7:1–4 The “four corners of the land” (v. 2) could equally well be translated “four corners of the earth” (Hb. ʾerets can have either signification), since the end of God’s people will be tantamount to the end of the world as they know it. The coming destruction will resemble the flood of Noah’s time, which was also an “end” (qets; Gen. 6:13) for all people. Earlier prophets pled with the people to repent and turn to the Lord, but now there is no longer any time for repentance; forgiveness is no longer possible for this generation. For this reason Ezekiel 7:3 and 7:8 both begin with “Now.” The final countdown has reached zero hour; the end has begun. This “end” for the “land of Israel”42 is no hasty or rash decision on the Lord’s part but is thoroughly deserved on the part of God’s people—the Lord is simply judging them according to their ways and on account of their abominations (v. 3). No one can claim this judgment is unfair, nor is there any chance of the Lord’s relenting from his fierce anger; he will show no mercy and have no pity on Israel (v. 4).

Unlike in earlier chapters, there is no mention in Ezekiel 7 of even a glimmer of hope for a remnant to survive the catastrophe. This time, when the Lord sends judgment against his own people, it will be a comprehensive and conclusive reckoning. Earlier prophets had already spoken of such a judgment day, which they called the “day of the Lord.” Although in some cases the day of the Lord was a time of reckoning for the nations oppressing God’s people (Isaiah 13; Obad. 13; Jer. 46:10), in others it was already seen as a day in which judgment would begin with God’s own people (Amos 5:18–20; Zeph. 1:7). The reckoning that Amos foresaw for the northern kingdom occurred in 722 BC; a similar catastrophe will now encompass Judah as well. Then, like the Egyptians, who came to experience God’s judgment at the time of the exodus, Israel too will know the Lord in a new way, not merely as the sovereign judge of all the earth but as its judge as well.

7:5–9 The second oracle further unpacks the opening words of the prophet: the end has come, a day of disaster rather than of rejoicing on the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 7:7). The word rendered “doom” in verse 7 is difficult and could also mean “leash” or “chain.”43 The day of the Lord will mean not freedom and release for Judah but bondage as the Lord pours out his wrath upon his people with neither pity nor mercy (v. 9). A new note is added when the prophet modifies his customary use of the recognition formula (“then you will know that I am the Lord”). In the wilderness, when the Lord turned the bitter water at Marah into healthy drinking water, Israel learned to know him as the Lord their healer (Hb. yhwh raphaʾ; Ex. 15:26); now, however, they will come to know him as the Lord who strikes them (yhwh makkeh) when he brings fitting judgment upon them for their evil ways.

7:10–11 The prophet uses an agricultural image to highlight the organic connection between Israel’s sin and punishment. The “end” (Hb. qets) is the time for harvesting ripe fruit (Gen. 4:3; Amos 8:1–2); now the appropriate harvest of Israel’s evil deeds has come upon it. In Numbers 17 Aaron’s rod that budded, blossomed, and bore fruit in a single day was a dramatic sign of God’s blessing upon his leadership; here, however, the blossoming rod of authority marks the day of God’s judgment on the wickedness and violence that Israel’s leaders have allowed to grow unchecked in their midst. Their wisdom, wealth, and status will not protect them from the brutal harvest of their actions on the impending day of doom (Ezek. 7:11).

7:12–27 The coming judgment is depicted in two parallel panels (vv. 12–18; 19–27; cf. table 4.1).

TABLE 4.1: Coming Judgment Depicted in Ezekiel 7

To begin with, the coming disaster will remove the value from commercial transactions. No longer will the buyer rejoice and the seller mourn over a particularly sharply negotiated purchase (v. 12). Since everything of value is about to be destroyed or looted by the Babylonians, there are no winners or losers in any deal. Neither will there be a jubilee celebration during the lifetime of the present generation, during which debts would have been forgiven and the seller might have regained ownership of his former property (v. 13). Silver and gold will completely lose their value, as their purchasing power will be lost—there will be nothing left to buy (v. 19). When everyone has nothing, there are no longer any rich and poor, owner and slave, master and servant. Indeed, the formerly precious metals will be regarded as worse than worthless—they will be seen as defiling, unclean things because they have been partly the cause of Judah’s calamity. The gold and silver have been a “stumbling block of their iniquity” (v. 19); that is, they are the objects over which Israel has tripped and fallen headlong into sin. Specifically, gold and silver are quite literally the material out of which the people have manufactured their abominable idols (v. 20) and thus are the material cause of this horrendous day of judgment for Judah.

War is on Israel’s doorstep, and with it come the associated terrors of sword, pestilence, and famine (v. 15; cf. 6:11). Everyone will be affected by this coming disaster; three times in these verses the prophet repeats the phrase “all their multitude” to describe those affected by this vision of God’s wrath, for all are implicated in the iniquity of the city (7:12, 13, 14). Anyone who goes outside the besieged city will be instantly cut down, while those who remain inside will face a slow and lingering death from disease or famine. Resistance is futile; any attempts to negotiate an honorable surrender will be rebuffed (v. 25). All the usual social structures that aid good decision making—prophetic vision, priests’ instruction from the law, wise counsel from the elders—will be cut off, leaving all elements of leadership (king, princes, and “people of the land”44) paralyzed by indecision and fear.

This depiction completely reverses the common themes of holy war, in which Israel’s enemies are so stricken by fear that they cannot fight against her (cf. Josh. 2:9) and the Lord gives them into Israel’s hand as plunder. Normally, the sound of the trumpet would signal the beginning of the victory march. In this case it is Israel who will be so overcome with fear that the people will lose control of their bodily functions (Ezek. 7:17);45 similarly, the sound of the trumpet finds no response from the soldiers. When the Lord protected Jerusalem, no enemy could assail her successfully, no matter how powerful (e.g., 2 Kings 18–19). But because the Lord has turned his face away from his people (Ezek. 7:22) and handed them over to the “wicked of the earth” (v. 21), no effective defense of Jerusalem is possible; even the Lord’s “treasured place” (v. 22)—the Jerusalem sanctuary, where he had set his name—will be turned over to robbers to despoil (v. 22). This is a fitting fate in view of Jeremiah’s earlier word that the Jerusalemites had themselves turned the temple into a “den of robbers” (Jer. 7:11) and that God would therefore destroy it, as he earlier destroyed Shiloh because of the sins of Eli’s sons (cf. 1 Samuel 3–4). In this case as well the overwhelming and comprehensive destruction coming upon Jerusalem and its sanctuary are simply a fitting fate for the people’s sin, both religious (idolatry; Ezek. 7:20) and moral (filling the land with bloodshed and violence; v. 23). The Lord will deal with them according to their ways and judge them with their own judgments.