Rev. Mark Stirdivant, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Yucaipa, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Ezekiel 22:1-31.
The LORD calls His own city Jerusalem “the bloody city,” which surely shocked the people of God. The LORD shows His judgment to be true as He identifies a long list of ways His people have broken His commandments, abusing their neighbors and abusing their God. All of these sins find their center in the way the list concludes: Israel has forgotten the LORD. The LORD will therefore treat Israel as metal within a forge; when He sets fire to the city of Jerusalem, He will find no precious metal, but only dross. The leaders of the people, prophets, priests, and princes alike, have led the people in corruption. Though the LORD looked for a righteous man in their midst, none could be found; therefore, He poured His indignation out upon them. This points us forward to the day when the LORD sent the righteous Man, Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, to stand in the breach and take His wrath to win our salvation.
“The Faithful Watchman” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Ezekiel. Just when Ezekiel should have begun his service as priest in the temple in Jerusalem, the LORD called him to be a prophet in exile in Babylon. Through fantastic visions and attention-grabbing action prophecies, the prophet Ezekiel is a faithful watchman who proclaims the word of the LORD to bring people to repentance over their sins and to faith in the coming Savior, Jesus Christ, the glory of the LORD made flesh.
