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| 1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
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| 2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. |
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| 3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. |
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| 4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. |
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| 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. |
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| 6 An end is come, the end is come: it wakes up for thee; behold, it is come. |
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| 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. |
Of the mountains – Kingdoms. A318
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| 8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. |
Recompense – We are already entering the great Day of Recompense. R3619:2
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| 9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth. |
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| 10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. |
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| 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them. |
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| 12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. |
The seller mourn – For trouble will be on the entire multitude and there will be no security of property. A315
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| 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. |
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| 14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. |
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| 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. |
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| 16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. |
Like doves – Symbols of peace and purity. E212
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| 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. |
Shall be feeble – Helpless to turn aside the trouble. A315
Of little avail will be the protection which any government can provide, when the judgments of the Lord and the fruits of their folly are precipitated upon them all. D149
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| 18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. |
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| 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity. |
They shall cast – The animosities of the masses will be exercised with violence against the rich. R1690:3, R2904:3
The rich will suffer most. D273
Their silver – The demonetization of silver seems to be referred to. OV339:1; SM691:1; D472
In the streets – Miller Bartella offered the mob, in vain, his fortune for his life--a picture throwing lurid light upon the situation. R2384:2
Financial institutions, including insurance companies and beneficial societies, will go down; and "treasures" in them will prove utterly worthless. D45
Treat it as a commodity and not as money. OV339:1
Shall be removed – "As though it were unclean." (Margin) D45
Become scarce and eventually be completely withdrawn by the people; hiding it as though it were an unclean thing, as the Hebrew text implies. SM691:1; OV339:1
Silver and their gold – And bank notes and bonds. F554; D329
Neither silver nor gold will be available. OV339:1
Not be able to deliver – Procuring neither protection, comforts nor luxuries. F554
The character of the trouble will be one in which the animosities of the masses will be exercised with violence against the rich. R1690:3
Day of the wrath – This is the predicted time of distress of nations with perplexity. (Luke 21:25) D149
They shall not satisfy – With their wealth. D45
Because it – The idolatry of money. B139
Is the stumblingblock – The spirit of acquisitiveness which lies at the foundation of all the trouble is to be found in every land, but nowhere more so than in so--called "Christendom." R2904:4
Those who worship idols of gold, silver, stocks or bonds, will receive severe chastisement before being granted a share in the coming blessings. SM482:1
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| 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. |
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| 21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. |
The strangers – Others, beyond the revolting hosts of Christendom, will also form a part of the Lord's great army. D549
Anarchists outrivaling heathendom in barbarity; or, possibly, uprisings of the peoples of India, China and Africa against Christendom. D550
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| 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. |
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| 23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. |
Make a chain – Bind, unite them together, let them make common cause. D550
The city – Christendom. D550
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| 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.
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Worst of the heathen – Probably those in Christendom without God and without Christian sentiments or hopes. D550
Their holy places – Their honored or sacred places, their religious institutions, etc. D550
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| 25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. |
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| 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. |
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| 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. |
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