The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.
6 “As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. 7 And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:
“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
10 sharpened for slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) 11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. 13 For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?” declares the Lord God.
14 “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter. 16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17 I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me again: 19 “As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. 20 Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. 22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. 23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. 25 And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning— 29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30 Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 31 And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the Lord have spoken.” Ezekiel 21 ESV
Ezekiel 21 ESV The Lord is Against You
…33With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples. 35When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”… Mark 4: 33-35
1-5 Behold, I am against you - They accused him of speaking in parables at the end of the last chapter, but how much more clear can it be than this, "I am against you?"
Draw my sword from its sheath - Now this imagery they will surely understand, even if they don't believe it will happen to them.
I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked - This is war, and the casualties are without discrimination, both the just and the unjust feel the rain, and it is given to both to die in this life, yet for the righteous it is but a shadow.
…24Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.… John 12: 24-26
6-7 Groan before their eyes - If God, Who has been offended for thousands of years, takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, then how should the messengers from among them remain callous? Can we not trace on own faces from theirs? This is how certain the destruction will be, that the prophet has the wake now, for not many will be left to mourn, and they will be too drained to bury. It is so much better to cry in their presence now, to plead with them while they are still awake, tears for the departed only relieve the living.
The prophet must sign, though it was painful to himself and made his breast sore, and though it is probable that the profane among the people would ridicule him for it and call him a whining canting preacher. But, if we be beside ourselves it is to God; and, if this be to be vile, we will be yet more so. Note, Ministers, if they would affect others with the things they speak of, must show that they are themselves in the greatest sincerity affected with them, and must submit to that which may create uneasiness to themselves, so that it will promote the ends of their ministry. - Matthew Henry
12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. 13But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.… Hebrews 3: 12-14
All knees will be weak as water - You cannot yet see what is coming, though I have drawn a picture with words, you mock that it is a parable because you want to believe that the sun rises and the sun sets, and tomorrow will be like today and so on. You talk a good game now, but for thousands of years God has warned, men have rebelled, grown complacent in their day to day, until that day. The writing is on the wall, and now the courage of man fails, for he is but dust. The mind floods with anxiety, the body is no longer guided by self control, an informed and healthy brain. You would stand but you can't stop trembling, and then water flows down legs that don't feel like they are there. You have rejected the truth, but that has no power to change what is true, and when you see it you will lose your bladder, your balance and your will.
5At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing, 6 his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together. 7The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”… Daniel 5: 5-7
8-17 You have despised the rod, my son - A difficult part in the Hebrew for all the commentators I read. I think it should be noted that the rod was despised and then the sword was given to be polished. The rod is often that of chastening, and we should never despise that correction which is actually driving us away from the sword. Israel has despised God's whisperings, mocked the tears of His prophets, and arrogantly lifted the neck at His correcting hand. Israel's leaders have spared the needed and necessary rod, spoiling the nation, and making room for God's wrath. The switch of temporary pain has been traded for the blade of certain death.
It is a victorious sword, nothing shall stand before it (v. 10): It contemneth the rod of my son as every tree. Israel, said God once, is my son, my first-born. The government of that people was called a rod, a strong rod; we read (ch. 19:11) of the strong rods they had for sceptres. But when the sword of God's justice is drawn it contemns this rod, makes nothing of it; though it be a strong rod, and the rod of his son, it is no more than any other tree. When God's professing people have revolted from him, and are in rebellion against him, his sword despises them. What are they to him more than another people? - Matthew Henry
1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. 2The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.… Proverbs 12: 1-2
18-23 Mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon - They are left with no uncertainty, this sword that God pulls from His sheath is Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is a great king in the eyes of men, but he is merely a tool in the hands of God. There are two ways, like heads we go to Jerusalem or tales we go to Ammon.
He shakes the arrows - He is using divination, and it is possible that something is written on the arrows, like Jerusalem or Rabbah on others, and the shaking is like the shuffling of cards, then we pick one to see which way we go. Or possibly they are shaken and thrown down like bones and we read something of the way they lay or most are pointing towards this direction.
He consults the teraphim - A multitude of counsellors, maybe the first was not discernible, but probably more to be certain, a best two out of three at least, especially when you are going to war.
“The next way of divining was by asking counsel of his idol, or image, which being made artificially by the skill of their juggling priests and conjurers, with little help they could give answers, and the image spake aloud what the sorcerer spake more softly, somewhat like the artificial whispering places which convey the voice, from unseen persons.” (Poole)
He looks at the liver - One more method to be completely sure, and I was taught from a young age to always check the liver for spots, and if there were any then don't eat the rabbit, it is sick. This is a bit different, while what my great grandmother taught me was to see a future belly ache, this was to predict the outcome of a siege. Hard to say what they actually looked for in this, maybe color or patterns, I don't know.
But to them it will seem like a false divination - Jerusalem will not believe it, though it does not contradict what the prophets have already told them. They probably think it can't come to pass because it is knowledge gathered by superstitious means, things that God has forbidden them to practice. But this is arrogance to say the least because they have idols which God forbade, go to mediums and temple prostitutes, so they are in no position to look down on these heathens. Israel is actually in a worse way, for they have received much light. It was like the Philistines handling of the Ark of the Covenant, but they were not struck down while placing it on the cart, yet Uzzah was killed for trying to steady it. "But He brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken."
24-27 Remove the turban and take off the crown - The turban was what the priest wore, and the crown was of course on the king.
That Zedekiah shall be deposed. He has forfeited his crown, and he shall no longer wear it; he has by his profaneness profaned his crown, and it shall be cast to the ground (v. 26): Remove the diadem. Crowns and diadems are losable things; it is only in the other world that there is a crown of glory that fades not away, a kingdom that cannot be moved. The Chaldee paraphrase expounds it thus: Take away the diadem from Seraiah the chief priest, and I will take away the crown from Zedekiah the king; neither this nor that shall abide in his place, but shall be removed. This shall not be the same, not the same that he has been; this not this (so the word is); profane and wicked perhaps he is as he has been. Note, Men lose their dignity by their iniquity. Their profaneness and wickedness remove their diadem, and take off their crown, and make them the reverse of what they were. - Matthew Henry
A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it - It is an amplification of certainty and completeness. Babylon came once, then a second time and now the final time to bring Zedekiah's rebellion to an end. This will bring low that which was exalted and turn over the kingdom to the lowly.
Until He comes, the One to Whom judgment belongs - This is a reference to Messiah. This is the end of the Davidic line till Christ comes to rule and judge the nations.
…9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. 11He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.… Genesis 49: 9-11
…44In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever. 45And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.” Daniel 2: 44-45
…31Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”… Luke 1: 31-33
28-32 Concerning the Ammonites - God directed His sword toward Jerusalem first, but He will not forget the Ammonites, those who have listened to their sorcerers and turned their nose at the fate of other sinners. God will judge sin wherever it be on His creation. As Jobs friends thought themselves righteous for not being Job, the sufferer, so do the Ammonites and so many that have not been graciously brought low.
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