20 As for their beautiful ornament, they had put it on high, and had made the images of their disgusting and hated things in it: for this cause I have made it an unclean thing to them.
Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? you will see even more disgusting things than these. And he took me into the inner square of the Lord's house, and at the door of the Temple of the Lord, between the covered way and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs turned to the Temple of the Lord and their faces turned to the east; and they were worshipping the sun, turning to the east.
And he took me to the door of the open place; and looking, I saw a hole in the wall. And he said to me, Son of man, make a hole in the wall: and after making a hole in the wall I saw a door. And he said to me, Go in and see the evil and disgusting things which they are doing here. So I went in and saw; and there every sort of living thing which goes flat on the earth, and unclean beasts, and all the images of the children of Israel, were pictured round about on the wall.
And he made altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will my name be for ever. And he made altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord. More than this, he made his children go through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he made use of secret arts, and signs for reading the future, and unnatural powers, and gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers: he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath. And he put the image he had made in the house of God, the house of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
Then Solomon made a start at building the house of the Lord on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where the Lord had been seen by his father David, in the place which David had made ready in the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. The building was started in the second month in the fourth year of his rule. And Solomon put the base of the house of God in position; by the older measure it was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And the covered way in front of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and a hundred and twenty cubits high, all plated inside with the best gold. And the greater house was roofed with cypress-wood, plated with the best gold and ornamented with designs of palm-trees and chains. And the house was made beautiful with stones of great value, and the gold was gold of Parvaim. All the house was plated with gold, the supports, the steps, the walls and the doors; and the walls were ornamented with designs of winged ones. And he made the most holy place; it was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, like the greater house, and was plated all over with the best gold; six hundred talents were used for it. And fifty shekels weight of gold was used for the nails. He had all the higher rooms plated with gold. And in the most holy place he made images of two winged beings, covering them with gold. Their outstretched wings were twenty cubits across; one wing, five cubits long, touching the wall of the house, and the other, of the same size, meeting the wing of the other winged one. And in the same way, the wings of the other, five cubits long, were stretched out, one touching the wall and the other meeting the wing of the first winged one. Their outstretched wings were twenty cubits across; they were placed upright on their feet, facing the inner part of the house. And he made the veil of blue and purple and red, of the best linen, worked with winged ones. And in front of the house he made two pillars, thirty-five cubits high, with crowns on the tops of them, five cubits high. And he made chains, like neck ornaments, and put them on the tops of the pillars, and a hundred apples on the chains. He put up the pillars in front of the Temple, one on the right side and one on the left, naming the one on the right Jachin and that on the left Boaz.
And David the king said to all the people, Solomon my son, the only one who has been marked out by God, is still young and untested, and the work is great, for this great house is not for man, but for the Lord God. Now as far as I am able, I have made ready what is needed for the house of my God; the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the silver things, and the brass for the brass things, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; beryls and jewels to be framed, and stones of different colours for ornament; all sorts of stones of great price, and polished building-stone, as much as is needed and more.
And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the way into the house of the Lord, by the room of Nathan-melech, the unsexed servant, which was in the outer part of the building, and the carriages of the sun he put on fire. And the altars on the roof of the high room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord, were pulled down and crushed to bits, and the dust of them was put into the stream Kidron.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 7
Commentary on Ezekiel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter the approaching ruin of the land of Israel is most particularly foretold in affecting expressions often repeated, that if possible they might be awakened by repentance to prevent it. The prophet must tell them,
Eze 7:1-15
We have here fair warning given of the destruction of the land of Israel, which was now hastening on apace. God, by the prophet, not only sends notice of it, but will have it inculcated in the same expressions, to show that the thing is certain, that it is near, that the prophet is himself affected with it and desires they should be so too, but finds them deaf, and stupid, and unaffected. When the town is on fire men do no seek for fine words and quaint expressions in which to give an account of it, but cry about the streets, with a loud and lamentable voice, "Fire! fire!' So the prophet here proclaims, An end! an end! it has come, it has come; behold, it has come. He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
Eze 7:16-22
We have attended the fate of those that are cut off, and are now to attend the flight of those that have an opportunity of escaping the danger; some of them shall escape (v. 16), but what the better? As good die once as, in a miserable life, die a thousand deaths, and escape only like Cain to be fugitives and vagabonds, and afraid of being slain by every one they meet; so shall these be.
Eze 7:23-27
Here is,