In this passage of Scripture God Tells the Jews through the prophet Ezekiel that He has had enough of their sins. He goes on to tell them that doom is coming upon Jerusalem and all the land of Israel. Seeing how God only tolerates sin in a nation for so long before He brings judgment, we must ask: Can America's judgment be coming soon?
Ezekiel Told To Alert The Idolaters to What is Coming
Ezekiel
6:11
11Thus
saith the Lord Jehovah: Smite with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say,
Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they
shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence (ASV, 1901).
Now
the Lord commands Ezekiel to proceed with His judgment upon Israel with a
strong gesture to alert them to what is coming. He says to Ezekiel, “Smite
with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot,” which is a known way to alert others for
mourning or rejoicing. In Hebrew it is better translated as “Pound with your hand and stamp with your
foot”. Smiting (clapping) hands together, was a sign of rejoicing (2 Kings
11:12; Psalms 98:8) or mockery (Job 27:23; Lamentations 2:15; Ezekiel 21:14,
17; 22:13; 25:6, “clapped your hands”; Nahum 3:19). The phrase here was a
symbol of contemptuous ridicule ending the idolatry (cf. Ezekiel 25:6). The
clapping of the hands was also a custom of the paid Jewish mourners. Stamping
ones foot is also a common symbol for ending some undesirable activity by the
person with authority. One says, “he put his foot down over that activity,
essentially ending it.” This illustration punctuates and sets the tone for the
admonition what follows. God now tells Ezekiel that the decision has been made
in the divine councils and now “they
shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.” There is no turning back and no repentance will be effective. The decision to carry out God's vengeance has been made. This seems to be true of America. We don't turn from sin, we nationalize it.
Who Will Die of What Means?
Ezekiel 6:12
12He
that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by
the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus
will I accomplish my wrath upon them (ASV, 1901).
God in His earnestness of following through on what He has
prophecied through Ezekiel make a decree. The three judgments, sword, famine,
and pestilence, are divided between
those far off, nearby, and any who are left. The swords of the
Babylonian army will get many after they starved the city through a blockade.
Pestilence always follows war. With no food and war wounds disease follows. Obviously,
this judgment includes everybody. There was now no way for the people to escape
the wrath of God when they continued their wicked practices after sufficient
warning. It would only be when these judgments overwhelmed them that they would
realize the extent of their depravity and God’s holiness. This might have been
an irksome task for Ezekiel to keep repeating these warnings. The constant flow
of warnings to the Jews left them without excuse for the results of their
abdominal practices.
The Realization Will Come to Israel
Ezekiel
6:13-14
13And ye
shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain men shall be among their idols
round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the
mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places
where they offered sweet savor to all their idols. 14And I will
stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the
wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know
that I am Jehovah (ASV, 1901).
God
now clearly states that the entire nation will know who God is when they see
all the dead among the idols surrounding the pagan altars. This is His Royal
Seal of the events to be conducted very soon. The place of their death will be
exactly where they offered incense and their adoration to the idols. God is
using the place where they worshipped in abominable adoration to the Canaanite
occultic gods to be the death ground for the Jews. The desolation will extend from the southern wilderness (around Beersheba) to Riblah, near the northern border of modern Lebanon. Riblah was
where Zedekiah the king was captured fleeing. He was captured by Nebuchadnezzar
at Riblah, and there his eyes were blinded after his children were killed (2
Kings 25:5, 7; Jeremiah 39:6–7; 52:8–11, 26–27). Riblah is a city on the Orontes
River in Syria. The text says Diblah. There is no mention of a city named
Diblah in Judah. However, it is probably meant to be Riblah due to the
similarities of the Hebrew letter for R is resh
(ר) and D is dalet (ד). A Scribe could easily have copied these in
error.
The Babylonian Invasion is Near
Ezekiel
7:1-4
1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me,
saying, 2And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto the
land of Israel, An end: the end is come upon the four corners of the land. 3Now
is the end upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee
according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations. 4And
mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity; but I will bring thy
ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye
shall know that I am Jehovah (ASV, 1901)
The frequency
of the warnings seems to the modern reader as unnecessarily repetitious.
However they were necessary to provide to all the certainty of the impending
judgment of God upon the nation Israel. The pleas of the God had fallen on deaf
ears. The people by and large did not care and even went so far as to
characterize the true prophets as false because their message was contrary to
how the people and their leaders wanted to behave. God is now saying that An
end: the end is come upon the four corners of the land. No part of the land would be exempt.
Interestingly God says that He will bring upon
thee all thine abominations. He will no longer have pity upon Israel for
her conduct and their repayment is now immanent. Israel was being repaid in a
divine sense for the detestable practices she committed. God is going to repeat
verses 3 and 4 in 8 & 9. In the midst of the judgment they will know that
it is God who is doing this and also what it is they have done.
The Doom Will Come Upon The Land
Ezekiel
7:5-9
5Thus
saith the Lord Jehovah: An evil, an only evil; behold, it cometh. 6An
end is come, the end is come; it awaketh against thee; behold, it cometh. 7Thy
doom is come unto thee, O inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is
near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, upon the mountains. 8Now
will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against
thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all
thine abominations. 9And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I
have pity: I will bring upon thee according to thy ways; and thine abominations
shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, do smite
(ASV, 1901).
Ezekiel
is told to repeat what God is saying. God says, “An evil, an only evil; behold, it
cometh. An end is come, the end is come; it awaketh against thee; behold, it
cometh..” In saying this He
means that what was about to come upon Jerusalem had no historical parallel.
They had like so many today have a uniformitarian view of world events. Namely,
the way things are today are as they have always been and always will be. Many do not believe in divine judgment or
that many of their activities constitute sin in God’s economy. The manner of
the written warning is becoming more urgent as can see from the style of the
Hebrew text. The Hebrew phrases are becoming short and choppy, and the words
“coming” or “came” occur six times in verses 5–7. Ezekiel had been proclaiming,
Disaster! A here-to-fore unknown disaster is coming. A sense of urgency is
being conveyed. Sin had run its course and only judgment was left. There was no
turning back now because God says,” Now
will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against
thee,” Because of the repetition of the warnings there is an element of
monotonous tiring on God’s patience for the degree and volume of sins the Jews
were committing against Him. Nearing the day of judgment there would be panic,
not joy, upon the mountains. Those who had been leisurely practicing their
idolatry on the high places (joyful
shouting, upon the mountains) would be thrown into a state of apprehension
when overtaken in judgment. Such is the case with the segments of the
population that are without God’s Spirit living within them. During the coming
Tribulation men will realize that it is God who is bringing the calamities on
the earth and they will defy Him. After nearly half of mankind had been destroyed
and much of the earth is ruined.
The Fourth & Fifth Bowl Judgments
Revelation
16: 8-9
8And the fourth angel poured out
his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9And
men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which
hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory, 10
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his
kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
repented not of their deeds (KJV).
The
fourth Trumpet judgment will destroy one-third of the light source causing a
partial darkening of the earth. This judgment makes the sun hotter so that men
on the earth are scorched with increased temperatures. Again those on the earth
that have aligned themselves with the satanic government blaspheme God and do
not repent of their sins. They will recognize that God is doing all this to
them and still they will not repent. They have aligned themselves with the sins
of the world and the satanic deception brought through the Antichrist. The people
and especially the leaders of ancient Israel realized that the judgment coming
upon them was from God and most did not care. They were in a sense blaspheming
the name of God for their desired lifestyle was being interrupted and they did
not like it. The fifth bowl judgment will result in the fourth blackout of the
end times. The entire kingdom of the beast (Antichrist) will become dark. Only
the refuge areas in the three Trans Jordanian nations where light will continue
to exist. In addition to the darkness men receive a gnawing pain that causes them
to blaspheme God all the more. There will be a thick darkness, which can be
felt too. This parallels the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23).
The Closeness of the Calamity
Ezekiel
7:10-13
10Behold,
the day, behold, it cometh: thy doom is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed,
pride hath budded. 11Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness;
none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither
shall there be eminency among them. 12The time is come, the day
draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is
upon all the multitude thereof. 13For the seller shall not return to
that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the
whole multitude thereof, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen
himself in the iniquity of his life (ASV, 1901).
God
still assuring the nation Israel that the doom is a foregone conclusion uses imagery
of a rod or a branch that has buds appearing indication the full bloom is near
in time. Most view the rod as Nebuchadnezzar and the bud as how near he was to
breaking through the walls of Jerusalem to get at the people. It was his pride
that carried him to desire the earth as his domain to conquer. In verse eleven
the rod becomes a symbol for the judgment, which will be used to flog, the
disobedient people that is, a rod of wickedness.
God’s judgment would have a devastating effect
on the economy. When it struck, none of the people would be left, none of that
crowd. Nothing of value would remain.
Because of the Captivity, property and material possessions became worthless. All
of the people’s personal possessions would become the property of the
Babylonians. The property owners would be torn from their land and carried to
Babylon. God through Ezekiel says, “let
not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the
multitude thereof.” The buyer who normally rejoiced over a good business
deal should not be happy because he would not be able to possess the land he
had purchased. And one forced to sell his land should not grieve because he
would have lost it anyway. Normally according to the Mosaic Law when land was
sold in Israel, the transaction was always temporary.
Every 50 years after seven Sabbaths, during the
Year of Jubilee, the property reverted to its original owners (Leviticus 25:10,
13–17). However, God’s coming judgment would prevent original owners from
reclaiming their properties; they would be in exile along with the buyers. In
ancient Israel, land wasn’t sold in fee simple as we are used to. This is a permanent and absolute tenure of an estate in land with
freedom to dispose of it at will. Since God was the real landowner,
Israel was simply a tenant under conditions of obedience. When land was “sold,”
what the buyer received was only the use of the land, not clear title.
There were conditions under which a kinsman of the seller could “redeem” the
land back to the original family such as we see in the book of Ruth.
Here Boaz performs the role of the “Kinsman-redeemer.” By his intervention, the
forfeited lands are returned to Naomi. All this is according to the temporary
ownership of the land under the Mosaic Law. God is the actual landowner, the
fee simple holder and can assign its temporary rights to anybody He decides to.
In this case it is the Babylonians. In the twentieth century after being out of
the land for 1878 years (since the Roman destruction of 70 AD) God exercised
His rights under the fee simple ownership and restored the Jews to the land of
Israel in 1948 on the eastern banks of the Mediterranean Sea.
No
human effort could hinder God from accomplishing His plan in 586 B.C. Though
they would call soldiers to battle by the trumpet, no one would go into battle.
Jerusalem would try to defend herself, but she would fall with little
resistance to a foe with God’s force behind him.
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