Mark's Blog

Word:  Ezekiel 22 (abridged)(NLT)

22 Now this message came to me from the Lord:   ⁶ “Every leader . . . who lives within your walls is bent on murder. ⁷ Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. ⁸ You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest. ⁹ People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. ¹⁰ Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women . . . . ¹¹ Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters. ¹² There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.

¹³ “But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed. ¹⁴ How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness. ¹⁶ And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you, you will know that I am the Lord.”

²³ Again a message came to me from the Lord: ²⁵ Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. ²⁶ Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. ²⁷ Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! ²⁸ And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. ²⁹ Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

³⁰ “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. ³¹ So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

In a democracy like ours, we the people must take full responsibility for the political leaders we elect.  The majority of us have voted in both the best and the worst of our national leaders.  That’s a hard pill for some of us to swallow. The present divide is so deep that many seem to want to pretend that if their candidate does not win the election, then it is because the other candidate somehow cheated or stole their way into office in spite of the fact that nobody voted for them.

Since we the people choose our leaders, we must look for leaders who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land.  The prophet Ezekiel rails against the political leaders who abuse the helpless in the land. In his condemnations, Ezekiel includes the religious leaders who make no distinction between what is holy and what is not holy.  But his last word is to the common people—that’s us! What did we do? ²⁹ Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

When did we the people do that?  We the people do it when we vote for leaders who do it!

The King of All Nations wants leaders who build a wall—a wall of righteousness. We the people must search for those as well and elect them to be our leaders.

Prayer:  We pray, Sovereign Lord, for leaders who will rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. We are afraid that the wall lies broken in many, many places because we have chosen leaders who did what was wrong–and we have followed and celebrated them because we voted for them.  Forgive us, Lord, and give us the will to elect those who know what is holy and what is not.  Amen.