Ezekiel 20: 45 – 49
If God Is against you
45 Furthermore the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South, 47 and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”’” 49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’”
Ezekiel 21: 1 - 32
“1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.”’ 6 Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord GOD.”8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ Say: ‘ A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished! 10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My son, as it does all wood. 11 And He has given it to be polished, that it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.’ 12 “ Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh. 13 “ Because it is a testing, and what if the sword despises even the scepter? The scepter shall be no more,” says the Lord GOD.14 “ You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that enters their private chambers. 15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates that the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; it is grasped for slaughter: 16 “ Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left— Wherever your edge is ordered! 17 “ I also will beat My fists together, and I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.” 18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying: 19 “And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken. 24 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. 25 ‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD: “ Remove the turban, and take off the crown; nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. 27 Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, 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,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for slaughter, for consuming, for flashing— 29 While they see false visions for you, while they divine a lie to you, to bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end. 30 ‘ Return it to its sheath. I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity. 31 I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be 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.’”
If you look at the Hebrew Bible you will note that chapter 20 ends with verse 44. Verses 45 through 49 fit in better with chapter 21. In chapter 20 we have witnessed an historic review of the nation of Israel from its conception by God to the present situation of Judgment which chapter 21 will get into.
“45 Furthermore the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South,”
The statement ‘set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South,’ has some very interesting reference. Remember that Ezekiel is living in the land of Iraq as a captive. The land of Israel is south. It was a land flowing with good grazing, fertile fields, and nice rich forests. Today if you go to Israel you can again see the Lord’s Blessing on the land. In addition to the nation of Judah being south, the useless help from Egypt was also suppose to be coming from the south.
“47 and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”’”
To the south of Babylon is what is known in Israel as the Negeb. Today it is a barren desert land. We see here some of the effect of wars and destruction caused by the enemies of Israel for at one time this was a fruitful land abounding with trees. During wartime nations destroy both land and buildings. We read these nuggets of gold from Scripture.
Psalm 83: 12 – 18, “12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves the pastures of God for a possession.” 13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind. 14 As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire, 15 So pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them with Your storm. 16 Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. 17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, 18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.”
Isaiah 9: 18 – 19, “18 For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, and kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke. 19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.”
Isaiah 10: 16 – 19. “16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day. 18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest will be so few in number that a child may write them.”
Jeremiah 21: 14, ‘14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,” says the LORD; “ I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things around it.”
The Babylonian army set out to totally destroy everything in its sight. Today we still see the effects of this destruction when your tour Israel.
49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’”
The prophet Ezekiel understood clearly what the people thought about him They thought in one way that he truly was receiving messages from God, but many thought of him as some kind of joker. It is tough to be a representative of God. We can say that if you have a problem with my message from God then take it up with Him. Don’t shoot the messenger. However, it does not still cause you to sometimes feel overwhelmed with the criticism. In part the elders did not want to be rebuked. Ezekiel was God’s mouthpiece but the rebuke was from Him, The Everlasting Holy Yahweh. The leaders only saw the man before them speaking harsh words to them and they left off all correct thinking in realizing Almighty God was addressing them.
“1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you.”
Our Holy Father saw the verbal attacks His Prophet was going through and He now gives the answer quickly to the words that Ezekiel had just spoken. In a few words our Lord describes the entire problem areas and why they would be dealt with. These areas were the city of Jerusalem, the evil religious group playing the position of righteousness in the Sanctuary, and all other remaining areas of God’s Holy land. God Is not going to just send messengers to deal with this mess, but He Himself will yield the sword. They say the sun shines on the good and bad. We see here as you have viewed on your televisions how the righteous and non-righteous will suffer. We do not want to give the ones listed as righteous a free pass of sorrow for having to suffer the same fate because they were guilty also for doing nothing to correct the evil. That should speak volumes to us living today that turn a blind eye and do nothing for the just and right causes. We just don’t get involved. That type of attitude does not fly with our Holy King.
We read about our Lord drawing His sword other times in the bible. I am sure that you remember this from the book of Joshua chapter 5, “10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. 13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” 14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” 15 Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.”
Joshua was one tough brave dude and we learn a lot by his actions. If our Holy King, Lord, and Savior comes before us, the right action is to drop to our knees.
“4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.”’
When the angel of death passed by the homes of the Israelites on Friday the 13th in Egypt our Holy God spared those faithful people who obeyed Him and put the blood of the lamb on their doorframes. As mentioned, no one this time is going to be safe. The statement ‘have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore’, is a horrifying one. It means that it will not be stopped. It will keep on doing the carnage throughout the entire land.
“6 Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord GOD.”
God causes us to respond sometimes by just an emotional act. I remember a Pastor, who I deeply respect, shared with me such an emotional response. A lady whom he had known came up to him after a service and revealed that her husband left her for another woman. My Pastor fiend was enraged and wanted to know where he was now living because he was going to confront him. When the man answered the door and my Pastor mentor saw him, instead of rebuking the man, he just started crying. He could not even utter a word so he just left. Within a week the wife called the Pastor and told him that her husband had repented and returned home. She said that her husband was so moved and convicted by the emotions of the Pastor that he was cut through his heart and saw the light.
We read that our Lord is giving Ezekiel not only the directions of what to say, but I believe He Is also giving Ezekiel permission to respond to these fellow Israelites the heartache that was on his heart. I was moved deeply when I read what Elisha did when he came in contact with a ruthless pagan ruler as told to us in the book of 2 Kings chapter 8, “7 Then Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” 8 And the king said to Hazael, “Take a present in your hand, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this disease?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover.’ However the LORD has shown me that he will really die.” 11 Then he set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.” 13 So Hazael said, “But what is your servant—a dog, that he should do this gross thing?” And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will become king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would surely recover.” 15 But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.”
Like Elisha, Ezekiel understood the horror that would come on his people – men, women, and children. We today can view on the history channel scenes from WWII where the Nazis brutally treated the Jewish people. It is so awful it is hard to watch. This gives just a taste of what Ezekiel personally experienced.
“8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ Say: ‘ A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished! 10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, polished to flash like lightning!”
If you have ever been in any branch of the military you have learned marching songs. Our Chief Commander of Heaven’s hosts has prepared His Own marching song. Almighty God Himself was leading the ‘charge’ against the Israelites. If you have ever seen a Calvary charge with the officer drawing his sword and yelling to his men, ‘charge!’ with the bugler sounding off his horn, you have a pretty good idea of what was happening here. You also see the mention of the word ‘polished’. As the sword was whipping back and forth in the attack, it would reflect in the sun as though lighting was coming off the hands of the one who wielded it.
“Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My son, as it does all wood.”
This verse says a lot. While destruction is imminent, what do you think the people were doing? – Partying! Mankind has and will in the future be ignorant to upcoming disaster. We always have this attitude that it will affect everyone else but not us. Look at some of these examples from Scripture;
Matthew 24: 36 – 42, 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”
The phrase ‘and giving in marriage’ can also refer to ‘getting out of marriage’. Here we read how everything is going on as normal with no one aware that something dramatic that will change the whole world is going to occur.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 10, “1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”
Our Lord’s encouragement to us as His children is to stay awake and be alert waiting for His return. Yes, it has been almost two thousand years since He has gone to Heaven, but I cling to the fact that He has only been away for two days. Since the Bible says that a day is to Him as a thousand years and a thousand years to him is but a day. Many times we see the significance of the third day. So, hopefully He Is coming back to get me and you and take us to be with Him forever on the third day.
Revelation 3: 1- 3, 1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”
In Ezekiel’s time also the people continued to kick back and enjoy the good life and have fun without any cares. God had chosen His ‘Son’. Is this our Lord Jesus Christ? No, interesting enough it is Nebuchadnezzar. He also called this man, His Son!
Not to spin off the lesson but I would like to add that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Is God’s ‘Anointed’. Yet we read in the book of Isaiah chapter 45 that He selected another man to be his ‘anointed’ 1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘ I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’
Our Amazing God anointed Cyrus hundreds of years before he was ever born to help His elect – the Jews return to the land of Israel.
You can also see God’s hurt and anger toward His people. If they were biblically alert they would have picked up on this statement and should have reacted emotionally to it. For in the book of Exodus chapter 4 we read that our Holy Father also called the Hebrews ‘His Son, His firstborn!’ “22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.” Our Holy Yahweh Is not only going to deal with them dramatically. He no longer recognizes them as His own, but recognizes them as foreigners. The ‘Son’ He now recognizes [Nebuchadnezzar] is coming to destroy them. Did they react to this amazing statement/ No, it went right over their heads.
“11 And He has given it to be polished, that it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.’ “
When you are a soldier you make sure your weapons are in good condition. You make sure your weapon is super clean and that you have packed all the ammunition you can efficiently carry. Our Lord Is pointing out how the Babylonian army is preparing and getting ready, while the people of Judah are going about their daily lives without understanding the calamity approaching.
12 “ Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh. 13 “ Because it is a testing, and what if the sword despises even the scepter? The scepter shall be no more,” says the Lord GOD.”
We have previously read where our Lord instructed Ezekiel to let out his emotions – ‘to sigh’ – to express his broken heart. The ‘smiting on the thigh’ is an extended display of grief and emotional meltdown. Some people in morning do some things that are quite shocking and alarming. They shriek, scream, flop around, and do all other kinds of acts that are appalling. We see the same instructions to Ezekiel here. If you were here sitting and observing God’s Prophet, how would you react?
14 “ You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that enters their private chambers. 15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates that the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; it is grasped for slaughter: 16 “ Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left— Wherever your edge is ordered!”
I have had the opportunity of going to Russia on missionary trips. I have grown to love the Russians and Ukrainians. I mention this because of what I read here. When you did something that the Russians liked they also ‘smite their hands.’ I was at first startled by this action but I came to appreciate it. We read here that our Holy God instructs Ezekiel to do likewise. It appears as though He was instructing Ezekiel to clap or applaud. Isn’t this a little cruel? No, not really! Take some time and review the previous chapters of Ezekiel and if have some time review the book of Jeremiah. Our Great and Loving God Is trying everything possible to turn the Israelites from their evil destructive paths of life. See for yourselves.
How does this apply to you and me? Have you witnessed things that have been awful in your lives? Now not all bad things are a result of you being disciplined by the Lord, but some are. Have you ever asked questions about the passage in the book of James chapter 5, ““13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
This passage seems pretty clear doesn’t it? Yet, I find many pastors afraid to implement God’s instructions. If you are an elder of the church, Scripture instructs you , if called, to go to the sick person’s home. No look at this portion of the verse, ‘And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The elders are to ask the person if there are any sins that he/she need to confess. Why? Because, sin may be one of the reasons for the illness. Have you ever herd the statement ‘she worried herself to death’. There is a truth here. Guilt causes stress as you well know. Although stress in itself does not cause any harm, it does enhance anything causing problems. Does it not? Check out for yourselves to see if I am correct or not.
‘Make yourself one’ or better described is ‘gather yourselves together.’ Perhaps you can fend off the Babylonian army for a while. It reminds me of the Alamo. The Texans gathered themselves together in the end of the unfinished church, which is today the symbol of the Alamo. The overwhelming numbers of the Mexican army made mincemeat of them. Unfortunately, the Babylonian army is going to do the same thing against the Israelites.
17 “ I also will beat My fists together, and I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Our Lord takes no pleasure in the deaths of humans, even evil people. He says in the book of Ezekiel chapter 33 this important fact, “11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” Yet He also says this about wicked people in these passages;
Psalm 94: 3, ‘3 LORD, how long will the wicked triumph?”
Psalm 101, “1I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. 2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. 5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. 6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me 7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. 8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.”
Proverbs 11, 1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight. 2 When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. 7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes. 8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead. 9 The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. 10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. 11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. 12 He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace. 13 A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. 14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. 15 He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure. 16 A gracious woman retains honor, but ruthless men retain riches. 17 The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. 18 The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. 19 As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. 20 Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their ways are His delight. 21 Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. 22 As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion. 23 The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. 25 The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. 26 The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. 27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. 28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage. 29 He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. 31 If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner.”
I believe that our Lord is clapping or applauding. He was acknowledging His dealing with the wicked on behalf of His own in that He was finally dealing with evil. Have we not heard or asked as a certain time, “Lord, please avenge me for the evil done to me.” Look at what the saints cry out as indicated in the book of Revelation chapter 6, ““9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”
“18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying: 19 “And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.”
Our Lord gives Ezekiel a command to again act out something that will happen. He is to ‘mark out a place’ or route for Nebuchadnezzar to take on his march south. The marking out was probably a sign. God is telling the elders of Israel that Ezekiel will come to a fork in the road because he has two targets – Jerusalem and Rabbah, which was a city of the Ammonites.
“21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.”
The elders should have understood the accuracy of God’s Prophecy, which is always 100 % accurate. In actuality, God is telling the Israelites that Nebuchadnezzar will actually come to a halt and seek through divination what to do.
God shows the people how He Is the Only One Who can tell the future and He even explains what the king of Babylon is doing to determine who to attack. These are the pagan rituals used by Nebuchadnezzar;
1. Belomancy – You put the name of a city on each arrow and shake them up. The first one to fall out is the one to select.
2. Teraphim – We sometimes think they are angels. Well, in a way they are. They are fallen angels or demons behind the scenes of the idols
3. Hepatoscopy – examining the marks of livers. I wonder how my liver would be interpreted?
“22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall.”
The selection which Nebuchadnezzar finally held up in his right hand for all his officers to see was the selection of an all out attack against Jerusalem.
“23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.”
Divinations are worthless ways of trying to find out answers to future events. It is kind of like reading horoscopes to find out how your day will go. Here, is a funny response from our Holy Lord. The divinations that the king of Babylon came up with is to attack Jerusalem the people in this city who were responsible for warning the people were responding that the king of Babylon’s’ divination was wrong it was a ‘vain divination’
‘Oaths of oaths to them’ were their false security of the treaties with Ammon and Egypt to come to the rescue if needed by an attack by Nebuchadnezzar. In addition, this statement can be translated to mean ‘seven sevens to them!’ this was the term for our Holy God’s Wonderful Jubilee year of Blessings. Not only were these evil leaders saying that there was plenty of time before any type of attack could or would occur but God was going to pour out His Blessings on them for another 50 more years.
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.”
Blessings? Our Holy Righteous Judge responds that their sins are shouting out loud and clear. There is no shame anymore in what they say or do. Their sin appears in everything they do.
“25 ‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD: “ Remove the turban, and take off the crown; nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. 27 Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.”’
Some scholars have said that this chapter is one of the most important chapters in the Bible for it spells out the end of the Davidic line. No other king can sit on the throne now except the Messiah.
‘Whose right it is’ means ‘Shiloh’ in the Hebrew. Look with me at Genesis chapter 49, “10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” The Messiah did show up as the prophet Daniel reported to us in chapter 9, 25 “ Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. 26 “ And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;”
Scripture confirms to us, our Lord and Savior was Prophesized to make two appearances; one as a suffering lamb, and the second as a conquering lion.
Zedekiah is the ‘Prince of Israel’ referred here. He is here mentioned as a dead man already. You have heard the story of a guy who read his own obituary in the newspaper. Well, you also see it here. How would you feel if you heard a Prophet of the Most High God refer to you as a dead man> I would think you would be doing everything to repent and get right with God.
When you read things mentioned two times in the Bible our Wonderful Holy Spirit uses it to command our attention. When you see something listed three times, look out1 [Ruin, ruin, ruin or woe, woe, woe]
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for slaughter, for consuming, for flashing— 29 While they see false visions for you, while they divine a lie to you, to bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end.”
You talk about being naïve or blinded. In the book of 2 kings 24 we read this, “2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.”
The Ammonites helped out Babylon in the invasion of Judah in a previous attack. Now, the Israelite leaders think they can be friends. Wow! If you have a chance read the book of I & II Macabees. For one thing I stand in amazement at their bravery in fighting against Antiochus Ephanies. Yet I am also astonished when I see this evil king attempt to be peaceful with the Macabees through deceit. The same thing is going on here.
‘To lay you on the necks of the wicked who are mortally wounded’ is evil upon evil. Even after the Babylonian army had done its worse on the people of Israel these vultures came in and added more killing to the weary survivors.
Our God has seen all this and He Is letting them know that they will not go away without being dealt with.
30 ‘ Return it to its sheath. I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity. 31 I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be 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.’”
Have you ever met an Ammonite in your lifetime? The Holy Yahweh will wipe them off the face of the earth – a forgotten people.
