EZEKIEL LESSON 7
We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 7:1 "Moreover the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,"
This is an extension of chapter 5 and 6. The word "moreover"
indicates the connection. We do see, however, a new Word of the Lord
came to Ezekiel. This indicates that God stopped, and started up again
speaking to Ezekiel. This is the same prophecy, with an interval in
between. Perhaps, they could just absorb a small amount of prophecy
at a time.
Ezekiel 7:2 "Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto
the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of
the land."
This is speaking of the "end" of God's patience. The punishment
will begin now. The land from border to border will be destroyed in
the judgement of God.
Ezekiel 7:3 "Now [is] the end [come] upon thee, and I will send
mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and
will recompense upon thee all thine abominations."
God's judgement is just. He is patient, but there comes a time,
when He will wait no longer. Each person will be judged of God. We cry
out for mercy, and not justice. The ways of the people were evil to
the utmost. The judgement will be to the utmost, as well. Remember,
"abominations" are revolting sins in the sight of God.
Ezekiel 7:4 "And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I
have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine
abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I
[am] the LORD."
The terribleness of the judgement will not be for just some. It
will come upon all. Just because they are God's family, will not cause
God to spare them. Their sin is too great. There will be no doubt of
who is God, when this is over.
Ezekiel 7:5 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil,
behold, is come."
The evil against them will be so great the rest of the world will
be in awe of it.
Ezekiel 7:6 "An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for
thee; behold, it is come."
They had been warned over and over, but now, that terrible day
has come.
Ezekiel 7:7 "The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest
in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble [is] near, and not
the sounding again of the mountains."
"The morning is come unto thee" means this is a new day that
God's people had never experienced before. They have never experienced
the wrath of God before. This is not an earthquake, but the terrible
sound of war, which brings God's judgement upon these sinful people.
Ezekiel 7:8 "Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and
accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to
thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations."
The word that was translated "recompense", here, has many
meanings. I believe, in this particular instance, it means to repay to
the fullest. The wages of sin is death. They will collect their wages
for their abominations. Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and
they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield
no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up." God's
anger is not unjustified. They deserve the punishment they receive.
Many of us deserve death, because of our sins. Our justification is in
Jesus, who was our Substitute for our sin.
Ezekiel 7:9 "And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have
pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine
abominations [that] are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I
[am] the LORD that smiteth."
LORD, here, is Jehovah. This is a repeat of an earlier verse.
Verse 4, above, is very similar. This is just judgement on a sinful
people. God will not spare His own, if they are living in sin.
Ezekiel 7:10 "Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is
gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded."
This is the beginning of that great and terrible day God had
warned of. The "rod", here, is speaking of God's vengeance. Their
pride has caused them not to repent.
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 theirs:
neither [shall there be] wailing for them."
The usual burial ceremony will not be held for them. They will be
killed, and left where they fall for the vultures and the wild beasts.
Their pride against God has brought this total humiliation upon them.
They will die violent deaths, when the rod of God is extended over
them.
Ezekiel 7:12 "The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the
buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath [is] upon all the
multitude thereof."
They will not have time to enjoy the things they have purchased.
The day of judgement has come. Many times, a sale is made from
necessity. It hurts to sell, in that case. The wrath of God comes
suddenly.
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."
This has to do with the selling of something until jubilee. At
jubilee, all property. and land go back to its original owner. The
purchaser and the seller will be in captivity when jubilee arrives, so
there will be no restoration. They may be alive, but they will be in
captivity.
Ezekiel 7:14 "They have blown the trumpet, even to make all
ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath [is] upon all the
multitude thereof."
The Hebrews would blow the silver trumpet for the gathering of
the people to worship. The only other time the trumpet was blown, was
a call to war. The trumpet blew for war, but no one came. There was
really no need to fight. They would have been fighting against God.
This battle is a judgement of God upon them.
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."
The judgement was spoken of God, and it will come. Those who were
outside the city to fight, would die with the sword. Those inside the
city wall, would die from pestilence and famine.
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."
A few will escape, but they have lost all of their earthly
possessions. They have, also, lost their relationship with God. They
will be hiding out, and fleeing from place to place to keep from being
caught. The mourning is a type of repentance. They have, suddenly,
realized their sins after it is too late.
Ezekiel 7:17 "All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be
weak [as] water."
They seem to be feeble, because they are unable to help
themselves. Their knees are weak and will tremble with fear.
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."
Baldness upon a woman's head indicated adultery. They have
committed spiritual adultery by worshipping false gods. This could be
the reason for the bald head. "Sackcloth" is an outward symbol of
repenting with great mourning. This all indicates repentance. Are they
repenting for the fear of death, or are they truly repentant of their
sins? The Hebrews had always been proud people. The shame has come,
because God has turned against them.
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
stumblingblock of their iniquity."
Gold and silver were God's money. They were thought of as
blessings from God. They had misused the gold and silver God had given
them to bless them. They had blasphemed God with their idols made of
silver and gold. That which had been given them to bless them, had
become a curse, because of their misuse of it. Gold and silver are
nothing, when you are starving to death. They are nothing when you are
struggling to stay alive. They cast their silver and gold in the
streets, because it is of no help in turning the wrath of God away.
God cannot be bribed. All the silver and gold in the world belongs to
Him. It is a stumblingblock to them, because of their evil use of it.
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."
Gold had been the metal used in the holy of holies in the temple.
The silver was used in the holy place. The ornaments made from them
were beautiful. They had turned all of this beauty into revolting sin,
by making false gods with the silver and gold. The best example of
something like this, is in the Exodus from Egypt. God had told the
children of Israel to bring silver and gold with them, to build the
beautiful things in the temple with. While Moses was on the mountain
meeting with God, they made a golden calf. God, in His wrath, killed
many of the Israelites. This is the same message here. Gold and silver
are good. It is the misuse of them that is evil.
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."
This is, now, speaking of the beautiful gold and silver things in
the temple. When the Babylonians invaded, they took all of this back
to Babylon and polluted it.
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."
Ordinarily, anyone touching the holy things {made of gold} would
have died the minute they touched it. God was so angry with Israel, He
turned His face away, and let the heathen take the things of the
temple. These things, that had been dedicated to God, are now defiled.
Ezekiel 7:23 "Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody
crimes, and the city is full of violence."
This "chain" was, probably, used to couple the captives together
to lead them into captivity. God allowed them to take His people into
captivity, because of the bloody crimes they had committed.
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."
It is God who causes Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylons to destroy
Judah and Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar was very bad He is a type of
Satan. It would not matter what position of importance they had in
Israel, they would be killed, or carried away in chains. Even the
priests of the temple will be carried away. The temple, and everything
in it, are defiled by these heathens.
Ezekiel 7:25 "Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and
[there shall be] none."
There is no peace during the wrath of God. They may seek it, but
they will not find it, until God has thoroughly punished them.
Ezekiel 7:26 "Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall
be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the
law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients."
The people would not listen to the true prophet. They listened to
the false prophets, who spoke of better times. Some of these prophets
and ancients had accurately prophesied in the past. God had taken
their ability to prophesy away from them, because they were involved
in the worship of false gods. Not only, is the war bad, but the rumors
of it being worse than it was grew each day. Fear overwhelmed them.
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."
God will not spare those in high authority. The king and his sons
will suffer the same as the common people. They are judged by the
things they did upon the earth. All of this happens to them, so there
will be no doubt at all that God is the only True God. God is proving
to them that these false gods, they had given their loyalty to, are
nothing. The false gods cannot help them. God is God.
Ezekiel 7 Questions
1. What word indicates this is furthering chapters 5 and 6?
2. Who is this prophecy to?
3. What is the "end", in verse 2, speaking of?
4. How far-reaching is this judgement of God?
5. How will they be judged?
6. We cry out for mercy, and not _________.
7. What are "abominations"?
8. What will there be no doubt of, after the judgement?
9. What does "the morning is come unto thee" mean?
10. This is not an earthquake, but the terrible sound of ______.
11. What does the author believe "recompense", in verse 8, is saying?
12. The wages of sin is ________.
13. Quote Hosea chapter 8 verse 7.
14. What is the "rod" of verse 10, speaking of?
15. What will happen to the bodies of the dead?
16. What has brought such great humiliation upon them?
17. Verse 13 speaks of selling what?
18. What happens at jubilee?
19. Why did the Hebrews blow the trumpet?
20. Why was there no need to fight?
21. How would those outside the city die?
22. Those that escape would be like ________.
23. All hands shall be _________.
24. All knees shall be weak as ________.
25. What did baldness on a woman's head indicate?
26. What is "sackcloth" an outward symbol of?
27. Why are they repenting?
28. _______ and ________ were God's money.
29. Why would they throw their gold and silver in the street?
30. Why is it a stumblingblock to them?
31. What gold is verse 20 speaking of?
32. What did Babylon do to it?
33. What, ordinarily, would have happened to anyone touching things in
the holy of holies?
34. Why did that not happen to Babylon?
35. What is the "chain" of verse 23?
36. How bad was Nebuchadnezzar?
37. They shall seek _______, and there shall be none.
38. Who were the people listening to, instead of the true prophet?
39. What are all judged by?
40. What is God proving to them in this destruction?
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