While not offering as many relevant verses as Jeremiah, Ezekiel’s words are no less graphic. In Chapter 5, verses 9 -11, although the words we are searching (plague[s] and pestilence[s] and famine[s]) do not specifically occur, how can anyone doubt that the reference in those three introductory verses is to cannibalism, resulting from famine? What is unique in verse 9 is something which God promises never to do again, just like He promises in Genesis never again to destroy the world with flood. He has said he will not unleash again the dire straits of eating human flesh. But He has not made any promises to withhold plague, pestilence and famine.
“And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will cut you down; My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.”
“A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in the midst of you; a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.”
“… when I loose against you my deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will loose to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you, and break your staff of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Clap your hands, and stamp your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He that is far off shall die of pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them.”
“The sword is without, pestilence and famine are within; he that is in the field dies by the sword; and him that is in the city famine and pestilence devour.”
“But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may confess all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.”
“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it, and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, ….”
“Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast; ….”
“For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four sore acts of judgment, sword, famine, evil beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!”
“… for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in the midst of her, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
“Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.”
[God’s promises in reconciliation:] “And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses; and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”
[Regarding judgment upon Gog:] “With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples that are with him, torrential rains and hailstones, fire and brimstone.”
Other Prophets
The final major prophet we mention is Daniel, but none of those word searches mention plague, pestilence or famine. But there are mentions in seven verses among the four minor prophets: Hosea, Amos and Habakkuk and Zechariah. Of particular interest in these times of closed churches and missing Masses, we might ask if Amos’ prophecy isn’t already coming true, that we have a famine of hearing the words of the Lord?
“I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young men with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” says the LORD.”
“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.'”
“Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion is hid from My eyes.”
“Before him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind.”
“And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot while they are still on their feet, their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths.”
“And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the asses, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.”
“And if the family of Egypt do not go up and present themselves, then upon them shall come the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.”
Some thoughts about Malachi
The last nearly 500 years before Christ have a lack of Prophets, at least preserved in the Scriptures. Zechariah is one of the last ones in Judah; Malachi is generally considered the last. His famous prophecy is one we hear during Advent: “Behold, I send My messenger to prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1) But, while descriptive of the Nativity, the words of Malachi are perhaps also descriptive of the second coming of Christ.
The next verse (Malachi 3:2) states: “But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears?” The same sins of old which provoked God’s causing pestilence and famine are not far from the door of His People today. Abortion is clearly a charge against all of mankind (in what has been done, and in what has not been done), and deserving of punishment, i.e. a ‘cleansing’ before He comes. Perhaps the current plague has somewhat of this kind of role?
If we are obedient to His Laws, the Lord will “rebuke the devourer.” (Malachi 3:11: I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.) The ‘devourer’ is the locust and a key element of famine. In the past year, through Africa and up into China, the locusts have been out of control and crops are destroyed.
Similarly, Malachi uses a famine sort of language for preparation for the second coming of the Lord: “For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” (Malachi 4:1) When we get to Revelation in this multi-part study, we will see an echo of these words.
Sword, plague, pestilence, famine. We are all in the Hands of God.
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