When Sinful Living Meets the Righteous Judgment of God

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

We must not mistake God’s mercy as tolerance of sinful living. Do not ignore God’s rebuke!

Introduction

  God does not tolerate sinful living, and it is time we come to understand this.  I hope you will take a moment to join me for this week’s lesson because the day is coming when God will judge, and nobody will escape the righteous judgment of God.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover Ezekiel 22:17-31.

The Prophecy of Ezekiel

Before we dive into the scripture of this week’s lesson, I do want to give you some background information.  Ezekiel 1-2 reveals some very important information about the prophet that we must not overlook.

As stated in Ezekiel 1:1-2, Ezekiel’s call to be a prophet came while he was a captive of the Babylonians, during the reign of King Jehoiachin.  King Jehoiachin, king of Judah, was the king at the time Nebuchadnezzar came upon Jerusalem and besieged it.  2 Kings 24:10-16 shows us that the king and his house were carried away, along with several others, except the poorest people of the land.

Prior to his call, Ezekiel was a priest, living during the most wicked days of Judah.  In Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel speaks of how he witnessed the glory of God leave the temple, due to the sins of Jerusalem.

Now, something that is quite interesting about Ezekiel is that him and Jeremiah are considered to be contemporary prophets as both their prophesies overlapped one another.  Jeremiah was the older of the two, and so he prophesied to Judah before the Babylonian captivity.  Jeremiah was eventually carried away to Egypt by those of Jerusalem who feared the Babylonians (Jer. 43).

It is also highly likely that both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, at least, knew of each other.  Again, Jeremiah was a prophet, and up until he was 30 years old, Ezekiel was a priest in Jerusalem.  So, it is likely that Ezekiel heard the cries of Jeremiah and maybe even spoke to him as well, though scripture does not speak of the two ever meeting each other.

One last important note before we dive into the scripture of this lesson, just to be clear, both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had fallen by this point.  2 Kings 18:9-10 makes it clear that the northern kingdom was conquered in the year 6 of Hezekiah’s reign in Judah.  Judah was spared from being defeated by the Assyrians at that time because of Hezekiah’s intercession, yet it would later fall to the Babylonians just over 100 years after the fall of Israel.

God’s Judgment of Wickedness

Why did Judah fall?  Judah fell for the same reason that their brothers fell – sinful living.  The Lord said to Ezekiel, “The house of Israel has become dross to Me (Ezek. 22:17).”  Dross is the waste or impurity of metals like copper, silver, and gold.  To purify such metals, they are heated to incredibly hot temperatures until they melt, and the dross can be separated from the pure metal.

God gives up on unrighteousness

So, when the Lord tells Ezekiel that the house of Israel had become dross to Him, the Lord was saying they had become like waste that needed to be removed.  It is not good for one to be seen as dross in God’s eyes.  At that point, there is no hope, as God has judged what one is, and He will carry out His judgment upon them.

What is sad about this statement is that God does not make such a judgment lightly.  God repeatedly sent prophet after prophet to the house of Israel, but the house would not listen, whether it was the northern or southern house.  

Many will preach that God does not give up on anybody, but there is a lot of clarity that must be brought to such a message.  You see, scripture repeatedly shows us that there is a moment when God will give up on those who refuse Him.  

In Genesis 6, God judged mankind with a great flood for choosing sinful living over living righteously.  After the great flood, during the days of Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah were judged because they chose sinful living over living righteously (Gen. 19:1-29).  The first generation of Israel, freed from the bondage of Egypt, were blocked from entering the Promised Land because they refused to enter it with a desire to go back to Egypt.

Noah and his family were spared from the great flood because Noah chose to heed God’s voice.  Lot and his daughters were spared from Sodom and Gomorrah because of Abraham’s faithful intercession.  The second generation of Israel, the children of those freed from the bondage of Egypt, were permitted to enter the Promised Land.

No, God does not give up on those who choose to live righteously, but He certainly gives up on those who are committed to sinful living – the unrighteous.  As Paul said in Romans 1:18-32, those who refuse to heed God’s word, He gives them over to their desires, and they will be judged.  We must be honest when it comes to ministering God’s word, especially in speaking about His judgment.

House of Israel in God’s furnace

So, because the house of Israel had become dross, we’ll see in Ezekiel 22:19-22 that God spoke of putting Israel into the midst of a furnace and leaving them there to melt.  Moreover, the Lord spoke of fanning the flames so that the fire could burn with extreme heat!  Blowing on the fire helps us to understand the anger and fury with which the Lord was moving against the house of Israel.

Now, for my readers who love to take everything literally, this was God speaking figuratively of the judgment that came upon the house of Israel of Ezekiel’s day.  Just to repeat it, the northern kingdom was conquered and taken over by Gentiles.  Judah, the southern kingdom, was carried away captive into Babylon, where it would remain for 70 years, nearly 2 to 3 generations.

The Sin of Judah

Such a judgment was unexpected for many in the southern kingdom.  As shown through the eyes of Jeremiah, those dwelling in Jerusalem did not ever consider the wall of Jerusalem would fall, nor did they believe the temple would be destroyed and plundered.  When Jeremiah cried out for the people to repent, he said that they mocked him, saying, “Fear on every side”, as they wished for evil to befall him (Jer. 20:10).

You see, the people mocked Jeremiah from a place of entitlement.  They believed that because they were God’s chosen people, they could live however they wished and get away with it.  Ezekiel 22:23-29 shows us the sin they thought they could live with, get away with, but was judged by the Lord.

Blasphemy under false prophecy

The first ones the Lord spoke against were the prophets.  The role of prophets was to take the message given by God to the people.  Sometimes prophets prophesied about future events as given to them by the Lord.  At other times, prophets prophesied of present events and one’s need to heed God’s word.

Of the prophets, God told Ezekiel that they were in the midst of Jerusalem like a “roaring lion tearing the prey”.  God said, “They have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst (Ezek. 22:25).”  Those prophets moved wickedly!  Rather than a righteous work, they enriched themselves.  They moved in a manner that Jesus, in His day, criticized the scribes and Pharisees for doing, and warned His followers not to do as them (Matt 23). 

Moreover, God spoke of how those wicked prophets covered for the wickedness of others, sharing false visions and lies (Ezek. 22:28).  In Jeremiah 14:14, God shared the same message and His unhappiness with those prophets with Jeremiah.  To Jeremiah, God said, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name.  I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.”

So, rather than rebuking the sins of the people, these were false prophets who justified the sins of the people.  To be clear, the prophets participated in the sin of using God’s name in vain, and they also participated in the sin of blasphemy, which is a great sin against the Lord.  Of such a sin, Christ said there will be no pardoning (Matt. 12:31-32).

Poor example from unethical priests

The next sin that angered the Lord came from the priests of Jerusalem.  Let’s keep in mind that priests, as servants of the Lord, were to serve the Lord by serving on behalf of the people.  Priests were to live strictly by the law as keepers of it, demonstrating as an example of holiness to the people.

Yet, in Ezekiel 22:26, God said, “[Jerusalem’s] priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things.”  These priests moved unlawfully, so much so that they could not differentiate between what was holy and unholy, or righteousness from unrighteousness.  The fact that they did not even keep the Sabbath speaks loudly of their sinful nature because even those of Jesus’ day were incredibly strict about the Sabbath.

A cruel and wicked people

When so-called prophets are preaching lies, and those who are to be the example of righteousness are living wickedly, how do you suppose the people would live?  One ought not expect much to be different in a people whose spiritual leaders are living wickedly, right?

Ezekiel 22:27 tells us that Jerusalem’s princes shed blood and enriched themselves through dishonest gain.  Ezekiel 22:29 tells us that the people became oppressors, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor, the needy, and wrongfully oppressed the stranger!

Now, if you remember my lesson commentary – How to Meet God’s Desire to Be Holy – you will recall how God instructed Israel to live in holiness.  In Leviticus 19, the children of Israel were instructed to love all people, especially the poor, the needy, and the stranger in the land.  Again, how one treats those who are poor, needy, and a stranger speaks loudly about who they are in their soul. 

The house of Israel was lost spiritually at every level within its community structure.  What makes matters worse is that in Ezekiel 22:30, God said He could not find one person who wasn’t a prophet, to put off placing Israel into His furnace.  

This, I want you to understand, was truly a sad state because in the day of the great flood, Noah’s faith saved mankind from being destroyed.  Abraham’s faith saved Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Moses’ intercession saved the children of Israel from their sin at Mount Sinai.  Yet, during the day of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the Lord found no one.

From the Furnace of God

When I teach scripture like this, it gives me pause to consider the present day and how we are living.  How are we, as spiritual leaders, living?  All of us as God’s children should see ourselves as spiritual leaders, from the pastor in the pulpit down to those sitting in the pews.  Therefore, we ought to live responsibly according to the word of God, as God is going to judge.

The Babylonian exile, as shown through the eyes of Daniel, was not joyous for those of Judah.  People like Daniel had their names changed to Babylonian names.  On top of that, the Babylonians tried to force their ways (diet, literature, and religion) onto them under the threat of death.  Daniel’s friends were thrown into a fiery furnace for not worshiping Nebuchadnezzar’s image.  

However, after 70 years, 2 to 3 generations later, those in exile returned to Jerusalem to see it as a wasteland left in utter destruction.  Jerusalem, its temple, its homes, and its wall all had to be rebuilt, and that also was not easy.  Yet, from the furnace of God did come a generation, led by the likes of Ezra and Nehemiah, who sought to return to living lawfully.

For a period of time, there was a return to the law, but then Israel fell back into sin.  Christ came to the world preaching repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near.  Christ preached both of His Second Coming and the Day of the Lord.  At the Day of the Lord, God will judge, and again, those who are spared in that day will be those who chose living righteously over living sinfully.

Such a lesson as this one is a reminder to us that we ought to live in a manner of holiness, for if we do not, God’s fire will consume us.  Just because the Lord shows us mercy today does not mean He tolerates sin.  One ought not think for a second that God tolerates sin, as that would mean He is complicit in our sin.  

God is righteous, which means there is no sin within Him.  God desires to dwell with those who are righteous, and He will do so for eternity.  To do that, God will cast away all that is sinful, including sin and the world itself.