Read Ezekiel 22
22 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.
13 “‘I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. 14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. 16 When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’”
17 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. 21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.’”
23 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profanedamong them. 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28 Her prophets whitewashthese deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Go Deeper
We tend to be a forgetful people. We forget birthdays and anniversaries, names and faces, and chores we’re supposed to do. If you forget things, you’re not alone—you’re in good company with every other human being on the planet.
Sometimes our forgetfulness comes at a low cost and can be fixed with a quick apology or explanation. If you forget to take out the trash, it’s not a big deal—you can bring it out next time they come to pick it up. If you forget a name, you can simply admit it and ask for grace. But other times our forgetfulness comes at a high price with significant consequences. For God’s people in Ezekiel 22, their forgetfulness came at an extremely high cost.
Ezekiel 22:12b says, “And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.” This forgetfulness led them to all kinds of wicked sin. They shed innocent blood and created and worshipped idols. They used their power to take advantage of the weak and vulnerable. They violated women with all kinds of sexual sin and dishonored their God-given authorities. They extorted unjust gain and accepted bribes. They forgot everything God told them and desired for them.
Their sin cost them dearly. The Lord saw them as dross that was wiped away in the refinement of silver, like impurities that lack value. So would God’s people be removed from the blessings of God. They would face judgment and separation and God would ‘disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries’ (v. 15). God would consume them with His fiery anger. Their forgetfulness cost them everything.
What if they remembered God’s love for them? What if they remembered to keep His commandments and chose to obey the Lord instead of walking away from Him? Have you forgotten what the Lord has done for you? Have you forgotten about your sin and the cost it incurred? Our sin came at the highest cost possible: the death of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. As God’s Church, let’s be men and women who remember the Lord.
Questions
- How do you remember the love of the Lord? How does your time reading the Bible remind you of His love for you?
- Think back over the last 24 hours. What are some small ways you’ve forgotten God’s love for you?
- Thank the Lord that because of His love and the work He did through His Son Jesus, followers of Christ don’t need to fear removal as if you’re dross.
Keep Digging
To understand more about dross, as referenced in Ezekiel 22, read this fascinating article on GotQuestions.org: What is the Meaning of Dross in the Bible?
3 thoughts on “Ezekiel 22”
Those God is addressing through Ezekiel are not some random pagan nation, but the very people God called his own, chosen ones who knew better but willfully chose not to do better. They had forsaken the God of their fathers, Abraham, Issac and Jacob and broken the special covenant he made with their ancestors, the one they were to embrace and teach their children to honor. Now they are compared to worthless dross, an uncleared wilderness, and a desert without rain. From the common person to the most elite, the people are corrupt as God’s holy ways have been completely abandoned. V30 gives us a picture into God’s broken heart, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” God was looking for faithful people and found no one who would lead the people back to him. Their best attempts were to cover their sins never addressing the root of their sin. Believers in Christ are tasked to be on special
mission with him, to stand in the gap, and take the gospel wherever we go as the fragrance and knowledge of him spreads throughout our land. When God looks at our generation may he not be disappointed but see equipped, willing warriors ready to rebuild a wall of righteousness to guard our land.
Standing in the gap is such a very important, beneficial , helpful way to help another person or persons. When someone has fallen off the proverbial wagon and is doing wrong when they do know what is right, we can stand in the gap between them and God. We keep lifting them up in prayer, speaking the Word to them, loving them, and continue with more prayer. People lose there way at times. I know my Mom stood in the gap for me often. I am so thankful for people in my life that do help in times of need. Our great commission is to take the Gospel to all the world. There is a huge 10/40 window of unreached people who have never heard the name Jesus. There are people willing and wanting to go but obstacles. This is another way to stand in the gap, pray for those unreached people, pray for workers, pray for obstacles to be removed so that all people have the opportunity to say Jesus.
God thank You for the availability to stand in the gap for Your people where ever they may be, in my backyard or across the world. God give them ears to hear You in the midst of life. Give me the voice to speak Your words. God thank You for those unreached people groups that the workers that want to go are able, with supplies to help and Your Word to heal and show the way. God help me to be fervent about standing in the gap for those I know need You in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!
* In Got questions there is more information on standing in the gap.
I have been dross, and I have been gold.
Said again, when I am on the throne of my life, controlling and calling all of the shots for and unto myself, I am dross.
When I am broken hearted, and wholly yielded to the God, who loves me, and gave himself for me, I am gold.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
For I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives through me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20.