Thank you for the interpretative question on Ezekiel 7:19, “What is the meaning of ” Ezekiel 7:19″‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.”?
I want to commend you for reading Ezekiel. This is not an easy book to read as one sees the failures of Israel and can relate that to the Christian church.
The broader context to Ezekiel 7 is this, ““‘They have blown the trumpet, they have made all things ready, but no one will go into battle, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. 15 Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country
will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. 16 The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sins. 17 Every hand will go limp; every leg will be wet with urine. 18 They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved. 19 “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. 20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. 21 I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it. 22 I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.)
Ezekiel writes of the impending judgment on Israel for her sins. The sword awaits them if they go outside. Starvation and death awaits them inside the city. There was no escaping of death. Ezekiel is declaring that their silver and gold will not be able to buy them their freedom nor food for themselves. The silver and gold is useless in a starving city. There is no amount of money that can buy a loaf of bread when there is none to give.
Ezekiel writes that the Israelites once used their silver and gold for their ornaments and idols. The silver and gold belong to God, but they used it to exalt themselves rather than God. Thus God was declaring that their silver and gold will not rescue them from certain death. The wrath that was to come from the Babylonians who would not care about their silver and gold as much as their destruction. This wrath happened in 586 BCE.
SUMMARY: The silver and gold could not buy the Jewish people their death from sword or starvation from the coming Babylonian army.
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