Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
Ezekiel Ch.22 / 48 Ch.s
EZE:22
* The sins of Jerusalem. (1-16) Israel is condemned as dross.
(17-22) As the corruption is general, so shall be the
punishment. (23-31)
#1-16 The prophet is to judge the bloody city; the city of
bloods. Jerusalem is so called, because of her crimes. The sins
which Jerusalem stands charged with, are exceeding sinful.
Murder, idolatry, disobedience to parents, oppression and
extortion, profanation of the sabbath and holy things, seventh
commandment sins, lewdness and adultery. Unmindfulness of God
was at the bottom of all this wickedness. Sinners provoke God
because they forget him. Jerusalem has filled the measure of her
sins. Those who give up themselves to be ruled by their lusts,
will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those who
resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other
happiness than their own hands can furnish; and a miserable
portion it will prove.
#17-22 Israel, compared with other nations, had been as the gold
and silver compared with baser metals. But they were now as the
refuse that is consumed in the furnace, or thrown away when the
silver is refined. Sinners, especially backsliding professors,
are, in God's account, useless and fit for nothing. When God
brings his own people into the furnace, he sits by them as the
refiner by his gold, to see that they are not continued there
any longer than is fitting and needful. The dross shall be
wholly separated, and the good metal purified. Let those who
suffer pains, or lingering sickness, and find that their hearts
can scarcely bear these light and momentary afflictions, take
warning to flee from the wrath to come; for if these trials are
not sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the cleansing
their hearts and hands from sin, far worse things will come upon
them.
#23-31 All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the
measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power
abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to
oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are
breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained.
Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and
righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot
together to run them down.