Ezekiel 7:21

And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. I WILL GIVE IT INTO THE HANDS OF THE STRANGERS - barbarous and savage nations....

I have said that I do not approve of twisting these words to the sanctuary, as some interpreters do. Hence I do not doubt that the Prophet still speaks of the people. He changed indeed the number in the former verse, for at the beginning he had used the singular number: now he returns again to the singular number, and designates the people. _I will deliver it, _says he, _into the hand of strangers. _This was more severe than if they had been oppressed by any domestic tyranny: nor do I doubt that by strangers the Prophet signifies remote and barbarous nations, as we know that those with whom we have no communication are more savage against us. First, therefore, he says, _they shall be the slaves of strangers; _he adds, _the impious of the earth: _he means that their enemies should be so cruel and wicked, that no pity or equity was to be expected from them. The sum is, that God’s wrath wou...

16-22 Sooner or later, sin will cause sorrow; and those who will not repent of their sin, may justly be left to pine away in it. There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin; and the gaining the world is the losing of their souls. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. God's temple shall stand them in no stead. Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness, who will not be governed by its power....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 7:1 The absence of any fresh date, and the fact that it is simply tacked on to the previous chapter by the copulative conjunction, shows that what follows belongs to the same group. The use of the phrase, THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, shows, however, that there was an interval of silence, perhaps of meditation, followed by a fresh influx of inspiration; and, so far as we may judge from the more lyrical character of the chapter, a more intense emotion. EZEKIEL 7:2 AN END, etc. The iteration of the word once more gives emphasis. The words read like an echo of Amos 8:2. The FOUR CORNERS (Hebrew, "wings...

AND I WILL GIVE IT INTO THE HANDS OF THE STRANGERS FOR A PREY,.... The Babylonians, who lived in a foreign country, and were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel; the temple was suffered of the Lord to fall into their hands as a prey; who spoiled it of all its riches and glory, and carried away the vessels of gold, of silver, and of brass, and other valuable things; see Jeremiah 52:17; AND TO THE WICKED OF THE EARTH FOR A SPOIL; meaning the same persons, and the same thing, and the same use they should make of it; for not the wicked of the world in general are meant, but of the land, or this land; the land of Babylon, where the prophet was: AND THEY SHALL POLLUTE IT; by entering into it and spoiling it, by pillaging and burning it....

Ezekiel 7:1. This chapter closes the first great message of Ezekiel. This great judgment message is written in beautiful language, which, in the Authorized Version, is marred by numerous incorrect renderings. The reader will find a reliable metrical translation in our larger commentary on Ezekiel. First, the end is announced to come upon the entire land; it could no longer be averted. 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 Psalms 2:5. Then will they say to the mountains and rocks, “Fal

In the dread day of the siege, _when_ ruthless Babylonian hands would profane Yahweh's secret (or rather cherished) place, _i.e._ the Temple, famine would reign, and then not all their silver and gold, of which they had been so haughtily proud, could buy for them a bit of bread, nor could their gilt and silvered gods deliver them. Nor was it only the idolatry of their worship, but the violence, the cruelty, the injustice of their lives, their bloody crimes, that had brought this desecration upon the holy places. All the civil and religious leaders would be at their wits-' end, and, in the absence of true leadership the common people would be helpless. Then, when they are reaping the reward of their sin and folly, they shall know that I am Yahweh. (In Ezekiel 7:23 the words rendered make the chain are obscure and uncertain.)...

STRANGERS. foreigners. WICKED. lawless. Hebrew. _rasha',_ App-44. POLLUTE. profane....

Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols representing the siege of Jerusalem, the scarcity during it, the pollution of the people in exile among the nations, and the terrible fate of the inhabitants on the capture of the city. (3) Ch. Ezekiel 5:5-17. Exposition of these s

3. _The economic distress (7:19-22_) TRANSLATION (19) They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall become an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they shall not satisfy nor shall they fill their inward parts; because their iniquity has become a stumblingblock. (20) And as for their beautiful adornments, they appointed them for their pride; and they made the images of their abominations, their detestable things with it; therefore I have given it to them for an unclean thing. (21) And I will place it in the hand of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for booty; and they shall profane it. (22) And I shall turn My face from them, and they shall profane My secret place, and robbers shall come into it and they shall defile it. COMMENTS Worldly wealth would be worthless in that...