Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 22:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezekiel 22:9. In thee are men that carry tales — Witnesses that will swear any thing, even where life is concerned.

They eat upon the mountains — Sacrifice to idols, and celebrate their festivals.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

National decay (22:1-31)

With Jerusalem’s end approaching, God again told Ezekiel to show the city its sins and the humiliating judgment that these sins would bring upon it (22:1-5). Powerful people exploited others, without any respect for the laws of God or the dignity of their fellow human beings (6-8). The corrupt city was characterized by lies, violence, idolatry, bribery, oppression and sexual sins of the worse kind (9-12). God warned that in punishment for its wickedness, he would destroy the city and scatter its people among the nations (13-16).
As a refiner puts metals into a furnace to refine them, so God would gather the people in Jerusalem for a fiery judgment. But instead of the refining process producing pure metal, it would show that there was nothing but worthless metal. As the fire of the furnace melts the metal, so God in his anger would punish Jerusalem (17-22).
Jerusalem’s wickedness extended to people in all sections of the community. Leaders made themselves rich through oppression and violence, while priests encouraged corruption by ignoring God’s law (23-27). Prophets approved of wrongdoing for the sake of their own gain, and the people as a whole took advantage of any who were less fortunate than themselves (28-29). Not one person among all the country’s official leaders was prepared to work for God in trying to stop the nation from crumbling to ruin (30-31).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

LIST OF JERUSALEM'S CURRENT SINS

Whereas the previous chapter gave a record of the historical apostasies of the nation of Israel, this one focuses upon the sins that Jerusalem was then in the act of committing when Ezekiel delivered this chapter, the tremendous implication being that there could no longer be any hope of God's sparing the "bloody city."

Also, the specific enumeration of so many transgressions, "Gives us a true picture of what Ezekiel means by `sins'."J. E. McFadyen, Peake's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924),, p. 512.

The chapter naturally falls into three divisions, presenting three oracles, each of which begins with the solemn words: "The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man" (Ezekiel 22:1; Ezekiel 22:17 and Ezekiel 22:23). Only the first of these is directed against Jerusalem, in the words, `the bloody city,'; and Keil objected to applying the last two oracles to Jerusalem only, because they appear to be addressed against "the house of Israel." Nevertheless, Jerusalem as the capital and final remainder of the whole house of Israel would seem to have been the principal addressee of the whole chapter.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Behold the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness. In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity. And one hath committed abominations with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah."

"Some of the sins listed here relate to violations of the Decalogue, but the most of them relate to chapters 17-26 of the Book of Leviticus, where is recorded the so-called `Holiness Code.'"J. B. Thompson, p. 167. We appreciate the exceedingly significant observation of McFadyen here: "Although most of the evils listed here are social wrongs, it is significant that the low morality is traced to false religion."J. E. McFadyen, Peake's Commentary on the Bible (London: T.C. and E.C. Jack, Ltd., 1924),, p. 512. Amen! The false notion that the prophets of God were concerned only with social wrongs has made many of the comments of radical critics worthless, because, "All sin, in the final analysis, is nothing but a failure on the part of men to maintain the correct relation with the Heavenly Father." "The First and Great Commandment is to love God" (Mark 12:48).

The student is referred to our commentaries on the Pentateuch and upon the Minor Prophets for a discussion of the sacred laws violated by these various sins. Despite the "princes of Israel" being cited here as the perpetrators of such atrocious evils, it may not be doubted that all of the people were equally as sinful. It is amazing that "even the princes" were the notoriously guilty ones. Naboth was murdered and his vineyard confiscated by Jezebel the Queen, Tamar was raped and dishonored by her brother Amnon, a prince of Israel, indeed, the first son of king David by Ahinoam. Reuben, one of the Twelve patriarchs "uncovered his father's nakednesss" by his adultery with one of Jacob's concubines.

It is of interest that this latter sin does not seem to have been very unusual, because of the plural "fathers" in v. 10. In the New Testament, it is stated that the taking of one's step-mother was an evil, "found not even among the Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 5:1).

The disobedience and despising of father and mother always accompany the ruin of any culture. In the final hardening of Israel, in the times of Christ, the religious leaders of Israel, namely the Pharisees, taught that children, under pretense of respect to the Corban, had the right to despise and neglect their parents;Matthew Henry Commentary (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell), p. 881. and Our Lord specifically condemned them for their teaching. Their old evils of the times of Ezekiel were still practiced in the days shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

"They have eaten upon the mountains" This refers to the widespread worship indulged by the Israelites in their participation in the licentious orgies of the "high places," where the ancient Canaanite gods of fertility were shamelessly worshipped by Israel.

"Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood" Cooke tells us that, "It was a common practice of those times to get rid of persons obnoxious to those in power by the device of false accusations."International Critical Commentary, p. 241. Plumptre agreed, citing the case of, "Naboth in 1 Kings 21:10,"E. H. Plumptre in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 1. as an example.

"They have forgotten me, saith Jehovah" "Social morality always depends upon the remembrance of God."International Critical Commentary, p. 242. In the last analysis, all correct human behavior is derived from the recognition of Almighty God as the giver of life and the only legitimate regulator of human actions. Why is it wrong to kill? This is true only because man is created in God's image, and God has forbidden it. Apart from the knowledge of God, it is not a sin to kill, to steal, to commit adultery, or to do any other deed that pleases the doer. Apart from the knowledge and remembrance of God, there is no such thing as either "right" or "wrong." It must indeed be feared that in our culture today, this fundamental criterion for determining what is right or wrong has been obscured by the increasing unbelief of our times.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 22

Now, why would God do this? Chapter 22 he now tells us the things that were happening and the sins for which God's judgment was coming.

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations. Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; The city is filled with murders in the midst of it, the shedding of blood, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood which thou hast shed; and thou hast defiled thyself with your idols which you have made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries ( Ezekiel 22:1-4 ).

Because you have turned to idolatry and because the murders that are going on. And, of course, this was to their idols. They were sacrificing their own children as live sacrifices to these gods.

Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood ( Ezekiel 22:5-6 ).

So the princes were polluted.

In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow ( Ezekiel 22:7 ).

The princes here, rather than dealing righteously, were dealing by oppression: oppressing the stranger, oppressing the orphan, the widow, taking advantage of the weak.

Thou hast despised my holy things, and you have profaned my sabbaths. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that were set apart for her pollution ( Ezekiel 22:8-10 ).

They were not to have intercourse with a menstruous woman, but they were doing it.

And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter ( Ezekiel 22:11 ).

So there was incest that was being practiced. Adultery, fornication, pornography, lewdness.

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood ( Ezekiel 22:12 );

So there was murder by hire.

thou hast taken usury and increase ( Ezekiel 22:12 ),

Interest rates went up to twenty percent, crime.

and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and you have forgotten me, saith the Lord ( Ezekiel 22:12 ).

Of course, a person couldn't do these things without forgetting God. You see, if you're conscious of God you couldn't be doing these things. You've got to put God out of your mind to be able to do these things.

Behold, therefore I have ( Ezekiel 22:13 )

And that, of course, I might say, is the result of putting God out of the minds of people. Then what do you have as a guide? What do you have as a standard for morality? What do you have as a guide for right and wrong? If you put God out of the minds of the people, if you declare there is no God, or God is so removed from His creation that He has no concern, then the people are cut loose, there is nothing as a standard for morality. There are no codes to follow. If every man must just experience for himself life and the various aspects of life relating to them and interpreting them for himself and there is no God to answer to, then the door is open for all of these things, and who's to say it is wrong? And so we have psychologists today written up in Time Magazine about three weeks ago who are advocating incest as a wholesome, healthy practice. Encouraging the parents to start sexual relations with their children when they are two or three years old so that they might understand a new dimension of love. But you see, if everything is relative, and if there is no God, then who is to say that is wrong? Who's to say adultery is wrong, fornication is wrong? High interest rates are wrong. Contracting for someone's murder is wrong, killing someone is wrong. Who says? What's your standard? You've put God out of the picture. That opens the door for anything that a man wants to do.

And so the whole key is there: you have forgotten Me. And that is the danger of putting God aside, setting God aside out of our educational system, where you can't talk about Jesus Christ. You can't talk about a belief in God. You can't advocate that they believe in God. So what are you doing? You're just opening up this whole sordid mess that we see in the world around us. We have sown the wind, as the prophet Hosea said, and now we're reaping the whirlwind. We are reaping the result of this whole secular humanism that was fostered upon our school systems by the Watsons and the Deweys and the Huxleys. And it's probably too late to reverse it. The die has been cast. I don't know how we can reverse it. Only God can reverse it, and that through the intercession of His people.

It is interesting as we read the things that were going on in Israel, they are the same things you read in your newspaper. Because they had forgotten God. If they had not forgotten God, if they had God in their minds and their hearts, in their consciousness, they couldn't do these things.

Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and I will consume the filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 22:13-16 ).

That oft repeated phrase, some sixty-one, sixty-two times in Ezekiel, "Thou shalt know that I am Jehovah."

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is become as dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you ( Ezekiel 22:17-22 ).

Now it is interesting that when Moses was predicting the apostasy of the people in Deuteronomy, "When you've come into the land and you begin to pollute yourself in the land, and you turn from God and you forget God," and so forth, and this apostasy takes place, that Moses wrote in Deuteronomy that they would be burned with hunger and devour with burning heat. Here God says, "I'm gonna melt you in this caldron as silver and tin and iron are melted."

And the word of the LORD came unto me saying, Son of man, say unto her, You are in the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets ( Ezekiel 22:23-25 )

So the prophets were polluted. They were lying to the people.

in the midst thereof, they are like a roaring lion ravening on the prey: they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof ( Ezekiel 22:25 ).

So these prophets were greedy. They were always emphasizing giving money. "Send in your money, your dollars, you know." Greedy for gain. Representing to the people that God was always broke. His program was just out of funds, and you better rescue God this week, or next week it's bankruptcy. God's going out of business unless you come in and save Him from this terrible fate. The prophets were taking the treasure and the precious things from these little widows. Extorting their Social Security checks.

Her priests have violated my law, they have profaned my holy things: they don't know the difference between that which is holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them ( Ezekiel 22:26 ).

Some recent survey showed that some eighty percent of the ministers in the United States do not believe in hell as a place of punishment for the wicked. Sixty percent don't believe in heaven. Seventy-eight percent don't believe in the virgin birth. And then you get to the resurrection and all and you find unbelievers among the ministry. Well no wonder the church is dead. If there's nothing to be gained, why go? Nothing to be lost, why get involved?

The priests had violated the law of God; they'd turned against God. "I am profaned among them."

Her princes [the rulers, the governors] in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain [bribery, Abscam]. 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 ( Ezekiel 22:27-28 ).

Doing all of this in the name of God. All of this junky, fundraising stuff in the name of God. "The Lord hath spoken." Oh, I get these letters all the time, computerized letters. "The Lord laid you on my heart today, and God gave me a special message for you. He wants you to sit down and write out a check and send it to me. Thus saith the Lord, you know. Support me so I can buy my new yacht."

The people of the land have used oppression, they have exercised robbery, they have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. [And in all of this God said,] 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 ( Ezekiel 22:29-30 ).

The Lord is merciful. The Lord is plenteous in mercy, slow to wrath and slow to anger. But He will not always try, nor will He keep His judgment forever. In other words, there can come a day when God must judge. Though He is reluctant, yet His hand is forced. Now here, in the midst of this whole perversity, God was still seeking an excuse to show mercy and to forgive.

Now, God puts a hedge around His people. Job had a hedge around him according to Satan complaining to God. "Have you considered My servant Job? Perfect man, upright, one who loves good and hates evil." "Oh, yes, I know that fellow. I've seen him. You've put a hedge around him; I can't get to him. You take down that hedge, you let me get to him and he'll curse you to your face. You see, you've blessed the guy, you've prospered him. Who wouldn't love you if you blessed and prospered? Anybody would serve you for that. Job's a hireling, God. Serving You because of prosperity. Take down the hedge."

God has a hedge around His people. But sin breaks down that hedge. Now God is looking for someone to stand and to build up that hedge. Man had become alienated from God. God was looking for some man to stand in the gap. Of course, Jesus is the one who came and stood in the gap for us. And has reconciled us to God through the blood of His cross. God said, "I sought for a man among them who would build up the hedge who would stand in the gap, but I found none." A man who would stand before the Lord for the land, an intercessor so that God would not destroy the land. But there was no one to intercede. There was no man there.

Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way ( Ezekiel 22:31 )

In other words, retribution, judgment has come.

their own way have I recompensed on their heads, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 22:31 ).

No more mercy, but now judgment, retribution. Their own ways have been turned upon their heads.

Now as we see the conditions that brought upon the destruction of Israel, the things that were going on, we look around the land today we see the things that are happening here. History is repeating itself. The principles are still the same; God is still merciful, plenteous in mercy, and God is still looking for men to stand before God for the land. To build up the hedge, to stand in the gap lest He destroy. But God's judgment, though it lingers of a long time, will surely come. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Covenant unfaithfulness 22:1-16

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Judah’s leaders had undermined parental authority (cf. Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3). When children stop respecting their parents, it is not long before citizens stop respecting their rulers. They had taken advantage of the helpless-aliens, orphans, and widows-people particularly in need of protection by those in positions of power (cf. Exodus 22:21-24; Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33; Deuteronomy 24:17).

"The real test of any society is . . . how it treats the people with no voice and no power." [Note: D. Lane, The Cloud and the Silver Lining, p. 88.]

The rulers had also despised what God considered holy and had failed to observe the Sabbath Days (cf. Exodus 20:8; Leviticus 19:3). Some of them had resorted to slander to get their way and to premeditated murder (cf. Leviticus 19:16). Jerusalem’s leaders had also worshipped idols at mountain shrines (cf. Deuteronomy 12:1-2; Deuteronomy 16:21-22) and practiced sexual sins in connection with their idolatry (cf. Leviticus 18:6-23; Leviticus 20:10-21).

"Ritual sex was another great attraction of idolatry. Most of the ancient Near Easterners believed that all things that came into being were born into being. This was a major tenet of their belief system. They believed that not only animals were born, but also plants. (This is the reason that they ’sowed their field with two kind of seed,’ i.e., male and female seed as they thought of it; see Leviticus 19:19.) What was born into being started, they believed, with sex on the part of the gods-specifically Baal and Asherah, the god and goddess of fertility according to the Canaanites. They also thought that if a person bringing an offering to Baal and/or Asherah would have ritual sex with a prostitute at the shrine as part of worship (!) this would help stimulate the divine powers of nature to have sex, and thus more animals and crops would be born, and the agriculture would flourish. Outlandish as this sounds to us, it was the pinnacle of theology among the Canaanites-and was what the Israelites readily accepted at Baal-Peor." [Note: Stuart, pp. 181-82.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood,.... Innocent blood, as the Targum; such who go from house to house, as pedlars do, with their wares or spices, as the word a signifies; hence the Syriac version renders it "merchants"; and carry tales and lies of innocent persons, and stir up others against them to wrath and revenge, and shed their blood; or that go to the courts of judicature, and there accuse innocent persons, and bear false witness against them, to the taking away of their lives. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "thieves": who commonly are murderers: and in thee they eat upon the mountains; that is, there were such in Jerusalem who used to go to the mountains where idols were worshipped, and eat the things that were sacrificed to them; or partook of the feast made to the honour of them. So the Targum,

"in thee they served idols on the mountains:''

in the midst of thee they commit lewdness; a general word for all manner of uncleanness, as adultery, fornication, incest, c. of which some particulars follow.

a אנשי רכיל "homines mercaturae, [vel] aromatis" so Ben Melech observes.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,   2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.   3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.   4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.   5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.   6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.   7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.   8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.   9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.   10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.   11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.   12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.   13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.   14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.   15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.   16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

      In these verses the prophet by a commission from Heaven sits as a judge upon the bench, and Jerusalem is made to hold up her hand as a prisoner at the bar; and, if prophets were set over other nations, much more over God's nation, Jeremiah 1:10. This prophet is authorized to judge the bloody city, the city of bloods. Jerusalem is so called, not only because she had been guilty of the particular sin of blood-shed, but because her crimes in general were bloody crimes (Ezekiel 7:23; Ezekiel 7:23), such as polluted her in her blood, and for which she deserved to have blood given her to drink. Now the business of a judge with a malefactor is to convict him of his crimes, and then to pass sentence upon him for them. These two things Ezekiel is to do here.

      I. He is to find Jerusalem guilty of many heinous crimes here enumerated in a long bill of indictment, and it is billa vera--a true bill; so he writes upon it whose judgment we are sure is according to truth. He must show her all her abominations (Ezekiel 22:2; Ezekiel 22:2), that God may be justified in all the desolations brought upon her. Let us take a view of all the particular sins which Jerusalem here stands charged with; and they are all exceedingly sinful.

      1. Murder: The city sheds blood, not only in the suburbs, where the strangers dwell, but in the midst of it, where, one would think, the magistrates would, if any where, be vigilant. Even there people were murdered either in duels or by secret assassinations and poisonings, or in the courts of justice under colour of law, and there was no care taken to discover and punish the murderers according to the law (Genesis 9:6), no, nor so much as the ceremony used to expiate an uncertain murder (Deuteronomy 21:1), and so the guilt and pollution remains upon the city. Thus thou hast become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed,Ezekiel 22:4; Ezekiel 22:4. This crime is insisted most upon, for it was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin more than any; it is said to be that which the Lord would not pardon,2 Kings 24:4. (1.) The princes of Israel, who should have been the protectors of injured innocence, every one were to their power to shed blood,Ezekiel 22:6; Ezekiel 22:6. They thirsted for it, and delighted in it, and whoever came within their power were sure to feel it; whoever lay at their mercy were sure to find none. (2.) There were those who carried tales to shed blood,Ezekiel 22:9; Ezekiel 22:9. They told lies of men to the princes, to whom they knew it would be pleasing, to incense them against them; or they betrayed what passed in private conversation, to make mischief among neighbours, and set them together by the ears, to bite, and devour, and worry one another, even to death. Note, Those who, by giving invidious characters and telling ill-natured stories of their neighbours, sow discord among brethren, will be accountable for all the mischief that follows upon it; as he that kindles a fire will be accountable for all the hurt it does. (3.) There were those who took gifts to shed blood (Ezekiel 22:12; Ezekiel 22:12), who would be hired with money to swear a man out of his life, or, if they were upon a jury, would be bribed to find an innocent man guilty. When so much barbarous bloody work of this kind was done in Jerusalem we may well conclude, [1.] That men's consciences had become wretchedly profligate and seared and their hearts hardened; for those would stick at no wickedness who would not stick at this. [2.] That abundance of quiet, harmless, good people were made away with, whereby, as the guilt of the city was increased, so the number of those that should have stood in the gap to turn away the wrath of God was diminished.

      2. Idolatry: She makes idols against herself to destroy herself,Ezekiel 22:3; Ezekiel 22:3. And again (Ezekiel 22:4; Ezekiel 22:4), Thou hast defiled thyself in thy idols which thou hast made. Note, Those who make idols for themselves will be found to have made them against themselves, for idolaters put a cheat upon themselves and prepare destruction for themselves; besides that thereby they pollute themselves, they render themselves odious in the eyes of the just and jealous God, and even their mind and conscience are defiled, so that to them nothing is pure. Those who did not make idols themselves were yet found guilty of eating upon the mountains, or high places (Ezekiel 22:9; Ezekiel 22:9), in honour of the idols and in communion with idolaters.

      3. Disobedience to parents (Ezekiel 22:7; Ezekiel 22:7): In thee have the children set light by their father and mother, mocked them, cursed them, and despised to obey them, which was a sign of a more than ordinary corruption of nature as well as manners, and a disposition to all manner of disorder, Isaiah 3:5. Those that set light by their parents are in the highway to all wickedness. God had made many wholesome laws for the support of the paternal authority, but no care was taken to put them in execution; nay, the Pharisees in their day taught children, under pretence of respect to the Corban, to set light by their parents and refuse to maintain them, Matthew 15:5.

      4. Oppression and extortion. To enrich themselves they wronged the poor (Ezekiel 22:7; Ezekiel 22:7): They dealt by oppression and deceit with the stranger, taking advantage of his necessities, and his ignorance of the laws and customs of the country. In Jerusalem, that should have been a sanctuary to the oppressed, they vexed the fatherless and widows by unreasonable demands and inquisitions, or troublesome law-suits, in which might prevails against right. "Thou hast taken usury and increase (Ezekiel 22:12; Ezekiel 22:12); not only there are those in thee that do it, but thou hast done it." It was an act of the city or community; the public money, which should have been employed in public charity, was put out to usury, with extortion. Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by violence and wrong. For neighbours to gain by one another in a way of fair trading is well, but those who are greedy of gain will not be held within the rules of equity.

      5. Profanation of the sabbath and other holy things. This commonly goes along with the other sins for which they here stand indicted (Ezekiel 22:8; Ezekiel 22:8): Thou hast despised my holy things, holy oracles, holy ordinances. The rites which God appointed were thought too plain, too ordinary; they despised them, and therefore were fond of the customs of the heathen. Note, Immorality and dishonesty are commonly attended with a contempt of religion and the worship of God. Thou hast profaned my sabbaths. There was not in Jerusalem that face of sabbath-sanctification that one would have expected in the holy city. Sabbath-breaking is an iniquity that is an inlet to all iniquity. Many have owned it to contribute as much to their ruin as any thing.

      6. Uncleanness and all manner of seventh-commandment sins, fruits of those vile affections to which God in a way of righteous judgment gives men up, to punish them for their idolatry and profanation of holy things. Jerusalem had been famous for its purity, but now in the midst of thee they commit lewdness (Ezekiel 22:9; Ezekiel 22:9); lewdness goes bare-faced, though in the most scandalous instances, as that of a man's having his father's wife, which is the discovery of the father's nakedness (Ezekiel 22:10; Ezekiel 22:10) and is a sin not to be named among Christians without the utmost detestation (1 Corinthians 5:1), and was made a capital crime by the law of Moses, Leviticus 20:11. The time to refrain from embracing has not been observed (Ecclesiastes 3:6), for they have humbled her that was set apart for her pollution. They made nothing of committing lewdness with a neighbour's wife, with a daughter-in-law, or a sister, Ezekiel 22:11; Ezekiel 22:11. And shall not God visit for these things?

      7. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom of all this wickedness (Ezekiel 22:12; Ezekiel 22:12): "Thou hast forgotten me, else thou wouldst not have done thus." Note, Sinners do that which provokes God because they forget him; they forget their descent from him, dependence on him, and obligations to him; they forget how valuable his favour is, which they make themselves unfit for, and how formidable his wrath, which they make themselves obnoxious to. Those that pervert their ways forget the Lord their God,Jeremiah 3:21.

      II. He is to pass sentence upon Jerusalem for these crimes.

      1. Let her know that she has filled up the measure of her iniquity, and that her sins are such as forbid delays and call for speedy vengeance. She has made her time to come (Ezekiel 22:3; Ezekiel 22:3), her days to draw near; and she has come to her years of maturity for punishment (Ezekiel 22:4; Ezekiel 22:4), as an heir that has come to age and is ready for his inheritance. God would have borne longer with them, but they had arrived at such a pitch of impudence in sin that God could not in honour give them a further day. Note, Abused patience will at last be weary of forbearing. And, when sinners (as Solomon speaks) grow overmuch wicked, they die before their time (Ecclesiastes 7:17) and shorten their reprieves.

      2. Let her know that she has exposed herself, and therefore God has justly exposed her, to the contempt and scorn of all her neighbours (Ezekiel 22:4; Ezekiel 22:4): I have made thee a reproach to the heathen, both those who are near, who are eye-witnesses of Jerusalem's apostasy and degeneracy, and those afar off, who, though at a distance, will think it worth taking notice of (Ezekiel 22:5; Ezekiel 22:5); they shall all mock thee. While they were reproached by their neighbours for their adherence to God it was their honour, and they might be sure that God would roll away their reproach. But, now that they are laughed at for their revolt from God, they must lie down in their shame, and must say, The Lord is righteous. They make a mock at Jerusalem, both because her sins had been very scandalous (she is infamous, polluted in name, and has quite lost her credit), and because her punishment is very grievous--she is much vexed and frets without measure at her troubles. Note, Those who fret most at their troubles have commonly those about them who will be so much the more apt to make a jest of them.

      3. Let her know that God is displeased, highly displeased, at her wickedness, and does and will witness against it (Ezekiel 22:13; Ezekiel 22:13): I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain. God, both by his prophets and by his providence, revealed his wrath from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness, the oppressions they were guilty of, though they got by them, and their murders (the blood which has been in the midst of thee), and all their other sins. Note, God has sufficiently discovered how angry he is at the wicked courses of his people; and, that they may not say that they have not had fair warning, he smites his hand against the sin before he lays his hand upon the sinner. And this is a good reason why we should despise dishonest gain, even the gain of oppressions, and shake our hands from holding bribes, because these are sins against which God shakes his hands,Isaiah 33:15.

      4. Let her know that, proud and secure as she is, she is no match for God's judgments, Ezekiel 22:14; Ezekiel 22:14. (1.) She is assured that the destruction she has deserved will come: I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. He that is true to his promises will be true to his threatenings too, for he is not a man that he should repent. (2.) It is supposed that she thinks herself able to contend with God, and so stand a siege against his judgments. She bade defiance to the day of the Lord, Isaiah 5:19. But, (3.) She is convinced of her utter inability to make her part good with him: "Can thy heart endure, or can thy hand be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? Thou thinkest thou hast to do only with men like thyself, but shalt be made to know that thou fallest into the hands of a living God." Observe here, [1.] There is a day coming when God will deal with sinners, a day of visitation. He deals with some to bring them to repentance, and there is no resisting the force of convictions when he sets them on; he deals with others to bring them to ruin. He deals with sinners in this life, when he brings upon them his sore judgments; but the days of eternity are especially the days in which God will deal with them, when the full vials of God's wrath will be poured out without mixture. [2.] The wrath of God against sinners, when he comes to deal with them, will be found both intolerable and irresistible. There is no heart stout enough to endure it; it is none of the infirmities which the spirit of a man will sustain. Damned sinners can neither forget nor despise their torments, nor have they any thing wherewith to support themselves under their torments. There are no hands strong enough either to ward off the strokes of God's wrath or to break the chains with which sinners are bound over to the day of wrath. Who knows the power of God's anger?

      5. Let her know that, since she has walked in the way of the heathen, and learned their works, she shall have enough of them (Ezekiel 22:15; Ezekiel 22:15): "I will not only send thee among the heathen, out of thy own land, but I will scatter thee among them and disperse thee in the countries, to be abused and insulted over by strangers." And since her filthiness and filthy ones continued in her, notwithstanding all the methods God had taken to refine her (she would not be made clean,Jeremiah 13:27), he will be his judgments consume her filthiness out of her; he will destroy those that are incurably bad and reform those that are inclined to be good.

      6. Let her know that God has disowned her and cast her off. He had been her heritage and portion; but now (Ezekiel 22:16; Ezekiel 22:16), "Thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself, shift for thyself, make the best hand thou canst for thyself, for God will no longer undertake for thee." Note, Those that give up themselves to be ruled by their lusts will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those that resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other comfort and happiness than what their own hands can furnish them with, and a miserable portion it will prove. Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward. Thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things. These are the same with this, "Thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself, and then, when it is too late, shalt own in the sight of the heathen that I am the Lord, who alone am a portion sufficient for my people." Note, Those that have lost their interest in God will know how to value it.