Ezekiel 22:18

Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL IS TO ME BECOME DROSS: ALL THEY ARE BRASS - Israel has become a worthless compound of the dross of silver (implying not merely corruption, but degeneracy from good to bad, , especially offensive) and of the baser metals. Hence, the people must be thrown into the furnace of judgment, that the bad may be consumed and the good separated ()....

17-22 Israel, compared with other nations, had been as the gold and silver compared with baser metals. But they were now as the refuse that is consumed in the furnace, or thrown away when the silver is refined. Sinners, especially backsliding professors, are, in God's account, useless and fit for nothing. When God brings his own people into the furnace, he sits by them as the refiner by his gold, to see that they are not continued there any longer than is fitting and needful. The dross shall be wholly separated, and the good metal purified. Let those who suffer pains, or lingering sickness, and find that their hearts can scarcely bear these light and momentary afflictions, take warning to flee from the wrath to come; for if these trials are not sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the cleansing their hearts and hands from sin, far worse things will come upon them....

Verse Ezekiel 22:18. _THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL IS TO ME BECOME DROSS_] They are all like _base metal-brass, tin, iron_, and _lead_ alloyed together with _silver_. Ye must be put in the furnace, and subjected to the most intense fire, till your impurities are consumed away. No _ordinary_ means will avail any thing; the most _violent_ must be resorted to....

The fifth word of judgment. The furnace. In the besieged city the people shall be tried and purged. Ezekiel 22:18 DROSS - A frequent metaphor which denotes not only the corruption of the people, who have become like base metal, but also a future purification whereby, the “dross” being burned away, the remnant of good may appear....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 22:1, EZEKIEL 22:2 MOREOVER, etc. The word connects what follows with THE WORD OF THE LORD which began in Ezekiel 20:2. That connection is, indeed, sufficiently indicated by the recurrence of the formula, "Wilt thou judge?" (see note on Ezekiel 20:4). In obedience to the commands which that question implied, Ezekiel has once more to go through the catalogue of the sins of Judah and Jerusalem. It is not without significance that he applies the very epithet of BLOODY CITY (Hebrew, _city of bloods_

SON OF MAN, THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL IS TO ME BECOME DROSS,.... Vile, despicable, useless, and unprofitable; to which the wicked of the earth are compared, Psalms 119:119 and here the Lord's professing people, they differing nothing from them, being sadly degenerated; formerly they were as silver, and so they might be reckoned among themselves; but to God, who is omniscient, the searcher of the hearts and reins, who saw all their actions, and knew the spring of them, in his sight they were as dross: ALL THEY ARE BRASS, AND TIN, AND IRON, AND LEAD, IN THE MIDST OF THE FURNACE: or "crucible" f; where they are put together, in order to be set in the furnace, and melted down. It is not usual to put so many different metals together for melting, but separately; but here it seems to intend a mixture of them all together; and so the Targum and Septuagint render it,...

Ezekiel 22:1; Ezekiel 23:1. Before the sharpened sword of justice and retribution does its dreadful work, the Lord uncovers the guilt and vileness of the city and lays bare the corruption of her prophets, priests, and princes, as well as of the people. The violence and abomination of Jerusalem are revealed in Ezekiel 22:1; the smelting furnace in Ezekiel 22:17 is the symbol of Jehovah's fiery indignation against Jerusalem and its inhabitants. The corruption of the prophets, priests, and princes is fully uncovered in the closing section of chapter 22 ...

BRASS. copper, or bronze, FURNACE: or crucible. DROSS. Lead put into the crucible with gold or silver causes the baser metals to retire, or form _scoriae_ or dross at the sides of the crucible, leaving the pure gold or silver in the middle. But here the silver itself becomes the dross. Compare Ezekiel 22:12....

Judgment on Israel under the figure of a smelting furnace. Israel is dross and base metal, which must be flung into the furnace....

THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, &C.— _The house of Israel is to me become all of them alloy; brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace: alloy of silver are they._ Ezekiel 22:19. _Because ye are all run into alloy, therefore, behold, I will amass you together in the midst of Jerusalem._ Ezekiel 22:20. _As they amass,_ &c. _so will I amass you in mine anger and in my fury, and will put you in, and melt you._ Ezekiel 22:21. _Yea, I will amass you together,_ &c. God's vengeance is often compared to _fire;_ but here it is so in a literal sense, for both city and temple were reduced to ashes....