Ezekiel:A Bible Commentary: Chapter 7

Ezekiel: A Bible Commentary

?Chapter 7

?

Chapter 7 moves on to a different time of prophecy to Ezekiel, but continued to address the disgust that the Lord had against the house of Israel, as well as announced the further judgments to come.

The translators were absolutely wrong to use the adverb “Moreover” at the beginning of this chapter, as well as the conjunction “also” when addressing Ezekiel. They made the assumption that this chapter took place at the same time as the performance of verses 6:11-14, when it should have stated “it came to pass.” With that said, we have a prophecy of the coming judgment of the inhabitants (pagan Jews and Gentiles) of the entire land of Israel. God revealed how angry He was, and what He was about to do to these pagan inhabitants. ?

Ezekiel 7:1-2?Moreover the word of the?Lord?came unto me, saying,2?“Also, you son of man, thus says the Lord?God?unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.” The translators have substituted the English adverb “moreover” for the Hebrew verb “hayah [???????],” which actually is parsed as a verb Qal imperfect third-person?masculine singular. It is defined as “to come to pass.” When it comes to the timing of this prophecy, it was not immediately following what was said in chapter 6. The adverb “moreover” means: “in addition,” while “it came to pass” means that it was spoken to Ezekiel later on: “It came to pass that the word of the?Lord?came unto me.”

Because the translators needed this to be spoken “in addition” to the previous chapter, they wrongfully inserted the conjunction “also” here at the beginning of verse 2. The original Hebrew only says: “You, son of man.” The notation was directly focused as information for Ezekiel to testify concerning the land.

The expression “Thus says the Lord unto the land of Israel” is what Ezekiel is acknowledging. The Lord expressed to Ezekiel a declaration stating that the land is no longer being cared for by the people who God had assigned to inhabit it. (An end; the end is come upon the four corners of the land). The expression “four corners” is a biblical reference meaning the entire space of land. The entire space of land, once inhabited solely by the house of Israel, was then inhabited by many migrants of other nations; the Lord had stated that this was to come to the end.?

Though it seems that the Lord is addressing the land through this next few verses, it is obvious that it is directed towards the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants failed to honor the One who gave them this land, so then they were to be accursed in the land. The reason can be realized that these next few verses do not just address the house of Israel, but the many who migrated into the land after the Assyrian Captivity (722 B.C.) of the northern kingdom. ?

Ezekiel 7:3 Now is the end come upon you, and I will send mine anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense upon you all your abominations. The pronouns “you” and “your” is obviously not referring back to the physical land of Israel, nor the country. The Lord was no longer addressing just the house of Israel; the reason He addressed the “land” of Israel, was because there were more than just pagan Israelites living in the land, but pagan Assyrians, pagan Moabites, pagan Edomites, pagans of many surrounding nations. The inhabitants of the land of Israel were facing judgments to come, and the Lord needed Ezekiel to address it.

The Lord threatened the lives of the pagan inhabitants of the land; He told them that their end had come; He exclaimed that His anger was to come upon them, and that He was going to judge them according to their ways; he also explained that He will repay (recompense) upon them for all of their abominations. “The Earth?is?the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Ps. 24:1) The inhabitants of the Earth face judgments from the Lord every day, but God never takes claim with them, since they wouldn’t believe Him anyway. He always provides all of them with warnings, before the judgments hit. In this case, the inhabitants of the land of Israel were probably feeling quite comfortable in the land, knowing the The Cult of Yahweh[1] was in captivity in all the land except for Jerusalem. God declared here: “the end come upon you.” (I will send my anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways)

One might ask: “What are they being repaid for?” When God puts mankind on the Earth, He expects them to appreciate everything good that He brings upon each of them. Instead, they carve dolls, make statues and fall down to their faces to them as their gods. The abomination that they commit is quite simple: God created man to glorify Him, but instead they deny Him. The repayment is death. The Laws of Moses distinctly say that the penalty for idolatry is death. The people of the surrounding nations mostly knew of the certain death penalties of Yahweh; though they did not believe in Yahweh, they still knew the important things, especially if it meant death to the violator. ?

30And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your dead bodies upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. (Lev. 26:30)

The pagan inhabitants of the land sacrificed unto the demonic realm; they must not have realized that the gods, who they sacrifice to, were really demonic spirits or even fallen angels.

36?And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. 37?Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, (Ps. 106:36-37)

17?They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. (Deut. 32:17)

Ezekiel 7:4 And my eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am the?Lord. As the Lord was to bring His wrath upon the inhabitants of the land, while He was to watch it happen, He would not spare their lives, nor pity them as they suffered and died. It sounds insensitive to think that such a merciful God, would say these things, but we must remember that these people are the same who had not recognized His kindness and even sacrificed their children in the fire to the demonic realm. God created them to glorify Him, yet they preferred to carve a wooden doll and worshiped that instead. God was going to bring His returning remnant back to this Promised Land after the seventy years had expired, therefore He did some housecleaning beforehand.

The people of this land were performing demonic rituals, burning child sacrifices, and worshiping demons. God was to repay them (recompense) them for these evil deeds, while bringing their abhorrence to be all around them (in the midst of you). ?This abhorrence (abominations) was not the Babylonians, who God was bringing in to punish them, but God gave them all over to their sins completely. He has done this throughout history. When a culture turns away from God, He has always obliged them and given them over to a reprobate mind completely. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” (Rom. 1:28) The Lord makes His point clear; once they see this happen to them, then they can be sure that there is one Lord, and He is God. (you shall know that I am the?Lord)

??Ezekiel 7:5-6 Thus says the Lord?God; “An evil, an only evil, behold, has come. 6?An end has come, the end has come: it watches for you; behold, it has come.” As has already been discussed, Ezekiel is being told these things (Thus says the Lord?God), which he is either writing down, or reciting to the people with him in the captivity. As God had declared in verse 7:1 and 7:3, the end had come upon the inhabitants of the entire land of Israel. In verse 7:5, God had declared that “an evil, an only evil was to come, even while using the word “behold,” which usually means “look and see.” Some attempt to sugar-coat this, by changing the word “evil” to “doom,” but doom is still inevitably evil. This evil coincides with the previous verse, when God exclaimed that He was going to bring their abominations (abhorrence) in the midst of them. The pagans of the land were to become even more evil; God was giving them over to their reprobate mind. An evil worse than what they had been, had come into the entire land of Israel. There would be more child sacrifices, more witchcraft, and more demonic worship than before (Rom. 1:28). God had allowed for the evil to become gruesomely bad. “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the?Lord?do all these things.” (Is. 45:7) The land had become filled with pagans, when it was promised to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). They arrogantly laughed at the captivity of God’s people as a joke, as if they were right, and the children of Israel were inherently wrong. “You make us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves.” (Ps. 80:6)

The end of their abominations (abhorrence) was so sure to come, because the evidence was apparent. The pagans (Jews and Gentiles) were performing horrid acts of child sacrifice, drinking of blood, and worshipping demons as their gods. Because this had come to be, the Lord indicated that the end had come already. It was so sure to come to pass, the Lord indicated that it had already. Other prophets, such as Isaiah, wrote in this manner as well. “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the?Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.” (Is. 3:8) The announcement had been made in advance to the inhabitants of the land: “an end has come; the end has come.” Then the Lord had referred to “the end” as if it were a being, yet He was the being that was to bring the end to them (it watches for you); The Lord was the One watching for them.?Since He is the Lord, only He was to bring the end, and it was so sure to come, so the Lord declared that “it has come.”

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the?Lord?had not done it? (Amos 3:6)

??Ezekiel 7:7 The morning has come unto you, O you that dwell in the land: the time has come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. The translators used the English noun “morning” for the Hebrew noun “??p??ra.” Contextually, the Hebrew noun also means “turn of affairs,” “or mishap.” Since the context has to do with the arrival of the time, the noun “morning” seems to fit, since an attack usually occurs in the morning of a day throughout history.

As I had discussed, this warning was to all who dwelled in the land of Israel, both pagan Jews and Gentiles. For those who survived the evil that was coming upon the inhabitants of the entire land of Israel, life was going to change (turn of affairs). God was soon to choose who was going to be left behind in the land, and worshipping demons was not going to be one of their activities.

Because Ezekiel was providing a prophecy of warning, he hit them with the fact that the time had come, so that they should realize that the day of trouble (the evil) was near. The last clause eludes to the discontinuation of the idolaters in their dances on their festivals in honor of their false gods, which would happen in the high-places. The translators didn’t understand the theology here, so they used the noun “mountains,” for the Hebrew noun “har,” which is defined as: “hill, mountain, hill country, mount.” A proper translation would be: “and not the sounding again of the high hills.”

Ezekiel 7:8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon you, and accomplish my anger upon you: and I will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense you for all your abominations. The four verbs here tell most of the story. The Lord was going to pour, accomplish, judge, and recompense upon the pagan inhabitants of the land. He was going to pour out His fury, accomplish His anger, judge according to their ways, and recompense them for all of their abominations. Since we already know what they had done to anger Him, then we know why God was so angry, that He was going to pour out His fury, while He placed judgment against those guilty. He repaid (recompensed) them for their evil demon worship, when they would sacrifice children at their altars. His judgment seems the scariest of them all, since He was going to kill them and send them to sheol/hell, awaiting for their Judgment Day in the future (Rev. 20:11-15).

Ezekiel 7:9 And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense you according to your ways and your abominations that are in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the?Lord?that smites. Verse 7:9 is a duplicate to verse 7:4. The only difference, between the two, is the last two words here in verse 7:9. After letting the pagan inhabitants know of their judgment that was coming, God let them know that unlike the false gods, He actually follows through with His promises. He is the Lord who judges and smites (kills) those who anger Him.

Ezekiel 7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. Usually the verb “behold” means “look and see.”?The translators used again the English noun “morning” for the Hebrew noun “??p??ra.” As you can see, the day had come, in which the morning was going to go forth and bring their trouble.

The Hebrew noun “ma??ê” is defined as: “staff, branch, tribe.” The translators should have used the noun “branch,” instead of the noun “rod,” since Ezekiel was presenting a similitude between a blossomed branch and the budded pride of the pagans. The pride of the pagans, who thought that they had their gods right where they wanted them, had blossomed buds like a tree branch. They could worship their gods in the land of Canaan again non-contested by the children of Israel.

Ezekiel 7:11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their's: neither shall there be wailing for them. Because the translators incorrectly used the noun “rod” in the previous verse, the same has happened here in verse 11. The Hebrew noun “ma??ê” is defined as: “staff, branch, tribe.” The pagan Gentiles and Jews, living in all of the land of Israel, had grown like a branch and budded into the prideful and wicked religious occult.?

To contextually understand verse 11, we must analyze the Hebrew noun “?āmās,” which the translators have used the noun “violence” for. The actual definitions range with the nouns: “violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice.” The noun “violence” could be a possibility for this, but it is too specific. Ezekiel wasn’t describing the Babylonians here, like many commentaries would say, but is elaborating specifically on the branch that had budded from the previous verse. The prideful, budded-branch had risen up into a branch of wickedness; the translation has to make sense, so we must use a word from the four words stated earlier. Of the four words, there is one that best describes the other three, and that is “wrong.”

The most contextually right translation for this first sentence in verse 11 is: “Wrong has risen up into a branch of wickedness.” Most of the pagan sacrifices (done to babies and small children) can be considered violent, but this verse doesn’t seem to be pinpointing just that wickedness. The key definition of the four given is the noun “wrong.” These people were wrong in their choice as a god, wrong about what the true God expects, wrong about the value of human life, and wrong concerning values and their relationships with others. Please look at how verse 7:10 rolls right into this first sentence of verse 11:?

Behold the day, behold, it has come: the morning has gone forth; the branch has blossomed, pride has budded. Wrong has risen up into a branch of wickedness; “none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their's: neither shall there be wailing for them.”

?The judgement that was coming was going to cause none of them to remain, which meant their multitude would be destroyed; none of their offspring were going to survive this judgment, as the king of Babylon was about to destroy all of them. Because all of them would be killed, there would be none to cry (wail) for them. Commentaries written have missed the entire point of these passages. This was not a judgment just against Israel, but against all pagans who worshiped false gods in the land of Israel at this time. God fulfilled a cleansing of the Holy Land, while draping their dead bodies over their idols and scattering the bones of the burned throughout their altars. This was to occur in the entire land of Israel, when God brought His army of Babylon through to fulfill His judgments. ?

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the?Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. (Jer. 25:9)

Ezekiel 7:12 The time is come, the day draws near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. The storyline of Chapter 7 is repeated here. The Lord had made it clear, the time for repentance was over, the time had come, where the day of the Babylonian invasion drew near.

If there were a buyer, or merchant (seller) who was going to visit the cities within the entire land of Israel, the Lord declared that the buyer should not rejoice over the death and destruction. The merchants passing through, who were counting on sales within the fallen cities, were to not mourn; because God’s wrath was on the entire multitude of people, the buyers and sellers might find themselves to be part of the dead multitude, if they were to either rejoice in what they saw or mourn over their lost profits. ?

?Ezekiel 7:13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. The Hebrew conjunction “k?y” is a primitive particle that has been widely used as a conjugation or adverb. The translators chose the conjunction “for,” when in modern English, it would be more fitting to say “whereas.” While reflecting on the statement ending the previous verse, Ezekiel continued the thought here: “Whereas the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive,”

The seller, first mentioned in verse 12, was not going to return to their customer, who had been sold to, even though the seller was still alive. It was inappropriate for the translators to insert a colon (:) after the clause “although they were yet alive,” but should be a comma (,) connecting the reason the seller could not return. The translators loved to use the conjunction “for” in place of the conjunction “because.” The same Hebrew “k?y” was used here. In this case, the context calls for the conjunction “because,” as it is the reason for the previous statement. The sellers would not return to their previous sale, “because the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return.” The “vision” is this prophecy of what was to come, which had already indicated that the entire (whole) multitude was to be killed. It was the multitude of dead pagans that would not return to these sellers as customers, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. The multitude of the dead would not be able to strengthen themselves in anything, because they would be killed for their iniquity in their life. It was too late for repentance.

Ezekiel 7:14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goes to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. Usually, the cities would be secured by walls and had watchmen on their lookout for any sign of attacking militaries. When the watchman saw a threat approaching, they would sound the trumpet, in order to warn their own military to be ready.

?Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the?Lord?had not done it? (Amos 3:6)????????????

The multitude was no match for the dominant military of the Babylonians. God’s wrath was focused upon the entire population within the land, and there would be no one brave enough to fight. The Creator of the universe had made sure that their fear would overwhelm them (but none goes to the battle). The reason that there would be none to fight in a battle, was that the entire multitude was included in God’s wrath. No one was safe, whether they were man, woman, elderly, or children (all the multitude thereof). The chance for repentance was over.

Ezekiel 7:15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. Because God made sure that not one would battle against their attackers, the sword did not exist within any of their hands. The diseases, dysentery, and famine had overrun the cities. A person must keep in mind, this was not focussed upon Jerusalem, but the cities within the entire land of Israel, which were inhabited by pagan Israel and Gentiles alike. The entire land of Israel was starved and disease-stricken, because the Lord had indicated that it was to happen. Moses was the first to warn the House of Israel, yet they were influenced by the pagans whom they let dwell in their land:

21?The?Lord?shall make the pestilence cleave unto you, until he have consumed you from off the land, wherever you go to possess it.

22?The?Lord?shall smite you with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. (Deut. 28:21-22)?

Ezekiel 7:16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. From what Ezekiel is indicating here, there were going to be some who would be allowed to escape into the mountains, away from the cities being destroyed. Though the high places would all be destroyed, those who had escaped, would mourn over their iniquity; they would be mourning like the cooing of doves who usually live in the valleys near the streams.

Ezekiel 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. The Lord used imagery to provide an understanding of how a contrite or fearful person will feel when faced with fear. Though water can be a powerful force, it is still a liquid. If bones of the knees were a liquid, the ability to stand would be extremely difficult. When faced with inferiority towards a ruling force, men will find their hands tremble and hang down to their side, thus being feeble. The same can be described of that same person’s knees that lose their strength to support their body. This can describe a person who comes into realization that there is a higher power than them, such as the Lord God Himself. “Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.” (Dan. 5:6) A prideful sinner stands upright, with a stiff neck, as they shake their fist at anyone that might challenge them. These feeble hands and knees just may be the only way someone can actually get to heaven. A contrite heart’s condition promotes that of weak hands and knees, which could lead them to bowing down onto those knees and putting their weakened hands together in prayer. In Isaiah 35, a person can read of eternity with the Lord, where God’s people will no longer feel fear for God, but relief that He is there for them. Isaiah wrote a command for God’s people to strengthen their hands and knees, because the Lord will be there to save them upon His coming. ?

3?Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4?Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. (Is. 35:3-4)

The people being addressed in verse 17 are the pagan Jews and Gentiles still living in the land of Israel, who would have escaped the destruction within their city and fled to the mountains. When all of these heathen from verse 16 would be cooing like a dove, as they wailed in fear, they were going to find that their hands and knees will have no strength in them.

Ezekiel 7:18 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 pronoun “They” refers back to the people of verses 16-17. Those that escape the famine, pestilence, and sword will gird themselves with sackcloth, as they beg for the Lord’s mercy. It took this great horror to come over them, which brought them such overwhelming shame. This verse reveals that these people are the ones who would be taken into captivity. The Lord had the Babylonians shave their captives heads in disgrace. These would be the few who had found God’s mercy, because they did gird themselves in sackcloth and fell upon their feeble knees and put their feeble hands together in prayer (7:17). These were the same who fled to the mountains and wailed like the cooing doves in the valley (7:16). The Gentile pagans of the land would have been at a disadvantage, because they did not know the Lord God of Israel, but the once pagan Jew would go back to their roots and fall to their feeble knees. ?

?And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well-set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. (Is. 3:24)

When the captivity of those who are mentioned here were to occur, the daughters of Zion would change from a sweet smell to stink, from figure enhancing girdles to a rope (rent), from pretty hair to baldness, from a figure mantle (stomacher) to sackcloth; this will cause a beautiful woman to be a body burning (branding scars) in her appearance.[2]

Ezekiel 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the?Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity. Since Ezekiel has been addressing those that had fled to the mountains (7:16), who eventually put sackcloth upon the bodies and wailed in horror and shame, we must conclude that he was addressing those who were being taken captive. The Gentiles in the land, would not have been educated on who the Lord is, therefore we should assume all of those being addressed here are of the house of Israel. Those Gentiles that might have put on sackcloth, and wailed for the Lord God’s mercy, might well have been taken captive as well.

The people of verses 7:16-17, would find that their possessions had no value, since the Babylonians could not be bought with silver, nor gold. The riches, accumulated as a possession, were destined to be booty taken by the Babylonians. The mercy from the day of the wrath of the Lord was not something to be bartered for; the people would not be able to use their silver nor gold to buy themselves comforts any longer (they shall not satisfy their souls), nor could they buy food to fill their stomach. The bowel typically fills, when a person eats and fills their stomach, which digests and moves into the small intestines, then on to the bowel.

With the pagan ideals being lived by the house of Israel, their fleshly desires were satisfied by their wealth, being their silver and their gold. God had indicated here that it was the stumbling-block that influenced their iniquity. The Lord removed their wealth from them, since they failed to use it in a godly manner.

Ezekiel 7:20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. The Holy Temple, the altar, the tools used were all part of the beauty of God’s (His) ornament. God uses symbolism to demonstrate imagery to His people. Isaiah wrote of the Christian Gentiles of eternity within Isaiah 49:18, when he addressed them as an ornament placed upon the people of Israel. ?

Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the?Lord, you shall surely clothe yourself with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on yourself, as a bride does. (Is. 49:18)

In eternity, Holy Jerusalem will be prepared as a bride and adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2). The church of Jesus Christ is the Bride adorned for her future husband. “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:2) Together, believing Israel and Gentiles will be adorned together as a chaste virgin for Jesus Christ; believing Israel will be clothed together with the believing Gentiles as an ornament. ?Believing Gentiles are an ornament of celebration for the successful bringing in of Messiah Jesus, who saved them from eternal punishment. The gospel all began with Israel and the Apostles, which makes the Gentile believers an ornament bound on Israel as a bride would have upon her.[3]

God used symbolism here with the Hebrew noun “????,” which is translated as “ornament.” God set His earthly Temple in majesty for the House of Israel to adorn and be in worship of Him. He satisfied the need for men to have something visual to worship, rather than a God that they could not see. Instead of their faithfulness, they made images as their idols and placed them within His most holy place (but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein).

The Lord provided a statement to Israel concerning their abominations, when He had blessed them as His holy nation. Because they made images of their abominations and detestable things, He therefore took away the beauty of His Temple (ornament). The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was actually God taking it away from the house of Israel and set it far from them (in heaven).

Ezekiel 7:21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. The strangers were the Chaldees of Babylon, who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, then took for them booty of the tools used in service for the Temple. ?

13?And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the?Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the?Lord, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

14?And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

15?And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. (2 Kings 25:13-15)

? If some of the Babylonians believed in Yahweh, there were still those who did not, meanwhile there were assimilated soldiers from other nations who assisted the Chaldeans in their siege of Jerusalem. There were many wicked men from surrounding nations, who took for themselves spoils from the city and the Temple during the siege. They polluted the Temple of its purity, which had always been maintained according to the Laws of Moses (Num. 19:2-10). ?

2?And the?Lord?sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the?Lord, which He spoke by his servants the prophets. (2 Kings 24:2)

Ezekiel 7:22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. It may have been very disturbing for the Lord to watch His holy sanctuary be brutalized and polluted of its cleanness, therefore the Lord turned His face in order to allow for it to occur. The secret place can only be the most holy place that was behind the vail; it was forbidden for anyone to go beyond the vail, but once per year by the High Priest on The Feast of Atonement.

33?And you shall hang up the vail under the taches, that you may bring in there within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

34?And you shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. (Ex. 26:33-34)

As spoken in the previous verse, there would be many from the surrounding nations that would have rushed through the Temple, tearing apart the most holy place completely (because the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it).

Ezekiel 7:23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Once again, please note that the prophecy of judgment is focused upon the inhabitants of the land, and not the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel was commanded to “make a chain.” At first, it does not strike as a common statement, when speaking of the bloody crimes of the inhabitants of the entire land of Israel. In Nahum 3:10, the prophet was foretelling of the future judgment of the city of Nineveh of the Assyrians, when the Babylonians took them captive in 612 B.C.

?Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. (Nah. 3:10)

So, now we know why Ezekiel was to make a chain, which was to be imagery of the horrors of the coming invasion of the Babylonians upon the pagans of the land. The reason that Ezekiel was to make a chain, was because the the land was full of bloody crimes, while the city (not just Jerusalem) was full of violence. The bloody crimes were the human sacrifices being performed at the pagan altars within the high places of the land, while the value for human life was so low within the cities, they were eating each other for survival (the city is full of violence).

If we look at the subject being the land and the city, we must realize that the reference to “the land” points to the entire land of Israel, even though the noun “land” is in a singular parse. It can be construed that “the city” may be pointing to all of the cities, but has been called “the city” in the singular, just as “the land” has been (see 7:27). There were many cities within the land of Israel, all falling into the same violence and bloody crimes.

The?whole?city?shall flee for?the?noise of?the?horsemen and bowmen;?they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon?the?rocks: every?city?shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell?therein. (Jer. 4:29)

Ezekiel 7:24 Wherefore, I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. As Ezekiel had indicated in verse 7:22, the robbers were going to participate in this invasion. Though King Nebuchannezzar was a righteous king (see Dan. 4), he took captives of many heathen and forced them to be invaders during their conquest across the land of Israel. Ezekiel says here that the worst of the heathen would be coming through the land and would be taking the houses as their possessions. Non-believers were being given the land of Israel for the next seventy years (Jer. 29:10). Knowing the reason why the Lord God was sending them in, might have caused them to fear in falling into the same idolatry that caused the land to be destroyed. The immediate idolatry problem was remedied, but eventually these heathen would be falling back into the same idolatry that they had known all along.

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, shall descend into it. (Is. 5:14)

Though the Hebrew noun “gā'?n” can be defined as exaltation, it can also be defined as “prideful and arrogant.” The English translators used the noun “pomp,” which does cover this definition contextually. Ezekiel has said that the pride and arrogance of the strong (?az) will cease, or stop. After being stripped of all dignity, the pomp of the mighty would definitely be stopped. Meanwhile, their holy places were not God’s holy places, but their own pagan holy places. Their high places, their gardens, their altars and their idols would all be burned, or destroyed (their holy places shall be defiled).

Ezekiel 7:25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Just as the “end has come” (7:2, 6, 12), the morning (beginning of the day) and time had come (7:7), the day had come (7:10), the destruction comes. When it was to come, they (the heathen) would speak of peace, yet there would be none to be found. As the pagans prayed to their carved image to bring them peace, instead of the death that they had been hearing of, they failed to realize that their dependence on a false god was the reason they were going to die.

In Jerusalem, Jeremiah was not believed when he spoke of King Nebuchadnezzar coming soon to destroy the city and the Temple. Instead, the false prophet, Hananiah, countered Jeremiah’s prophecy with lies about peace for Jerusalem.

??And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the?Lord; ‘Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. (Jer. 28:11)

Ezekiel 7:26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. Daniel and Ezekiel were to be the last prophets until the completion of the seventy years, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. God was sure to let them know from the Jeremiah 29 letter, to not listen to anyone as a prophet, until the seventy years was fulfilled. The people were to read the words of Isiaah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, while not seeking a word from God. God removed prophecy for seventy years, therefore the captive’s mischief would bring more mischief, while rumors would feed on other rumors. They could pray each day in captivity, but God would not respond in any manner. Those who once had the word of the Lord at one time, would be left without any words from the Lord. After Ezekiel (priest and prophet [ancient]) had written his entire book, prophecy from God had stopped. Even Daniel prayed diligently and continuously, but did not hear anything until the seventy years were completed (see Daniel chapter 9). (the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients)

8?For thus says the?Lord?of hosts, the God of Israel; “Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

9?Because they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them,” says the?Lord.

?Because thus says the?Lord, “That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” (Jer. 29:10) ???

Daniel 9 began the prophecy for the return from captivity, which also was followed by the prophets Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, and Haggai.

??Ezekiel 7:27 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 the?Lord. This last verse of chapter 7 has prophesies that were fulfilled at different times. There are three subjects being spoken of that were to experience judgment. The first was “the king” at the time of the captivity and destruction. Looking to Jeremiah 52:9-11, we can find what eventually happened to King Zedekiah and his sons, who were his princes. The king did indeed mourn over the loss of his sons, while they were killed (clothed with desolation). Notice that all of the princes of Judah were killed before the eyes of King Zedekiah (the prince shall be clothed with desolation). Just as the prophecy referenced “the prince” in singular form, like the noun “city” in 7:23, it was used as a singular in prophecy, but in no way only refers upon one prince. ?

9?Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.

10?And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11?Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. (Jer. 52:9-11)?

The hands of the people of the land of Israel was to be troubled. When God declared here that He would do unto them after their way, most likely pertains to their bloody crimes and violence mentioned in 7:23. The translators poorly translated the Hebrew noun “mi?pā?” as “deserts,” when it contextually means “justice.” God was going to judge them according to their own justice system, which was most likely not very godly, nor merciful. He knew that it would not set well with those who deceitfully used their justice system to get away with many terrible crimes.

As this chapter closes out, God implied that the pagan Jews and Gentiles would know that He was the Lord God, who acted out against them; the realization that it was all written down before it actually happened would be eye-opening to those that lived through their judgments. (they shall know that I am the?Lord). ?

[1] Gerald Bray, The Doctrine of God, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 112.

[2] C. R. Sabo, Isaiah, 22.

[3] Ibid., 440.