Ezekiel 22

Eze 22:1-31.

GOD'S

JUDGMENT ON THE

SINFULNESS OF

JERUSALEM.

Repetition of the charges in the twentieth chapter; only that there they

were stated in an historical review of the past and present; here

the present sins of the nation exclusively are brought forward.

2. See

Eze 20:4;

that is, "Wilt thou not judge?" &c. (compare

Eze 23:36).

the bloody city--literally, "the city of bloods"; so called on account

of murders perpetrated in her, and sacrifices of children to Molech

(Eze 22:3, 4, 6, 9; 24:6, 9).

3. sheddeth blood . . . that her time may come--Instead of deriving

advantage from her bloody sacrifices to idols, she only thereby brought

on herself "the time" of her punishment.

against herself--

(Pr 8:36).

4. thy days--the shorter period, namely, that of the siege.

thy years--the longer period of the captivity. The "days" and

"years" express that she is ripe for punishment.

5. infamous--They mockingly call thee, "Thou polluted one in name

(Margin), and full of confusion"

[FAIRBAIRN], (referring to the

tumultuous violence prevalent in it). Thus the nations "far and near"

mocked her as at once sullied in character and in actual fact lawless.

What a sad contrast to the Jerusalem once designated "the holy city!"

6. Rather, "The princes . . . each according to his

power, were in thee, to shed blood" (as if this was the only object of

their existence). "Power," literally, "arm"; they, who ought to have

been patterns of justice, made their own arm of might their only

law.

7. set light by--Children have made light of, disrespected,

father . . .

(De 27:16).

At

Eze 22:7-12

are enumerated the sins committed in violation of Moses' law.

9. men that carry tales--informers, who by

misrepresentations cause innocent blood to be shed

(Le 19:16).

Literally, "one who goes to and fro as a merchant."

10. set apart for pollution--that is, set apart

as unclean

(Le 18:19).

12. forgotten me--

(De 32:18;

Jer 2:32; 3:21).

13. smitten mine hand--in token of the indignant vengeance which I will

execute on thee (see on

Eze 21:17).

14.

(Eze 21:7).

15. consume thy filthiness out of thee--the object of God in scattering

the Jews.

16. take thine inheritance in thyself--Formerly thou wast Mine

inheritance; but now, full of guilt, thou art no longer Mine, but

thine own inheritance to thyself; "in the sight of the heathen,"

that is, even they shall see that, now that thou hast become a captive,

thou art no longer owned as Mine

[VATABLUS].

FAIRBAIRN and others

needlessly take the Hebrew from a different root, "thou shalt be

polluted by ('in,'

[HENDERSON]) thyself," &c.; the heathen

shall regard thee as a polluted thing, who hast brought thine own

reproach on thyself.

18. dross . . . brass--Israel has become a worthless

compound of the dross of silver (implying not merely corruption, but

degeneracy from good to bad,

Isa 1:22,

especially offensive) and of the baser metals. Hence the people must

be thrown into the furnace of judgment, that the bad may be consumed,

and the good separated

(Jer 6:29, 30).

23. From this verse to the end he shows the general corruption of all

ranks.

24. land . . . not cleansed--not cleared or cultivated; all a scene

of desolation; a fit emblem of the moral wilderness state of the people.

nor rained upon--a mark of divine "indignation"; as the early and

latter rain, on which the productiveness of the land depended, was one

of the great covenant blessings. Joel

(Joe 2:23)

promises the return of the former and latter rain, with the restoration

of God's favor.

25. conspiracy--The false prophets have conspired both to propagate

error and to oppose the messages of God's servants. They are mentioned

first, as their bad influence extended the widest.

prey--Their aim was greed of gain, "treasure, and precious things"

(Ho 6:9;

Zep 3:3, 4;

Mt 23:14).

made . . . many widows--by occasioning, through false prophecies, the

war with the Chaldeans in which the husbands fell.

26. Her priests--whose "lips should have kept knowledge"

(Mal 2:7).

violated--not simply transgressed; but, have done violence to the law, by wresting it to wrong ends, and putting wrong constructions

on it.

put no difference between the holy and profane, &c.--made no

distinction between the clean and unclean

(Le 10:10),

the Sabbath and other days, sanctioning violations of that holy day.

"Holy" means, what is dedicated to God; "profane," what is in

common use; "unclean," what is forbidden to be eaten;

"clean," what is lawful to be eaten.

I am profaned among them--They abuse My name to false or unjust

purposes.

27. princes--who should have employed the influence of their position

for the people's welfare, made "gain" their sole aim.

wolves--notorious for fierce and ravening cruelty

(Mic 3:2, 3, 9-11;

Joh 10:12).

28. Referring to the false assurances of peace with which the prophets

flattered the people, that they should not submit to the king of Babylon

(see on

Eze 13:10;

Eze 21:29;

Jer 6:14; 23:16, 17; 27:9, 10).

29. The people--put last, after the mention of those in office.

Corruption had spread downwards through the whole community.

wrongfully--that is, "without cause," gratuitously, without the

stranger proselyte giving any just provocation; nay, he of all others

being one who ought to have been won to the worship of Jehovah by

kindness, instead of being alienated by oppression; especially as the

Israelites were commanded to remember that they themselves had been

"strangers in Egypt"

(Ex 22:21; 23:9).

30. the hedge--the wall

(see on

Eze 13:5);

image for leading the people to repentance.

the gap--the breach

(Ps 106:23);

image for interceding between the people and God

(Ge 20:7;

Ex 32:11;

Nu 16:48).

I found none--

(Jer 5:1)

--not that literally there was not a righteous man in the city. For

Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., were still there; but Jeremiah had been

forbidden to pray for the people

(Jer 11:14),

as being doomed to wrath. None now, of the godly, knowing the desperate

state of the people, and God's purpose as to them, was willing

longer to interpose between God's wrath and them. And none "among

them," that is, among those just enumerated as guilty of such sins

(Eze 22:25-29),

was morally able for such an office.

31. their own way . . . recompensed upon their

heads--

(Eze 9:10; 11:21; 16:43;

Pr 1:31;

Isa 3:11;

Jer 6:19).