March 1 2026, Sunday School Lesson

The Dross of Unrighteousness

Lesson Text: Ezekiel 22:17-31

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 1:21-26; 59:14-20; Malachi 3:1-5; Matthew 25:31-46; Zephaniah 3:1-8

TIME: between 593 and 571 B.C.

PLACE: Babylon

Golden Text “As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you” (Ezekiel 22:22).

Introduction

Many of God’s people Israel was in exile in Babylon while their compatriots in Judah continued to practice idolatry and injustice. God saw everything they did, and His anger grew. Through Ezekiel, God announced that He would unleash His fiery wrath upon His people.

Why was God so angry with the Jews? God made a covenant with His people through Moses after He delivered them from Egypt. He promised great blessings for obedience and dire consequences if the covenant was not obeyed. And the Jews excelled at violating God’s covenant.

In Ezekiel 22, the prophet delivered three judgment messages against Jerusalem’s pervasive wickedness. Each message was harsh and graphic, leaving no doubt that God’s unleashed wrath was justified. In this lesson, we will investigate the last two of the three messages.

The judgment was fulfilled just a few years later. In 586 B.C., the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem, the city and the temple were destroyed, and Judah’s population was deported. The covenantal curses befell God’s people.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. JERUSALEM: THE CRUCIBLE OF GOD’S JUDGMENT – Ezek. 22:17-22

2. JERUSALEM: THE CITY OF THE GUILTY – Ezek. 22:23-31

QUESTIONS

1. How did God emphasize to the Jews that Ezekiel’s message came from Him?

2. Why was God’s judgment against Jerusalem so important?

3. What was shocking about God subjecting Jerusalem to a refining process?

4. What would the walls of Jerusalem represent in God’s plan for judgment?

5. Why is the phrase “I the Lord” significant?

6. What was God’s complaint against the prophets?

7. Why was God angry with the priests?

8. How were the princes described as warranting God’ judgment?

9. Why was God incensed about the actions of His prophets?

10. Why was God judging the “people of the land” (Ezek. 22:29)?

ANSWERS

1. Ezekiel had been rendered mute (cf. 3:26-27), which further emphasized that Ezekiel’s message was what God wanted to proclaim to His people.

2. Jerusalem, however, was special. More than just a capital, it was the city where God chose to dwell in the midst of His people. God’s temple was there, where God was present in a special way. For God to judge that city sent a bold message – God would not tolerate His people’s pervasive sin.

3. But the time of God’s patient refining of His people were over. There was no silver among them for Him to purify. The nation had become nothing but worthless dross to be cast by the wayside.

4. The fortified walls of Jerusalem would not protect it but would become the crucible of its destruction.

5. By His actions, they learned His sovereign identity when He proclaimed, “I am the Lord” (Ex. 6:7; 7:5, 17). The plagues demonstrated that this was not mere talk but the truth. Through this same phrase, appearing seventy times in Ezekiel, God signaled that the coming horrific events were a clear statement that God oversees history and will not be disobeyed, even by His chosen people, without serious consequences (Ezek. 22:22).

6. God’s accusation focused on lions are bloodthirsty killers of His people. Rather than promoting justice in His name, the nation’s prophets had been self-serving. By means of their power and influence, they had robbed the innocent and helpless. Lives were taken, women widowed, and children orphaned.

7. There were all sorts of idols and idols and idolatry not only in Jerusalem but in the temple itself as well – the same temple where the Lord dwelled and met with His people. The priests did not stop it or instruct the people to respect God properly. The Lord was ignored in His own house!

8. There were compared to a pack of wolves destroying God’s flock for their own personal gain (22:27).

9. The false prophets would also experience God’s wrath because they presumed to speak for God, proclaiming a message that He (God) had not given them as if it were His message.

10. He revealed that this group used oppression and robbery to vex the poor for personal gain. Their targets were the poor, needy, and foreigners – the helpless ones of society.