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Texts -- Ezekiel 22:1-24 (NET)

Context
The Sins of Jerusalem
22:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:2 “As for you , son of man , are you willing to pronounce judgment , are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city ? Then confront her with all her abominable deeds ! 22:3 Then say , ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says : O city , who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom ), and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity ), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made . You have hastened the day of your doom ; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations , an object to be mocked by all lands . 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation , full of turmoil . 22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood . 22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths ! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ; they commit obscene acts among you. 22:10 They have sex with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. 22:11 One commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife ; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law ; another violates his sister – his father’s daughter – within you. 22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood . You engage in usury and charge interest ; you extort money from your neighbors . You have forgotten me, declares the sovereign Lord . 22:13 “‘See , I strike my hands together at the dishonest profit you have made , and at the bloodshed they have done among you. 22:14 Can your heart endure , or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? I , the Lord , have spoken , and I will do it! 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries ; I will remove your impurity from you. 22:16 You will be profaned within yourself in the sight of the nations ; then you will know that I am the Lord .’” 22:17 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:18 “Son of man , the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze , tin , iron , and lead in the furnace ; they are the worthless slag of silver . 22:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says : ‘Because all of you have become slag , look out!– I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem . 22:20 As silver , bronze , iron , lead , and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage . I will deposit you there and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury , and you will be melted in it . 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace , so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I , the Lord , have poured out my anger on you.’” 22:23 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:24 “Son of man , say to her: ‘You are a land that receives no rain or showers in the day of my anger .’

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chs. 8 and 11) the Lord carried t...
  • There are two major structural peculiarities that set Ezekiel off as distinctive.First, the book is a collection of prophecies arranged in almost consistent chronological order. No other prophetical book is as consistently ch...
  • Ezekiel began prophesying when he was 30 years old, and he had gone into captivity five years before that. Thus Ezekiel was familiar with Jeremiah's preaching and ministry. Ezekiel shows quite a bit of similarity to Jeremiah ...
  • I. Ezekiel's calling and commission chs. 1-3A. The vision of God's glory ch. 11. The setting of the vision 1:1-32. The vision proper 1:4-28B. The Lord's charge to Ezekiel chs. 2-31. The recipients of Ezekiel's ministry 2:1-52...
  • This pericope contains 10 commands, and it is the center of the chiasm in chapters 1-3."The Lord's charge to Ezekiel emphasized the absolute necessity of hearing, understanding, and assimilating God's message prior to going f...
  • ". . . the focus of chap. 6 is on the individual responsibility of the people and prepares the way for the subsequent spoken messages."1216:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to pronounce an oracle of judgment against "the mountai...
  • 16:44-47 Other people would quote the proverb, "Like mother, like daughter,"in regard to Jerusalem. She was like her Hittite "mother"who was also idolatrous and selfish. And she was like her older (larger) sister, Samaria, an...
  • 21:8-10 Another of Ezekiel's messages was to be poetic. He was to announce that a sword had been sharpened and polished and was now ready to go to work slaughtering people quickly."A sword, a veritable Excalibur with a life o...
  • The Lord now clarified one of the primary reasons for the sword that was fast approaching Jerusalem and Judah. This reason was the sins of the present generation of Judahites, especially its leaders. In chapter 20 the prophet...
  • 22:1-2 Another message came from the Lord instructing Ezekiel to remind the residents of the bloody city of Jerusalem about all their abominations (cf. 20:4). A list of specific sins was necessary for him to pronounce judgmen...
  • 22:17-20 The Lord also compared the present Judahites to the base metals that separate from silver in the refining process. He planned to gather them in Jerusalem, His crucible, and subject them to a trial by fire, as refiner...
  • "Often the prophets are inspired to compose attacks on the leadership of Israelite society. The reason for this phenomenon is clear enough: the nation could never have become sufficiently corrupt to merit the outpouring of Go...
  • This chapter is the final climactic one in Ezekiel's collection of messages that condemn Israel's defective leadership (chs. 20-23).Both chapters 16 and 23 describe Israel as a prostitute, but there are significant difference...
  • This final message brings Oholah and Oholibah back together and passes judgment on all Israel. It is a summary oracle for the section that indicts Israel's leaders (chs. 20-23).23:36-37 The Lord called Ezekiel to pass judgmen...
  • 24:6 Ezekiel was then to announce woe on the bloody city (no longer the holy city) of Jerusalem (cf. Nah. 3:1), which the pot represented (cf. 11:3, 7, 11; Jer. 1:13-14). The pot had rust (Heb. hel'ah) in it that evidently st...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • "This last major division of the book focuses on the restoration of Israel's blessing. Israel would be judged for her sin (chaps. 1-24) as would the surrounding nations (chaps. 25-32). But Israel will not remain under judgmen...
  • Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six me...
  • This part of Ezekiel's message of warning to the exiles is similar to 3:16-21. Yahweh recommissioned Ezekiel to his prophetic task (cf. chs. 2-3)."Now that Ezekiel's original ministry of judgment was completed, God appointed ...
  • The Book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of God's glory (ch. 1), records the departure of God's glory (chs. 8-11), and ends with another vision of God's glory (chs. 40-48). This is the longest vision outside the Book of Revel...
  • The Lord next gave Ezekiel directions for the division of some of the Promised Land in the future. Revelation about apportioning the rest of the land follows later (47:13-48:35). These descriptions do not coincide with any di...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.Alexander, Ralph H. Ezekiel. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976._____. "Ezekiel."In Isaiah-Ezekiel. Vol. 6 of The Expo...
  • That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
  • The writer pointed out the consequences of not pressing on to maturity to motivate his readers to pursue spiritual growth diligently.Christians have interpreted this passage in many different ways. Some believe that those who...
  • James proceeded to explain in 1:26-2:13 what a doer of works (1:25) does.1:26 "Religious"(Gr. threskos, used here only in the New Testament) describes someone who fears or worships God. In particular, it refers to the outward...
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