The king himself will go into mourning; even a chieftain will clothe himself with desolation, and the very hands of the people of the land will get disturbed.”​—Ezek. 7:25-27a.

In fact, it was fear of his princes that Zedekiah used as an excuse not to obey the instructions of Jehovah through Jeremiah. So he went “into mourning.” (Jer. 38:14-24) Likewise each of the chieftains of the land, because of the hopeless state of the city, could only rip his garments apart in expression of inward despair and “clothe himself with desolation.”

What were the people to do? With their leaders in such a state of grief and confusion, they did not know what to do with their hands, with what to employ them. But they shared the blame with the king and the priests and elderly men, for they all had pursued a bad, corrupt, idolatrous way in spite of Jehovah’s warnings. That is why God said:

“According to their way I shall act toward them, and with their judgments I shall judge them; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.”​—Ezek. 7:27b.

God had made a covenant with Israel. He lived up to the terms of the covenant to bless them when they were obedient. As the Keeper of his covenants, Jehovah also had to act toward them “according to their way” when they broke that covenant, which they did, flagrantly and high-handedly. There was no justice obtainable in the courts of the land. Also, many were the cases of murder. Bribery flourished. Innocent persons suffered. In view of all these things, could the Sovereign Lord Jehovah deal with the Jews as though he were a God different from the God with whom their forefathers had made a solemn covenant through the mediator Moses?

Therefore, Jehovah judged them “with their judgments,” that is, with the judgments that applied to them according to the law of his covenant. It was fair and equitable, in trueness to himself that he did it. He left them under no misapprehensions as to who he is. They had to know that he was the same Jehovah as the one with whom their forefathers entered the covenant, and that he does not change. They had to know that he is Jehovah, the eternal God of righteousness, truth and justice.

The law of her priesthood and clergy will be disregarded. It will be a time of great mourning for her worldly-wise elders and ecclesiastical leaders. Those who still cling to her institutions will be ‘disturbed in their hands,’ not knowing what to do to save the religious system.