John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 7:3

"Now is the end upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways; and I will bring upon thee all thine abominations." — Ezekiel 7:3 (ASV)

He puts the word end a third time, and repeats it even a fourth and a fifth time. From this we gather that those miserable people, although admonished more than enough by both teaching and experience, were still like brute animals, so that they always promised themselves some way of escape, and were not struck by the fear with which the Prophet sought to strike them.

They did not think that an end was really coming, but said, "Oh! Something will remain; some will escape." And this, therefore, was their pride. Therefore, the Prophet does not repeat the same word in vain: Now, he says, the end is come. When he says, the end has come, he signifies that the Israelites vainly and foolishly trusted in the future, because they had not yet experienced extreme severity.

God, as He had said, had been lenient with them regarding punishment. What then did they do? When they perceived such forbearance in God, they thought that it would always be so. Therefore, the Prophet marks the difference between the past and future, as if to say that God’s vengeance, as they had formerly known it, was moderate, but now nothing else remained but for God to utterly tear them up and consume them.

Now, therefore, there is an end concerning you. Previously, the Prophet had spoken in the third person, but now he was directing his message to the whole land of Israel. Concerning the four corners of the land, he had said, Now, he says, the end comes upon you.

Then he adds, I will send My indignation upon you. God indeed had given signs of His anger, but He had not been so severe that the Israelites ceased from flattering themselves.

When, therefore, the Prophet speaks of God’s own indignation, it undoubtedly signifies that God was so offended that He would not restrain Himself as He had formerly done.

This is also the meaning of the following words: I will judge you according to your ways. They had been judged previously, but only in part, for God had given them time for repentance, if they had been curable. But now, when God measures their judgment against their sins, He means that nothing was lacking for extreme severity.

And God explains this more clearly at the end of the verse: I will put upon you all your abominations; that is, I will cast your own burden upon you. For although God had begun to exact just punishment for their superstitions, they had not yet suffered a burden greater than they deserved. Therefore, God now pronounces that all their abominations should come upon their own heads, so that they would be utterly buried.