Ezekiel 22, 23 & 24

 Review

Ezekiel, remember, was a priest.  Do you remember which other prophet, whom we’ve already heard from, was also a priest?  (Jeremiah). Ezekiel was born in 622, and his last prophecy was around 571 BC. He prophesied from Babylon.  Ezekiel had these heavenly visions on the one hand and on the other he was given earthly messages that he acted out dramatically (with props and costumes). Ezekiel had this near term prophesy of Jerusalem’s overthrow and temple’s destruction and the people’s exile and captivity. Chapter 22 is a recounting of the sins and the guilt of Israel. Think of it like this; it’s a courtroom scene. The defendant has been pronounced guilty of the crime. Prior to sentencing the judge reads the charges of which the criminal is guilty.

Ezekiel 22

Verses 1-16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. 3 You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement! 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.

6 “Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. 7 They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you. 8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. 9 Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. 10 In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity. 11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. 14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and will act. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you. 16 You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Jerusalem’s Sins (Ezekiel 22:1–16)

• The Bloody City (22:1–5): Ezekiel is commanded to pronounce God’s judgement on Jerusalem for 
• bloodshed
• idolatry
• More sins (22:6–12):
• Leaders using power to shed blood. Verse 6
• Treating parents with contempt and neglecting authority. Verse 7
• Oppressing foreigners and mistreating orphans and widows. Verse 7
• Ignoring the Sabbath. Verse 8
• Slandering others to cause harm. Verse 9
• Sexual sins, including adultery, incest, and lewdness. Verses 9, 10, 11
• Financial corruption, bribery, usury, and extortion. Verse 12
• The core issue (22:13-16):
• Ignoring God. 

God is very specific as He lists off all of Israel’s sins.  It’s as if God has cameras everywhere, and the video is being recorded.   How would you feel if every moment of your life was being recorded?   I’m sure it’s no news to you.   It is.   I need to keep this in the forefront of my mind.

Verses 17-22 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.’”

Jerusalem as a Crucible of Judgment (Ezekiel 22:17–22)

• The Furnace and the Dross (22:17-18): God compares the people of Jerusalem to dross .
• Gathering in the Crucible (22:19–22): Jerusalem was the crucible where the people were held to receive punishment.

But this whole scenario isn’t just about God expending His anger on the people of Israel for their sin.  If I can gather anything from this metaphor, just like the process of using a furnace and a crucible to refine metal and remove the impurities, God’s judgement is meant to rid them of their contaminated religion and produce a true faith without any trace of filth or spiritual crud of idolatry.

Verses 23-29 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on 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 lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. 26 Her 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. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. 28 Her 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. 29 The 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.

The Corruption of Leadership (Ezekiel 22:23–29)

• The Princes (Leaders/Officials) (22:27): Like roaring lions tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
• The Prophets (22:26, 28): Whitewashing evil with false visions, lying, and falsely claiming "This is what the Sovereign Lord says".
• The Priests (22:26): Violating God's law, profaning holy things, and failing to teach the difference between the clean and the unclean or keep the Sabbath.
• The People of the Land (22:29): Practicing extortion, committing robbery, and mistreating the poor, needy, and foreigners by denying them justice.

Verses 30-31 I 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. 31 Thus 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.

The Search for an Intercessor (Ezekiel 22:30–31)

• The Search for Someone to Stand in the Gap (22:30): God looks for someone to build a wall and stand in the gap (breach) on behalf of the land so He would not have to destroy it.
• The Result (22:31): "I found no one," resulting in God pouring out His wrath and holding them accountable for their own deeds.

Israel recognized their need for a gap-stander (intercessor) since almost their beginning:

Numbers 21:7 So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people.

I’ve often heard this applied to us as the church that we need to stand in the gap for others.  While this is true, we need to be available to pray for each other, we are so limited and so finite, we really need Jesus Himself to fulfill this need for us:

Hebrews 7:24-25 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 

Romans 8:26-27 (NKJV) 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit [is,] because He makes intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 

Ezekiel 23

Some (actually all) of this chapter makes me very uncomfortable.   I just need to give a warning and a disclaimer; God, through Ezekiel, is very sexually explicit as well as quite graphic in describing the violence and bloodshed in this chapter.

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; 3 and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. 4 Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

Let me explain the sisters' names: The elder Oholah representing Samaria (which is another name for the northern kingdom of Israel), means Her Own Tent (or Tabernacle), in the sense that she rejected God’s temple and the service that attended it. The younger, Oholibah (representing Jerusalem), which means My Tent/Tabernacle is In Her, with the sense that she was home to God’s temple and its service. Both incorporate the word ohel, ‘tent,’ Oholah suggesting ‘her own tent,’ and Oholibah ‘my tent in her.’”

The city of Samaria is called the elder because she preceded Judah in both defection and in captivity.”

5 “Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors, 6 who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself. 8 She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her. 9 Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they slew her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her.

11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way. 14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 18 She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

22 “Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. 29 They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’ 32 Thus says the Lord God,

‘You will drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
You will be laughed at and held in derision;
It contains much.
33 ‘You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 ‘You will drink it and drain it.
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

36 Moreover, the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food. 38 Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house.

40 “Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came—for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments; 41 and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil. 42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus?’ 44 But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

46 “For thus says the Lord God, ‘Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. 47 The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. 48 Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Understanding the Allegory of the Sisters

1. What actions characterize the unfaithfulness of each sister?
• Oholah (Samaria):
• Engaged in idolatry, particularly with Egyptian and Assyrian gods.
• Formed alliances with Assyria, leading to her downfall.
• Oholibah (Jerusalem):
• Followed in the same sinful path as Samaria, but was even more corrupt.
• Embraced the idols and practices of Babylon, leading to her eventual destruction.
2. Is there any particular sin that idolatry seems to always lead to related to their children?
• blood is on their hands. They caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire

Reflecting on Spiritual State

3. What do the sins of Oholah and Oholibah reveal about their kingdoms?
• Both kingdoms exhibited a pattern of unfaithfulness to God, prioritizing foreign alliances and idol worship over loyalty to the LORD.
• Their actions illustrate a broader national failure to heed God's warnings and commandments.

Lessons from Consequences

4. What consequences did each sister face for their unfaithfulness?
• Samaria: Punished by Assyria, leading to her destruction in 721 B.C.
• Jerusalem: Ultimately faced judgment from Babylon, resulting in the fall of the city in 586 B.C.
5. What lessons can be drawn from the fates of Oholah and Oholibah?
• The importance of faithfulness to God and the dangers of idolatry.
• A warning against ignoring the lessons of history, as the consequences of sin can lead to severe judgment.

Application of the Text

6. How can we apply the lessons from Ezekiel 23?
• Can you describe how your faithfulness to God might influence or impact others?
• If we, the church, lose our saltiness (so-to-speak) how is our culture negatively impacted?

Ezekiel 24 

1 And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, 2 “Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 

Before we read on, I just think it is interesting to note; This exact date is also recorded elsewhere in the Bible

2 Kings 25:1 - Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 

Jeremiah 39:1 - Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it 

The parable of the Boiling Caldron

Verses 3-14 Speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Put on the pot, put it on and also pour water in it;
4 Put in it the pieces,
Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder;
Fill it with choice bones.
5 “Take the choicest of the flock,
And also pile wood under the pot.
Make it boil vigorously.
Also seethe its bones in it.”

6 ‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Woe to the bloody city,
To the pot in which there is rust
And whose rust has not gone out of it!
Take out of it piece after piece,
Without making a choice.
7 “For her blood is in her midst;
She placed it on the bare rock;
She did not pour it on the ground
To cover it with dust.
8 “That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance,
I have put her blood on the bare rock,
That it may not be covered.”

9 ‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Woe to the bloody city!
I also will make the pile great.
10 “Heap on the wood, kindle the fire,
Boil the flesh well
And mix in the spices,
And let the bones be burned.
11 “Then set it empty on its coals
So that it may be hot
And its bronze may glow
And its filthiness may be melted in it,
Its rust consumed.
12 “She has wearied Me with toil,
Yet her great rust has not gone from her;
Let her rust be in the fire!
13 “In your filthiness is lewdness.
Because I would have cleansed you,
Yet you are not clean,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have spent My wrath on you.

14 I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’”

1. What does the allegory of the boiling pot signify regarding the impending judgment on Jerusalem?

The inescapable, thorough, and divinely ordained judgment of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege. 

• The Pot: Represents the city of Jerusalem itself, which the inhabitants falsely viewed as a protective shield or secure enclosure.
• The Meat and Bones: Represent the people trapped inside Jerusalem—the choice pieces (thigh, shoulder, and best bones) signify the leaders and prominent citizens, while the boiling process shows that destruction will reach all classes
• The Fire and Boiling Water: Symbolize the intense, agonizing pressure of the Babylonian military siege and God's burning wrath against the city's bloodshed and moral corruption.
• The Corroded/Rusted Pot (Ezekiel 24:6–12): When the contents are emptied, the empty metal pot is placed directly on the coals to burn away its rust (chel'ah). This indicates that Jerusalem's impurity is so deeply ingrained and unrepentant that the city and its temple must be thoroughly scorched and demolished.

2. How does this imagery reflect the state of the people and their sins?

• They were dead meat

Ephesians 2:1-5 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). 

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

15 And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. 17 Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. 19 The people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me saying, 21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. 22 You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men. 23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities and you will groan to one another. 24 Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

25 ‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters, 26 that on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears? 27 On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

I read a couple of different takes on this part here where the LORD tells Ezekiel not to mourn the loss of his wife (the desire of his eyes).   None of them made sense to me.   The simple explanation, is just as mourning wouldn’t change the fact that your wife has died; there is nothing you or anyone else can do at this point to change the fact the judgement is coming on Jerusalem.

One thing I did find that was interesting was that Warren Wiersbe observed that in some way or another, the wife of a Biblical prophet was connected with their mission or message.

· Moses was a prophet and was criticized for the wife he chose (Numbers 12:1).

· Isaiah’s wife was a prophetess (Isaiah 8:3). She bore him at least two sons whose names were signs to the people of Judah.

· Hosea’s wife became a prostitute and he had to buy her out of the slave market (Hosea 1-3).

I can tell that Ezekiel loved his wife.   We know that Ezekiel as a husband, would have felt the loss of his wife.   It hurt.   Ezekiel was not deterred from obedience to God.  I’m going to try to bring a couple of New Testament verses to bear on the subject.

Matthew 5:4 (NASB95) “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [a]in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive [b]and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a [c]shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive [d]and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.18 Therefore comfort one another with these wordsords.