Ezekiel 22:6-12 - Don’t neglect God

Turning to the leaders the Lord highlighted their evil practices. In Ezekiel 21:6-12 we see an inventory of the wicked deeds done to hasten and justify God’s judgment. Every leader contributed to the bloodshed and violence. In these verses, is a catalogue of their evil deeds. First on the list was their disrespect for parents. They treated their fathers and mothers in contempt. In so doing they had denigrated the authority of the parents. The root cause of a disorderly society can be traced to the home. Disrespect for parents is a sign of societal decay. Secondly, they did not properly regard foreigners and orphans and widows among them were denied their rights. This group of needy people was overlooked and bused.

Thirdly, the Lord accused them of despising the holy thing and violating the Sabbath. Where the authority of parents is disrespected, the next step in the degeneration would be to disrespect the authority of God. The one day that should be set aside to remember God and connect with Him would cease to be exercised. Not observing the Sabbath was not just their problem. If we care to confess it, we too are often guilty of violating Sabbath observation. Disobedience to parents as children easily degenerated into disobedience to God, the ultimate authority.

 

When God had been shown disrespect, verse 9 shows that depravity of all sorts would be engendered. Slander, murder, idol worship, and sexual misconduct would naturally follow. Disrespect for God is the slippery slope into all kinds of serious misbehavior, especially sexual ones. Highlighting the gross abuse of sex verses 10-11 show that the father’s nakedness was exposed. In other words, fathers were engaging in sexual intimacy with other members of the family. The call not to have sexual relations with a woman, when she was mensurating was flagrantly violated. In their heightened sexual disorder, adultery became common. The culture among them became a free for all sexual lust. They did not do it covertly but overtly. Verse 11 puts it this way, “Every man engages in detestable practices with his neighbor’s wife, every man defiles his daughter-in-law with obscene acts, and every man violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.” Such practices became commonplace, and the leaders did not even attempt to discourage them. Verse 12 suggests that the rich were exploiting the poor. For financial gain, they would even be willing to injure their neighbors. They had totally put God out of their minds.

So entrenched was their wickedness that God’s message through Ezekiel could harden move their minds much less their hearts. The phrase “you neglect even me” in verse 12 shows us the root cause of every defection and rebellion. When we neglect God, spiritual amnesia will follow. With spiritual amnesia, sin would run amok in one’s life. One critical key to spiritual progress is: never to neglect God. Starting each day with God, helps us to set our course for the day right.