Ezekiel 21:1-32

Ezekiel is given another image to proclaim to the people.  He is to describe the sword of the Lord coming out of its sheath to attack the nation of Israel.  A sword is an instrument of war and a sign of judgment against the nation.  They had become complacent in a false sense of security believing that they would always be blessed and protected by God based on the promises He had made to their forefathers.  However, they were being very selective of the promises they were remembering.  God had promised to judge His children if they disobeyed.  There was also a promise of restoration in response to repentance but the warning about God’s judgment was also very clear.  God’s judgment is often delayed due to His longsuffering and patience; but it will not be delayed forever.  It is a very dangerous thing to lose sight of the judgment of God and be lulled into a false sense of security.

THE SWORD WILL SLAUGHTER ISRAEL: Ezekiel describes a sword that is pulled from its sheath and polished perfectly.  This sword has been sharpened into a perfect instrument of war and it is coming towards the nation of Israel.  They had been living is sin and idolatry with no fear of the Lord and the false belief that nothing would happen to them.  They were well aware of their sin but they refused to turn from their sin or believe that there would be judgment from God.  All the false prophets were saying that they were safe but Ezekiel’s message was completely different.  This sharp sword from the Lord was going to cut the nation to shreds.  War was about to come down on the nation and in war both the righteous and the unrighteous fall in battle.  Despite the warnings from the prophets of God, the people continued to burn incense on the altars of idols and make merry.  God is about to judge them harshly.  It is a very dangerous thing to ignore the judgments of God.

THE SWORD WILL BE SWUNG BY BABYLON: The sword was going to be in the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon.  Ezekiel makes it very clear who God was going to use to exact His judgment on the nation of Israel. Ezekiel describes Nebuchadnezzar’s route to the conquest and the decision he had to make between invading Israel first, or the inhabitants of Ammon.  He consults his false gods and uses pagan means to divine what to do and makes the decision to attack Israel first.  The Ammonites were a particularly sinful people who were considered to be an abominable nation by Israel so it is significant that Israel would be judged together with them and even before them.  This had to have been a wakeup call for the people to realize that in God’s eyes they were as wicked as the Ammonites.  Unfortunately they would not wake up and repent so they were judged by Babylon together with the Ammonites.  The only difference was that the Ammonites were wiped off the face of the earth while God graciously left a small remnant of Israel through whom He would eventually fulfill His promises of restoration in the future.  It is easy for us to be blind to our own sin and not recognize the dangers of our own wickedness.