The Sword of the LORD

Ezekiel 21:1-17

1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore."' 6 Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, 'Why are you sighing?' that you shall answer, 'Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,' says the Lord GOD."

8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the LORD!' Say:

A sword, a sword is sharpened
And also polished!
10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!
Should we then make mirth?
It despises the scepter of My son,
As it does all wood.

11 And He has given it to be polished,
That it may be handled;
This sword is sharpened, and it is polished
To be given into the hand of the slayer.'

12 "Cry and wail, son of man;
For it will be against My people,
Against all the princes of Israel.
Terrors including the sword will be against My people;
Therefore strike your thigh.

13 "Because it is a testing,
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
The scepter shall be no more,"
says the Lord GOD.

14 "You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And strike your hands together.
The third time let the sword do double damage.
It is the sword that slays,
The sword that slays the great men,
That enters their private chambers.

15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That the heart may melt and many may stumble.
Ah! It is made bright;
It is grasped for slaughter:

16 "Swords at the ready!
Thrust right!
Set your blade!
Thrust left—
Wherever your edge is ordered!

17 "I also will beat My fists together,
And I will cause My fury to rest;
I, the LORD, have spoken."

The sword of the LORD was drawn out against Jerusalem and His people who continued in unrepentant sin for their idolatry and immortality in turning away from worshiping Him and living according to His word.  Ezekiel was told to face them and preach against them as he prophesied also against all Israel of God’s people with a certain judgment on the edge of His sword Babylon, a sharpened tool prepared in the divine hand of retribution.  Ezekiel was to then show his sighs of a breaking heart with bitterness before their eyes so they would ask and hear this word of judgment to melt their proud hearts with the approaching doom because they rejected His word and refused to repent of their evil deeds as will many in the final judgment to come (Revelation 9:20-21).  Ezekiel was a bearer of bad news, of a certain judgment which still hangs before all humanity and not just Israel; the good news of the gospel is the only hope, and it relies on understanding the bad news to grasp and respond to it for deliverance from judgment.  That good news is based on God’s mercy provided in grace as undeserved and unable to earn; it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9) who provides a certain hope of peace with Him (Romans 5:1) and deliverance from His wrath to come.  He does not revel in the punishment of us (Ezekiel 33:11-12, 2 Peter 3:9), but desires us to turn from sin to Him through the Lamb sacrificed in our stead on the cross.  That is the bad news showing our state answered by the infinitely good news of deliverance from our deserved consequences of judgment we call salvation.  The LORD has written to His people then that the sword was sharpened and would cut them down just as it will in the very end (Revelation 1:16, 19:11, 13, 15).  As it is written here, the sword “is sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, polished to flash like lightning!  Should we then make mirth?”  It will slay poor and rich, common and royalty alike.  None escape by their own position, possessions, or power, for all those things are given by God and earn no favor for eternity.  God will thrust in His sword to harvest His people who humbled themselves in faith to trust His righteousness for deliverance.  Then His fury against sin and sinners will rest because He said so.  For us the lingering issue is to make our calling and choosing certain (2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Peter 1:10) through repentance and faith that we may escape that wrath and stand forever certain in His loving grace.  We either heed the word of the Lord as we do not deserve or suffer the sword of the Lord as we all do deserve (Romans 3:23-24, 6:23).  Will we receive the word of the Lord now or the sword of the Lord when we die?