Ezekiel 21: The Lord has Drawn His Sword

(32 verses, 5:20 to read)

What I am about to READ

The LORD continue to preach and warn the people that His wrath is coming upon them.

MARK & LEARN

1-17 The Sermon of the Sword: The LORD has unsheathed His sword
- 1-5, The LORD’s sword is out, and it will cut down both the righteous and the wicked
- 6-7, Ezekiel is commanded to preach with groans
- 8-13, The prophecy and poem of the sword.
- 14-17, Ezekiel slaps the sword three times on his thigh.
18-23 Make a sign for the King of Babylon. The Babylonians will us all sorts of magic to determine if they should attack Jerusalem, but the Lord has Ezekiel make a sign that points them in the right direction. Imagine it! “Jerusalem, This Way! Bring Your Soldiers.”
24-27 Ruin promised for Jerusalem and its royalty
28- Back to the sermon of the sword, which now is sheathed, and the people will be burned in judgment with fire from the LORD’s mouth.

MEDITATE

We rightly read these passages as severe preaching of the Law, but notice that the LORD is warning the people about the impending destruction *before* it arrives. The LORD is telling the people, Babylon is coming, the sword is coming, My wrath is coming: Repent. We see the LORD’s mercy even in this preaching of the Law because the promise of destruction comes before the destruction, and this sermon from Ezekiel is given from the LORD in the hope that the people would repent and believe the preaching of the Law.

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Rightly Divided