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silver stumbling blocks, dirty gold

Ezekiel 7:14-22 (JDV)

Ezekiel 7:14 They have blown the trumpet and prepared everything, but no one is going to war, because my wrath is on her whole crowd.
Ezekiel 7:15 The sword is at the outside; epidemic and famine are at the inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and epidemic will devour whoever is in the city.
Ezekiel 7:16 The survivors among them will escape and live in the mountains. Like doves of the valley, all of them will moan, each over his own violation.
Ezekiel 7:17 All their hands will become weak, and all their knees will run with urine.
Ezekiel 7:18 They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be bald.
Ezekiel 7:19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem like something dirty. Their silver and gold will be unable to save them on the day of Yahveh’s wrath. They will not satisfy their throats or fill their stomachs, because these were the stumbling blocks that brought about their violation.
Ezekiel 7:20 He appointed his beautiful ornaments for majesty, but they made their repulsive images from them, their repulsive things. Therefore, I have made these into something dirty to them.
Ezekiel 7:21 I will hand these things over to foreigners as plunder and to the guilty of the land as plunder, and they will profane them.
Ezekiel 7:22 I will turn my face from them as they profane my treasured place. Violent men will enter it and profane it.

silver stumbling blocks, dirty gold

The condemned people will suddenly discover that the silver and gold they had trusted in is useless to save them. Such will be the case on the day of final judgment as well. When we stand before the judge of all the earth on that day, if we had trusted in our wealth instead of in him, we will discover that that trust was treachery. That silver and gold will be useless to save us from his wrath. We will look at that money we had hoarded for ourselves and suddenly discover that our trust was placed in something dirty, something repulsive — and we will throw it to the ground. We will stand empty-handed, with nothing to show for our lives.

LORD, give us the wisdom to treasure the right things in this life. Things like a relationship with you, and the joy of serving you and others in your name.