There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they devour souls; they take away treasure and precious things; they increase her widows in the midst of her;
Ezekiel 22 works through Jerusalem class by class. Verse 25 starts at the top, with the men who claimed to speak for God. The charge is not carelessness but appetite. These prophets acted together, and the people paid for it with their lives and their property.
The verse belongs to a final section where God names names before the blow falls. One commentator sets the scene for the whole chapter:
The sharpened sword of justice and retribution has not yet done its dreadful work. First the Lord uncovers the guilt and vileness of the city. He lays bare the corruption of her prophets, priests, and princes, and of the people too. Verses 1-16 show the violence and the vile acts of Jerusalem. The smelting furnace in verses 17-23 stands for the Lord's burning anger against Jerusalem and its people. The closing section of chapter 22 (verses 23-31) uncovers the corruption of the prophets, priests, and princes in full.
The word "conspiracy" points to men working together by plan. One writer shows these prophets working with the priests, while the people were glad to have it so:
The prophets living when the nation had turned away from God show most clearly how much influence such men had. Jeremiah in Jerusalem and Ezekiel by the river Chebar both found them the greatest obstacle to people receiving the word of the Lord... "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so" (Jeremiah 5:30-31). "And from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely" (Jeremiah 6:13).
Follow the chapter down from the prophets to the priests and princes. The picture does not improve:
The prophets who plotted together in the city were like roaring lions tearing their prey. The priests not only twisted the law; they also treated the sanctuary as something common. The princes were no better than greedy, bloodthirsty wolves, and all this for dishonest gain. So there was no distinction for the better, whether one looked higher or lower.
Notice what the prophets carried off: souls first, then treasure and precious things. Where religion becomes a trade, people themselves become the merchandise:
"And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep" (2 Peter 2:3). Here he exposes religious pretension to the core. Babylon sells the souls of men (Revelation 18:13). It is a serious thing to be linked in practice with such a state of things. By greed and hypocritical words these false teachers would sell Christians as goods for their own gain. This points to what people call simony — the sale of souls. But God's judgment should overtake all such.
Verse 25 opens what one writer calls a dark catalogue. He explains why the prophets and priests at its head are the worst detail of all:
The final word returns once again to the corruption itself. It is complete, and it runs through every class. Here the prophets and priests above all come into the dark catalogue, for when they are corrupt, hope is gone entirely. Among all these not one man was left. "And I sought for such," says the Lord. There was no one to build up a fence to keep out the coming desolation, no one to stand in the gap before Him, so that He would not destroy the land.
The verse ends with widows — the cost paid by ordinary people. The crimes listed run from the top of the nation to the bottom:
The evil speaks for itself. What we have is a list of crimes in high and low. The apostle says of such crimes that the Gentiles blasphemed the name of God because of them. We need not wonder at this. Misused privilege always works this way: what happens in the dark elsewhere happens here in full daylight.
- Office. God starts at the top — prophets, then priests, then princes, then people. He exposes a city's guilt where its guides went wrong.
- Collusion. "Conspiracy" means a plot, not an accident. The prophets prophesied lies, the priests ruled at their direction, and the people loved it so.
- Appetite. Men set apart to speak for God fed on the people instead, like lions. They took souls first and treasure after.
- Cost. The widows are the receipt. Misused privilege does in daylight what others do in the dark, and the Gentiles blasphemed God's name because of it.
- Verdict. When the prophets and priests are corrupt, hope is gone. God looked for one man to stand in the gap, and found none.
her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Ezekiel lists, class by class, why Jerusalem must fall. Here the charge lands on the priests. Their whole calling was to guard the line between what belongs to God and what does not. They did not just break rules; they erased the line. The verse names the cost: His own people treated God Himself as common.
The charge is not vague religious failure. The prophet measures the priests against the written law of Moses, a standard his hearers already had. The verses around this one are full of quotations from it.
In Ezekiel 22:26 it says, "Her priests have done violence to My law." Here the prophet does not use the word "law" in a general sense, of any religious teaching given by God. He means "The Law." That is clear from the detail that comes before and after the words quoted… In these few verses there are at least twenty-nine references to the Pentateuch — really quotations from it — from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.
Telling holy from common was not an extra duty added to a priest's work. It was the work itself, and it grew out of his nearness to God. Older wording calls the common "profane."
Once priesthood is established, there comes the discernment between holy things and profane, the judgment of defilements, and what had to be done to purify defiled people. Only this nearness of separation to God can discern in this way. Such is the service, and always the duty, of priests.
A blurred line starts somewhere other than the line itself. It starts in the person, with whatever he lets cloud his own soul.
Quickness of moral perception depends on keeping up a separation from everything that might cloud our souls… Suppose a believer forgets his heavenly calling and gives in to earthly pleasures. He is "drunk with wine" instead of being "filled with the Spirit." Then he cannot tell apart things that differ, or see what is morally suitable to God. There is no greater mistake than to expect a right judgment on moral questions from worldly Christians. They may be entirely sincere and upright. They may even want to see the truth. But they have lost their spiritual discernment.
The verse names one thing in particular that they set aside: the sabbaths. That day was Israel's public sign of whose they were.
The sabbath was Jehovah's sign to Israel… "Moreover I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies them."
The verse ends with God as the one wronged. Men who handle holy things every day can drift into treating them cheaply.
The higher the relationship, the greater the danger where God is not before the soul. Sin in such people is not only more serious; they are also more exposed to it. A priest has to walk not just as a man outside the sanctuary should, but as one who goes into it… familiarity with the presence of God, unless a man keeps it up in His fear, borders on contempt… Hardness of conscience follows habitual carelessness about God, while a man still keeps up appearances.
The chapter ends with God looking for one man to stand in the breach, and finding none.
The corruption is complete, among all classes. The prophets and priests especially come into the dark list here; for when they are corrupt, hope is gone entirely. Among all these not one man was left. "And I sought for such," says the Lord. Not one could build a fence to keep out the coming desolation, or stand in the breach before Him, so that He might not destroy the land.
The same words come back later in the book. There they describe restored priests doing what these men refused to do.
"And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean… and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My assemblies; and they shall hallow My sabbaths."
- The standard — "My law" means the law God gave through Moses. The charge quotes Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy again and again. God judges the priests by a text they already held in their hands.
- The sight — telling holy from common flows out of nearness to God. It is not an extra duty of priesthood but its ordinary service.
- The blur — the eye goes first. Earthly pleasure clouds the soul, and even a sincere man loses the ability to tell things apart. This verse shows what a whole class looks like when that happens.
- The dishonour — being at home with holy things, without the fear of God, slides into contempt. That is how men reach the point where God says He is profaned among them.
- The repair — when prophets and priests are corrupt, no one is left to stand in the breach. Yet the same words return later in the book as a promise: the difference taught again, the sabbaths kept holy.
Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Ezekiel 22 sums up Jerusalem's guilt before judgment falls. Verse 27 puts the rulers in the dock: the men who should guard the nation act like wolves, and their motive is money.
The verse names an animal everyone knew. Its habit, not just its fierceness, is the point.
Scripture calls this well-known animal ravenous. It hunts its prey in the evening. Wolves are very destructive among sheep, harassing and killing more than they can eat. This makes the wolf a fitting emblem of the wicked. They trouble the sheep and lambs of God's flock, and even creep in among them.
The wolves here were not foreign invaders. They held office over the very people they tore.
Others might plunder their enemies and enrich their followers at their neighbours' expense. But the civil and religious chiefs of Israel were degraded and depraved. They preyed on the flesh and blood of their own brothers for their own greed and gain, and the defenceless poor fared worst of all.
This corruption did not appear overnight. One writer traces it back through generations of rulers, and then points ahead to a promise.
The oppression of the ruling classes had grown worse since the days of Solomon. Ezekiel found the princes of the land "like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain" (Ezek. 22:27). Many passages in the prophets confirm how widespread such oppression was. They show how deep and vile the corruption was — religious, moral, and civic. It destroyed the life of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, until there was no remedy and the unsparing stroke of judgment had to fall. How good to know that this evil will not darken the day of restoration — "My princes shall no more oppress My people."
Verse 27 does not stand alone. The charge names the prophets, the priests, the princes and the people. No group can point at another.
The sharpened sword of justice and retribution is ready to do its dreadful work. Before it falls, the Lord uncovers the guilt and vileness of the city. He lays bare the corruption of her prophets, her priests, her princes, and her people.
When the men at the top do the damage, the nation has no defence left. God searched for one man to stand between Himself and the land.
The final word returns once again to the corruption itself. The corruption is complete, and it runs through every class. This dark list names the prophets and priests above all, for when they are corrupt, hope is gone. Among them all, not one man remained. "And I sought for such," says the Lord. No one could build a fence to keep out the coming desolation, or stand in the breach before Him, so that He would not destroy the land.
The same appetite still tests leaders today. Greed for money makes a man unfit to lead, just as violence does.
Men in authority often fall into another fault, and it is unworthy of an overseer. He must not seek gain by low means. He must stand firm against greed for money. A man called to rule before God among His people must watch against this degrading evil. He must guard against it at least as much as against sins of violence. If he is guilty of it himself, how can he rebuke those sins? Yet that is his duty.
- Wolves. The image points to appetite. Wolves kill more than they can eat, so Scripture makes them the emblem of the wicked who harass God's flock.
- Prey. These rulers did not plunder enemies. They preyed on their own brothers for gain, and the defenceless poor fared worst.
- Gain. Dishonest gain drove them. The corruption of the ruling classes had been deepening since Solomon's day, until there was no remedy.
- Guilt. God exposes prophets, priests, princes and people together. Where the leaders are corrupt, no one remains to stand in the breach.
- Grace. Judgment ends this corruption, but the story does not stop there. God promises that His princes will no longer oppress His people.
And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken.
Ezekiel 22 goes through Jerusalem group by group — princes, priests, prophets, people — and names what each has done. Verse 28 reaches the prophets. Their work was to cover the rot with a coat of plaster and sign it with God's name.
The corruption did not start with the prophets. But when the preachers go too, the last voice that could call the nation back is gone.
The final word returns once again to the corruption itself. It is complete, and found among all classes. This dark list names the prophets and priests above all, because once they are corrupt, hope is gone entirely. Among all of them, not one man was left. God says He looked for such a man — someone to build a fence against the coming desolation. He looked for someone to stand in the breach before Him, so that He would not destroy the land. So the anger He warned of for so long is poured out at last.
A survey of the same ruin elsewhere makes the point in one line: every rank had failed, and God searched the nation for one man to stand in the breach.
Ezekiel 22 recapitulates the sin of Jerusalem, of her prophets, her priests, and her princes. The eye of God sought for someone to stand in the gap before Him, and found none.
The whitewash of this verse is untempered mortar in older translations — plaster that was never mixed properly. Spread over a wall, it hides the cracks and looks solid until the weather comes.
Mortar was made by treading the clay. The false prophets promised peace to Jerusalem while God was threatening to bring judgment. Their work is compared to building a wall and daubing it with untempered mortar. God's wind would blow the wall down (Ezekiel 13:10-15). This teaches a needed lesson: everything built for God must be built with God's materials, or it will not stand.
The prophets signed the message with God's name. That is rarely raw invention — it is God's own word bent to fit what people already want.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval for its own desires. That is why the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken, were so popular. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies. They corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste (2 Corinthians 2:17). They had to copy many of the real prophets' expressions. Yet in the end they only produced their own empty ideas.
Smooth preaching sells. It spares people the one thing they least want: a conscience disturbed by God.
When the people of God go wrong, the spirit of false prophecy is always at work. It wants them to believe that all goes well. Men in authority do not like to be discouraged: see the opposition to Jeremiah in Jerusalem. The false prophet helps them here. He keeps the conscience from turning back to God, who would use chastening to bring the conscience into direct contact with Him. The spirit of falsehood would persuade them that they are very happy. Those who call them blessed are the misleaders. Those who are so called, and believe them, are swallowed up.
The same plaster gets spread over Christendom — the whole world of Christian profession. There too, smooth preaching is the popular kind.
I know people do not like to hear such teaching. Smooth things are far more agreeable and more popular. But we must speak the truth. We dare not try to prophesy smooth things. We dare not cry peace, peace, when there is no peace, but obvious ruin and imminent judgment. What possible use is it to daub the wretched walls of Christendom with the untempered mortar of human thoughts and opinions? "Use," did I say? It is positive cruelty. As surely as God is in heaven, those walls will soon be demolished and swept away by the storm of divine judgment.
The alternative is a short list of rules for anyone who works with souls.
Never daub the wall with untempered mortar, saying, Peace! peace! when there is no peace. Never hurry a soul into confession. Never treat sin lightly. Preach truth as well as grace. Emphasize repentance.
- Cover-up. The prophets plaster over cracks that are already splitting the nation. The ruin underneath is never treated.
- Counterfeit. The plaster is God's name on man's message. These men copy real prophecy, soften it, and make it suit what listeners want.
- Comfort. It sells because it keeps the conscience away from God, and those flattered by it are the ones swallowed up.
- Collapse. Untempered mortar cannot face the storm. Build for God with God's materials, or the wall falls.
- Cure. Jerusalem needed one man to stand in the breach and had none. What is needed now is preaching that gives truth as well as grace and never treats sin lightly.
The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.
Ezekiel has been exposing the guilt of Jerusalem's leaders. Here the charge reaches the ordinary people as well. What happens to a society when injustice is no longer the crime of the powerful, but the habit of everybody?
The crimes here belong to every level of society. One writer says the evil needs no explaining, and that these crimes made the nations blaspheme God's name.
We need not spend many words on interpreting what is plain. The evil speaks for itself. What we have is a list of crimes in high and in low. Of these very crimes the apostle says that through them the Gentiles blasphemed the name of God. We need not wonder at this. Perverted privileges always work this way: what people do in the darkness elsewhere they now do in the full light.
Oppression is not an abstract word. One commentator brings it down to wages: what a master pays, and when he pays it.
He forbids dishonesty and untruthfulness, above all when His name is profaned. And He denounces the oppression of one's neighbour — even if it is only holding back a poor labourer's pay for a single night. Wealthy Jews were guilty in this way: is it limited to men of Israel? The employment of labour is often conducted in a hard spirit, grinding the faces of the poor. In God's eyes this makes up for nothing. It only makes things worse when masters give generously to so-called Christian or charitable causes what has been wrung out of tears and curses.
God's law names the stranger first, then the poor. Israel's own past was meant to shape how they treated both.
The stranger comes first. The memory of what they had been in the land of Egypt was to govern how they behaved toward such people. They had suffered bitterly under the hard slavery of Pharaoh's iron yoke. So they could enter into the feelings of those who are strangers in a strange land... The two following directions concern the poor. The first saves him from extortion and stops the rich from making gain of his poverty. The second secures him from being left destitute and naked.
Unpaid wages are not the end of the matter. One writer shows that the debt itself cries out, even when the powerful hear nothing.
They are charged with deliberate cruelty and fraud in their dealings with the labourers who reaped their fields. Their very wealth tempts the rich to hold back the wages of the poor. Only their own affairs matter in their eyes. They put off to a convenient time the claims of people who live from hand to mouth. But the debt cries aloud to Him who always feels for the poor. The One who alone made Him fully known showed this. Yes, the cries of the reapers may not have reached the rich. But they entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts, and His blow would fall when least expected.
Jerusalem's ruin was not sudden. This catalogue of crimes explains the timing of what came next.
We return now to see once more in Jerusalem the obvious corruption which is bringing in the judgment. As noted elsewhere, God does not judge until the corruption shows itself fully. He lets evil come to its head before He strikes it, for He will be justified in judging it, and clear when He is judged. So what we have here is no longer history: it is not even the sins of the fathers showing themselves in the children. It is the present condition of things — the causes which made necessary what was at hand.
The warning does not stay in the ancient world. One writer applies it to courtrooms and to Christian gatherings alike.
The judges ought not to favour the wicked. They ought to judge on behalf of the poor and needy, defending them from the persecution of the wicked and delivering them from the hands of cruel oppression. We need this same exhortation today in many of our courts of justice, and even in the professing church of God. There, those held in outward honour are too often guilty of oppressing ordinary people.
- Everyone. The crimes run "in high and in low." Leaders and ordinary people share the guilt, and the nations blaspheme God's name because of it.
- The crime. Oppression shows up in real things: unpaid wages, hard dealing, profit squeezed out of the weak.
- The stranger. Israel had once been slaves in Egypt. That memory was meant to govern how they treated the stranger and the poor among them.
- The cry. Held-back wages cry out. The appeal the rich never heard reached the Lord of hosts, and His blow falls when least expected.
- The verdict. God waits until the corruption is fully out, so that no one can question His judgment. The same test of justice toward the poor still stands over courts and churches today.