Ezekiel 21:28

Ezekiel 21:28 says, And 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:  God then gave Ezekiel a message for the Ammonites. Their destruction was coming, and it happened about five years after they defeated Israel when Nebuchadnezzar defeated them.  Matthew Henry says that their triumph over Jerusalem was a temporary thing and that even if it was delayed for a while, their judgment was coming.  People of the world today may think that they have defeated God's people, just as they thought they had defeated Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for the sins of the world, but it is only a temporary defeat for those who feel victorious over God and His people, just as it was but a temporary defeat that the people who crucified Jesus Christ thought they had over Him.  He is forever victorious, and so are those who put their faith in Him. 

Verse twenty-nine adds, Whiles 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.  God said that their prophets, who were false prophets as were many in Israel before they were defeated, had prophesied lies to them when they prophesied of lasting power and riches. No matter what people may promise us today concerning power and riches, if it is not in accordance with God’s word, they are making false promises.  

Verse twenty-nine continues, Shall 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.  God asked if they thought He was going to return His sword of judgment to its sheath and not judge them as well.  He then answered the question by saying that He was going to judge them in their own land.  Just as God’s judgment had come on the people of Israel because of their refusal to remain true to Him, it was going to come on the Ammonites because they were not obeying His law as well.  God will one day judge all people based on their relationship to Jesus Christ, and those who have felt that they have defeated those who are God’s people will realize that it was only a temporary victory.  They will be held accountable for their sins, no matter how powerful they may think they are.   

Verse thirty-one states, And 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.  God said He was going to deliver the Ammonites into the hand of powerful men who would carry out His wrath against them.  God may use other nations that are evil themselves to carry out His purpose, but that doesn't mean that they are forever victorious.  One day, God is going to send His judgment on them, and they will not stand against it.   

Verse thirty-two adds, Thou 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.  God said that they would be totally defeated and remembered no more.  Those we who fight against God and His people today, no matter how powerful they may think they are, will one day will be sent away to everlasting punishment and their names will no longer be remembered in His kingdom.

Ezekiel 21:25

Ezekiel 21:25 says, And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,  God then pronounced His judgment on Zedekiah, who is referred to as the wicked prince of Israel.  God said Zedekiah’s day had come and iniquity would have an end.  When Jesus Christ returns, those who have failed to accept Him as their Savior and Lord will find that their day has come and they will be sent away to everlasting punishment.  Iniquity will have come to an end in God’s kingdom, but they will not be there to enjoy it.  

Verse twenty-six adds, 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.  God then told the people to take the crown off the ruler since things would no longer be the same.  The lowly people were to be exalted and those who had felt that they were better than other people were to be debased.  Jesus Christ didn’t come as a powerful King but as a lowly carpenter’s Son, and when He came, He became the true ruler of Israel and of all who would believe in Him and is the last King of Israel to be exalted and the only One Who was ever truly worthy of being exalted.  

Verse twenty-seven continues, 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.  God said three times that He was going to overturn the kingship of Israel until One whose right it was to claim that kingship came, and until then it would be no more.  Jesus Christ was rejected as the King when He came the first time, but there have been no kings of Israel since and there won’t be until He returns as the conquering King once more.  He is the only One that we should put our faith in and give our allegiance to.   

 

Ezekiel 21:18

Ezekiel 21:18 says, The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,  Ezekiel got another message from God, and we as Christians need to continually be listening for God’s word to us.  

Verse nineteen adds, Also, 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.  Ezekiel was to draw two ways that the king of Babylon might go when he reached a certain point in his attack.  There always seems to come a point at which people can choose to go one way or the other, but in this case the choice was not to be for the good of those in the way chosen.  We should present two ways to go spiritually to unsaved people today, but only one choice, to follow Jesus Christ, is the way that is good for them.   

Verse twenty continues, Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. The point where these two ways diverged would represent the way to Rabbath of the Ammonites or to Jerusalem in Judah, which was a fenced in, or walled city.  Rabbath would have seemed to be the easiest to defeat, and today lost people may feel safe because they are in a more powerful nation than other people, but if they are depending on anything other than God to keep them safe, they are not so powerful that they cannot be defeated.   

Verse twenty-one states, For 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.  When the king of Babylon reached the point where these two ways separated, he would use some form of divination to determine which way to go.  Whatever the method, it was based on the thought that his god would lead him the right way.  People today are still looking for false gods to show them the way to go when confronted with a choice in life.   

Verse twenty-two adds, At 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.  God said that this divination would point him to the right, which was toward Jerusalem, and he would begin to make plans to take it by force, even preparing battering rams to knock down the gates. They were to set up a fort, or to lay siege to the city, ready to stay as long as necessary to bring Jerusalem down.  As followers of Christ, our enemies may batter us with their attack against us spiritually, but they will also be ready to fight against us long term if they are not successful at first.   

Verse twenty-three continues, And 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.  The people of Jerusalem were to be made aware that it was because they followed false prophets who told them that they were going to be safe that they were now in this position.  God had sent His word to them calling on them to repent and put their faith in Him once more or they would be defeated, but they chose to listen to false prophets instead who said they would not be defeated.  If we find ourselves in danger of being defeated spiritually, it will be because we have not been listening to God.  Of course, if we begin to listen to the people of the world instead of God’s word, even if they tell us that we will be okay if we don’t follow God’s commandments, we set ourselves up to be defeated in this life, even if we are forever saved  spiritually by having accepted God’s gift of salvation.   

Verse twenty-four concludes, Therefore 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.  God said it was because of the iniquities of the people of Jerusalem that they were going to be defeated.  They had chosen to listen to false prophets who promised them success without repentance instead of listening to God’s true prophet who said that they were now going to be defeated.  They had become God’s chosen people in name only and believed that this would keep them safe, but God said that since they had not repented of their sins and started to follow Him again when called on to do so that they had lost His protection.  We may call ourselves a Christian nation, but if we are not being obedient to God’s word, we will not have His protection.  We cannot claim to be a Christian nation if we do so many things that are not in accordance with God’s word.