CHAPTER 22 Sep. 26 
The Sins of Israel and Jerusalem
The word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the city of blood? So now cause her to know all her abominations. 3You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh:  The city sheds blood in the midst of her so that her time of judgment may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself! 4You have become guilty in the blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your year of judgment. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far from you shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult. 6Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. 7In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. 8You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My Sabbaths. 9Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness. 10In you have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity. 11One has committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. 12In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, you have greedily gained from your neighbours by oppression and have forgotten Me, says the Lord Yahweh. 13Behold, therefore, I have struck My hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been shed in the midst of you. 14Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you. 16You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 17The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me: all of them are brass, tin, iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. 19Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As they gather silver, brass, iron, lead and tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire onto it to melt it; so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you. 21Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you. 23The word of Yahweh came to me saying, 24Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained on in the day of indignation. 25There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst. 26Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean and have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in its midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood and to destroy people so that they may get dishonest gain. 28Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and foretelling lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken. 29The people of the land have used oppression and committed robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully. 30I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. 31Therefore have I poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath. Their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

Commentary

22:2 Judge the bloody city... cause her to know all her abominations- The purpose of judgment is to reveal sin to those being judged. We must face up to our sins, know them for what they are- either now, or in the process of rejection at the final day of judgment. 
22:3 So that her time of judgment may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her- Notice how the judgment and defiling were brought about by her own behaviour. Those who are condemned have condemned themselves (see :31). 
22:9 Because gossip is such an epitome of the flesh, it is ranked here along with sins like fornication, idolatry and murder. Other scripture teaches that to hate your brother in your heart was and is as bad as murdering him (Mt. 5:22; 1 Jn. 3:15). Here, the connection is made between gossip and murder. To gossip against our brother is to hate him.
22:15 I will consume your filthiness out of you- This suggests that as the day of the second coming approaches, Israel will be progressively purged and move closer and closer towards repentance. It is our duty to show them the Gospel so that they can make sense of their sufferings and see what they are intended by God to lead them towards.
22:22 This wrath of God was still ultimately constructive- because through the heat of the fire of His wrath, God intended to purge out the dross from His people, so that they might be saved. A very common tragedy in human experience is when people suffer terribly, and yet still don’t make the changes God intends. So much suffering, especially of Israel, has in this sense been in vain.
22:26- see on 42:20.
22:30 Even at this dire time of Judah’s weakness, God would have changed His entire program of judgment for the sake of just one man. But there was none, it seems Ezekiel himself wasn’t passionate enough even. Thus God says He has consumed them in His wrath (:31), whereas Moses ‘turned’ God from executing His wrath as He planned (Ps. 78:38; 106:23).