
Ezekiel 7:1-27
7:1-27 | The images of judgment in this chapter are harsh and frightening, but it is important to recognize that God only judges His rebellious people as their deeds deserve. They would reap the abominations they had sown (will be in your midst) and encounter the same violence they had committed against others.
7:2-3 | God had long before declared, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh” (Gen. 6:3). It was now Ezekiel’s uncomfortable task to profess that the end of God’s patience has come; the Lord would execute His promised wrath (Amos 8:2, 10).
7:12-15 | No longer would the people go about their business as usual. No longer could they do anything to stave off destruction – their judgment was already approaching from outside and resident within.
7:19 | In times of relative affluence, silver and gold seem to provide nearly everything needed to live the good life. But when divine judgment falls, such commodities become worthless – like refuse thrown into the streets (Prov. 11:4; Jer. 15:13; Zeph. 1:18). Judah’s account with heaven came due in 586 BC.
7:23-27 | Because Israel would not defile and remove the pagan altars and shrines int eh land, God would use Babylon, the worst of the Gentiles – a nation even more wicked than Israel – to do it and bring utter disaster on His people. The Babylonians would show no mercy. The chain that Ezekiel was told to make symbolized Israel’s upcoming captivity.
7:26 | Only when God’s wrath was vented on Judah would the people seek some word from a prophet or the law. But it would be too late – the time for repentance was past (1 Thess. 5:3).