Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Ezekiel
Book: Ezekiel
Chapter: 22
Overview:
The sins of
Jerusalem.
(1-16) Israel is condemned as
Dross.
(17-22) As the corruption is general,
So shall be the
Punishment.
(23-31)
1-16 The
Prophet is to
Judge the bloody
City; the
City of
bloods.
Jerusalem is
So called, because of her crimes. The sins
which
Jerusalem stands charged with, are exceeding sinful.
Murder,
Idolatry, disobedience to parents, oppression and
extortion, profanation of the
Sabbath and holy things, seventh
commandment sins,
Lewdness and
Adultery. Unmindfulness of
God
was at the bottom of all this wickedness. Sinners provoke
God
because they forget him.
Jerusalem has filled the
Measure of her
sins. Those who give up themselves to be ruled
By their lusts,
will justly be given up to be portioned
By them. Those who
resolve to be their own masters, let them expect
No other
happiness than their own hands can furnish; and a miserable
portion it will prove.
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.
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.