Ezekiel 7: 1 – 18
‘Pay back’ Part 1
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end has come upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. 4 My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the LORD!’ 5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! 6 An end has come, the end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come! 7 Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. 8 Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, and spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. 9 ‘ My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes. 10 ‘ Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of them; nor shall there be wailing for them. 12 The time has come, the day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is on their whole multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, and it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. 14 ‘ They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. 15 The sword is outside, and the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword; and whoever is in the city, famine and pestilence will devour him. 16 ‘ Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity. 17 Every hand will be feeble, and every knee will be as weak as water. 18 They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, baldness on all their heads.
Ezekiel again received a message from the Holy Yahweh. We do not know how long of a sequesnce that was between this and his last message from God. But we do need to be reminded of a certain fact. That is, Ezekiel was not allowed to speak until God opened his mouth to issue a word from the Almighty God.
Time is up. The Holy Living Awesome God stresses the end has come. Sadley, the nation of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and all the land of Israel is finished. You will note, that the Lord stressed this point three times, which is the number of certain completion and each time the message grew in intensity - An end; the end; now the end is on you.
They were now going to deal with God’s anger – not a good place to be at. I want and need God’s Mercy in dealing with my sinfulness. Their behaviors that have not escaped God’s eyes would now be judged. I need my wicked behaviors covered by the blood of His Holy Son.
Payback! Whatever wicked things they said and did would now be received back on them. They would know that all of this was because of their forsaking the Holy One of Israel as their God.
The prophet Amos had declared the same thing on the Northern Kingdom in prior years.
Amos 8: 2 2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me: “ The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.”
Can’t these people wake up? The answer is no. They should have realized that God destroyed Samaria and the northern kingdom for their sinfulness. Didn’t they know anything about history? The same treatment will befall them. Sadly, we like these people do not learn from the past.
They were so set in their sinful lifestyles that there was no other way to correct this evil. God seems to measure nations based on their moral failure. Here the Israelites sins have piled up so high that the measurement was not only full but was overflowing. A good question to ask yourself is, what level has your sin piled up to? If it all has been washed in the blood of the lamb then you have nothing to be concerned about. But if you haven’t asked The Lord Jesus Christ to ‘save’ you, then think about the question I just asked. How about our nation? If you had to guess, what level would the measurement of the nation’s sins be at? These verses should have a major impact on us as individuals. We see here our Lord’s valuation of sin. How can we go on treating the sinful passions of our lives so lightly?
5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘ A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! 6 An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come! 7 Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. 8 Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, and spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. 9 ‘ My eye will not spare, Nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes.”
Although this description of the destruction of the nation of Israel is horrible, I see the heart of our God’s Goodness and Mercy just jumping off the pages. Look at the repetition and the stress of our Lord’s constant warning to His people; ‘An evil, an only evil, behold it comes. An end is come, the end is come, it awakes against you, behold it comes. Your doom is come to you, O inhabitant of the land, the time is come, the day is near.’. Over and over again and again the Lord’s heart is almost begging the people to recant of their sins so that He does not have to allow the full measure of His Wrath to come against His elect.
What was coming was not only an evil, but it was ‘an only evil’- an evil so unique that nothing like it had ever happened before. God wanted to be known as Jehovah Jireh – The Lord the Provider. Here God has to cultivate in the minds of His people that He also is ‘Yahweh the smiter’
The worship of the phony gods involved infant sacrifices, drunken orgies and devious sexual practices. This appealed to the people but disgraced the Holy Lord Almighty. The mountains had known much joyful shouting as men sinned before their idols, and cavorted with the sacred prostitutes, and drank and made merry. But now that would become tumults as their adversaries hunted them down.
10 ‘ Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of them; Nor shall there be wailing for them.”
When I read, ‘The rod has blossomed, pride has budded. Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of them, nor shall there be wailing for them.’, I think of Aaron’s rod that budded as described in Numbers 17; verses 1 through 8.
“1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.”6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.”
There was a leader of the Israelites by the name of Korah who was of the tribe of Levi. He became jealous of Aaron who was selected by God to be the high priest. He led a revolt of other Israelites against Moses. .The budded rod of ‘Aaron’ became a token against the children of rebellion. In the days of Moses the rods represented the leaders of the people. They represented their authority. – but they did not have any fruit from their lives, their rods did not blossom. At that time God did not choose them, but now, they are chosen – chosen for destruction. The fruit they produced from ‘Pride’ was all rotten.
A thought amongst the Jews and I strongly believe among us today is that wealth is a sign of God’s favor. Eminence means ‘Superiority’. The people had become smug because of their material blessings from God. Since they turned away from the Holy and Living God, He now was turning away from them. As a result nothing would remain. They will no longer have any superiority in anything. It will be a total end of Israel as it was known, many of the people would die and those who did survive would lose everything – possessions, wealth and status.
We all, I am sure get hurt a lot by people and we wonder when they will get theirs. Our God will deal with the wicked and proud in His time. Our God is full of Mercy and Grace and is patiently waiting for sinners to repent as He describes through Peter in 2 Peter 3: 9, “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Look at yourself. Were you always a believer? I doubt it. Our Loving God was patient and waited for you to get saved, didn’t He? There are some other future saints that He Is waiting to come to Him in repentance.
“12 The time has come, the day draws near. ‘ Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is on their whole multitude.”
When destruction hits, it hits suddenly. The term I believe is ‘business as usual’. If you were living near the ocean, say on the East coast and a meteor hits one thousand miles out to sea., what would you do? I would hope that you are smart enough to grab your wife and kids, without packing anything, and flee inland as far and as fast as you can. Why? Because a tsunami is heading your way, and if you want to be saved, you better run for safety. If you lived in New Jersey, I would recommend you not stop until you reached the Pocono Mountains.
We have been reading so far that God’s news broadcast was exactly this upcoming type of destruction. Yet, what were the people doing? – ‘Business as usual’. 1 Thessalonians 5: 1 –11 tells us,
“1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Our Lord has given us eyes to see and ears to listen. As 1 Thessalonians reports, we need to be awake and alert – not on a stupor of ignorance as danger approaches.
Jerusalem was a busy marketplace, but all of a sudden every business transaction was suddenly ended. I saw this first hand in New York City after 9/11. People were in so much shock many businesses stoped. I was amazed to witness many who did show up to their stores, when they realized what happened, they considered how valuable life is and as a result were giving their food away.
Buyers were no longer gloating over their bargains. Profits did not matter anymore to sellers. Please note in Ezekiel the continued emphasis on their abundance ( the multitude of their possessions). The nation trusted in its success and riches and left God out of the picture. So, all that they cared for, all that they lived their lives seeking – all their wealth, would be taken away in an instant.
“13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, though he may still be alive; for the vision concerns the whole multitude, and it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity.”
What can you sell if there is no one to sell to? Even if a person survived the attack of the Babylonians, would you think that a person could mearly open up his business again? None of the people would ‘turn back’ to stay in Jerusalem. They would either run for their lives or be taken as a captive.
‘Nor would anyone strengthen himself in the inequity of his life.’ In the book of Amos 2: 6 – 8 we read this,
“6 Thus says the LORD: “ For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. 7 They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy name. 8 They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.”
What we pick up from these verses is that the people were dealing with all kinds of unscrupulously trade and sales. They could care less on how they dealt with people as long as they made a lot of money.
‘Iniquity’ – is willful sin. You can’t talk to yourself for encouragement when you have the guilt of your sin always speaking to what little conscious you may still possess.
People can get caught up in power even if that power was a result of evil dealings. Drug Lords, human slave trafficking, and all other evils that deal with other humans may result in temporary riches and power or as the Scripture says, ‘strengthen oneself in the inequity [ or purposeful sins] of his life,’ but in the end as I have said before, ‘payday – someday!’ All of man’s sinful pleasures that boasted them up and made them feel good would all be inevitably be over.
“14’they have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. 15The sword is outside, and the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword; and whoever is in the city, famine and pestilence will devour him.”
We read this in 1 Corinthians 14: 8 that says this, “8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?”
If you were ever in the military you learned certain trumpet sounds. There was one to wake you up; one to tell you the day was officially over; and one to charge into battle. What we see Paul telling us that a trumpeter playing any other sound would confuse the troops as to what the sound was intended for. Paul was referring to Christians who fail to give clear testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel used this analogy to explain that the correct battle sound was played. However, when the people saw the enemy forces breaking through the walls they would cower and not fight. Some people would try to escape, and they would be slain. Those who remained in the city would face starvation and disease.
“16 ‘ Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity”.
As a result of the siege of Jerusalem, some people will be able to escape. These few refugees will attempt to hide out in the mountain caves. However, remember that God cursed the ‘mountains’ because they were the locations where pagan rituals were conducted. In the practice of this religion, as mentioned before, there were sexual acts and drinking. The people really enjoyed this religion, but were an abomination in the sight of our Holy God. The people would now mourn like the ‘doves of the valley’, instead of the fun time they had in their ridiculously practiced farce of a religion. This type of action is described in the following passages;
Isaiah 38: 14 says, “14 I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!"
Isaiah 59: 11 also reports, “11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.”
Doves as we have seen here in the Scriptures are associated with mourning because of the doleful call. They make their nests in the sides of mountains as described in Jeremiah 48: 28,
“28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.”
Those individuals who managed to elude the Babylonian army’s slaughter will flee to the mountains to hide in caves just hoping to survive.
17 Every hand will be feeble, and every knee will be as weak as water. 18 They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads.”
Those left alive will feel that it would have been better to die with the rest of the Jews. Their lives would be a life of continual mourning because of the hardships and persecutions.
In the book of Daniel we see a similar type of extreme shock caused by God’s visual and personal intervention.
1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.5 In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Now all the king’s wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished. 10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. 12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”
The experience of Belshazzar witnessing the visible hand of God writing on the wall was so frightening that he could not stop shaking. Here in the book of Ezekiel it is even more shock and awe as to what is happening to the people. The Jews were so devastated by what the Babylonian army did to them that they loss all strength. As a sign of total shame and depravity the Jews put on sackcloth and shaved their heads as a sign of mourning. These Scriptures point out this way of expressing their emotions.
Job 21: 6, “6 Even when I remember I am terrified. And trembling takes hold of my flesh.”
Genesis 37: 31 – 35, “31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.”
Here we read about Jacob displaying the actions of his emotional breakdown. In addition to this reference we read in the book of Ester 4: 1- 4 this information,
“ 1 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.4 So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them.”
Our mental makeup gets deadened from TV. But here is something that we really need to seriously think about. What we read about here actually happened. The Jews went through every horror that we have been reading about. Stop and think about yourselves. What if you had to experience what these people went through?. How would you have responded to the same situations? When we place this historical reference in application to our own lives, it takes on a whole new perspective. Doesn’t it?
