Ezekiel 7, the Siege Continues

I have a confession to make. I love Sour Punch Straws. They are long strands of chewy candy coated in sour sugar. It ends up being a sweet taste after a punch of sour. This might be an apt way to describe the judgment God is bringing on Israel.

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says to the land of Israel:

The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! 3 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. 4 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

5 This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:

Disaster! Unheard-of disaster! See, it comes! 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! 7 Doom has come upon you, upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come! The day is near! There is panic, not joy, on the mountains. 8 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. 9 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I Yahweh who strikes you.

Each prediction of disaster coming upon Israel’s land is like that sour punch. The sweet part is that the people will then come to know Yahweh.

10 See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! 11 Violence has arisen, a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd—none of their wealth, nothing of value. 12 The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. 13 The seller will not recover the property that was sold—as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life.

Arrogance and pride is part of the sin-package Israel is being judged for.

14 They have blown the trumpet, they have made all things ready, but no one will go into battle, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. 15 Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. 16 The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sins. 17 Every hand will go limp; every leg will be wet with urine. 18 They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved.

What the siege by Babylon’s army does not destroy with sword, famine and plague, life in the mountains for those who escape Jerusalem will complete. Fear and shame will be the hallmark of this judgment. Why does Ezekiel need to speak so grossly? Because God wants His people to know how awful the judgment will be and hopefully repent and avoid it.

19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. 20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. 21 I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it. 22 I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it.

Trust in their wealth is another aspect of sin that is being judged. Instead of trusting in Yahweh, they trust in the wealth they have accumulated. And they have used some of it to make detestable idols. Judgment is ripe. It is hard not to see in the plundering of Israel a description of what happened to Jews in Europe during World War II. Does this mean that the Holocaust was a judgment from God on Israel? Were they really so arrogant and unjust as to deserve this punishment? I don’t know the answers to these questions. But it certainly seems that what was sour resulted in something sweet, the establishment of their nation in the land of Israel once again.

23 Prepare chains! For the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. 25 When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain. 26 Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, priestly instruction in the law will cease, the counsel of the elders will come to an end. 27 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 Yahweh.

The other aspect of their sin is the injustice rife within the country. All possessions will be devastated, as will all leadership. Even by their own faulty standards of what deserves punishment they will be judged. People will know that the true God is Yahweh.

Randall Johnson

About the Author

Randall Johnson

A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.

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