When we choose to stand with God, He shows us how to draw closer to Him. Sometimes, that requires facing our sins and shortcomings and seeking God.
When we see doom and judgment visited on a fallen, broken world, we can focus on God and His Word to better understand the true nature of the situation.
“Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sin” (Ezekiel 7:15-16 NIV).
All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads” (Ezekiel 7:17-18, NASB 1995).
- The remnant (those who survived) fled to the mountains.
- They escaped safely from danger.
- Moaning is compared to a dove’s call, which some describe as peaceful or mournful.
- They moaned out of their suffering due to sin—evil ways resulting in guilt and punishment.
- Mourning and grief sapped their strength and energy.
- They shuddered in response to fear and the terror of God’s wrath: sword, famine, plague.
- They experienced shame in the revealing of the depths of their sin.
- They put on sackcloth and shave their heads, an outward display of their inward grief and shame.
Contrast their experience with that of David’s psalm.
“To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy…
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever” (Psalm 30:8, 10-12).
*How is our sin revealed?
*How does our sin sap our strength and cause us to mourn and grieve?
*What happens when we apply David’s words to our situation?
It’s as if the Israelites believed they could cast their sin far away and thereby stand innocent.
“They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin” (Ezekiel 7:19).
- They threw away their silver and considered their gold unclean.
- All their wealth could not save them from God’s wrath—His overflowing anger and fury.
- Normally we would think silver and gold could save people from famine, since it can buy food.
- If there is no food available, money is useless.
- In this verse, Ezekiel didn’t specifically state they used their silver and gold to create idols, but we know they participated in idol worship.
- Even more, their silver and gold were unclean, because it led to their sin—not only in deed, but in corrupt moral character.
Jeremiah described a similar scene:
“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” Therefore this is what the Lord says:… Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths” (Jeremiah 18:11-12, 15).
*Why do people believe they can simply cast away their sin and then stand innocent?
*What does God require in order to declare us clean from sin?
*What does it mean to reform our ways?
*How does God satisfy our hungry souls?
“They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it” (Ezekiel 7:20-21).
- Not only did they use silver and gold for unclean practices, but also the people sacrificed items of personal value—their jewelry—for detestable idols.
- The idols were detestable, blasphemous objects against God’s holy law.
- Their actions had an evil purpose.
- The Lord said He would turn everything they valued (silver, gold, jewelry, images) into something unclean.
- God gave their wealth to foreigners and wicked people as plunder.
- Wicked criminals would take the Israelites’ treasure by force and violence.
- Israel’s enemies would profane what they considered sacred.
*Why do people often think wealth can save them from God’s judgment and punishment?
*How do people today sacrifice items of personal value to worship idols?
*What kinds of actions have evil purposes?
“I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it” (Ezekiel 7:22).
Three things would happen:
- In His wrath, God turned His face away. The way I read this, He didn’t want to watch the desecration of His treasured place, the temple and the promised land.
- Foreigners and the wicked would desecrate God’s holy place.
- Thieves would enter God’s secret place, the Holy of Holies in the temple, and profane what was sacred—set aside for the Lord
- God’s treasured place was where His presence dwelt among Israel.
This reminds me of what we learned reading Ezekiel’s first vision. Here’s the clip:
- “The biblical authors describe cherubim as formidable creatures who rest at the throne of God’s presence and relentlessly guard his sacred space.”1
- They remind us “that entering into a place of true, everlasting life is not something humans can achieve apart from God.”1
For any remnant who remained true to the Lord, that God would allow such defilement of His holy place would be as awful as their own punishment.
*Who do you believe God turned His face away from in these verses? Why?
*How do you envision Israel’s enemies profaned God’s holy place?
*What does God promise when we stand before Him in earnest repentance for sin?
- Cheree Hayes & BibleProject Team. “What Does the Bible Say about Angels and Cherubim?: Understanding These Mysterious Beings and Why They Matter.” BibleProject. December 8, 2022. https://bibleproject.com/articles/what-does-the-bible-say-about-angels-and-cherubim/