Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
The standard set toward Zion is a warning standard of war seen with the trumpet alarm, calling the people to flee and not stay because destruction upon destruction is coming until the whole land is laid waste. The evil and great destruction from the north come against Zion, Jerusalem, Judah and Israel, for the north is the region from which ungodly enemies and oppressors of Israel came. Zion and Jerusalem represent the church in all ages, so the account of ancient destruction points forward to greater desolations of the last days with final fulfillment in the time just before the second coming of Christ. The verse foretells the period just before the day of the Lord when the nations prepare for the great coming war of Armageddon, and present moves toward military preparedness fulfill this prophecy since no nation can arm itself without stirring other nations to prepare in turn unto the destruction of earthly kingdoms. That evil and great destruction mean the personal visitation of Jehovah in fierce anger to break down all the cities because widespread wickedness has made them Sodom-like cesspools of corruption, yet in God's recovery of the remnant the Spirit lifts up God's standard against the root of sin and the remnant rallies around it ready for the final conflict.
Words and Ancient Setting
The standard set toward Zion is a warning standard, seen together with the sound of the trumpet giving the alarm of war. It carries the command to flee for safety and not to stay, because God will bring evil and great destruction. Destruction comes upon destruction, and the whole land is laid waste.
The evil and great destruction are brought from the north against Zion. The warning belongs to the destruction coming upon Israel and Jerusalem, and upon Jerusalem and Judah unless the people turn from their evil ways. In Old Testament prophecy the north is the region from which the ungodly enemies and oppressors of Israel came, and that northern origin marks such attackers as forces of world evil opposed to God.
The verse stands within the rebuke of Jeremiah 2 to 4. There union of God's church with the world is fornication and adultery. The reason is that the church is married to Him and joined to one husband.
It is an awful denunciation against sin, spoken with sorrow of heart over the people's transgression. It is a most touching appeal to return to God. Escape is held out through repentance, for Jerusalem is urged to cleanse her heart so that she may be saved, and destruction will come unless the people turn from their evil ways. Yet the mass of the people meet the appeal with utter lack of response.
Last-Day Fulfillment and Warning
Zion and Jerusalem stand for the church in all ages, so the account of ancient destruction upon Israel and Jerusalem points forward to greater desolations of the last days. In its final fulfillment the warning of evil and great destruction applies to the time just before the second coming of Christ. The chapter foretells the period just before the day of the Lord when the nations prepare for the great coming war of Armageddon, when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle. Present moves toward military preparedness fulfill this, including advocacy of a powerful navy as a guarantee of peace.
No nation can become well prepared without stirring up boasting and aggressiveness among its people, which causes other nations to prepare in turn, and carried out to the ultimate this rivalry means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. The trumpet is sounding among the nations and the war cry is heard everywhere. Nations that claimed to stand for peace are plunged into strife and possessed by a drive to unprecedented preparation for human slaughter, so that all from small boy to gray-haired man grow pale before the incoming tidal wave of war. Warning voices and peace societies and kind-hearted men and women seek to raise a standard to turn aside the threatened flow of blood, but all to no purpose before the swelling tide, and even ministers of the Prince of Peace join the battle din and call to arms.
The evil and great destruction mean the personal visitation of Jehovah in fierce anger to break down all the cities, part of a wider picture in which widespread wickedness brings God's end-time judgment. Prostitution, murder, and widespread vice have made the cities Sodom-like cesspools of corruption. The assembling of men in troops at harlots' houses and souls fainting before murderers literally fulfills the prophecy and proves society is doomed. That visitation with destruction will very soon come in awful confusion and trouble when people are no longer worthy of God's favor.
The verse connects with the earth's desolation after Christ's coming, when the wicked have been slain and no people remain on the land during the thousand years while the righteous are in heaven. Its northern origin shows why names of northern peoples in Ezekiel's last-day prediction symbolize the wicked forces opposed to God and His redeemed at the close of the thousand years, after the second resurrection and before their ultimate destruction. In God's recovery of the remnant, the Spirit lifts up God's standard and sign against the root of sin, and the remnant rallies around it ready for the final conflict.
The standard set toward Zion is a warning standard of war seen with the trumpet alarm, calling the people to flee and not stay because destruction upon destruction is coming until the whole land is laid waste. The evil and great destruction from the north come against Zion, Jerusalem, Judah and Israel, for the north is the region from which ungodly enemies and oppressors of Israel came. Zion and Jerusalem represent the church in all ages, so the account of ancient destruction points forward to greater desolations of the last days with final fulfillment in the time just before the second coming of Christ. The verse foretells the period just before the day of the Lord when the nations prepare for the great coming war of Armageddon, and present moves toward military preparedness fulfill this prophecy since no nation can arm itself without stirring other nations to prepare in turn unto the destruction of earthly kingdoms. That evil and great destruction mean the personal visitation of Jehovah in fierce anger to break down all the cities because widespread wickedness has made them Sodom-like cesspools of corruption, yet in God's recovery of the remnant the Spirit lifts up God's standard against the root of sin and the remnant rallies around it ready for the final conflict.
Words and Ancient Setting
The standard set toward Zion is a warning standard, seen together with the sound of the trumpet giving the alarm of war. It carries the command to flee for safety and not to stay, because God will bring evil and great destruction. Destruction comes upon destruction, and the whole land is laid waste.
The evil and great destruction are brought from the north against Zion. The warning belongs to the destruction coming upon Israel and Jerusalem, and upon Jerusalem and Judah unless the people turn from their evil ways. In Old Testament prophecy the north is the region from which the ungodly enemies and oppressors of Israel came, and that northern origin marks such attackers as forces of world evil opposed to God.
The verse stands within the rebuke of Jeremiah 2 to 4. There union of God's church with the world is fornication and adultery. The reason is that the church is married to Him and joined to one husband.
It is an awful denunciation against sin, spoken with sorrow of heart over the people's transgression. It is a most touching appeal to return to God. Escape is held out through repentance, for Jerusalem is urged to cleanse her heart so that she may be saved, and destruction will come unless the people turn from their evil ways. Yet the mass of the people meet the appeal with utter lack of response.
Last-Day Fulfillment and Warning
Zion and Jerusalem stand for the church in all ages, so the account of ancient destruction upon Israel and Jerusalem points forward to greater desolations of the last days. In its final fulfillment the warning of evil and great destruction applies to the time just before the second coming of Christ. The chapter foretells the period just before the day of the Lord when the nations prepare for the great coming war of Armageddon, when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle. Present moves toward military preparedness fulfill this, including advocacy of a powerful navy as a guarantee of peace.
No nation can become well prepared without stirring up boasting and aggressiveness among its people, which causes other nations to prepare in turn, and carried out to the ultimate this rivalry means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. The trumpet is sounding among the nations and the war cry is heard everywhere. Nations that claimed to stand for peace are plunged into strife and possessed by a drive to unprecedented preparation for human slaughter, so that all from small boy to gray-haired man grow pale before the incoming tidal wave of war. Warning voices and peace societies and kind-hearted men and women seek to raise a standard to turn aside the threatened flow of blood, but all to no purpose before the swelling tide, and even ministers of the Prince of Peace join the battle din and call to arms.
The evil and great destruction mean the personal visitation of Jehovah in fierce anger to break down all the cities, part of a wider picture in which widespread wickedness brings God's end-time judgment. Prostitution, murder, and widespread vice have made the cities Sodom-like cesspools of corruption. The assembling of men in troops at harlots' houses and souls fainting before murderers literally fulfills the prophecy and proves society is doomed. That visitation with destruction will very soon come in awful confusion and trouble when people are no longer worthy of God's favor.
The verse connects with the earth's desolation after Christ's coming, when the wicked have been slain and no people remain on the land during the thousand years while the righteous are in heaven. Its northern origin shows why names of northern peoples in Ezekiel's last-day prediction symbolize the wicked forces opposed to God and His redeemed at the close of the thousand years, after the second resurrection and before their ultimate destruction. In God's recovery of the remnant, the Spirit lifts up God's standard and sign against the root of sin, and the remnant rallies around it ready for the final conflict.