What is the meaning of Ezekiel 22:10? In you • Ezekiel repeats the phrase “in you” throughout this chapter to drive home that the corruption is not outside Israel’s borders but right inside Jerusalem’s walls (Ezekiel 22:3-4, 16). • God expected His covenant people to reflect His holiness (Leviticus 19:2), yet the city had become a showcase of the very sins the nations practiced. • The stress on place reminds us that sin tolerated in the community inevitably invites judgment on the community. First Peter 4:17 echoes this when it says, “it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” They have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers • This phrase points to incestuous sin—specifically sexual relations with a father’s wife or other near relative. Leviticus 18:7-8 and Deuteronomy 27:20 expressly forbid it: “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.” • Uncovering “father’s nakedness” dishonors both father and God’s created order, striking at the foundation of family integrity. • Paul later cites a similar scandal in the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 5:1) to show such sin remains intolerable under the New Covenant. • The people knew these commands, yet chose open defiance. This rebellion reveals hearts hardened past mere weakness to willful contempt. They violate women during their menstrual impurity • Leviticus 18:19 and 20:18 prohibit sexual contact during a woman’s menstrual period: “You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her uncleanness.” • In Old-Testament worship, menstrual impurity symbolized the reality of sin and death; ignoring that boundary profaned what God called unclean and trampled His holiness (Isaiah 30:12-13). • Violating women in that state added exploitation to impurity—treating covenant daughters as objects rather than image-bearers (Genesis 1:27). • The blunt wording underscores callousness: these men were not merely indifferent to ritual law; they were predators dismissing a woman’s vulnerability for their own gratification. Summary Ezekiel 22:10 exposes Jerusalem’s moral rot on two fronts: incest that shatters the family and sexual exploitation that scorns God-given boundaries. Both sins flaunt divine commands laid out clearly in Leviticus, proving the people’s rebellion is deliberate, not ignorant. When God’s own community abandons holiness, judgment is inevitable. The passage challenges every generation of believers to protect family purity, honor women, and keep the boundaries God sets—so that His name is not profaned “in you.” |
    |