Visions of the Kingdom: Week 8

Ezekiel 7:1-13: The End has Come

• 7:2 "the LORD says" - in exquisite Hebrew poetry according to every language scholar.
  "the end has come" - the time for repentance is past
  "four corners of the land" - the entire land of Israel is judged, not just Jerusalem.
• 7:6 "panic on the mountains" - instead of the Baal and Ishtar "sex and religion" celebrations, the altars in the high places will be desecrated by their dead bodies as in 6:5.
• 7:8 "abominations" - disgusting acts.
• 7:9 "then you will know" - Judah had deluded itself that they were under God's protection. Finally, reality will hit them with a clue-bat, and they will see they are under God's judgement. A judgement warned of repeatedly.
• 7:10 "rod has budded" - a negative reference to Aaron's rod that budded. Numbers 17:8-10
• 7:11 violence has grown into a rod - the rod was Nebuchadnezzar. Their violent rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar and their sworn treaty bore its bitter fruit.
  "none..none..none of them..nothing" - repeats in the Hebrew as well. "nothing of value" - literally "no wailing" for its loss.
• 7:12 neither buyer nor seller will profit. There will be no upturn until the return. Everyone will suffer.
• 7:13 "the seller will not recover" - the year of Jubilee is canceled. But Jeremiah redeems a field as a token that land will once again be bought and sold when they return after 70 years. Jeremiah 32
  "will not be revoked" - there is no implied opportunity for repentance to avoid judgement, as with Ninevah. The end is come.