Tyndale Open Study NotesEzekiel 22

Jerusalem was the holy city where God had placed his name. It was the spiritual center of Judah. The city represented God’s presence among his people.

But Jerusalem had become corrupt and unclean. Instead of honoring God, the city was full of violence and bloodshed. Because of this sin, God’s wrath (his just anger against sin) would come upon the city.

Now God called Ezekiel to speak like a prosecutor in a court. He announced the charges against Jerusalem that would lead to its judgment.

The people were guilty of sins against other people. They had shed innocent blood (see Genesis 9:5–6). They were also guilty of sins against God. They made idols, which God had forbidden (see Exodus 20:4–6).

These two kinds of sin made the city unclean. They made Jerusalem guilty and deserving of judgment. The people were no longer fit to stand before the holy God. As a result, Jerusalem faced certain destruction and shame.

The charges against the people of Judah and their leaders came from God's law, especially from Leviticus 18–20; 25:1–55. Israel's many sins showed a failure to honor and trust the Lord and his commands. This unfaithfulness to their covenant with the Lord could lead to only one outcome: The people of Israel would face the covenant curses (Deuteronomy 8:19–20; 28:15–68).

the foreign resident is exploited: Compare Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Leviticus 19:33–34; Deuteronomy 10:18–19.

• nakedness of their fathers: See Leviticus 18:7–8.

• they violate women during their menstrual impurity: See Leviticus 15:19–24.

God first showed his anger with the image of clapping his hands. This action expressed strong displeasure. Then he announced that he would pour out judgment.

The first judgment was exile. God would scatter the people of Judah among other nations. Through this scattering, God would remove their wickedness and cleanse them from sin.

when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations: The Lord's people were scattered among the nations instead of living in the promised land. This situation made it seem like the Lord could not fulfill his promise. However, the Lord was willing to endure this dishonor so his forgetful people could learn to remember him.

Scattering was not the only part of God’s judgment. God would also gather the people of Judah into Jerusalem for judgment.

The prophet compared this gathering to metal placed into a furnace (a very hot oven used to melt metal). A worker gathers pieces of metal and puts them into the fire to melt and refine them.

But this fire would not make the people pure. Normally, a furnace removes waste material and leaves pure metal. In this case, the people were like worthless slag (waste left over after metal is melted). Since only waste would go into the fire, only melted waste would come out.

This judgment would not cleanse or restore the people. It would destroy everything in its path.

Jerusalem had already faced judgment, but it did not lead to change. The city remained polluted (morally and spiritually unclean).

• This list of Jerusalem’s sins focuses on the wrongdoings of Judah's leaders (compare Zephaniah 3:3–4).

• princes: The princes and other leaders abused their power by killing innocent people and taking their wealth. The priests sinned by failing to teach the law, preventing people from distinguishing between holy and unholy, clean and unclean. The prophets shared false visions instead of true messages from God. As a result, the people wandered away from God because they had no guidance.

Because of the sins of these former community leaders, the Lord looked for someone to rebuild the wall and act as a true prophet (see Ezekiel 13:5). This person would intercede for the people, like Moses did after they sinned with the golden calf (Exodus 32). The Lord found no one to turn away his wrath. So he would pour out his fury on the people completely (compare Ezekiel 11:21).