Fury; the end is coming |
Text | Comments |
1 ¶ Moreover the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. |
1 -
The
word of the Lord A new message.
2 - [A total end is coming] The coming destruction of the city was announced before this chapter but the people didn't want to believe it. This purpose of this chapter is clear from the first verses. Within 6 years of this writing, Jerusalem was desolated. 3 - Judge Why would God destroy the whole land and allow His people to be taken into captivity? They had chosen the way of death. The abominations were the heathen worship practices. God worked through their captivity to bring light to Babylon, but even there most of the people learned to like the ways of Babylon. In the "end" which was predicted, we may trace God's plan for the "time of the end" which Daniel would write about da1204. |
4 And mine eye shall
not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways
upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. |
4
- Have pity The idea is that He would
not act to hold back the punishment.
5 - Evil ... is [has] come This may be the unique evil of apostasy that will be exposed in the next chapter. 6 - Watcheth From qus which means "to awaken." 7 - Morning From sephirah. The meaning is not known. It appears only here and in is2805. "Encirclement" (MKJV) Or "Doom" (Darby, NKJV, RSV). 7 - Sounding again From hed which appears only this once. Likely the word should have been hedad. Then it may describe the joyous cries of the grape-gatherers at vintage on the hills. To get the juice, the grapes are trampled which could be a metaphor for the coming punishment. Compare re1417. |
8 Now will I shortly
pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I
will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all
thine abominations.
9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth. |
8 - Thy ways Judgment according to behavior |
10 Behold the day, behold,
it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath
budded.
11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them. |
10 - The day, the morning The day is
here. The morning has passed "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:
for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness
and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning
spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years
of many generations. jl0201,2.
This is the time of trouble pictured in Daniel 12:1 da1201.
11 - The rod When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron. After destroying the rebels, God caused Aaron's rod to bud and blossom while the rods of the other tribal heads did not.(Num. 16) Also Num. chapter 17 |
12 The time is come,
the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn:
for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. |
13 - Seller shall not return Even most young people, after 70 years of captivity, would no longer be living. This reminds us of the end of human probation when the time for accepting salvation will have passed re2211, is5501. |
14 They have blown the
trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath
is upon all the multitude thereof.
15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. |
14 - None goeth to the battle They realize that victory would be impossible. |
.16
¶ But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains
like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
.17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. .18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. |
16
- They that escape These would suffer hardship. Mourning
is seen in verses 16 and 18. They are sorry for their iniquity. This group
parallels the experience of the righteous remnant at the close of time,
during the time of trouble da1201,
is2620,21.
17 - Hands ... feeble We may picture these as the ones who did not escape. See he1212. 18 - Baldness They may have shaved their heads. Compare is1501,02, je0729; 48:37; am0810. |
19 They shall cast their
silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and
their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels:
because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. |
19 - Cast their silver Material things seem precious until we are faced with eternal destiny. Nothing can buy the peace they have rejected. The lesson is for us, too. |
21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. | 21 - Pollute Jerusalem to be defiled. God is in control, He would allow the armies of Babylon to destroy the city. When His protecting face would be withdrawn, they would enter the temple. The secret place (literally, "the hidden place") is the Inner room in the sanctuary tent or temple. It is "the most holy place" where God's presence was shown. The people had ceased to trust God. Their temple and it's ceremonies were seen more as a good-luck charm instead of the picture of the Messiah who would heal them from their sins, and their "most holy place" would be defiled by the pagans. See je0703. |
22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. | 22 - Robbers Violent ones. ez1810. |
23 ¶ Make a chain: for
the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. |
23 - Chain The Hebrew word meaning is unclear but "chain" fits into the context. Jeremiah was told to make yokes je2702. The chains would imply captivity 2ki2507; je4001. |
.26
Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then
shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from
the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. |
27 - They shall know Compare ez0607. |
From summary notes by Robert K. McIver The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier, Ezekiel, 1997, Pacific Press |
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Verse
4
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The end of God's pity |
11,
13
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The end of secure market places |
17,
14
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The end of strength to resist the invader |
21
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The end of the value of wealth |
22
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The end of temple worship |
26
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The end of guidance |
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