Ezekiel 21:1-7

III. ISRAEL'S IMMINENT JUDGMENT
20:45-21:32

In the Hebrew Bible Ezekiel 20:45 becomes the first verse of chapter 21. Clearly this is a better arrangement than that adopted by the Authorized Version and subsequent English translations. What is said in Ezekiel 20:45-49 has no connection with what has immediately preceded, but rather sets the stage for what follows in chapter 21. Ezekiel starts out with another parable (Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:7) which may be entitled The Parable of the Forest Fire. To his parable he adds a song about a sword (Ezekiel 21:8-17). This song becomes the springboard for two oracles dealing with the words of the king of Babylon (Ezekiel 21:18-27), and the sword which would one day fall upon Ammon (Ezekiel 21:28-32).

A. The Parable of the Forest Fire 20:45-21:7

TRANSLATION

(45) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (46) Son of man, set your face toward the South, and preach unto the South, and prophesy unto the forest of the field of the South. (47) And say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to kindle against you a fire, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and every dry tree, and it shall not be quenched, a flaming flame; and all faces from the south to the north shall be seared by it. (48) And all flesh shall see that I am the LORD when I burn it, and it shall not be quenched. (49) And I said, Ah Lord GOD! They are saying to me, Is he not a maker of parables? (1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, Set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy unto the land of Israel; (3) and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you, and I will bring out My sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. (4) Because I will cut off from you righteous and wicked, therefore My sword shall go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. (5) And all flesh shall know that I the LORD have brought out My sword from its sheath; it shall not return any more. (6) And as for you, son of man, sigh; with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness You shall sigh before their eyes. (7) And it shall come to pass when they say unto you: Why are you sighing? Then you shall say: Because of the tidings, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall droop and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip water; behold it comes, and it shall be done (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

In another revelation from the Lord (Ezekiel 20:45), Ezekiel was told to direct his attention, verbally and perhaps physically as well, toward the south. He was to preach[348] the word of the Lord in that direction. The whole of Judah is the forest of the south which Ezekiel was to address in this utterance (Ezekiel 20:46). That entire forest would be consumed by an unquenchable fire kindled by God Himself. Fire here is symbolic of the devastation wrought by the Chaldean armies. What few righteous there might have been (every green tree) as well as the hardened sinners (every dry tree) would be affected by that conflagration. From one end of the land to the other every face would be seared by the hot flames of judgment (Ezekiel 20:47). That destruction would be of such proportions that the entire world would recognize it as an act of divine judgment (Ezekiel 20:48).

[348] Preach here in the Hebrew is literally, drop your word. This was a technical expression used to designate prophetic utterances. The same word is used in Amos 7:6 and Micah 2:6; Micah 2:11.

Ezekiel's audience was not so spiritually perceptive as to be able to grasp the significance of this parable and others like it (cf. chaps. 15-17). In fact it would appear that his auditors were holding Ezekiel up to ridicule because of his use of the parabolic method. He could hear them whispering to one another and referring to him as a maker of parables (lit., a riddler or riddles). With sorrow, exasperation and perhaps indignation, Ezekiel turned to God in a brief narrative prayer. No petition is directly stated; but Ezekiel is obliquely requesting that he be permitted to put his parable into plain language (Ezekiel 20:49).

After an interval of undetermined duration, God granted the unspoken request of his prophet (Ezekiel 20:1). He was to preach toward Jerusalem, the holy places and the land of Israel[349] (Ezekiel 20:2). Ezekiel was to announce that God had assumed a posture of hostility toward the land of Israel (Behold I am against you). The divine sword of judgment (the fire in the parable) was about to come out of its sheath. Both wicked and righteous were to be cut off (Ezekiel 20:3). Ezekiel had already taught that as regards to final judgment the righteous would not be destroyed with the wicked (chap. 18). But of necessity in temporal judgments the entire population of an area would be affected. Other peoples besides Israel would feel the effect of the sword of the Lord which at this point in time was wielded by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 20:4). Even the foreign nations would realize that they had experienced a divine judgment. The sword of the Lord would not return unto its sheath until the destructive work assigned to it was complete (Ezekiel 20:5).

[349] In Ezekiel 20:46 three different Hebrew words are translated south Here in 21.2 the symbolic significance of those three words is explained.

Ezekiel was deeply moved by this revelation, and he was told not to hide his emotion. As in other instances (Ezekiel 4:4; Ezekiel 5:1-4) he was to dramatize in his own person the coming calamity. He was to assume the role of a mourner whose sighs were so deep that they seem to break his loins, i.e., he is to bend double as though smitten with great pain in the abdomen. This agonizing sigh was to be done before their eyes so as to provoke questions. When asked about his bitter sighing, he was to explain that this was but an example of what all the exiles would do when they got the message from Jerusalem that the Temple had been destroyed. The prophet, because of his special relationship to God, had already heard those tidings through revelation. Five years later all the exiles would hear that same message from some one who had barely escaped the fallen city. With the loss of the Temple all hopes of return to Jerusalem would be smashed. Four expressions set forth the physical and psychological reaction to the news of Jerusalem's destruction (1) every heart shall melt; (2) all hands shall be slack; (3) every spirit shall be faint; and (4) all knees shall drip with water, i.e., kidney functions would not be able to be controlled. Nonetheless, that bad news was coming, and when it came it would prove to be a true account of what had actually happened in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20:7).