerity. Gold became to them a
god. (Is there any possibility of
avarice
in those who have developed
vaccines for Covid? - CY - 2022)
11. Forgetfulness of God. This was the root and the crown of their
sins.
The very memory which God created refused to entertain Him;
as if a house
which a man himself had built should shut its doors against
him. When God
is driven out, all His retinue —
purity, strength, unity, peace, honor — go
with Him. (And this is what
happened when He left
to themselves. Do you not see
that this can happen and is happening in your
lifetime in the
catalogue of crimes. Basically, these are the same things that will
bring down
the house at the end of
time. CY - 2022)
·
THE ASSIZE-DAY. “Thou
hast caused thy days to draw near.”
Ø
This assize is certain. “I the Lord have spoken it, and I
will do it.” As
surely as night succeeds to day,
the reckoning-day of God’s justice
comes. It has never yet failed. Neither the man nor
the nation that
has defied God HAS ON ANY OCCASION
ESCAPED.
Ø
The proceeding
will be strictly equitable. The
people had made alliance
with the gods of the heathen,
therefore among the heathen shall they
dwell.
Ø
The irresistibleness
of God’s judicial act. “Can thine hands be strong
in the day that I
shall deal with thee?” From His bar
there is no appeal.
Against His power it is vain to
strive.
·
THE VERDICT. “Thou
shall show her all her abominations.” Here is
threatened:
Ø
Self-discovery. All sin has a subtle potency to blind the judgment. Men
are prone to measure themselves
only by others, or to look at their
conduct only in the mirror of
their neighbors’ conduct. But when the
clear light of eternal truth
flashes upon the soul, past sins start into
gigantic magnitude; they are
like mountains for their size.
Ø
Public shame. “Therefore I have made thee a reproach unto
the
heathen.” This is a stinging verdict. Even the heathen, so much more
barbarous and degraded than were
the Hebrews aforetime, shall now
reproach them for their evil
deeds. The fall is all the greater if we
have first climbed to some
stupendous height.
Ø
Overwhelming affliction. “Can thine heart endure in the days
that
I
shall deal with thee?” (v. 14 - Have
you ever been dealt with by
God?
- CY - 2022) When Cain felt the full
stress of his sentence,
he cried out ”My punishment is greater than I
can bear!” The just
wrath of the Creator:
how can
frail man endure it?
Ø
Banishment. “I will disperse thee… in the countries.” In the same
measure in which the Hebrews had
been confident and boastful in their
own land, was the gravamen of the sentence that scattered them among
many nations. To be shut out from one’s own land and home
is a
heavy stroke. (Have you ever been homesick? CY - 2022)
Ø
Abandonment. “Thou
shall take thine inheritance in thyself.” In other
words, thou shalt
shift for thyself: thou shall find no good beyond thyself.
When men persist in saying to
God, “Depart from me!” God will say to
them, “Depart from me!” To be left to
ourselves is heaviest doom.
·
THE ULTIMATE DESIGN. “I
will consume thy filthiness out of
thee.”
Ø
Purification. This abandonment is only for a time. When penalty and
suffering have accomplished
their end, God promised to return to them in
mercy. Meanwhile, alas! many
would be cut off by death. Only a remnant
would partake of the distant
grace. So it came to pass. The seventy years’
banishment purged out
effectually the spirit of idolatry. It was a severe,
yet a successful, remedy!
Ø
Surrender. “Thou shall know that I am the Lord.” This knowledge
would be not only intellectual,
but practical. It was a knowledge of God
as Supreme King and Judge. It
was a knowledge that produced fruits
of obedience. “A burnt child
dreads the fire:” so the painful
experiences through which that generation passed left wholesome
effects upon their children, Full surrender is the only safety.
An Appalling Indictment
and a Just Judgment
(vs. 1-16)
“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now,
thou son of
man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city?” etc. “This chapter,”
says Fairbaim, “stands closely
related to the last chapter, and may fitly be
regarded as supplementary to it; the former having
presented a striking
delineation of the Lord’s purpose to execute the severity
of His displeasure
upon the people of
mass of corruption on account of which such severity was to
be inflicted.
In what is written here there is nothing properly new; in
its general purport
it is a repetition of the charges which were urged in ch. 20.; and so the
chapter begins much in the same way — with a call upon the
prophet to
judge the people, and set before them their iniquities.
There, however, the
charge took the form of an historical review for the
purpose of connecting
the present state of wickedness with the past, and showing how
continuously the
stream of corruption had flowed through all periods of
their national existence.
Here, on the other hand, the prophet looks
exclusively to the present, and brings out in fearful array
the many heinous
and rampant sins which were crying in Heaven’s ear for
vengeance.” We
have in the text:
·
AN APPALLING CATALOGUE OF THE PEOPLE’S SINS.
Ø
The nature of these sins.
o
Forgetfulness of God. “Thou hast forgotten me, saith
the Lord God.”
We mention this
first, because it was the
root-sin out of which all the
others sprang. Men forget God’s holy authority, His constant and
universal
presence,
and His great goodness,
and thus the principal restraints from
sin are removed. “Forgetfulness of God opens the window to every wicked
action.”
o
Blood-guiltiness. This charge is repeatedly and variously
stated. “The
bloody
city A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her
Thou art become
guilty
in thy blood that thou hast shed.” This may refer, as Schroder
suggests, to
murderous deeds generally; specially to judicial murders,
consequently to
the shedding of the innocent blood of righteous,
God-tearing men,
prophets, etc. (compare Matthew 23:37). The city which
had its name
from ‘peace’ has
become a city of death to those who require
true peace.”
Even the princes were guilty of violence and bloodshed.
“Behold,
the princes of
been
in thee to shed blood”
(v. 6). They did not recognize the sacred duties
or the solemn
accountabilities of their exalted station. They ruled not in
accordance with
right, but according to their might; and that might they
exercised
barbarously and bloodily. And there were these who were guilty
of bloodshedding by reason of their false witness. “Slanderous men have
been in thee shed blood.” (v. 9) They were malignant slanderers of the
innocent, who
because of their slanders were adjudged to death. Moreover,
mercenary and unjust judges condemned men to
death for bribes.
“In
thee have they taken bribes to shed blood” (v. 12). And it is probable
that Schroder is correct in his opinion that both the false
witnesses and the
unrighteous
judges were thus wickedly employed by the violent and
murderous
princes. Thus in
no longer
regarded as a sacred thing. It was ruthlessly slaughtered:
§
in defiance of
law,
§
in defiance of the feelings of our common humanity, and
§
in defiance of the
Creator and Father of men.
o
Idolatry. “A city… that maketh idols against herself to
defile her. Thou
art
defiled in thine idols which thou hast made.... And
in thee they have
eaten
upon the mountains.”
(On the extent of their idolatry and the
pollutions
thereof, ch. 8:5-16)
and our notes thereon.) The
eating upon the
mountains, the seats of idol-worship, refers to the eating
of things
sacrificed unto idols (compare ch. 18:6, 11).
o
Disregard of the tenderest
and most sacred obligations towards their
fellow-men. “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
wronged
the fatherless and the widow.” Loving respect to parents is
commanded and
encouraged in the Law of the Lord (Exodus 20:12;
Leviticus 19:3;
Deuteronomy 5:16). The New Testament enforces
the same
obligation (Matthew 15:4; 19:19; Ephesians 6:1-3); and
the best feelings of the human heart
plead for its observance.
But in
made the cause
of’ the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless in a special
manner His own,
and repeatedly enjoined righteousness and kindness in the
treatment of
them (Exodus 22:21-24; Deuteronomy 10:18-19; 27:19;
Psalm 10:14,
18; 68:5; 146:9; Jeremiah 7:6; Zechariah 7:9-10). Yet there
were these in
o
Profanation of Divine
institutions. “Thou hast despised mine holy
things,
and hast profaned my sabbaths.” The holy things comprise
“all
that the Holy One has instituted, consecrated,
and commanded”
§
the
priests,
§
the
temple,
§
the
sacred vessels,
§
the
sacrifices and sacraments, and
§
all
other religions ordinances of His appointment.
These they had
despised. And the sabbath they had profaned
(compare ch. 20:12, 24). “He profanes the sabbath
who does not
celebrate it, who celebrates it ill,
or who consecrates
it to the service of sin” (Schroder).
o
Unchastity
in its most revolting forms
(vs. 10-11). On the first
clause of v.
10, compare Leviticus 18:8; 20:11; 1 Corinthians 5:1; on
the second, compare
Leviticus 18:19; 20:18; on the first clause of v. 11,
compare Leviticus
18:20; 20:10; on the second, cf.compare ibid. 18:15;
20:12; and on the
third, compare ibid. 18:9; 20:17.
o
Covetousness in its worst
manifestations. “In
thee have they taken
bribes
to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast
greedily
gained of thy neighbors by oppression” (v. 12). Covetousness in
their judges was so extreme that they
accepted bribes to condemn the
innocent to death. “Usury is the profit exacted for the loan
of money,
increase that
which is taken for goods; both are alike forbidden
(Leviticus
25:36; Deuteronomy 23:19).” Yet in
taken both. And
taking advantage of their neighbors’ distress and need,
they had oppressed them by exacting
exorbitant interest on any loan
granted for their help. Such were the sins charged against the
people of
Ø
The scene of these sins.
words, “in thee,” or “in the
midst of thee,” not less than twelve times.
This was a grievous aggravation
of their sins that they were committed
in
seat of the worship of the true and holy God; it was
celebrated in
sacred song as the dwelling-place of the Most High (Psalm 76:2);
and it was favored religiously above any other city in the world. But
now it had become “the bloody city,” the “defiled” city, the home
of the foulest
crimes, “A Jerusalem
may become a
a den of murderers.” And if it do so, its former privileges aggravate
its guilt and augment its doom
(compare Matthew 11:20-24;
Luke 12:47- 48).
Ø
The maturity of these sins. “Thou hast caused thy days to
draw near,
and art come even
unto thy years” (v. 4; compare ch. 21:25, 29). By
reason of its sins
Divine judgment. By the extent and enormity of its transgressions it had
hastened the time of its doom. In the history
of persistent wickedness
there comes a crisis when the
evil-doers are ripe for judgment; and
then the Divine executioners go
forth against them.
·
THE DIVINE VISITATION ON ACCOUNT OF THE PEOPLE’S SINS.
Ø
They become a reproach among the
nations. “Therefore have I made
thee a reproach
unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
Those that be
near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee,
thou infamous one
and full of tumult.” We noticed (ch. 21:28) how
the Ammonites reproached the
people of
for so doing. Yet although the
people of Ammon had no right to
reproach their suffering
neighbors, the Jews deserved reproach.
a reproach and a mocking unto
the nations. “Righteousness exalteth a
nation; but sin is
a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)
“The wicked shall
be turned into hell and all nations that forget
God.” (Psalm
9:17
Ø
They shall be
dispersed among the nations. “And
I will scatter thee
among the nations,
and disperse thee through the countries.” We
have noticed this point in ch. 5:12; 12:1-16; 20:23 (compare
Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:25, 64).
Ø
They shall be dishonored in the
sight of the nations. “And thou shalt
be profaned in thyself, in the sight of
the nations,” etc. (v. 16). “Thou
shalt by thine own fault forfeit the privileges of a holy nation.” Mark the
retributiveness of this.
Lord (v. 8); therefore
shall it also be desecrated for a requital (v. 16).
It has wickedly insulted the dignity of God; for this it must
suffer the
loss of its own
dignity” (Hengstenberg).
Ø
They would be unable
to withstand this visitation of judgment.
“Can thine heart endure, or can thine
hands be strong, in the days
that I shall deal with
thee?” (v. 14). Says Greenhill, “O
be thine
heart never so stout or strong, my judgments will be too
heavy for thee to bear them; when they come, thine heart will fail thee,
fail thee of counsel, that thou shalt not know what to do, and fail thee
of strength, that thou shalt
not be able to do what thou knowest.”
When God in judgment visits any one, “heart and hand, courage
and power, fail” (compare
Job 40:9; Psalm 6:7; Nahum 1:6).
·
CONCLUSION. Many are the lessons deducible from our subject. We
mention three.
1. The fearful
growth of sin. Forgetfulness of God may develop into
idolatry, adultery, murder.
2. The essential ruinousness of sin.
It is of its very nature to blight and
destroy
everything that is true and beautiful, wise and good, right and
strong,
both in individuals and communities. “Sin, when it is
full-grown, bringeth
forth death.” (James 1:15)
3. The righteous
judgment of God against sin. (Romans 2:2-11.)
17 “And the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
18 Son of man, the house of
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
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 therof.
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.” The house of Israel is to me
become dross, etc. A new
parable, based upon Isaiah 1:22-23 and Jeremiah 6:30,
begins, and
is carried out with considerable fullness. In Malachi 3:2-3
we have the
same imagery. Baser metals have been mingled with the
silver, and must be
burnt out, but there is hope, as well as terror, in the
parable. Men throw
the mixed metals into the smelting-pot in order that the
silver may be
separated from the dross and come out pure (compare I Peter
1:7). And
this was to be the issue of the “fiery
trial” through which
inhabitants were to pass.
Deplorable Deterioration and
Deserved Destruction (vs. 17-22)
“And the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house
of
Ø
Here are several varieties of sinful character. We will notice them
as they are here adduced.
o
Dross. “The house of
dross of silver.” This does not mean ore, which contains silver, but
dross which has been separated
from the silver — the refuse of dirt
and rubbish which is removed
from the precious metal in the
cleansing, melting, and refining
of it. The people of
The metaphor denotes the
corruption of the people, who had
become like base metal.
o
“Brass” probably indicates the hardihood of the people in sin;
that they had become
impudent in wickedness (compare Isaiah
48:4). (We use the term “brazen” – CY – 2014)
o
“Tin” is suggestive of hypocrisy, being brilliant in appearance, but
inferior in
substance and value. So there were
those in
who made great profession of
true religion, but whose moral
character and conduct were base.
o
“Iron” may denote harshness and cruelty. That such was a
characteristic of some of their
great men and rulers is clear from
v. 27; ch.
34:2-4; and Zephaniah 3:3.
o
“Lead,” pliable, yet not precious as compared with silver and
gold, indicates the moral dullness and stupidity of the house
of
high or holy uses (compare
Jeremiah 4:22). Thus in
there were various types of
evil character; and these types are
reproduced in
our own age and country.
Ø Here is one
characteristic which marks each of these varieties of sinful
character. They were each and all marked by degeneracy. In every one
of
these classes of evil character
there had been a lamentable deterioration.
“Thy silver is
become dross, thy wine mixed with water.” “How is the
Gold become dim!
How is the most pure gold changed!”
Thus the
Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah lamented
this deterioration.
o
There was
degeneracy of moral character. Their
affections were
corrupted; their principles were
degraded; their conscience, having
been often set at naught, was
debased. So in the sight of Him to
whom all hearts are open (Hebrews
4:13) they had become as dross.
“The house of
beginnings of sin, the initial stages of this degeneration of moral
character.
o
Degeneracy of
religious services. This deterioration
is forcibly
set forth and sternly
rebuked in Isaiah 1:11-17. Moreover, they
had become idolaters: how,
then, could their worship of the
true God be genuine and
acceptable? When personal character
degenerates, the quality of
the religious service rendered
must decline.
o
Degeneracy of
national position and power. The might
and
majesty of their kingdom
were almost entirely departed.
Their national independence was quite gone. When moral
deterioration once powerfully sets in
amongst any people,
DETERIORATION in all
other forms quickly follows. Says
Robertson, “The destiny of a nation is decided by its morals.”
Ø
The gathering of the doomed people for destruction. “Thus saith the
Lord God; because
ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will
Gather you into
the midst of
pressed by their Chaldean enemies the people from far and wide
took refuge in
for safety. So that city became as it were the furnace in which
they were
consumed by the triple fire of famine, pestilence, and
sword. Mark, how naturally and easily God effects His
purposes.
He has not to build the furnace
for their destruction: it
is already built. He has not to
force them into that furnace by
supernatural means: in their
approaching troubles they will
hasten into it of their own
accord. He controls all things for
the execution of
HIS DEEP AND RIGHTEOUS DESIGNS!
Ø
The infliction of destruction upon the doomed people.
o
It was by the
hand of God. “Thus saith
the Lord God…
I will gather you
into the midst of Jerusalem,” etc. The
Chaldeans were the instruments by which He effected
His purpose; but God
Himself was the great Agent in
the work.
o
It was an
expression of the anger of God. “So
will I gather
you in mine anger and in my fury,” etc. (vs. 20-21).
The wrath of God burns with awful
intensity against sin.
“Our God is a
consuming fire.” (Hebrews 121:29)
o
It leads to the
recognition of the hand of God.
“Ye shall know
that I the Lord have poured out my fury
upon you.” These
words do not point to their reformation
or purification. In the whole section
the judgment is
regarded, not in the light of purification, BUT IN THAT
OF DESTRUCTION, as Ezekiel usually considers the
population of
be extirpated. Moreover, dross
cannot be benefited by fire.
It cannot be
purified. After all burnings it remains
dross —
REFUSE! The fire was not to purify, but to punish them;
not to cleanse, BUT TO CONSUME THEM!.
And in its
fierce heat they
would RECOGNIZE THE DREAD
POWER OF THE
GOD whom they had forsaken for idols,
and whose word they had set at naught.
character. Seek the growth
and progress of character in the true and good.
The
Smelting Furnace (vs. 17-22)
For every material thing there is a test. We may know
metals by their
action under chemical agents, or by the furnace-flame. We
can test gases
by their power to sustain life or to sustain flame. We can
test dynamical
forces by electricity or by their power to create motion.
So for human
character there is a crucial test.
·
ADULTERATED METAL. The
seed of
They had been, compared with
other people, as silver and gold. Now they
were, in God’s esteem, only as
dross, and “His judgment is
according to
truth.” What virgin gold is in a human kingdom, true righteousness
is in the
A good man is worth more than
argosies of gold and rubies. Wisdom,
righteousness, and love, — these
are the only durable riches. They exalt
and enrich men for time and for
eternity. (see Matthew 6:19-21) Selfishness,
disobedience, and rebellion are the dross and rust which
eat out the very
life of the soul. Real riches become part
and parcel of the man.
·
THE FURNACE-FIRE. What
the material flame of the furnace is to
metals, God’s anger is to human
character. It tests the qualities of mind
and heart. As metals have no
power to resist being cast into the furnace,
neither has any man power to
exempt himself from Divine chastisement. It
comes upon all in some form or
other. In
some, humility, submission,
resignation, appear. These are precious metals — the gold
and silver of
moral excellence. In
others, fretfulness, remorse, defiance, are the effect.
These are base dross,
destitute of any worth. A myriad of men know
nothing about their characters
until trial, in some sort, comes upon them. If
milder forms of chastisement
will not melt the hardened metal, the anger of
Jehovah will wax hot. There
shall be, sooner or later, self-revelation — the
sooner the better.
·
SEPARATION. The
furnace is not merely a test of metal and alloy; it
further separates the one from
the other. Among men this separation,
resulting from God’s
visitations, is twofold.
Ø
This separation is
seen as one between man and man. The precious and
the vile become more distinguishable one from the other.
Ø
The separation is
internal. In those who turn the affliction to good
account there follows
self-inspection, self-denial, pruning. The idol is
dethroned. The vice is abandoned.
The evil is withstood and fought.
Refinement goes on within. The
darkness and the light separate.
The man comes out of the process
as gold that is purified.
·
DESTRUCTION. The
residuum of alloy is cast out as base and
worthless. God will not
tolerate falsehood, hypocrisy, or any iniquity in his
kingdom. “Every
liar shall have his portion in the lake that burneth
with fire
and brimstone.” The liar is not only the man who speaks with intention to
deceive; he is the man who has preferred to deceive himself rather than
face the truth. Unquestionably, separation,
accomplished in the furnace, is
with a view to refinement, but
also with a view of destruction to the
worthless dross. Every man has his face either toward purity or toward
perdition. The processes of God’s furnace are going on among us every
day. Are we getting better or worse?
Dross (vs. 18-22)
nation should have been God’s
precious metal, pure white silver. By sin
it has become
base metal.
Ø
Dross is an inferior substance. Characters are
deteriorated by sin.
Wickedness
lowers the very nature of a man. We
cannot commit sin
and still keep our persons in
primitive worth and dignity. We are
either exalted or degraded by
our deeds; they react upon our very
being and assimilate it to
themselves. Thus silver becomes dross;
the man made in the image of
God becomes a child of the devil
(John 8:44).
Ø
Dross may be of various kinds. There are brass,
tin, iron, and lead in
the furnace. Yet all are
counted as dross. In human life there are
various types of evil. Vice
is more picturesque than virtue because
it is more variegated. But one common
stamp is on every evil coin —
the same
diabolical effigy.
Ø
Dross is in the place of good metal. It is mixed with
silver (v. 20).
Moreover, it pretends to be the
good metal. Brass would pass as gold,
and tin as silver. Sin is
generally hypocritical. It craves the
honor of
goodness. Wheat
and tares grow together. Good and bad fishes
come to land in one net. Society
contains the good and the bad in
close association.
Ø
It is directly hurtful. Brass is poisonous. Tin is soft, and the vessel
made with it will stand
neither the heat nor the wear which silver
is capable of enduring. All the base metals readily corrode, while
the precious metals can be
kept bright. The dross of bad character
is poisonous, and a
source of weakness and corrosion to society.
Ø
It is deceptive. Passing itself off
as better metal, it succeeds in
taking the place of honor that does not belong to it. Deceitful
men worm their way into
posts of dignity which they degrade
by their evil character.
Ø
It is injurious to
the good metal. The choice silver is lost
in the dross
when the various metals are
amalgamated into one lump. Good men
are injured by
bad companions. The presence of wicked
characters
hinders the work of the good who
are joined with them in a common
enterprise.
Ø
God deals with it. We cannot always detect its presence or
distinguish between it and
good metal. Both tares and wheat
are to be let grow together
until the harvest (Matthew 13:30).
God knows the
secrets of all hearts. The great
Assayer will
not be deceived by the most
specious forgery.
Ø
God tries it in the furnace.
affliction, that the dross
might be detected. In her prosperity and
confidence she listened to
the prophets of smooth things, who
flattered her into the
notion that she was a choice nation of rare quality —
pure silver compared to the
base metal of the Gentile world. The
Captivity tried this
boast. Not only was the land laid
waste and the
city of
proved itself unequal to cope with its difficulties, and,
failing to retain its
distinctive character, melted away into the
neighboring nations, leaving
only a remnant — the true silver —
to carry on the Hebrew tradition
and earn the right of restoration.
Persecution
would show how much worldly dross there is in the
Church (Matthew 13:21).
Trouble reveals the dross of individual
souls.
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.”
A fresh section opens, and the prophet addresses himself,
not to
The words admit of the rendering, not shined upon, and
this is adopted by
Keil. The land is deprived at once of the sunshine and the rain
which are
the conditions of fertility. The Septuagint gives “not
mined upon,” and so the
two clauses are parallel and state the same
fact.(Compare Isaiah 5:6; Amos 4:7).
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.” A conspiracy of prophets. The prophet’s
thoughts go back to ch.13:1-16, from which, in v. 28, he
actually quotes It is
probable that, in the interval, fresh tidings had reached
him of the evil work
which they were doing at
I Peter 5:8). The word probably points to the loud
declamations of
the false prophets (compare, as a striking parallel,
Zephaniah 3:3-4).
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.” The sins of the
prophets are followed by these of the priests.
Their guilt was that they
blurred over the distinction between the holy and
the profane (Revised Version,
“common”), between the clean and the
unclean (compare ch.44:23;
Leviticus 10:10, where the same
terms are used), in what we have learned to call the
positive and ceremonial
ordinances of the Law, and so blunted their keenness of
perception in
regard to analogous moral distinctions. Extremes meet, and
in our Lord’s
time the same result was brought about by an exaggerated
scrupulosity
about the very things the neglect of which was, in
Ezekiel’s time, the root
of the evils which he condemns. This was true generally,
conspicuously
true in the case of the sabbath.
Its neglect was a crying evil in Ezekiel’s
time, just as its exaggeration was in the later development
of Judaism.
Though in itself positive rather than moral, to hide the eyes from its
holiness was, for these to whom the commandment had been
given, an act
of immorality.
Holy and Profane (v. 26)
Jewish Law made elaborate
distinctions between the clean and the unclean,
some of which were founded on
moral differences, some on sanitary
requirements, but others on
merely symbolical and ceremonial points.
Many of these distinctions were
only temporary, as that between certain
foods, and that between Jews and
Gentiles, the abolition of which was
revealed to Peter in his vision
at Joppa (Acts 10:15). Christ
denounced the folly of formal
distinctions (Matthew 15:11). Paul
claimed large liberty in this
respect, and pointed out the danger and
delusion of the will-worship
which was associated with too punctilious
an observance of minute external
distinctions (Colossians 2:23).
Nevertheless, there remain true
distinctions apart from the formal and
ceremonial differences.
Ø
The distinction between holiness and sin. In this distinction we
have the root out of which
the ceremonial notions of cleanness
and uncleanness sprang. The
formal notions may pass, the moral
foundation is
eternal.
Ø
The distinction between the service of God and the service of the world.
We do not want to regard the
temple as the only sacred place, so that
the forum must be relegated to
profanity. In the Christian age, “Holiness
unto the Lord” is not only to be inscribed on the bells of the high
priest;
it is to be seen on the
bells of the horses (Zechariah 14:20). But this means
a dedication of all to the service of God. If we neglect that
service and
sink into secularism, we fail to observe the holiness; we then
make all
things profane —
temple as well as forum.
SACRED AND PROFANE. We
have not now to do with definite Jewish
offences against the Law of
Moses, in which the finely drawn distinction
between the clean and the
unclean is disregarded. Sacred things of the
temple were desecrated by the
insolent heathen at Belshazzar’s feast, but
they had been first desecrated
by Jews in the house of God, while they
were touched with sinful hands
and used without holy motives. They who
are most careful to keep up the
ceremonial distinction may yet profane
sacred things.
Ø
The sabbath
is profaned, not only when the stores are open and
when crowds throng the
public resorts of amusement, but when the
congregations at church play the
part of ostentatious Pharisees, and
mock God with pretentious prayers while
their hearts and thoughts
are far from Him.
Ø
The Bible is profaned when it is
quoted to prop up a private opinion in
disregard to the royal rights of truth.
Ø
The gospel is profaned when it is preached for the sake of winning
popularity or raising money, to the neglect
of the claims of Christ
and the needs of
mankind.
Ø
The conscience, which should
be a holy standard of right, is profaned
when it is distorted by
casuistry into excusing a lack of integrity.
Ø
The body is profaned when, instead of being a temple of the
Holy Ghost, it is an instrument of
sin (I Corinthians 6:15).
Ø
The Church, which should be the
bride of the Lamb, is profaned
when she sinks into worldly
living or is divided against herself in
bitter uncharitableness.
27 “Her
princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey,
to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get
dishonest gain.”
Wolves (compare Habakkuk
1:8; Zephaniah 3:3; Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:29).
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.” (See ch.13:10.)
The fact that the prophets are addressed here gives some force to the
idea that “chiefs”
or “judges” were addressed in
v.. 27.
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.” From the
classes, the prophet turns
to the masses. The people of the land, the common people (II Kings
25:3, 19),
come under the
same condemnation. (Compare Jeremiah 5:31 – “my
people
love to have it so.” – Is that how the
quickly? The people
like it? – CY – 2014) Greed of gain, the
oppression of
the poor and the
stranger, were seem everywhere.
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.”
And I sought for a
man, etc. (For the imagery that
follows, see ch.13:5:
Psalm 106:23.) The fact stated, as in Jeremiah 5:1, is that
there was no one in
all
to be a “repairer of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12). Nothing was left but
the
righteous punishment proclaimed in v. 31.
The Dross in the Furnace (vs. 13-32)
God’s mercy and kindness scarcely anywhere appear more
manifest than in
His method of dealing with His erring people, whom He
subjects to
chastening and discipline with the view of purging away
their faults. The
figure employed by Ezekiel in this passage occurs in other
of the prophetic
writings. There is some obscurity in his expression; for it
seems as if, to
convey the fullness of his meaning, he represents the
people first as dross,
and then as the metal from which the dross is burnt away.
Perhaps his
meaning is that the ore which is smelted contains a very
large proportion of
dross compared with the genuine metal.
very qualified. There is,
indeed, metal, whether more precious as silver or
less so as iron. Yet there is
much that is worthless; so that the Lord says,
“Ye are all become
dross.” The inference is that, however
there may be
latent some possibility of good,
this can only become actual after the
subjection of it to much
discipline.
The ore is gathered, cast into
the furnace, left there, to be blown upon by
the blast of indignation, and
subjected to the heat of the fire, until it be
melted in the midst thereof.
Through such a process must
before God could take pleasure
therein. Siege, suffering, privation,
pestilence, famine, decimation,
captivity, reproach, mockery, — such were
the sufferings appointed for the
people of
fact and history, God did not
spare
had been. He poured out His fury
upon it, and for a time and for a purpose
withheld from it His clemency
and compassion.
TO RESIST OR TO ENDURE WHAT THE LORD APPOINTS. This is
expressed very powerfully in v.
14, “Can
thine heart endure, or can thine
hands be strong,
in the days that I shall deal with thee?” We are reminded
of the inquiry, “Who may
abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand
when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire.” (Malachi 3:2) The
discipline of
God’s justice is enough to overcome and break down the hard
and obdurate
hearts of men. They cannot accept it with
equanimity. They
must profit by
it OR BE CONSUMED BY IT!
vanish away;
of Eternal Wisdom
and Goodness was and ever is that the dross may be
consumed in the
furnace of affliction and trial, and
thus that the pure metal
may be brought
forth fit for the use and for the pleasure of the Most High.
The Universal Prevalence of Wickedness
and
the Consequent Certainty of
Judgment (vs. 23-31)
“And the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto
her, Thou art the
land that is not cleansed,” etc.
exhibited by Ezekiel:
Ø
In the absence of any effective correction thereof. “Thou art the
land
that is not cleansed.” This refers to the moral condition of the people.
The figure is viewed by some as
a land that is not freed from noxious
weeds, by others as not cleansed
as metals are by the refiner’s fire.
With either view the spiritual
signification is the same. “
been oft cleansing,” says Greenhill, “but was never thoroughly
cleansed. Hezekiah and Josiah
made the greatest cleansings, but all
the sin was not purged out in
their days; they took away the objects
and mediums of sin, viz. the
idols, images, groves, and high places,
but the people continued wicked;
they did not cleanse their hands
nor hearts and turn to the Lord, but returned to their former and
worse abominations, when those
good kings were gone. The
Lord had sent them many
prophets, who dealt with them several
ways to draw them to repentance…
(II Chronicles 36:15-16).
Besides these things, God oft
sent sweeping and fierce judgments
amongst them, famine, sword,
pestilence; and notwithstanding all
these, they returned not to the
Lord, but the land, that is, the people
of it, did remain uncleansed, they were like a land wherein
was nothing but weeds, nettles,
briars, and thorns.”
Ø
In its pernicious activity amongst all classes.
o
The prophets. These should have been zealous by word and example
in cleansing the land of
its sins; but they were prominent in evil-
doing. Several forms of
this are mentioned by Ezekiel.
§
Their guilty subservience
to wicked rulers. “Her prophets
have daubed for
them [i.e. the princes] with untempered
mortar,” etc. (v. 28). The clauses of this verse have come
under our notice already
(ch.13:6-7, 10; 21:29). The princes
were:
ü
insatiably covetous,
ü
grossly dishonest,
and
ü
ruthlessly cruel.
these false prophets who should have
rebuked their
wickedness, countenanced their procedure,
encouraged
their practices, and assured them that
their ways were
approved by God.
§
Their scandalous
cupidity. “They take treasure and precious
things” (v. 25). They extorted from the people their valued
possessions as the price of
their prophesying. They did not
forcibly despoil them of
their treasures, but they obtained
them by arts and devices
which disgraced the sacred office
whose functions they had
assumed. “The dogs are greedy,
they can never
have enough;… they have all turned to
their own way,
each one to his gain, from every quarter”
(Isaiah 56:11).
§
Their grievous
cruelty. “Like a roaring lion ravening the
prey: they have devoured souls;… they have made her
widows many in the
midst thereof” (v. 25). “The false
prophets rob the goods and
devour the souls, in so far
as they stand by to help forward
the robbing and
murdering acts of the great (v.
27), and sharpen not,
but rather soothe their
conscience by saying, Peace, peace,
when there is no peace. Thus
they are accomplices in the
robbing and murdering course of
the great, who have them
in their pay. They deport themselves
as smooth and
peaceful men, and present
themselves as men of tenderness,
in contrast with the rough
preachers of repentance, the true
prophets; but when examined in
the light they are thieves
and murderers.”
§
Their shameful
combination. “There is a conspiracy of
her prophets in the midst thereof.” They were solemnly
banded together for the accomplishment of their atrocious
designs. They had entered
into a compact to prophesy the
same things, and “were
careful not to contradict
each other’s lies.”
o
The priests. Two principal charges are brought against them.
§
Misinterpretation
of God’s Law. “Her priests have
done violence to
my Law.” “To violate the Law is
to
break it — to offer violence
to the Law is
to misinterpret it.” The latter
is the charge which is here
preferred against the priests. They perverted the holy
Law to make it
harmonize with the inclinations of a
sinful people,
and with their own wicked practices.
§
Profanation of
God’s institutions. “And
have profaned
mine holy things:
they have put no difference between
the holy and the
common,” etc. (v. 26). We have noticed
God’s holy things in
dealing with v. 8. “It was the
special office
of the priests to keep up the distinction
between holy and
unholy, clean and unclean,”
consecrated and common
things (Leviticus 10:10;
22:1-13). They should have
instructed the people
what meats were lawful for them,
what not; what
sacrifices were fit to be
brought to the Lord, and what
not; who were worthy, and who
not, to eat of the holy
things and to approach unto the
holy God. But this
they had not done. “The law of
the Sabbath is
given as an example. This they
rob of its deep spiritual
import, and limit it to the
external rest, as if it were given
for animals, and not for men who are to serve God in
spirit (compare v. 8). By
these doings they profaned
God Himself. “And I am profaned among them.”
The priests had degraded His infinitely holy
and exalted
character in the estimation of
the people (compare
Malachi 1:6-7).
o
The princes are
charged with:
§
Greed. They sought “to get dishonest gain.”
They had
their own resources and
revenues; but not content with
these, they coveted other
and larger resources, and
resorted to oppression to
obtain them, imposing
burdensome taxes upon the
people.
§
Cruelty. “Her princes in the midst thereof are like
wolves ravening
the prey; to shed blood,” etc.
(v. 27; and compare vs.
6-7; Zephaniah 3:3).
The covetousness of King
Ahab led to the
murder of Naboth the Jezreelite. (I Kings 21)
o
The people. “The people of the land have used
oppression, and
exercised
robbery,” etc. (v. 29). The prophet
charges them with
oppression by force and fraud.
They deceived and cheated and
robbed those whom they dared so
to treat. And they thus injured
those whom they should have
protected, viz. “the poor and needy
and the stranger.” Frequently these were specially commended
to the care of the Israelites;
and God had taken them under His
own special guardianship
(compare Exodus 22:21; Deuteronomy
10:18, 19-27:19; Psalm 10:14;
41:1; 140:12; 146:9; Proverbs 14:21;
Zechariah 7:9-10). Moreover, it is inexpressibly mean to wrong
those who are unable to defend
themselves and their rights.
Yet it is not to be wondered at
that these things were done by
the common people; for
in so doing they trod in the
footsteps
of their guides and
rulers. Thus amongst all classes
wickedness in some of its worst
forms was terribly prevalent.
Ø In the fact
that no one was found to keep back the destruction
which it was bringing upon the land. “And I sought for a man
among them that should
make up the fence,” etc. (v. 30;
compare Isaiah 59:4;
Jeremiah 5:1; and see our
homily on
ch. 13:5). The Lord represents Himself
as looking solicitously
and diligently for such a
man, but finding none. Jeremiah, by
his powerful preaching of
repentance, presented himself
as such
a public deliverer; but
they despised him, and he could
gain no
position. The man alone is
nothing. The position must be
added, and the people must
gather around him. One ‘against
whom every man contends’ cannot
avert the judgment of God;
he can only
accelerate it.”
wickedness has become so
flagrant and universally prevalent, and there is
no one to stand between the
guilty people and the approaching judgment,
the execution of judgment is
inevitable. Notice:
Ø
The dread severity of this judgment. “Therefore have I poured
out mine indignation upon them; I have
consumed them with
the fire of my
wrath” (v. 31). Words similar to these
we have
already noticed (v. 22; ch. 21:31). The judgment is so certain
that it is spoken
of as ALREADY
ACCOMPLISHED! And
as to its severity, what a
day is “the day of the indignation”
of God! Who can even conceive the terrors of his indignation?
or the dread intensity of
His wrath?
Ø
The total absence of alleviations of this judgment. “Thou art
a land that is
not rained upon in the day of indignation” (v. 24);
that is a land that in the outburst
of the Divine judgment finds
no grace; and simply, as the connection shows, because its
impurity is not removed..
The clause we are dealing with
amounts to a declaration
like this: “Thou shalt have no
mercy when the fire
of my wrath is kindled.”
Ø
The retributiveness of this
judgment. “Their own way have
I brought upon
their heads, saith the Lord God.” This aspect
of the Divine judgment has already
engaged our attention more
than once (ch.7:3-4; 9:10; 16:43).
to the wicked, both as
individuals and as communities or nations
(Psalm 2:10-12; Isaiah 55:6-7).
Common Corruption of All Classes (vs.
23-31)
To complete the picture of the debasement and moral deterioration
of
the prophet reviews the several classes of which the
population of a great city
is composed. He finds in every class signs of departure from God,
signs of
abandonment to the vices and crimes which prevailed among
the heathen
around.
DECEIVE AND LIE, AND THUS MISLEAD THE PEOPLE. In what
sense these worthless deceivers
could have been called prophets, it is not
easy to determine. Probably they
were persons who pretended to this
office, and who were deemed by
their neighbors entitled to the appellation.
But a prophet is
one who speaks for God as His representative; and of all
men deception on his part is
reprehensible. Prophets are
nothing IF NOT
TRUE! Yet
in how many cases have the multitude been misled by crafty,
designing pretenders to Divine
illumination! And not the multitude only,
but even kings and commanders
have too often given themselves over
to the virtual dictation of men
no better than soothsayers and diviners.
DIVINE LAW, VIOLATE AND PROFANE IT. The priesthood must be
regarded as part of a system,
the object of which was to maintain right
relations between the Almighty
Ruler and His chosen people. Themselves
divinely
instituted, they were peculiarly bound to
observe every ordinance
and regulation of
Heaven. Yet these are the men whom the
inspired
prophet of the Lord denounces as
doing violence to God’s Law, profaning
holy things, as breaking down the distinction between clean and unclean —
a distinction which
it was especially their office to maintain. How should
they be clean who bear the
vessels of the Lord! “Like priest, like people.”
The moral
degradation of the priesthood PROMOTED THE
DEGENERATION OF THE
NATION!
AND PROMOTE THEIR WELFARE, RAVIN, SPOIL, AND
DESTROY.
DID THAT WHICH WAS
EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD! The
deeper the nation sank in poverty,
humiliation, and despondency, the greater
the opportunity for those in
authority, by self-denial and sympathy, to improve
the state of the nation. (This
sounds like current events which too, can be
attributed to A
DEPARTURE FROM GOD! - CY – 2014). But the
wretched rulers who found
themselves in place and power appeared
indifferent to everything except
their own selfish interests, and did their
worst to hasten
and to complete the ruin which was manifestly so
near.
JUSTICE, SYMPATHY, AND
THEIR NEIGHBORS.
National life may be, and is in many cases, an
opportunity for the display of
civic and social virtues. But the abuse of the
best of institutions may make
them evil. It is the spirit in which the life of
the nation is
lived which determines the condition of the people.
Differences in power,
intelligence, and wealth always have existed, and
always will exist, in every
community. But superiority ought to be regarded
as a trust to be employed for
the public good. Where it is used for
purposes of oppression,
especially for the oppression of the poor and the
stranger, such a state of things
is a sure presage of national downfall.
“When all men live like
brothers,” a nation may defy a public enemy, a
foreign foe. But suspicion and discord lay the axe at the root of the
tree.
Such being the state of
it were for the nation’s ruin,
no wonder that to the prophet the outlook
appeared gloomy, and the day of
retribution near at hand. “I sought,” says
Jehovah, “for a man among
them, that should make up the fence, and stand
in the gap before
me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found
none.”
Highest Rank Among Men
not Sought (vs. 23-31)
The development of human civilization demands an organized
system. Men
require to be classified according to their ability and
fitness to contribute to
the welfare of the whole. For the public benefit there must
be ruler and
subject, master and servant, teacher and taught, commander
and army.
Each, according to his office, has duties and obligations,
the neglect of
which brings instant loss and distant ruin.
·
OFFICIAL RANK HAS DEFINITE RESPONSIBILITIES. We cannot
hold any office nor possess any
wealth without incurring corresponding
obligation. There is force in
the French proverb, Noblesse oblige! (with
wealth, power, and prestige come
responsibilities) Although the
sovereign
may be above written law, it is
only for expediency’s sake, and
certainly
he is under law, equally
binding, though not expressed in
words. Every
person holding office of
whatever sort or kind has undertaken
a definite
responsibility to protect or
promote certain interests of the
people. He may
be responsible for social order,
or for immunity against invaders, or
for
advancement of learning, or for development of wealth, or for the
maintenance of religion. But
some responsibility springs out of
his office.
·
HIGH RANK DOES NOT SECURE HIGH CHARACTER. Character
may and does qualify for office;
but official position does not generate
moral character. High rank has special temptations and special perils. Rank
is only a change of situation;
office is simply a change of occupation. They
involve changes only outside the
man; they do not touch or purify his real
self. A man may be an apostle,
and yet be harboring a demon in his heart.
A man may be a prophet, yet need
himself to be taught.
·
RANK HAS A CROWD OF IMITATORS AMONG INFERIOR
ORDERS. Because the
princes, priests, and prophets acted basely in
therefore the “people of the
land used oppression and exercised robbery”
(v. 29). Vice is more contagious
than fever. Rank gives artificial
importance to its
possessor, and exerts extensive influence either for evil or
for good. As a monument attracts the notice of human eyes in
proportion
to the elevation on which it is
raised, so according to the station in society
a man occupies he will have more
or fewer imitators. Wide influence is a
perilous possession.
·
THE HIGHEST RANK IS NOT DESIRED AMONG MEN, “I
sought for a man
who 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.” Real
and thorough reform is always
unpopular. Men are often eager to reform
their institutions or their
laws, but always backward to reform themselves.
A faithful prophet, who shall
recall the people back to God, has always
been a scarce man. Nor is this
the only time in which God expressed His
surprise that no intercessor for
men could be found. Yet this is the noblest
office any man can occupy. Its
aim is the very loftiest. It brings man into
companionship with God. Its fruits are permanent, yea, eternal. Alongside
this order of service every
other rank pales into insignificance. A mediator
is a peerless
man!
·
THE INFLUENCE OF ONE MAN MAY BE ENORMOUS, Had one
real man been found to reprove
the people, restore religious worship, and
plead with God,
may save a nation or plunge it into perdition. Paul, on board ship, obtained
the lives of all the crew. The
intercession of Moses brought a deed of
pardon for the Hebrew host. For
David’s sake God conferred large favors
on the nation. Luther’s firm
faith brought deliverance both spiritual and
temporal to all
imagination can scarce conceive.
A man
of wisdom, piety, and faith may
quietly revolutionize the world.
A Man to Stand in the Gap (v. 30)
The nation of the Jews is in a desperate condition.
Their defense is broken
down, and God is ready to rush in through the breach with
devastating
vengeance. But He is loath to do so, and, though His is the
threatening
power, yet in a wonderful clemency God looks for some one
to fill the gap
and so to save the devoted nation. Unhappily, no such man
is to be found.
with
lamentable condition is
observable. The sinner sets himself against
God
with a brazen face, and makes
the stoutest fence of worldly precautions
wherewith to protect himself.
But alas! this is a feeble structure. We have
not to wait long
before we discover that it has been broken through.
Trouble has come. Misfortune has
fallen on the self-complacent sinner. Or
it may be he has suffered from
severe sickness, that has weakened the
energies of his body. Possibly
his mental faculties have begun to fail. He
receives
unpleasant warning of his mortality. There
is a breach in his hedge.
cannot disregard the sins of His
people, for He is their King, and He must act
justly. He might even make a breach
at any moment, and in the awful crash
of judgment sweep away the
strongest fortifications of the soul as so much
dust and rubbish. Much more,
then, must the enfeebled soul, with ruined
fences, stand open to the
irresistible wrath of God! So long as we live
in
sin we are inviting
God to come in vengeance through the
ever-widening
breaches in our paltry defenses.
wonderful part of our subject.
Though we deserve God’s vengeance, He is
reluctant to wreak it upon us. While He is necessarily preparing to smite the
sinner, He longs to spare him. When the soul is indifferent to its own
danger, God grieves over it and
looks out for a way of escape. God now
longs to save us before we think of seeking
for our deliverance.
this for themselves. They do not
see their danger, or they are too busily
engaged upon the walls, or no
one among them is strong and brave enough
to take so perilous a position.
We cannot mend the breach in our own lives.
We cannot fortify our own souls
against the wrath of God.
seemed the most likely savior in
this time of extreme need; but even that
great prophet was not able to
stand alone against the inrushing army of
vengeance. No man can save his
neighbor from sin and ruin. The evil of the
world is too great for all the
good men in it to resist. The case of man is
hopeless if it is left only to his
fellow-man to save him.
see if there was any to save,
and wondered that there was no man. Then
His own arm brought salvation. (Isaiah 59:16)
Ø
Christ came as a
man.
A man was wanted. God coming in wrath
against mankind must be met
by a representative man.
Ø
Christ came into the world.
He stood in the breach and met the
fury of the storm. He was “made sin for us” (II Corinthians 5:21,)
and faced the
curse of the cross.
Ø
Christ came in the might of God.
(I would be amiss if I did not relate a personal testimony
here. When I was
twelve years old, I received a call from God to
“Prepare!” My reaction to
this call was to study the Bible, for what the calling, I
did not know! I thought
rather apprehensively, it might be
developed a plan of study, that in my seventy years, have
never been improved
upon! I read one
chapter consecutively and daily, from Genesis to Malachi.
I read a chapter from the Four Gospels daily and
consecutively, and I read from
Acts to Revelation, one chapter daily and consecutively, with only the
Holy Spirit to guide me. When I went to
I become exposed to the Pulpit Commentary, at the school
library.
I have studied the books of the Bible extensively from this
commentary,
a twenty-three volume work.
For Christmas in 1963, my father and mother
gave me a full set of my own. It is from these commentaries that you
see the results in this website. The Pulpit Commentary is public domain,
therefore, I am trying to share it in a more presentable
venue and that
people, unaware there is such a thing, may experience what
I have gleaned
in a life’s work. The Holy Spirit has been no less present in my studies since
the teenage years. In 1966, when getting out of college, Bro. Howard
Prather,
the pastor at
I was
a member, preached a sermon on “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.” I was convicted to respond,
offering my service to God to try and fulfill this calling. In retrospect,
I must say that I believe with all my heart that I have been where I was
supposed to be – the only problem being, doing what I was supposed to
do. I will have to give account at the Judgment as to my faithfulness or
unfaithfulness
to this calling. Thank
God, for an Advocate, Jesus Christ
the Righteous – I John 2:1 - I interpret “making up the hedge and standing
in the gap” as it applies to my calling, as thirty-four years of teaching in
high school, during a time when the JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES in
GOD, much like
teaching career, I was encouraged to learn from a guest speaker at an
opening
of the school year at the
administrators
and faculties of all the schools in
was a “Promise Keeper” and that their motto was “TO STAND IN THE
GAP AND MAKE UP THE HEDGE!” Apparently, one other, facet
of my calling has been to try to “stand in the gap and make up the hedge”
from the podium of the Adult Bible Class, which has Providentially been
carried over the air via WHOP radio. Through God’s grace, I am in the
44th year of having the opportunity to share God’s word, and probably
for the last twenty years, has also broadcasted over local television.
May God bless His Word which shall not return unto Him void! -
Isaiah 55:11 – CY – June 2014)
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