Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 7

Verse 1

Eze 7:1. Moreover occurs frequently in the Authorized Version but seldom has any word in the original; whenever it does, it means “a repetition or continuance." It is a writer’s casual way of saying he has something more to say.

Verse 2

Eze 7:2. Land is from a word that means literally the soil, but the application is to the people who inhabit it. It is a common way of referring to a land or country when the writer really means the people. It is true that if physical damage should be brought upon the soil it would bo a misfortune to the people who depend on it for a living. To threaten an end to the land means the end of its pro-ductiveness for the inhabitants. Such a fate awaited the land of Israel, for it was to he taken over by a foreign nation. Four corners is a figure of speech meaning the entire area.

Verse 3

Eze 7:3. The antecedent of thee is "land" in the preceding verse. The application of the judgments upon Ihe land also is explained in that verse. Recompense . . . thine abominations means the land was to be treated according to the abominable practices that it had harbored or encouraged.

Verse 4

Eze 7:4. The immediate purpose of most of the judgments upon Israel was to convince them that I am- the Lord. The reason this was the outstanding issue was the national sin of Idolatry of which the people of God were guilty. If they are impressed with the fundamental fact that God is the only true One, the conclusion would be established that idolatry is wrong in every particular.

Verse 5

Eze 7:5. Only is from cciiad which Strong defines, "Properly united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first.” Evil does not mean moral wrong, but some kind of adversity. The verse means that one great calamity was at hand, which we are to understand was the destruction of Jerusalem and the complete subjugation of Judah.

Verse 6

Eze 7:6, It is come signifies the same thought as the preceding verse does; that the final downfall of the nation was about due.

Verse 7

Eze 7:7. Usually the word morning when used figuratively means something favorable; that a new day has come. But in the present case it is an unfavorable term because it signifies that the day of trouble had dawned. Sounding again is from one word and is defined "a shout” in Strong’s lexicon. The thought is that no shouts of joy will be heard on the mountains, for it is to be a lime of trouble.

Verse 8

Eze 7:8. Shortly pour out was a literal prediction, referring to the destruction of Jerusalem at the 3rd and final stage of the captivity.

Verse 9

Eze 7:9. Eye shall not . . . have pity sounds harsh, but it refers to the just penalty about to be imposed upon Judah in the loss of her capita! city. That which wiil make It just is the fact that it was called for by their ways of iniquity.

Verse 10

Eze 7:10. These terms are all used figuratively and denote the same thought as tiiat in ihe preceding verse; namely, the final overthrow of Jerusalem.

Verse 11

Eze 7:11. Rod means a ruling influence, and violence had become the ruling element in the nation. This was chiefly because the ruling or leading classes of men had become vio-lently corrupt in their practices.

Verse 12

Eze 7:12-13. Transactions In real estate will not be important, whether a buyer thinks he has obtained a bargain or a seller imagines he had to sell at a sacrifice. The foreign nation will have charge of the land and no deals will be of any iorce.

Verse 14

Eze 7:14. when a movement was about to be made in ancient times a trumpet was sounded as a signal to ail interested parties. (Jer 6:1.) The people in Jerusalem were theoretically ready to travel yet no one was disposed to face the foe. The wrath of God was very much In evidence by the presence of the invading army, or at least by indications that it would be present at any time. They would be forced to flee for refuge to places of safety among the mountains. Their mournful state is likened to that of a, dove whose characteristic cry is known to all. But the bewailing of the people of Judah was to be embittered by the knowledge that it was for their own sins.

Verse 15

Eze 7:15. The sword was that of the Babylonians that was to hem the city of Jerusalem by a siege. That would throw the inhabitants into the grip of famine which usually causes a pestilence because of undernourishment,

Verse 16

Eze 7:16. A number would be able to escape, both of those in the city and also of the ones scattered out over the open country. However, to escape the contact with the sword would not mean complete satisfaction.

Verse 17

Eze 7:17. This weakness would be the mental reaction from the distressful situation. It would be the sadness of defeatism and loss of morale.

Verse 18

Eze 7:18, This verse is another reminder of David'B prediction in Psalms 137.

Verse 19

Eze 7:19, When the people of Judah find themselves captured by the army of Babylon, they will realize that all of their wealth will avail them nothing. It will be impossible to buy their freedom and hence they might as well cast their money to the ground. The thing that caused the downfall of the people was the worship of idols, Many of them were made of silver and gold, hence they need not count on purchasing their deliverance with this corrupting material.

Verse 20

Eze 7:20. God had given his people one of the most beautiful temples ever possessed by any nation. The majesty of the Lord was in evidence all through the structure and the whole setup was adapted to the worship of the true God. But the people corrupted the holy building with the images of their abominations which they used in their practices of idolatry. Therefore . . . far from them. This beautiful building that had been blessed with the glory of the Lord was to be taken from them.

Verse 21

Eze 7:21. The temple was to be given into the hands of strangers (the Babylonians), and they shall pollute it (2Ki 25:9).

Verse 22

Eze 7:22. God was to turn his face away from his unfaithful people and the holy temple that He had placed among them. They (the Babylonians) would be suffered to enter t.he place where only high priests ever entered and that on only one day a year.

Verse 23

Eze 7:23. Make a chain was a prediction of the enslavement of the people by a foreign nation. It. would be as a punishment for the violence and other crimes committed in the land and city.

Verse 24

Eze 7:24. Worst of the heathen. The first word is defined in the lexicon as meaning bad either naturally or morally. Both phases of the meaning could properly be applied to the Babylonians, and they were the ones whom the Lord was bringing against his own people. Make pomp to cease refers to the proud leaders in Judah who were destined to be humiliated by the captivity.

Verse 25

Eze 7:25. When the Lord decrees a state of trouble for unfaithful servants, it is then too late to seek for peace or any opportunity of avoiding the chastisement.

Verse 26

Eze 7:26, In their time of trouble the people would gladly have received some Instruction and consolation from the teachers. It will be too late then, for even the priests and prophets had been corrupt, and God will not honor them with any vision.

Verse 27

Eze 7:27. The king and priests and prophets, also the people in general will all be rejected by the Lord because they all have conspired against Him. (See Jer 5:31.) All of this was to come upon the people according to their deserts.