1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,"
God uses the terms “Israel” and “Jerusalem” interchangeably. The Northern kingdom which we generally call Israel had already been destroyed by Ezekiel’s time. They no longer existed. So the Israel God is referring to here were the “Children of Israel [Jacob]” who were left, or what is generally called Judah.
3 "And say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says 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.'"
God destroyed the whole land.
4 "'Seeing 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:'"
Everyone suffered because of the nation’s (as a whole) sins.
5 "'That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth My sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.'"
6 "'Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.'"
God gave Ezekiel stage directions so that His message will be fully understood.
7 "And it shall be, when they say unto thee, 'Wherefore sigh thou?' that thou shall answer, 'For the tidings; because it comes: 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 comes, and shall be brought to pass, says the Lord God.'"
This coming tragedy was a sure thing. Everyone felt the pain. Everyone suffered.
8 Again 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 furbished:"'"
This is the sword of Babylon. God had built it up and made it ready to conquer.
10 "'It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter;'"
Killing it may kill.
"'… it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? It contemneth (despises) the rod of My son, as every tree (wood).'"
The sword of Babylon despises the rod of Judah. Why should anyone be happy? Why should anyone celebrate? Our country is fixing to fall.
11 "'And He has 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.'
12 "Cry 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."
God told Ezekiel to publicly and bitterly mourn for his country that is fixing to die.
13 "Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, says the Lord God."
The rod, or scepter (royal family) of Judah would cease to exist. This was a sore test to the Jews who were quite proud of their royalty.
14 "Thou 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 enters into their privy chambers."
At this point, Babylon had already invaded Jerusalem twice; once when Daniel was carried off, once when Ezekiel was taken. Now they were going into the land a third time, and this time no one would be spared. Everyone would suffer.
15 "I 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."
God put enemies at every gate so there was no escape.
16 "Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set."
The face here is the face of the sword. The NIV words this, “O sword, slash to the right, then to the left, wherever your blade is turned.”
17 "I will also smite Mine hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest: I the Lord have said it."
God had the Babylonians fight until His anger was fully satisfied.
18 The word of the Lord came unto Me again, saying,
19 "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.
20 "Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defensed.
21 "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."
Using arrows to divine the way to go was a common practice in ancient times. Each arrow had the name of a city or “God says yes,” “God says no,” written on it. Then they were either pulled from a bag or shaken out of a container, the first one out being the correct answer.
Many idols were used to divine in similar fashion.
Looking in the liver of a sacrificial animal was supposed to tell the future. A healthy liver meant success ahead. A diseased liver meant trouble.
Nebuchadnezzar would have stopped at the crossroads between Rabbath of Ammon (not to be confused with Rabbath of Judah) and Jerusalem and used these forms of divination to decide which way to go, which country to conquer first.
22 "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."
Nebuchadnezzar will decide the omens tell him to go to Jerusalem. Of course God can use such omens to accomplish His will when He wants to.
23 "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."
Nebby’s advisers didn’t agree. They thought it best to go to Rabbath first. But Nebby reminded them of the times they had been wrong.
24 "Therefore thus says 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 caused Nebby to act this way in order to bring punishment on the children of Israel for their rebellion.
25 "'And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,'"
Now God is speaking to Zedekiah.
26 "'Thus says 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.'"
The Jewish royalty is done. It ceased to exist. From now on there will be no king in Israel.
27 "'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.'"
Though Zerubbabal (a descendent of David and other kings of Judah) led after the return to Israel, a true kingship was never restored. That is, it was not restored until Jesus arrived. It is Christ’s right to rule and God has given Him the kingdom.
(Chapter divisions were not added until the 18th century and some were put in place just because that’s where the interpreter left off for the night. We should be beginning a new (all be it, very short,) chapter here…
28 "And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says 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:'"
Though God sent Nebby to Jerusalem first, He hadn’t forgotten the evil of the Ammonites. They will also be punished.
29 "'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.'"
There had evidently been prophecy that Ammon would be spared. God is letting them know those were false prophesies.
30 "'Shall I cause it (the sword) to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 "'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 skillful to destroy.'"
The Babylonians.
32 "'Thou shall be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shall be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.'"
Ammon WILL be punished and destroyed.