Ezekiel 22:17

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and fin and iron and lead, in the midst of the silver; they are the dross of the silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 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 wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you."

Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 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, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.

The figure of this illustration is that of a smelter or furnace in which dross is separated from silver; "But this is no `refining' operation which we have here, because Israel is all dross, every one, high and low alike."[14]

"I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem ..." (Ezekiel 22:19). Keil thought that this reference to Jerusalem, "Is somewhat out of place, inasmuch as the preceding Word of God referred not to the city, but to `The House of Israel' (Ezekiel 22:18)."[15] Keil failed to take into consideration that God here promised to "gather" the House of Israel into Jerusalem for the purpose of making a smelting furnace of the whole city; thus, the reference to Jerusalem is absolutely correct. (see Ezekiel 22:19).

When the siege of Jerusalem began by the king of Babylon, the whole population of Palestine, encompassing all of `the House of Israel' that remained, poured into Jerusalem for protection. This is a prophecy that, "Under the stress of the siege, Jerusalem would become a furnace in which they all shall be melted by the fierce heat of the Divine anger."[16]