Humble the Exalted and Exalt the Humble

Ezekiel 21:18-32

18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying: 19 "And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.

24 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

25 'Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD:

"Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
27 Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
It shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to Him."'

28 "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,' and say:

'A sword, a sword is drawn,
Polished for slaughter,
For consuming, for flashing—

29 While they see false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain
Whose day has come,
Whose iniquity shall end.

30 'Return it to its sheath.
I will judge you
In the place where you were created,
In the land of your nativity.

31 I will pour out My indignation on you;
I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath,
And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.

32 You shall be fuel for the fire;
Your blood shall be in the midst of the land.
You shall not be remembered,
For I the LORD have spoken.'"

The word of the LORD said He would humble the exalted and exalt the humble (Luke 1:52, Matthew 23:12) and that He would hold the nation of the Ammonites accountable to judgment.  God appointed two ways at a crossroads as to which way the sword of judgment would fall and even moved the pagan king of Babylon to make his divination turn towards Jerusalem of Judah instead of the Ammonite city of Rabbah.  God Himself would then deal with Ammon of Lot’s descendants after using Babylon to avenge Himself on their sin and discipline them so a remnant would yet repent and turn to Him again in humble worship.  Therefore, the LORD provided a forced divination of arrows, images, and a liver to direct that king’s heart the way it was to go (Proverbs 21:1) according to His sovereign will and predetermined plan.  Because God’s people had openly and brazenly flaunted their rejection and immortality of idolatry in their covetousness to gain for themselves (Colossians 3:5, 1 Timothy 6:5), instead of submitting themselves to God in obedience of worship and no other, He held them accountable.  They had defamed His holy name as His people in their evil doings and would be overthrown for their pride; only the humble would be lifted up and restored, just as humility leads us even now to repentance and submission to the gospel as God’s work and not our own according to our ways to earn favor instead of according to His word and work in the Christ.  Even Jerusalem would only be restored to her proper King (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14) in the end.  As for Ammon who were born from the incestuous relationship between Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19:36-38) and who opposed God’s people, they had already been condemned by the prophets to be judged and destroyed (Isaiah 11:14; Ezekiel 25:2).  The sword of the LORD had pointed to them after Babylon’s had been used against Judah of Israel.  They would be judged accordingly.  These things teach us by example how we should always seek the Lord in sole worship and not pursue the idolatry of covetousness nor immortality which defames His name and presence in these temples which we live in with Him to serve (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Romans 12:1).  May we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord with confession and repentance and serve no other.