Major Prophets · Chapter 21 of 48

Ezekiel 21

The oracle of the sword. God draws his sword from its sheath against Jerusalem and the land, cutting off righteous and wicked alike. Ezekiel is told to sigh and cry out as the sharpened, polished sword advances by Babylon's king. Amid the terror comes a startling word: the crown will be removed and overturned until he comes whose right it is. A further sword oracle falls on Ammon.

What happens in Ezekiel 21

The word of the LORD directs Ezekiel to set his face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against the land. God announces that he is drawing his sword to cut off both righteous and wicked, and it will not return to its sheath. Ezekiel must groan bitterly before the people as a sign of the tidings coming. A poetic song of the sword follows: the blade is sharpened and polished for slaughter, given into the slayer's hand.

God tells Ezekiel to mark two roads for Babylon's king, who stands at the fork using divination, and his lot falls on Jerusalem. To the profane prince God says: remove the diadem, exalt the low, abase the high; the crown will be overturned, overturned, overturned until he comes whose right it is. A final sword oracle is spoken against the Ammonites.

Ezekiel 21 in context

Delivered as Babylon advanced on Judah around 591 to 588 BC. Chapter 21 develops the fire parable that puzzled the hearers in chapter 20 into the plain image of a sword. The threefold overturn and the phrase until he come whose right it is (verse 27) echoes Jacob's blessing on Judah in Genesis 49:10, where the scepter waits for Shiloh.

The profane wicked prince is Zedekiah, Judah's last king.

Main themes of Ezekiel 21

Ezekiel 21 (KJV)

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: 5That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. 6Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. 7And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. 8Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: 10It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. 11And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. 13Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD. 14Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. 15I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. 16Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. 17I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it. 18The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, 19Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. 20Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 21For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 22At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. 23And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. 24Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. 25And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. 28And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: 29Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. 30Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 31And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. 32Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

Verses to carry from Ezekiel 21

“And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.”Ezekiel 21:3

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.”Ezekiel 21:26

“I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”Ezekiel 21:27

Reflection

When every earthly authority you trusted is overturned, it can feel like the end of hope. But this chapter shows God emptying a throne on purpose, guarding it for the one who has the right to reign. Where things have collapsed in your life, ask whether God is clearing the ground for a better King.

A prayer from Ezekiel 21