God judged His people by four terrible things: the sword, famine, pestilence or disease, and wild, noisome beasts (14:21). Ezekiel says clearly some were killed by the sword. The escapees died from the lack of food; others were killed by pestilence; and the remainder were devoured by beasts. War causes famine. Thus, when there is war, there is a shortage of food. The lack of food brings in pestilence or disease. These are the means God used to exercise His judgment on His people (7:15-17).
These four means of God’s judgment can be applied to the situation of today’s Christianity. Among Christians there is much fighting and very little peace. If in a particular church there is war, this indicates that God’s judgment has come. It indicates that something idolatrous, unholy, or unrighteous has brought in God’s judgment, which is first by the sword, that is, by fighting. We all need to be careful. If there is fighting or dissenting among us, that is a sign of God’s judgment. The more we fight with one another, the more we will suffer God’s judgment.
Due to the fighting among Christians, there is the shortage of food. When a church is filled with fighting, there will not be in such a church a rich supply of spiritual food. Instead of spiritual food, there will be dirth, famine. There will be no supply, no riches of Christ, no living word, and no healthy word. If we desire to have the healthy word, the supply of Christ, and the rich and special spiritual food, we need oneness, peace, and harmony. There is the need for everyone to be in the Spirit and to be one. Such a church is always full of the food supply. After every meeting, there is an abundance of “leftovers.” This is a strong proof that those in this church are not under God’s judgment.
Because of the shortage of spiritual food, there is pestilence among Christians today. This means that there are all kinds of spiritual disease, sickness, and weakness. However, when the church life is proper, there will be no pestilence, no disease. Rather, there will be healing, strengthening, and building up.
Furthermore, among Christians today there are many roaring, devouring, and ravening beasts. In Acts 20:29 Paul warned the elders from Ephesus that one day wolves would come into the church who would have no pity on the flock. Caring only for themselves, they would devour the church. It may be that there are small wolves in some of the local churches.
Today’s Christianity is characterized by fighting, by the shortage of food, by spiritual diseases, and by roaring, devouring beasts. As a result, nearly all Christians are spiritually dead. Not many living ones remain.
Now we need to go on to see the results of God’s judgment of His people.
The first result of God’s judgment was that the people of Israel lost the good land. They were scattered, dispersed, and brought into captivity (Ezek. 12:15; 7:21). In spiritual experience, to lose the good land means to lose the enjoyment of Christ. Today the vast majority of Christians are deadened, scattered, and have no enjoyment of Christ.
The second result of God’s judgment was that the glory of the Lord departed (9:3; 11:22-23). In the history of the people of Israel, the glory of the Lord came to them twice and filled them. The first time was at Mount Sinai, when the tabernacle was erected (Exo. 40:34). The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle from that time until the time of Eli. During the time of Eli, the people of Israel fought against the Philistines with the ark in a superstitious way and were defeated (1 Sam. 4:3-10). The ark was captured, and the glory of the Lord left the tabernacle. This means that the Lord gave up the tabernacle. When the temple was built at the time of Solomon, the glory of the Lord returned to fill the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11). The glory of the Lord remained there until the time when Ezekiel saw it departing, leaving the temple and the city, resting on the Mount of Olives, and finally returning to the heavens.
With today’s Christianity there is no glory of the Lord. On the contrary, there are dispersion, scattering, captivity, and the loss of the enjoyment of Christ. Concerning this matter there is no need to argue in the way of right and wrong. Instead, we should simply check if the glory of the Lord is present. If you have the glory of the Lord, you are right. If you do not have the glory of the Lord, you are wrong. If God’s glory is not in the church, we will not be able to sense God’s flavor and manifestation.
The third result of God’s judgment was that the temple was destroyed and the city was burned. About 606 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and captured King Jehoiachin, taking him to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:9-10). Ezekiel was also captured at that time. Five years later he began to see the visions in chapter one of Ezekiel. In the following years, he continued to see visions concerning a later capture of Jerusalem. While he was in captivity, he was brought back in the Spirit to Jerusalem to see the coming events. After Nebuchadnezzar captured Jehoiachin, he established Jehoiachin’s brother, Zedekiah, as the king over Israel (v. 10). However, Zedekiah, rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar, turned to Egypt for help. Then Nebuchadnezzar came back to Jerusalem, burned the city, destroyed the temple, and captured Zedekiah (v. 19; Jer. 52:11; Ezek. 33:21). Before these events actually happened, Ezekiel saw them in his visions.
There were eleven years between these two captures. The city and the temple were destroyed not in the capture of Jehoiachin but in the capture of Zedekiah. At the time of the capture of Zedekiah, the glory of the Lord left the holy city and the holy people. Then both the temple and the city were destroyed. Apparently, that was the end of the history of Israel.