How does Ezekiel 7:6 emphasize the certainty of God's judgment on sin? Setting the Scene in Ezekiel 7 - Ezekiel 7 is God’s final warning to Judah just before the Babylonian invasion. - The prophet announces that judgment is not merely looming—it is upon them. The Repetition That Underscores Certainty - “An end has come; the end has come!” – duplication drives the point home. - Hebrew prophets often repeat a phrase to fix it in the listener’s mind (cf. Genesis 41:32). - God leaves no room for doubt: the end is definite, not hypothetical. Past-Tense Language: Judgment as Already Settled - “Has come” appears three times in one verse. - Though the invasion is still future in real time, God speaks as if it is already accomplished. - This prophetic perfect tense shows that once God decrees judgment, it is irrevocable (Numbers 23:19). Personification of Judgment - “It has awakened against you” pictures judgment as a living force roused from sleep. - The image conveys inevitability: once awakened, it will not be put back to sleep (Isaiah 34:8). “Behold” — A Wake-Up Call - “Behold, it has come!” functions like a divine alarm clock. - The word forces hearers to look, see, and acknowledge the reality they would rather ignore (Jeremiah 23:19). Other Passages Echoing the Same Truth - Genesis 6:13 — “The end of all living creatures has come before Me…” - Isaiah 13:6 — “Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” - Romans 2:5 — storing up wrath for the day of judgment. - 2 Peter 3:7 — present heavens and earth “reserved for fire.” - Together they affirm God’s consistency: sin always meets certain judgment. Takeaways for Today - God’s warnings are merciful, but they are not empty threats. - Delay in visible consequences does not equal divine indecision; the sentence is already passed (John 3:18). - Believers rejoice that Christ absorbed judgment for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), yet the verse reminds us to live in reverent obedience and to urge the lost to flee from the wrath to come (Acts 17:30-31). |
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