Ezekiel 7, The End is Now!

Ezekiel, in Babylon, has ben prophesying about the coming destruction of Judah. That prophecy now expands....

Ezekiel 7:1-4, The end is near!

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel: 

The end! The end has come

 upon the four corners of the land.

The end is now upon you 

and I will unleash my anger against you. 

I will judge you according to your conduct 

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you; 

I will surely  repay you for your conduct 

and the detestable practices  among you. 

Then you will know that I am the LORD.   

Ezekiel is to speak out against Israel (Judah and Jerusalem.)  The people of Israel will experience judgment and disaster. The judgment for their past idolatry and oppression will extend throughout the entire land of Israel.

Ezekiel 7:5-9, Disaster!

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Disaster! 

An  unheard-of disaster is coming.

The end has come! The end has come! 

It has roused itself against you. It has come!

Doom has come upon you--

you who dwell in the land. 

The time has come, the day is near;

 there is panic, not joy, upon the  mountains.

I am about to pour out my wrath on you 

and spend my anger  against you; 

I will judge you according to your conduct 

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

I will not look on you with pity or spare you; 

I will repay you in accordance with your conduct 

and the detestable practices among you. 

Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.   

Repetition of phrases like "the end has come" and "doom has come" create an emphatic drumbeat to the message, as if Ezekiel were pounding on a table. The day of disaster is imminent. It is no longer many years away but is happening right now. This is a message from Ezekiel, a refugee in Babylon, to those still in Jerusalem. Ezekiel's message is very similar to that being given by Jeremiah faraway within the city.

The final line of this passage gives a new and terrifying name to God: YHWH makkeh, "God who strikes."

Ezekiel 7:10-11, Violence blossoms

"The day is here! It has come! 

Doom has burst forth, 

the rod has budded, 

arrogance has blossomed!  

Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness; 

 none of the people will be left,

 none of that crowd--no wealth, nothing of value.   

Nothing of value will be left in Jerusalem. The rod (of judgment and violence) has fully blossomed and is now visible. That violence is no longer a forecast future judgment but a present reality in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 7:12-14, Wrath upon the whole crowd

The time has come, the day has arrived. 

Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, 

for wrath is upon the whole crowd.

The seller will not recover the land he has sold 

as long as both of them live, 

for the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. 

Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life.

Though they blow the trumpet 

and get everything ready, 

no one will go into battle, 

for my wrath is upon the whole crowd.   

Three times the message repeats. Repetition is emphasis: God's wrath is upon all of Judah.

Ezekiel 7:15-18, Outside, inside

"Outside is the sword, inside are plague and famine; 

those in the country will die by the sword, 

and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

All who survive and escape will be in the mountains,

 moaning like doves of the valleys, each because of his sins.

Every hand will go limp, 

and every knee will become as weak as water.

They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. 

Their faces will be covered with shame 

and their heads will be shaved. 

Outside the city of Jerusalem there are soldiers; inside is starvation and disease. People will react in despair and terror. The Hebrew of verse 17 is translates literally as 

"every hand will be feeble and every knee weak will be water."

Duguid suggests that water running down the knees portrays a loss of bladder control.

The message of verses 12-18, above, will be repeated with varying emphasis in verses 19-27 below.

Ezekiel 7:19, Silver and gold

They will throw their silver into the streets, 

and their gold will be an unclean thing. 

Their silver and gold will not be able to save them 

in the day of the LORD's wrath.  

They will not satisfy their hunger 

or fill their stomachs with it, 

for it has made them stumble into sin.   

One cannot eat silver or gold; these precious metals are useless to the starving citizens of Jerusalem. In verses 12 and 13, above, it was made clear that commerce will be useless; here also material wealth does no good.

The Hebrew word niddah is translated "unclean thing" by the NIV. The word was often used to describe menstrual blood (on a dress or undergarment, for example.)

Ezekiel 7:20-22, Jewelry turned into idols.

They were proud of their beautiful jewelry 

and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. 

Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them.

I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners

 and as loot to the wicked of the earth, 

and they will defile it.

I will turn my face away from them, 

and they will desecrate my treasured place; 

robbers will enter it and desecrate it.   

The people of Israel turned metals in their beautiful jewelry into ugly idols. Even the "treasured place" (temple) of God is being desecrated.

Ezekiel 7:23-24, Pride of the mighty

"Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed 

and the city is full of violence.

I will bring the most wicked of the nations

 to take possession of their houses; 

I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, 

and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

Chains for prisoners are being prepared. As always, arrogance and stubborn pride are offensive to God and here the pride of the powerful meets an end.

Ezekiel 7:23-27, Calamity upon calamity

When terror comes, they will seek peace, 

but there will be none.

Calamity upon calamity will come, 

and rumor upon rumor. 

They will try to get a vision from the prophet; 

the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost, 

as will the counsel of  the elders.

The king will mourn, 

the prince will be clothed with despair, 

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. 

I will deal with them according to their conduct, 

and by their own standards I will judge them. 

Then they will  know that I am the LORD."  

Calamity upon calamity, rumor upon rumor, describes the crescendo of terror that builds in the city. In place of elegant royal garments, the prince (Zedekiah?) will wear despair.

Throughout the Old Testament prophets, there is an emphasis on God's moral law and justice. The sad song of this chapter ends with a statement that the impending justice will demonstrate YHWH's righteousness.