Ezekiel 7 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 7 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• Ezekiel chapter 4 accounted for 430 days, which moves the events of this chapter to around 591 BC, 5 years before the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY

• Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel has a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.

• Ezekiel 2 – God commissions Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.

• Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel eats the scroll of God’s words, and God calls him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.

• Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.

OUTLINE:

• THE END HAS COME (7:1-27):

  • The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel announcing the day of God’s judgement on Judah.

  • The end had come for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. God was going to send His anger against them and punish them for their abominations.

  • God would have no pity on them. He said, “Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes” (7:6).

  • When Judah’s doom came upon them, they would know that it was God who humiliated them.

  • Their pride would be cut down, their wealth taken, and their wickedness cut off.

  • Those who sold land would not have time to rejoice in their earnings. Those who bought land would never live to profit from it.

  • The people of Judah were greedy, covetous, and lovers of money, but their money would not save them when God decided to bring them to ruin within the walls of Jerusalem.

  • Sackcloth and horror would be their clothing, and shame would cover their faces.

  • They had profaned God’s Temple (“ornament, 7:20) with idols and immorality, and God was going to pay them back!

  • God was going to give them over to foreigners to do with them as they pleased.

  • The foreigners would seize their land, destroy their sacred places, and kill many of them.  

  • God told the people of Judah to “forge a chain” because those who survived the horrors were going to be chained together and hauled away as captives.

  • God said, “According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgements I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord” (7:27).  

APPLICATION:

• Many of the people in Judah may not have been gross sinners committing heinous sins, but there was definitely a level of apathy in the country when it came to the knowledge and obedience of God.

• From this chapter and many like it, we learn that apathy towards God is taken very seriously by God and is itself a serious sin.

• Human beings are expected to pursue the knowledge of God and a lifestyle in alignment with His words.

• Choosing to live a life with no consideration for God is a disrespect to the Creator and foolishly shallow way to live.

• Someone who is living in spiritual apathy is a self-centered person who isn’t seriously considering the implications of the creation in which they live.

• Not giving thought to God is not an intelligent or safe way to live as we’ve seen in the Book of Jeremiah and are currently seeing in the Book of Ezekiel.