The Sword of the Lord
Text Ezekiel 21 Time 19/11/06 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
As we continue to look at his book, I hope that one of the things you're able to do is to sympathise with Ezekiel.
1. He is a man in exile from his home country. Some of you perhaps can understand.
2. Of course, he is not exiled simply from all the familiar scenes that he grew up with but exiled from the Promised Land itself, the land given to the people by God himself, the land where the Temple was, where Messiah himself, the Saviour of the World, would be born.
3. Worse again, as a descendant of Levi he would have served as a priest had he been back in Israel but that was not possible in Babylon.
Yet, there was the comfort of having been called by God to be a prophet. What glorious visions Ezekiel was blessed with, what amazing visions of the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Yet, to be a prophet in such times! The people were very rebellious, given over to idolatry and sin. By this stage God's words to Ezekiel are making a lot of sense. You remember how he said in Chapter 2:3ff I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn? Ezekiel is told not to be afraid of them or their words even though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.
He is told You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. And that is what Ezekiel did. We've seen him trying all sorts of different ways to get over to them the simple fact that they must repent or face judgement. They did not realise that things were going to get worse - the exile was going to continue and extend, there would be no more kings in Israel and the Temple worship was going to be halted for the next 70 years.
It is a little bit like Noah preaching to people before the flood. Day after day he would preach and warn the people of the terrible flood that was going to come. But, apart from members of his own immediate family, nobody listened. Nobody cared. It is suggested (rightly I'm sure) that the people laughed at Noah. You can imagine it – 'Oh it's nutty Noah again telling us about this great flood that's going to come. Have you seen that boat-thing he's building?'
1. Realise that we are not just telling stories this morning
As we continue to look at his book, I hope that one of the things you're able to do is to sympathise with Ezekiel.
1. He is a man in exile from his home country. Some of you perhaps can understand.
2. Of course, he is not exiled simply from all the familiar scenes that he grew up with but exiled from the Promised Land itself, the land given to the people by God himself, the land where the Temple was, where Messiah himself, the Saviour of the World, would be born.
3. Worse again, as a descendant of Levi he would have served as a priest had he been back in Israel but that was not possible in Babylon.
Yet, there was the comfort of having been called by God to be a prophet. What glorious visions Ezekiel was blessed with, what amazing visions of the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Yet, to be a prophet in such times! The people were very rebellious, given over to idolatry and sin. By this stage God's words to Ezekiel are making a lot of sense. You remember how he said in Chapter 2:3ff I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn? Ezekiel is told not to be afraid of them or their words even though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.
He is told You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. And that is what Ezekiel did. We've seen him trying all sorts of different ways to get over to them the simple fact that they must repent or face judgement. They did not realise that things were going to get worse - the exile was going to continue and extend, there would be no more kings in Israel and the Temple worship was going to be halted for the next 70 years.
It is a little bit like Noah preaching to people before the flood. Day after day he would preach and warn the people of the terrible flood that was going to come. But, apart from members of his own immediate family, nobody listened. Nobody cared. It is suggested (rightly I'm sure) that the people laughed at Noah. You can imagine it – 'Oh it's nutty Noah again telling us about this great flood that's going to come. Have you seen that boat-thing he's building?'
1. Realise that we are not just telling stories this morning
Now it was like that for Ezekiel too. We have none of Noah's sermons so we don't know what ways he tried to get the message over but we do have records of Ezekiel's messages and his attempts to get the message across. One is struck by the sheer inventiveness of the man, under God, as he tried different methods and used different pictures. At the end of Chapter 20 he uses the picture of a forest-fire. It's also called wildfire or brush fire. Now, like me, you've probably never seen one close up but you've read about them and seen footage on film. Sometimes they make the news here but not often. An old man in China, in Guangdong, recently confessed to causing a wildfire there. There was a forest fire in Central Texas last week that thankfully was contained without loss of life or limb. There was a smaller one in Los Angeles County and then yesterday 70 acres went up nearby in San Gabriel Canyon.
They can be caused by human beings – deliberately or accidentally - but they can also start spontaneously, say if lightning hits. They are very hard even for modern fire fighters to control. There is not only crawling fire in the undergrowth and crown fire in the tree tops but also spotting or jumping fire where burning branches or leaves are carried by the wind and start other fires.
Now in the southern part of Judah there were forests in Ezekiel's day and no doubt there were forest fires from time to time and so that image is taken up. Ezekiel is told to set his face toward the south and preach against it, especially against the forest of the southland. In God's name he is to say I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. Everyone will see that I the LORD have kindled it; it will not be quenched. Now, of course, Ezekiel is not speaking literally. He is describing the terrible troubles that were about to come upon Judah. It's put in picture form to drive the message home to these rebellious people. But what is the reaction? Ezekiel tells us (49) Then I said, Ah, Sovereign LORD! They are saying of me, Isn't he just telling parables? 'Oh eccentric old Ezekiel is telling us one of his funny stories again. Yes, very nice. He's quite a story teller isn't he?' It's the same reaction that continues to this day. I remember as a student taking people along to hear different preachers and often there was that sort of reaction. 'Yes, very good. He can tell a good story can't he?' And so the message was shut out.
Is that how people listen to you? You try different ways of speaking to them but they seem just to smile and it never gets home to them. Is that how you listen to me? Do you say 'Well he was good this morning (or bad)' all on the basis of the form of the message, without letting the reality get into your heart. I heard a preacher saying recently that he preaches somewhere and the older ladies there say to him 'You always give us something to think about' which he took as a compliment but was less happy the more he thought about it. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 were converted they didn't say 'Well, that's something to think about' or 'He's a good story teller this Peter'. No, they were cut to the heart and desperately asked Peter what to do. That is the reaction preachers seek. When I talk to you about a fire from God that's coming, that's going to lick up every wicked person, every man woman and child who's not trusted in Jesus Christ as their Saviour – I'm not telling you a story! I'm not trying to entertain you, to pass the hour. I'm in earnest. Some years ago there was a great pile up on one of the motorways in terrible fog. People were ploughing into the cars in front despite other people making desperate efforts to alert them to what was ahead. Imagine waving frantically and being ignored. That's how it was for Noah and Ezekiel and so often for us today.
So what do we do? Did Ezekiel give up preaching? No, he simply tried again. And that is what we must do too.
2. Understand the main image used in this chapter
They can be caused by human beings – deliberately or accidentally - but they can also start spontaneously, say if lightning hits. They are very hard even for modern fire fighters to control. There is not only crawling fire in the undergrowth and crown fire in the tree tops but also spotting or jumping fire where burning branches or leaves are carried by the wind and start other fires.
Now in the southern part of Judah there were forests in Ezekiel's day and no doubt there were forest fires from time to time and so that image is taken up. Ezekiel is told to set his face toward the south and preach against it, especially against the forest of the southland. In God's name he is to say I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. Everyone will see that I the LORD have kindled it; it will not be quenched. Now, of course, Ezekiel is not speaking literally. He is describing the terrible troubles that were about to come upon Judah. It's put in picture form to drive the message home to these rebellious people. But what is the reaction? Ezekiel tells us (49) Then I said, Ah, Sovereign LORD! They are saying of me, Isn't he just telling parables? 'Oh eccentric old Ezekiel is telling us one of his funny stories again. Yes, very nice. He's quite a story teller isn't he?' It's the same reaction that continues to this day. I remember as a student taking people along to hear different preachers and often there was that sort of reaction. 'Yes, very good. He can tell a good story can't he?' And so the message was shut out.
Is that how people listen to you? You try different ways of speaking to them but they seem just to smile and it never gets home to them. Is that how you listen to me? Do you say 'Well he was good this morning (or bad)' all on the basis of the form of the message, without letting the reality get into your heart. I heard a preacher saying recently that he preaches somewhere and the older ladies there say to him 'You always give us something to think about' which he took as a compliment but was less happy the more he thought about it. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 were converted they didn't say 'Well, that's something to think about' or 'He's a good story teller this Peter'. No, they were cut to the heart and desperately asked Peter what to do. That is the reaction preachers seek. When I talk to you about a fire from God that's coming, that's going to lick up every wicked person, every man woman and child who's not trusted in Jesus Christ as their Saviour – I'm not telling you a story! I'm not trying to entertain you, to pass the hour. I'm in earnest. Some years ago there was a great pile up on one of the motorways in terrible fog. People were ploughing into the cars in front despite other people making desperate efforts to alert them to what was ahead. Imagine waving frantically and being ignored. That's how it was for Noah and Ezekiel and so often for us today.
So what do we do? Did Ezekiel give up preaching? No, he simply tried again. And that is what we must do too.
2. Understand the main image used in this chapter
Now you'll notice that in Chapter 21 there is no real mention of forest fires – very little reference to fire at all. But there is one word that occurs some 19 times in just 32 verses. It is, of course, the word sword. The sword has existed down the centuries in various forms and has all sorts of traditions and mythology connected with it. There are great long swords, broad swords and Claymores. Or think of a rapier, a scimitar, a sabre or a short sword. There are any number of different types. Some swords (like Excalibur or Caladbolg) have even had their own names. Young boys especially love sword-fencing scenes in films and computer games and some people fence for sport but swords are really for killing people. So, if a sword is going to be effective it needs to be well-made (forged), kept and polished (a special process that keeps rust away and makes the sword most effective) and sharp. The art of sword-smithing is a whole world in itself.
In the end the thing we need to have in mind is a weapon for killing people. And so here it signifies war and death and judgement. Using poetry and prose, Ezekiel endeavours, with this sword imagery, to impress upon the people the fact of the coming judgement and what I want to do is to draw on his words and do the same thing – thinking not now of the temporal judgement of exile at the hands of the Babylonians but chiefly of the Final Judgement itself.
3. Consider the agony of the coming judgement
In the end the thing we need to have in mind is a weapon for killing people. And so here it signifies war and death and judgement. Using poetry and prose, Ezekiel endeavours, with this sword imagery, to impress upon the people the fact of the coming judgement and what I want to do is to draw on his words and do the same thing – thinking not now of the temporal judgement of exile at the hands of the Babylonians but chiefly of the Final Judgement itself.
3. Consider the agony of the coming judgement
So The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. He is to prophesy and say in God's name I am against you. I will draw my sword from its scabbard and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. Then all people will know that I the LORD have drawn my sword from its scabbard; it will not return again. What a fearful judgement was about to come, and as is so often the case, it was going to affect not just the wicked but the righteous too.
Now first of all, Ezekiel is to get over to the people the agony of this coming judgement. What anguish, what misery lay ahead, what trouble and wretchedness. How was that to be got across to the people? Ezekiel is told to groan before the people. 6 Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask you, Why are you groaning? you shall say, Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every knee become as weak as water. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. Imagine seeing and hearing Ezekiel groaning and moaning, crying out in bitter grief. Your curiosity would be aroused. Why is he doing this? Now it is extremely rare for me to weep when preaching. It is a fault perhaps. It is said that whenever the great George Whitefield preached, he wept. Would weeping serve to get over to you the seriousness of judgement and hell? Perhaps I should weep. What agony is going to come on this world. Believe it.
4. Consider the thoroughness of the coming judgement
Now first of all, Ezekiel is to get over to the people the agony of this coming judgement. What anguish, what misery lay ahead, what trouble and wretchedness. How was that to be got across to the people? Ezekiel is told to groan before the people. 6 Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask you, Why are you groaning? you shall say, Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every knee become as weak as water. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. Imagine seeing and hearing Ezekiel groaning and moaning, crying out in bitter grief. Your curiosity would be aroused. Why is he doing this? Now it is extremely rare for me to weep when preaching. It is a fault perhaps. It is said that whenever the great George Whitefield preached, he wept. Would weeping serve to get over to you the seriousness of judgement and hell? Perhaps I should weep. What agony is going to come on this world. Believe it.
4. Consider the thoroughness of the coming judgement
Next (8-17) we have poetry. Ezekiel is to say A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished - sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Then he asks the question Shall we rejoice in the sceptre of my son Judah ? Many were supposing that King Zedekiah could save the situation but no - The sword despises every such stick. 11 The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped with the hand; it is sharpened and polished, made ready for the hand of the slayer. God was going to take Babylon and use it like a man wielding a sword.
So Ezekiel is told again (12, 13) to Cry out and wail ... for says God it is against my people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with my people. Therefore beat your breast. Testing will surely come. And what if the sceptre of Judah , which the sword despises, does not continue? Reckon with the possibility. When famines, etc, come, often the rich are not affected like the poor. This judgement would not be like that – nor will the one to come.
Verses 14-17 are similar. Ezekiel is to clap his hands and prophesy Let the sword strike twice, even three times. It is a sword for slaughter - a sword for great slaughter, closing in on them from every side. Hearts will melt, many will fall. There is no escape – God has stationed the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Oh! It is made to flash like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. It will slash left and right, wherever it is turned. Then God also will clap (17) and his wrath will subside. It is comprehensive, complete. There can be no escape from this devastating judgement.
So Ezekiel is told again (12, 13) to Cry out and wail ... for says God it is against my people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with my people. Therefore beat your breast. Testing will surely come. And what if the sceptre of Judah , which the sword despises, does not continue? Reckon with the possibility. When famines, etc, come, often the rich are not affected like the poor. This judgement would not be like that – nor will the one to come.
Verses 14-17 are similar. Ezekiel is to clap his hands and prophesy Let the sword strike twice, even three times. It is a sword for slaughter - a sword for great slaughter, closing in on them from every side. Hearts will melt, many will fall. There is no escape – God has stationed the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Oh! It is made to flash like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. It will slash left and right, wherever it is turned. Then God also will clap (17) and his wrath will subside. It is comprehensive, complete. There can be no escape from this devastating judgement.
Now, as we've said before what is being said here about falling to Babylon is true also of the final judgement. As then, it will affect rich and poor, high and low, alike. Judgement closes in from every side. It is at every gate.
5. Realise that Judgement is coming first for God's professed people Christ is their only hope
Having spoken and groaned, next Ezekiel is to do some drawing or modelling. He is told to sketch or model a map with two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. He is then to mark off one road heading for Rabbah of the Ammonites and another towards Judah and fortified Jerusalem. This is because Nebuchadnezzar was going to halt where the road from Babylon forked, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen. We are told he will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. Belomancy involves labelling arrows then either choosing them from the quiver or shooting them to see which goes furthest. Extispicy involves opening an animal up and examining its innards. We know that God controls even the casting of the lot, how the dice falls, etc, and so here he works it that Nebuchadnezzar should choose Jerusalem, where he would set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. Verse 23 means that the Babylonian party in Jerusalem will be taken by surprise. They will not escape.
24 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do - because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
Wicked king Zedekiah is especially denounced. 25-27 O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; to him I will give it. Now we could have a whole sermon just on verse 27. It is alluding, as before in this chapter, to Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49:10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. This points forward to Christ's own coming.
Taking this as a patten then we can say as Peter does (1 Peter 4:17) that judgement begins with the family of God. When I speak of the judgement I am speaking firstly of the judgement that is coming to those who profess to be the people of God. Our sins are many and there has to be judgement – now temporally but, in the world to come, at the final judgement. Our only hope at that time is to look to the one to whom the sceptre rightly belongs – Jesus Christ. Look to him now, believer. Look nowhere else – not to your good deeds or anything like that, only to him. The sword despises every stick but that one!
6. Realise that judgement is also coming for those who are not God's people
5. Realise that Judgement is coming first for God's professed people Christ is their only hope
Having spoken and groaned, next Ezekiel is to do some drawing or modelling. He is told to sketch or model a map with two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. He is then to mark off one road heading for Rabbah of the Ammonites and another towards Judah and fortified Jerusalem. This is because Nebuchadnezzar was going to halt where the road from Babylon forked, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen. We are told he will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. Belomancy involves labelling arrows then either choosing them from the quiver or shooting them to see which goes furthest. Extispicy involves opening an animal up and examining its innards. We know that God controls even the casting of the lot, how the dice falls, etc, and so here he works it that Nebuchadnezzar should choose Jerusalem, where he would set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. Verse 23 means that the Babylonian party in Jerusalem will be taken by surprise. They will not escape.
24 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do - because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
Wicked king Zedekiah is especially denounced. 25-27 O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; to him I will give it. Now we could have a whole sermon just on verse 27. It is alluding, as before in this chapter, to Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49:10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. This points forward to Christ's own coming.
Taking this as a patten then we can say as Peter does (1 Peter 4:17) that judgement begins with the family of God. When I speak of the judgement I am speaking firstly of the judgement that is coming to those who profess to be the people of God. Our sins are many and there has to be judgement – now temporally but, in the world to come, at the final judgement. Our only hope at that time is to look to the one to whom the sceptre rightly belongs – Jesus Christ. Look to him now, believer. Look nowhere else – not to your good deeds or anything like that, only to him. The sword despises every stick but that one!
6. Realise that judgement is also coming for those who are not God's people
1 Peter 4:17 actually says For it is time for judgement to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? When the prophets preached they preached mainly to Israel but they always have something to say to the nations around them too. And so here the Ammonites are not forgotten. 28 This is what the Sovereign LORD says about the Ammonites and their insults: and again it is A sword, a sword, drawn for the slaughter, polished to consume and to flash like lightning! Oh yes there may be false visions and lying divinations but the sword will be laid on the necks of the wicked who are to be slain, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax. People fondly imagine there is no hell for unbelievers. "Imagine there's no heaven/It's easy if you try/No hell below us/Above us only sky/Imagine all the people/Living for today ..." Oh what a day of judgement is coming for this world!
In verse 30 it says Return the sword to its scabbard. This either refers to when the work is done or perhaps means that the greater judgement of fire is going to come instead. Certainly these wicked people are told In the place where you were created, in the land of your ancestry, I will judge you. God says I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, men skilled in destruction. You will be fuel for the fire, your blood will be shed in your land, you will be remembered no more; for I the LORD have spoken. And so it was that Ammon was not only defeated but it was overthrown to be remembered no more.
In verse 30 it says Return the sword to its scabbard. This either refers to when the work is done or perhaps means that the greater judgement of fire is going to come instead. Certainly these wicked people are told In the place where you were created, in the land of your ancestry, I will judge you. God says I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, men skilled in destruction. You will be fuel for the fire, your blood will be shed in your land, you will be remembered no more; for I the LORD have spoken. And so it was that Ammon was not only defeated but it was overthrown to be remembered no more.
It is a vivid reminder of how all God's enemies will be overthrown. If you are a believer, rejoice that every enemy will be judged. If not, see your danger now and flee to Christ. He alone can save you and will if you turn to him. I urge you to it.
