Ezekiel 21:1 - Meaning and Application

The prophet had faithfully delivered the message given to him at the end of the previous chapter, using the very words he had received. He did not dare add his own explanation. But when he complained that the people blamed him for speaking in parables, the word of the Lord came to him again. God gave him the key to that picture language, so he could explain it to the people and silence their objection. In the end, no one will be able to excuse themselves before God, and every mouth will be stopped.

One lesson here is that if someone speaks in tongues, he should pray for the ability to interpret (1 Corinthians 14:13). When we speak to people about their souls, we should aim for plainness and make ourselves as easy to understand as possible. Christ explained his parables to his disciples (Mark 4:34).

The prophet is now told more clearly whom this message is aimed at. He must direct his word toward the holy places, that is, toward Canaan, the holy land, Jerusalem, the holy city, and the temple, the holy house (Ezekiel 21:2). These places had been honored above all others, but when they were polluted, the message that once fell in those holy places would now fall against them: “Prophesy against the land of Israel.” It had been Israel’s privilege to have prophets and prophecy, but since they despised them, these same gifts are turned against them. It is right that Zion should be battered with its own artillery, the very weapons once used against its enemies, since it did not know how to value them.

He is also taught, and must teach the people, what the fire that threatened to consume the forest of the south meant. It meant a drawn sword, the sword of war that would make the land desolate (Ezekiel 21:3). “Behold, I am against you, O land of Israel.” Nothing is more disastrous for a people than to have God against them. If he is for us, we need not fear whoever is against us. But if he is against us, we have no hope, whoever may be for us. When God’s own people turn away from him, they set him against themselves, though he once stood for them.

Was the fire from God’s own hand? Then the sword here is also his sword, prepared by him and given his command. It is he who draws it from its sheath, where it had rested quietly and threatened no harm. When the sword is unsheathed among the nations, we must see and acknowledge God’s hand in it. Did the fire consume every green tree and every dry tree? So the sword will cut down both the righteous and the wicked. In the nation’s common troubles, good and bad were swept up together. The righteous were carried off from the land of Israel into Babylon, though perhaps few or none of them were cut off from the land of the living. It was also a warning sign for Israel that, at the beginning of its trouble, such excellent men as Daniel and his companions, and Ezekiel, were taken away to Babylon.

Even so, though the sword strikes righteous and wicked alike, for it destroys one as well as another (2 Samuel 11:25), we must never think the righteous are the same as the wicked (Genesis 18:25). God’s grace and comfort make a great difference, even when his providence seems to make none. The good figs are sent to Babylon for their good (Jeremiah 24:5-6). It is only outwardly that the same thing seems to happen to the righteous and the wicked (Ecclesiastes 9:2). Still, this shows how deeply God was displeased with the land of Israel. It was fitting to say, “His eye will not spare,” when it would not spare even the righteous there.

Since there were not enough righteous people to save the land, God allowed the few who were there to suffer with it, so his justice would appear even more clearly. His mercy would make up for that to them in another way. Did the fire burn up all faces from south to north? So the sword would go out against all flesh from south to north, as God’s sword, with a command no one could challenge and a force no one could resist. Were all flesh made to know that God had kindled the fire? They would be made to know that he had drawn the sword (Ezekiel 21:5). And as for whether the fire would ever be quenched, the answer is no. When the Lord’s sword is drawn against Judah and Jerusalem, the scabbard is thrown away, and it will never be put back until it has finished its work.

The prophet is then told, through his own grief and concern for the coming disaster, to try to impress the people with the same concern. After he delivers his message, he must sigh (Ezekiel 21:6). He must give many deep sighs, as if his body itself were breaking. He must sigh with bitterness, showing deep sorrow in public before the same people who heard the earlier message. His grief was to preach to their eyes, just as the message had preached to their ears, and it would be good if both reached them.

The prophet must sigh, even though it would hurt him and make his heart sore. It is likely that the ungodly among the people would mock him and call him a whining, hypocritical preacher. But if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; and if this is to be vile, then we will be even more so. Ministers, if they want to move others with the things they speak about, must show that they themselves are deeply moved by them in sincerity. They must also accept whatever discomfort this may bring if it helps their work.

The people, seeing the prophet sigh so much with no visible reason, would ask, “Why are you sighing? These sighs must mean something. Tell us what it is.” He must answer them (Ezekiel 21:7), “It is because of the news, the heavy news, that we will soon hear. The judgments are coming, the things we have heard about are coming quickly, and then you will all sigh.” In fact, sighing will not be enough. Every heart will melt and every spirit will fail. Their courage will disappear, and they will have no strength left to steady themselves.

When heart and spirit fail, it follows naturally that all hands will grow weak and unable to fight, and all knees will become weak as water, unable to flee or to stand firm. Those who have God for them, even when flesh and heart fail, have him as the strength of their heart. But those who have God against them have no comfort for a fainting spirit. They are like Belshazzar when his thoughts troubled him (Daniel 5:6).

Some may think people are often more frightened than hurt, and wonder if that is the case here. The answer is no. “Behold, it comes, and it will happen.” This is no empty scare. The judgment will come as announced, and the reality will be as bad as, and even worse than, the fear.