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7:14 '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. |
Young's
Literal: They have
blown with a trumpet to prepare the whole, And none is going to battle, For
My wrath is unto all its multitude.
GWT:
They have blown a ram's horn, and everything is ready. But no one will go
into battle, because my fury is against their whole crowd.
WBC:
They have blown on the bugle and made everything ready; but nobody
goes into battle. |
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THEY HAVE BLOWN THE
TRUMPET AND MADE EVERYTHING READY, BUT NO ONE IS GOING TO THE
BATTLE:
(Jer 4:5;
6:1;
51:27) "The trumpets call Israel's army to mobilize, but no one listens, for my
fury is against them all" (NLT) "The trumpet signals the call to
battle:“ Present arms!” But no one marches into battle!" (Message)
No one to muster to defend Jerusalem is a far cry from the promise of "you
will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword"
(Lev26:7). "How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to
flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?"
(Dt
32:30)
How different was Israel's approach now compared to when godly kings like
Asa led them for Scripture records that "Asa called to the LORD his God,
and said, "LORD, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between
the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for
we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O LORD,
Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee." (2Chr14:11)
The outcome? "So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before
Judah, and the Ethiopians fled." (2Chr14:12)
Jerusalem's military impotence was a direct consequence of her
rejection of her true King and Commander in Chief. If one rejects Him enough, He will let us have what we desire!
Craigie comments that Judah's "response
to coming judgment brings out its roots. The spontaneous reaction to threat
was to turn to that old standby, the army; that reaction, rooted in a long
history of self-confidence, and lack of confidence in God, illustrated one
of the reasons why judgment was coming. If they consistently refused to
depend upon God, then the ruin of judgment would illustrate the folly of
depending on any one else. Only when this overweening self-confidence had
been demolished might it be possible to plant the seed once again of the
true source in which all human confidence must be placed."
FOR
MY WRATH IS AGAINST ALL THEIR MULTITUDE:(11;
Isa24:1-7)
"My wrath has them paralyzed!" (Message)
"Against all their multitude" Jeremiah emphasizes the thoroughness recording
God's declaration " I am full of the wrath of the LORD: I am weary with
holding it in. "Pour it out on the children in the street, And on the
gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken,
The aged and the very old." (Jer 6:11)
And again "thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My anger and My wrath will be
poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of the field
and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched." (Jer7:20),
adding that "On all the bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have
come, For a sword of the LORD is devouring From one end of the land even to
the other; There is no peace for anyone." (Jer
12:12)
In the past, when an enemy had threatened the land, the army had been
mustered and the danger averted. Here Ezekiel says that faced with a
new threat, the people would blow the trumpet once again. What they had
forgotten that "The LORD is a warrior. The LORD is His name." (Ex15:3).
Now not only was the Lord not for them, but He was actually against them!
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7:15 'The
sword is
outside and the
plague and the
famine are
within. He
who is in the
field will
die by the
sword;
famine and the
plague will also
consume those in the
city |
Young's
Literal: The sword is
without, And the pestilence and the famine within, He who is in a field by
sword dieth, And he who is in a city, Famine and pestilence devour him.
GWT:
"Outside are swords, and inside are plagues and famines. Whoever is in a
field will die in battle. Whoever is in the city will be devoured by famines
and plagues.
WBC:
Outside lurks the sword; inside, plague and famine. Whoever is in the
country will die by the sword, and whoever is in the capital will be
devoured by famine and plague. |
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THE SWORD IS OUTSIDE AND THE
PLAGUE AND THE FAMINE ARE WITHIN HE WHO IS IN THE FIELD WILL DIE BY THE
SWORD; FAMINE AND THE PLAGUE WILL ALSO CONSUME THOSE IN THE CITY:
(Jer14:18;
15:2,3;
La1:20)
Earlier God had prophesied that "One
third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one
third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to
every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them." (5:12)
So God repeats the curses for
disobedience in Deuteronomy where He warned Israel "I will heap
misfortunes on them; I will use My arrows on them. They shall be wasted by
famine, and consumed by plague And bitter destruction; and the teeth of
beasts I will send upon them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust.
Outside the sword shall bereave, and inside terror-- Both young man and
virgin, the nursling with the man of gray hair." (Dt 32:23-25) |
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7:16 'Even when their
survivors
escape, they will be on the
mountains like
doves of the
valleys,
all of them
mourning,
each over his own
iniquity. |
Young's
Literal: And escaped
away have their fugitives, And they have been on the mountains As doves of
the valleys, All of them make a noising -- each for his iniquity.
GWT:
Those who survive will escape to the mountains. They will moan like doves in
the valleys. They will moan because of their sins.
WBC:
If any escape and stay in the mountains, they will all be put to death
because of the iniquity each has done. |
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EVEN WHEN THEIR SURVIVORS ESCAPE, THEY WILL BE ON THE MOUNTAINS LIKE DOVES
OF THE VALLEYS, ALL OF THEM MOURNING, EACH OVER HIS OWN INIQUITY:
(6:8;
Ezra 9:15;
Is 1:9;
37:31;
Jer44:14,28)
(6:9;
Is 38:14;
59:11) (36:31;
Proverbs 5:11-14;
Jer
31:9,18,19;
50:4,5; Zec
12:10-14) |
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7:17 'All
hands will
hang
limp and
all
knees will
become like
water. |
Young's
Literal: All the hands
are feeble, and all knees go -- waters.
GWT:
Every hand will hang limp, and every knee will be as weak as water.
WBC:
Every hand will hang limp, and every knee will be wet with urine. |
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ALL HANDS WILL HANG LIMP AND ALL
KNEES WILL BECOME LIKE WATER:
(21:7;
Isa13:7,8;
Jer 6:24;
Heb 12:12) "Every
hand hangs limp, every knee turns to rubber." (Message)
“Limp” hands describe a complete paralysis of strength
induced by overwhelming fear for one's life, which makes them totally unable to resist the invading army.
"Knees
will become like water"
is more literally "all knees will run with water" and as the WBC translates
it, this in fact indicates that "every knee will be wet with urine"!
The Greek Septuagint translation similarly has "all thighs shall be
defiled with moisture". So frightened are the people, that they cannot
control themselves. They are like the very young or the very elderly. |
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7:18 'They will
gird themselves with
sackcloth and
shuddering will
overwhelm them; and
shame will be on
all
faces and
baldness on
all their
heads. |
Young's
Literal: And they have
girded on sackcloth, And covered them hath trembling, And unto all faces is
shame, And on all their heads -- baldness.
GWT:
They will put on sackcloth, and horror will cover them. All their faces will
be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved.
WBC:
They will tie sackcloth round their waists and will be seized by shuddering,
while every face will be covered with shame and every head shaved bare. |
THEY WILL GIRD THEMSELVES WITH SACKCLOTH AND SHUDDERING WILL OVERWHELM THEM:
(Isa 3:24;
15:2,3;
Jer48:37;
Am 8:10)(Ge
15:12; Job 21:6;
Ps 35:26;
55:4,5;
Je 3:25;
Rev 6:15-17)
"They dress in rough burlap—sorry scarecrows, Shifty" (Message)
"Gird...with
sackcloth"
is ostensibly a custom reflecting mourning because of loss and humiliation.
Sackcloth chaffed the skin, it also served as a continual reminder of the
pain of loss.
"Shuddering"
refers a state of such severe distress (fear, horror, terror) so great as to
cause one to quiver, shiver or shudder (tremble convulsively) involuntary.
As an aside the NT teaches that "the demons also believe, and shudder"
(Js2:19)
most likely this shuddering incited by the thought of
impending judgment (cf
Mt 8:29).
AND SHAME WILL BE ON ALL FACES AND BALDNESS ON ALL THEIR HEADS:
These were not signs of mourning that resulted from true repentance,
however, but mourning over the catastrophe of destruction and the resulting
famine and plague. The people were not sorry for their sin so much as they
were sorry they had "gotten caught" and were having to cope with the
discomforts and horrors of the invasion. |
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7:19 'They will
fling their
silver into the
streets and their
gold will
become an
abhorrent
thing; their
silver and their
gold will not be
able to
deliver them in the
day of the
wrath of the
LORD. They
cannot
satisfy their
appetite
nor can they
fill their
stomachs, for their
iniquity has
become an
occasion of
stumbling. |
Young's
Literal: Their silver
into out-places they cast, And their gold impurity becometh. Their silver
and their gold is not able to deliver them, In a day of the wrath of
Jehovah, Their soul they do not satisfy, And their bowels they do not fill,
For the stumbling-block of their iniquity it hath been.
GWT
They will throw their silver and gold into the streets like garbage. Their
silver and gold won't be able to rescue them on the day of the Lord's anger.
It will no longer satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs. Their silver
and gold caused them to fall into sin.
WBC:
“Their silver they will throw out into the streets, and their gold will be
treated as something unclean. They will not use it to satisfy their
appetites and to fill their stomachs, because it has caused them to fall
into iniquity. |
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THEY WILL FLING THEIR SILVER
INTO THE STREETS AND THEIR GOLD WILL BECOME AN ABHORRENT THING:
(2 Ki7:7,8,15;
Pr11:4;
Is2:20;
30:22;
Zeph 1:18;
Mt16:26) (Job
20:12-23; Ps
78:30,31;
Eccl5:10; Is
55:2;
Lu12:19,20) "They throw their money into the gutters. Their
hard-earned cash stinks like garbage" (Message)
Ezekiel shows that the love of money is the root of all evil. Silver and
gold led to jewelry and jewelry led to idols. Paul warned young Timothy that
"those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many
foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For
the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang."
(1Ti6:9,
6:10)
THEIR SILVER
AND THEIR GOLD WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DELIVER THEM IN THE DAY OF THE WRATH OF
THE LORD:
"They
find that it won’t buy a thing they either want or need on Judgment Day.
They tripped on money and fell into sin." (Message)
Many of the inhabitants had lived for
wealth so long that material gain had become an obsession to them. Yet in
the judgment these riches would mean nothing. Idolatry, wickedness, and
materialism had robbed them of everything and led them into judgment. Money
would be thrown away like something sexually unclean.
"The second element of the destruction of the nation focused on their
useless material resources. The silver and gold was worthless for averting
judgment (v. 19). This was a sobering reality for a materialistic
society. When the invading armies came to the villages and towns, their
silver and gold would be abandoned like an unclean object, thus signifying
the repulsiveness of materialism." (Cooper, L. E. Vol.
17: Ezekiel. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers)
THEY CANNOT SATISFY THEIR APPETITE NOR CAN THEY FILL THEIR STOMACHS, FOR
THEIR INIQUITY HAS BECOME AN OCCASION OF STUMBLING:
(14:3,4,7;
44:12;
Ro11:) "They
find that it won’t buy a thing they either want or need on Judgment Day.
They tripped on money and fell into sin." (Message)
Craigie points
out "The symbolism of this denunciation of the security of wealth is no
less powerful today than it was in Ezekiel’s time. There are many forms of
money in our world, some of which are even labeled “securities”. But, in
times of international crisis, it is usually the price of gold that goes up
first in the world markets. It is somehow the most enduring symbol of
security. But Ezekiel’s point is not to criticize wealth as such; rather it
is a matter of perspective. If there is no food to buy, silver will not
satisfy hunger; if a sword is penetrating your abdomen, gold will lose its
offer of security. It is dependence on wealth that is condemned, and the
delusion of money’s security that is shattered." |
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7:20 '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
abhorrent
thing to them. |
Young's
Literal: As to the
beauty of his ornament, For excellency He set it, And the images of their
abominations, Their detestable things -- they made in it, Therefore I have
given it to them for impurity,
GWT:
They were proud of their beautiful jewels and used them to make disgusting
and detestable statues <of false gods>. That is why I will make their jewels
disgusting.
WBC:
They turned its beautiful ornaments into objects of pride and made
their shocking images out of it: that is why I will turn it into
something unclean for them. |
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THEY
TRANSFORMED THE BEAUTY OF HIS ORNAMENTS INTO PRIDE:
(24:21;
1 Chronicles
29:1,2;
2 Chronicles 2:9;
3:1-17;
Ezra 3:12;
Psalms 48:2;
50:2;
87:2,3;
Isaiah 64:11;
Haggai 2:) "Proud
and pretentious with their jewels." (Message)
"Pride"
(Used
9x in Ezekiel)
AND THEY MADE THE IMAGES
OF THEIR ABOMINATIONS AND THEIR DETESTABLE THINGS WITH IT:
(5:11;
8:7-10,15,16;
2 Kings 21:4,7;
23:11,12;
2 Chronicles
33:4-7; 36:14;
Jeremiah 7:30)
"they deck out their vile and vulgar no-gods in finery." (Message)
THEREFORE I
WILL MAKE IT AN ABHORRENT THING TO THEM:
(22;
9:7;
24:21;
Jeremiah 7:14;
Lamentations 1:10;
2:1,7) "I’ll
make those god-obscenities a stench in their nostrils." (Message) |
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7:21 '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. |
Young's
Literal: And I have
given it into the hand of the strangers for a prey, And to the wicked of the
land for a spoil, And they have polluted it.
GWT:
I will hand their jewels over to foreigners as loot and to the most evil
people on earth as prizes. These foreigners will dishonor the people of
Israel.
WBC:
T I will hand it over to foreigners as loot, as booty to the wickedest
people on earth, who will desecrate it. |
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:
(2 Kings
24:13;
25:9,13-16;
2 Chronicles 36:18,19;
Psalms 74:2-8;
79:1;
Jeremiah
52:13-23)
"I’ll give away their religious junk— strangers will pick it up for free,
the godless spit on it and make jokes" (Message)
Personal jewelry that was once given to adorn the tabernacle and the temple
was being used to beautify pagan shrines. This wealth would be given to
foreigners, a reference to the invading army who would take it as spoils of
war. |
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7:22 'I will also
turn My
face from them, and they will
profane My
secret
place; then
robbers will
enter and
profane it |
Young's
Literal: And I have
turned My face from them, And they have polluted My hidden place, Yea, come
into it have destroyers, and polluted it.
GWT:
I will turn my face away from the people of Israel, and foreigners will
dishonor my treasured place. Robbers will go in and dishonor it.
WBC:
I will avert my gaze from them, while they desecrate my treasury:vandals
will enter it and desecrate it, |
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I WILL ALSO TURN MY FACE FROM THEM:
(Psalms 10:11;
35:22;
74:10,11,18-23;
Jeremiah 18:1)
"I’ll turn my face so I won’t have to look" (Message)
This
would be an incredible statement to the exiles because Jehovah had chosen
Jerusalem as His dwelling and had miraculously fought on behalf of the city
in the past (2 Ki18; 19; 2 Chr 32; Isa 36:37) and thus Judah had come to
accept the notion that the city could not be "touched" or utterly defeated
by the pagan nations.
AND THEY WILL PROFANE MY SECRET PLACE THEN ROBBERS WILL ENTER
AND PROFANE IT:
"my
treasured place and people are violated, As violent strangers walk in and
desecrate place and people." (Message)
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