The second of a series of special messages based upon Ezekiel 22:30-31.

(This series was preached on Lord's Day evenings, February 8th to March 1st 1998. Events have moved on since then but the diagnosis remains accurate though the disease has advanced and the patient is in greater need than ever.)

Sin, just like physical disease, has its pattern of development. When once it penetrates society through some weakness or wound, it then strikes for the heart. Its pattern is clear in this chapter.

When the spiritual influences of of the gospel fail in a nation then corruption spreads quickly through the vitals of the nation.

The prophets and priests should have pointed the nation to holiness and life, 18:21, but they failed. The secular leaders, as the spiritual leaders, desecrate their office. They shed blood rather than protect life. Terrorists are protected today and the government has thus become the shedder of innocent blood.