Chapter xxii.

This chapter describes again the sins and abominations of Jerusalem. Before the sharpened sword of divine 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 the people.

I. The Violence and Abominations of Jerusalem.

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. 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. 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. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. 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. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. 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. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. 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. 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. 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. 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. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord (verses 1-16).

Jerusalem is called here a bloody city on account of the deeds of violence which were committed in her midst. Once it was a faithful city, full of judgment and righteousness; but she had become an harlot, and murderers lodged in it (Isaiah i:21). The prophets and the righteous had been killed in her midst. And He who sent these messages of warning and impending judgment, who waited so patiently for Jerusalem's repentance and the return of His people, came in the fullness of time, in the midst of His people and to that city. Before He went to the cross of Calvary, where He gave Himself and where also Jerusalem's bloodguiltiness was fearfully crowned by killing the Prince of Life (Acts iii:15), He stood before that city with tear-filled eyes and uttered those tender and never to be forgotten words: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not" (Matt. xxiii:37). And Stephen said, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers" (Acts vii:52). "His blood be upon us and our children" was their awful cry, when the bloody city delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles, and ever since they have been, Cain-like, the homeless wanderers among the nations, till some day they will acknowledge their bloodguiltiness and turn to Him. And in this chapter the Lord describes all her violence and abominations. All were guilty of violence and the shedding of blood, especially the princes, the Kings of Judah. (See Jeremiah xxvi:21 and xxxviii:4, etc.). And inasmuch as they had turned away from Jehovah and worshipped idols, moral corruption and the vile things man is capable of were likewise present.

And such are also the conditions to-day among the nations, which profess to be Christian; violence and bloodshed, moral corruption and abomination. May we not forget that the Lord, who knew Jerusalem's guilt and judged her for it, is the same to-day, who will judge the violence and the abominations on the earth among nations whose privileges have been even greater than the privileges and blessings of Jerusalem. "Thou hast forgotten Me," was Jehovah's accusation against the city. Had they remembered Jehovah's kindness, His gracious dealing with their fathers, had they remembered His Word, these abominations would not have come to pass. And the source of the violence, the bloodshed, the moral darkness in the world to-day, is, that the nations have forgotten God. The judgment of the city is again announced.

II. The Smelting Furnace.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass and iron 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. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 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 (verses 17-23).

The smelting furnace is the symbol of Jehovah's fiery indignation against Jerusalem and its inhabitants. A furnace is either for refining or for destruction. In the future the remnant of Israel will be refined by the fires of persecution and tribulation (Mal. iii:1-3). To the godly part of His earthly people He saith, "Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah xlviii:10). But here in Ezekiel's message it is not the question of refining but of punishment by fire. Israel is dross. Brass, tin, iron, lead, dross of silver are mentioned, but gold is significantly omitted. It stands for righteousness and that was lacking in Jerusalem. The fury of the Lord would fan the flame and all gathered together, like worthless metals would be melted by the wrath of the Lord.

III. The Corruption of the Prophets, the Priests and the Princes.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 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. 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. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. 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. 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. 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 head, saith the Lord God (verses 23-31).

What corruption this additional message of the Lord reveals! The land had already been cursed for the wicked deeds of its tenants. The religious leaders, the prophets, these false prophets with their lying messages, instead of saving souls and warning to flee from the wrath to come, devoured souls. The priests, called to minister in holy things, were as bad; they profaned the holy things. They were blasphemers instead of worshippers. These characteristics of false prophets and false priests are repeated in our own times. Like these false prophets whom Ezekiel describes, the modern day religious leaders, mislead the people by giving lying messages and by glossing over men's sins and not giving to them the Word of the Lord. Like priests, like people! The people were lovers of money and oppressors of the poor. Jehovah looked for a man to stand in the gap between Him and the land, but there was none. There is no help and hope in man, for all have gone astray and there is none that doeth good. But there is One--blessed be God!--who has stood in the gap, our Lord Jesus Christ. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was none to interpose, therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness, it upheld Him" (Isaiah lix:16). Through Him "all Israel" is yet to be saved and receive the promised blessings.

THE TWO SISTERS AHOLAH AND AHOLIBAH.