Ezekiel 21

REVIEW QUESTIONS

When are the prophecies of Chapter s 20-21 to be dated?

What historical events probably triggered the utterances in these two Chapter s?

In what sense did Ezekiel become a judge of Israel?

What new information about the Egyptian sojourn of Israel is brought out by Ezekiel?

Why did God spare His people time and again when they so manifestly deserved destruction?

What does it mean to profane the name of God?

What gracious provisions did God bestow on Israel in the Wilderness? HOW did Israel respond to those provisions?

What happened at Baal-peer?

How did God punish Israel in Canaan for rejecting His Law?

In what sense did the ancestors of Israel blaspheme God once they were brought into Canaan?

What is a bamah?

Why did God refuse to allow the elders of Israel to inquire of Him?

Why does God promise the restoration of Israel in this section?

How does Ezekiel describe the worship of the restored remnant?

What was the new wilderness into which God was about to take His people?

Explain the parable of the forest fire.

How did Ezekiel’s audience react to his use of parables? What did Ezekiel do about this?

How did Ezekiel dramatize the agony which the news of Jerusalem’s fall would cause?

What action likely accompanied Ezekiel’s song of the sword?

What was the significance of the prophet slapping his hands together?

What did God have to say to the king of Babylon in chapter 21.

What objects did Ezekiel use to dramatize how the king of Babylon would be guided to attack Jerusalem?

What prophecy did Ezekiel make about the future of the house of and throne of David?

Why does Ezekiel include a brief note about the destruction of Ammon at this point in the book?

Ezekiel 21:1-7

III. ISRAEL’S IMMINENT JUDGMENT 20:45-21:32

In the Hebrew Bible Ezekiel 20:45 becomes the first verse of chapter 21. Clearly this is a better arrangement than that adopted by the Authorized Version and subsequent English translations. What is said in Ezekiel 20:45-49 has no connection with what has immediately preceded, but rather sets the stage for what follows in chapter 21. Ezekiel starts out with another parable (Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:7) which may be entitled The Parable of the Forest Fire. To his parable he adds a song about a sword (Ezekiel 21:8-17). This song becomes the springboard for two oracles dealing with the words of the king of Babylon (Ezekiel 21:18-27), and the sword which would one day fall upon Ammon (Ezekiel 21:28-32).

A. The Parable of the Forest Fire 20:45-21:7

TRANSLATION

(45) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (46) Son of man, set your face toward the South, and preach unto the South, and prophesy unto the forest of the field of the South. (47) And say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to kindle against you a fire, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and every dry tree, and it shall not be quenched, a flaming flame; and all faces from the south to the north shall be seared by it. (48) And all flesh shall see that I am the LORD when I burn it, and it shall not be quenched. (49) And I said, Ah Lord GOD! They are saying to me, Is he not a maker of parables? (1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, Set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy unto the land of Israel; (3) and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you, and I will bring out My sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. (4) Because I will cut off from you righteous and wicked, therefore My sword shall go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. (5) And all flesh shall know that I the LORD have brought out My sword from its sheath; it shall not return any more. (6) And as for you, son of man, sigh; with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness You shall sigh before their eyes. (7) And it shall come to pass when they say unto you: Why are you sighing? Then you shall say: Because of the tidings, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall droop and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip water; behold it comes, and it shall be done (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

In another revelation from the Lord (Ezekiel 20:45), Ezekiel was told to direct his attention, verbally and perhaps physically as well, toward the south. He was to preach[348] the word of the Lord in that direction. The whole of Judah is the forest of the south which Ezekiel was to address in this utterance (Ezekiel 20:46). That entire forest would be consumed by an unquenchable fire kindled by God Himself. Fire here is symbolic of the devastation wrought by the Chaldean armies. What few righteous there might have been (every green tree) as well as the hardened sinners (every dry tree) would be affected by that conflagration. From one end of the land to the other every face would be seared by the hot flames of judgment (Ezekiel 20:47). That destruction would be of such proportions that the entire world would recognize it as an act of divine judgment (Ezekiel 20:48).

[348] Preach here in the Hebrew is literally, drop your word. This was a technical expression used to designate prophetic utterances. The same word is used in Amos 7:6 and Micah 2:6; Micah 2:11.

Ezekiel’s audience was not so spiritually perceptive as to be able to grasp the significance of this parable and others like it (cf. chaps. 15-17). In fact it would appear that his auditors were holding Ezekiel up to ridicule because of his use of the parabolic method. He could hear them whispering to one another and referring to him as a maker of parables (lit., a riddler or riddles). With sorrow, exasperation and perhaps indignation, Ezekiel turned to God in a brief narrative prayer. No petition is directly stated; but Ezekiel is obliquely requesting that he be permitted to put his parable into plain language (Ezekiel 20:49).

After an interval of undetermined duration, God granted the unspoken request of his prophet (Ezekiel 20:1). He was to preach toward Jerusalem, the holy places and the land of Israel[349] (Ezekiel 20:2). Ezekiel was to announce that God had assumed a posture of hostility toward the land of Israel (Behold I am against you). The divine sword of judgment (the fire in the parable) was about to come out of its sheath. Both wicked and righteous were to be cut off (Ezekiel 20:3). Ezekiel had already taught that as regards to final judgment the righteous would not be destroyed with the wicked (chap. 18). But of necessity in temporal judgments the entire population of an area would be affected. Other peoples besides Israel would feel the effect of the sword of the Lord which at this point in time was wielded by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 20:4). Even the foreign nations would realize that they had experienced a divine judgment. The sword of the Lord would not return unto its sheath until the destructive work assigned to it was complete (Ezekiel 20:5).

[349] In Ezekiel 20:46 three different Hebrew words are translated south Here in 21.2 the symbolic significance of those three words is explained.

Ezekiel was deeply moved by this revelation, and he was told not to hide his emotion. As in other instances (Ezekiel 4:4; Ezekiel 5:1-4) he was to dramatize in his own person the coming calamity. He was to assume the role of a mourner whose sighs were so deep that they seem to break his loins, i.e., he is to bend double as though smitten with great pain in the abdomen. This agonizing sigh was to be done before their eyes so as to provoke questions. When asked about his bitter sighing, he was to explain that this was but an example of what all the exiles would do when they got the message from Jerusalem that the Temple had been destroyed. The prophet, because of his special relationship to God, had already heard those tidings through revelation. Five years later all the exiles would hear that same message from some one who had barely escaped the fallen city. With the loss of the Temple all hopes of return to Jerusalem would be smashed. Four expressions set forth the physical and psychological reaction to the news of Jerusalem’s destruction (1) every heart shall melt; (2) all hands shall be slack; (3) every spirit shall be faint; and (4) all knees shall drip with water, i.e., kidney functions would not be able to be controlled. Nonetheless, that bad news was coming, and when it came it would prove to be a true account of what had actually happened in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20:7).

Ezekiel 21:8-17

B. The Song of the Sword 21:8-17

TRANSLATION

(8) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (9) Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the LORD: Say: A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished; (10) in order to make a great slaughter it is sharpened, in order that it might flash it is polished or shall we rejoice the rod of My son, who rejects everything of wood. (11) And He gave to be polished, to be seized by the hand; the sword, it is sharpened, and it is polished, to give it 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, those who are thrust down to the sword with My people; therefore smite upon the thigh. (13) For there is a trial, and what if the despising scepter shall be no more? (14) And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and smite your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of those to be slain, the sword of the great one who is to be slain which surrounds them. (15) In order that their heart may melt, and their stumbling be multiplied, I have set the point of the sword. Ah! it is made to flash, it is sharpened for slaughter. (16) Unite yourself, go right, set yourself, go left! Where is your face set? (17) I also will smite My hands together, and cause My wrath to rest; I the LORD have spoken it.

COMMENTS

The thought of the unsheathed sword in Ezekiel 21:3 gives rise to this present section. In the Hebrew text this section is in poetic form and may have been a common lament song sung in times of coming judgment. It is even possible that Ezekiel accomplished these words with some kind of sword-brandishing. The sword of the Lord is ready for action. Its dazzling brightness is added to its sharpness as a fresh element of terror (Ezekiel 21:8-10 a).

Ezekiel quickly broke off his sword song as he noticed the smiles on the faces of his auditors. Or do we make mirth?, he asked. Do you think I am joking about this whole matter? This sharpened and glittering sword is the rod of My son, i.e., the rod with which God’s son Israel must now be disciplined. The nation had despised everything of wood, i.e., every former instrument of punishment (cf. Isaiah 10:5), God had given that sword to be polished and then handed over to the executioner (Ezekiel 21:10-11).

God called upon the prophet to take up a lament over the impending doom, and to slap his thigh as a gesture of grief and despair. Even the princes of Judah would be thrust down along with the common people by the divine sword (Ezekiel 21:12). The trial of Judah had now come, and during that trial the scepter that despised the word and warning of God would not be, i.e., exist. Judah would be left without a ruler (Ezekiel 21:13).

God directed Ezekiel to perform yet another gesture. He was to slap his hands together either to indicate lamentation, or, what is more likely, to summon the agent of destruction. He was to brandish the sword with a double motion, backward and forward, three times.[350] That sword of divine justice would slay many, even the great one, i.e., the king. From that sword there would be no escape, for it would surround them like a besieging army (Ezekiel 21:14). The point of the sword of the Lord would be set at every gate of the city causing consternation within and stumbling as the citizens attempted to escape that sword which glittered because of sharpening and furbishing (Ezekiel 21:15).

[350] Perhaps the brandishing of the sword three times points to three times Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land of Judah in 605-604, in 597 and finally in 587 B.C.

God addresses the sword[351] (king of Babylon) in Ezekiel 21:16. This agent of divine judgment is urged to make a decision as to which direction he will move, but to get on with the judgment (Ezekiel 21:16). It is, after all, Yahweh who had given that command with a gesture of supreme authority (clap My hands together). Only when the divine sentence had been executed against Judah would God’s anger be appeased. God had spoken, and what He had said must come to pass. With these words the song of the sword ended, and there followed another interval of silence (Ezekiel 21:17).

[351] The verbs have the feminine form indicating that the sword (a feminine noun in Hebrew) is being addressed rather than the prophet as proposed by some.

Ezekiel 21:18-27

C. The Sword of the King of Babylon 21:18-27

TRANSLATION

(18) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (19) Now as for you, son of man, make for yourself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; the two of them shall come forth out of one land; and fashion it. (20) You shall make a way that the sword may come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in the fortress of Jerusalem. (21) For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to employ divination; he shakes the arrows, he inquires of the teraphim, he observes the liver. (22) In his right hand is the divination of Jerusalem to set battering rams to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift the voice in a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to construct mounds, to build siege forts. (23) And it shall be unto them as false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths unto them. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken. (24) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered in that your transgressions have been uncovered, so that your sins appear in all your deeds; because you are remembered, you shall be seized with the hand. (25) And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the iniquity of the end; (26) thus says the Lord GOD: The turban shall be removed, and the crown shall be taken off; things will be thrown into confusion; the lowly shall be exalted, and the high shall be brought low. (27) A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I have made it; this also shall not be until he come whose right it is, and I will give it to him.

COMMENTS

Ezekiel received a new revelation (Ezekiel 21:18) in which he was commanded to sketch a road which, at a certain point, branched in two directions. The road came forth out of one land, i.e., out of the land of Babylon. That was the road which God’s divinely appointed sword, the king of Babylon, would travel. At the crossroads the prophet was to draw, or perhaps cut out and place, a signpost (literally, a hand) pointing the way to the city, i.e., Jerusalem (Ezekiel 21:19). The other branch in that road led to Rabbah Ammon (Ezekiel 21:20).

His props in place, Ezekiel was to depict the king of Babylon standing at that crossroads attempting to discover by means of pagan divination which of those two routes to travel. Three forms of divination are mentioned. Shaking the arrows involved writing the names of the two objectives on arrows, shaking them up in the quiver, and drawing forth one of them. The precise manner by which the small household gods called teraphim were used to receive oracular direction is unknown. Examining the color and markings of a liver from a sacrificial animal, however, is a well-known form of divination among the Babylonians, although this is the only place the custom is mentioned in the Scriptures (Ezekiel 21:21).

Ezekiel pictures Nebuchadnezzar drawing two arrows from the quiver. The one in the right hand had the name Jerusalem written on it. His pagan divination informed him that he was to employ every siege weapon to assault the city battering rams to assault the walls and gates; mounds of earth and mobile forts from which to hurl missiles over the walls. As he attacked Jerusalem his men would open the mouth for the slaughter, i.e., lift up their voices in blood-curdling battle cries designed to terrify the inhabitants of the city (Ezekiel 21:22).

To the men of Jerusalem. what Nebuchadnezzar had done was but vain divination. Still they lulled themselves into a false sense of security. They had escaped the king’s wrath in the past by swearing oaths of allegiance to him,[352] and they were fully prepared to take such oaths again. But this time, says the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar would come to settle the account with the rebels he will bring iniquity to remembrance. This time they will be taken, i.e., seized by the invader and either slain or made prisoners (Ezekiel 21:23).

[352] The Hebrew reads literally, oaths of oaths are theirs. Keil thinks the reference is to the oaths of the Lord which He had sworn unto His people, They were trusting in divine promises of protection and deliverance, However, God would bring to remembrance their iniquity.

The iniquity of Judah had forced, not only the king of Babylon, but the Lord Himself to remember their iniquity. Their more recent transgressions had caused their former iniquities to be remembered before God. Because of their consistent record of willful disobedience they would fall into the hand of the God of judgment (Ezekiel 21:24).

Zedekiah is prophetically addressed in Ezekiel 21:25 as a profane and wicked prince. This weak-kneed monarch had shown himself to be unfaithful both to his overlord Nebuchadnezzar and to the God in whose name he had taken his vassal oath. Now his day had come. He had committed his final iniquity which brought down on him the final punishment (Ezekiel 21:25). He would lose the insignia of his rank. Things would be thrown into confusion.[353] The rulers of Judah would be brought down and abased; the humble citizens who heeded God’s word would be exalted (Ezekiel 21:26). The honors offered Jeremiah after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem might be an example of the exaltation of the humble (cf. Jeremiah 40:5 f.). The monarchy would be in utter ruin (emphasized by the threefold repetition of the noun) as a result of the calamity which would befall Zedekiah. The monarchy would exist no more until he come whose right it is. There can be little doubt that this is a Messianic prediction. The kingly line would be overthrown and God’s people would remain without a king until that one arose who had been anticipated throughout Old Testament history. When Messiah finally came, the crown and diadem would be given to him, for he would be the culmination of everything to which the Davidic house and the Messianic kingship in Israel have always pointed.[354]

[353] Literally the Hebrew reads, thus not this. The paraphrase of Lofthouse has been followed here.

[354] Taylor, TOTC, p. 165.

Ezekiel 21:28-32

D. The Sword Against Ammon 21:28-32

TRANSLATION

(28) And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the children of Ammon and their taunt, and say: O sword, keen-edged, furbished to the uttermost for slaughter that it may flash. (29) While they see falsehood about you, while they divine lies regarding you, to lay you upon the necks of the wicked who shall be slain, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end. (30) Cause it to return 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 wrath upon you, I will blow you with the fire of My wrath; and I will give you into the hand of ruthless men, skillful destroyers. (32) You shall become fuel for the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall not be remembered; for I the LORD have spoken it.

COMMENTS

Apparently Ezekiel again takes up his sword and turns it against the Ammonites. They might have thought that they would escape the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar when Judah was invaded. However, these who had mocked when Judah had experienced earlier invasions by Nebuchadnezzar should not imagine that they would escape a similar fate. The sword of divine judgment was sharpened and polished to the uttermost, i.e., as much as it could receive, so as to be a terrifying and effective instrument of punishment (Ezekiel 21:28).

Ammonite soothsayers were envisioning peace and security for that kingdom. Such divination was false and unreliable. Ultimately Ammon would share the same fate as Jerusalem, and her slain would fall in heaps upon the necks of the wicked that are to be slain, i.e., upon the bodies of the Jews previously slain by Nebuchadnezzar. For them divine punishment has been decreed, and that punishment must certainly come (Ezekiel 21:29). At this point Ezekiel is commanded to return his symbolic sword to its sheath.

The symbolic action performed by Ezekiel came to an end, but the execution of the judgment thereby predicted would shortly follow. God would judge Ammon on their own soil the place where you were created (Ezekiel 21:30). God’s anger against Ammon would grow ever more intense as does a flame blown by bellows. They could expect no mercy at the hands of the ruthless Babylonians into whose hands they were about to fall (Ezekiel 21:31). Judah would be carried into exile, but Ammon would be destroyed in the midst of their own land. For Ammon there was no hope of restoration like that which Ezekiel portrays as Israel’s future. Ammon would pass into oblivion. Such was the final decree of the sovereign ruler of all nations (Ezekiel 21:32).