Chapter II: Part 2

The Prophet had been transported from the place mentioned in chapter i:1 to Tel-abib, which was also on the river Chebar. Here a number of captives dwelt. For seven days he sat in their presence astonished and did not open his lips. Was it their sad condition, or the knowledge of their rebellious spirit, or the threatening judgments which produced this silence? Most likely these things filled the Priest-Prophet with unspeakable sorrow and sadness, so that he could not find words. And the captives must have read the burden of his soul in his countenance. The scene reminds us of Job and his three friends, who "sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him, for they saw that his grief was very great" (Job ii:13). Job broke the silence by cursing his day. But the silence of Ezekiel's seven days was broken by the Lord Himself. He addressed the Prophet and told him that He had made him "a watchman unto the house of Israel." His duty and responsibility in that capacity was twofold; first to hear the Lord's Word from His own lips, then to give the warning from Him. Warning is the important call of a watchman (chapter xxxiii:2, 6, 7; Isaiah lii:8; lvi:10; Jer. vi:17). If the appointed watchman does not hear the Word as it comes from Jehovah, he cannot sound the alarm. The false prophets in Israel, who did not warn the people, but said, "Peace, peace!" when there was no peace, followed their own dreams instead of the Word. They did not believe the solemn messages God had given through former prophets. That was the curse among the professing people of God then. It produced a false security, decline and apostasy; it hastened the impending judgments of God. It is the curse to-day in the professing church. His Word is rejected. The solemn truths concerning "judgment to come" upon an ungodly age and apostate "church" are not heeded and mostly rejected. The man who sounds the warning and stands by the declarations of God's Word is as unpopular with the people to-day as Jeremiah and Ezekiel were in their days.

The Prophet was commissioned not to warn the nation as such, but to warn individuals. The wicked and the righteous are mentioned and the Prophet's responsibility in delivering the message. If he does not warn the wicked to turn from his wicked way to save his life, his blood will be required from his hands. If he is faithful and the wicked does not hear the warning, the wicked shall die, but the faithful messenger delivers his own soul. And so with the righteous, who turns from his righteous acts and commits iniquity. He is threatened with death; but if he sins not and is warned he shall live. After hearing the warning Word each is to bear the consequences of his own conduct. The nation as such was rebellious. Its doom could not be averted. Yet God in His long-suffering still gave the individual an opportunity to escape the threatening judgment, that by hearing the Word he might live. This gracious offer concerned the wicked. The righteous one in Israel, who obeyed the law and did acts of righteousness had to continue in obedience; if he failed in the midst of the great national crisis when judgment was about to fall, his former righteous deeds could not save his life. He also would be swept away and die in his sins. The first part of the third chapter reveals the hardened condition of the nation; there was no remedy. The second part reveals the possibility of the deliverance of all who harkened to the divine warning and turned from their evil ways.

The passage, as well as the corresponding one in chapter xxxiii:1-20, has been often used in the defence of what is termed "falling from Grace," that a true believer, who is saved by Grace, may by sinning become unsaved again and then perish in his sins like the wicked. The words "fallen from Grace" are found only once in the Bible, that is in Gal. v:4. The context shows what they mean. If a believer goes to the law to be justified before God, if he tries by his own works, and by ordinances, to be righteous before God, he abandons the ground of Grace. The dispensation in which we live is the dispensation of Grace; Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. v:21). The message delivered by God to Ezekiel is in fullest keeping with the character of the law-covenant, though Grace is also manifested in it. Righteousness has not the meaning here as in the New Testament. We are constituted righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. It is now not the question of doing righteous deeds in order to be saved and live. We are saved by Grace through faith. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned as of grace but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him, who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness" (Romans iv:4). And he who is justified by faith has peace with God. The true believer may sin, but he does not deliberately practice and live in sin, for "he that is born of God doth not commit (practice) sin" (1 John iii:9). If he falls in sin a gracious provision is made. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and therefore we can confess our sins; forgiveness and cleansing follow according to the divine promise (1 John i:9; ii:1-2).[3]

[3] The responsibility of Ezekiel in delivering the message was great. Every servant of the Lord Jesus Christ with a far greater message than Ezekiel's should also feel that responsibility. If it were felt more, there would be more earnestness, more prayer and greater results.

After this solemn charge the hand of the Lord rested upon Ezekiel and he was commanded to go into the plain, where Jehovah would talk with him. He obeyed and beheld again the Glory of the Lord, which he had seen by the river of Chebar. Once more he fell on his face. Then the Spirit entered into him and said unto him: "Go, shut thyself within thy house." He had no opportunity to exercise his office as watchman and deliver the warning message. Immediately after the charge he was commanded to separate himself from the captives and then became a prisoner in his house. But more than that. They were to put bands upon him and bind him with them.

Does this mean that the people would bind him so that he could not leave the house? It probably meant the opposite. He was to shut himself in the house and they came with bands and bound him, to get him out of the house by force. But he was not to go among them. Then God Himself made the Prophet dumb. "And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover, for they are a rebellious house (verses 25-26). First he was to be bound so that he could not go amongst them, and then God Himself would make him dumb so that he could not reprove the people. Different suggestions have been made about the meaning of the condition in which the Prophet was put. Some have even declared that there is a contradiction in all this, in view of verses 16-21, while rationalistic expositors think that the Prophet suffered from some nervous disorder which deprived him temporarily of the power of speech. That the Prophet was unfitted by God to go amongst the people and deliver the message in public was a testimony against the nation. They were beyond hope, therefore, on account of their rebelliousness; he was not to be a reprover to them. It witnessed to the fact that judgment upon the nation could not now be arrested. And yet his dumbness was not complete nor constant. The last verse of the chapter makes this clear. "But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; he that heareth let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house." Thus the Prophet was completely cast upon Jehovah. Jehovah directed him in being silent or in uttering His message. Blessed are all servants of the Lord, who know the same path of dependence and who declare the Word of the Lord, "Thus saith the Lord," whenever they speak.

The Prophet's mouth was opened completely and his power of speech permanently restored after Jerusalem had fallen. "And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth day, in the fifth day of the month, that all that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, the city is smitten. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, before he that escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb" (chapter xxxiii:21-22). This had been previously announced. "In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; and thou shalt be a sign unto them, and they shall know that I am the Lord" (chapter xxiv:27). Thus Ezekiel's dumbness was a sign to the nation; the sign of God's displeasure and the coming judgment upon Jerusalem.

THE FOUR SYMBOLICAL SIGNS.

Chapters iv and v.

The divine predictions of the impending doom for Jerusalem was not believed by the exiles. The messages of the false prophets who moved among them encouraged the rebellious spirit and therefore the threatened disaster was thought incredible by the captives. The mission of Ezekiel was to dispel the false hope of a speedy return to the land. After he had received his solemn commission and the message he was to deliver to the rebellious people, he is commanded to enact four signs, which were to teach the captives that which would speedily come upon their beloved city Jerusalem.

=I. The Sign of the Tile.= The first symbolical sign is that of the tile, which the Prophet was to use to picture the coming siege of Jerusalem.

Thou also, son of man, take thee a brick, and lay it before thee,
and portray upon it the city, Jerusalem; And lay siege against it,
and build forts against it, and cast a mound against it; set the
camps also against it, and set battering-rams against it round about.
Moreover take thou unto thee an iron plate, and set it for a wall of
iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it
shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall
be a sign to the house of Israel (verses 1-3).

The word translated "tile" means a brick. The Babylonians used clay bricks to keep their records; whole libraries consisting of a very large number of such bricks have been uncovered by the spade of the excavator. These bricks were almost square, fourteen by twelve inches. Many have been found which have engraven upon them various building plans and astrological figures. Such a brick Ezekiel was commanded to take and draw upon the soft clay surface a city, which was to represent Jerusalem. The second verse shows Jerusalem in the state of siege. The coming calamity was vividly pictured in this first sign. The Prophet was also to take an iron pan (literally: plate) and use it for a wall of iron between him and the city and set his face against it. In all this the Prophet was to show Jehovah's action against Jerusalem. He impersonated Jehovah in laying siege against it in marking the clay brick and raising the iron-plate between himself and the city. In connection with the latter sign we may well think of Isaiah lix:2: "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God." Thus in this first sign the certainty of the successful siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans was set forth in plain view of the captives. Yet they heard not and continued their foolish dreams and believed rather the false prophets. God has everywhere set forth in His Word coming judgments. Our age, so self-secure and boasting in many of its godless achievements, will end in a great judgment-catastrophe. Every portion of God's Word testifies of this fact. God will fulfil the prophecies of His servants the prophets. The past fulfilment of God's threatened judgments vouch for the literal fulfilment of those still future. Yet our blinded age (2 Cor. iv:4) heeds it not. More than ever they say, "Peace and safety," and ridicule God's message and God's messengers, who give a faithful warning.

=II. The Sign of the Prophet's Physical Position.= While in the first sign Jehovah's action against Jerusalem was pictured, in the next signs a portrayal is given of the punishments which should come upon the people. The Prophet's divinely commanded actions witnessed beforehand what should come upon the disobedient, rebellious nation. In his own person Ezekiel had to taste the great degradation and judgment which was about to become the portion of the people.

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house
of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou
shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid
upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of
the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear them,
lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity
of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie
again on the right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the
house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a
year. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of
Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt
prophesy against it. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and
thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another till thou hast
ended the days of thy siege (verses 4-8).

Expositors and critics have interpreted this and the other signs in various ways. Higher Criticism maintains that the whole description is purely ideal and that the Prophet never did in person what was asked of him. They point to the fact that nowhere is a statement made that he did these things. We quote from the "Expositor's Bible":

"It is clear that these signs could never have been enacted, either in view of the people or in solitude, as they are here described. It may be doubted whether the whole description is not purely ideal, representing a process which passed through the prophet's mind, or was suggested to him in the visionary state but never actually performed."

Other critics have tried to explain the Prophet's actions by some kind of a catalepsy, from which, they claim, he suffered. All these theories are pure inventions, springing from a denial of inspiration. They make much of the physical impossibility of this command to lie continuously for 390 days on the left side and for 40 days on the right side. But it does not say that the Prophet should be in that position day and night during that allotted time. The fact that he was to prepare food to eat during these days excludes this extreme view. The Prophet no doubt carried out the divine command as he understood it, and thereby gave the people a sign concerning their iniquity and the deserved punishment. But what do the 390 days of Israel and 40 days of Judah mean? The text shows that the days here mean years.[4] The 390 and 40 days make 430 days. This reminds us of Exodus xii:40-41, where the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt is given as 430 years. The 40 years of Judah recall the years of wandering in the wilderness. The 390 days apply to the period of Israel's unfaithfulness, which lead up to their punishment. These 390 years must be reckoned from Jeroboam, who was the first King of the house of Israel by divine appointment as revealed through Ahijah, the Prophet (1 Kings xi:31). The 40 years of Judah, for which Ezekiel was to lie upon his right side for 40 days must mean the 40 years of Solomon's reign. Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the vile goddess of the Zidonians. Judah worshipped besides Ashtoreth, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites and Milcom, the god of Ammon (1 Kings xi:33). Thus the captives were reminded by the Prophet's painful position of the shameful history of the long years of apostasy of their nation. But more than that. The Lord said expressly to Ezekiel: "I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity ... so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." By consulting other passages in the Old Testament, especially in Exodus and Leviticus,[5] it will be found that the phrase "bear their iniquity" always means to endure the punishment due to sin or iniquity. Ezekiel's sign therefore pictured the actual results in punishment, which was now to fall upon the people for their sins. The 390 years and the 40 years therefore must be primarily applied to the period of their punishment. The Prophet, therefore, had put upon him suffering typical of the nation's punishment. He is in this a blessed type of the great Sinbearer, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Of Him it is written, "He shall bear their iniquities." And the believing remnant of Israel in a future day, looking upon Him, whom they pierced, will yet confess "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah liii:5).

[4] Some have concluded on account of this passage, that throughout the prophetic word wherever "days" are mentioned, they mean "years." This is incorrect. The "year-day" theory is not a scriptural one. Where we find days, it means days unless the text itself, as it is here in Ezekiel, explains the days as years.

[5] Exod. xxviii:38-43; Lev. v:1, 17, vii:8, x:17, etc.

=III. The Sign of the Famine and the Defiled Bread.= The siege of Jerusalem had been portrayed in the tile sign; the hardships in divine judgments in the second and the third sign describes additional punishments to come upon Jerusalem.

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils,
and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee
bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt
lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat
thereof. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight,
twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall thou eat it. Thou
shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from
time to time shalt thou drink. And thou shalt eat it as barley
cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in
their sight. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of
Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will
drive them (verses 9-13).

Then the Priest-Prophet, horrified at the defilement he was to be subjected to, spoke to Jehovah and received an answer from Him granting his request and giving further instructions about the sign.

Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted:
for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which
dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable
flesh into my mouth. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee
cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread
therewith. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will
break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by
weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and
with astonishment: That they may want bread and water, and be
astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity
(verses 14-17).

This sign then shows the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and what was to come upon the people during the period of their punishment. The wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and fitches[6] were to be put into one vessel, because a little of each was available. To eat things by weight and not to be satisfied with it, was announced through Moses as one of the threatened judgments. "And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be satisfied" (Lev. xxvi:26). The sign meant famine as the Lord told Ezekiel (verse 16).

[6] Or spelt, a kind of corn.

Then uncleanness, defilement, is added. The famine stands connected with the siege, the defilement refers more to that, which was to come upon them in their captivity among the Gentiles. It pictured the unclean religious conditions into which the people were to be plunged during the exile. "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them." The same judgment was announced by Hosea. "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him; their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted" (Hosea ix:3-4). And Ezekiel baked the bread in the prescribed way, while no doubt, the captives looked on in horror, that a Priest like Ezekiel could act thus. The sign found its fulfillment. God's predicted judgments were always literally fulfilled. God means what He has declared in His Word. The future will yet witness to it.

IV. The Sign of the Shaving of the Head and the Face.

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's
razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then
take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt burn
with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of
the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite
about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the
wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. Thou shalt also take
thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of
them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them
in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house
of Israel (chapter v:1-4).

In this final sign we have the symbol of what was to befall the nation as such. Through the Prophet Isaiah a prediction had been given concerning the King of Assyria, which explains the meaning of the sharp knife. "In the same day shalt the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the King of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard" (Isa. vii:20). The sharp knife[7] represents in Ezekiel's sign the King of Babylon. He was Jehovah's instrument executing His wrath. The people are represented by the hairs. The sharp knife, the sword of justice, was to cut them off. The third part of the hair burned with fire pictured the fate of a part of the people during the siege. Besides the fire, the pestilence and the famine were to consume them (verse 12). Another part was to be destroyed by the sword round about Jerusalem, while still another part should be scattered unto all the winds, that is dispersed among the Gentiles, where the sword would also follow the fugitives. Only a few in number, a small remnant were to be preserved which was symbolically enacted when Ezekiel took a few hairs and bound them in his skirt. But even some of them should be put into the fire. Such a remnant, saved and preserved and ultimately blessed, is often mentioned in the prophetic Word. See Isaiah vi:13; x:22; Jere. xxiii:3; Ezek. vi:8; Zech. xiii:8-9. All these judgments came upon the city and upon the nation. A remnant also was saved and in due time returned.

[7] The literal meaning is sword, the same as in verse 12.

Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the
midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she
hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and
my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for
they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked
in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye multiplied
more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked
in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done
according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against
thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight
of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done,
and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine
abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst
of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute
judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into
all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely,
because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable
things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also
diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any
pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with
famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part
shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third
part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to
rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I,
the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my
fury in them. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among
the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass
by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I
shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious
rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken it. When I shall send upon them
the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and
which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine
upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon
you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and
pestilence and blood shall pass through thee: and I will bring the
sword upon thee. I, the Lord, have spoken it (verses 5-17).

After these few signs had announced to the captives what was to come upon the city and upon the people, Jehovah begins to speak. The solemn words we have quoted need but little comment. He speaks of Jerusalem's exalted place, her wickedness, which had become greater than that of the nations, her disobedience and her judgments. One must read the Lamentations of Jeremiah to find how all was fulfilled in the final overthrow of Jerusalem. Compare verse 10 with Lament. iv:10. How terrible are the judgments of a righteous and holy God! The calamity which fell upon Jerusalem and the land through the hands of Nebuchadnezzar was repeated on a more fearful scale in the year 70, after the greater One than Ezekiel, the Lord Jesus Christ, had given His solemn warnings and had wept over the city. And once more will Jerusalem taste of wrath and judgment in that end of the age, which is called the great tribulation. And after that the day-break, when Jerusalem will rise out of the dust and her history of shame and sorrow will be ended.

THE TWO JUDGMENT MESSAGES.

Chapter vi-vii.

Two judgment messages follow. Each message is a direct communication from Jehovah to the Prophet. "And the Word of the Lord came unto me." Both messages end in the same way: "And they shall know that I am the Lord." In the first message the judgment of the whole land is announced. The second message announces the completeness of the judgment. The predicted end is described with its accompanying perplexities and sufferings.

I. The Coming Judgment against the Mountains and the Land.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set they
face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, And
say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus
saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
rivers, and to the valleys, Behold I, even I, will bring a sword
upon you, and I will destroy your high places; and your altars shall
be desolate, and your images shall be broken; and I will cast down
your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcasses
of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter
your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling-places the
cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate;
that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols
may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your
works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of
you; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (chapter vi:1-7).

The denunciation against the mountains of Israel stands in the first place. Jerusalem was mostly in view in the preceding chapters, but now the Lord announces that the whole land is to become desolate through His wrath. The mountains of Israel's land were used as places for idolatry; they are called "the high places." Images and shrines were erected upon these heights where the vile and idolatrous worship of heathen gods was practiced. These images were idols dedicated to sun-worship. That Israel would become idolatrous had been revealed to Moses, who also announced the judgment which should ultimately fall upon Israel for their idolatry. "And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. And I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished. And I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste" (Lev. xxvi:30-33). This remarkable prophetic statement was made to Moses, who wrote it hundreds of years before. And now the time for its fulfillment had at last come. God in His patience had delayed the judgment, but when the time had come He remembered all that Moses heard from His lips and executed His own Word. A careful comparison of the passage in Leviticus with verses 3-6 of this chapter shows the literal fulfillment.

Yet will I leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape
the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the
countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the
nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I shall have
broken their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with
their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall
loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all
their abominations, and they shall know that I am the Lord, and that
I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. Thus
saith the Lord God: Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot,
and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel!
for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he
that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is
besieged shall die by the famine; thus will I accomplish my fury
upon them. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain
men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every
high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green
tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer
sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon
them, and make the land desolate; yea, more desolate than the
wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall
know that I am the Lord (verses 8-14).

The Lord promised that in mercy He would leave a remnant. That remnant would acknowledge the evil they had done. "They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations." This is the result of Jehovah's action towards themselves. The words "because I am broken with their whorish heart" are literally translated "when I shall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from me." No judgment which came upon God's peculiar people ever made a complete end of the nation. A remnant always remained and turned to the Lord. During the greatest and longest judgment which has ever befallen the people Israel, their world-wide dispersion in the present age, there is also a remnant amongst them (Romans xi:5). And when Jehovah resumes His dealings with them during the last seven years of the Times of the Gentiles, the time of their greatest trouble, a remnant will turn to Him and be converted. That remnant will be carried through the mighty judgments of the end time and receive the blessings and the glory of the promised kingdom.

Ezekiel was also commanded to smite with his hand and to stamp with his foot. Clapping the hands and stamping with the feet may denote exultation (chapter xxv:6). But here it is more an outward expression of the vehemence of the judgment. In chapter xxi:7 we read of the Lord smiting His hands. "I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest, I the Lord have said it." A repetition of the impending judgments forms the conclusion of this first message.

Chapter vii.

II. The second Judgment Message. The End is at Hand. The Complete Judgment.

The seventh chapter which contains the second judgment message, closes the first prophecy of Ezekiel. All the different elements and phases of judgment which had just been foretold by the Prophet are now gathered up in this final great utterance. As the chapter is written in a certain rythm and contains in the authorized version many incorrect renderings, we give a corrected metrical translation.

"And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou Son of Man,
thus saith Jehovah unto the land of Israel:

An end cometh! The end
Upon the four corners of the land.
Now cometh the end upon thee
And I will send mine anger upon thee,
And I will judge thee according to thy ways;
And I will bring upon thee all thine abominations.
And mine eyes shall not spare thee,
Neither will I have pity;
Because I will bring thy ways upon thee
And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee:
And ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah!
An evil--an only evil!--behold it cometh.[8]
An end is come--the end is come!
It awaketh against thee. Behold it cometh!
O inhabitant of the land, thy doom is come unto thee
The set time is come, the day is near,
The day of tumult.
And not the joyous shouting upon the mountains;
Now will I soon pour out my fury upon thee
And accomplish mine anger against thee.
I will judge thee according to thy ways,
And will bring upon thee all thine abominations.
Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity.
According to thy ways will I render unto thee,
And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee,
And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, who smiteth

(chapter vii:1-9).

[8] Another rendering is: "Calamity after calamity!"

This is the first section of this great and solemn portion of Ezekiel's prophecy. The end is announced to come upon the entire land. The set time for judgment had come, it could no longer be averted. How merciful had been Jehovah's dealing with His beloved people. "But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath" (Ps. lxxviii:38). But now the measure of their wickedness had come. The day of reckoning was at hand. Divine fury was to sweep now over the entire land. His eyes would no longer spare nor would He pity them any longer.

There is another day coming in which the Lord will deal in fearful judgments with this earth. Now is the day of salvation in which God speaks in love through His Son. When wickedness and apostasy has reached its climax, the day of salvation will end and "the day of vengeance of our God" will begin. Then He will speak in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure (Ps. ii:5). Then will they say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. vi:16-17). God's judgments for the future are as sure as were His judgments in the past. There is a set time, the day of the Lord, when He, to whom the Father has given all judgments, will tread "the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty" (Rev. xix:15).

Behold the Day! Behold it cometh!
Thy doom advanceth:
The rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness;
None of them shall remain; yea none of their multitude,
Nor their wealth; neither shall there be eminency among them.
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.
For the seller shall not return to that which is sold,
Even though he were yet amongst the living.
In the vision touching the whole multitude thereof
It shall not be revoked;
And none shall through his iniquity assure his life.
They have blown the trumpet and made all ready,
But none goeth to the battle;
For my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
The sword is without; the pestilence and the famine within;
He that is in the field shall die by the sword;
And he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
But they that escape of them shall escape,
And be as the mountains like moaning doves,
All of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
All hands shall be feeble, and every knee shall fail like water.
They shall gird themselves with sackcloth,
And horror shall cover them;
Shame shall be upon all faces, baldness upon all heads

(verses 10-18).

What a solemn description of the doom which was now to fall upon Jerusalem, the land and its inhabitants! The buyer and the seller as well as all the multitude were to be affected by it. The decree of judgment which had gone forth could not be revoked. The blowing of the trumpet, which is mentioned has generally been misunderstood by expositors. It is said to picture "the collapse of Judah's military preparations in the hour of danger, that when the siege of Jerusalem came, none responded." The blowing of the trumpets among Israel had a special significance. It carried with it the assurance that Jehovah heard and would be ready to fight for His people against their enemies. But as they knew their iniquities had separated them from God, His face being against them, none did go to the battle, for His wrath rested upon them all. Sword, pestilence and famine would devour them all and the few fugitives would be upon the mountains mourning over their iniquities. The rod mentioned which hath blossomed means Nebuchadnezzar, who executed this great judgment upon Jerusalem. The climax of the judgment prophecy is reached in the third part of the chapter.

They shall cast their silver in the streets,
And their gold shall be as an unclean thing;
Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them
In the day of Jehovah's wrath;
They cannot satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowls,
Because it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.
And the beauty of their ornaments, they turned it to pride,
And the images of their abominations, their detestable things made
they of it.
And I shall give it to the hands of strangers for a prey,
And to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.
For I will turn my face from them,
And they shall defile my secret place,
And robbers shall enter into it and profane it.
Form a chain,
For the land is full of bloody crimes,
And the city full of violence.
Therefore will I bring the worst of the nations,
And they shall possess their houses;
And I will make the pride of the mighty to cease,
And their sanctuaries shall be defiled.
Destruction cometh!
They shall seek peace, but there shall be none.
Calamity after calamity shall appear;
And rumour shall be upon rumour;
Then shall they seek a vision from a prophet;
But the law shall perish from the priest,
And counsel from the elders.
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with dismay,
And the hands of the people of the land shall tremble:
I will do unto them according to their way,
When I shall judge them according to their deserts;
And they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 19-27).

Here we learn first of all that the stumbling block of their iniquity (verse 19) was the silver and gold. Prophets like Isaiah, Amos and others bear witness to the fact that Jerusalem and the land enjoyed great prosperity and indulged in extravagant living before the judgment overtook the nation. Said Isaiah, "Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there an end of their treasures." In the third chapter of Isaiah the luxurious dress of the daughters of Zion is vividly described, while Amos also gives the scenes of their riotous, wanton living and emphasizes the oppression of the poor. Riches had increased and the prosperous conditions of the land produced vanity; they forgot Jehovah and worshipped the idols of the Gentiles. And now as the day of wrath breaks, their eyes would be opened and they were to find out the absolute worthlessness of their silver and gold. They would cast it into the streets, for it was unable to deliver them. Zephaniah, in his great vision of the national calamity which was to fall upon the people, gives a similar testimony. "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land" (Zeph. i:18).

The Holy Spirit bears witness in the New Testament that similar conditions will exist in Christendom during the end of the present age. "Men shall be lovers of their ownselves, lovers of money (covetous) and lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. iii:1-5). The conditions of worldliness, apostasy, prosperity and luxurious living which prevailed in Jerusalem before the hand of God stripped the people and the land characterize our times. This will go on, and will culminate after the Lord has taken His true church into glory. In view of the visible coming of the Lord to deal with the earth in judgment the Spirit of God through James addresses especially the rich men. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.... Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days" (James v:1-3).

The message of Ezekiel also announced that the Gentiles, the strangers, were to come and defile the temple. The chain mentioned refers to their condition as captives. Destruction was to come. There should be no peace; calamity was to follow calamity; according to what they had done a righteous God would deal with them. And thus it came to pass when Jerusalem fell and the people were taken away as captives.

VISIONS CONCERNING JERUSALEM.

Chapter viii.

With this chapter begins a new section. It contains a series of visions. The Prophet is shown first of all the awful abominations which were going on in the temple (chapter viii). Then the fact was made known to him that destruction would overtake all who were left in Jerusalem, except the sighing, faithful remnant, marked by the man with the inkhorn (chapter xi). This is followed by the vision of the coals of fire and the vision of glory (chapter x). The final vision in this section is the vision concerning the leaders of the people and the departure of the glory of the Lord (chapter xi).

These visions, which concern Jerusalem's history and condition in the days of Ezekiel, also foreshadow Jerusalem's future. There is a remarkable correspondence with events revealed in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. Another temple will be defiled by the abomination of the Anti-Christ during the coming great tribulation. Ezekiel saw an image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. There will be another image in Jerusalem on account of which judgment will come upon the unbelieving Jews (Rev. xiii:14-15). Then there will be a remnant sealed and preserved (Rev. vii) as it was in the time of Ezekiel. Coals of fire Ezekiel saw scattered over the city; it denoted an act of judgment. When the last chapter of Jerusalem's final trouble passeth into history, fire from the altar will be cast upon the earth (Rev. viii:5). But while Ezekiel saw the glory departing after these judgments, the glory will return to the city and to Israel's land, when the great tribulation is ended. Ezekiel's vision of abominations among Israel is first given.

I. The Vision of the Image of Jealousy.

And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the
fifth of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah
sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the
appearance of his loins, even downward; fire and from his loins even
upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the look of glowing
brass. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock
of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the
heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the
door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the
seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And,
behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the
vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man,
lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine
eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of
the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore
unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great
abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, and I should
go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou
shalt see greater abominations (verses 1-6).

It was over a year after his first vision (i:1) when Ezekiel sat in his house surrounded by the elders of Judah. Perhaps they had come expecting some new communication from the prophet. Suddenly the hand of the Lord fell again upon him. He beheld once more the glorious likeness of Him who was the center of the first vision of glory.[9] The hand of the Lord took the prophet by a lock of hair and the Spirit lifted him between the earth and the heaven and he was brought in the visions of God to Jerusalem. Was this a real experience? Critics speak of a trance, that the prophet was some kind of a psychic with the gift of clairvoyancy. It was not a trance-vision, but an action by the Spirit and power of the Lord. Elijah must have had frequently the same experience, for Obadiah said to him: "And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not" (1 Kings xviii:12). And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha after Elijah departed: "The Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley" (2 Kings ii:16). The Spirit of the Lord also caught away Philip (Acts viii:39).

[9] The word "fire" is in the Septuagint (ancient Greek Version of the Old Testament) translated "man" so that it reads "the appearance of a man." There is a similarity between the Hebrew words for "man" and "fire." Fire is "esh" and man "ish." Compare with chapter i:26, 17.

In the visions of God Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate that looketh to the north. Here was the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. Some have taken this and the following visions to be retrospective. It has been said, "It was as if he were translated back to Jerusalem, and to the time when these things were occurring." Such is the view of some critics; however, it is untenable. These visions would lose their meaning if the prophet only seemed to be translated back to Jerusalem and to the time when these abominations had happened in Israel's past history. Later we find the names of persons given, whom he saw. They certainly were living persons known to Ezekiel and his contemporaries. One of them died while Ezekiel prophesied (xi:13).

What was the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy? It was an idol. The word is used in Deut. iv:16, where it is translated "graven image." It is also found in 2 Chronicles xxxiii:7, 15, where it refers to the idol, which Manasseh had made and put up in the temple.

After Manasseh's idolatry came Josiah's great reformation. After his death Judah plunged into greater wickedness under the reign of wicked kings and a revival of idolatry followed once more. Such a wrath provoking idol was beheld by the prophet. This image they worshipped. "Son of man, seest thou what they do?" They must have lain prostrate before that idol. And yet the glory of the God of Israel was still there. He had not yet abandoned the place. Idolatry will once more be practiced in Jerusalem. Our Lord speaks of it prophetically in Matthew xii:43-45. The unclean spirit is idolatry. The Jewish people are now purged from it. At some future time that spirit will return with seven others. "And the last state of that man is worse than the first." Then our Lord applied the parable: "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation" (literally: race). During the reign of the final Anti-Christ, idolatry in its worst form will be instituted once more in Jerusalem (2 Thess. ii:3-4; Rev. xiii:11-18).

II. The Worship of Creeping and Abominable Beasts.