Chapter 22

1 A catalogue of sins in Jerusalem. 13 God will burn them as dross in his furnace. 23 The general corruption of prophets, priests, princes, and people.

1. Moreover. Chapter 22 may be divided into three parts: vs. 1–16 a catalog of the sins of Jerusalem; vs. 17–22 the figure of the smelting of ore; vs. 23–31 the general corruption pervading all classes.

2. Wilt thou judge? See on ch. 20:1.

Bloody city. That is, “a city of bloodshed,” or “a city of bloodguiltiness.” Judicial murders and the offering of children in sacrifice to Molech were doubtless among the crimes that earned for Jerusalem this infamous title.

3. That her time may come. Her time of punishment. This should be considered a clause of result rather than of purpose, or, perhaps, a figure by which the consequences of an act are presented as the purpose of the act.

4. A mocking. Or, “a derision.” Compare Ps. 44:13, 14; 79:4.

5. Those that be near. The Hebrew word translated by this phrase is feminine, as is the word translated “those that be far.” It doubtless refers to the near and distant cities. The word for “city” is feminine in the Hebrew.

6. To their power. Literally, “according to his arm,” that is, according to his strength. The princes of Judah disregarded justice and ruled according to their personal pleasure.

To shed blood. Notice the threefold occurrence of this refrain (vs. 6, 9, 12). Under three heads the prophet enumerates Israel’s sins: under the first, sins of inhumanity and profanation (vs. 6–8); under the second, sins of idolatry, incest, and lewdness (vs. 9–11); under the third, avarice and covetousness (v. 12).

13. Smitten mine hand. Here a gesture of indignation (see chs. 6:11; 21:14, 17).

14. Can thine heart endure? The question implies a negative answer.

15. Consume thy filthiness. Though here not emphasized, the punishments were designedly salutary.

16. Shalt take thine inheritance. The Hebrew word translated by this phrase, chalal, means “to profane,” and is thus translated in ch. 7:24. The ancient versions have the verb in the first person, yielding the translation, “I shall be defiled through you in the sight of the heathen” (see chs. 20:9; 36:20).

17. The word of the Lord. Verses 17–22 are a parable based on the process of smelting silver ore. The furnace is Jerusalem (v. 19). The people are the ore (v. 20). They turn out to be dross (v. 18). It is doubtful whether the idea of purification is to be found in this parable. The thought emphasized is that of divine anger blowing upon the worthless ore and melting it.

23. The word of the Lord. Verses 23–31 constitute the third section of the chapter (see on v. 1). They contain a further enumeration of the sins of Israel, showing that all classes had been involved.

25. Prophets. The LXX reads “princes.” A change of one letter in the Hebrew accounts for the difference. The false prophets had already been indicted in ch. 13. Their work proved to be a continual hindrance to the work of the true prophets. It is no wonder that the people were confused and that they found plausible excuse for not obeying the divine directions in the light of such contradictory assertions.

The same confusion exists in the religious world today. Because the Christian world is hopelessly divided and pious men may be found in the various communions, many conclude that, after all, it makes little difference what they believe.

The only sure antidote against the influence of false prophets in our day is to know by personal investigation what is truth. It is not safe to depend upon the research, the opinions, or the wisdom of any man (CW 45; 5T 686; GC 593, 594).

Because false prophets were to be particularly prevalent in the last days, Jesus repeatedly warned against their subtle devices (see Matt. 24:4, 5, 11, 24). He mentions that “if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24:24). He speaks, too, of their resort to “great signs and wonders,” a device almost wholly lacking in Ezekiel’s day. As the great day of God draws near, Satan will intensify his efforts to deceive. More and more, as heavenly angels release their restraint, he will take control of the world. Under the guise of religion, and by means of miracles, he will fasten his grip on the inhabitants of this world. “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). Hence, we need a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures to distinguish between the counterfeit and the true (GC 593, 594).

26. Have violated my law. It was the special work of the priests to give instruction concerning the divine requirements and to observe and to teach the distinction between the holy and the unholy (Lev. 10:10), and to instruct the people in proper Sabbath observance. In all this they had been unfaithful.

Hid their eyes. This indictment has a striking parallel in our day. The prophecies of the book of Revelation (chs. 12–14) declare that God is calling for a reform in the matter of a return to the true Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week. This reformation is to prepare the world for the second coming of Christ. The message has been proclaimed. The reaction has been the same as in Ezekiel’s day. Men hide their eyes from the obligation to keep the true Sabbath. They close their eyes to plain scriptural evidences and declare, “I cannot see it.”

27. Princes. Heb. sЊarim, members of the ruling class and leaders of important families.

28. Untempered morter. Whitewash (see on ch. 13:10). There are voices in the religious world to support almost any kind of belief.

Several important rules will help men today to distinguish between that which is untempered mortar and that which is genuine. These rules should be used to test any alleged claim to scriptural support. They serve equally as a system of guidance to direct one in original Bible research, lest unwarranted conclusions be drawn.

1.  The Bible should always be studied in the setting of prayer. Only the Holy Spirit can help us to see the importance of those things easy to be understood, and keep us from wresting those truths difficult of comprehension (see GC 599, 600). Furthermore, spiritual things are spiritually discerned (see 1 Cor. 2:14), so that a man without the Spirit of God cannot understand divine things. Prayer, properly exercised, will place a man in a condition to receive heavenly truth.

2.  There must be willingness to follow revealed light (John 7:17). God’s truths are not thrown about promiscuously for men to trample under their feet. God reserves an understanding of His messages for those who are willing to walk in the light that illuminates their minds. A stubborn refusal to walk in this light locks the door to further understanding of divine truth.

3.  The Bible must be interpreted according to the analogy of the rest of Scripture. The Bible, correctly understood, does not contradict itself. If a conclusion drawn from a Scripture passage is contradicted in another portion of the Book, that conclusion must be labeled as false. Often a verse or passage, taken by itself, can be shown to have several possible interpretations. In such an event that exposition which is in complete harmony with the whole Bible must be adopted.

4.  The Bible must be interpreted in the light of its context. The student ought to note carefully the setting of the passage under consideration to find out what the writer was talking about. The student must limit his application to the bounds set by the author. For example, when Paul said, “All things are lawful unto me” (1 Cor. 6:12), his words, taken by themselves, could be interpreted to mean that Paul was here declaring himself to be a libertine. But the context shows that he is speaking about the propriety of eating meats sacrificed to idols. One has no right to apply the “all things” to anything further than that which was in the mind of Paul when he made this statement.

5.  The Bible must be permitted to be its own interpreter. Often the Holy Spirit does not immediately interpret the symbol it employs, but the same Spirit would be expected elsewhere to explain the shadowy language, if men are to grasp its meaning. This is found to be the case. One might add that when such further elucidation is absent, any attempt by men to interpret these symbols can at best be only conjecture.

In summary, the proper procedure to discover what the Bible teaches on any topic is to take all that the Bible says on that particular subject before drawing any conclusions. Seeing the picture in its entirety prevents one from going off on some unscriptural tangent of interpretation.

29. The people of the land. The common people are now indicted.

30. Sought for a man. Compare Jer. 5:1.

Stand in the gap. God is calling upon men today to repair the breach in the law of God. Many have responded, but others still reason from the worldling’s standpoint, and see no need of reform. Of those who take hold of the work it is declared, “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in” (Isa. 58:12).

31. The fire of my wrath. This is obviously figurative language, in which the various judgments of God are referred to as fire. Fire consumes, and the effect of these judgments was to consume those upon whom they were poured out. At the end of time those who have rejected divine mercy will experience literal fire (Rev. 20:9).

Ellen G. White comments

8    PK 182

28   TM 43; 1T 247

31        PK 182