Ezekiel 7
7
The End Has Come
1Yahweh spoke to me and said, 2“Son of man, tell the people of Israel what I, Lord Yahweh, say to the land of Israel: ‘Finished! The end has come over all the land. # 7:2 Or “the four corners of the land.” The sense of the term qes, which means “end,” here implies the end of God’s forbearance and the beginning of judgment (see Amos 8:2; LaMar Eugene Cooper, The New American Commentary, Vol. 17: Ezekiel [United States: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994], 110). 3Now the end has come. # 7:3 Chapter 7 is best seen as a funeral dirge, a lament over the fall of Jerusalem. The frequent repetition emphasizes the message of judgment and doom hanging over Jerusalem. The verses are filled with deep emotion with a note of finality. This becomes a preview of the coming day of Yahweh, when he will judge the world and those who walk in darkness. See Isa. 60:1–5; Joel 2:1–2; Mal. 4:1–6. I will unleash my anger on you and judge you for the way you have lived. I will judge you for all your loathsome practices. 4I will not show you pity nor spare you. # 7:4 It is important to see that God is both the Father of Mercy and the God of Judgment. See Rom. 11:13–24. Indeed, I will punish you for your conduct—the despicable evil you have done. Then you all will be convinced that I am Yahweh.’
5“The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Look! An unheard-of disaster is coming. # 7:5 Or “One disaster after another.” The Hebrew is uncertain. 6It’s all over for you! The end is near! # 7:6 Or “the end has come.” There is some ambiguity about the precise meaning of the verb bo’. The context suggests either that the end has arrived or is about to. Doom is awakened against you. # 7:6 The Hebrew has a play on words. The Hebrew words for “end” and “awakened” are homonyms (words with the same triconsonantal root). Behold, the fateful day! 7Now it is your turn to be punished. You who dwell in this land, doom is coming, for the day of Yahweh is near. The people will be shouting in panic, not shouting with joy at the shrines on the mountaintops. # 7:7 The mountain summits in Canaan were universally associated with idolatrous Israelite worship of local deities, epitomized by the numerous references to “high places” throughout the Old Testament historical books and canonical prophets. 8Very soon I will vent my fury on you and punish you until my anger is finished. I will judge you for the way you live and punish you for all your loathsome practices. 9I will show you no mercy nor spare you, but I will punish you for your conduct and for all your detestable deeds. Then you will know that I am Yahweh who has punished you.’ ” # 7:9 Or “who strikes the blow.”
The Day of Judgment
10“ ‘Now is the day of disaster. Behold, your doom has come! Brutality has blossomed, and pride is at its peak. # 7:10 Or literally “the crown has come, has come out, the rod has blossomed.” Some Jewish scholars see the “rod” as Nebuchadnezzar. The Hebrew meaning, however, remains uncertain. 11Violence has grown up into a rod to punish their wickedness. None of these proud, evil people will survive. All their wealth and prestige will be swept away. # 7:11 Or literally “not from them, nor from their multitude, nor from their tumult, and they are worthless.” The Hebrew is uncertain. 12The time of your doom is before you; the day of reckoning has come. Let not the buyer be happy nor the seller be sad, # 7:12 That is, commerce will end and have no more place in the land. for wrath is upon the entire multitude. 13For the seller will not be able to return to what has been sold while they live. For the vision concerns them all. Each persists in sin, and no one will hold on to their lives. 14The trumpet sounds, everyone gets ready, but no one goes into battle, since my anger rests on everyone alike.’ ”
The Sins of Israel
15“ ‘Enemies # 7:15 Or “The sword.” are lurking outside the city; inside are disease and starvation. Anyone out in the countryside will die in battle; anyone in the city will die by starvation and plague. 16And those who escape will flee to the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys, each one moaning for his sin. 17Every hand will grow weak. Gripped with fear, they wet themselves. # 7:17 Literally “all knees walk [with] water,” a euphemism for “they can no longer hold their water [bladder].” 18Terror covers them as they put on sackcloth. Shame covers their faces as they shave their heads bald. # 7:18 Shaving their heads was a cultural sign of grief and disgrace. 19They will throw their silver away in the streets and their gold like filthy menstrual rags. # 7:19 The Hebrew word niddah implies menstrual impurity. Their wealth will not be able to save them on the day of Yahweh’s fury. For it will be worthless on that day to buy food to fill their stomachs since it was their wealth that led them into sin. 20Once they were so proud of their beautiful jewelry, out of which they made their disgusting, horrible idols. Now I have made their wealth and jewels repulsive to them. 21I will give your wealth to foreigners, as spoils of war to the evilest people on earth, and they will profane it. 22I will turn my face away from them # 7:22 That is, God will lift his divine, protecting presence from them. while my hidden, treasured place # 7:22 Although unstated, God’s “hidden, treasured place” was his sanctuary in his temple. is profaned and thugs force their way in and defile it.
23“ ‘Prepare plenty of chains to bind up the captives. # 7:23 Or literally “Make the rattoq.” This is the only place in the Bible the word rattoq occurs, and it is of uncertain meaning. The root word means “to bind [with chains],” or possibly “tie up [with ropes].” One ancient translation reads instead “Everything is in confusion.” For the country is full of bloodshed and murders, # 7:23 Or “judgments of bloods,” that is, such crimes involving the shedding of blood were deserving of death. and the city is full of violence, 24so I will bring evil nations here to seize their homes. I will put an end to the pride of their elite, # 7:24 Or “the pride of the powerful.” and their sanctuary will be profaned. 25Panic is on the way! They will look for peace but never find it. 26One disaster will follow another, with rumor upon rumor. They will seek a vision from the prophet but in vain. The priestly teaching of the divine law will be destroyed, along with the counsel of the elders. 27The king will go into mourning, the officials will be wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people will tremble in terror. I will punish them for the way they have lived and judge them the same way as they have judged others. Then they will be convinced that I am Yahweh!’ ”
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Ezekiel 7: TPT
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