Ezekiel 22:23

Ezekiel 22:23 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  

Verse twenty-four adds, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.  God said that Ezekiel was in a land that was not purified by God.  Therefore, it had not rained on them.  They needed to go into the purifying furnace once more to continue the analogy from the last few verses, so they certainly didn’t need rain.  We are not purified by a furnace as followers of Christ but by His shed blood, and if we become spiritually unclean, we need to go back under His blood to be purified once more.   

Verse twenty-five continues, 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.  God told Ezekiel that there was a conspiracy amongst His supposed prophets who were leading the people astray.  God equated this to their being like a roaring lion devouring not their bodies but their souls.  These false prophets were also taking riches for themselves while leaving many widows uncared for.  No matter how many preachers or religious leaders may together proclaim something that is against God’s law and enrich themselves while those in need are ignored, that doesn’t mean that what they are preaching or teaching is right.  One day, they will face His judgment for it, especially if they haven’t really accepted God’s gift of salvation.   

Verse twenty-six states, 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.  God then spoke of those who were supposed to be His priests.  He said they didn’t treat things that were holy to Him any different than they treated the profane things of life. They had also hidden His sabbaths from their eyes and had made Him profaned among them.  These were the people who were supposed to come to God on the part of the people, but today we as Christians are a part of the priesthood of believers and I believe this applies to every Christian, though it would especially apply to preachers and teachers.  Everything that we do should be considered holy or set aside from the world view of life and God, and too often we do not do this.  We live by the standards of the world during the week and then live by different standards when we gather in God’s name on Sunday.  This should never be the case.   

Verse twenty-seven adds, Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.  God then spoken about the princes, those who were supposed to lead the people of Israel in a Godly way in their everyday life in accordance with His commandments.  God said instead of doing this, these princes were looking to enrich themselves while using the people to do so.  I don’t believe it is ever God's intention for a certain few, especially those who are supposed to be doing what is best for all people, to enrich themselves with no concern for those they may mistreat in order to do so.   

Verse twenty-eight continues, 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. God then returned to the prophets once again, saying they had daubed the people with untampered mortar.  They may have made things look secure like untempered mortar would, but it would not stand under pressure, and neither would what they were teaching. They said that they were proclaiming God’s word, but He said they weren’t.  We need to make sure that whatever we proclaim to be God’s word actually comes from Him, especially if we claim to be His speak for Him to other people.   

Verse twenty-nine says, 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.  God then spoke about the people of Israel in general.  He said they were using oppression and robbery to vex the poor and the strangers.  I believe we can see a lot of that going on in America today and often being done in the name of God.  We can never blame our spiritual failures as followers of Christ on religious or secular rulers, since God gives each of us the ability to know what is right and what is wrong in His sight.   

Verse thirty adds. 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.  God said that He sought a man to be a hedge and stand in the gap against sin the world and He didn't find even one.  We need to pray that God can find many people in the church today who are willing to be a hedge and stand in the gap against the evil nature of the world.    

Verse thirty-one continues, 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.  God said because the people of Israel had turned away from their covenant relationship and had started to live by the laws and values of the world that He was going to pour out His wrath on them.  If we are God’s people in name only, He will one day pour out His wrath on us.  Even if we are a born-again Christian, if we begin to put the values of the world ahead of God’s commandments, He may pour out His wrath on us because of these actions.