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.    

Ezekiel 22:1

Ezekiel 22:1 says, Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  As with Ezekiel, as followers of Christ, God’s word should never stop coming to us.   

Verse two adds, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.  God asked if Ezekiel would be a judge over Jerusalem, which is referred to as a bloody city, and show them their abominations.  He wasn’t to judge people based on who he was or who they were but was to judge them as one God had called to point out their sins to them.  We are not called to judge people based on where they were born but are called on to judge their actions if they are not in accordance with God’s word for the purpose of calling them to salvation.   

Verse three continues, 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.  Ezekiel was to make it clear that it was God’s judgment that he was proclaiming and that it was based on their sinful actions.  These people were still Israelites in name, but they were not Israelites spiritually.  We may be Christians in name, but still not have a spiritual relationship with God, and if that is true, our actions will show it.   

Verse four states, 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.  God said that the sins of the people of Israel, who were shedding innocent blood and worshipping idols instead of worshipping Him and living by their covenant relationship with Him had become a laughingstock to the people who did not believe in Him.  As followers of Christ, we need to live our lives in obedience to God’s commandments and if we don't, we may become a laughingstock to the unsaved people of the world.  

Verse five adds, Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.  God said people everywhere, those close and those far off, would mock the people of Israel because of their disobedience to Him.  If we are professed Christians who are not obeying God’s law, those who live in the same country that we do and those around the world may mock us and by implication, God as well.  We may have heard people say based on the way we act in the world that if that is what it means to be a Christian, I don’t want to be one, and we need to make sure if they say that it is not based on how we personally are acting in relationship to other people.