"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver. Sermons
I. ADULTERATED METAL. The seed of Israel had sadly degenerated. They had been, compared with other people, as silver and gold. Now they were, in God's esteem, only as dross, and "his judgment is according to truth." What virgin gold is in a human kingdom, true righteousness is in the kingdom of God. Loyalty and love are the coins current in God's empire. A good man is worth more than argosies of gold and rubies. Wisdom, righteousness, and love, - these are the only durable riches. They exalt and enrich men for time and for eternity. Selfishness, disobedience, and rebellion are the dross and rust which eat out the very life of the soul. Real riches become part and parcel of the man. II. THE FURNACE-FIRE. What the material flame of the furnace is to metals, God's anger is to human character. It tests the qualities of mind and heart. As metals have no power to resist being cast into the furnace, neither has any man power to exempt himself from Divine chastisement. It comes upon all in some form or other. In some, humility, submission, resignation, appear. These are precious metals - the gold and silver of moral excellence. In others, fretfulness, remorse, defiance, are the effect. These are base dross, destitute of any worth. A myriad of men know nothing about their characters until trial, in some sort, comes upon them. If milder forms of chastisement will not melt the hardened metal, the anger of Jehovah will wax hot. There shall be, sooner or later, self-revelation - the sooner the better. III. SEPARATION. The furnace is not merely a test of metal and alloy; it further separates the one from the other. Among men this separation, resulting from God's visitations, is twofold. 1. This separation is seen as one between man and man. The precious and the vile become more distinguishable one from the other. 2. The separation is internal. In those who turn the affliction to good account there follows self-inspection, self-denial, pruning. The idol is dethroned. The vice is abandoned. The evil is withstood and fought. Refinement goes on within. The darkness and the light separate. The man comes out of the process as gold that is purified. IV. DESTRUCTION. The residuum of alloy is cast out as base and worthless. God will not tolerate falsehood, hypocrisy, or any iniquity in his kingdom. "Every liar shall have his portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." The liar is not only the man who speaks with intention to deceive; he is the man who has preferred to deceive himself rather than face the truth. Unquestionably, separation, accomplished in the furnace, is with a view to refinement, but also with a view of destruction to the worthless dross. Every man has his face either toward purity or toward perdition. The processes of God's furnace are going on among us every day. Are we getting better or worse? - D.
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross. Stand in fancy in one of the fights of the old civil war. The Royalists are fighting desperately, and are winning apace; but I hear a cry from the other side that Cromwell's Ironsides are coming. Now we shall see some fighting. Oliver and his men are lions. But lo! I see that the fellows who come up hang fire, and are afraid to rush into the thick of the fight; surely these are not Cromwell's Ironsides, and yonder captain is not old Nell? I do not believe it; it cannot be. Why, if they were what they profess to be, they would have broken the ranks of those perfumed cavaliers long ago, and have made them fly before them like chaff before the wind. So when I hear men say, "Here is a body of Christians." What! those Christians? Those cowardly people, who hardly dare speak a word for Jesus! Those covetous people, who give a few cheese parings to His cause! Those inconsistent people, whom you would not know to be Christian professors if they did not label themselves! What! such beings followers of a crucified Saviour! The world sneers at such pretensions, and well it may.( C. H. Spurgeon.) People EzekielPlaces JerusalemTopics Brass, Bronze, Copper, Dross, Furnace, Inside, Iron, Lead, Metal, Midst, Mixed, Poorest, Silver, Sort, Tin, WasteOutline 1. A catalogue of sins in Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews in consequence17. God will burn them as dross in his furnace 23. The general corruption of prophets, priests, princes, and the people Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 22:18 4321 copper Library God Seeks Intercessors"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."--ISA. lxii. 6, 7. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor."--ISA. lix. 16. "And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered, and there was none to uphold."--ISA. lxiii. 5. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that … Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, How those who Fear Scourges and those who Contemn them are to be Admonished. The Wrath of God The Holy City; Or, the New Jerusalem: Ezekiel Links Ezekiel 22:18 NIVEzekiel 22:18 NLT Ezekiel 22:18 ESV Ezekiel 22:18 NASB Ezekiel 22:18 KJV Ezekiel 22:18 Bible Apps Ezekiel 22:18 Parallel Ezekiel 22:18 Biblia Paralela Ezekiel 22:18 Chinese Bible Ezekiel 22:18 French Bible Ezekiel 22:18 German Bible Ezekiel 22:18 Commentaries Bible Hub |