Ezekiel 22:17

Ezekiel 22:17 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,   

Verse eighteen adds, 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.  God told Ezekiel that the people of Israel had become as dross, scum that forms on metal when it is purified, to Him that would be burned away in the fire.  In David and Solomon’s time, the people of Israel had been as gold, but when the kingdom was divided, they became as silver and then went down to less precious metals after that and now were just as like worthless scum left over after metal is purified. The nation of Israel, now divided into Israel and Judah, were now useless to God for the most part.  A few were still obedient, but not enough to bring honor to God.  When people of the church are obedient to God and follow His commandments, we are like pure gold, but if we allow ourselves to become disobedient to His commandments and allow things of the world to enter into our worship services or even our everyday life, we become less valuable as witnesses for Him, and one day, all that is not pure will be burned away like dross.   

Verse nineteen continues, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.  God said that since they had all become dross, or worthless to Him, He would gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, His holy city.  This would not be to honor them though. They had flocked to Jerusalem for protection, but God said that He had brought them there for another reason.  People who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but who call themselves Christians may come to the church for protection in times of trouble, but they will not find it.   

Verse twenty states, 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.  God said that just as these less valuable metals were put into the midst of the furnace to be melted, so would He show His anger to those who were falsely claiming to be His people, and one day He will do this for all people.   

Verse twenty-one adds, Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.  The people of Israel may have thought they had gathered in Jerusalem of their own accord for protection, but God said He had gathered them there to punish them for their rebellion against Him.  We may think that we will find protection in the world today by simply proclaiming ourselves to be Christians without a personal relationship with God as we gather in His name, but He may be just allowing us to gather in order to punish us when His judgment comes.   

Verse twenty-two continues, 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.  God said that just as surely as silver is melted in the furnace that the people would know that He had poured out His fury on the people of Israel because they had rejected Him and become His people in name only.  On day, when God’s judgment comes, everyone will be judged by their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and all who are not purified by that relationship will be burned away as dross.  

Ezekiel 22:13

Ezekiel 22:13 says, 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.  God said He had smitten His hand against the dishonest gain that some of the people of Isreal had gained by mistreating those less fortunate than them and the blood that they had shed unjustly.  God seemed to put gaining wealth by abusing others ahead of killing people for their own gain, though both are sins.  I believe there are many rich people today who have become rich by abusing the less fortunate that will one day have to answer to God for this, just as those who have murdered someone will.  I also believe that their greed often leads to the death of other people around the world, who starve to death while they live in luxury.   

Verse fourteen adds, 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.  God asked if the people would be able to stand His judgment when it came, and the implied answer was they couldn’t.  This was a rhetorical question.  No one is ever going to be able to stand guiltless under God’s judgment unless they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and if they have, He will have borne their guilt for them.   

Verse fifteen continues, And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.  God had brought the people of Israel into a land flowing with milk and honey after they entered into a covenant relationship with Him but now, He was going to disperse them throughout the nations that did not believe in Him.  This was going to occur because even though they as a nation were supposed to be God’s people, they as a whole had turned their back on Him.  Though they would be caught up in the dispersion, those Israelites who were in fact still living in accordance with their covenant with God would still be His people forever.  Since the people of Israel had become just like other people morally, God was going to place them in the midst of these other people who didn’t worship Him.  If we are born-again believer in Jesus Christ, we will always spiritually be a part of God’s kingdom no matter what happens to us here, but if we profess to be a Christian individually or as a nation, but have not accepted His gift of salvation and then do not live by His commandments, then we will find ourselves outside of His kingdom.  Failing occasionally to live by His commandments after we become a Christian will not keep us out of God's kingdom, but it will affect our witness for Him here and cause a rift in our relationship with Him. 

Verse sixteen concludes, And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.  God said when they were dispersed throughout the rest of the world that they would have to survive by their own power or ability because He was no longer going to fight for them.  When this happened, they would know that He is God, but it would be too late to do them any good.  If we do not accept God’s gift of salvation and enter into a covenant relationship with, after which we should live by His commandments under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will still one day know that He is God when His judgment comes, but it will be too late for it to do us any good.       

Ezekiel 22:6

Ezekiel 22:6 says, Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.  God said that all the princes of Israel, who should have been the protectors of the people, were using their power to shed blood instead, and Matthew Henry says that they enjoyed it.  If we are in a position of power today where we have it in our ability to protect people but enjoy shedding the blood of others instead, we certainly aren’t following God’s commandments.   

Verse seven adds, 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.  God said that children had become disobedient to their parents making light of what they had taught them.  We know that many children today don’t obey their parents and grow up to believe differently than their parents do, and this includes the children of Christians.  God then  said that instead of protecting and helping people, they had dealt with them by oppressing them, especially the strangers and the fatherless and the widows.  We as Christians are still called on to help protect other people, especially the fatherless, or orphans we might say, but even those without fathers may need our help, and even the strangers in the land.   

Verse eight continues, Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.  God said that the people of Israel had despised His holy things and had profaned His sabbaths.  God’s holy things today would be His commandments and even though we as followers of Christ celebrate the Lord’s Day, Sunday the first day of the week instead of the Sabbath, Saturday, we often profane it.  Since this was a message for those who were supposed to be God’s people, I have not said how the rest of the world treats these things.  We, as God’s people, cannot afford to be guilty of these things.   

Verse nine states, 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.  God said that in the midst of the people of Israel there were people who were openly sinning.  He listed several ways.  They told lies about the leaders hoping to cause this to lead to their blood being shed, they were eating in the mountains where idols were worshiped, even if they didn’t worship them, and they committed lewd acts openly.  We don't have to look very far to see lewd acts being committed openly today, and we are sometimes too willing to just go along with those who worship idols, I believe.   

Verse ten adds, In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for position. Matthew Henry says this refers to a man taking his father's wife and causing both to be polluted.  I don’t know that we see this happening too often today, but if it does, we should certainly condemn it.   

Verse eleven continues, And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.  God continues to speak about the ways the people of Israel, His chosen people, had been guilty of sexual misconduct.  At least some of these things we still see going on in the world today, but as Christians, we should never be guilty of doing these things.   

Verse twelve concludes, In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.  God then said they were guilty of many things that we today indorse, such as taking usury to increase their wealth while causing our neighbors who pay it to suffer in need.  There is still a shift in wealth upward to the few while many, many of the poorest continue to suffer, and if they come to borrow money, they are often charged exorbitant amounts of interest, or usury as it is referred to here.  This has never been God’s plan.