Into God’s Crucible

Ezekiel 22:17-31

17 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from 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 men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you.'"

23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 "Son of man, say to her: 'You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on 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 people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.

Israel’s sin earned the crucible of God’s wrath in judgment as refined silver is heated and the dross of worthless impurities (Proverbs 25:4, Isaiah 1:25) is scooped off the top to leave the underlying purity of the valuable remnant beneath of precious silver shining brightly and reflecting His glory.  God would put them through the fire of refinement in His crucible to remove all that offends Him (Matthew 13:41-42) as His poured out wrath burned against their sins of idolatry and immortality against Him.  As for their wicked leaders, they would be cleansed from the people because the conspiracies of the prophets took advantage of the people with lies and self-serving proclamations and other means of personal gain of riches and fame.  They had blurred the lines between the holy and unclean that God’s word had made clear and ignored the sabbath rest of trust in relying on God alone and honoring Him.  The princes who led them were wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1) set as those who kill and destroy (John 10:10) God’s chosen people.  We see these even to this day as we have been warned by scripture (Acts 20:29-30) of false prophets’ activities and intent.  Their false concocted visions in the name of the Lord are only lies of deceit that sound so good, good enough to deceive many (Matthew 24:11) to worship someone other than the God of scripture.  These lies are not truth because God has not said them; their new revelations are opposed to God’s finalized written word from the final Prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2), and when the Lord has not spoken we should not listen.  That was the mistake of Israel and one which we can learn from to avoid repeating it.  Their corrupt spiritual leaders also found ways to defraud the poor and needy and failed to help their neighbor as the example of the good Samaritan teaches us.  God at that time looked for someone to stand in the gap to defend the right and others’ good while pouring out His wrath on those refusing to repent and do good to others (Acts 26:20).  The wages of sin were justly earned and justly recompensed.  Only repentance through faith in God’s work in Christ can deliver any out of the same sentence of death we all deserve.  The remnant of Israel who refused to listen to the false prophets and follow the corrupt leaders knew enough of the Messiah’s coming to hold fast to doing right until that time as adherence to the Law guided them by faith as of Abraham.  We who are in Christ have been refined and will be further refined (Psalm 66:10, Daniel 12:10, Revelation 3:18) in His mercy of grace in our sanctification as we have escaped His wrath on our sin and found peace with God in Him.  We see in 1 Peter 1:7 then that we are continuing to be refined in the crucible of sanctifying fire and our dross of sin is removed along the way.  In this way we praise, honor, and give glory to our Savior.