Ezekiel 21:8 - Meaning and Application

Here is another prophecy about the sword, and it is given in a very moving way. The language is a little hard to follow, but the meaning is serious and clear. In the verses before this, the sword was unsheathed. Here it is made ready to do its work, and the prophet is told to mourn over it.

Notice, first, how the sword is described. It is sharpened so it can cut, wound, and bring about terrible slaughter. God’s anger gives it its edge. Whatever tools God chooses to use in judgment, he gives them the strength, courage, and force needed for that task. The sharp sword that comes from Christ’s mouth shows this same truth (Revelation 19:15).

It is also polished so that it shines and frightens those against whom it is raised. It becomes like a flaming sword. If it has grown dull or rusty from being unused, it will be rubbed bright again. Even if God’s justice has seemed hidden for a while, during his patience and delay, it will shine out again and be seen clearly.

This sword is also victorious, and nothing can stand before it (Ezekiel 21:10). It “despises the rod of my son as every tree.” God once called Israel his son, his firstborn. Their government was called a rod, a strong rod, and Ezekiel 19:11 speaks of the strong rods they had as rulers. But when the sword of God’s justice is drawn, it treats that rod as nothing. Even if it is a strong rod, and the rod of his son, it is no better than any other tree. When God’s people turn away from him and rebel, his sword no longer regards them as special.

The marginal reading gives another sense: “It is the rod of my son.” That points us to the one of whom God said, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father” (Psalm 2:7), and also, “You will break them with a rod of iron” (Ezekiel 21:9). In that sense, this sword is the rod of iron that brings down every tree. Or it may mean a correcting rod, given to discipline God’s people for their sin (2 Samuel 7:14), not to cut them off as a people. To others it is a sword, but to my Son it is a rod.

Next, we are told how the sword is placed in the hands of those who carry out the judgment. “It is the rod of my Son, and he has given it to be handled” (Ezekiel 21:11), so it can be used for the purpose for which it was drawn. It is not given to a swordsman for show, but to an executioner for action. Christ uses the sword of war as a sword of justice, and all judgment has been given to him. It is made bright again (Ezekiel 21:15), wrapped up so it may be kept safe, clean, and sharp for slaughter. It is not wrapped like Goliath’s sword, merely as a keepsake (1 Samuel 21:9).

Then we are told where this sword is aimed, and against whom it is sent (Ezekiel 21:12). It is against my people, and they will fall by it. This is repeated because it is hard to believe, that the sword of the heathen would come against God’s own people. It will come against all the princes of Israel too. Their rank and power will not protect them any more than their title as princes of Israel will. Yet if the sword is sometimes against God’s people, do they not have enough comfort within them to face it? Yes, if they are living as his people should. But these people were not doing that, so terror because of the sword will come on those who call themselves my people.

While good people are often quiet, not only from evil but from fear of it, wicked people are troubled not only by the sword but by the fear of it. Their own guilt makes them tremble. This sword is aimed especially at the great men, because they had been the worst sinners among them. They had broken the yoke and torn off the bonds (Jeremiah 5:5), and so God’s case against them is special. They were the leaders in sin, and the sword of the slain is the sword of the great men who are killed (Ezekiel 21:14).

Even if they have places of retirement and hiding, where they think they will be safe, the sword will enter their private rooms and find them there. Like the frogs in Egypt, it will come into the chambers of kings. The point of the sword is also directed against their gates, all their gates (Ezekiel 21:15), against everything they trusted to keep danger out and protect them. Strong gates, even gates of bronze, are no defense against God’s judgment.

When that sword is aimed at sinners, two things happen. First, they are ready to fear the worst, and their hearts fail, so they cannot resist. Second, the worst does come. Their resistance does nothing, and they are ruined. But we do not need to trace every direction of this sword, because it has a general order to go wherever it will (Ezekiel 21:16). Go this way or that, right or left, and it will find guilty people, because none are without guilt. It also has authority against them, because none are exempt from punishment. So wherever it turns, it must go on, like Jonathan’s sword returning from battle laden with blood (2 Samuel 1:22).

The world is so full of wicked people that wherever God’s judgments go, they will find work to do. That fire will never lack fuel on this earth. God has so many ways of dealing with sinners that the sword of his justice is still, as it was at the beginning, when it flashed in the hand of the cherubim, turning every way (Genesis 3:24).

Now we come to the nature of this sword, and what it means for God’s people. It is meant for correction. To others it is a sword, but to them it is a rod. This is a comforting thought, even in the middle of these frightening words, though it is expressed a little obscurely. God’s people begin to fear that the sword will ignore the fact that it is meant only as a rod. They fear it will rage so fiercely that it will forget its limits and become a true sword even against God’s own people. They worry that the Chaldeans’ sword, which is the rod of God’s anger, will despise being called a rod and become like the axe that boasts against the one who chops with it, or the staff that acts as if it were more than wood (Isaiah 10:15).

Or, “What if the sword despises even the rod?” That is, what if this sword makes earlier punishments, like Sennacherib’s attack, look small by comparison? What if it turns out to be not a correcting rod, but a destroying sword, one that brings a full end to the church and nation? That is what the thoughtful but fearful few begin to worry about.

When threatening judgments are near, it is wise to consider the worst that could happen, so we can prepare for it. What if the sword despises the tribe or scepter, meaning Judah and the house of David, as some think the word here means? What if it is aiming at the ruin of the government itself? If so, the Lord is still righteous, and he will still be gracious.

But these fears are quieted by the assurance that it is not so. The sword will not forget itself, nor the purpose for which it was sent. It is a trial, and nothing more than a trial. The one who sends it uses it as he wishes and sets its limits as he pleases. Its proud waves will stop here. For God’s people, this is a comfort when his judgments are abroad and fear rises in their hearts. Whatever those judgments mean for others, for his people they are only tests. And when they are tested, they will come out like gold, and the testing of their faith will make it stronger.

The prophet and the people must also show that they are deeply affected by these judgments. The prophet must speak very seriously when he warns of them. He must say, “A sword! A sword!” (Ezekiel 21:9). He should not look for fancy words or clever phrases. When a town is on fire, people do not announce it politely. They cry out, “Fire! Fire!” with alarm. So the prophet must cry, “A sword! A sword!” And (Ezekiel 21:14), the sword must be spoken of again and again, a third time in his preaching. God speaks once, yes twice, yes three times. It would be good if people would still listen after all that. In God’s providence, it would be repeated a third time, because Nebuchadnezzar’s third attack on Jerusalem would finally bring it to ruin. Ruin comes step by step, but at last it strikes fully against a stubborn people.

Yet this is not all. The prophet is not only like a herald announcing war and crying, “A sword! A sword!” again and again. He must also cry and howl (Ezekiel 21:12). He must mourn deeply over the devastation the sword will cause, as one who truly feels the pain of the sufferers. Again (Ezekiel 21:14), he must prophesy and strike his hands together, wring his hands in grief, or clap them in amazement at the sudden and severe judgment. He must strike his hands together, because God also says, “I will strike my hands together” (Ezekiel 21:17). God is serious in pronouncing this sentence, and so the prophet must be serious in announcing it.

God’s striking his hands, like the prophet’s, shows holy anger against their sin, which was truly shocking. When Balak became angry with Balaam, he struck his hands together (Numbers 24:10). God and his ministers are rightly angry with those who could be saved, and yet choose ruin. Some understand this gesture as one of triumph and joy, like (Isaiah 1:24), “Ah, I will ease myself of my enemies,” and (Proverbs 1:26), “I also will laugh at your disaster.” If so, the meaning here is that God’s fury will be satisfied, not only completed, but pleased. The sentence is confirmed with full solemnity and authority: “I the Lord have spoken it.” He has said it, and he will make it happen. He has said it, and he will not take it back. He has said it, and no one can challenge it.

The people also must be deeply serious as they face these judgments. That thought comes in as a question: “Should we then make mirth?” (Ezekiel 21:10). Since God has drawn the sword, and the prophet sighs and cries out, how could they be cheerful? The prophet seems to use this as a reason for his sorrow, like Nehemiah did when he said, “Why should my face not be sad when the city lies in ruins?” (Nehemiah 2:3). Before we allow ourselves to be merry, we should ask whether it is fitting to be merry at all.

Should we make merry, we who are sentenced to the sword and lie under God’s anger and curse? Should we celebrate like others, when we have turned away from our God? (Hosea 9:1). Should we make merry now, when God’s hand is against us, when his judgments are in the land and he is calling us to weeping and mourning? (Isaiah 22:11, Isaiah 22:13). Should we make merry like the king and Haman, when the church is in distress (Esther 3:15), when we ought instead to grieve over the suffering of Joseph? (Amos 6:6).