Ezekiel Chapter 22
Monday, 01/26/26 at 08:31
Solitary Man
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Eze 22:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
As I was praying this morning and contemplating the book of Ezekiel, my mind drifted off toward the big picture thus far. We have now examined the first 21 chapters, and if this was the first time that you have ever read this book, what would you have concluded thus far? What is the theme? What is God trying to say?
There really hasn’t been much call for repentance, has there? In fact, I don’t recall any specific text that urges the people of God to repent. Instead, it is a window into the very strong emotions of God, when faced with the situation where his very own children have continually refused to hearken unto him over a long time period. It is God telling us over and over just how rotten we are, and how terribly angry he has become. He uses this one man Ezekiel to employ every figure of speech, every literary device, every pantomime and skit imaginable to attempt to convey this one simple message.
And that message is that God’s people have gone too far. It is now too late. The first truth is that sin must stop in God’s universe. God gives man ample opportunity to stop sinning. That is, he calls upon us again and again to repent. When God has exhausted every option, then he will get rid of sin himself. And how does he accomplish that? Be getting rid of the sinner.
Have we come to that point in our nations? I believe we have. Almost everyone in the church does not think so. At least, they preach and act as if there is still plenty of opportunity to fix things if we just repent. I stand corrected, most don’t even preach that. Most actually preach that repentance is not even much needed. Everything is still business as usual.
The revelation of God via the book of Ezekiel just does not resonate in the typical Christian’s heart today. Their hearts are not attuned to its message. All I can do is imitate God. I will attempt to explain the message and the extreme relevance of this book for our planet today, and hope that God touches many hearts with the ability to see and hear the truth.
Eze 22:2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge (shaw-fat – pronounce sentence, punish, execute judgment), wilt thou judge (shaw-fat) the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations (to-ay-baw – morally disgusting, abhorrent idolatry).
In the last chapter, God treated us to the prop of the bloody sword. In yet another round of attempting to communicate this nation-ending truth of total judgment, Yehovah will attempt once more to wake them up to their true precarious spiritual state by creating another list of their innumerable transgressions. He strives with the prophet, asking him if he will pronounce judgment on these well deserved rebels. Of course Ezekiel will do so. He has faithfully spoken all that God wanted him to say, and he is not about to stop now. God says that he will speak through him. You will reveal to the people all those things that make them oh so worthy of death.
Eze 22:3 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 (ghil-lool – a log as an idol) against herself to defile (taw-may – contaminate, pollute, make foul) herself.
Murder has become common. When a nation makes murder as common as getting up in the morning, their time becomes limited. Canada is such a place in 2025. Unrestricted abortion, an ever expanding MAiD (government assisted suicide) program, the continued fraudulent cajoling of the masses to keep taking the deadly covid jabs, the murdering of more and more farm animals for no reason – all these things are indicative of a culture that has fallen in love with death. Throw away the laws of God, and this is what you have. Turn your back on Torah, and you turn into a Canada, 2025 version.
It is almost as if we want to God to destroy us. Excessive murder hastens the day of the Lord. Too much murder, and you are forcing God to step in to end it. The land can only take so much blood.
Lev_18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Every idol created and embraced by a nation is another step into deeper defilement. Defilement makes a place uninhabitable for the Holy Spirit of God. Thus we need to strive to cleanse ourselves from all defilement, or do not expect God to dwell with you. Something else might show up, but it won’t be God!
2Co_7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Eze 22:4 Thou art become guilty (aw-sham – made desolate) in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself (taw-may) 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 (kher-paw – disgrace, as if exposing the female genitalia) unto the heathen, and a mocking (kal-law-saw – ridicule, only time in OT) to all countries.
First degree murder in the Old Covenant could not be atoned for. You had to die. You did not create that soul, and you never have the right to terminate it. That most certainly applies to all life in the womb. Your murdering and your idolatry has shortened your time on the earth. It hastens the day of destruction.
A land that abandons all moral restraint and becomes lawless is a land that is held in derision by others. Anyone with a brain knows that you cannot have a functioning society without some form of law and order. If murder is unrestrained, if you give yourself over to some vain idol, you become worthless and others can see it. Canada used to be the envy of the world. We had peace, we had freedom, we had wealth, we had Christianity. Now, we are mocked, derided, looked upon in horror and pity, and often used as an example of how far a nation can fall. We had our one moment of resistance with the trucker’s convoy in 2022 and we lost. Since then, the authorities have been relentless in crushing anyone and everything that had given us at least the illusion of rights and freedoms. All those things are now gone, and we are at the complete mercy of those in charge. They can do anything they want to us, and they certainly do. We have no recourse anymore. All we have, as individuals, is the hope that they will not come for us next.
This is what happens when a nation turns their back on Yehovah. From blessed to cursed. From being on top to quickly ending up at the bottom. From free to slave. From having all things, to quickly sliding to almost nothing. America, while you still can, repent! Repent, and perhaps Yahweh will extend his mercy unto you for yet a little while.
Eze 22:5 Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock (kaw-las – disparage, scoff, scorn) thee, which art infamous (taw-may shame – a foul and religiously polluted individual) and much vexed (meh-hoo-maw – confusion, uproar).
Lots of words in italics. The Hebrew at the start of the verse says kaw-robe (near) raw-khoke (remote). Thus, those near, far, they mock the foul person that you are, you who cause much uproar. As I spoke in the previous verse, Canada is the poster child for the fulfilment of the prophecy of this verse. Everyone mocks us. We are so woke, we are so invaded by those that hate us, we are so captured in every sphere of influence in our society, we are so brainwashed and deceived, that it is hard to grasp just how far we have fallen in such a short time period. To be honest, I find myself agreeing with Hezekiah, when he was glad that the word of the Lord, though promising future destruction, would not touch him in his lifetime.
2Ki_20:19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
I truly believe that in most western nations, we have let things slide so far, so fast, that the most we can hope for now is some sort of delay of the inevitable collapse.
Eze 22:6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power (stretched out their arm) to shed blood.
Politics is such a minefield when it comes to Christian theology. We are not in a theocracy, as Israel was. We are not in a purely pagan nation, as Jesus and the apostles were. Thus anything gleaned as far as how to conduct oneself as a child of God when it comes to politics has to keep those contexts in mind. There were no democracies, or constitutional republics in bible days. You simply cannot take any political decision and apply it literally and absolutely into a completely different situation. While you may have very strong convictions about something, other believers may have an equally strong conviction that does not align with yours.
For example, there are a few pastors that I know of who kept their churches open during the covid lockdowns. They believe that every other pastor compromised the faith by doing so. Those pastors would claim that this was not a faith issue, nor a fundamental of the faith that was non negotiable. I have some strong convictions about which side I fall on, but is this a deal breaker? Some say yes, as this did involve the business of the church. The government had no right to dictate to the church how to conduct its business, by forcing it to close its doors. Especially when people needed the help of the church during this horrible time as never before. Others would say that they weren’t being asked to deny Jesus, so they were willing to comply, to keep the peace.
Another example is voting. If you realize that generally all candidates in your riding are not righteous, do you vote for the least evil person, or not vote at all? Again, a certain pastor believes that it verges on heresy to vote for the lessor of two evils. Most people would choose to still exercise their duty to vote, and pick the least offensive candidate.
But, how about if there is a truly righteous candidate, but one who had no chance of winning the vote, however, if enough people voted for them, it would split the vote and cause the second best, the less righteous, candidate to lose? What then? Do you vote your conscience, and split the vote, allowing the worst of all candidate to win, or do you compromise a little and vote for a fake conservative (known as a rhino – republican in name only in America), in order to keep the marxist candidate from winning?
I say all this to bring some context and perspective when we encounter these verses in the Old Testament that deal with political leaders. We know that not only does Yahweh speak to Israel’s leadership, but he also often has words for pagan leaders who do not know him. Yahweh takes a very active interest in the affairs of men. Politics and government are a fact of life.
If you are like me, you probably wish that there were no politicians and rulers to have to deal with! I constantly battle the urge to sink my attention too deeply into the political affairs of my nation, and the affairs of the world. To keep somewhat informed of what is going on seems to be needed, but it is a constant battle never to let the evil reports get a hold of your soul. I take frequent breaks from the news. I want to keep my thoughts and my pursuits centered on the things of heaven, not on earth.
The internet is absolutely killing us with information overload. We are also at the cusp of something that I feel will absolutely destroy us, as far as being able to search for and find the truth of things anymore. And that is the emergence of AI in the mainstream. We are only at the threshold. I predict that in a couple of year’s time, we will not recognize the internet, as far as what information is available, and how to discern the real from the virtual. This is a time to burrow into the bible as never before! There will be no other place where absolute truth can be assured to be found.
Judah’s leadership led the way in the shedding of blood. They stretched out their arms, that is, they initiated much of the murder. Whether by decree, or by passing unjust laws, as the leadership goes, so does the nation.
Eze 22:7 In thee have they set light (kaw-lal – make light of, a trifling thing, despise) by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression (o-shek – fraud, extortion) with the stranger (gare- foreigner, alien): in thee have they vexed (yaw-naw – violently raged at, suppressed, maltreated) the fatherless (yaw-thome – a bereaved person) and the widow (al-maw-naw – desolate house).
Yahweh now goes beyond murder and idolatry. Deuteronomy is crystal clear about the duties to one’s parents:
Deu 27:16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
How many of us treat certain commands of God’s as a trifling thing? What are our pet sins? How do we rationalize what we don’t want to give up? How about the telling of little lies, just so the other person always likes you? What about the self gratification that so many men regularly practice? Do you tell yourself that you can’t help it, or that it releases tension, so that you are not tempted to fornicate? What about always keeping your phone on, even when you are supposed to be spending quality alone time with the Lord? Do you tell yourself that this might be the one moment where there is a true emergency, so I better keep it on, just in case?
I see here a hint of the gross transgression of the breakdown of the nuclear family. All this sodomy, all this gender confusion, all this sexualization of our children, it is all meant to destroy the sanctity of the family. Sodomites now rule the land. The wicked love to rape and defile, and strive to ensure that there are no fathers to protect these little ones.
While Judah was guilty of mistreating the stranger and the foreigner, the west has gone even further into sin by actually inviting those who hate us into our lands, and paying them for coming here. At the same time, we keep depriving our own citizens of their basic rights and freedoms, and refuse to help the poor. Our veterans are discarded and our homeless are given drugs, not help.
The expanded meanings of a couple words provide good insight. Yaw-thome not only means the fatherless, but can mean any bereaved person. Think about what they did to us during covid. Not allowing us to visit the sick in hospitals. Barring the doors of the old age homes, letting our elderly die of loneliness. All in the name of keeping us safe! I think one of the cruellest things of the entire covid operation (and believe me, there were countless bad things we could talk about) was the inability to have funerals. While they murdered their millions, they would not even allow you to have proper closure.
Al-maw-naw can mean widow, but can also mean a desolate house. Suicides were at an all time high during covid. The trauma for hundreds of millions, as their world was turned upside down, was incredibly disruptive and challenging to overcome. A widow certainly is the prime example of a desolate house, but anyone who has had something sudden and cruel happen to them would be in a similar boat. Think about all those whom the government is persecuting over patriotism. America has seen a reprieve of government persecution with the election of Trump. He immediately freed the Jan 6ers. We are not so fortunate in Canada. Some are still incarcerated and others still being prosecuted for their peaceful protests during covid. Political prisoners are now a normal thing in most western nations.
Eze 22:8 Thou hast despised (baw-zaw – scorned) mine holy things, and hast profaned (khaw-lal – break, defile, prostitute, pollute) my sabbaths.
Whenever one gets tired of serving the Lord, it never stops at just quietly walking away from church and doing your own thing. If you do not repent, those demons assigned to you will keep at you until they can present a worthy trophy to their master satan. Nothing pleases the devil more than making a true child of God turn fully against his creator. It is not enough for satan to get you to backslide. He will keep working on you until you are a true blasphemer. You will end up mocking the holy things of God. You will make fun of the ‘holier than thou’ saints who remain steadfast and faithful. You mock the word of God, and pay no attention to it anymore.
For Israel, they had a unique obligation to glorify God by keeping the Sabbath. This was their special assignment by the Father. It was meant as a regularly occurring sign to the world, reminding everyone that Yahweh was real, and that he divides, elects and separates those that are his own.
Can we think of anything that maybe God could indict his church with in our day that would mirror his anger at Israel over Sabbath breaking? Christians are to be known for their personal relationship with Jesus. We are also to be known for our love. Maybe someone who loudly proclaims that God told them such and such, when anyone with half a brain can tell that God would never have told anyone any such thing! That would be a profanation of true Christianity. Or how about a Christian losing his temper completely and screaming in some non believer’s face over some trivial matter, like being cut off in traffic? Would that be profaning the name of Jesus to the world? God knows I have occasionally lost my temper with the lost of this world. I am sure we all have those moments in our memory banks that we wish had never happened.
Eze 22:9 In thee are men that carry tales (raw-keel – scandal monger, talebearer) to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness (zim-maw – bad plans, heinous crimes).
The covid conspiracy to commit democide (the mass murder by a government of its own citizens) gives us such a perfect example of how these ancient verses are being fulfilled once again. While the biblical tyrants and rulers certainly had no qualms about eliminating anyone that seemed good to them, by and large western civilization had decent laws in place to prevent our governments from wiping us out.
Until covid. They knew they could not engage in wholesale slaughter, like the communists and the muslims regularly engage in, unless they could conjure a method that would make it seem like they were actually doing us a favor. So they invented a fake disease. Get it through your heads. Covid was not a real thing. Whoever got sick was due to a normal seasonal flu, or certain people and/or groups were poisoned in some intentional way. In no way, shape of form was there anything remotely resembling a pandemic.
But given enough comprehensive brainwashing by a complaint media, given near universal agreement by all the governments of the world as to how to respond, the democide became a reality. And all in the name of saving us! The fake disease was never the thing. The thing was the cure. The jab was the end game. Get the masses to inject themselves with pure poison.
As an aside, who is this man that was able to get most of the nations of the world to act in exactly the same way? No one has ever answered this.
So how did they do it? Lies, lies, and nothing but lies. They carried tales in order to shed our blood. False witnesses. That is what all of the media became. They lied to us. So that we would poison ourselves. So that the governments could sit back and say: ‘We had nothing to do with this. They chose to do this to themselves’.
Eating on the mountains is celebrating with their gods. I am sure the elite of today have many worship encounters with their masters from the spirit realm. Man has always sought to interact with the gods. They are willing to do whatever it takes to appease them. And if a man’s heart is evil, he will choose a god that allows him to indulge his passions. A god such as Yehovah appeals to relatively few, due to his demands for holiness.
Those who interact with evil spirits will hatch heinous crimes. Covid was just the beginning. The plan to enslave all of humanity has just begun. If Judah was guilty of heinous crimes, imagine the indictments Yahweh has built against us!
Eze 22:10 In thee have they discovered (stripped) their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled (aw-naw – ravished) her that was set apart for pollution (taw-may – unclean).
Whenever one gets mixed up with idols, that opens the door for evil spirits to get involved. And they always bring immorality wherever they go. God now picks and chooses some representative examples from that forbidden chapter in Leviticus. Forbidden, I say, for Christians to bring up in public in most places in the west. Forbidden, I say, for any Christian to bring up in most churches as well!
Lev 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
Lev 18:7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Lev 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
Lev 18:10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
Lev 18:11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev 18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
Lev 18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Lev 18:14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
Lev 18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev 18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
Lev 18:17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
Lev 18:18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Lev 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Lev 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Lev 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Lev 18:24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
Lev 18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Lev 18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 18:27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Lev 18:28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Lev 18:29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Lev 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
Having sex with your mother (probably mother in law) was not something that was only found in Canaan. Paul had to deal with it personally.
1Co 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
In this verse in Ezekiel, he picks having sex with your mother in law (very creepy), and having sex with a woman in her period (very icky). I mean, what can one say? If people are willing to do such things, then what won’t they do?
Eze 22:11 And one hath committed abomination (to-ay-baw) with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly (zim-maw) defiled (taw-may) his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled (aw-naw) his sister, his father’s daughter.
Here the sex sins run from adultery to sexual abuse to pedophilia. While the bible never specifically mentions pedophilia, having sex with your sister in law can infer it. We must remember that in bible times, a woman was of marriageable age once she reached puberty. Once a girl could bear children she was considered a woman. While we cringe at such a thing, I think it is mostly because teenage girls today are so relatively immature at that age. I don’t think they were nearly as emotionally immature in those days.
Regardless of the fact that we now seem to consider sex with younger girls as more of a sin than they did, the list given in Leviticus chapter 18 was the strictest list of sexual prohibitions that mankind had ever seen. Close relations were a definite no no. This was much harder to keep than it seems, as we must remember that communities were small. There was little interaction, relatively speaking, with other towns and clans. Often one had few choices when it came to finding a wife. Just look at muslim communities in many nations today. Much inbreeding, and much genetic problems have ensued.
These 2 verses all have to do with forbidden lusts. Letting sexual gratification control your life. Jesus not only upheld the moral law, but he greatly added to it. Now, simply letting your imagination fantasize about sex is sinful. That means all pornography, all masturbation, all daydreams of sex should be resisted. I know that for most men, this has been a losing battle. But that does not mean that we should give up, or embrace some false doctrine that says that it is okay. Israel ended up worshipping Ashtoreth. Temple prostitutes and temple orgies were on the menu in her cult. No wonder the lukewarm would be drawn away to something like that. To have god, and all the sex you wanted too? Many would have eagerly signed up for that.
Eze 22:12 In thee have they taken gifts (bribes) to shed blood; thou hast taken usury (neh-shek – interest) and increase (tar-beeth – bonuses), and thou hast greedily gained (baw-tsah – finished off by covetousness) of thy neighbours by extortion (o-shek), and hast forgotten (shaw-kakh – from lack of attention) me, saith the Lord GOD.
When you forget God, goodness and compassion fly out the window. Instead of helping the poor, you look to take advantage of them. Notice the indictment of them that use money to harm others. Whether you take interest, or some sort of bonus payment before you lend to others, it is the thought that you are profiting from other’s misfortune that makes God angry. Some would simply forego loans, and extort the money if they could.
Verses such as this are meant to make us take a hard look at our current monetary systems. The idea of using money to make money does not seem like the highest virtue, though Jesus seems to tolerate it, since he spoke of parables where he expected his servants to at least take their portion and invest it with the bankers to earn interest. So maybe it’s not the making of interest that is the problem, but rather whom you are making the interest off of. If it’s a bank, well and good. If you are taking advantage of the poor, who is forced to do business with you, at whatever terms that you decide, then it is not so good.
Do not take advantage of the poor. We are commanded to help the poor, not to get rich off of them. If you do this, this verse tells us that such a man has forgotten about God himself.
Eze 22:13 Behold, therefore I have smitten (naw-kaw – struck, beat, give wounds) mine hand at thy dishonest gain (beh-tsah – plunder, covetousness) which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
God will strike back. He will avenge the poor. He will avenge the shedding of blood. The man who becomes rich at the expense of others, especially the poor, better take solace in his wealth while he can. A day of reckoning is coming that will be especially grievous for one such as this.
Eze 22:14 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.
Do you think you have the strength to handle my just judgment on your wickedness? Do you actually think that you can endure hell? Even if I choose to let you escape punishment in the here and now, do you not stop to consider as to what awaits you on the other side? And do you doubt me? Maybe you actually believe that I don’t exist. Unlike faithless, treacherous man, what I speak shall come to pass.
Eze 22:15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness (toom-aw – religious impurity) out of thee.
God had already scattered Judah twice. The last great scattering was coming in just 4 more years. Wherever the Babylonians would send them, that is where they would end up. They would lose the freedom to choose where to live. They would be scattered on purpose, in order to lose their sense of Jewish identity. Just as we are losing our sense of Christian identity by the influx of non Christians into our midst. Instead of God dispersing us into foreign nations, foreign nations are coming here to dilute, and in essence, replace us.
I’m not sure as to how scattering them amongst the heathen would consume the filthiness out of them. My guess is that most would be killed. The survivors would have everything that they had taken for granted violently torn away in their life, and perhaps their new circumstances would finally penetrate their wicked hearts and they would then be ready to repent.
Eze 22:16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance (khaw-lal – profane, pollute, prostitute) in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
The entire first part of the sentence is simply one word – khaw-lal. It could be read as ‘Pollute, prostitute yourself in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know I am Yehovah. If we accept the King James rendering, then the sense would be that no longer are you mine inheritance, but you have become your own inheritance. The heathen will see that you do not belong to me anymore, and you shall realize that I have done this to you.
This is a difficult verse to conclusively and confidently say exactly what it means. Looking at the previous verses, this is the last verse of the prophecy. The theme is that God has compiled a list of sins that are representative of their lifestyles. He promises to scatter them far and wide. He will extract the filthiness out of them. So perhaps the idea is that their filthiness can now be practiced in front of the pagan, rather than in front of Yehovah. Yehovah has had enough of having to endure their filth in his temple, in his city, and in his land. Rather than letting that go on forever, he has slaughtered most, and dispersed the rest. They are now free to pollute themselves in front of their captors. God would rather see his temple razed to the ground and his land left desolate than having to have to look at those horrible sins for even one more minute.
Think about that. Do you see why God would choose to destroy and empty a place? Better to have a wasteland, if the alternative is having to endure a people who still have the gall to call themselves children of God, yet do nothing but sin, and sin in the most grievous ways. God would rather wipe creatures like that out, to get them out of his sight. He would rather see an empty land, than having to watch his people prostitute and pollute themselves with their idols and with their lusts.
Eze 22:17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
No, God is not nearly done denouncing his people.
Eze 22:18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross (refuse): all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
The symbolism found in the refining of metals such as silver is a common one in scripture:
Isa 1:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
Jer 6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jer 6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
We may wonder why God decides to quote 4 different metals. Probably because he wants us to know that they all have become corrupt. Maybe the 4 metals represent the prophet, priest, king, and the commoners. Matthew Poole’s commentary has this to say:
All they, from the king to the peasant, the priests, and prophets, and people, are brass; impudent in sin;
and tin; hypocrites, and mixed as tin; and iron; hard, cruel, and oppressive as iron; and lead; stupid and senseless as lead. Though I rather think this particular accommodating these metals somewhat too curious, I judge the prophet chargeth them with a continued degeneracy from bad to worse, by this gradation. [end]
The dross is the impurities that rise to the top when metal is melted. It is skimmed off and discarded. So the judgment of Yehovah will be the heat that causes all the hidden sin within Israel to rise to the top, and God will take it away in his anger.
Eze 22:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Yehovah knows, even before be begins the smelting process, that all of Israel is like the dross in the furnace. God is the one who corrals them into the fortified city as the enemy army approaches.
I wonder if God will want to take the credit for herding us into the so called 15 minute cities when the time of our destruction comes. We can scream and shout and fight all we want, but unless we repent, we shall all perish. And even then, Ez 21:3 says that in such a time as this, even the righteous are in danger of perishing along with the wicked. Do our nations also have nothing but dross in them?
Eze 22:20 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 (af – as smoke from the nostril) and in my fury (khay-maw – hot poisonous wrath and rage), and I will leave you there, and melt you.
Refiners do not mix differing metals together, but here Yahweh says that is what he will do. Whether the metal is soft or hard, it will melt. This depicts that some are sinful, but others are totally wicked. No matter how hard the sinner is, the heat shall be turned up until all melt. The fact that the one precious metal, silver, is also mentioned, confirms the word in Ez 21:3 that the righteous will also be thrown into the fire of judgment. If there is any true silver in the ingot, once the impurities are burned away, the pure metal shall remain. So it is with the remnant. We too shall be thrown in the fire. But hopefully, there will be found within us some precious thing that will be purified and preserved forever.
Again and again, Yahweh wants us to know just how deeply angry he has become. I shudder to think of how angry he is at us today. While the mega churches keep telling everyone how wonderful and loved they are, if we just had a glimpse of the Father’s countenance, as he observes the western church falling deeper and deeper into a moral abyss, what do you think we would see?
Eze 22:21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath (eb-raw – outburst of passion), and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
Just in case you don’t quite get it, Yahweh is going to grab you. He will forcibly put you where the fire is the hottest. He will blow on that fire, to make it worse. And he guarantees that you will melt.
Whether or not there will be anything left after your dross is removed shall only be known after the process is complete.
Eze 22:22 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 (khay-maw) upon you.
And one more time, the main purpose of this expenditure of wrath is to make Yahweh known. You are not the center of the universe. He is. Let us never forget that.
Are you ready for the fire?
Eze 22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Now it is time for the 3rd and final word of this chapter.
Eze 22:24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation (zah-am – to froth at the mouth).
Even with the level of calamity that Yahweh has sent upon Israel, she refuses to be cleansed of her wicked ways. The statement that they have not been rained upon may be taken literally, as God withholding moisture as one of his many punishments. But it’s easy to see a deeper meaning here in that due to their rebellions, the Holy Spirit has not been given to revive the people.
Our obsession with certain books of the bible, at the expense of others, often causes us to come to erroneous conclusions. Take the evangelical’s infatuation with the book of Romans, often above all others. We find verses such as this:
Rom_5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
So somehow, many have come up with the erroneous conclusion that the more sin in the land, the greater the odds of revival!
That is not true. The context speaks of the Mosaic law being given to Israel. That gave them the awareness of all the sins that they were already doing. The assumption is that the more one knows that he is sinning, the greater the odds that they will repent, and open the door for the grace of God to enter to save.
But this is not speaking of what will occur in a rebellious nation. Those who know God, and wilfully rebel, are storing up wrath for themselves. Even as your beloved book of Romans tells you:
Rom_2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
It’s funny – those who love to wallow in Romans and stay there forever, basking in the truths of redemption and salvation and righteousness and atonement, somehow fail to notice that the word ‘wrath’ is mentioned 11 times in 9 different verses! It is not a topic that is somehow missing in the New Testament. But it is certainly a topic that is intentionally being ignored by most of the church.
Just remember that Yehovah is ‘frothing at the mouth angry’ at Judah. He will not shoob until this sin problem has been fully dealt with.
Eze 22:25 There is a conspiracy (keh-sher – alliance, treason) of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening (pulling in pieces) the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things (yek-awr – dignity, honor); they have made her many widows (al-maw-naw) in the midst thereof.
For those who think the bible does not teach about conspiracies, this verse proves you wrong. But as in everything, it is all about context. Just look at all the verses that speak of conspiracies:
2Sa_15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
2Ki_12:20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
2Ki_14:19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
2Ki_15:15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
2Ki_15:30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
2Ki_17:4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
2Ch_25:27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.
Jer_11:9 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Act_23:13 And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
Against the backdrop of 10 specific verses that speak of the reality of conspiracies, there is 1 verse that instructs us not to immerse ourselves in every conspiracy (confederacy):
Isa 8:11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
Isa 8:12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Isa 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
I remember some youtube warrior trying to debunk every conspiracy by quoting this one verse and conveniently disregarding the other 10. This one passage is teaching about the need to fear God and not man. It says nothing about whether or not there is ever such a thing as a conspiracy. The bible gives us 10 examples of that. This verse only teaches that we should not let the conspiracies of the wicked terrify us. Fear God, and fear him only.
False prophets always conspire together to lie to the sheep, whether consciously or unconsciously. They are all powered by spirits from hell, who are all trying to do the same thing – deceive the people of God. How they do this is, they literally pull the sheep apart by their words. They sow lies, falsehoods, and much confusion. For example, while God is pleading with us in every way possible to open our eyes and look around us at how wicked we have become, these foul men keep telling us that the greatest wealth transfer in history from the sinner to the saint is just around the corner! In fact, one of the most (in)famous 7 mountains of influence preachers has come out and guaranteed that before Thanksgiving 2025 occurs, some massive wealth transfer will occur. He clearly said that this is the last time to ‘invest’ your money into the kingdom if you expect a harvest, because if you gave after Thanksgiving 2025, it will be too late to get a return.
This sort of stuff makes me want to vomit. The fact that anyone listens to this garbage after all the horrible heresies of the word of faith movement and all its offshoots (such as this blasphemous 7 mountains of influence) is beyond me. All it proves is that the hearts of men are desperately wicked. Who can know it, and who can repair it, except Yehovah himself?
If I tried to list all the scriptures concerning false prophets, no one would find the time to read it all. Suffice it to say that this was not just a New Testament problem, but has plagued the people of God right from the outset. Who can forget Balaam, who apparently had some genuine gift from Yehovah, but used it simply to get rich?
False doctrines pull apart the faith of the believer. It destroys souls. You will end up in hell if you choose to cling to certain false teachings. While each false teaching may be graded in degrees of seriousness as to the damage it does to one’s faith, we should always be striving to know the truth in every area. Don’t be caught clinging to some pet doctrine, just because you really want it to be true. For example, if God has shown you that the pre-trib rapture is not scriptural, don’t choose to ignore the revelation that the Holy Spirit has graciously given you. While belief in this in no way jeopardizes one’s salvation, if you refuse to embrace truth in one area, you will have proven yourself untrustworthy to be given more truth. If you are not faithful with a little, who will trust you to be faithful with a lot?
The treasures false prophets steal are varied and many. Besides the obvious theft of the saints’ money, when they manipulate them into giving, they rob them of revelation, truth, and intimacy with God. Your dignity is stolen when you discover that you have been believing the lies of a charlatan. Your honor will be taken when others see that you have been blinded in some important area of your faith, and that you are too blind and/or too stubborn to realize it. Other believers will see that you have fallen prey to some false teaching, and that will inevitably cut off your relationship with them. You cannot truly fellowship with someone who is immersed in some sort of significant false teaching. For example, what would someone who has embraced the judgments of the Lord have in common with someone who is a part of the hyper grace movement?
These false ones are said to have made many widows in their midst. That is, not only have they robbed the finances of those who can least afford it, but they make one a spiritual widow, in the sense that you become cut off from the voice of the Lord, having fallen into heresy. Of course, in Judah’s case here, these false prophets who were consistently telling the people that the Lord told them that they would achieve military victories if they decided to fight the armies of Babylon, would make many widows from all the soldiers that would be slain.
It is an amazing thing as to how people continue to cling to false prophets, no matter how many times their words prove to be false. Why don’t we cling to God so faithfully, even if circumstances seem to say that his word is not true? Why is it only toward the evil that we are faithful, but so doubleminded toward the good?
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated my law (torah), and have profaned (khaw-lal) mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane (khole – unholy, common), neither have they shewed difference between the unclean (taw-may – defiled, foul) and the clean (haw-hore – pure), and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned (khaw-lal) among them.
Yehovah now turns his attention to the second group of influential people in the land, and that is the priests, or the ministers of the Lord. In essence, they are unclean. Everything they touch becomes unclean. It all starts with violating God’s word. When you refuse to be bound by the word, the holy things become defiled. That means your preaching, your praying, your doctrine becomes defiled.
A clear indicator of a preacher who has ‘broke bad’, as they say today, is when he calls the filthy clean. Things such as condoning any illicit sexual practice. Being silent in the face of gross idolatry, such as the worship of our cell phones. Allowing the worship service to become worldly. Letting the musicians dress as they want, sing whatever they want, turn up the volume as loud as they want, and mimic the conviction of the Holy Spirit by manipulating the emotions, rather than touching the heart with the truth of God’s eternal word.
Finally, these have intentionally ignored the requirements of the Sabbath. I believe this represents the main outward show of Israel’s devotion to the one true God. How could Yehovah separate himself from the countless gods that were found in the earth? One of the main ways that he chose was to give Israel this peculiar ordinance of Sabbath observance. When the priests, those who were charged with ensuring that all of Israel respected Yehovah’s wishes, chose to discard this sacred directive, they were telling the people that Yehovah did not have to be obeyed. That we could pick and choose which commands to obey.
Cherry picking the commands of God, and changing whichever ones we don’t like, profane his name. Not only are you profaned (defiled), but you are profaning his name (reputation) in the earth. In effect, you are saying that our god does not have to be taken seriously. Everything that he says is mere suggestion. In effect, he’s an optional god. Take him or leave him. If you do take him, pick and choose what you like and throw out the rest.
What do you think is the fate of anyone who behaves like that toward Yehovah?
Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain (beh-tsah – plunder).
The group of influential people in the land are those in government. Note that their crimes are similar in nature to the first 2. it all seems to be about money, doesn’t it? They do what they do, even murder and causing the utter ruin of the people, all to obtain dishonest gain.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot shake the conviction in my heart that the North American church needs to make a permanent decision to turn completely away from ever speaking about the idea of trying to get the saints to give money. Money has entirely corrupted our churches. Entire denominations and movements have sprung up around the concept of ‘seed faith’ and giving to get mantras. We have become the laughing stock of the heathen. How many countless mockeries do we need to witness before we change our ways? What is the church of the last 50 years primarily known for, in the eyes of the world? Televangelists. Weird hairdos. Air conditioned doghouses. Private jets and multiple mansions. Begging for money on television. Bizarre behavior, such as vibrating on the ground, laughing uncontrollably, even barking like dogs. Promises of great wealth, on condition that you give all you have to the speaker.
If I ever hear anyone telling me to ‘invest’ in the kingdom, I know enough to turn that fool off. Giving into God’s kingdom is not an investment. You invest in order to grow your bank account. We give in order to obey, and because the love of God compels us to. Where are the preachers who actually teach the words of Jesus:
Luk 14:12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
Luk 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
Luk 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Jesus does not tell us to give our alms to the millionaire preachers. He tells us to give to those in need. He does not call it an investment, unless you want to look at it that way since you will receive a return in heaven. In that aspect, you can look at it as an investment. But the way these charlatans teach it, you are always to look for your return while on this earth. The scripture above says you won’t cash in your investment until you get to the other side. And isn’t that where we are to place our treasure?
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
This stupid, wicked, and extremely covetous subtle manipulation of the word of God that takes bible truths and tweaks them just enough to make it sound like you can have it all today is of the devil. If you insist on speaking in financial terms, then we are to be long term investors, not speculators. We are not day traders, we are to be more like a Warren Buffet. He was famous for buying and holding stocks for a long time. We give, and should not expect any return until we enter into our eternal reward, not down here. Here we labor, there we rest. The bible consistently teaches us to deny self, in order to prosper later. And, by later, I mean in heaven. Lay away your ‘investments’ with the idea of not cashing them in until you reach heaven. That is the bible way of looking at money. Any other way will destroy souls.
Eze 22:28 And her prophets have daubed (too-akh – smear, overlay) them with untempered (taw-fale – slime, frivolous foolish things) morter, seeing vanity (shawv – desolating evil, uselessness), and divining (kaw-sam – soothsayer, determine by lot or magic scrolls) lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
Chapter 13 introduced us to this metaphor of prophecies being like untempered mortar. These are the only 2 places in the bible where this depiction is used.
First of all, false prophets are getting their words via occultic means. That means every one that you watch on youtube, that have personal words for everyone in the audience. They mimic psychics and soothsayers. If you listen to these personalized words, they are almost always some generic positive pap which causes no one to repent, or draw closer to God, but tickles the ears, making them think that God has got nothing better to do than to send you a personalized postcard telling you nothing more than how fond he is of you.
Stop being deceived! If God goes to the trouble to send you a personalized message, chances are he has a bone to pick with you, at the very least. If God needs to use a prophet, that means that his people are not listening to the warnings in the word, and the conviction that he sends into their hearts. Just remember that these false ones are said to be using divination to get their messages.
And what is the main characteristic of these messages? They plaster over the truth. They smear, they overlay reality with fantasy. They cover up dire situations with smooth words that all is well. God is happy. God is on your side. God is going to deliver you. That enemy that is at your borders is nothing to worry about. God needs no repentance, nor obedience. God’s grace is more than enough to get you out of your jam. It does not matter that your jam has been caused by your sin. If does not matter that you have ignored his repeated warnings to repent. No, your friendly neighborhood false prophet is here to daub your reality with nice lies.
Untempered mortar cannot stand any sort of stress. It reminds me of looking at any video about building construction in China. Bridges that collapse after a few months. Building facades that break off in your hand. Roads that collapse seemingly daily. All that they do, they do in record speed. But it is all a sham. They use inferior materials. They cut corners. They don’t care, as long as it is done in time, because their communist bosses demand that the project gets done by a certain date.
An easy test to determine what word is from God and what isn’t is often ascertained just by listening to the content. Does it speak of frivolous things? Is it something completely useless? Is it actually evil, ie, will it turn people further away from what God really wants? If God wants repentance, does it lead people further away from that reality, by promising that God has already won the battle for them?
At the end of the day, it will be one form of lie or another. Charismatics are the most gullible Christians on the planet. Because we pride ourselves on being open to the move of the Holy Spirit, we are often like newborn birds who are blind, and simply open their mouths wide and swallow whatever their mother places in it. All a baby bird does is yell and open wide their mouth. That is an accurate picture of many believers in the so called Spirit filled churches. And the sad thing is that this does not just describe the new believers. I have hung around those who are decades in the faith and they are as gullible as those baby birds. The things I have heard them spout! And the terribly sad thing is that, they love it so! I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to interject some balance into their beliefs by stating the obvious truths of the judgments of the Lord, and without exception, they were rejected each and every time. It got to the place where I could not speak about the things of the Lord that were on my heart to any one of them anymore. But that is okay, because Jesus is more than willing to discuss these things with me!
How many of these lunatics speak of nothing but frivolous, meaningless, empty experiences? Why would they see angels every day, and tell them nothing that leads to souls saved, or increased holiness? Do you actually believe that someone would be taken to heaven only to see their beloved family pet there that had died? Or how about someone who said they saw Disney characters in heaven? Just how retarded do you have to be to listen to such crap?
False prophets are exploding on the internet today. Go to any prophecy website, and sample the postings. It is astounding the percentage of them that are nothing but vanity and utter foolishness.
Let us make that decision to put away all our lust for a fresh word. Stop ingesting frivolous foolish things. If the word is not convicting you, if it’s not inspiring you to become more like Jesus, then run away from it as fast as you can.
Eze 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression (o-shek), and exercised robbery, and have vexed (yaw-naw – oppress, use violent rage) the poor (aw-nee – depressed, humble, lowly, needy) and needy (eb-tone – destitute): yea, they have oppressed (aw-sah – pressed, defrauded, done violence to) the stranger (gare) wrongfully (lo mishpat – without proper verdicts or just acts).
Because the 3 pillars of leadership in the nation (prophet, priest and king) have set the example in evil, how do you expect the people to behave? Leaders set the tone. They set the spiritual situation in the land. For example, here in Canada, all of our leaders in every area of influence, including our churches, are completely corrupt. While there are true believers here, we cannot change the overall demonic spiritual atmosphere here as long as the leadership keeps inviting these beings into our midst. It is like in a home. If the father is corrupt, he will invite evil influences into his home. A praying wife or a praying child may help to alleviate the open doorway, but they normally will not be able to completely close it. The one put in charge by God is falling down in his duty, and the innocent and the righteous will pay a price. So it is in the nation. Ultimately, most people will take on the character of the leadership.
This is why I am truly skeptical of all these stories of hundreds of millions of believers in China. While I do not doubt that there are true believers there, and that they have no choice but to remain hidden, I have watched so many videos about what the communist philosophy does to the ethics and morality of its citizens. They become extremely selfish and callous towards others. Loving thy neighbor is obliterated in the culture. It is simply too costly to genuinely try and help someone, as you will invariably be punished for it. I am seeing this same trend in Canada today. The good are punished relentlessly by our satanic government, police force, judicial system, and the media. As a result, less and less people want to get involved in anything that defies the government narrative. It is simply a matter of self preservation. But more and more people are actively becoming genuinely hateful towards anyone who stands up for anything right and good. Antifa is a perfect example. They use violent, irrational rage against anyone who opposes anything the marxist government decrees.
But once again, I will make the claim that we are even worse than Judah. While they oppressed the stranger amongst them for no reason, we protect the stranger whom we invited in to come and kill us. We oppress our own citizens who dare to want to maintain the Canadian way of life as it has historically been. Our leaders hate us to death, but they love the muslim and the communist, since those groups are committed to wiping out every person who still fears God.
Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up (gaw-dar – inclose) the hedge (wall), and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
And here we suddenly come to the most famous verse in the entire book of Ezekiel. Who hasn’t heard of a sermon from some preacher crying out for the need of the church to stand in the gap. Or of some super saint to take up this burden? Primarily by intercession, but also by our publicly standing up for righteousness.
God says he sought for a man (not a woman) among ‘them’. Sorry ladies, God never intends a woman to lead. If you still have trouble with that truth, then I suggest you get in the prayer closet until those evil feminist ideas are completely burnt out of your soul.
Now who is the ‘them’? The 4 groups God spoke of – prophet, priest, king and commoner. While all preachers preach this message as if God only needs one really, really sincere soul to turn the tide of judgment in any nation which they happen to reside in at the moment, I truly believe that God is speaking of someone in a critical leadership role. The people are simply mentioned as a 4th group, to indicate how wicked leadership corrupts everyone. I personally believe God is looking for someone to take the reins of leadership, whether in government, or in the church.
No reasonable person can doubt that Donald Trump is such a man. He has chosen to stand in the gap, after being raised up by God himself. While he has a couple of blind spots in some very crucial areas (ie., covid), no one can deny that he has had a profound effect not only in America, but on the entire planet itself. He will go down as one of the most influential people in history.
Christians are rather stupid, in so many ways. Let’s face it, we’re not the most educated bunch on the planet. The majority of us are broken, hurting, and deeply flawed people. On average, we’re not the deepest thinkers. That is why the majority of sheep are so easy to manipulate. We all think that if Trump does not fix everything that is wrong with America spiritually, then he is an imposter and an enemy of God, or some such ridiculous thing. But God never called him to fix the church. God called him to fix the government.
Where are all the men of God that are willing to stand in the gap for the body of Christ? Where are the pastors and the true prophets that will never compromise the message? Those who will never shy away from preaching the entire message of the bible, not just the smooth parts? Yahweh is always searching, searching. Will he find anyone in our generation, or shall we continue to wither away, until we perish from off this earth?
My contention is that, this does not teach that if just one soul was a perfect intercessor, then our nation would be saved. That would be absurd. That would be unjust. If just one person’s virtue could cover hundreds of millions of people’s sins, that would make them Christ. Remember, Ezekiel was alive at this time. So was Jeremiah. They were righteous men. How come they don’t count?
Now, we all know how Abraham and Moses stood in the gap. In Abraham’s case, he could not save Sodom. In Moses’ case, we have found out in Ezekiel that it was not so much Moses’ intervention that saved Israel, but God being concerned that his reputation would take a hit amongst the pagan, who would claim that he wasn’t strong enough to do what he said he was going to do, which was to redeem Israel.
But in Judah’s case, the doctrine of total judgment is taking precedence over all other biblical principles. Sometimes, certain bible truths come in conflict with each other. Not in contradiction, but in conflict. When does grace triumph versus justice? When does justice triumph over mercy? This is why we need to study the examples given to us in the bible, so that we grow in wisdom and understanding as to which season that we are in, and which principles triumph over others. In Jesus’ day, at the cross, grace triumphed over judgment. Today, we are in the season of total judgment of western civilization. Justice is preempting mercy, unfortunately for us. That is my contention. You may not agree.
But this does not mean that we can’t use this verse as inspiration to pray. So many podcasters out there are bemoaning the state of affairs in our lands. So many Christians do nothing but cover the latest news of the wicked, and we wring our hands. But how many are telling us to pray? And not just to say a quick prayer, but to consecrate ourselves to a life of prayer?
Let us stop and ponder this. If our nations have been placed under the ban by God, ie., slated for destruction, then what do we have to lose by dedicating our lives to prayer? I mean, I suppose you might want to get that cruise in before the economy collapses, or the bombs start to fall. If you’re only thinking about yourself, that is what you would do. But what if you actually want to prioritize the things of God? What if you actually care about your children’s future? Do you want to guarantee that they will die young? Who knows what would happen if all in the church fell on their face and prayed? Would that the Lord would relent, at least for a season? It has happened before. Just because I am convinced that we cannot really stop the judgment, who is to say I am correct? God’s mercy keeps surprising mankind. Maybe there is yet one more jar of mercy to be poured out. But only if we truly want it.
Eze 22:31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation (zah-am) upon them; I have consumed (kaw-law) them with the fire of my wrath (eb-raw): their own way (deh-rek – road or path of life) have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
In Judah, God is saying that he could not find such a man. There was no one that he could raise up to lead the people back on the righteous path. He had shot his bolt with good king Josiah. It is very conceivable that as soon as Trump is gone, that God may not be able to find anyone else to hold back the tsunami of wickedness that is currently consuming the rest of the planet.
If you are that one whom God wants to raise up, and by some miracle are reading this, then for heaven’s sake, take up your cross and rise to the challenge. If you are simply a nobody, just like me, then act on whatever conviction God is placing on your heart, and do what you can.
Solitary Man
https://solitaryman.substack.com/
