Ezekiel 7:1-9

III. CHAOS AND CALAMITY 7:1-27

Chapter 7 is a sermon in the form of a lamentation. It is characterized by frequent repetitions designed to underscore the certainty and severity of the coming calamity. The chapter is written in what has been called poetic prose. The sentences are choppy, broken, and oozing with emotion. Division of the material into discussion units is admittedly arbitrary. But it would seem that the prophet first announces the coming calamity (Ezekiel 7:1-9) and then describes it (Ezekiel 7:10-27).

A. The Calamity Announced 7:1-9

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: (2) And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD concerning the land of Israel: An end! the end has come upon the four ends of the land. (3) Now is the end upon you, and I will unleash My anger against you, and I will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring upon you all of your abominations. (4) And My eye shall not have pity upon you, nor shall I have compassion; but your ways I shall bring upon you while your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I am the LORD. (5) Thus says the Lord GOD: A disaster, a unique disaster, behold it comes. (6) An end has come, the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it comes. (7) The turn has come upon you, O inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day of tumult is near, and not joyous shouting upon the mountains. (8) Now I will shortly pour out My wrath upon you and I will finish My anger against you when I have judged You according to your ways; and I will bring upon you all your abominations. (9) My eye will not pity, nor will I have compassion; I will bring upon you according to your ways, and your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I the LORD am a smiter.

COMMENTS

Echoing the prophetic declaration of Amos 8:2 regarding the Northern Kingdom, Ezekiel announces that an end has come to the land of Israel. Since the nation Israel had long since been destroyed, Ezekiel must be using the term Israel in its ancient sense of the theocratic people. In this period of history the land of Israel was equivalent to the Kingdom of Judah. The end or destruction would come upon the four ends of the land, i.e., the devastation would be geographically total. No city or village would escape (Ezekiel 7:2).

Ezekiel contends that now is the end upon you. The anticipated destruction is close at hand (Ezekiel 7:3). Doubtlessly the prophet refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. This destruction would not be a mere accident of history. It would be a manifestation of the anger of God (Ezekiel 7:3). God would unleash His anger. The destruction would be a just act of retribution. The people would be judged according to their ways, i.e., their conduct. God would bring upon them all their abominations; i.e., He would hold them accountable for their association with abominable idols (Ezekiel 7:3-4; Ezekiel 7:8).

In this destructive judgment God would not manifest mercy or compassion toward the nation of Judah (Ezekiel 7:4). The meaning is that God would carry out His pre-announced intention to destroy Jerusalem and He would not relent. There is, of course, mercy for the remnant of the nation as other passages clearly show. In a sense the exercise of justice was itself an act of mercy, since its aim was purification from sin and restoration or harmony between God and man.[184]

[184] Fisch, .SBB, p. 34.

The judgment would fall on Jerusalem while their abominations (idols) were still in the midst of the city (Ezekiel 7:4). They would cling to their idols to the bitter end. No further evidence need be presented to prove that the actions of God were justified.

Through the horrible destruction the surviving Jews would come to realize that it was truly Yahweh, God of covenant and redemption, who had made these dire threats (Ezekiel 7:4).

The disaster facing Judah was unique and unprecedented (lit., one disaster). The one catastrophe which overshadowed all the rest was the destruction of the Temple (Ezekiel 7:5). This disaster would not only be an end, it would be the end (Ezekiel 7:6).

The judgment is described as the turn in Ezekiel 7:7. The meaning of the noun tsephira is uncertain. Modern translations seem to prefer to render it doom.[185] However, the basic idea here may be something round,[186] hence a cycle or turn. The turn of events had come to Judah. To use a modern idiom, the tables were about to be turned. Judgment inevitably follows sin as day follows night.

[185] RSV, NASB. This translation is based on a cognate Arabic noun. The KJV translates it morning.

[186]Cf. Isaiah 28:5 where tsephira is rendered crown.

The predicted end would awaken. The long dark night of prophetic threat was about over; the day of the Lord was about to dawn. A play on words here in the Hebrew cannot be reproduced in English. The end (hakets) has awakened (hekits; Ezekiel 7:6).

That coming day would be a day of tumult, i.e., clamor and confusion (Ezekiel 7:7). This tumult would not be the joyous shouting upon the mountains that one might hear in connection with a harvest festival (Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 25:30) or idolatrous worship. This tumult would be the din and confusion of military invasion. In the popular mind the day of the Lord was a day of triumph over national enemies. Beginning with Amos, the prophets blasted away at this concept. The day of the Lord more properly referred to God's triumph over all unrighteousness whether in Israel or among the Gentiles.

Ezekiel 7:8-9 are virtually a repetition of Ezekiel 7:3-4 with some variation to give added emphasis to the warning. God's anger against Judah would be complete once he had recompensed them for their ways (Ezekiel 7:8). No compassion or mercy would be shown toward the nation in the day (Ezekiel 7:9).

They would come to know, i.e., realize by personal experience, that Yahweh is a God who smiles. The shallow theological notion of an indulgent deity would have to be abandoned in that day (Ezekiel 7:9).