The Saddest Words: It Might Have Been

Series on Ezekiel

I. The Destruction of Jerusalem

M. Furnace of Affliction, Text: 22: 1-31

Title: The Saddest Words: It Might Have Been

Introduction

Here we have one of the lengthiest catalogs of sin in the Bible. Men have compared our present moral decline to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It is not less comparable to the history of Israel written here in blood and bloodshed. Our nation is not a theocracy like Israel, nor is it chosen as they were, but it has been uniquely blessed. Is our prosperity not from God? Aren’t the blessings of freedom a gift of the Almighty? Isn’t our history the story of many Christian patriots? Have we not sent out more missionaries and ministered to the spiritual and physical needs of the oppressed more than any other nation? One pastor recently observed that this witness and outreach may be the only thing that has preserved us and forestalled judgment and it is in jeopardy because of our national preoccupation with ourselves. This catalog of sin reminds us of the daily news reports. So we have good reason to look in this study at the perversion, the purification, and the petition found here in chapter 22.

I Perversion

Jerusalem is the main target here because she is God’s city, the place where His glory dwells. This makes the catalog of sin even more despicable. First there is a general statement of vileness and bloodshed, then the enumeration of particular sins. These include: dishonoring parents, mistreating strangers, mistreating widows and orphans, violating the sabbath, slander, idolatry, sexual immorality, debased lewdness, bribery, usury and extortion. God introduces this list of sins with the word “see” or “behold.” This is intended to show us how shocked God is, and we should be also. The section ends with God’s determination to cleanse them through the captivity in verses 15 and 16, I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.

II Purification

God’s further reaction is the furnace. As the refiner God expects pure silver which is a metaphor for pure devotion and obedience. He did not get it from Israel. He is getting nothing but dross, that is the left over copper, tin, iron and lead. And so we read in verses 17-20, Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.” God is going to burn up the worthless dross, the useless residue when He destroys Jerusalem. As Isaiah 1:22 states earlier and Jeremiah 9:7 confirms, God had promised He would do this, because of the dross, Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water…Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?” What Ezekiel adds to this is the fact that the corruption is so great that there is virtually nothing to save. Of course, there is always a remnant, but when God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel, there is so little left as to be inconsequential. This is the last of three stages of God’s judgment. Stage 1 is retribution for specific wickedness because the evil deserves punishment. Stage 2 is corrective judgment cutting off the sinful behavior and preventing its repetition. Stage 3 is what we have here: total purification without any hope of relief.

III Petition

In verses 23-29 God reviews all the leaders of the people who have been complicit in the sins of the nation. Her princes and kings, her priests and prophets and all her other officials have forsaken his commandments and led the people astray as if they were lions tearing up prey. According to verses 30 and 31, God could not find one of them who would stand for righteousness and pray and petition for mercy. This is how blind they were to their own sin, I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. There was no one repentant and no one who cared or sought the Lord. The image suggests that such a man, like Abraham praying for Sodom in Genesis 19, could have made a wall or filled up a gap in the defenses. There was none. And God searched and since God looks not on the outward appearance, but upon the heart, we may be sure that the search was complete.

Conclusion

We have often heard II Chronicles 7:14 in our own day, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Might the time come when there is no one in our own land to call out in repentance to the Lord? Judgment can be forestalled, but will it be?