In Ezekiel 21, the LORD tells Ezekiel to pronounce judgment on Israel and Judah. The message is repeated: The sword of the LORD is coming, and its destruction will be total. The “sword” is Babylon. The LORD will use this sword to totally destroy the nation. The people will think it’s a false message, because of their treaty with Babylon, but the Babylonians will remind the Israelites they have rebelled against them. Ezekiel then turns to Babylon and tells Ezekiel to tell its leaders not to rely on the omens of their magicians to determine whether to attack Jerusalem or the Ammonites. The road will fork in two directions. The LORD’s command is to take the road that leads to Jerusalem. Lest the Ammonites think they are off the hook, the final message of the chapter is for them. The LORD tells Ezekiel to tell them they will be utterly destroyed and their memory erased from the face of the earth.
In Ezekiel 22, the LORD returns to His pronouncements against Jerusalem. He tells us the people are murderers, adulterers, rapists and thieves. They abuse the widows and orphans. They continuously do evil before the LORD. For that reason, He calls them the “slag” that is left after smelting metal. He will refine them and they will be “melted” like metal. Then the LORD returns to condemning the people, but this time His main condemnation is for the leaders of the people. They are the worst of all, and even the priests join in the wickedness. Therefore, the judgment will be quick and the people will be scattered.
In Ezekiel 23, the LORD portrays Israel and Judah as two sisters, and graphically portrays them as prostitutes and then adulteresses. They were adulteresses, because the LORD took them as His wives. While at first it was Israel who turned away from the LORD by worshiping the idols of the Assyrians, later the people of Judah did even worse things, by worshiping the idols of the Assyrians, and the Babylonians and offering their children to their false gods as sacrifices. The judgment pronounced against both is justified for the intensity of their sin was so great.
As we return to Matthew 22, Jesus continues with the telling of parables, by telling a parable about a man who scheduled a great wedding feast for his son, but the invited guests wouldn’t come. (This would be the people of Israel.) The man then invited anyone who would come, the good and the bad. At the feast one man didn’t have on wedding clothes, so he was cast out. This man represents those who are unprepared to receive the offer of welcome (salvation) from the LORD. Following this parable, the Pharisees and Sadducees attempted to go on the offensive by asking questions they thought would trap Jesus in His words. They were wrong. First, they asked Jesus whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. They believed no matter what Jesus answered, they could condemn Him, because if He said, “Yes,” they would say He was a traitor against Israel, but if He said, “No,” they would turn Him into the Romans. Jesus didn’t say yes or no. He told them to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God’s. Next, the Sadducees attempted to trap Jesus with a theological question. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, so they told Jesus about a man who was married, but died before having any sons. Therefore, his brother married him according to the law of levirate marriage. This brother died, and another brother married him. This went on until seven men (all brothers) had married the woman and died. Then the woman died. The question was, “Which man would the woman be married to in the resurrection, because she had been married to each. Jesus responded they erred, because they knew neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God. He proceeded to tell them in heaven we are neither married, nor given in married, but are like the angels in heaven. He then gave the example of God saying He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush. This shows that God is the God of the living, not the dead. Finally, the Pharisees asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses. Jesus answered the greatest commandment is to love the Lord completely, and to love one’s neighbors as oneself. No one could argue with this. For good measure, Jesus asked the religious leaders a question, “Whose son is the Christ?” The question is difficult, because King David called the Messiah his Lord. After this no one dared ask Jesus anymore questions. After all, He had demonstrated that He could answer any challenge offered to Him, and had questions of His own that no one could answer!