Ezekiel 22:1-31

Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’

The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God

Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 22

• God told Ezekiel to declare judgement against Jerusalem. The words of this *prophecy are like the judge’s words in a court. Ezekiel had to accuse Jerusalem and Judah because of the *sins of the inhabitants. So, he speaks to Jerusalem as if the city itself was guilty for those *sins.

The wicked acts of the *Israelites – Ezekiel 22:1-16

v1 The *LORD spoke to me. v2 ‘You, *son of man, you will be the judge. You will be the judge of this city where there are so many murders. So, tell Jerusalem that it is guilty for all its wicked acts. v3 Declare: “The *LORD your King says this to the city. You (Jerusalem) kill those who live in you. So, your time of punishment has come. You made false gods and you ruined yourself. v4 You are guilty of murder. And you are guilty because of your false gods that you have made. So, your time of punishment will come soon. That is why I have caused the nations to insult you. And all countries laugh at you. v5 Nations that are near you laugh at you. And nations that are far away laugh at you. You are a wicked city, full of confusion.

v6 Look at the princes of *Israel who are in you (Jerusalem). Each of them uses his power in order to kill people. v7 In you, people hate their fathers and mothers. In you, people deal badly with strangers. In you, people do wicked things against the widows and against the children who have no parents. v8 You hate my holy things and you do not obey my rules for the *Sabbaths. v9 In you, people tell lies to cause the death of other people. In you, people eat food that they have offered to false gods at the mountain places. In you, people do disgusting sex acts. v10 In you, men have sex with the wives of their fathers. In you, men have sex with women during the time of the month when they bleed. v11 In you, one man does a wicked act with the wife of his neighbour. Another man has sex with his daughter in law (that is, his son’s wife). And another man forces his half sister (his father’s daughter) to have sex with him. v12 In you, men kill other people for money. You charge too much money when you take profit from loans. You take money from your neighbours by unfair means. And you have forgotten me, declares the *LORD your King.

v13 You steal money and you murder people in the middle of your city. Therefore, because of my anger, I will strike my hands together. v14 I will punish you. In that day, you will not have courage and you will not be strong enough. I, the *LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. v15 I will scatter you among the nations and I will send you to live in foreign countries. I will force you to stop your evil actions. v16 But as for you, the nations will cause you to be ashamed. Then you will know that I am the *LORD.” ’

Verses 1-5 Twice, the *Lord tells Ezekiel to declare the judgement against Jerusalem. The matter is now urgent. Ezekiel must tell the people what their crimes are. This is not a matter of history. The people in the city are now doing these evil things. They have killed so many people in the city of Jerusalem. They have *turned from the real God to serve false gods. They are guilty of every evil deed. They are wicked and cruel. That is why they are suffering now. Soon the final punishment from God will come to them. God will destroy Jerusalem.

The nations round about could see the *sin of Jerusalem. They could see that it was guilty of so many evil things. And they laughed at the city.

Verse 6 The chief cause of the evil behaviour in Jerusalem was its leaders. They should have led the people to do the right things. They should have taught them the law of God. But, the leaders were even more guilty than the rest of the people.

Manasseh had been a bad king. He ruled for 55 years (2 Kings chapter 21). Then there was a good king. Josiah ruled for 31 years (2 Kings Chapter s 22 to 23). But his efforts to bring the people back to God did not last. After him, there were more bad kings. And the nation was as bad as it was before.

All the leaders were using their power for their own desires. They even caused the deaths of many people in Jerusalem.

Verse 7 Ezekiel makes a list of the wrong things that the people did in Jerusalem. Each of these actions was against the laws that God gave to Moses.

The law says that we should respect our parents (Exodus 20:12). The people hated their fathers and mothers. We ought to give a welcome to strangers and to help them (Leviticus 19:34). The people robbed and attacked the strangers. We have a duty to take care of children who have no fathers. We should help widows (Exodus 22:22). But the people in Jerusalem did not care. They refused to assist those people who needed help. They did all kinds of wicked things to those people who were weaker. They did not respect other people.

Verse 8 The leaders did not respect God. They did evil things in the *temple. They even put false gods there. The *Lord had told them to make the *Sabbaths special (Exodus 20:8-11). He gave them rules for these special days. But the leaders and the people would not obey God’s rules. They did not respect the *Lord their God.

Verses 9-12 The law says that we should not be false witnesses (Exodus 20:16). We should speak the truth. But in Jerusalem, the inhabitants told terrible lies. What they said was false. As a result, they killed innocent people.

We should *worship only the one real God (Exodus 20:3-4). But the people served false gods in every high place.

The list continues with all kinds of sex *sins. All of these *sins are against the laws of God.

The reason for many of their crimes was the people’s desire for money. They murdered and they cheated.

The main cause of all their *sins was that they had forgotten the *Lord God. They did not remember that they were responsible to him.

Verses 13-16 God struck his hands together, because of his anger. In other words, we could say that he shook his fist at them. This means that God would punish them. Jerusalem would not stand through the days of punishment. God had told the people that he would destroy Jerusalem. They could not stand against God. They did not have enough courage. And, of course, they were not strong enough.

Some people would escape death in Jerusalem. But God would scatter them across the nations. From that time, they would stop serving false gods. They would be ashamed of what they had done. They will then know that the *Lord is God.

The anger of the *Lord against *Israel – Ezekiel 22:17-31

v17 The *LORD spoke to me again. v18 ‘*Son of man, the *Israelites have become as rubbish to me. They are like the waste metals (copper, tin, iron, and lead) in the fire. They are like the waste metals when a workman makes silver pure. v19 Therefore, this is what the *LORD your King says. “Because you have become rubbish, I will bring you all into Jerusalem. v20 People put metals (silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin) in the fire to melt them. So, I will gather you and put you in the city. And my anger will have the same effect on you as the fire has on the metals. The fire melts those metals. And it will be as if I am melting you. v21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with the fire of my anger. The fire will melt you, inside the city. v22 As one melts silver in a fire, I will melt you inside the city. Then you will know that I, the *LORD, have *poured out my anger on you.’’ ’

v23 The *LORD spoke to me again. v24 ‘*Son of man, speak to the country called *Israel. “You are a dry country, without any rain or showers, when God is angry.” v25 The rulers of *Israel make evil plans. They are like lions that roar. Lions tear and kill other animals. So, the rulers have killed people and they have taken their precious things. Many women have become widows because of what the rulers have done. v26 The priests in Jerusalem do not obey my law. They refuse to respect my holy things. They make no difference between holy things and things that are not holy. They teach that *clean and *unclean things are alike. To them, my *Sabbaths are like any other day. So, my people no longer give honour to me. v27 The leaders of Jerusalem have killed people for profit. They are like *wolves that tear dead animals in pieces. v28 The *prophets hide these deeds by false *visions and they tell lies in my name. They act as if they are using paint to cover cracks in a wall. They say, “The *LORD your King says this.” But I, the *LORD have not spoken to them. v29 The people in the country cheat and they steal. They are cruel to poor people and to those people who need help. They cheat foreigners and they do not deal fairly with them.’’

v30 I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall. I looked for a man who would stand for me in the gap. He would be there on behalf of the country so that I would not destroy it. But I could not find such a man. v31 Therefore, I have *poured out my anger upon the people. I killed them with my anger that was like fire. I did this because of all the evil things that they have done. This is what I, the *LORD, declare to you.’

Verses 17-22 The fire melts metals. The things that are not pure metal rise to the top. The worker will throw this rubbish away. The people in Judah are like this rubbish. The *Lord will throw them away.

When the workman makes silver pure, the heat of the fire melts the metals. At the right heat, other metals will remain in the fire as one removes the silver. To the man who makes things of silver, such waste metals are of no use. To the *Lord, the people in Judah are like these waste metals.

The *Lord uses this process to show how he will kill the people in Jerusalem. The fire (which means his anger) will burn against them. He will send the army of Babylon to carry out the punishment. They will destroy Jerusalem and they will kill its inhabitants. They will burn the city with an actual fire.

The fire that destroys is a picture in words. It shows what actually happened in the years 588 to 586 *BC. Ezekiel wrote this about three years before it happened. And then the people will know that this is a punishment from the *Lord.

Verses 23-24 God had promised rain to the *Israelites if they obeyed him. He promised to stop the rain if they did not obey him (Deuteronomy 11:14-17). They did not obey him and he was angry with them. Therefore, there was no rain on the land.

Verses 25-29 The leaders had worked together for their own benefit. They did not care about the people. The leaders simply wanted to become rich. They did not serve God or obey him. The result of their evil acts was that many people died.

The priests should have taught the people to know God. They should have been the agents of God for the people. They should have obeyed the law of God and they should have taught the people as well. But the priests did not obey the law and they did not teach the people. They did not respect the *temple or the work of God. They did not keep the *Sabbaths as special days. They did not respect the *Lord God.

The leaders of Jerusalem were wicked men. They killed people and they stole their wealth. The *prophets should have spoken against these evil deeds. But they did not do so. Instead, they gave false *prophecies. They spoke as if these deeds were good. They lied. They said that they spoke the *Lord’s messages. But the *Lord had not spoken to them. (See Ezekiel 13:1-23)

The people did what their leaders did. They cheated and they robbed the poor people, the weak people and the foreigners.

Verses 30-31 There were true *prophets, for example Ezekiel and Jeremiah. But the leaders and the people would not listen to the true *prophets. God looked for someone who would lead the people to do the right things. Such a person would cause them to *repent and to *turn to God. That person would be like a workman who repairs a wall. Or he would be like a soldier who defends the gap in a city’s wall. His actions would be the opposite of the actions of the false *prophets. They were acting like bad workers who merely cover a weak wall with paint.

So, God looked for a man whom he could trust. He looked for a man who could come to him on behalf of the country. God did not want to destroy the country. But there was no other way. Such a man did not exist. So, God destroyed Judah. His anger was like a fire that nobody could put out.

Ezekiel wrote this as if it had already happened. But the final *disaster was still a few years ahead. The end would happen in 586 *BC.

sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.

'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week. God told the Israelites to keep it as a special day.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
clean ~ acceptable to God.
unclean ~ unfit for sacred purposes. Unclean food is food that the Jews should not eat because of their religion. When the temple was unclean, it was not right for the worship of God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
wolves ~ wild animals that are similar to large dogs.
prophet ~ person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future. However, false prophets are people who merely pretend to speak God’s words.
vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and turn to God.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.