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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 22:1 - 22:16
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The Weight of Jerusalem's Guilt
v. 1. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
v. 2. Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge, the bloody city? so called on account of the murders committed in her and the sacrifices of children to Molech. Yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations, so that she was bound to acknowledge them, even if she was lacking in repentance.
v. 3. Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, who excels in the might of His sovereignty, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, in bloody sacrifices to idols, in judicial murders, and in civil war, that her time may come, namely, the time of her punishment, and maketh idols against herself, literally, "over herself," that is, throughout her boundaries, to defile herself, the burden and debt of idolatry bringing defilement.
v. 4. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, which placed the stamp of murder upon the entire city, and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made, the one growing forth out of the other, the defilement out of the abomination; and thou, by such transgressions, hast caused thy days to draw near, the time when sentence would be executed upon her, and art come even unto thy years, the measure of her guilt being full; therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen and a mocking to all countries, namely, by the overthrow of Jerusalem and the captivity of Judah.
v. 5. Those that be near and those that be far from thee, the neighboring nations as well as those at a distance, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed, literally, "polluted in name and full of confusion," an object of derision and loathing.
v. 6. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one, were in thee to their power, literally, "every one according to his arm," that is, to the best of his ability, to shed blood, this being their object and the end of their desire.
v. 7. In thee have they set light by father and mother, a transgression which was most sharply reproved and punished at that time; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger, treating him with injustice and deceit; in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow, although both, as helpless and depending upon others for support and protection, should have had special consideration.
v. 8. Thou hast despised Mine holy things, treating matters of which the Lord thought highly, which He had set apart to be revered properly, with contempt, and hast profaned My Sabbaths, by refusing to hallow them according to Old Testament regulations. Cf Exo_22:20; Lev_19:13; Deu_24:14.
v. 9. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood, slanderers, whose object is to bring harm upon others, preferably death; and in thee they eat upon the mountains, some of her inhabitants having become guilty of partaking of meals consecrated to idols; in the midst of thee they commit lewdness, immorality of every kind and description.
v. 10. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness, in sins of incest, Leviticus 18, 19; in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution, forcing a woman at the time of her uncleanness, Lev_18:19.
v. 11. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife, in base adultery, and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, another instance of revolting immorality; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter, his step-sister, who was within the prohibited degrees, Lev_18:9.
v. 12. In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood, accepting bribes to commit murder; thou hast taken usury and increase, the enriching of men at the cost of their neighbors being the usual thing, a form of graft in which the great majority indulged, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, overreaching them in business dealings and at all other times, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God. There was evidence indeed of this fact, for men sound in faith and love toward God cannot become guilty of such terrible trespasses.
v. 13. Behold, therefore I have smitten Mine hand, striking them both together in dismay and horror at such manifestations of wickedness, at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee, the guilt of the shedding of blood which rested upon the whole city and country.
v. 14. Can thine heart endure, be steadfast, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? when God's sentence of punishment would go into effect. It is a last warning against false security. I, the Lord, have spoken it and will do it, there being no doubt either as to His determination or to His ability to perform His sentence of punishment.
v. 15. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, Eze_12:15; Eze_20:23, and disperse thee in the countries, in captivity and exile, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee, namely, by the purging power of this sentence of punishment.
v. 16. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, literally, "thou shalt be profaned in thyself before the eyes of time heathen," all of them being witnesses of the shameful plight and degradation of Judah on account of her sins, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. The shame and disgrace which are heaped upon the sinner in the eyes of the witnesses of his downfall should at least be one point which he ought to keep in mind to deter him from further sinning.