17 Then this message came to me from the Lord :
18 "Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over-a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead.
19 So tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem.
20 Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury.
21 I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you,
22 and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.'"
23 Again a message came to me from the Lord :
24 "Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain.
25 Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land.
26 Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them.
27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people's lives for money!
28 And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, 'My message is from the Sovereign Lord,' when the Lord hasn't spoken a single word to them.
29 Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.
30 "I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have to destroy the land, but I found no one.
31 So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!"
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- www.christianity.com)
"Commentary on Ezekiel 22:17-22
Israel, compared with other nations, had been as the gold and silver compared with baser metals. But they were now as the refuse that is consumed in the furnace, or thrown away when the silver is refined. Sinners, especially backsliding professors, are, in God's account, useless and fit for nothing. When God brings his own people into the furnace, he sits by them as the refiner by his gold, to see that they are not continued there any longer than is fitting and needful. The dross shall be wholly separated, and the good metal purified. Let those who suffer pains, or lingering sickness, and find that their hearts can scarcely bear these light and momentary afflictions, take warning to flee from the wrath to come; for if these trials are not sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the cleansing their hearts and hands from sin, far worse things will come upon them.
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- www.christianity.com)
Commentary on Ezekiel 22:23-31
All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down."
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