Dec 10 — Ezekiel 22:26 “They made no distinction between holy and common.”

Published on December 10, 2025 at 8:00 AM

Ezekiel 22:26

“They made no distinction between the holy and the common… they hid their eyes from My Sabbaths; so I am profaned among them.”

Sorry for the lack of audio I need to locate a better way before introducing that feature. 

 

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The room was dim when John finally closed the scroll, The same scroll he had received on the island, the Revelation of Jesus the Messiah. The ink was barely dry, his hands still trembling from the weight of what he had seen.

Jesus had spoken to the churches.


Not gently.
Not softly.
But truthfully… fiercely… lovingly.

 

“Hold fast.”“Do not compromise.”
“Come out from her.”
“Return to your first love.”

The words burned, even now.

But what the letter didn’t show was what only those closest to Him remembered. It was the look in Jesus’ eyes when He spoke of mixture. Not anger. Not rage.

Grief.
Deep, sacred grief.

A grief older than Israel herself… A grief that began the first time His people blurred the line between holy and common.  John leaned back against the wall, the memories washing over him like an old tide.

Then he whispered, not to the scribe, not to the church, but to the young disciples sitting at his feet.

A kind of holy afterthought that carried the ache of centuries.

Who

The priests of Israel — the spiritual leaders responsible for teaching the people God’s ways.

This includes:

  • the Levitical priests
  • the Temple personnel
  • the elders and leaders who were meant to guard holiness
  • the people of Judah, who followed the example set by their priests

And of course:
Ezekiel, a priest and prophet in exile, chosen by God to confront the corruption of those who remained in Jerusalem.

These were people who still “believed in God,”
still used His name,
still practiced worship…

…but no longer practiced distinction.

What

Israel’s priests had erased the line between:

  • holy and common

  • clean and unclean

  • sacred rhythms and cultural habits

  • God’s commands and human traditions

This was not accidental.

Scripture says they “hid their eyes from My Sabbaths,” which means:

  • they knew God’s standards

  • they chose to ignore them

  • they replaced God’s appointed times with their own preferences

This failure to distinguish caused the people to assume
everything was acceptable,
as long as it felt spiritual.

God calls this:
profaning His name — making Him ordinary, casual, optional.

When

Around 592–570 BC, during Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry,
before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

This was the period when:

  • moral decay was rampant
  • idol worship happened inside the Temple
  • leaders were corrupt
  • Sabbath had become meaningless
  • worship still continued outwardly
  • obedience had collapsed inwardly

It was the final warning before judgment.

This is the moment when God says,
“Your worship no longer represents Me.
You offer My name, but not My ways.”

Where

Primarily Jerusalem, especially:

  • the Temple precincts
  • the inner court, where priests ministered
  • the homes of leaders, where idols were kept
  • the public squares, where corrupt worship blended into daily life

These are locations where the presence of God was meant to be honored, yet mixture had become normal.

This matters because the Temple was supposed to be:

the place where distinction was clearest.

Instead, it became the place where distinction was erased.

Why

Because mixture had become more comfortable than obedience.

Israel preferred:

  • culturally convenient practices
  • traditions inherited from surrounding nations
  • flexible worship
  • leaders who didn’t confront sin
  • rituals that required no sacrifice
  • Sabbath “options” instead of Sabbath obedience

They replaced God’s design with:

  • “what everyone else does”
  • “what feels meaningful”
  • “what is easiest to maintain”

The priests hid their eyes from God’s Sabbaths because:

honoring them required a lifestyle change.
Ignoring them required nothing.

God’s response?

“You profaned My name.”

In Hebrew, this means:

“You made Me look ordinary.”
“You erased what makes Me distinct.”
“You taught people that My ways don’t matter.”

This is why Ezekiel 22:26 is the root of our December theme:

Holiness requires distinction.
Mixture removes it.
And God always confronts mixture.

John’s P.S. (the first whisper)

“Children… you heard His words to Ephesus. ‘You have left your first love.’
Do you know how that happens?

Not suddenly. Not violently.

It happens when the holy starts to look… ordinary.” He closed his eyes.

“Israel learned this the hard way. The priests stopped teaching the difference between sacred and common. They hid their eyes from the Sabbath, not because they didn’t know it… but because they no longer cared.”

John’s P.S.S. (the second whisper)

 

“Do not think mixture begins with a statue.
It begins with indifference.” He looked at them, those young faces so full of hope.

“When the day of the Lord becomes like any other day… When worship fits conveniently into the culture… When holy things blend with common things… When the church begins to resemble the world…” He paused.

“That is when the light grows dim.”

John’s P.S.S.S. (the third whisper)

“You heard Him speak to Laodicea — lukewarm, blended, half-alive.
This is not new.

Israel once stood in the land God gave them,
and within a generation…
they forgot the difference between the holy and the common.”

He shook his head gently, sadness resting heavy in his voice.

 

“They did not reject God.


They simply made Him ordinary.”

"Do you hear what I hear"

John’s P.S.S.S.S. (the fourth whisper)

“And children… this is what I fear for you.”

The room grew still.

“When the world presses in, it will ask you to soften the lines.
To treat the holy like a suggestion.
To hide your eyes from the Sabbath — from the ways God marks His people —
and to say...
‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’”

He placed his hand on the scroll beside him.

“But I tell you this:
If everything is common…
then nothing will remain holy.”

THE WEIGHT OF HIS FINAL WORDS

John’s voice lowered to a trembling whisper.

“Jesus was not warning the world in these letters.
He was warning us.”

He looked at the young ones — the future of the church.

“He was saying,
‘Guard what is Mine.
Draw the lines I drew.
Do not let the holy become ordinary.
Do not let mixture take root.
Do not hide your eyes.’”

A silent tear traced down his cheek — old, weary, but strong.

“Children… if the church ever forgets how to distinguish between light and darkness…
between truth and tradition…
between worship and imitation…”

He closed the scroll softly.

“…then we will become no different from the Israel Ezekiel wept over.”

THE CALL

“Let the world keep its customs.
Let the nations keep their festivals.

But you —
you belong to the Holy One.

Let your worship be holy.
Let your rest be holy.
Let your life be holy.

Not because He demands it…

…but because He deserves it.”

Scripture Reference
Leviticus 10:10 “You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean.” (Foundational command the priests abandoned.)
Leviticus 20:26 “You are to be holy to Me… I have set you apart from the nations.” (Holiness = separation.)
Ezekiel 44:23 “They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common…” (Ezekiel repeats the responsibility the priests failed to uphold.)
Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” (Direct tie to loss of distinction; distortion of truth.)
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… because you have forgotten the law of your God.” (Priests failed to teach → people drifted.)

What Was Happening in Ezekiel’s Day?

Israel was not judged for rejecting God outright. They were judged for something quieter, subtler, more dangerous:

They stopped making distinctions. They blurred the line between:

Holy vs Common

God’s commands vs Their Traditions

Sabbath vs Convenience

Obedience vs Performance

Worship vs Entertainment

The priests were guilty of:

  • approving practices God never commanded

  • excusing cultural influence

  • minimizing sin

  • teaching comfort instead of truth

  • ignoring sacred rhythms

  • letting worship become whatever the people preferred

This wasn’t rebellion fueled by hatred. It was rebellion fueled by neglect. They didn’t hate God. They simply didn’t take Him seriously. And that alone was enough to profane His name.

God Judges Mixture

Rebellion says, “I don’t want God.”

Mixture says, “I want God… and everything else.”

“God… and culture.”
“God… and tradition.”
“God… and my preferences.”

Mixture is what God confronts in Ezekiel 22.

Because mixture declares:

“God’s holiness is adjustable.
His ways are optional.
My comfort decides my worship.”

When the line disappears,
God becomes a mascot instead of Master.

HOLY

Hebrew: qōdesh

Meaning: set apart, distinct, belonging exclusively to God.

Holiness is not moral perfection — it is separation for a purpose.
Something holy is:

  • used differently
  • valued differently
  • handled differently

Holiness requires boundaries, not feelings.

COMMON

Hebrew: ḥōl

Meaning: ordinary, unmarked, not set apart.

This word doesn’t mean “evil.”
It means “not special.”

Israel’s mistake was not treating evil as holy —
it was treating holy things as ordinary.

When everything is common,
nothing is sacred.

CLEAN / UNCLEAN

Hebrew: ṭāhôr vs ṭāmê

These categories created spiritual awareness.

They taught Israel how to think:

  • What brings me closer to God?
  • What pulls me away?
  • What requires cleansing?
  • What requires boundaries?

The priests stopped teaching this.
Without distinction, the people lost discernment.

DISTINGUISH

Hebrew: badal

Meaning: to separate, to divide, to set apart, to draw a line.

Same word used in Genesis 1
when God separated:

  • light from darkness
  • water from sky
  • land from sea

Holiness is an act of creation —
you create space for God by drawing lines.

HID THEIR EYES

Hebrew idiom meaning: deliberate neglect.

Not ignorance.
Not misunderstanding.
Avoidance.

They looked away from:

  • God’s Sabbaths
  • God’s commands
  • God’s boundaries

This was spiritual denial.

MY SABBATHS

Hebrew: šabbĕtōtay (plural — My Sabbaths)

Sabbath is:

  • identity
  • covenant sign
  • loyalty marker
  • weekly declaration of Who they belonged to

To “hide their eyes” from the Sabbath meant:
“We know what You said, but we’re choosing our schedule instead.”

Sabbath was not about rest alone —
it was about relationship allegiance.

PROFANED

Hebrew: ḥālal

Meaning: to make ordinary, to drain of sacredness, to make common.

This is HUGE.

To profane God does NOT mean to insult Him.
It means:

treating what is His as if it does not matter.

When worship becomes preference-driven,
God becomes “optional.”

PRIESTS

These were meant to be:

  • guardians of holiness
  • teachers of distinction
  • protectors of worship boundaries
  • mediators of covenant identity

They failed not by attacking God,
but by failing to protect what He valued.

This is why Ezekiel is so heavy.

MIXTURE

Not a Hebrew word here,
but the entire chapter describes syncretism:

Blending God’s ways
with cultural traditions
until they become unrecognizable.

Mixture is subtle.
Mixture feels normal.
Mixture feels harmless.
Mixture dilutes identity.

Exactly what happened in Ezekiel’s day.
Exactly what your December series is exposing.

 SABBATH = IDENTITY MARKER

In Jewish thought:

Sabbath was the wedding ring of the covenant.
Public, visible, weekly separation from the world.

To ignore Sabbath was to:

  • reject God’s rhythm
  • redefine worship
  • shrink distinction
  • reshape identity

They didn’t just break a rule.
They erased who they were.

THE MODERN PARALLEL and Why This Confronts December So Strongly

This is why Ezekiel’s message hits our December traditions so hard.

Today we say:

“It’s festive.”
“It’s tradition.”
“It’s for Jesus.”
“It’s not hurting anything.”

But that is the exact logic Israel used.

They kept God’s name… but discarded His distinctions.

They blended their customs with the worship God commanded and insisted He was still honored.

Ezekiel reveals the uncomfortable truth:

God is not honored when we reshape worship around our preferences and sprinkle His name on top.

Holiness requires separation. Mixture erases it.

The Question God Puts Before Us

Do I truly know the difference between:

  • holy and common?

  • obedience and convenience?

  • truth and tradition?

  • worship and performance?

  • God’s Sabbaths and my schedule?

 

Or have I assumed that anything “Christian-looking” is acceptable?

This is where God gently calls us back: “If you do not honor what I call holy; you will lose the ability to recognize Me.”

Scripture Reference
Jeremiah 17:21–22 “Take heed… do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day… keep the Sabbath holy.” (The exact command Israel ignored.)
Exodus 31:13 “My Sabbaths you shall keep… it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations.” (Sabbath = identity marker; they “hid their eyes” from it.)
2 Kings 17:15 “They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” (Mixture changes identity — consistent with Ezekiel’s warning.)
Malachi 2:7–8 “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge… but you have turned from the way.” (Parallel condemnation of failed spiritual leadership.)
Ezekiel 20:12–13 “I gave them My Sabbaths… but the house of Israel rebelled against Me.” (Same theme → mixture + ignoring Sabbath = covenant violation.)

 

Abba,
Teach me what is holy in Your eyes.
Restore my ability to see the difference
between Your ways and the ways of the world.

Pull me out of mixture.
Pull me out of inherited traditions.
Pull me back into truth.

Do not let my worship become common.
Do not let my devotion grow mixed.
Set me apart again,
the way You always intended.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

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