(REFLECTIONS ON EZEKIEL 22)

Although judgment was coming to Jerusalem, those that remained thought they were the fortunate ones, because they were not part of the initial group of exiles to Babylon. They thought that they were the remnant, the chosen ones that God would save, and it didn’t help things that there were false prophets proclaiming a message of “Peace, Peace!” in their midst.

However, the Lord’s glory was now no longer in Jerusalem, but the Lord proclaimed that He would be a sanctuary to those Israelites scattered amongst the nations, including those exiled to Babylon. Jerusalem on the other hand, must have a time of rest and restoration, at which time the exiles would be able to return to rebuild the temple.

In today’s Scripture, the Lord says of Jerusalem,

4b “…Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.”

How could God’s chosen people now be an object of scorn and a laughingstock? It is because they were mistaken in thinking that their identity of being God’s chosen people was inherit in them, rather than realizing it was only in the Lord that they had this identity.

When the world looks at the church today, what does it see? Does the world see the church as the body of Christ? Or, has the church become an object of scorn and a laughingstock, because like Israel it has lost its true identity?

The Lord said of the Israelites,

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”

There was no one that could stand in the gap on behalf of the land. There were none that were righteous that could be a mediator between the wrath of God and the sins of Israel.

We, however, do have someone that can stand in the gap, and that is our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the mediator that serves as a bridge between our sin and a holy God. Yes, at times we may be like Israel, thinking only about our special identity as the church, but losing sight that our identity is in Christ and in Christ alone.

Israel wanted to take the credit and claim their authority as the chosen people of God, but God reminded them that authority was in Him and not in the people alone. We are also challenged as the church, to consider whether we have taken credit for our own salvation and turned our faith into only what we desire it to be, rather than what the Lord calls us to be. Jesus Christ stands in the gap for the church. May that be our hope and our testimony to the world. May we not take the glory, but may all glory be given to Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to remember that it is because of you that we can be called the church, and that it is you that stands in the gap as the bridge that leads us into a relationship with God. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary