Day 525: Ezekiel 22- We Need A Representative!

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of[a] your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.
6 “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit[b] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
13 “Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
 
Meditation
God provides the righteous representative we need to be saved. God is Holy and cannot be in fellowship with an unholy people. God is just and cannot be in relationship with an unjust people. God is pure and cannot be in fellowship with an unrighteous people. God is love and provides the representative we need to be reconciled with Him.
 
Ezekiel has highlighted God’s heart to find a representative before. Clarity deepens conviction, “…I found none” (30). Ezekiel spends more than thirty verses highlighting the sin and rebellion of humanity, forgetting God and living by what seems right in our own eyes. The tragic picture of society unraveling from the rejection of God is amplified by the absence of a representative who can spare the destruction of judgment. We need a redeemer!
 
The New Testament shares the lament of the total depravity and inability of humanity to stand before God, parts of Romans 3:1-23 being the crown jewel. No one is righteous, all deserve death, and no one seeks God. Yet the dark news is dispelled with the rising revelation of Jesus as our representative.
 
Jesus is the propitiation whose death satisfies the wrath of God and purchases us for Himself. Jesus is the righteousness of God revealed from Heaven and imputed to all who believe (Romans 3:24-26). God Himself justifies sinners and is Himself just by paying the penalty of sin!
 
The story of a search for a representative to save sinners ends in Jesus Christ alone. This is amazing love!
 
Richly Dwelling
-Today’s reading is a difficult reality for humanity, a clear window into our sin and rebellion. What is your reaction to the litany of accusations seen in these verses?
 
-Do you see the love behind God’s looking for a representative, His longing to not destroy humanity and be restored in relationship?
 
-How does the AMAZING grace and love of God motivate you to walk deeper into relationship with God?
 
Key Verse
30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.