Ezekiel 22:17-31

Ezekiel 22:17-22

The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and said, "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. They are all iron, bronze, tin, and lead in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver" (Ezekiel 22:17-18).

Dross is a metallurgical term used to describe the impurities that form on the surface of molten metal during the cutting process. It is waste metal and has no purpose or value.

Metal is heated in an oven to melt or to develop the desired properties. Temperature affects the properties of metal, and the melting points of various types of metals differ. 

God described the house of Israel as being dross of different types of metals - iron, bronze, tin and lead - from the base metal, silver. 

King Solomon said,

[4] "Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry. (‭‭Proverbs 25:4).

Silver has no value if it contains dross. It cannot be made into jewelry. This is how God viewed the house of Israel. 

God said that He would gather the dross (the house of Israel) in His anger and fury, into the furnace (Jerusalem) to melt them by the fire of His wrath (Ezekiel 22:17-22).

To be melted is to be utterly destroyed. When this happened, they would know that God had poured out His fury on them (Ezekiel 22:22).

Ezekiel 22:23-31

God instructed Ezekiel to say to the house of Israel:

[24] “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation' (‭‭Ezekiel 22:24)

"The day of indignation" - the day of God's anger. God was angry with the house of Israel, and there would be "a day of indignation." 

The land was unclean and defiled because of her:

Prophets - 

[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 (‭‭Ezekiel 22:25).

Priests - 

[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 (‭‭Ezekiel 22:26).

Princes - ‬‬

[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 (‭‭Ezekiel 22:27-28).

People - 

[29] The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger (‭‭Ezekiel 22:29).

God sought for a man who would make a wall between He and the house of Israel, and stand in the gap before Him on behalf of the land so that He would not destroy it, but He could not find anyone. Therefore He poured out His anger on them; He consumed them with the fire of His wrath; and recompensed their deeds on their own heads (Ezekiel 22:30-31). This was the day of indignation.