The Bible says in Ezekiel 22:17-22, And the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,[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.[19] Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become
dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.[20]
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.[21]
Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall
be melted in the midst thereof.[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. When metal is heated
to a high enough of a temperature, the metal melts. The metal cannot resist the
heat. The heat in the furnace is too much. But the dross is burned up: the impurities in the metal is burned up. God said to the
Israelites that they are the dross. In other words they will be burnt up. What
lesson can we learn from this judgment that fell upon the Israelites? The New
Testament puts it this way: It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of
the living God. If I were you, I would try to do the right thing, and avoid
something similar happening in your own life. It is a good thing that we have a
Savior who is merciful and forgiving when we fail. If He was not so merciful,
each of us would have a fiery judgment in our lives too. That is the difference
between law and grace.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 22:23-29, 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.[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.[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.[27] Her
princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood,
and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.[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.[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. The first
thing that God says in these verses is that the people of Israel are not
cleansed. In other words they have not been forgiven of their sins. We have
all sinned, and therefore, we all need to be forgiven by Jesus.
God begins listing to the Israelites
some of their sins. In verse 25 God says that there is a conspiracy
of her prophets. Something was wrong with the prophets. They were not prophets
from God. A conspiracy speaks of deceit and an organized effort to oppose the
truth from God. Prophets from God should be in the business of the salvation of
souls through preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But verse 25 says, they have devoured souls. What was
their real goal? That also is explained in verse 25: they have
taken the treasure and precious things. They were using religion to gain
material things. They were greedy of gain and desired filthy lucre. Not only
the prophets, but also the priests were evil. God said in verse 26, Her priests
have violated my law. In what way had the priests violated the law? What were they
doing that was so evil? That also is described in verse 26: they have
put no difference between the holy and profane. A preacher should tell the
truth without compromise. A preacher should speak forth the Word no matter who
is offended. People need to hear the truth of the Bible, and they need to be
reminded of what is good and what is evil. If the preacher does not do it, who
will? Obviously, God does not like such evil prophets and priests as they had
in Israel.
Not only were the religious leaders in
Israel evil, but also the political leaders were evil. Her princes
in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey. Who were the prey: the citizens. The leaders were using their
power to take advantage of the citizens. They did not care about the citizens
under them. The leaders were corrupt and they used their power for themselves
and for their own benefit. Sound familiar?
In verse 28 God speaks about the
prophets once again and says about them, And her prophets have daubed them
with untempered morter. Mortar is
important for holding bricks together so that what you are building will be
strong and will last. One of the results of good preaching is that it will help
build lives. Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. God sends preachers for
a reason: to feed the sheep. There is nothing worse than a preacher who uses untempered morter. He has
failed at his responsibilities. The false preachers are described as saying: Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. If anyone
does not teach the Bible, then that is exactly what they end up doing. They are
preachers. They claim to have messages from God, but they do not. This happens
with those who teach the false doctrines of cults. This also happens with those
who are in the official Christian churches, but who teach their own ideas or
the traditions of their church instead of the truth from Gods Word.
It was not only the political leaders
and religious leaders who were evil. It was also the common man. God said in
verse 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. The entire society was corrupt, the vast majority of people would
not repent and change their ways, and therefore, Gods judgment upon their
nation was assured.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30-31, 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.
Verse 30 is a tremendous verse. God said, I
sought for a man. There are not many men
left: not men of God, that is. God uses men to preach the Gospel and to teach
the Bible, but there has to be someone who is willing to speak the truth. What
did God want a man to do: make up the hedge and stand in the gap. Someone needs to tell the truth. Someone needs to stand
for what is right. Someone needs to teach the Bible instead of the traditions
of man. Notice that God said He was looking for a man. Just one man, that is all
that God needed. You plus God is a majority. What was at stake here: the entire
nation. God used just one man, Jonah, to save the
entire city-state of Nineveh. And God just wanted one man to preach to Israel. And
sadly God said at the end of verse 30, but
I found none. Because God found no man would
make up the hedge or stand in the gap, God said in verse 31, Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them. God wants to use people. Can the Lord count on you?
The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:1-10, The word of
the LORD came again unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, there were two
women, the daughters of one mother:[3] And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms
in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the
teats of their virginity.[4] And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah
her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were
their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.[5] And Aholah
played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the
Assyrians her neighbours,[6] Which were
clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men,
horsemen riding upon horses.[7] Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men
of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled
herself.[8] Neither left she her whoredoms
brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the
breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.[9]
Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of
the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.[10] These discovered her nakedness:
they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she
became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.
After the death of King Solomon, Israel divided up through civil war into two
nations. The northern nation was called Israel and had its capital of Samaria.
The other was called Judah and had its capital in Jerusalem. In these verses
God is condemning both cities, pointing out that they were like sisters because
they were both alike: they were whores from a spiritual standpoint because they
had turned away from God to false religion. And God uses very graphic language
here to describe these whores. God knows the female body. He designed it.
Israel and Judah should have been faithful to the Lord, but they were not. They
had other lovers. The first commandment is: Thou
shalt have no other gods before me. Every
believer must ask the question, How much do I really love the Lord.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:11-22, And when her
sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her
inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more
than her sister in her whoredoms.[12] She
doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and
rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them
desirable young men.[13] Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took
both one way,[14] And that she increased her whoredoms:
for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the
images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,[15]
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their
heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of
Chaldea, the land of their nativity:[16] And as soon as she saw them
with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.[17]
And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with
their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from
them.[18] So she discovered her whoredoms, and
discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind
was alienated from her sister.[19] Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.[20] For she
doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose
issue is like the issue of horses.[21] Thus thou calledst
to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the
Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.[22]
There, O Aholibah, thus saith
the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy
mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;
God is in control. He decides what will happen. Human beings do not have as
much control as they think they do. The best made plans of mice and men do not
work out so well. The people of Israel and Judah were so impressed by the
Assyrians and Babylonians that they wanted to copy them and be like them. That
was a mistake. That was their harlotry. And so they reaped what they had sown.
They violated an important spiritual principle: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. This was against Gods will for His people. The people
of Israel thought they would get pleasure and enjoyment from the Assyrians and
the Babylonians, but God determined differently. God said in verse 22, Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from
whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side. Without Jesus your way will also be the way of death. If
you do not get saved, all your plans for pleasure and happiness will end in the
same way that they did for the Israelites: destruction.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2016 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved