Yet will I leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I shall have broken their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations, and they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. Thus saith the Lord God: Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine; thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate; yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 8-14).
The Lord promised that in mercy He would leave a remnant. That remnant would acknowledge the evil they had done. "They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations." This is the result of Jehovah's action towards themselves. The words "because I am broken with their whorish heart" are literally translated "when I shall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from me." No judgment which came upon God's peculiar people ever made a complete end of the nation. A remnant always remained and turned to the Lord. During the greatest and longest judgment which has ever befallen the people Israel, their world-wide dispersion in the present age, there is also a remnant amongst them (Romans xi:5). And when Jehovah resumes His dealings with them during the last seven years of the Times of the Gentiles, the time of their greatest trouble, a remnant will turn to Him and be converted. That remnant will be carried through the mighty judgments of the end time and receive the blessings and the glory of the promised kingdom.
Ezekiel was also commanded to smite with his hand and to stamp with his foot. Clapping the hands and stamping with the feet may denote exultation (chapter xxv:6). But here it is more an outward expression of the vehemence of the judgment. In chapter xxi:7 we read of the Lord smiting His hands. "I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest, I the Lord have said it." A repetition of the impending judgments forms the conclusion of this first message.
Chapter vii.
II. The second Judgment Message. The End is at Hand. The Complete Judgment.
The seventh chapter which contains the second judgment message, closes the first prophecy of Ezekiel. All the different elements and phases of judgment which had just been foretold by the Prophet are now gathered up in this final great utterance. As the chapter is written in a certain rythm and contains in the authorized version many incorrect renderings, we give a corrected metrical translation.
"And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou Son of Man, thus saith Jehovah unto the land of Israel:
An end cometh! The end
Upon the four corners of the land.
Now cometh the end upon thee
And I will send mine anger upon thee,
And I will judge thee according to thy ways;
And I will bring upon thee all thine abominations.
And mine eyes shall not spare thee,
Neither will I have pity;
Because I will bring thy ways upon thee
And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee:
And ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah!
An evil—an only evil!—behold it cometh.[8]
An end is come—the end is come!
It awaketh against thee. Behold it cometh!
O inhabitant of the land, thy doom is come unto thee
The set time is come, the day is near,
The day of tumult.
And not the joyous shouting upon the mountains;
Now will I soon pour out my fury upon thee
And accomplish mine anger against thee.
I will judge thee according to thy ways,
And will bring upon thee all thine abominations.
Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity.
According to thy ways will I render unto thee,
And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee,
And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, who smiteth (chapter vii:1-9).
This is the first section of this great and solemn portion of Ezekiel's prophecy. The end is announced to come upon the entire land. The set time for judgment had come, it could no longer be averted. How merciful had been Jehovah's dealing with His beloved people. "But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath" (Ps. lxxviii:38). But now the measure of their wickedness had come. The day of reckoning was at hand. Divine fury was to sweep now over the entire land. His eyes would no longer spare nor would He pity them any longer.
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 (Ps. ii:5). Then will they say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. vi:16-17). God's judgments for the future are as sure as were His judgments in the past. There is a set time, the day of the Lord, when He, to whom the Father has given all judgments, will tread "the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty" (Rev. xix:15).