Introduction
This chapter contains three separate words of the LORD, each beginning with the phrase: “The word of the LORD came to me” (verses 1,17,23). These words of the LORD have as their common theme the defilement of Israel. The messages can be given the following titles:
1. The bloody city (verses 1-16).
2. The melting furnace (verses 17-22).
3. The wicked land (verses 23-31).
1 - 16 The Bloody City
1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. 3 You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her [interest], for defilement! 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil. 6 “Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. 7 They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you. 8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. 9 Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain [shrines]. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. 10 In you they have uncovered [their] fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity. 11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,” declares the Lord GOD. 13 “Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. 14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you. 16 You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the LORD.”‘“
This chapter is one long list of sins. The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel (verse 1). Again addressed as “the son of man” he is commanded to judge the blood city, that is Jerusalem (verse 2). The title “son of man” reminds us of the Lord Jesus, Who, as the Son of Man, is given by the Father authority to execute judgment (Jn 5:27). The city has become so depraved that God calls the city “blood city” (Eze 24:6,9). Nineveh is given a similar name (Nah 3:1). Jerusalem is given that name because of the blood that has flowed within its walls. Ezekiel has to cause the city to know all her abominations. ‘Abomination’ always has to do with idolatry. All injustice flows from it.
God tells Ezekiel what to say to Jerusalem (verse 3). He does not use flattering words. Violence and idolatry are mentioned in the same breath. Violence and idolatry have made the city guilty and defiled (verse 4). As a result, the end of the city is also in sight. God will turn the city over to the nations. Instead of being a blessing to the surrounding nations – which is God’s purpose for Jerusalem – the nations reproach Jerusalem and mock her.
This mockery comes both from the peoples near Jerusalem and from the peoples far from her (verse 5). Her guilt and defilement are so great that it is spoken of as far away as the nations. God tells her that is one “of ill repute, full of turmoil”. Defilement, sin, is the end of all togetherness. Chaos ensues. No one thinks of others anymore, for each is concerned only with and for himself.
The rulers, those in charge, have abused their power (verse 6). They have ranted violently. In doing so, they relied on their power. In their position of power they have mocked the law. They have killed people for profit. They do not care about the law of God.
The commandment to honor father and mother they trample on contemptuously (verse 7). They don’t care about their parents (Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deu 27:16; Pro 20:20). The stranger in their midst also has to suffer. This socially isolated group depends on the kindness of others to have an income. But the rulers see in this group only an opportunity to make money. They do not spare the socially weak as orphans and widows. Instead of supporting them in their tribulation they oppress them even more severely.
Of course, God also is targeted (verse 8). They don’t give Him to what He is entitled. Not only that, they treat the gifts sanctified for Him with contempt – just as they do their parents. They don’t care about justice at all (verse 9). They welcome slanderers with open arms. They hire slanderers and send them out to get people out of the way (cf. 1 Kgs 21:4-13). Then they go with them to the mountains to sacrifice to the idols and on that occasion also eat from the idol sacrifices. The disgraceful behavior of these slanderers they allow to continue in their midst undisturbed.
They also set aside all the commandments about marriage and sexuality that God has given (verses 10-11). Incest is committed in shameful and multiple ways. By “the father’s nakedness” is meant the father’s wife (cf. Deu 27:20; 2Sam 16:21-23; 1Cor 5:1). They don’t care about God’s prohibition against having intercourse with a woman who is unclean in her menstrual impurity (Lev 18:19), but humble her. The same goes for intercourse with his neighbor’s wife (Lev 18:20). The son’s wife is not safe either, but one takes her for one’s own satisfaction (Lev 18:15). The same is true of the sister (Lev 18:9,11; Deu 27:22; 2Sam 13:12).
Nothing is sacred, nothing is safe, no one is spared. God’s commandments regarding marriage and sexuality are repugnantly violated. They are guilty of abominable incest. No uncleanness is too filthy for them. In their excesses, they act “like unreasoning animals” (Jude 1:10), and not as creatures who have reason.
As easily as they trample on laws related to marriage and family, they allow themselves to be bribed to convict and put to death innocent people (verse 12). They demand excessive interest and usury from those in their power. They extort their neighbor, the compatriot. They take advantage of the neighbor’s misery to benefit themselves.
The root cause of all the sins mentioned in detail is stated at the end of verse 12: they have forgotten God. Those who live with God and ask His for will will not break His law. To them the law is completely irrelevant because they do not live with God and do not ask for His will. As a result, they know no brake on their disgusting behavior. The only limit they know for their abominable deeds is that of their possibilities.
In great indignation about Jerusalem’s criminal behavior, the LORD smites His hand (verse 13). The greed for money of her inhabitants as a root of all evil has led them to murder. The blood of the victims is among them. When the LORD comes to deal with the inhabitants, their talk will be over. Their hearts will fail and their strength will disappear when He acts against them (verse 14). They need not doubt that it will happen, for it will happen because the LORD has spoken. His speaking is His acting.
He will drive the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of the land and scatter them and disperse them among the nations in the lands around them (verse 15). In this way the LORD will cleanse Jerusalem of uncleanness. She has herself to blame for being thus profaned before the eyes of the nations (verse 16). Also, this is proof that the LORD has done it. Jerusalem will thereby know that He is the LORD.
17 - 22 The Melting Furnace
17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt [it], so I will gather [you] in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you [there] and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.’”
Immediately follows a new speaking of the LORD as a continuation of what He has just said (verse 17). He tells Ezekiel that He compares those “who are of the house of Israel” to the dross of precious metal that comes to the surface when the fire is hotly heated (verse 18; cf. Psa 119:119; Pro 25:4; Isa 1:22,25; Jer 6:27-30). Dross that comes to the surface can be scooped up from the precious metal and cast away. Israel, that is the ungodly mass, will be revealed by the judgment as worthless dross and will be scooped up and cast away.
When the Babylonian forces enter Judah, the inhabitants of the land will flee within the walls of Jerusalem (verse 19). Jerusalem then becomes the melting furnace and God’s judgment becomes the melting process. The people of the land who fled to Jerusalem and all who are already in Jerusalem are compared to five metals (verse 20). They are gathered in the midst of Jerusalem as in a furnace, in which they will melt. With them, however, no Son of Man enters the furnace, as with the friends of Daniel (Dan 3:25).
He has gathered His people into the furnace. It is also He who kindles the fire, God Himself. He will blow on them with the fire of His wrath and melt them (verse 21). Again He says that they will be melted in the midst of the city (verse 22). By this they will know that He has poured out His wrath on them.
23 - 29 The Wicked Land
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. 26 Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood [and] destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.
The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again (verse 23). He – again called “son of man” – is to speak to the land and not just to Jerusalem about their shameful behavior (verse 24). Because of their refusal to cleanse themselves, the land remains unclean. Therefore, it has received no rain and is barren. Instead of fruit for the LORD that they themselves can enjoy, His wrath comes upon them.
All sections of the people are involved in the unfaithfulness to God. First the prophets are mentioned (verse 25). They, who are to call God’s people to return to Him, as ‘colleague’, secretly make ‘price agreements’ to enrich themselves on the people. They act like a roaring lion tearing apart prey. So cruelly do they deal with God’s people for the sake of wealth and valuables they take from the people. They murder to the point that many women become widows.
The second category are the priests (verse 26). They are to present and live out the law to the people (Deu 33:10; Mal 2:7), but they adapt the law and break it themselves. They do not give God the gifts sanctified to Him, but use them for themselves (cf. 1Sam 2:16). As priests, they should know better than anyone what the distinction between holy and profane is (Lev 10:10; 11:47), but to them it is no matter of concern. Mixing of good and evil is a common thing for them, as long as it benefits themselves.
They don’t turn just a blind eye with regard to keeping the sabbath, but they close both their eyes. What God has said about the sabbath does not interest them at all. God is not being sanctified in their midst, but profaned.
The princes, the rulers, are no better than the categories already mentioned (verse 27). Instead of protecting the citizens and standing up for their rights, they think only of themselves. They cruelly engage in self-enrichment. The comparison to wolves in the midst of God’s people is telling. They tear apart their prey only to shed blood. This is how they destroy people, with the purpose of profiting from it.
Once again, the prophets come into play (verse 28). This category is characterized by falsehood, the previous by violence (verse 25). They make themselves look pretty, they act as if nothing is wrong. They moderate themselves to speak in the Name of the Lord GOD, while seeing nothing but false visions and divining lies. They say what people like to hear instead of presenting the terrible reality and calling for repentance. What they say, the LORD has not spoken, let that be clear!
The last category is the people of the land (verse 29). This group is no better than the previous categories who have some responsibility, but imitate them in their outrageous behavior. The people of the land also indulge in oppression and robbery. Poor and needy and foreigners are the victims who are robbed of their property without pity.
30 - 31 No One Stands in the Gap
30 I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.
Then we hear the astonishment of the LORD at what He notices, namely, that there is no one who knows how to direct the people in the right direction (verse 30; cf. Isa 59:16a; Psa 106:23; Jer 5:1). Evil is so common that no wall can be build up to avert the judgment of God. There is no one to stand before Him as the representative of the people to keep Him from His intention. There is no intercessor to fill the gap that has been made in the wall of separation, through which idolatry flows in freely. There is no one to stop that flow. That is how common the apostasy is.
The LORD is so appalled at this that He “poured out” His indignation on them (verse 31). It is written here in the past tense, as if it had already taken place. The people are so unchangeable in their sinful behavior that He has put an end to them by the fire of His wrath. What they get is what they themselves have asked for. Their way comes down on their own heads. They reap what they have sown.
It is an exhortation for us to stand up for God’s rights in the midst of an apostate Christianity and to stand in the gap. We can pray that God in His grace will not let judgment come yet, but will bring many back to faithfulness to Him. That is one of the greatest benefits that we can bestow on God’s people and, above all, honor God with. The Lord Jesus is the great Intercessor and Mediator. He is our example and we may follow Him in this too.