Ezekiel 7

Ezekiel 7 CHAOS AND Chapter 7 is a sermon in the form of a lamentation. It is characterized by frequent repetitions designed to underscore the certainty and severity of the coming calamity. The chapter is written in what has been called poetic prose. The sentences are choppy, broken, and oozing with emotion. Division of the material into discussion units is admittedly arbitrary. But it seems that the prophet first announces the coming calamity (Ezekiel 7:1-9), and then describes it (Ezekiel 7:10-27).

Eze_7:1-9 First Announcement of the End (Ezekiel 7:1-4) The announcement of the Lord (Ezekiel 7:1-2): The word of the LORD came to me, saying: (Ezekiel 7:2) As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD concerning the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four ends of the land. Echoing the prophetic declaration of Amo 8:2 regarding the northern kingdom, Ezekiel announces that an end has come to the land of Israel. Yahweh was not merely calling a halt to Israel’s wrong doing. He is bringing down the curtain on Judah’s national existence (cf. Amos 8:1-3).

There is no hope in this message for any future for Israel. In this period of history the land of Israel was equivalent to the kingdom of Judah. The end or destruction will come upon the four ends of the land, i.e., the devastation will be geographically total. No city or village will escape (Ezekiel 7:2).

The anger of the Lord (Ezekiel 7:3-4): Now is the end upon you. I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways. I will bring upon you all of your abominations. (Ezekiel 7:4) My eye will not have pity upon you, nor will I have compassion; but your ways I will bring upon you while your abominations will be in your midst; and you will know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel contends that now is the end upon you. The anticipated destruction is close at hand.

The prophet refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. This destruction will not be a mere accident of history. It will be a manifestation of the anger of God (Ezekiel 7:3). God will unleash his anger. The destruction will be a just act of retribution. The people will be judged according to their ways, i.e., their conduct.

God will bring upon them all their abominations, i.e., he will hold them accountable for their association with abominable idols (Ezekiel 7:3-4; Ezekiel 7:8).

In this destructive judgment, God will not manifest mercy or compassion toward the nation of Judah (Ezekiel 7:4). The meaning is that God will carry out his pre-announced intention to destroy Jerusalem. He will not relent. There is, of course, mercy for the remnant of the nation, as other passages clearly show. In a sense the exercise of justice was itself an act of mercy. Its aim was purification from sin and restoration of harmony between God and man. The judgment will fall on Jerusalem while their abominations (idols) were still in the midst of the city. They will cling to their idols to the bitter end. No further evidence need be presented to prove that the actions of God were justified. Through the horrible destruction, the surviving Jews will come to realize that it was truly Yahweh, God of covenant and redemption, who had made these dire threats (Ezekiel 7:4). Second Announcement of the End (Ezekiel 7:5-9) The announcement of the Lord (Ezekiel 7:5-7): Thus says the Lord GOD: A disaster, a unique disaster, behold it comes. (6) An end has come, the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it comes. (Ezekiel 7:7) The turn has come upon you, O inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day of tumult is near, and not joyous shouting upon the mountains. The disaster facing Judah was unprecedented (lit., one disaster). The one catastrophe that overshadowed all the rest was the destruction of the temple (Ezekiel 7:5). This disaster will not only be an end, it will be the end (Ezekiel 7:6). The judgment is described as the turn in Ezekiel 7:7.

The meaning of the noun fphira is uncertain. Modern translations prefer to render it doom. However, the basic idea here may be something round, hence a cycle or turn. The turn of events had come to Judah. To use a modern idiom, the tables were about to be turned. Judgment inevitably follows sin as day follows night.

The predicted end will awaken. The long dark night of prophetic threat was about over; the day of the Lord was about to dawn. A play on words in the Hebrew cannot be reproduced in English. The end (haqqes) has awakened (heqis; Ezekiel 7:6). That coming day will be a day of tumult, i.e., clamor and confusion (Ezekiel 7:7). This tumult will not be the joyous shouting upon the mountains that one might hear in connection with a harvest festival (Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 25:30) or idolatrous worship. This tumult will be the din and confusion of military invasion. In the popular mind, the day of the Lord was a day of triumph over national enemies. Beginning with Amos, the prophets blasted this concept. The day of the Lord refers to God’ s triumph over all unrighteousness, whether in Israel or among the Gentiles.

The anger of the Lord (Ezekiel 7:8-9): Now I will shortly pour out my wrath upon you. I will finish my anger against you when I have judged you according to your ways. I will bring upon you all your abominations. (Ezekiel 7:9) My eye will not pity, nor will 1 have compassion; 1 will bring upon you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. You will know that I the LORD am One who smites. Ezekiel 7:8-9 are virtually a repetition of vv 3-4, with some variation, to give added emphasis to the warning. God’ s anger against Judah will be complete once he had recompensed them for their ways (Ezekiel 7:8).

No compassion will be shown toward the nation in that day. Through the experience of judgment, the Judeans will come to know, i.e., personally experience, Yahweh by a new name: Yahweh makkeh, i.e., “Yahweh who strikes the blow.” The notion of an indulgent deity will have to be abandoned in that day (Ezekiel 7:9).

Eze_7:10-27 In describing Judah’ s coming day of visitation, Ezekiel stresses four points: (1) the social disruption (Ezekiel 7:10-13); (2) the military dismay (Ezekiel 7:14-18); (3) the economic distress (Ezekiel 7:19-22); and (4) the political disorder (Ezekiel 7:23-27). Social Disruption (Ezekiel 7:10-13): The nearness of judgment (Ezekiel 7:10-11): Behold the day! Behold it comes; the turn has come forth; the rod has blossomed, arrogance has budded. (Ezekiel 7:11) Violence has risen up for a rod of wickedness; none of them (will remain) and none of their multitude, and none of their wealth or any wailing among them. The third oracle in ch 7 focuses on the imminence, comprehensiveness, and readiness of judgment. The judgment rod of God— Babylon— had blossomed into an arrogant superpower (Ezekiel 7:10). The violence practiced by the Jews had risen up for a rod of wickedness; i.e., the evil practices of the Jews had created the rod that will smite them. In that day the whole population will be affected.

None will escape. They will either perish or be carried away into exile. Nothing will remain of the multitude of the people or their wealth So great will be the loss that survivors will not wail over the dead (Ezekiel 7:11).

The result of judgment (Ezekiel 7:12-13): The time has come, the day has arrived. As for the buyer, let him not rejoice; and as for the seller, let him not mourn; for wrath is upon all its multitude. (Ezekiel 7:13) For the seller will not return unto what is sold, although they be yet alive; for the vision concerns the whole multitude that will not return; neither will they strengthen themselves, a man whose life is in his iniquity. The coming day will result in a complete socio-economic upheaval. Selling an inherited piece of property was normally an occasion of deep grief in the Old Testament world. But the seller of real estate will no longer be concerned with such sentimentality. On the other hand, the one who purchased that property will have no reason to rejoice.

In the day of God’ s wrath, land holdings will be immaterial. Both the wealthy land buyer and the poverty-stricken seller will be faced with deprivation and death (Ezekiel 7:12).

Never will the land seller be able to repossess his inheritance, even though he might live through the judgment (lit., though their life be yet among the living). Jubilee observance, where all property reverted to original owners, will not be possible in the land of exile. According to the vision that Ezekiel had received, the Jews will be driven from their homes never to return during their lifetime (Ezekiel 7:13).

At first sight this prophecy seems to contradict Jeremiah 32:15; Jeremiah 32:37; Jeremiah 32:43 that states that properties again will be bought and sold in Judah following the exile. However, Ezekiel is speaking of his contemporaries. They will not live to reclaim their family inheritances. The men who lived a life of iniquity will not be able to strengthen themselves so as to withstand punishment (Ezekiel 7:13). Those driven out will not return, and those who remained in the land will die in their sins. Military Dismay (Ezekiel 7:14-18) Organized resistance ceases (Ezekiel 7:14): They have blown the trumpet. All is made ready, but none is going to the battle; for My wrath is against all its multitude. Organized resistance to the coming invasion will fail. Sin had destroyed the moral courage of the nation. Preparation for war had been made, but the troops had neither strength nor courage to withstand the enemy. The alarm trumpet sounded, but the terrified troops refused to enter into battle. God’ s wrath saps their powers of resistance. Courage flees before the forces of God. Their fear is justified, however, because the wrath of God had gone forth against all its multitude, i.e., army.

Death everywhere (Ezekiel 7:15): The sword is without, the pestilence and the famine within; the one who is in the field will die by the sword, and as for the one who is in the city, famine and pestilence will consume him. Death will stalk the whole land. The sword of the Chaldean army will cut off all escape beyond the walls of Jerusalem. Within the city itself, famine and pestilence (disease) will take their toll.

Helpless resignation (Ezekiel 7:16-18): Should fugitives escape, they will be upon the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each in his iniquity. (Ezekiel 7:17) All hands will droop. All knees will run with water. (Ezekiel 7:18) They will gird themselves with sackcloth. Terror will cover them. Shame will be upon every face, and baldness upon all their heads. The “ no escape” of Ezekiel 7:15 is immediately qualified in the following verse. The few refugees who will escape the city will take to the mountains to escape death.

Like doves of the valley they will occupy the lofty heights and deep ravines. There they will bemoan their fate as they realized that the disaster was the result of their iniquity (Ezekiel 7:16). Despair will render the fugitives helpless. All hands will droop in dismay. The knees will run with water, i.e., because of their fear those refugees will not be able to control their kidney functions (Ezekiel 7:17). The refugees will openly manifest their dismay.

Sackcloth will be worn upon the body, but they will act as though they were covered with terror (pallasut). Heads will be shaved. Shame (busa) will be etched on every face— shame because of what had happened; greater shame because of why it had happened (Ezekiel 7:18).

Economic Distress (Ezekiel 7:19-22) Their wealth abandoned (Ezekiel 7:19): They will cast their silver into the streets. Their gold will become an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they will neither satisfy, nor will they fill their inward parts; because their iniquity has become a stumbling block. Worldly wealth will be worthless in that day. Silver and gold will come to be regarded as an unclean thing, (lit., something defiled by menstrual impurity, Leviticus 20:21). The precious metal only proves cumbersome to those who are fleeing for their lives. In that day of Yahweh’ s wrath, men will be able to purchase neither deliverance, nor food for their bellies.

Their wealth the cause of their sin (Ezekiel 7:20): As for their beautiful adornments, they appointed them for their pride. They made the images of their abominations, their detestable things with it. Therefore, I have given it to them for an unclean thing. Their wealth had been the cause of their sin (cf. Hosea 2:10). These precious metals and their beautiful adornments (i.e., jewelry) they had fashioned into objects of pride and images of their detestable gods. They had committed the same sin as the Sinai generation in fashioning a graven image of their jewelry. Because they had so abused God’ s gifts, the Lord will bring them into circumstances in which these precious substances will be regarded as filthy and unclean (Ezekiel 7:20).

Their wealth the possession of strangers (Ezekiel 7:21): I will place it in the hand of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for booty; and they will profane it. The wealth of Judah will become the possession of strangers, i.e., the invading army. In the hands of the wicked of the earth these riches, once devoted to sacred, albeit illegitimate, services will be profaned (Ezekiel 7:21).

Their worship center plundered (Ezekiel 7:22): I will turn my face from them. They will profane my secret place. Robbers will come into it, and they will defile it. Not only will the Jews be deprived of their material support, they will also be denied spiritual support. God will turn his face from them. The turning of God’ s face from the people is the reverse of the priestly blessing that invoked God to make his face shine upon them (Numbers 6:25 f.). The temple will provide no protection. The invader will profane God’ s secret place, i.e., the holiest part of the temple. The sacred precincts will be plundered by the greedy thieves (Ezekiel 7:22). God had no desire for mere outward forms of worship when that worship had been perverted by the devices of wicked men.

The despoliation of Judah and the temple were a necessary part of God’ s plan for reclaiming a remnant of Israel. With material possession gone, and the temple in ruins, the people of God were forced to cast themselves completely on the Lord. As it turned out, “ the death of material security turned out to be the resurrection of faith.” Political Disorder (Ezekiel 7:23-27) Making the chain (Ezekiel 7:23): Make the chain; for the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. Apparently Ezekiel performed yet another symbolic act. He made a chain that symbolized the coming exile. This punishment is necessary because Judah was full of bloodshed and violence. A ruthless adversary (Ezekiel 7:24): Therefore, I have brought the worst of nations. They will possess their houses. I will make to cease the pride of the strong. Their sanctuaries will be profaned. God will employ the worst of nations against Judah. This is one of the rare instances when Ezekiel speaks derogatorily of the Babylonians.

In Ezekiel 28:7 and Ezekiel 30:11 he refers to the Babylonians as the terrible of the nations. But his language here is not so much intended to abuse the invaders as to show how low Israel had fallen. The people of God must indeed be wretched for God to send against them men who make no pretense of maintaining just behavior. The ruthless invaders will possess their houses. By means of this invader God will make to cease the pride of the strong, i.e., He will humble the proud rulers of Judah, especially the monarchy and priesthood. The sanctuaries of Judah— both the pagan and the proper-will be profaned by these invaders. Spiritual leaders silent (Ezekiel 7:25-26): Horror is coming! They will seek peace when there is none. (26) Calamity upon calamity will come. Rumor will be upon rumor. They will seek a vision from the prophet. Instruction will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. Efforts to placate the foe and arrange some peaceful accommodation will fail. There will be no escape from this horrible fate (v 25). Israel had gambled on a precarious political balancing act by pitting one power against another. She gambled, and she lost. The false prophets had assured them that peace was possible. They will now discover that those optimistic predictions were unfounded. The future judgment will become progressively worse. Calamity upon calamity and rumor upon rumor (Ezekiel 7:26). News of one blow will immediately be followed by news of another. In their desperation people will turn at last to their spiritual leaders for guidance, but will find none (cf.

Lamentations 2:9). The false prophets, who had for so long misled the people with their made- to-order “ visions,” will have nothing to say in that hour when their optimistic prognostications proved to be false. The priests will have no instruction, the elders no useful political counsel in that day (Ezekiel 7:26). The crisis will leave them without direction from their religious and national leaders (cf. Jeremiah 18:18). If the reference in v 26 is to faithful spiritual leaders, then the idea is this: They had for so long rejected the words of God’ s spokesman.

Now in the hour of judgment, God will no longer communicate with them through these godly men. Political leaders stymied (Ezekiel 7:27): The king will mourn. The prince will be clothed with astonishment. The hands of the people of the land will become feeble. According to their way, I will deal with them. According to their judgments I will judge them. They will know that 1 am the LORD.

The political as well as the spiritual leaders will be unable to cope with that day. The king will only be able to mourn as he saw his people suffering and his crown slipping from his grasp. Other members of the ruling class—the prince— will be clothed with astonishment, i.e., they will be dumbfounded in the face of what will transpire. Without guidance from spiritual leaders, and leadership from the royal family, the people of the land will be incapacitated by fear. They will be helpless to defend themselves, for their hands will become feeble. This judgment will be a just recompense.

God will deal with his people as they had dealt with others. He will judge them as unmercifully as they had judged one another. When all these predictions come to pass, all the survivors will know that Yahweh had really spoken these ominous words. Ezekiel Chapter SevenVerse 1 MORE ON THE DOOM OF ISRAELSome have called this chapter a dirge; but, “There are four oracles in it: (1)Ezekiel 7:2-4, (2) Ezekiel 7:5-9, (3) Ezekiel 7:10-11, and (4) Ezekiel 7:12-13, followed by an exposition of their common theme (Ezekiel 7:14-27)."[1]The date of this section of the prophecy as given in 1:1 would leave about seven years before the capture of the city, the blinding of Zedekiah, and the destruction of the temple; but Ezekiel 7:2 here states that. “Now the end has come upon thee (Jerusalem)”; and upon that declaration Beasley-Murray dated this chapter shortly before the fall of the city, supposing that, “The date at the head of a section does not necessarily embrace everything that follows till the next date is given."[2]THE END IS NEAREze_7:1-4"Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto the land of Israel. An end: the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will bring thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.“Dummelow has an excellent summary of this whole chapter. “Here is a final message of doom upon the whole land; the judgment is inevitable and close at hand; social relations will be broken up; preparations will be of no avail; wealth misused for idolatry and luxury will become the spoil of the heathen; priests, prophets, king and nobles will be helpless to deliver; the Temple will be profaned, and the remnant shall be overwhelmed with SORROW."[3]A feature of this prophecy is the repetition. The end has come (Ezekiel 7:2); the day has come (Ezekiel 7:10); the time has come (Ezekiel 7:7); and doom has come (Ezekiel 7:7; Ezekiel 7:12). This repetition was explained by Taylor. “It can be explained only against the background of popular belief in the inviolability of Jerusalem.

Its destruction was inconceivable to the Israelite mind. Their view was that, “As long as God is God, God’s Temple and God’s city would stand.’"[4]“The end is come …” (Ezekiel 7:2). “This is a standard announcement of doom as in Genesis 6:13. It serves for the eschatological end-time of Dan 8:17."[5]“The four corners of the land …” (Ezekiel 7:2). “A glance at Isaiah 11:12 shows that the phrase here means the four corners of the earth.'"[6] Here is far more than the heavenly chastisement of one small nation such as Israel. "This signifies the coming of the end upon the four corners of the earth; this means the end coming upon all mankind. This refers to a world-wide catastrophe, such as we find in the mythological expectations of disaster of ancient oriental nations, and such as Israel associated with the coming of Jehovah the world-judge." The end here is "the day of the Lord," the final day, the one spoken of by Zephaniah, Amos, Jeremiah and Micah. This reference to that great and final Day of Judgment, however, appears here as an overtone accompanying the prophecy of immediate and impending doom for Jerusalem. All of God's great judgments upon evil nations are, in fact, omens of that ultimate Judgment when the Books shall be opened and the Judgment of the Great White Throne (<a href="/bible/parallel/REV/20/11" class="green-link">Revelation 20:11</a> ff) shall occur. It was true of the flood, of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the fall of Tyre, and of Sidon, of Moab, Ammon, Edom. Gaza, Damascus, Israel (Samaria), and of Judah. The first two chapters of Amos record eight of those judgments. The fall of Nineveh and Babylon are others; and many of the judgments upon wicked cities in the current dispensation of God's grace may also be considered as prophecies of the ultimate Judgment before Christ seated upon the Throne of Glory (Matthew 25). Certainly, the fall of Jerusalem, Rome, and Berlin must be viewed as further examples of the same truth. "Amos first mentioned that, the end is come,’ (Amos 8:2); and from him this phrase came to be associated with eschatological times."[7]“Thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee …” (Ezekiel 7:4). The meaning here is that, “The people will reap what they have sown, and their sins shall be recognized in their punishment."[8]Verse 5 “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An evil, an only evil; behold, it cometh. An end is come, the end has come; it awaketh against thee; behold, it cometh. Thy doom is come unto thee, O inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, upon the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring upon thee according to thy ways; and all thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, do smite.“TROUBLE UPON TOP OF TROUBLE FOR SINNERSEze_7:8-9 here are almost a verbatim repetition of Eze 7:3-4. “An evil, an only evil …” (Ezekiel 7:5). “This means an evil without precedent or parallel."[9]“It waketh for thee …” (Ezekiel 7:6). The judgment against Israel is here personified, “as long slumbering, but now awake."[10] The same personification of judgment is also found in 2 Peter 2:3. A day of tumult, and not a day of joyful shouting upon the mountains. The popular idea of The Day of the Lord' envisioned it as a time when God would suddenly appear and kill all of the enemies of Israel and turn the whole world over to them. Amos did his best to dispel that false view (<a href="/bible/parallel/AMO/5/18" class="green-link">Amos 5:18</a>), but the idea persisted until the times of Ezekiel. What the prophet says here is that the day of the Lord will be filled, not with joyful shoutings of the harvesters, but with the screams of terror from the triumph of their enemies. The true picture of that day is given in <a href="/bible/parallel/REV/6/14" class="green-link">Revelation 6:14-17</a>. "I, Jehovah, do smite ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/7/9" class="green-link">Ezekiel 7:9</a>). The Jews knew many hyphenated words for God, such as Jehovah-jireh (God will provide), Jehovah-nissi (The Lord is my banner), etc.; but it must have struck them with peculiar shock here that Ezekiel calls him Jehovah-makkeh (Jehovah will destroy, or smite). Verse 10 "Behold, the day, behold, it cometh: thy doom is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth; neither shall there be eminency among them."AN OMEN OF THE FINAL Some have interpreted "the rod of wickedness" here as the avenging power of Babylon; but Cook stated that, "The prophet here has Israel in mind, not Babylon."[11]"Behold, the day, behold, it cometh" (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/7/10" class="green-link">Ezekiel 7:10</a>). It is truly remarkable how all of the prophets of the Old Testament, in their writings of judgments that would come upon various peoples, always spoke of them as culminating in a day!’ “They saw in all calamities an ever-recurring omen of that day in which earth’s story would be judged as a whole. To us, as to them, all sufferings for wickedness are foretokens of that last day when the fire shall try every man’s work."[12]Verse 12 “The time is come, the day draweth nigh: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, none shall escape; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.” SHALL CEASEThis stresses the uselessness and futility of all buying and selling. “The whole multitude,” the whole nation of Israel is doomed to the triple disasters of sword, pestilence, and famine that will leave only a remnant; and they shall be scattered to the winds. Some have supposed that the reference to the buyer is made with respect to the approaching year of jubilee; but Cook stated that, “There is no evidence in the times of Ezekiel that the year of jubilee any longer existed as a social institution."[13] What is meant was stated by Jamieson, namely, that neither the buyer nor the seller will any longer have a claim upon any part of the land; all of it will belong to the Chaldeans.[14]Verse 14 “They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goeth forth to battle; for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine are within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, pestilence and famine shall devour him. But those of them that escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. All the hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.“THE OF JUDAH’S POWERThe trumpet would indeed sound; but it would not be for a year of jubilee, but for the onset of devastating war. The people, absolutely powerless because of their guilt and debaucheries would not be able to answer the call to defend the city. “The three scourges mentioned by Jeremiah, sword, pestilence and famine (Jeremiah 14:18) are here seen as divided between the city and the countryside”;[15] but there can be no doubt whatever that all of them were also operative within the city itself. “Like doves in the valleys …” (Ezekiel 7:16). “As doves moan lamentably when driven through fear from their nesting places, so shall the remnant of Israel who escape death moan in the land of their exile."[16]“All knees … weak as water …” (Ezekiel 7:17). “This expression is unique to Ezekiel, and we shall meet it again in 21:7. The thought is paralleled in Isaiah 13:7 and in Jeremiah 6:24."[17] It just means that all of the strength of the once mighty people has been sinned away. They are now powerless before their enemies. Verse 19 “They shall cast their silver in their streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it hath been the stumbling-block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it unto them as an unclean thing. And I will give it into the hands of strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it and profane it.“STORED-UP WEALTH WILL BE UNABLE TO DELIVER THEMThe absolute worthlessness of all earthly valuables in a situation where one is confronted with the judgment of God is dramatically set forth here. Keil pointed out that the passage here “is reminiscent of Zep 1:8,"[18] a passage describing the Final Judgment. “Silver and gold, nor any other wealth, can save us in the day of Jehovah’s anger."[19]“Their beautiful ornament …” (Ezekiel 7:20). “This is a reference to the silver and gold already mentioned."[20] It was a stumblingblock to them, leading them into iniquity. They used the gold to minister to their pride and to make the images of their abominations. “My secret place (or my precious place, as in NEB) …” (Ezekiel 7:22). “This is a reference to the Temple."[21]Verse 23 “Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: because I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned. Destruction cometh, and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.“DISMAY AND DESPAIR SHALL COME TO ALL CLASSES"Make the chain …” (Ezekiel 7:23). May stated that this clause, “gives little sense”;[22] but to us the message is clear enough. It means get the chains ready, the surviving citizens of Judah are to be deported to Babylon! “The worst of the nations …” (Ezekiel 7:24). Canon Cook called this a “designation of the Chaldeans."[23]Watts has this comment on the Chaldeans. Events of our own generation reveal that invading armies produce outrages on persons, the waste of stores of food, the outbreak of epidemic diseases; and the unearthed Assyrian sculptures prove that all such calamities were still more hideously the product of the Chaldean armies. They spared neither age nor sex; they burned up crops, destroyed stores of grain that they could not carry off, leaving behind an impoverished and depressed population, among whom pestilence and famine would tend to further death.[24]“They shall seek peace, and there shall be none …” (Ezekiel 7:25). We think this is probably a reference to the Israelites seeking favorable terms of surrender to Nebuchadnezzar; but he insisted upon the total rain and destruction of the city. Plumptre suggested this as one of the possible meanings of the verse.[25]“The prophet … the priest … and the elders …” (Ezekiel 7:26). “There is a threefold division of the people religiously in this verse”;[26] and these give the three sources from whom the people should have been able to receive religious guidance and counsel; but the thought here is that every avenue of spiritual help was closed. “A world which has turned its back upon the source from which it derives its life (as Israel had done) is on the very brink of min."[27]“The people of the land …” (Ezekiel 7:27) This is an expression often used in the Old Testament for the landed gentry; but Brace tells us that, “Here the phrase is used of the common people as distinguished from the king and the princes, the priests and the prophets, the principal divisions of the `establishment.’"[28] The thought is that all classes of society are depressed and dismayed by the impending disaster.

Ezekiel 7:1

Ezekiel 7:1. Moreover occurs frequently in the Authorized Version but seldom has any word in the original; whenever it does, it means “ a repetition or continuance.” It is a writer’ s casual way of saying he has something more to say.

Ezekiel 7:2

Ezekiel 7:2. Land is from a word that means literally the soil, but the application is to the people who inhabit it. It is a common way of referring to a land or country when the writer really means the people. It is true that if physical damage should be brought upon the soil it would bo a misfortune to the people who depend on it for a living. To threaten an end to the land means the end of its pro-ductiveness for the inhabitants. Such a fate awaited the land of Israel, for it was to he taken over by a foreign nation. Four corners is a figure of speech meaning the entire area.

Ezekiel 7:3

Ezekiel 7:3. The antecedent of thee is “land” in the preceding verse. The application of the judgments upon Ihe land also is explained in that verse. Recompense . . . thine abominations means the land was to be treated according to the abominable practices that it had harbored or encouraged.

Ezekiel 7:4

Ezekiel 7:4. The immediate purpose of most of the judgments upon Israel was to convince them that I am- the Lord. The reason this was the outstanding issue was the national sin of Idolatry of which the people of God were guilty. If they are impressed with the fundamental fact that God is the only true One, the conclusion would be established that idolatry is wrong in every particular.

Ezekiel 7:5

Ezekiel 7:5. Only is from cciiad which Strong defines, “Properly united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first.” Evil does not mean moral wrong, but some kind of adversity. The verse means that one great calamity was at hand, which we are to understand was the destruction of Jerusalem and the complete subjugation of Judah.

Ezekiel 7:6

Ezekiel 7:6, It is come signifies the same thought as the preceding verse does; that the final downfall of the nation was about due.

Ezekiel 7:7

Ezekiel 7:7. Usually the word morning when used figuratively means something favorable; that a new day has come. But in the present case it is an unfavorable term because it signifies that the day of trouble had dawned. Sounding again is from one word and is defined “a shout” in Strong’ s lexicon. The thought is that no shouts of joy will be heard on the mountains, for it is to be a lime of trouble.

Ezekiel 7:8

Ezekiel 7:8. Shortly pour out was a literal prediction, referring to the destruction of Jerusalem at the 3rd and final stage of the captivity.

Ezekiel 7:9

Ezekiel 7:9. Eye shall not . . . have pity sounds harsh, but it refers to the just penalty about to be imposed upon Judah in the loss of her capita! city. That which wiil make It just is the fact that it was called for by their ways of iniquity.

Ezekiel 7:10

Ezekiel 7:10. These terms are all used figuratively and denote the same thought as tiiat in ihe preceding verse; namely, the final overthrow of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 7:11

Ezekiel 7:11. Rod means a ruling influence, and violence had become the ruling element in the nation. This was chiefly because the ruling or leading classes of men had become vio-lently corrupt in their practices.

Ezekiel 7:12-13

Ezekiel 7:12-13. Transactions In real estate will not be important, whether a buyer thinks he has obtained a bargain or a seller imagines he had to sell at a sacrifice. The foreign nation will have charge of the land and no deals will be of any iorce.

Ezekiel 7:14

Ezekiel 7:14. when a movement was about to be made in ancient times a trumpet was sounded as a signal to ail interested parties. (Jeremiah 6:1.) The people in Jerusalem were theoretically ready to travel yet no one was disposed to face the foe. The wrath of God was very much In evidence by the presence of the invading army, or at least by indications that it would be present at any time. They would be forced to flee for refuge to places of safety among the mountains. Their mournful state is likened to that of a, dove whose characteristic cry is known to all. But the bewailing of the people of Judah was to be embittered by the knowledge that it was for their own sins.

Ezekiel 7:15

Ezekiel 7:15. The sword was that of the Babylonians that was to hem the city of Jerusalem by a siege. That would throw the inhabitants into the grip of famine which usually causes a pestilence because of undernourishment,

Ezekiel 7:16

Ezekiel 7:16. A number would be able to escape, both of those in the city and also of the ones scattered out over the open country. However, to escape the contact with the sword would not mean complete satisfaction.

Ezekiel 7:17

Ezekiel 7:17. This weakness would be the mental reaction from the distressful situation. It would be the sadness of defeatism and loss of morale.

Ezekiel 7:18

Ezekiel 7:18, This verse is another reminder of David’B prediction in Psalms 137.

Ezekiel 7:19

Ezekiel 7:19, When the people of Judah find themselves captured by the army of Babylon, they will realize that all of their wealth will avail them nothing. It will be impossible to buy their freedom and hence they might as well cast their money to the ground. The thing that caused the downfall of the people was the worship of idols, Many of them were made of silver and gold, hence they need not count on purchasing their deliverance with this corrupting material.

Ezekiel 7:20

Ezekiel 7:20. God had given his people one of the most beautiful temples ever possessed by any nation. The majesty of the Lord was in evidence all through the structure and the whole setup was adapted to the worship of the true God. But the people corrupted the holy building with the images of their abominations which they used in their practices of idolatry. Therefore . . . far from them. This beautiful building that had been blessed with the glory of the Lord was to be taken from them.

Ezekiel 7:21

Ezekiel 7:21. The temple was to be given into the hands of strangers (the Babylonians), and they shall pollute it (2 Kings 25:9).

Ezekiel 7:22

Ezekiel 7:22. God was to turn his face away from his unfaithful people and the holy temple that He had placed among them. They (the Babylonians) would be suffered to enter t.he place where only high priests ever entered and that on only one day a year.

Ezekiel 7:23

Ezekiel 7:23. Make a chain was a prediction of the enslavement of the people by a foreign nation. It. would be as a punishment for the violence and other crimes committed in the land and city.

Ezekiel 7:24

Ezekiel 7:24. Worst of the heathen. The first word is defined in the lexicon as meaning bad either naturally or morally. Both phases of the meaning could properly be applied to the Babylonians, and they were the ones whom the Lord was bringing against his own people. Make pomp to cease refers to the proud leaders in Judah who were destined to be humiliated by the captivity.

Ezekiel 7:25

Ezekiel 7:25. When the Lord decrees a state of trouble for unfaithful servants, it is then too late to seek for peace or any opportunity of avoiding the chastisement.

Ezekiel 7:26

Ezekiel 7:26, In their time of trouble the people would gladly have received some Instruction and consolation from the teachers. It will be too late then, for even the priests and prophets had been corrupt, and God will not honor them with any vision.

Ezekiel 7:27

Ezekiel 7:27. The king and priests and prophets, also the people in general will all be rejected by the Lord because they all have conspired against Him. (See Jeremiah 5:31.) All of this was to come upon the people according to their deserts.