Ezekiel 6:11-12

‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Smite with your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, ‘Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel', for they will fall by the sword, by the famine and by pestilence. He who is far off will die of the pestilence, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die of the famine. Thus will I accomplish my fury on them.” '

Clapping with the hands and stamping with the feet were signs of gladness and rejoicing (Ezekiel 25:6). But the verb here is ‘smite' not ‘clap' and may therefore indicate a different emotion. Stamping with the feet can also express delight or disapproval. Thus while many interpret this as the delight that has to be expressed by the prophet at the fulfilling of God's will in judgment, others see it as conveying deep emotion of regret at what Israel has to suffer. This is supported by the following ‘Alas', a word which usually signifies distress or despair.

Thus the Alas! has reference to the suffering coming on Israel. While it was God's will, it was not to be treated lightheartedly. Ezekiel would be right to weep over their sufferings as Jeremiah did before him, even though he recognised their guilt (Jeremiah 9:1). He sorrowed over their abominations that had grieved God, but he also sorrowed over the judgments that they must receive, ‘for they will fall by the sword, by the famine and by pestilence'. This was no delight to him either.

‘He who is far off will die of the pestilence, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die of the famine. Thus will I accomplish my fury on them.' The three types of judgment, already symbolised by the shaving of his hair and beard (Ezekiel 5:2; Ezekiel 5:12), are again mentioned, but here the pestilence affects those far away from the city, the remnant who have survived. The sword will smite those who defend the city, the famine those besieged in the city, and the pestilence those who escape the slaughter.

‘He who is far off -- and he who is near -- and he who remains --'. This covers everyone. All will be involved in His judgments.

The word translated ‘besieged' mainly signifies ‘keep watch over, protect, guard' (thus besieged because kept watch over by the assailants). So alternately the famine may also be seen as following those who are ‘preserved' (Ezekiel 6:8) and affecting them as well. But ‘besieged' fits the context well and is an acceptable translation. Either way in the end all will be affected by all three judgments, for sword and famine and pestilence are ever the lot of men wherever they are, especially when they are captives or aliens.

‘Thus will I accomplish my fury on them.' Again God's anger at sin is emphasised. He was certainly going to do what He had said. The constant repetition was required because of the hardness of heart of Ezekiel's listeners. They still found it difficult to believe that God would allow Jerusalem to be destroyed. To them it did not make sense. Jerusalem was His holy city and His temple was there. The high places had been around for centuries and God had not done such a thing. Why should He do it now? So do men reason presumptiously against God. They still do so today. They say, ‘God is love' and so they feel that they do not need to obey Him. He will let them off. But one day they will stand in the Judgment and then they will realise, too late, the seriousness of sin before a holy God. For they have forgotten that ‘God is light' as well.

These people forgot that they had had two chances when Hezekiah and Josiah had sought to remove the high places, but they had simply waited for a convenient opportunity and had then reopened the high places. God was not about to give them a third chance. It was clear that it would be of no avail. The time of His judgment on them had come, and He wanted them to know it. For when the actual event happened and Jerusalem was destroyed He wanted them to realise that it was not the end of the world. He wanted them to recognise that Yahweh was still in control and had allowed it in order that they may learn His hatred of sin. And He wanted them to repent.