The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. – Ezekiel 7:3

Today's Scripture Reading (June 15, 2023): Ezekiel 7

A couple of weeks ago, during the debt ceiling drama in the United States, I talked with someone who was an expert in financial management and the various financial markets. He is an elite financial expert, whose clients are among some of the wealthiest people in the area. But I came to him with a question. With the debt of the Western nations numbering in the trillions of dollars, the United States' debt is a fantastic thirty-two trillion dollars; how much is too much? As a spectator to the American debt conversation, it is incredible that the interest on the debt is now over 300 billion dollars a year. With budget cuts cutting into some of the very things we need, what would an extra 300 billion dollars do to the national budget considerations?

My friend laughed off my concerns. He didn't believe that most Western nations were close to their limit. I reminded him of the struggles that both Italy and Greece have recently had with their own debt crises in the past decade. And he agreed, acknowledging that the end was coming and our national debts should be taken seriously, but the final financial crisis was not in view yet. Basically, some of the economic pain of the last few years was a bump in the road, and we still have time to get things done.

Ezekiel looks at the current events of his day and the exile of a Judean king and many of the more important people of the nation, and he has a message. This isn't a bump on the road. The current national events were not something from which Judah would recover. This is the end. Events in Judah might be distressing, but they will only get worse, and better days are a long way off.

As Ezekiel speaks these words, he is in Babylon, communicating with the exiles there. Jerusalem still stands, and Judah has not fallen. But Ezekiel's message is that hope is lost if your hope depends on a healthy Jerusalem and an independent Israel. Both were coming to an end, and that end was prophetically in sight. No one would have to wait long for the nation's demise.

Rev. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) reminds his readers that "The End" is a complete thought. "The end is here" is the main thought, and nothing more really needs to be said. The end is now upon you is an exclamation, there was no more need for patience or waiting. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 8