TAWG - August 6, 2024 - Ezekiel 21:1-32
August 6, 2024

Ezekiel 21:1-32

21:1-5 | The parable’s explanation revealed that God would unleash His holy judgment on the entire land of Judah, sparing nothing. The nation had sinned so egregiously, and for so long, that God’s wrath would touch everything in Judah, both the righteous (the green tree of the parable) and the wicked (the dry tree). The judgment would be so total that no one would be able to miss the fact that the Lord was behind it.

21:3 | The reference to the Lord’s sword cutting off both the righteous and the wicked may reflect the perspective of the people, who would have regarded as righteous some whom the Lord viewed as wicked (such as the elders of Judah described in chapter 8).

21:19-22 | This time, the prophet was to construct a road sign (another visual aid) that he was to place on the path leading from Babylon to Jerusalem and Rabbah (the capital of Ammon). Invading forces didn’t need such a sign, of course, but the placing of the sign served to announce in very visual terms the options before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. As he approached from the north, he could turn left and attack Rabbah or go to the right and attack Jerusalem. Working through Nebuchadnezzar’s own pagan divination methods, God would lead him and his army to Jerusalem.

21:26-27 | The turban and crown symbolize the king’s authority, which would soon be removed by the invading Babylonians.

21:28-32 | Although Nebuchadnezzar would send his army to Jerusalem to lay it to waste, the Ammonites would not go unpunished. At some later date, left undeclared, this nation that rejoiced at Israel’s demise would itself be exterminated, never to rise again. History tells us that the Ammonites eventually vanished as a distinct people group.