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.