Ezekiel 22 Study Notes: Jerusalem’s Bloodshed and Corruption
God charges Jerusalem with murder, idolatry, abuse of the weak, sexual sin and bribery, all rooted in forgetting Him. He pictures Israel as worthless slag to be melted in His anger, condemns its rulers, priests, prophets and people, and finds no one to stand in the breach.
General
Why does the LORD say He will gather Israel into Jerusalem like metals into a furnace (Ezekiel 22:19-21)?
Answer: To melt them down there in His blazing anger
God tells Ezekiel that Israel has turned into dross in His sight. Dross is the worthless scum of base metals such as copper, tin, lead and iron left in a furnace after silver is refined (22:18). Because they have all become dross, God will gather them into Jerusalem the way metal workers gather metals into a furnace and blast them with fire. He will gather them in His anger, blast them with His burning wrath, and melt them within the city (22:19-21). Jerusalem itself would serve as the furnace. Then they would know that the LORD had poured out His anger on them (22:22). Isaiah had used the same picture, mourning that Jerusalem’s silver had turned to dross (Isaiah 1:22), and Jeremiah described the refining as useless because the wicked were not removed, so they were called rejected silver (Jeremiah 6:29-30).
- Ezekiel 22:18 (BSB)““Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.”God says Israel has become like the worthless slag of base metals left over when silver is refined.
- Ezekiel 22:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.”God will gather them into Jerusalem as metals are gathered into a furnace and melt them with His wrath.
- Ezekiel 22:22 (BSB)“As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’””Their melting in the city will make them know that the LORD has poured out His anger.
- Isaiah 1:22 (BSB)“Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water.”Isaiah used the same image, lamenting that Jerusalem’s silver had become worthless slag.
- Jeremiah 6:29-30 (BSB)“The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged. They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.””Jeremiah describes the refining as useless because the wicked were not removed, so God rejected them like bad silver.
Theological
For what purpose does the LORD gather Israel’s people into Jerusalem in the image of the smelting furnace (Ezekiel 22:19-21)?
Answer: To melt them down there in His blazing anger
Israel has become to God mere dross, the slag of copper, tin, lead and iron that remains in the furnace once the silver is gone (22:18). As the smelter gathers ore into the furnace and fans it with fire, God will gather the people into Jerusalem in His anger and wrath, blow on them with His fury and melt them within the city (22:19-21), so that they will know that the LORD has poured out His wrath on them (22:22). The emphasis falls on judgment rather than recovery: the city becomes the crucible of divine wrath. Isaiah had lamented that Jerusalem’s silver had become dross (Isaiah 1:22), and Jeremiah described a refining that accomplished nothing because the wicked were not removed, leaving only rejected silver (Jeremiah 6:29-30).
- Ezekiel 22:18 (BSB)““Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.”God says Israel has become like the worthless slag of base metals left over when silver is refined.
- Ezekiel 22:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you. Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.”God will gather them into Jerusalem as metals are gathered into a furnace and melt them with His wrath.
- Ezekiel 22:22 (BSB)“As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’””Their melting in the city will make them know that the LORD has poured out His anger.
- Isaiah 1:22 (BSB)“Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water.”Isaiah used the same image, lamenting that Jerusalem’s silver had become worthless slag.
- Jeremiah 6:29-30 (BSB)“The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged. They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.””Jeremiah describes the refining as useless because the wicked were not removed, so God rejected them like bad silver.
General
What charge does the LORD bring against Jerusalem’s priests (Ezekiel 22:26)?
Answer: They erased the line between holy and common things
God describes an unclean land, untouched by rain, when His anger comes (22:24) and then goes through every group within it. Its princes are like a lion roaring over a kill: they consume people, seize treasure and leave many widows (22:25). Its priests mistreat God’s law and treat His holy things as common. They draw no line between what is sacred and what is ordinary, or between clean and unclean, and they ignore His Sabbaths, so that God is dishonored among them (22:26). Its officials are like wolves, killing for dishonest gain (22:27), and even the common people extort, rob and oppress the poor, the needy and the foreigner (22:29). Making these distinctions was the priests’ appointed task from the beginning (Leviticus 10:10), and in Ezekiel’s later temple vision faithful priests do exactly this (44:23). Zephaniah describes Jerusalem’s leaders with remarkably similar charges (Zephaniah 3:3-4).
- Ezekiel 22:25 (BSB)“The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.”The princes are pictured as a roaring lion that devours people, seizes wealth and leaves many widows.
- Ezekiel 22:26 (BSB)“Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”The priests mistreat God’s law and draw no line between holy and ordinary, or clean and unclean.
- Ezekiel 22:27 (BSB)“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.”The officials are compared to wolves that tear and kill for dishonest gain.
- Ezekiel 22:29 (BSB)“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.”Ordinary people also extort, rob and oppress the poor, the needy and the foreigner.
- Leviticus 10:10 (BSB)“You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,”God charged Aaron and his sons with the duty of distinguishing holy from common and clean from unclean.
- Ezekiel 44:23 (BSB)“They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.”In the later temple vision, faithful priests teach God’s people exactly this distinction.
- Zephaniah 3:3-4 (BSB)“Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning. Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.”Zephaniah describes Jerusalem’s princes, judges, prophets and priests with strikingly similar charges.
Theological
Of what does the LORD accuse Jerusalem’s priests in the indictment of every class of society (Ezekiel 22:26)?
Answer: They erased the line between holy and common things
The oracle surveys a land unpurified and without rain when His indignation comes (22:24) and indicts every class in turn. The princes conspire like a lion that roars over a kill, devouring lives, seizing wealth and multiplying widows (22:25). The priests violate God’s law and profane His holy things, abandoning their charge to distinguish holy from common and clean from unclean, and they ignore His Sabbaths, so that He is profaned among them (22:26). The officials tear like wolves for unjust gain (22:27), and the ordinary people practice extortion and robbery against the poor, the needy and the sojourner (22:29). Corruption runs from the throne to the field. Separating holy from common was the original priestly mandate (Leviticus 10:10), restored in the vision of the faithful priesthood (44:23), and Zephaniah’s indictment of Jerusalem’s princes, judges, prophets and priests runs closely parallel (Zephaniah 3:3-4).
- Ezekiel 22:25 (BSB)“The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.”The princes are pictured as a roaring lion that devours people, seizes wealth and leaves many widows.
- Ezekiel 22:26 (BSB)“Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”The priests mistreat God’s law and draw no line between holy and ordinary, or clean and unclean.
- Ezekiel 22:27 (BSB)“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.”The officials are compared to wolves that tear and kill for dishonest gain.
- Ezekiel 22:29 (BSB)“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.”Ordinary people also extort, rob and oppress the poor, the needy and the foreigner.
- Leviticus 10:10 (BSB)“You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,”God charged Aaron and his sons with the duty of distinguishing holy from common and clean from unclean.
- Ezekiel 44:23 (BSB)“They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.”In the later temple vision, faithful priests teach God’s people exactly this distinction.
- Zephaniah 3:3-4 (BSB)“Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning. Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.”Zephaniah describes Jerusalem’s princes, judges, prophets and priests with strikingly similar charges.
General
True or False: According to Ezekiel 22:28, Jerusalem’s prophets exposed the officials’ crimes and warned them that judgment was near.
Answer: False
This is false. Instead of exposing the crimes of the city’s leaders, the prophets covered them up as if with whitewash. They did it with deceptive visions and lying predictions, claiming that the Lord GOD had spoken when He had not said anything (22:28). Ezekiel had already condemned prophets who saw false visions and claimed to speak for the LORD though He had not sent them (13:6), and who smeared whitewash over a flimsy wall while promising peace (13:10). Micah saw the same problem in his day: Jerusalem’s prophets told fortunes for money while insisting no disaster would come (Micah 3:11).
- Ezekiel 22:28 (BSB)“Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.”The prophets cover over the leaders’ crimes with false visions and claim God’s authority for words He never spoke.
- Ezekiel 13:6 (BSB)“They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.”Ezekiel had already exposed prophets who saw false visions and claimed to speak for the LORD without being sent.
- Ezekiel 13:10 (BSB)“Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,”The same chapter pictures them smearing whitewash on a flimsy wall while promising peace.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah also condemned Jerusalem’s prophets for divining for money while insisting no disaster would come.
Theological
True or False: Ezekiel 22:28 presents Jerusalem’s prophets as rebuking the officials’ violence and announcing coming judgment.
Answer: False
This is false. The prophets served as accomplices, plastering over the officials’ crimes with whitewash through deceptive visions and false omens and attaching the formula of divine authority to words the LORD never spoke (22:28). The charge repeats Ezekiel’s earlier oracle against prophets who see lying visions and invoke the LORD’s name without His commission (13:6), daubing whitewash on a flimsy wall while proclaiming peace (13:10). Micah had leveled the same accusation: Jerusalem’s prophets divined for money while assuring the people that no disaster could touch them (Micah 3:11).
- Ezekiel 22:28 (BSB)“Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.”The prophets cover over the leaders’ crimes with false visions and claim God’s authority for words He never spoke.
- Ezekiel 13:6 (BSB)“They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.”Ezekiel had already exposed prophets who saw false visions and claimed to speak for the LORD without being sent.
- Ezekiel 13:10 (BSB)“Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,”The same chapter pictures them smearing whitewash on a flimsy wall while promising peace.
- Micah 3:11 (BSB)“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.””Micah also condemned Jerusalem’s prophets for divining for money while insisting no disaster would come.
General
True or False: The LORD says He will scatter the people of Jerusalem throughout other lands and remove their uncleanness, and that through this they will know He is the LORD (Ezekiel 22:15-16).
Answer: True
This is true. God strikes His hands together in anger against the city’s dishonest gain and the blood shed in it, and He asks whether their courage and strength will hold up on the day He deals with them (22:13-14). He has spoken and He will act. He will scatter them among other nations and remove their uncleanness (22:15), and when they have become defiled in the sight of the nations they will know that He is the LORD (22:16). The law had warned that being scattered among the nations would follow persistent disobedience (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). Yet even here God’s purpose reaches past punishment, and later in the book He promises to cleanse His people Himself from all their impurity and idols (36:25).
- Ezekiel 22:13-14 (BSB)“Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.”God strikes His hands against their dishonest profit and bloodshed and asks whether their courage will hold.
- Ezekiel 22:15-16 (BSB)“I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’””He will scatter the people abroad and remove their uncleanness, and they will come to know Him as the LORD.
- Leviticus 26:33 (BSB)“But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.”The covenant warnings in the law included scattering among the nations as a consequence of disobedience.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 (BSB)“Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”Moses foretold that unfaithfulness would lead to Israel being scattered across the earth.
- Ezekiel 36:25 (BSB)“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God later promises that He Himself will wash His people clean of every impurity and idol.
Theological
True or False: The LORD declares that He will disperse Jerusalem’s people among other lands, purge their uncleanness, and so make them know that He is the LORD (Ezekiel 22:15-16).
Answer: True
This is true. God claps His hands in judgment against their unjust gain and their bloodshed and asks whether their courage will endure in the day He acts against them (22:13-14). His word is certain: He will disperse them among the nations, purge away their uncleanness (22:15), and, once they are defiled in the sight of the nations, bring them to know that He is the LORD (22:16). Dispersion was the covenant curse long threatened in the law (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). The purging in exile anticipates the fuller promise of chapter 36, where God Himself sprinkles clean water and cleanses His people from every impurity and idol (36:25), a cleansing that is His sovereign work and not their achievement.
- Ezekiel 22:13-14 (BSB)“Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.”God strikes His hands against their dishonest profit and bloodshed and asks whether their courage will hold.
- Ezekiel 22:15-16 (BSB)“I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’””He will scatter the people abroad and remove their uncleanness, and they will come to know Him as the LORD.
- Leviticus 26:33 (BSB)“But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.”The covenant warnings in the law included scattering among the nations as a consequence of disobedience.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 (BSB)“Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”Moses foretold that unfaithfulness would lead to Israel being scattered across the earth.
- Ezekiel 36:25 (BSB)“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God later promises that He Himself will wash His people clean of every impurity and idol.
General
What did the LORD search for among the people but fail to find (Ezekiel 22:30)?
Answer: Someone to rebuild the broken wall and fill the breach
God says He searched among the people for someone who would rebuild the wall and take a stand in the breach, pleading with Him for the land, so He would not have to destroy it, but He found no one (22:30). The picture is of a breach in a city wall that a defender must step into and hold. Here it means someone who would plead with God for the land. Because no one stood there, God poured out His anger and brought the people’s own conduct back on their heads (22:31). The false prophets had failed at this very task (13:5). In earlier days Moses had stood in the breach before God and turned His wrath away (Psalm 106:23), and Isaiah describes God finding nobody to plead for the people and bringing salvation by His own arm (Isaiah 59:16). Many Christians see this need finally met in Jesus Christ, who is able to rescue fully all who approach God by Him, for He lives forever to plead for them (Hebrews 7:25).
- Ezekiel 22:30 (BSB)“I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.”God looked for someone who would plead for the land before Him so that He would not destroy it, and found no one.
- Ezekiel 22:31 (BSB)“So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.””With no one to intervene, God pours out His fury and repays the people for their own conduct.
- Ezekiel 13:5 (BSB)“You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.”The false prophets had failed at this very task, never going up to the broken places in the wall.
- Psalm 106:23 (BSB)“So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.”Moses once interceded before God in the breach and turned His wrath away from Israel.
- Isaiah 59:16 (BSB)“He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.”Isaiah describes God finding nobody to plead for the people and then bringing salvation by His own arm.
- Hebrews 7:25 (BSB)“Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”Christ can rescue fully all who approach God by Him, for He lives forever to plead for them.
Theological
What did the LORD seek in vain among the people before He poured out His indignation (Ezekiel 22:30)?
Answer: Someone to rebuild the broken wall and fill the breach
The LORD sought someone who would build up the wall and take a stand in the breach, pleading before Him for the land so He would not destroy it, and He found none (22:30). The image is of a breach in the city wall that must be filled by a defender; spiritually it is the office of an intercessor standing between a holy God and a guilty people. With no one to stand there, God poured out His indignation and returned their ways on their own heads (22:31). The prophets, who should have gone up into the breaches, had not (13:5). Moses had once stood in the breach and turned God’s wrath aside (Psalm 106:23), and Isaiah portrays God, finding no intercessor, accomplishing salvation by His own arm (Isaiah 59:16). Many Christians see that missing intercessor supplied at last in Christ, the one Mediator, who fully saves all who come to God by Him; He lives forever to plead for them (Hebrews 7:25).
- Ezekiel 22:30 (BSB)“I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.”God looked for someone who would plead for the land before Him so that He would not destroy it, and found no one.
- Ezekiel 22:31 (BSB)“So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.””With no one to intervene, God pours out His fury and repays the people for their own conduct.
- Ezekiel 13:5 (BSB)“You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.”The false prophets had failed at this very task, never going up to the broken places in the wall.
- Psalm 106:23 (BSB)“So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.”Moses once interceded before God in the breach and turned His wrath away from Israel.
- Isaiah 59:16 (BSB)“He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.”Isaiah describes God finding nobody to plead for the people and then bringing salvation by His own arm.
- Hebrews 7:25 (BSB)“Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”Christ can rescue fully all who approach God by Him, for He lives forever to plead for them.
General
What two sins does the LORD first charge against Jerusalem, a city of bloodshed (Ezekiel 22:3-4)?
Answer: Murder inside its walls and the idols that defiled it
God asks Ezekiel whether he will judge this bloody city, and tells him to confront Jerusalem with all its detestable practices (22:2). The city has brought doom on itself in two ways: by spilling blood inside its walls and by making idols that made it unclean (22:3). It bears guilt for the blood it has spilled and uncleanness from its idols, and it has hurried its own end, so God has made it a mockery to the nations (22:4-5). These two sins appear together across the book. In an earlier vision God said bloodshed filled the land and perversity filled the city (9:9). Later He again calls Jerusalem a city of bloodshed (24:6), and when He looks back on the exile He names bloodshed and idols as the reasons He poured out His anger (36:18).
- Ezekiel 22:2 (BSB)““As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations”God asks Ezekiel whether he will judge the city and tells him to confront it with its detestable practices.
- Ezekiel 22:3-4 (BSB)“and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.”The city has brought guilt and defilement on itself through bloodshed and idol making, hastening its own end.
- Ezekiel 9:9 (BSB)“He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’”Earlier in the visions, God said the land was filled with killing and Jerusalem with perversity.
- Ezekiel 24:6 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.”A later oracle again pronounces woe on Jerusalem by calling it the city of bloodshed.
- Ezekiel 36:18 (BSB)“So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.”Looking back, God names the same two sins, bloodshed and idols, as the reason He poured out His wrath.
Theological
What twofold indictment opens the LORD’s case against Jerusalem, a city of bloodshed (Ezekiel 22:3-4)?
Answer: Murder inside its walls and the idols that defiled it
Ezekiel is summoned to arraign the bloody city and declare its abominations (22:2). The indictment has two counts: violent bloodshed within the city and the manufacture of idols that defile it (22:3). By these Jerusalem has incurred guilt and uncleanness and has hastened its own end, becoming a reproach and a byword among the nations (22:4-5). The pairing of murder and idolatry, sins against neighbor and against God, recurs through the book: the land full of blood and the city full of perversity (9:9), the woe pronounced on the bloody city (24:6), and the retrospective explanation of the exile, where God says He poured out His wrath for the blood spilled in the land and the idols that defiled it (36:18).
- Ezekiel 22:2 (BSB)““As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations”God asks Ezekiel whether he will judge the city and tells him to confront it with its detestable practices.
- Ezekiel 22:3-4 (BSB)“and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.”The city has brought guilt and defilement on itself through bloodshed and idol making, hastening its own end.
- Ezekiel 9:9 (BSB)“He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’”Earlier in the visions, God said the land was filled with killing and Jerusalem with perversity.
- Ezekiel 24:6 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.”A later oracle again pronounces woe on Jerusalem by calling it the city of bloodshed.
- Ezekiel 36:18 (BSB)“So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.”Looking back, God names the same two sins, bloodshed and idols, as the reason He poured out His wrath.
General
After listing the city’s many sins, what does the LORD name as lying beneath them all (Ezekiel 22:12)?
Answer: The people had forgotten the LORD Himself
The LORD lists the sins found in Jerusalem. Its princes use their strength to kill; parents are despised; foreigners are exploited and orphans and widows oppressed (22:6-7). God’s holy things are despised and His Sabbaths profaned (22:8). Slanderers aim to get people killed, some eat at the hilltop idol shrines, and people commit indecent acts (22:9) and many kinds of sexual sin (22:10-11). People take bribes to have others killed, charge interest, and cheat their neighbors (22:12). Then God names the root of it all: they have forgotten Him (22:12). These were direct violations of His law, which commanded honor for parents and the keeping of His Sabbaths (Leviticus 19:3) and forbade mistreating foreigners, widows and orphans (Exodus 22:21-22). Moses had warned that forgetting the LORD would show itself in disobedience (Deuteronomy 8:11), and here that warning has come true.
- Ezekiel 22:6-8 (BSB)“See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.”The city’s leaders use power for bloodshed, while parents, foreigners, orphans and widows are mistreated and God’s holy things are despised.
- Ezekiel 22:9 (BSB)“Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.”Slanderers seek bloodshed, and some feast at hilltop shrines and act indecently.
- Ezekiel 22:12 (BSB)“In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.”The list ends with bribery, interest and extortion, and God names the root: they have forgotten Him.
- Leviticus 19:3 (BSB)“Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.”The law commanded respect for parents and the keeping of God’s Sabbaths, the very things Jerusalem had abandoned.
- Exodus 22:21-22 (BSB)“You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.”God’s law forbade exploiting foreigners and mistreating widows and orphans.
- Deuteronomy 8:11 (BSB)“Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day.”Moses had warned Israel that forgetting the LORD would show itself in neglecting His commands.
Theological
What does the LORD identify as the root beneath the catalog of Jerusalem’s sins (Ezekiel 22:12)?
Answer: The people had forgotten the LORD Himself
The catalog moves from violence to neglect of the vulnerable to religious and sexual corruption: princes who use their might to kill, contempt for parents, exploitation of the sojourner, oppression of orphan and widow (22:6-7), contempt for God’s holy things and profaning of His Sabbaths (22:8), slanderers seeking bloodshed, feasting at the hilltop shrines and lewd conduct (22:9), sexual sins of many kinds (22:10-11), and bribery, usury and extortion (22:12). Beneath the whole list God sets a single diagnosis: they have forgotten Him (22:12). Every item breaks explicit covenant law, whether honor of parents and Sabbath (Leviticus 19:3) or protection of the foreigner, widow and orphan (Exodus 22:21-22), and Moses had warned that forgetting the LORD would show itself precisely in neglect of His commandments (Deuteronomy 8:11). Social injustice is the fruit; a heart turned from God is the root.
- Ezekiel 22:6-8 (BSB)“See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed. You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.”The city’s leaders use power for bloodshed, while parents, foreigners, orphans and widows are mistreated and God’s holy things are despised.
- Ezekiel 22:9 (BSB)“Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.”Slanderers seek bloodshed, and some feast at hilltop shrines and act indecently.
- Ezekiel 22:12 (BSB)“In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.”The list ends with bribery, interest and extortion, and God names the root: they have forgotten Him.
- Leviticus 19:3 (BSB)“Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.”The law commanded respect for parents and the keeping of God’s Sabbaths, the very things Jerusalem had abandoned.
- Exodus 22:21-22 (BSB)“You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.”God’s law forbade exploiting foreigners and mistreating widows and orphans.
- Deuteronomy 8:11 (BSB)“Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day.”Moses had warned Israel that forgetting the LORD would show itself in neglecting His commands.