Audio Download

Ezekiel 22:1-31  We Must Know Our Sins

[Study Aired July 1, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study is about our lives in the churches of this world before Christ came to us to bring us out as He judges us. We must understand that the revelation of the Lord shows us our past, present and future. Our past shows us our lives in Babylon or the churches of this world. A good understanding of our unfaithfulness when we were in the churches of this world is essential to understand what the Lord is currently doing in our lives (judgment) to guide our walk with Him to guarantee our future reward. That is why when the Lord revealed Himself to us through Apostle John on the island of Patmos, He started by letting him know about the depraved condition of the seven churches, which represent the complete church system of this world which we were part of until the Lord came to deliver us. 

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Today’s study principally shows us our sins during our time in Babylon and the imminent judgment of the Lord. The Book of Revelation begins with our sins in the churches of this world before we go through the Lord’s judgment to become saviors of the world. 

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

We Must be Shown Our Sins

Eze 22:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:2  Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. 
Eze 22:3  Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 
Eze 22:4  Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. 
Eze 22:5  Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. 

Here in verse 2, the Lord is asking Ezekiel a rhetorical question about whether he will judge the people of Israel. Of course, the answer is, “Yes.” Ezekiel represents the Lord’s elect who are going to judge the world. 

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

As we indicated in the previous study, as a prerequisite to being judged, we are required to know our sins. Thus, in verse 3, Ezekiel was required to show the inhabitants of Jerusalem their abominations. This Jerusalem refers to the physical churches of this world or Babylon, of which we were part of during a certain stage of our walk with Christ until the Lord came to deliver us and bring us to the New Jerusalem.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Our sins are what the Lord is seeking as an occasion to come into our lives to judge us.  

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

In verses 3 to 4, the Lord was showing us our sins which are symbolized by the sins of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Our sins specified here involve shedding blood and defiling ourselves with our idols. The verses below show us how we have shed blood and therefore are equally responsible for the death of Christ and His saints. 

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

We may not have physically killed anybody, but shedding blood means hating our brothers and sisters who were sent by the Lord. It also means putting to spiritual death the Lord’s people through false doctrines.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

Another sin that we were guilty of is defiling ourselves with idols. This involves serving another Jesus which we did while we were in Babylon.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Apart from serving another Jesus, we defile ourselves with idols when we cherish our false doctrines in our heavens more than the truth of the word of the Lord. In this case, our false doctrines become idols of our hearts which prevent us from hearing from the Lord.

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

In verse 4, we are told that our sins have caused our days and years to draw near. That is another way of saying that our sins have given the Lord the opportunity to come and judge us. Again, in verse 4, the Lord is showing us that He has made us a reproach and mocking among the heathens and the countries of the world. As a result, everyone is mocking us, and therefore we are filled with confusion. Indeed, the churches of this world or Babylon of which we were part of have become a reproach and mocking among the nations of this world as a result of their abominations. It is only when Christ comes to us and teaches us to walk in the fear of the Lord that this reproach goes away. 

Neh 5:9  Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?

Eze 22:6  Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone were in thee to their power to shed blood. 
Eze 22:7  In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 
Eze 22:8  Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
Eze 22:9  In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. 
Eze 22:10  In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. 
Eze 22:11  And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. 

The princes of Israel mentioned in verse 6 refer to us as the Lord’s elect who were guilty of shedding blood during our time in Babylon or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. A simplified version of verses 7 to 11 makes the sins we have committed in Babylon clearer:

Eze 22:7  Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 
Eze 22:8  You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 
Eze 22:9  There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 
Eze 22:10  In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 
Eze 22:11  One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. (ESV)

These verses catalog the sins we were guilty of in Babylon as a way of showing us our abominations with the objective of giving the Lord the occasion to intervene in our circumstances through judgment. In verse 7, we are told that we treated our father and mother with contempt. Our father is our Lord Jesus Christ whom we disobeyed by not adhering to the simplicity that is in Christ. Our mother is the church of the firstborns, but we refused to be part of it in favor of the harlot woman. As a result, we became widows and orphans, giving the opportunity for us to be oppressed by the devil through his agents, the false apostles. As shown in verse 8, we end up despising the truth of the words of the Lord (holy things) and do not enter into the Lord’s rest.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

In verse 9, we are told that in Babylon, we slandered to shed blood and we worshiped idols on every mountain. We therefore became sexually immoral. The slander refers to our false doctrines which cause us to hate the Lord’s elect as we regard them as enemies rather than helpers of our walk with Christ. As we are aware, hating our brothers and sisters means murdering them or shedding blood.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

Our worship of another Jesus during our time in Babylon is the same as worshiping idols on every mountain. Being sexually immoral means that we had been seduced by the harlot woman or Babylon. Discovering our father’s nakedness in verse 9 means sleeping with our father’s wife which signifies being in bed with the harlot woman. Sleeping with a woman in her menstrual cycle in verse 9 spiritually means to be an accomplice of the death of the Lord’s elect through the harlot woman or the churches of this world which are in bondage to sin. 

Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 

Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 

In verse 11, one of our sins is that we committed sexual sins with our neighbor’s wife, our father’s daughter and daughter-in-law. As Jesus Christ made us aware, our neighbor signifies anyone who has received the mercy of the Lord; in other words, our brothers and sisters who have started their walk with Christ.

Luk 10:36  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 
Luk 10:37  And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Committing sexual sins with our neighbors wife or our father’s daughter or our daughter in law are spiritually the same. A father’s daughter is one whom the Lord has shown mercy to and a daughter-in-law is one who belongs to the family of Christ through marriage to Christ. Spiritually, committing sexual sins with any of them amounts to defiling them through false doctrines. As we are aware, it was through the evil words (false doctrines) spoken by Jonadab to Amnon, David’s son that gave him the courage to rape David’s daughter, Tamar. In our time in Babylon, we were like Amnon who defiled our father’s daughter. 

2Sa 13:1  Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.
2Sa 13:2  And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 
2Sa 13:3  But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. 
2Sa 13:4  And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” 
2Sa 13:5  Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” 
2Sa 13:6  So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” 
2Sa 13:11  But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” 
2Sa 13:12  She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 
2Sa 13:13  As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 
2Sa 13:14  But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.  (ESV)

Eze 22:12  In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 22:13  Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Eze 22:14  Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it. 
Eze 22:15  And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 
Eze 22:16  And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Verses 12 to 16 continue with the sins we had committed when we were in Babylon. As stated in verse 12, we took gifts to murder the Lord’s people. Murdering the Lord’s people means making them spiritually dead. This comes about in this case through false teachings which cause us to focus on the things of this world such as the love of money and therefore err from the faith.

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  

As if that is not enough, we made excessive profits through extortion, and as a result, we forgot about our Lord Jesus. 

2Pe 2:3  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 

In verses 13 to 15, the Lord is saying that He judges us because of our dishonest gains, which refers to the gains we have made because of our love for money. In verse 14, the Lord is asking us whether our old man will remain strong after His judgment. He answers in the next verse (15) that the Lord’s judgment of our old man shall bring an end to our uncleanness, that is, our old man shall be destroyed. As part of the Lord’s judgment of our old man, we are told in verse 16 that we shall be dishonored in the eyes of the nations (heathen). As we are aware, nobody wants to hear that the Lord has special chosen people. In the eyes of this world, we are dishonored or disregarded as the Lord’s elect. Paul says that we are a fragrance of death to the people of the world or the heathen. This is all part of the judgment of our old man so that we shall not embrace the world. However, to those who know Christ, we are a fragrance of life!

2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The House of Israel has Become Dross

Eze 22:17  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:18  Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. 
Eze 22:19  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 
Eze 22:20  As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 
Eze 22:21  Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 
Eze 22:22  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.  

Verse 18 shows us that the house of Israel has become dross which means refuse according to Strong’s Dictionary. The BDB definition says that dross means moving back or away. What this implies that the house of Israel has moved back or away from the Lord. This house of Israel represents the churches of this world or Babylon of which we were part of until the Lord came to us with His brightness. This is how the Prophet Isaiah was given to describe our situation during our time in the house of Israel:

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken anymore? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

Here in the verses under consideration, our lives are compared to metals which have to be refined to remove the dross or the earthen materials attached to the metals. Refining metals is done through the furnace where the fire of the furnace melts the metal and in the process separates the dirt from the metal. In the liquid state, the melted metal can then be shaped into the required specification of the processor. These verses therefore show us the need to be judged which is represented by the furnace of fire. Just as the furnace of fire destroys the earthen material attached to a metal, the Lord’s judgment or the fire of His wrath or His fury destroys the flesh so that the Lord can make us into another vessel fit for His purpose. 

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Eze 22:23  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 22:24  Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 
Eze 22:25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Verse 24 tells us that before we are judged, that is, before the day of the Lord’s indignation, we were like land that is not cleansed or watered. What this implies is that being given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is dependent on being judged. This is consistent with what the Lord told us regarding the fire of the word. Once we are given to know about Christ, we have to face the fire of the word, which is the tribulations and persecutions we go through because of the word we have received. 

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Being like a land that is not cleansed means that although we receive the word of the Lord with joy, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and therefore we become unfruitful. Cleansing of our land is the same as the destruction of our old man which is achieved through the Lord’s judgment. That is when we become fruitful.

Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

In verse 25, we are told that the prophets in the midst of the Lord’s people are like roaring lions devouring their prey, which is the people of the Lord. They devour their prey by taking away the treasure and precious things of the Lord and making them widows. The leaders in the physical churches of this world are like roaring lions devouring the church members. They do so by means of their false doctrines which result in the taking away of the treasure and precious things, which is the truth of the word of the Lord. When you have a wife who does not care about what her husband wants but does whatever she wants because of the false doctrines she has heard, then the husband is technically dead and the wife is a widow. That is what happened to us during our time in Babylon. We were swayed away from the truth of the word of the Lord and therefore ended up becoming disobedient to our husband, Christ. Spiritually, we were like widows as we became worse off through the false teachings we had received. What happened to us is the same as taking the gold and silver or the truth of the word of the Lord that we have received to make images of men with them.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 

Eze 22:26  Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 
Eze 22:27  Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 
Eze 22:28  And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

As priests of the Lord, we violate the Lord’s teachings because we do not teach the difference between what is holy and unholy, that is, between what is clean and unclean. In other words, the teaching of false doctrines deprives us of the truth, and therefore we see both truth and falsehood alike. As a result, we desecrate the name of the Lord in our midst. These false doctrines prevent us from resting in the Lord as they teach us that we have our own free will and therefore we are responsible for our own actions.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.  

In verse 27, we are likened to wolves hungry for the prey. Apostle Paul warned us that if we do not pay heed to the counsel of the Lord, then we are like wolves who do not spare the flock as we destroy the souls of many who have come to take refuge in Christ for dishonest gains. 

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

In verse 28, we cover our sins by seeing false visions and prophesying lies. Our lifestyle in the churches of this world was characterized by lies as we are deceived by the Lord.  

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Eze 22:29  The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
Eze 22:30  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 
Eze 22:31  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

In summary, we were given over to the spirit of oppression during our time in Babylon, and as a result, we were robbed of our crowns as princes of the Lord. All throughout history, the Lord is seeking for those who can stand in the gap to deliver His people from destruction. As shown in verse 30, it is impossible to find such a one in the churches of this world or Babylon. That means that we were found wanting during our time in Babylon, and since we are called and chosen, the Lord has to come to us with His judgment (His indignation or the fire of His wrath) to deliver us to be able to stand in the gap in the fullness of time to deliver all humanity during the lake of fire age. 

Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Amen!!