PHIL HARRIS | Seeker of Truth |
Introduction
Prior to chapter six of Ezekiel, the primary focus of Ezekiel’s prophecy has been centered on Jerusalem and God’s temple. From now on the book of Ezekiel is directed to all of the Israelite people, especially all those who are in rebellion against God’s law. Contrasted to them, there are those who are called “the remnant”. When reading Scripture, ask yourself: who are God’s remnant people?
The purpose of this commentary is to generate, starting with myself, an understanding of the the book of Ezekiel. As I have been reading through this book, I have encountered certain passages that have demanded a closer look. As I progress through this commentary I will focus on selected passages that I will quote directly and address. Therefore, I encourage you to read and study from your own copy of Scripture in conjunction with reading this commentary so that you see these passages in their full context.
I Will Destroy Your High Places (Ezekiel 6:1-7)
“Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them”—Ezekiel 6:2
Yahweh is speaking to Ezekiel by referring to him as “son of man”. Ezekiel is to “direct his face toward the mountains of Israel saying; ‘Thus says God….I am going to bring a sword upon you and I am going to destroy your high places.”
In these first seven verses of chapter 6, God tells Ezekiel that He s going to judge and destroy Israel’s false worship. God is going to judge His idolatrous people and bring about violent conquest that will destroy their pagan worship sites and destroy the people and their dwellings. Their sin has reached the point that God is bringing about the destruction and exile that were the terms of the Mosaic covenant if Israel apostatized.
Jeremiah, a contemporary of Ezekiel, prophecies similarly:
And they built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it come upon My heart that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.—Jeremiah 32:35
While Ezekiel and Jeremiah were both confronting the idolatries of Judah, notice that Ezekiel’s message is directed to “mountains of Israel” which is language including all the people of the whole nation, not just those in the cities. Even though the northern kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed, this message was for any Israelites surviving in the remote regions of the north as well.
Notice also that the sin which finally brought God’s destruction and exile of them was the sin of offering their babies as living sacrifices to the fire of Molech, the god of child sacrifices.
Their evil altars and idols will be desolate, with their dead bodies and bones scattered among them. Cities will become waste. Verse seven ends with, “you will know that I am Yahweh.” Their punishment will reveal Yahweh’s righteous anger and His faithfulness to keep His own word. They can’t get away with apostasy.
A Remnant Will Be Saved (Ezekiel. 6:8-10)
“However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the lands. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been broken over their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves to their own faces for the evils which they have done, for all their abominations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh; I have not said in vain that I would do this calamitous evil against them.”’—Ezekiel 6:8–10
God is warning His people that He is about to exile them, and this exile should not surprise them. He told them (see Deuteronomy 29:22–28) that if they apostatized, He would exile them from their land—and now He warns that His word is about to come true.
Sword, Famine, Plague (Ezekiel 6:11-14)
“Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Strike your hands together, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague! He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and desecrated than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”—Ezekiel 6:11–14
God directly warns Israel that when He wrath against their sin descends, they will die three ways: by the sword, by famine, and by plagues. Their own dead will lie among their altars to their false gods. They will be killed in their acts of apostate worship—and they will know that Yahweh is God. They cannot hide from Him, and He is not turning a blind eye from them. He sees, knows, and keeps His own word.
Anger Is Upon Those Who Do Not Repent (Ezekiel 7:1-4)
For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will put your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am Yahweh!’—Ezekiel 7:4
The word ‘moreover’ in verse 1 indicates that this is another prophecy. Again Ezekiel is addressed as ‘son of man’. His role as prophet is that he is to deliver this message to both his immediate hearers and to those still in the land of Israel.
God’s message is that the evil they are doing is going to end, and Yahweh will have will have no pity for them. They will know they have been judged according to what they have been doing. All will know that their God is a holy God.
Your Doom Has Come Upon You (Ezekiel 7:5-9)
5 “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘A calamitous evil, a unique calamitous evil, behold, it is coming! 6 An end has come; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it is coming! 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near—confusion rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now it is near when I will pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you and judge you according to your ways and put on you all your abominations. 9 My eye will show no pity, nor will I spare. I will give to you according to your ways, while your abominations are among you; then you will know that I, Yahweh, do the striking.”
The day of God’s wrath is nearly upon the nation. They will know that their capture and their destruction is the consequence of their deliberate apostasy. They will know their suffering is the wrath of Yahweh directed toward their unrepentant sin against Him and against their own children and people. They will know their suffering is not merely a neighboring nation exercising superior strength. God Himself is disciplining them.
A Rod of Wickedness (Ezekiel 7:10-13)
‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has blossomed; arrogance has budded. Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of their moaning, nor anything eminent among them. The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer be glad nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. Indeed, the seller will not return to himself what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not return empty, nor will any of them strengthen his life by his iniquity.—Ezekiel 7:10–13
None of Israel will escape. All people, all professions will be exposed and captured. None will be spared because they seem to be higher class or wealthier. All God’s people are going to experience His judgment and destruction. They will not be Abe to bargain with the enemy or with God to escape their fate.
All Knees Will Become Like Water (Ezekiel 7:14-19)
“They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. The sword is outside, and the plague and the famine are inside. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also devour those in the city. Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each over his own iniquity. All hands will hang limp, and all knees will become like water. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an impure thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the fury of Yahweh. They cannot satisfy their soul, nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.
Those in the city and those in the country will experience the suffering of God’s wrath poured out on them. Those exposed in the fields will be killed by the enemy. Those hiding in houses will die by plagues sent by God and from famine, a lack of food that will be fatal. Their money will not be able to buy them what they need, including freedom. Their iniquity will have finally caught up with them, and God is bringing an end to their rebellion.
The Temple Profaned (Ezekiel 7:20–22)
They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an impure thing to them. I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.—Ezekiel 7:20–22
Because of His severe anger at Israel’s apostasy, Yahweh will turn His own temple over to the pagan enemies. They will plunder its gold and riches, and they will destroy it. God will allow His secret place of worship where He placed His own presence to be profaned. Israel will be without the worship He ordained for them.
The Unrepentant Will Know that “I AM” God (Eze. 7:23-27)
‘Make the chain, for the land is full of judgments that promote bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. Therefore, I will bring the most evil of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. Anguish has come, and they will seek peace, but there will be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and report will be added to report; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land will be dismayed. According to their way I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am Yahweh.’”
God will turn away from Israel. He will not respond when they turn to Him in desperation. They will lose His law—His word to them. They will be without His rule and His covenant stipulations. They will be taken far from their land, and God will allow them to suffer without His immediate presence or the comfort of His word to them. Even their king will be enslaved and humbled. God will judge Israel by their own judgments. He will deal with them according to their own rebellion and apostasy. They will be subject to foreign rulers and foreign people, and as disasters befall them, Yahweh will be silent.
And yet—in spite of the fact that all they know—their law, their culture, their national identity and civil rules, their worship of Yahweh—will be removed from them, they will know that this situation is from Him. In their suffering and destruction they will remember and know: Yahweh is their God. Even the unrepentant will know that Yahweh is their God.
God will remind them who they are and who He is as He pours out His wrath according to His covenant stipulations. †
—All references unless otherwise stated are taken from the LSB.
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