Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 22:23
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
The sixth word of judgment. The special sins of princes, priests, and people.
Eze 22:26
Violated – Better as in margin; to offer violence to the Law is to misinterpret it. It was the special office of the priests to keep up the distinction between holy and unholy, clean and unclean Lev 10:10.
Eze 22:28
See the marginal reference note.
Eze 22:30
The land might be said to perish for the lack of such interpositions as saved their forefathers when Moses stood in the gap. This was a proof of the general corruption, that there was not in the city sufficient righteousness to save it from utter destruction. Prince, prophet, priest, all fail.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
23. From this verse to the endhe shows the general corruption of all ranks.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the word of the Lord came unto me,…. The word of prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum:
saying; as follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The corrupt state of all classes in the kingdom is the immediate cause of its destruction. – Eze 22:23. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 22:24. Son of man, say to it, Thou art a land which is not shined upon, nor rained upon in the day of anger. Eze 22:25. Conspiracy of its prophets is within it; like a roaring lion, which rends in pieces the prey, they devour souls, take possessions and money; they multiply its widows within it. Eze 22:26. Its priests violate my law and profane my holy things; they make no distinction between holy and unholy, and do not teach the difference between clean and unclean, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Eze 22:27. Its princes in the midst of it are like wolves, which rend prey in pieces, that they may shed blood, destroy souls, to acquire gain. Eze 22:28. And its prophets plaster it with cement, seeing what is worthless, and diving lies for them, saying, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,” when Jehovah hath not spoken. Eze 22:29. The common people offer violence and commit theft; they crush the wretched and the poor, and oppress the foreigner against right. Eze 22:30. I seek among them for a man who might build a wall and step into the breach before me on behalf of the land, that I might not destroy it, but I find none. Eze 22:31. Therefore I pour out my anger upon them; I destroy them in the fire of my wrath, I give their way upon their head, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. – To show the necessity for the predicted judgment still more clearly, in the third word of God contained in this chapter a description is given of the spread of deep corruption among all classes of the people, and the impossibility of saving the kingdom is plainly shown. The words , “say unto her,” are taken by most of the commentators as referring to Jerusalem, the abominations of which the prophet is commanded to declare. But although the clause, “thou art a land,” etc. (Eze 22:24), could unquestionably be made to harmonize with this, yet the words of Eze 22:30, “I sought for a man who might stand in the gap before Jehovah for the land,” indicate most unquestionably that this word of God is directed against the land of Judah, and consequently must be taken as referring to which follows, the pronoun is this case being placed before the noun to which it refers, as in Num 24:17. Any allusion to the city of Jerusalem would therefore be somewhat out of place, inasmuch as in the preceding word of God the object referred to was not the city, but the house of Israel, or the nation generally, from which a transition is here made to the land, or the kingdom of Judah. The meaning of Eze 22:24 is a disputed question. , which is rendered in the Sept., is taken by most of the expositors to mean, “it is not cleansed,” the form being correctly rendered as a participle Pual of . But this rendering does not furnish any appropriate sense, unless the following words are taken as a threat: there shall not be rain, or it shall not be rained upon in the day of wrath. But this view is hardly reconcilable with the form of the word. , according to the Masoretic pointing with Mappik in the , is evidently meant to be taken as a noun = . In that case, if the words were intended to contain a threat, ought not to be omitted. But without a verb the words contain a statement in harmony with what precedes. We regard the Chetib as the perfect Pual . And let it not be objected to this that the Pual of this verb is not met with elsewhere, for the form of the noun with the u sound does not occur anywhere else. As a perfect Pual, is a simple continuation of the participial clause , containing like this an affirmation, and cannot possibly be taken as a threat or prediction. But “not cleansed” and “not rained upon” do not agree together, as rain is not a means of purification according to the Hebrew idea. It is true that in the law the withdrawal or suspension of rain is threatened as a punishment from God, and the pouring out of rain is promised as a theocratical blessing. But even if the words are taken in a tropical sense, as denoting a withdrawal of the blessings of divine grace, they will not harmonize with the other clause, “not cleansed.” We therefore take in the sense of “shined upon by the light,” or provided with brightness; a meaning which is sustained by Exo 24:10, where tohar occurs in the sense of splendour, and by the kindred word tzohar , light. In this way we obtain the suitable thought, land which has neither sunlight nor rain in the day of wrath, i.e., does not enjoy a single trace of the divine blessing, but is given up to the curse of barrenness.
The reason for this threat is given in Eze 22:25., where a picture is drawn of the moral corruption of all ranks; viz., of the prophets (Eze 22:25), the priests (Eze 22:26), the princes (Eze 22:27), and the common people (Eze 22:29). There is something very striking in the allusion to the prophets in Eze 22:25, not so much because they are mentioned again in Eze 22:28, – for this may be accounted for on the ground that in the latter passage they are simply introduced as false advisers of the princes, – as on account of the statement made concerning them in Eze 22:25, namely, that, like lions tearing their prey, they devour souls, etc.; a description which is not given either in Ezekiel 13 or elsewhere. Hitzig therefore proposes to alter into , after the rendering given by the lxx. This alteration of the text, which confines itself to a single letter, is rendered very plausible by the fact that almost the same is affirmed of the persons mentioned in Eze 22:25 as of the princes in Eze 22:27, and that in the passage in Zephaniah (Zep 3:3-4), which is so similar to the one before us, that Ezekiel appears to have had it in his mind, the princes ( ) and the judges ( ) are called the prophets and the priests. The here would correspond to the of Zephaniah, and the to the . According to Eze 22:6, the would indicate primarily the members of the royal family, possibly including the chief officers of the crown; and the eht dna ;n (Eze 22:27) would be the heads of tribes, of families, and of fathers’ houses, in whose hands the national administration of justice principally lay (cf. Exo 18:19.; Deu 1:13-18; and my Bibl. Archol. ii. 149). I therefore prefer this conjecture, or correction, to the Masoretic reading, although the latter is supported by ancient witnesses, such as the Chaldee with its rendering , scribes, and the version of Jerome. For the statement which the verse contains is not applicable to prophets, and the best explanation given of the Masoretic text – namely, that by Michaelis, “they have made a compact with one another as to what kind of teaching they would or would not give; and in order that their authority may continue undisturbed, they persecute even to blood those who do not act with them, or obey them, but rather contradict” – does not do justice to the words, but weakens their sense. is not a predicate to ‘ , “they are (i.e., form) a conspiracy;” but ‘ is a genitive. At the same time, there is no necessity to take in the sense of “company,” a rendering which cannot be sustained. The fact that in what follows, where the comparison to lions is introduced, the ( ) are the subject, simply proves that in the first clause also these men actually form the prominent idea. There is no ground for supplying to ‘ (they are like, etc.); but the simile is to be linked on to the following clause. is to be explained from the comparison to a lion, which devours the prey that it has captured in its blood, in which is the soul, or nephesh (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:11.). The thought is this: in their insatiable greed for riches they sacrifice men and put them to death, and thereby multiply the number of victims (for the fact, see Eze 19:5, Eze 19:7). What is stated in Eze 22:26 concerning the priests is simply a further expansion of Zep 3:4, where the first two clauses occur word for word; for in Zephaniah is really equivalent to , holy things and deeds. The desecration of the holy things consisted in the fact that they made no distinction between sacred and profane, clean and unclean. For the fact, compare Lev 10:10-11. Their covering their eyes from the Sabbaths showed itself in their permitting the Sabbaths to be desecrated by the people, without offering any opposition (cf. Jer 17:27).
The comparison of the rulers ( sarim ) to ravening wolves is taken from Zep 3:3. Destroying souls to acquire gain is perfectly applicable to unjust judges, inasmuch as, according to Exo 18:21, the judges were to hate . All that is affirmed in Eze 22:28 of the conduct of the false prophets is repeated for the most part verbatim from Eze 13:10, Eze 13:9, and Eze 13:7. By , which points back to the three classes of men already mentioned, and not merely to the sarim , the prophets are represented as helpers of those who support the ungodly in their wicked ways, by oracles which assured them of prosperity. (Eze 22:29), as distinguished from the spiritual and secular rulers of the nation, signifies the common people. With reference to their sins and wickednesses, see Eze 18:7, Eze 18:12, Eze 18:18; and for the command against oppressing the poor and foreigners, compare Exo 22:20-21; Deu 24:17. – The corruption is so universal, that not a man is to be found who could enter into the gap as a righteous man, or avert the judgment of destruction by his intercession. refers not merely to the prophets, who did not enter into the gap according to Eze 13:5, but to all the classes previously mentioned. At the same time, it does not follow from this, that entering into the gap by means of intercession cannot be the thing intended, as Hitzig supposes. The expression clearly refers to intercession. This is apparent from the simple fact that, as Hitzig himself observes, the intercession of Abraham for Sodom (Gen 18:13.) was floating before the mind of Ezekiel, since the concluding words of the verse contain an obvious allusion to Gen 18:28. Because the Lord does not find a single righteous man, who might intercede for the land, He pours out His anger upon it, to destroy the inhabitants thereof. With reference to the fact and the separate words employed, compare Ezekiel 21:36; Eze 7:4; Eze 9:10; Eze 11:21, and Eze 16:43. It does not follow from the word , that Ezekiel “is speaking after the catastrophe” (Hitzig). For although expresses the consequence of Jehovah’s seeking a righteous man and not finding one, it by no means follows from the occurrence of the preterite that is also a preterite. is simply connected with as a consequence; and in both verbs the Vav consec. expresses the sequence of thought, and not of time. The seeking, therefore, with the result of not having found, cannot be understood in a chronological sense, i.e., as an event belonging to the past, for the simple reason that the preceding words do not record the chronological order of events. It merely depicts the existing moral condition of the people, and Eze 22:30 sums up the result of the description in the thought that there was no one to be found who could enter in the gap before God. Consequently we cannot determine from the imperfect with Vav consec. either the time of the seeking and not finding, or that of the pouring out of the wrath.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Charge against Prophets and Priests. | B. C. 591. |
23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Here is, I. A general idea given of the land of Israel, how well it deserved the judgments coming to destroy it and how much it needed these judgments to refine it. Let the prophet tell her plainly, “Thou art the land that is not cleansed, not refined as metal is, and therefore needest to be again put into the furnace. Means and methods of reformation have been ineffectual; thou art not rained upon in the day of indignation.” This was one of the judgments which God brought upon them in the day of his wrath, he withheld the rain from them, Jer. xiv. 4. Or, “When thou art under the tokens of God’s displeasure, even in the day of indignation thou art not rained upon; thou hast not received instruction by the prophets, whose doctrine is said to descend as the rain.” Or, “When thou art corrected thou art not cleansed; thy filth is not carried away as that in the streets is by a sweeping rain. Nay, though it be a day of indignation with thee, yet thy filthiness, which should be done away, has become more offensive, as that of a city is in dry weather, when it is not rained upon.” Or, “Thou hast nothing to refresh and comfort thyself with in the day of indignation; thou art not rained upon by divine consolations.” So the rich man in torment had not a drop of water, or rain, to cool his tongue.
II. A particular charge drawn up against the several orders and degrees of men among them, which shows that they had all helped to fill the measure of the nation’s guilt, but none had done any thing towards the emptying of it; they are therefore all alike.
1. They have every one corrupted his way, and those who should have been the brightest examples of virtue were ringleaders in iniquity and patterns of vice.
(1.) The prophets, who pretended to make known the mind of God to them, were not only deceivers, but devourers (v. 25), and hardened them in their wickedness both by their preaching, wherein they promised them impunity and prosperity, and by their conversation, in which they were as profligate as any. There is a conspiracy of her prophets against God and religion, against the true prophets and all good men; they conspired together to be all in one song, as Ahab’s prophets were, to assure them of peace in their sinful ways. Note, The unity which is found among pretenders to infallibility, and which they so much boast of, is only the result of a secret conspiracy against the truth. Satan is not divided against himself. The prophets are in conspiracy with the murderers and oppressors, to patronise and protect them in their wickedness, and justify what they did with their false prophecies, provided they may come in sharers with them in the profits of it. They are like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they thunder out threats against those whose ruin is aimed at, terrify them, or make them odious to the people, and so make themselves masters, [1.] Of their lives: They have devoured souls, have been accessory to the shedding of the blood of many an innocent person, and so have made many to become sorrowful widows who were comfortable wives. They have persecuted those to death who witnessed against their pretensions to prophecy and would not be imposed upon by their counterfeit commission. Or, They devoured souls by flattering sinners into a false peace and a vain hope, and seducing them into the paths of sin, which would be their eternal ruin. Note, Those who draw men to wickedness, and encourage them in it, are the devourers and murderers of their souls. [2.] Of their estates. When Naboth is slain they take possession of his vineyard; They have seized the treasure and precious things, as forfeited; some way or other they had of devouring the widows’ houses, as the Pharisees, Matt. xxiii. 14. Or, They got this treasure, and all these precious things, as fees for false and flattering prophecies; for he that puts not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him, Mic. iii. 5. It was said with Jerusalem when such men as these passed for prophets.
(2.) The priests, who were teachers by office, and had the custody of the sacred things, and should have called the false prophets to account, were as bad as they, v. 26. [1.] They violated the law of God, which they should have observed and taught others to observe. They made no conscience of the law of the priesthood, but openly broke it, and with contempt, as Hophni and Phinehas. They did what they had a mind, with an express non obstante–notwithstanding to the word of God. And how should those teach the people their duty who lived in contradiction to their own? [2.] They profaned God’s holy things, about which they were to minister, and which they ought to have restrained others from the profanation of. They suffered those to eat of the holy things who were unqualified by the law. The table of the Lord was contemptible with them. By dealing in holy things with such unhallowed hands they did themselves profane them. [3.] They did not themselves put a difference, nor did they show the people how to put a difference, between the holy and profane, the clean and the unclean, according to the directions and distinctions of the law. They did not exclude those from God’s courts who were excluded by the law, nor teach the people to observe the difference the law had made between food clean and unclean, between times and places holy and common; but they lived at large themselves and encouraged the people to do so too. [4.] They hid their eyes from God’s sabbaths; they took no care about them; it was all one to them whether God’s sabbaths were kept holy or no; they neither gave countenance to those who observed them nor check to those who profaned them, nor did they themselves show any regard to them or veneration for them. They winked at those who did servile works on that day, and looked another way when they should have inspected the behaviour of the people on sabbath days. God’s sabbaths have such a beauty and glory put upon them by the divine institution as may command respect; but they hid their eyes from them and would not see that excellency in them. [5.] By all this God himself was profaned among them; his authority was slighted, his goodness made light of, and the highest affront and contempt imaginable were put upon his holiness. Note, The profanation of the honour of the scriptures, of sabbaths and sacred things, is a profanation of the honour of God himself, who is interested in them.
(3.) The princes, who should have interposed with their authority to redress these grievances, were as daring transgressors of the law as any (v. 27): They are like wolves ravening the prey; for such is power without justice and goodness to direct it. All their business was to gratify, [1.] Their own pride and ambition, by making themselves arbitrary and formidable. [2.] Their own malice and revenge, by shedding blood and destroying souls, sacrificing to their cruelty all those that stood in their way or had in any thing disobliged them. [3.] Their own avarice; all they aim at is to get dishonest gain, by crushing and oppressing their subject. Lucri bonus est odor ex re qualibet. Rem, rem, quocunque modo rem–Sweet is the odour of gain, from whatever substance it ascends. Money, money, by fairness or by fraud, get money. But, though they had power sufficient to carry them on in their oppressive courses, yet how could they answer it both to their credit and to their consciences? We are told how (v. 28): The prophets daubed them with untempered mortar, told them in God’s name (horrid wickedness!) that there was no harm in what they did, that they might dispose of the lives and estates of their subjects as they pleased, and could do no wrong, nay, that in prosecuting such and such whom they had marked out they did God service; and thus they stopped the mouth of their consciences. They also justified what they did, to the people, nay, and magnified it as if it were all for the public good, and so saved their reputation, and kept their oppressed subjects from murmuring. Note, Daubing prophets are the great supporters of ravening princes, but will prove at last their great deceivers, for they daub with untempered mortar which will not hold, nor will the wall stand long that is built up with it. They pretend to be seers, but they see vanity; they pretend to be diviners, but they divine lies; they pretend a warrant from Heaven for what they say, and that it is all as true as gospel; they say, Thus saith the Lord God, but it is all a sham, for the Lord has not spoken any such thing.
(4.) The people that had any power in their hands learned of their princes to abuse it, v. 29. Those that should have complained of the oppression of the subject, and have put in a claim of rights on behalf of the injured, that should have stood up for liberty and property, were themselves invaders of them: The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. The rich oppress the poor, masters their servants, landlords their tenants, and even parents their own children; nay, the buyers and sellers will find some way to oppress one another. This is such a sin as, when it is national, is indeed a national judgment, and is threatened as such. Isa. iii. 5, The people shall be oppressed every one by his neighbour. It is an aggravation of the sin that they have vexed the poor and needy, whom they should have relieved, and have oppressed the stranger and deprived him of his right, to whom they ought to have been not only just, but kind. Thus was the apostasy universal and the disease epidemical.
2. There is none that appears as an intercessor for them (v. 30): I sought for a man among them that should stand in the gap, but I found none. Note, (1.) Sin makes a gap in the hedge of protection that is about a people at which good things run out from them and evil things pour in upon them, a gap by which God enters to destroy them. (2.) There is a way of standing in the gap, and making up the breach against the judgments of God, by repentance, and prayer, and reformation. Moses stood in the gap when he made intercession for Israel to turn away the wrath of God, Ps. cvi. 23. (3.) When God is coming forth against a sinful people to destroy them he expects some to intercede for them, and enquires if there be but one that does; so much is it his desire and delight to show mercy. If there be but a man that stands in the gap, as Abraham for Sodom, he will discover him and be well pleased with him. (4.) It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained, so that not one is found that will either give them a good word or speak a good word for them. (5.) When it is so, what can be expected but utter ruin? Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them (v. 31), have given it full scope, that it may come upon them in a full stream; yet, whatever God’s wrath inflicts upon a people, it is their own way that is therein recompensed upon their heads, and God deals with them no worse, but even much better, than their iniquity deserves.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
SPECIFIC SINS OF PRIESTS, PRINCES, PROPHETS,
AND PEOPLE
Verses 23-31:
Verses 23, 24 call on Ezekiel as “son of man” to advise the land of Israel that it is not cleansed (but is polluted) or rained upon in the day of her indignation. The priests whose duty it was to keep the land free from moral and ceremonial defilement had neglected their duty, Lev 16:19. Jerusalem was the concentrated center of iniquity of the whole land. The sanctifying showers of the prophetic word had not been given by her prophets or fallen upon her, Deu 32:2. Her prophets had uttered vain speeches and lying visions, v. 28. Former and latter rains were withheld now, Joe 2:23.
Verse 25 charges the false prophets of Israel with conspiring as follows: 1) Like a roaring lion they had ravished the land to satisfy their own carnal, covetous, lustful appetites; 2) They had devoured, destroyed the souls of men; 3) They had taken by greed and graft the wealth of the people; and 4) They had made many widows in the land by murdering or causing the early death of their husbands by their oppressions, Hos 6:9; Mic 3:11; Zep 3:3-4; Mat 23:14.
Verse 26 charges the priests of Israel with:
1) violating and profaning the very laws of the Lord they were ordained and anointed to uphold, in matters both civil and religious, through the way they lived and their neglect to teach the law of the Lord, Mal 2:7-8;
2) They profaned the Holy things, putting no difference between the holy and profane, the clean and the unclean, Lev 22:2; 1Sa 2:29. They too closed their eyes and turned their backs on the holy sabbaths, for themselves and the people, Isa 5:20; Exo 20:8-11; Leviticus 10; Leviticus 10, 11; Lam 4:13.
Verse 27 charges that not only had her prophets and priests disregarded God’s laws for Israel, but also her rulers or princes as political, civil rulers were like cruel, ravenous, carnivorous, voracious wolves. They shed blood and destroyed souls or lives for dishonest gain, bribes, “shake down” pay, v. 6; Isa 1:23; Mic 3:2-3; Mic 3:9-11; Zep 3:3. They were greedy of gain, Joh 10:12.
Verse 28 again charges her prophets of the land with daubing the work of the political leaders with untempered mortar, divining and prophesying lies, telling matters that the political, leaders wanted to hear, Jer 8:10-11. They flattered instead of telling it straight, that Divine judgment would soon strike the land, Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10; 2Ti 4:2-4.
Verse 29 charges that not only had: 1) the prophets, 2) the priests, and 3) the princes or rulers corrupted the land of Israel, Jer 5:1-4, but also the masses, all classes of the people had: 1) used oppression, 2) practiced robbery, 3) vexed the poor and needy, and 4) oppressed the strangers, rather than turning to God, Deu 27:17; Deu 27:19; Deu 27:26.
Verse 30 laments that the Lord sought for a man who would make up the hedge and stand in the gap before him, to turn the people back from sin, as Moses had once done, Jer 5:1. But He found no man! How forlorn, hopeless! Psa 106:23. And now it was too late, Jer 11:14; Jer 14:1-17; Pro 1:26-31; Gen 18:23.
Verse 31 concludes that because of the gravity, wanton disobedience of the leaders and laity of Israel against His holy laws and their own broken covenant, the indignation of His just judgment wrath should fall upon their own heads, heavily, very soon, as forewarned, Eze 18:30. For their own transgressions, not their father’s, they were punished, Pro 1:31; Isa 3:11; Jer 6:19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(Eze. 22:23-31.)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.The corrupt condition of all ranks of the people as the immediate cause of the destruction of the kingdom.
Eze. 22:24. Thou art the land that is not cleansed. The priests, whose office it was to keep the land tree from moral and ceremonial defilement had neglected their duty (Lev. 16:19). The whole land had become corrupt, but Jerusalem was to be regarded as a concentration of the iniquity of the whole land. Nor rained upon in the day of indignation Heb. that hath not her rain. The rain which was her proper portion which ought to have fallen upon her. By this rain is signified, the gentle, sanctifying showers of the prophetic word (Deu. 32:2). The blame of this desolate state of things is imputed to the prophets who were utterers of vain speeches and lying visions (Eze. 22:28). A land that has no rain in the day of indignation, is a land that in the outburst of the divine judgment finds no grace, and simply, as the connection shows, because its impurity is not removed. The rain in the day of indignation would be a benefit. It would quench the flame of the divine indignation. To the indignation, the full energy of which is here called forth by the uncleanness, may be applied that which is said in the Song of Songs (Eze. 8:7) of the fire of love. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the rivers drown it.(Hengstenberg).
Eze. 22:25. A conspiracy of her prophets. These professed to he the messengers of God, but they were conspiring against Him. They were His enemies, even as roaring lions are the enemies of their prey. The false prophets are first singled out; on account of the greater influence which they exerted in seducing the people by their impious teachings. Not satisfied with each propagating error within his own sphere, they had formed a complot to oppose the messages of the servants of the Lord. Thus forming a powerful body, they resembled a roaring lion, tearing in pieces his prey. Unconcerned about the well are of the souls of whom they professedly had the cure, and intent only upon their own gain, they had occasioned the death of those who perished in the war with the Chaldeans, and thus increased the number of widows(Henderson.)
Eze. 22:26 Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. The priests lips should keep knowledge, and give it out as from a pure fountain (Mal. 2:7). But these did violence to Gods law, both by breaking it themselves and making it void to others by false interpretations. They have put no difference between the holy and profane. The priests also knowingly admitted persons to Gods sacred ordinances, without any regard or discrimination as to their moral or spiritual fitness for partaking of them. They showed utter indifference to all moral distinctionsright and wrong, pure and impure. Upon them lies the woe pronounced upon those who call evil good, and good evil (Isa. 5:20). Have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths. They neither observe the Sabbath themselves, and shut their eyes to the desecration of it by others. Thus they failed to carry out the chief command and reason of their office, which (as laid down by Moses) was to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken unto them. (Lev. 10:11). The law of the Sabbath is given as an example. This they rob of its deep spiritual import, and limit it to the external rest, as if it were given for animals, and not for men, who are to serve God in spirit. Because they thus let down the commandments of God to the level of man, and make them minister to human inclination, God Himself is desecrated by them. I am profaned among them. In place of the dread and holy God, who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, appears a lax and sin-favouring god, who creates no one, and is glad if any one will only acknowledge him, and is thankful for every bow that is made to him(Hengstenberg).
Eze. 22:27. Her princes like wolves ravening the prey. The term princes is applied generally to all the political authorities and officials. These, in their rapacity are compared to wolves, which are noted for their fierceness and cruelty.
Eze. 22:28. Her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter. Them, i.e., the princes. These were prophets who meddled with political matters, and upheld the princes in their iniquity. The false prophets recur here once more, as abettors of the nobles, to whom they hold out deliverance, and thereby confirm them in their shameful course, instead of vehemently testifying against their sins, and setting before them the judgments of God. In Eze. 13:10 we have an example of the manner in which the prophets daubed with this untempered mortar. The building of the wall by the people denotes the political activity whereby they sought to raise themselves upthe effort made by the coalition. The false prophets daubed this wall; they gave to the impious and the ungodly movement of the people, that was condemned by the word of the true prophets, the appearance of a higher sanction, and confirmed them in it. The wall is a spiritual one, and so the absurdity suits it as a spiritual mortar. The attempt to put, instead of the spiritual, a material mortar, has arisen only from the want of capacity in expositors to understand the interchange of figure and reality. Nothing can be more absurd than to announce safety to a people living in sin, and to promise success to counsels that are in open contradiction to the revealed counsels of God (Hengstenberg). These false prophets assured the princes that the King of Babylon would not take Jerusalem, in direct contradiction to the Word of God.
Eze. 22:29. The people of the land. As placed here immediately after the classification of persons holding office, we are to understand the inhabitants generally without distinction of rank or office. Corruption had spread downwards through the whole mass of the community (Jer. 5:1-4). They vexed the poor and needy, they oppressed the stranger wrongfully. So far from encouraging, by their kindness and holy example, those foreigners who sojourned among them to devote themselves in spirit and truth to the service of Jehovah, the Jews did everything that was calculated to alienate them from His worship.(Henderson.)
Eze. 22:30. I sought for a man among them but I found none. Jeremiah, by his powerful preaching of repentance, presented himself as such a public deliverer; but they despised him, and he could gain no position. The man alone is nothing. The position must be added, and the people must gather around him.(Hengstenberg.) It was expressly forbidden to Jeremiah to intercede for them (Jer. 11:14).
Eze. 22:31. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads. Thus the words of Eze. 18:30 are fulfilled. They are punished for their own personal transgressions, and not for those of their fathers.
HOMILETICS
THE CORRUPTION OF THE NATION
I. It was spread through all ranks and classes.
1. Prophets. They have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof (Eze. 22:25). They were the enemies of God and of the souls which He had made. By their lying prophecies they brought the judgment of the sword upon the city, so that she was rifled of her treasure and her widows were multiplied.
2. Priests. Her priests violated Gods law; not only by breaking it themselves, but by putting false interpretations on it for the purpose of their own selfish ends. They were ordained to promote holiness, but they put no difference between the holy and the profane, between the unclean and the clean. They destroyed the very foundations of religion and morality. They profaned the blessed ordinance of the sabbath, which God had given to men for rest and worship, and which was wonderfully suited to nourish the growth of religion by promoting serious thought and meditation (Eze. 22:26).
3. Rulers. These no longer ruled by righteousness, but shed blood and destroyed souls to get dishonest gain. And the prophets were linked with them, upholding them in their iniquity (Eze. 22:27-28).
4. People. These could not be expected to be better than their guides. There was not a man to be found among them to stand in the gap, and to save the land by his righteousness (Eze. 22:30). We are reminded how when God sent His son, He was rejected by all these classes in succession,by the religious teachers, then by the rulers, and, last of all, by the people.
II. We can trace the cause and progress of it. The prophets were utterers of lying visions and spurious oracles. Their object was only to flatter the civil authorities for their own selfish purposes. The priests had lost all sense of sacredness.
1. The decay of a nations life begins when false doctrines are promulgated. The history of the children of Israel was the history of religion. They were what they were because of certain doctrines and ordinances concerning God, and His service, and human duty. These were revealed to them from heaven. They were bound by solemn obligations to obey them. And Gods law is violated just as much by putting false interpretations upon it as by actual transgression. False doctrines are not immaterial. They are not mere errors of the head,harmless speculations having no real influence upon life and duty. For it will be found that what is wrong in doctrine springs from the fountain of an evil heart. False doctrines are on the side of the passions. They are human inventions to justify the errors of heart and life. A right life must have right principles for its foundation. If we examine the errors of Popery, we find that they have their origin in corrupt human nature. They have an eye to political ascendancy, to the supremacy of a priestly class, to gain, to worldly ambitions, and to salve the consciences of men by easy and convenient methods of dealing with sin. True teaching concerning God and human duty can alone promote holiness of heart and life, which is the salt of nations to preserve them from corruption and decay.
2. The decay of a nations life also sets in when its rulers are no longer governed by conscience. When they set aside Gods law of righteousness, and are intent only upon dishonest gain, then they become oppressors of the poor and defenceless, and scruple not to shed innocent blood.
3. The decay of a nations life is imminent when priests become mere courtiers. When they flatter those in power, with the view only of advancing themselves. Corruptions of this kind soon followed when Rome embraced the Christian religion under Constantine, by which the clergy acquired political importance. The temptation to worldly ambition was strong, and they yielded to it. They sought to please princes in order to promote the temporal interests of the Church and their own wealth and grandeur. And when princes and priests are corrupted it is no marvel that the evil influence at length affects public opinion. When the reigning powers and public opinion are on the side of tyranny and wrong, corruption must find its way even to the seat of justice. Instead of equity we have caprice and irrational and unjust maxims and practices. And corruption in all these departments soon spreads into family life, and thus the last retreat of a nations strength and purity is invaded.
III. It brought sure judgment. The dire judgments which fell upon the people were inevitable. They happened by a moral necessity God had done everything for His vineyard that could be done in it, and there remained nothing more to be tried.
1. The ministry of the true prophets had failed. The people had been instructed and warned. When Gods teaching by the mouth of His holy prophets does no good, then have the people judged themselves. When Jerusalem killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto her, then her house was left unto her desolate. Your house, said our Lord, as much as to say, My house no longer. They had profaned it, and God departed from His temple.
2. No righteous men were to be found amongst them (Eze. 22:30). Abrahams intercession for Sodom teaches us that the presence of a few righteous among a people stays the hand of justice. When those who fear God decline in a land, judgment is coming.
3. In these judgments God was treating them on their own terms. They had punishment in kind as well as in necessary degree. The priests had made no distinction between the holy and the profane. And thus, by their own admission, they were not a holy nation. Let it be so, then; let them be profaned by being treated as such. Holiness was the very reason of their existence as a nation, and wanting that, there remained only a looking for judgment. The foundation of their national privileges was thus destroyed. They profaned the sanctuary, and they were themselves profaned among the heathen. They despised God, and they were lightly esteemed (1Sa. 2:30). Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads saith the Lord God (Eze. 22:31).
(Eze. 22:28)
1. There are prophets who will flatter wicked princes and rulers in their evil ways. The princes were ravening wolves, shed blood, destroyed souls, to get dishonest gain, and Jerusalems prophets daubed them with untempered mortar. They applauded their practices, justified their doings, and told them that God did approve of their ways. It was not the nobles, citizens, but the prophets of Jerusalem which did this. Princes and great ones want not false and lying prophets to bolster them up, and to bear them out in their vile and detestable courses. Ahab was a wicked king, and he had a multitude of flattering daubing prophets (2Ch. 18:10-11). There were flattering divinations among the false prophets (Eze. 12:24); and with these they bedaubed the wicked princes, and strengthened the hands of evil-doers (Jer. 23:14). Flattery is evil in any, but worst of all in prophets, and especially when they have to do with wicked princes, whom they harden in their wickedness thereby, and ripen for destruction. Reproof is a precious balm (Psa. 141:5); but flattery is a destructive net (Pro. 29:5). Let the true prophets abhor it; and so speak the truth, that they may appeal to the consciences of great and small, as Paul doth (1Th. 2:5).
2. What false prophets give out is unsavoury, and unsound, weak, and useless. It is untempered mortar: it may stick in mens heads a little, to strengthen them to do wickedly; but it will not stick in their hearts, to strengthen them against the day of evil, and to justify their doings. What is there in vanity and lies which can establish? It is truth, and divine truth, which establisheth) (2Pe. 1:19); the vain and lying imaginations of men, do deceive and disappoint. Pashur prophesied lies, the things of his own heart and spirit, which himself and others trusted in; but see how he and they who believed him, were deceived and disappointed (Jer. 20:6). The scornful rulers which made lies their refuge, and hid themselves under falsehood saying, the over-flowing scourge shall not come unto us (Isa. 28:14-15). But, see what the Lord saith (Eze. 22:17). The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. False prophecies, false opinions, false confidences are all untempered mortar.
3. The subtlety and impudence of false prophets makes way for their vanity and lies. They say, thus saith the Lord God, there is their cunning; and to make God author of their vanities and lies, there is their impudency. They knew that their dreams, visions, vanities, and lies would not take with princes or people if not presented unto them as from God. They did not only abuse men, but they greatly abused God. They have belied the Lord (Jer. 5:12), and made that to be the word of God which was not; they walked in lies and strengthened the hands of evildoers; which provoked God so bitterly against them, that He saith He would feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of gall (Jer. 23:14-15). Many prophets amongst us have belied the Lord, in making some Scriptures speak that to maintain their opinions and tenets which never was the mind of God.(Greenhill).
(Eze. 22:30.)
1. Gods protection of them. He had a special care of them, being His Church and people, above all others; as the city Jerusalem had a wall about it (Neh. 1:3), so God was a wall to the citizens thereof, a wall of fire round about them (Zec. 2:5; Son. 4:12). Lest any should hurt His vineyard, He kept it night and day, watched over it and preserved it.
2. Consider those things which God had given them to be a hedge or wall unto them.
(1.) Sound doctrine. This was a hedge to keep out all errors, corrupt and heathenish opinions, which they were in danger of, having the nations round about them. But God had given them good doctrine (Pro. 4:2); right words (Psa. 33:4); lively oracles (Act. 7:38); faithful commands (Psa. 119:86); sure testimonies (Psa. 93:5); such as they were to try all doctrines and opinions by (Isa. 8:20).
(2.) Pure worship. This was a hedge between them and the heathen (Deu. 6:13-14). God had appointed them a pure way of worship, which hedged them in from all false ways of worship, from bringing in aught of their own or of others.
(3.) Good laws. No nation under heaven had such laws to be governed by as the Jews had, and those laws were hedges against all injustice; they might not wrong one another, nor strangers.
(4.) God had given them good prophets, priests, and princes. The prophets were to preserve the doctrine sound, the priests to keep the worship pure, and the princes to see justice impartially executed. Elijah, a good prophet, was the horsemen and chariot of Israel (2Ki. 2:12; 2Ki. 13:14); the priests were mediators between God and the people (Joe. 2:17); the princes were the strength of the land (Pro. 29:4). And more briefly, it was the covenant made between God and this people; He had promised to be their God and to protect them; they had promised to be His people, and to walk in His ways. But
3. The hedge which God had given them was broken, and gaps were made in it.
(1). The doctrine was corrupted. There was much chaff mingled with the wheat (Jer. 23:28); false prophets gave in that to be divine, which was from their own hearts and heads (Eze. 13:2-3); they prophesied lies (Jer. 14:14); the providence of God was denied, His justice and omnipresence (Eze. 8:12; Eze. 18:2; Eze. 18:25). They taught the people to swear by a false God, even by Baal (Jer. 12:16).
(2). The worship was greatly corrupted. The sanctuary was defiled with detestable things (Eze. 5:11). They had brought images and idols into the temple (Ezekiel 8), they had high places and altars in every street (Ezekiel 16.) The statutes of Omri were kept, and the works of the house of Ahah (Mic. 6:16); and the fear or worship of God was taught by the precepts of men (Isa. 29:13).
(3). The laws were wrested and perverted, so that there was no justice. They abhor judgment, and pervert all equity (Mic. 3:9). According to Isaiah, judgment was turned away backward, and justice stood afar off; they thrust them out of doors, out of their gates and cities, and when they pressed hard to come in there was no admission, the doors and gates were locked and bolted upon them, equity could not enter (Isa. 59:14); only oppression was let in (Isa. 5:7).
(4). The men who should have been as strong stakes to keep up the hedge were rotten. The prophets were lions (Jer. 23:14); the priests corrupters and wicked (Lam. 4:13); the princes were rebellious, and companions of thieves (Isa. 1:23); and all of them make covenant with God (Eze. 16:59).
4. How was the hedge to be made up?
(1.) In public opposing those corruptions which were crept in, and practised amongst them. When of old the Jews had broken down the hedge by making a calf, Moses appeared for God against this wickedess; he seized upon the calf, burnt it, and ground it into powder (Exodus 32). When the sons of Levi came to him, he commissioned them to slay the idolators; and this was the beginning of making up the breach. So when Josiah began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the groves, images, and altars that were therein, then was the hedge making up which they had broken down (2Ch. 34:3-4). In Nehemiahs days, when the hedge was new-made about them, there were some who began to tread down the hedge and to make a gap therein, by doing unlawful things on the Lords day. The zeal of Nehemiah was kindled, so that he contended with the nobles of Judah, who countenanced them, and did violence to the Sabbath themselves (Neh. 13:15-18).
(2.) In mourning for such breaches, and deprecating the wrath and judgments due for the same. Moses was affected much with what the people had done, and prays and intercedes for them (Exo. 32:10). This act was standing in the breach, and making up the hedge (Psa. 106:23); it kept out the fury of the Lord from breaking in upon them. The intercession of Gods servants is a strong hedge and wall to prevent judgments. Therefore, when the Lord was resolved upon the destruction of the Jews, He forbade Jeremiah to pray for them (Jer. 7:16).
(3.) In putting things into their primitive condition. When Josiah caused the house of the Lord to be repaired, the covenant with God to be renewed, the law to be read, and the Passover to be kept according to the institution, and all things were brought to their primitive condition (2 Chronicles 34; 2 Chronicles 35), then was the hedge made upthen was there a man stood in the gap before the Lord. So, when Jehoshaphat brought back the people from false doctrine, and false worship, to the Lord God of their fathers, then was the hedge made up, and God protected them against their enemies.
5. None were found to make up the hedge. Were there not Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who interceded with God for this people? Were there not many that mourned for the abominations that were among them? (Jer. 9:1; Jer. 14:11; Eze. 9:4; Eze. 9:8). It is true Jeremiah did appear for God: he opposed the false prophets, the perverting of justice, the iniquities of priests, princes, and people; but they would not hearken to him (Jer. 44:16). They sought to put him to death, and to cast him into prison. And three times God had forbidden him to pray for them. He could prevail with none of them towards making up the hedge. As for Ezekiel, he was in Babylon, and the Lord looked for a man amongst them in Jerusalem. I looked for a man among them, not among you. For the sighers and mourners that were in Jerusalem they did it in secret. They had not spirits to contradict the wicked prophets, priests, and princes; or, if they had, yet they saw there was no good to be done. The times were exceedingly and desperately wicked; a man was made an offender for a word, and a share was laid for him that reproved in the gate (Isa. 29:21). It was an evil time, and the time for the prudent to keep silence (Amo. 5:12-13). From this subject we learn
(1) That sin makes breaches and gaps. Their sins brake down the hedge and made those gaps (Isa. 30:13). Solomons sins made such a breach therein that ten tribes were rent therefrom and given to Jeroboam (1Ki. 11:31). Sin made the breach between them and other nations, the breach between God and them. Sin makes breaches in churches (1Co. 1:11-12), in cities (Luk. 19:14), in families (Eze. 16:38), in mens names (Pro. 6:33), in mens estates (Deu. 28:15-16), in mens consciences (Mat. 27:3-4; Pro. 18:14; Pro. 15:4), and between the chiefest friends (Pro. 16:28). There are some sins which make such breaches as shake the foundations (Psa. 82:5). The laws were their foundations, but the iniquity of the judges moved those foundations out of place, and the state was like a bowing wall and a tottering fence (Psa. 62:3).
(2). When breaches and gaps are made by sin, the Lord lets in His judgments thereby. When they made breaches upon the worship, statutes, and Sabbaths of the Lord, He resolved to pour out his fury upon them and consume them (Isa. 1:23-24). Such is the lesson of the parable (Isa. 5:6).
(3). When the hedge is down, and gaps are made, the Lord looks for some one to appear, so as to prevent those judgments. I sought for a man to make up the hedge, &c. God expected that they should have repented, and some at least to have said, What have I done? God was displeased, and now He looked that one or other should have showed a public spirit, opposed the sinful practices, and deprecated judgments. He looks in all the gaps round about, and He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor (Isa. 59:16), none to meet God, to set upon Him by prayer and strong arguments to withhold His judgments.
(4) Making up the hedge, and standing in the gap, is the way to save a land from destruction. Let man oppose the sinful practices in a land and deprecate the judgments of God, then the Lord will spare a sinful nation, a guilty city (Jer. 5:1) In such a case one man may do much. Moses stood in the gap, and diverted the wrath of God (Psa. 106:22); Aaron, also (Num. 16:47-48). We, through infinite mercy, have had some like Moses and Aaron, to make up our hedges, raise up our foundations, to stop some gaps; but all our gaps are not yet stopped. Are there not gaps in the hedge of doctrine? If it were not so, how came in such erroneous, blasphemous, and wild opinions amongst us? Are there not gaps in the worship of God? Do not many tread down all churches, all ordinances; yea, the very Scriptures? Are there not gaps in the hedge of justice, through which the bulls of Bashan enter, which oppress the poor, and crush the needy (Amo. 4:1)? Are there not gaps in the hedge of love; is not that bond of perfection broken? Are there not gaps in the hedge of conscience? Is not the peace broken between God and your souls? Doth not Satan come in often at the gap and disturb you?
(5) In times of general corruption in Church and State, it is hard to find a man of public spirit to oppose those corruptions, and to wrestle with God for mercy. The Lord sought for a man amongst them. The judges and great ones did oppress the people, and none appeared publicly for them, to plead their cause and to reprove their oppressors. Many disliked the carriage of things, but they had no spirit to oppose; they were not valiant for the truth, as Jeremiah saith (Jer. 9:3). God doth not say that there were none, but none to help, none to uphold. In common corruptions and calamities few have hearts to appear for the public good, against overspreading evils. Sinful prudence, or fear of crushing, makes them silent and lie hid (Ecc. 4:1). The oppressions under the sun were great, the tears of the oppressed many, but there was no comforter, none pitied them, none used any means to relieve them (Greenhill).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C. The Corrupt Land 22:2331
TRANSLATION
(23) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (24) Son of man, say to her: You are a land not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. (25) There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured souls, they have taken treasure and precious things, they have multiplied her widows in the midst of her. (26) Her priests have done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and the common, nor have they taught the difference between the unclean and clean, and they have hidden their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (27) Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, in order to acquire illicit gain. (28) And her prophets have daubed for them with white plaster, seeing falsehood and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken. (29) The people of this land have engaged in oppression, and they have been involved in theft, and they have wronged the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger unlawfully. (30) And I sought for a man among them to build up the wall, and one to stand in the breach before Me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none. (31) Therefore have I poured out upon them My wrath, in the fire of My anger I have consumed them; their way I have placed upon their head (oracle of the Lord GOD).
COMMENTS
The land of Judah was defiled (a land not cleansed) and spiritually desolate (nor rained upon) at the time divine judgment was about to fall (Eze. 22:23). This condition existed primarily because of the actions of her national leaders.
The prophets had entered into a conspiracy, a solemn pact that they would predict only peace and security for the nation. Their loud oratory, like the roar of a lion, was only the prelude to national disaster. The character of these men was indicated by their greed. For treasure and precious things they would paint the future in the most optimistic hues. But the results of this kind of prognostication were disastrous. Lives would be lost and widows made numerous by the ruinous national policy which they encouraged (Eze. 22:25). Prophets were supposed to rebuke wicked men, expose national corruption and warn of impending disaster. But Judahs prophets had whitewashed the leadership and supported their dangerous international policy by proclaiming falsehood. They used pagan divination to conjure up some of their lies and boldly announced them with Thus says the Lord (Eze. 22:28; cf. Eze. 13:10).
The priests were not one whit better than the prophets. Instead of teaching the Law of God and exemplifying its contents, they had done violence to Gods Law. They failed to teach it and violated its teaching. They profaned the holy things of God by not adhering to the regulations which served to underscore the sanctity of the Temple. They failed both in their private lives and in their public teaching to differentiate between holy and common, i.e., they allowed holy things to be used in profane ways (cf. Lev. 10:10 f.). Likewise the Mosaic distinction between clean and unclean was ignored both as regards meat fit for food, and as regards the ritual purity of worshipers. They hid their eves from the sabbaths of God, i.e., they looked on indifferently as Gods people desecrated those sacred days. By means of all the above named transgressions the priests had profaned, i.e., treated disrespectfully the Lord God (Eze. 22:26).
The princes, like fierce wolves, shed blood and destroyed lives so as to enrich themselves. Probably these men used legal machinery to achieve their ends (Eze. 22:27).
The people of the land, i.e., the wealthy landholders, had unlawfully resorted to robbery and oppression against the helpless element of society and the strangers who sojourned in the land (Eze. 22:29).
The population was thoroughly corrupt. God could find no moral leader to stand in the breach in the moral wall that protected Judah from judgment. Morality is like a wall that shields a people from divine wrath. But where that wall breaks down, judgment enters. Judah needed a national leader of the highest quality to use his influence for good to repair that broken wall; but none was available (Eze. 22:30). The moral collapse of a nation is inevitably followed by their physical destruction. So certain is the judgment that God uses the past tense to describe what would yet befall Judah. There was no escape!
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
23. In another communication from Jehovah the whole land is shown to partake in Jerusalem’s guilt.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained on in the day of indignation.” ’
Ezekiel now declares his third oracle. It concentrates on the infiltration of evil into the whole of society. Its first warning is that there will be no renewal of the land by rain because of God’s anger against them.
In it God gives warning that the rains which were the lifeblood of the land will fail in ‘the day of indignation’, the day of His anger (compare Isa 5:6; Zec 14:17). Notice the comparison of the falling of rain with the cleansing of the land. This will be taken up in Eze 36:25. As the rain fell and life was renewed it was seen as a purification and a regeneration. (This would later be central in the teaching of John the Baptiser). But for this land in its evil there was to be no purification, no regeneration. It is in direct contrast with the ‘showers of blessing’ in Eze 34:26 producing great fruitfulness.
(There is absolutely no reason for changing the Hebrew text from ‘cleansed’ to ‘rained on’. LXX, which does so, may well have been by interpretative translation rather than as indication of a different text and Eze 36:25 demonstrates that Ezekiel links cleansing with rain).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The close of this chapter is uncommonly beautiful, if we read it with an eye to Jesus. Many had been the intercessors for perishing sinners in the earlier ages, and all of them were types of Christ. Abraham interceding for Sodom, Gen 18:23 etc. Moses and Joshua for Israel, Exo 32:31 etc. Jos 7:6 etc. And Aaron in the matter of Korah, Num 16:47 . But here the Lord seems to be on the look-out, as it were, for someone to arise for Israel. Let the Reader turn to Isa 63 , and he will find Christ making use of the same language; and then taking to himself this great power of redemption. Isa 63:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ver. 23. And the word. ] See Eze 18:1 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 22:23-31
23And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. 26Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. 28Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. 30I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.
Eze 22:24 is not cleansed or rained on This is a very difficult verse. Some think it refers to (1) no human tending and no divine rain or (2) no cleansing rain. For sure God’s judgment has fallen and no moisture came (sign of judgment in Deuteronomy).
Eze 22:25-28 There is a conspiracy of the prophets The Septuagint has whose princes (cf. NJB, REB) because the prophets are mentioned in Eze 22:28. This paragraph is a condemnation of all of Judean society (cf. Zep 3:3-4).
1. the political leaders, Eze 22:25, repeated in Eze 22:27
a. acted like ravenous lions (cf. Eze 19:3; Eze 19:6)
b. devoured lives
(1) took treasure and precious things
(2) killed many (i.e., made widows)
2. the priests, Eze 22:26
a. have done violence to YHWH’s law
b. profaned YHWH’s holy things
(1) made no distinction between holy and profane, cf. Lev 10:10; Lev 11:47; Lev 20:25
(2) have not taught the difference between unclean and clean
c. hid their eyes from YHWH’s sabbaths
3. the prophets, Eze 22:28
a. have smeared whitewash, cf. Eze 13:10-12; Eze 13:14-15 (twice)
b. saw false visions, cf. Eze 13:6-7; Eze 13:9; Eze 13:23; Eze 21:29
c. divining lies
4. the people, Eze 22:29 (cf. Eze 18:7; Eze 18:12; Eze 18:16; Jer 22:3)
a. practiced oppression
b. committed robbery
(1) wronged the poor and needy
(2) oppressed the alien/sojourner
Eze 22:29 The people of the land This term originally (and here) meant landed owners with full rights as citizens (cf. Eze 12:19; Eze 45:16; Eze 45:22; Eze 46:3), but after the Exile it referred to the poorest people of the land (cf. the use in the NT).
Eze 22:30 This is such a shocking verse, which mirrors Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5 and Jer 5:1. There was no one! What was YHWH looking for? Someone to
1. build up the wall, cf. Eze 13:5; Psa 106:23
2. stand in the gap (intercede in prayer on behalf of Israel as Moses and Samuel had, cf. Jer 15:1, which is similar to Eze 14:14; Eze 14:20; Eze 33:1-6)
It is surprising that Ezekiel himself did not fulfill this text, but remember the setting is Jerusalem, not the exiles in Babylon. But then Jeremiah was in Jerusalem, why did he not fulfill this search? The verse is a literary hyperbole. It is not meant to be taken literally. It is for shock value only! There were some righteous people in Jerusalem (cf. Eze 20:47; Eze 21:4).
The good news is that YHWH seeks intercessors! He wants to be convinced to withhold judgment. He wants to forgive, but no one interceded and people did not repent!
Eze 22:31 See notes at Eze 7:3; Eze 7:8-9; Eze 9:10; Eze 16:43. We reap what we sow (i.e., Gal 6:7)!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Eze 22:23-31
Eze 22:23-31
“And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion, ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof. Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should build on the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.”
This reveals the utter corruption of the prophets, and the priests, and the princes of Israel. There remained not a single one of them who was true to the obligations of his holy office. They were best described as a pack of wild animals, devouring men as wantonly as a wolf or a lion would tear the body of an animal they were eating. The language here reminds us of Zephaniah. Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing until the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons; her priests have profaned the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law! (Zep 3:3-4).
The charges made against Israel here by Ezekiel have been made so frequently, and have been commented upon already numerous times in our series of commentaries, that it is unnecessary at this point to elaborate any further the gross sins and corruptions of the Chosen People. Their apostasy was complete; they had already sustained the judicial hardening of God Himself; and the hour of the nation’s terminal punishment was at hand.
Special attention should be given the magnificent prophecy in the last verse here. The verbs in this verse are the “prophetic present.” They speak of what God “will do,” not about what has already been done. Alexander properly understood this: “God concluded this message (Eze 22:31) with a judgment, that he would consume (future tense) the people with fire from his mouth, and that the people themselves were responsible for the judgment coming (future tense) upon them.
Of course, no radical scholar can allow such a prophecy, due to their incorrect and ridiculous rule that there are no “predictive prophecies” in the Bible, Based on that false rule, Cooke stated that, “In any case Eze 22:30-31 were written after 586 B.C. (that is, after the fall of Jerusalem). Did Cooke offer any proof of this? Indeed no! There is no proof or evidence whatever of the truth of such a canard. Such a statement is without any doubt whatever incorrect.
Jerusalem’s Sins – Eze 22:1-31
Open It
1. In your opinion what are the conditions that contribute to the moral decline of a nation?
2. How would you describe the way you feel about the suffering of the innocent versus the suffering of the guilty?
Explore It
3. What, according to Ezekiel, had made Jerusalem guilty and defiled? (Eze 22:1-4)
4. What consequences had Jerusalem brought upon herself by her sin? (Eze 22:4-5)
5. What accusation did Ezekiel bring against the princes of Israel? (Eze 22:6)
6. What direct contradictions of Gods laws were taking place in Jerusalem? (Eze 22:7-12)
7. What was the chief thing Israel had “forgotten”? (Eze 22:12)
8. What did God predict about the courage and strength of Judah in the face of His judgments? (Eze 22:13-16)
9. What image did God use to illustrate how He would purify Israel? (Eze 22:17-22)
10. What particular sins did God hold against the civil and religious leaders of the people? (Eze 22:23-29)
11. Before He decreed the destruction of Jerusalem, for whom did God look? (Eze 22:30)
12. Whom did God hold responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem? (Eze 22:31)
Get It
13. What are the potential benefits and potential dangers of the presence of believers in morally dark places?
14. Why would someone claim that God had said something He didnt say?
15. If God had found a person to “stand in the gap,” what do you think that person would have done about the rampant sin of the people?
16. How do Christians sometimes rationalize behavior contrary to Gods commands?
17. Why is injustice to our fellow human beings contrary to proper worship of the living God?
Apply It
18. How might you be a light in a morally dark place not far from you?
19. How can you speak up for oppressed groups who might not be able to speak for themselves?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Eze 22:23-24. Land not cleansed has reference to the many pollutions both physical and moral of which the land was guilty. Nor rained upon. In those times God sometimes punished the land by withholding the rain (1Ki 8:35; Deu 11:17).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Corrupt leaders 22:23-31
"Often the prophets are inspired to compose attacks on the leadership of Israelite society. The reason for this phenomenon is clear enough: the nation could never have become sufficiently corrupt to merit the outpouring of God’s destructive wrath unless the societal leadership had helped the process along." [Note: Ibid., p. 216.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Using another figure, Ezekiel was to announce that Judah was a land that had not been cleansed with rain. God had withheld rain as punishment for covenant disobedience (cf. Deu 28:24). Judah’s moral uncleanness had accumulated because it had not benefited from God’s periodic cleansing of the land through its leadership. It would receive no "rain" of blessing in the day when God poured out His indignation on the city (in 586 B.C.).