20151030 Friday, October 30 2015
Ezekiel 07: Blown To Smithereens

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth"

Smith (and its variations in spelling) is one of the most-prevent English family names. It's also found in other Germanic languages e.g. Schmidt, Schmitt etc. in German and De Smedt, Smeets, Smets etc. in Dutch. It's a family name that developed from related occupations.

The word "smith" originated from an Anglo-Saxon word, smith, that meant someone who forges with a hammer. The "blacksmith" is the most familiar to many people (i.e. with the hammer and anvil), but numerous other kinds of craftsmen were and are still known as such from their speciality e.g. goldsmith, swordsmith, arrowsmith, gunsmith, coppersmith, silversmith, among many others.

The English word "smithereens" began as a term for something that is forcefully struck by a smith and rendered into tiny pieces.

One of the most famous prophecies of the Holy Bible refers to how the LORD's return will be like a smith's hammer rendering something into smithereens - which will then be blown away into oblivion (see also The Prophet Daniel: Nebuchadnezzar's Image).

"2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

2:36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:31-44 KJV)

The Kingdom of Israel (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel and Judah and Israel In History and Prophecy: The Lost Ten Tribes) and the Kingdom of Judah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah) also found themselves under the LORD's Hammer (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) when they became filled with impurities that needed to be forged out of them - so that "ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth."

"7:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 7:2 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. 7:3 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. 7:4 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.

7:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 7:6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 7:7 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. 7:8 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. 7:9 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.

7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 7:11 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. 7:12 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. 7:13 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. 7:14 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.

7:15 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. 7:16 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. 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 7:18 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. 7:19 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. 7:20 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. 7:21 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. 7:22 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.

7:23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 7:24 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. 7:25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 7:26 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. 7:27 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." (Ezekiel 7:1-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: After the return of the Messiah, what will humanity do with their weapons and tools of death and destruction? What will they hammer them into?
See He Shall Stand Upon The Mount Of Olives and Swords Into Plowshares