Ezekiel 21:1 – 32  We Shall Surely Face the Lord’s Judgment

[Study Aired June 24, 2024]

Introduction

Our study for today is based on the certainty of our judgment if we are called and chosen by the Lord. Most of the study is devoted to showing us our sins to give the Lord the occasion that He is seeking to come to us with His judgment.

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

The study today also makes us aware that this judgment of the Lord is not an enjoyable experience. It is a fiery trial or an evil experience that we go through with the purpose of making us submit to our Lord.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Through the study, we come to see the Lord’s deliverance from our sins through His judgment of our old man. This deliverance is wholly based on the Lord’s mercies upon us. This mercy we are receiving from the Lord is what we are expected to demonstrate to the whole of humanity in the lake-of-fire age to make the Lord’s enemies His footstool. That is to say that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord in the fullness of time!!

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

Psa 110:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
Php 2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

The Certainty of the Lord’s Judgment

Eze 21:1  The word of the LORD came to me: 
Eze 21:2  “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 
Eze 21:3  and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 
Eze 21:4  Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.

What is said in these verses and the whole of this chapter concerns Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. This Jerusalem is the harlot woman, Babylon, of which we were part until the Lord came with His brightness and the spirit of His mouth to deliver us.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

In the previous chapter, we were made to see our sins, and as a result, we are to go through the Lord’s judgment as indicated by the drawing of the sword from its sheath in verses 3 and 4. Both verses show us that this judgment is for both the righteous and the wicked who are also symbolized by all flesh from the south to the north. The south represents those who are under the influence of the flesh (sea), that is, the wicked, and the north signifies those who are overcoming the flesh, the righteous. What we are being told is that all flesh will face judgment. This is repeated in Jeremiah 25:27-29, which shows us that we shall surely drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment. We must remember that our Lord Jesus Christ was judged in His humanity because of His flesh although He did not sin.

Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

In other parts of the word of the Lord, we are made to see that it is the Lord’s elect, or the righteous in verses 3 and 4, who are being judged in this age. The wicked shall receive their judgment in a latter age called the lake of fire.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 

1Ti 5:24  Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. 

Eze 21:5  That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. 
Eze 21:6  Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. 
Eze 21:7  And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

In verse 5, we are told that the Lord has drawn His sword out of His sheath and shall not return it. This means that we shall all face the judgment of the Lord upon our old man, and it is an irreversible decision. This is because the Lord is not like the sons of men who are always changing their minds. 

Num 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 

Verses 6 and 7 tell us that the judgment of the Lord is a bitter experience. That is why the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation were clothed in sackcloth which signifies that their walk here on earth with the Lord is a mourning experience as we go through the Lord’s judgment.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 

This was the experience of Jeremiah when the Lord’s judgment was upon the people of Israel during the Babylonian invasion which was the judgment of the Lord:

Lam 3:17  And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 
Lam 3:18  And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: 
Lam 3:19  Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 
Lam 3:20  My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 
Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 
Lam 3:24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

In spite of the bitter experience Jeremiah went through, he ended up hoping in the Lord. This is because the Lord’s mercies toward us will not result in our destruction.  What the Lord starts, He will surely bring to completion.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Eze 21:8  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 21:9  Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: 
Eze 21:10  It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. 
Eze 21:11  And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

In verse 9, we are told that the sword of the Lord is sharpened and ‘furbished’ or polished. Additional information is given to us in verses 10 and 11 to show us the purpose for the sharpening and the furbishing. The sword is sharpened for slaughter and is furbished to glitter. At the end of the day, the sharpening of the sword and the polishing was for the purpose of giving it into the hand of the slayer in verse 11. As we are aware, the sword is one of the Lord’s instruments of judgment. 

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? 

In verse 10, the purpose for the sharpening of the sword as an instrument of judgment is for the purpose of slaughtering or killing of our old man or the flesh. This is how the sword is used as instrument of judgment:

The negative aspect of sword refers to words that are spoken which destroy us. The sword refers to the lying words and false doctrines of the adversary. 

2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

These negative words spoken are one of the tools that the Lord uses to cause people to speak bitter words to us, His elect. 

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Jdg 7:22 And the three hundred [men with Gideon] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host [of the Midianites]: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

In verse 10, the sword is polished so that it may glitter. According to Strong’s Dictionary, the word “glitter” can mean to occur or bring to pass (H1961). This implies that the polishing of the sword in verse 10 is to make us aware that our judgment is at hand. Glitter can also mean lightning (H1300). One of the uses of lightning in the word of the Lord is as follows:

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

This means that the judgment of the Lord (sword) will thoroughly lighten our heavens. In other words, the Lord’s judgment is not a partial work, but a total lightening of our hearts and minds (heavens). In verse 11, we are told that both the sharpening and the polishing of the sword are for the purpose of giving it over to the hand of the slayer. The slayer is the devil whose work results in the destruction of our flesh. 

1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Our Fiery Trials

Eze 21:12  Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. 
Eze 21:13  Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

As indicated, the judgment of the Lord’s elect (the princes of Israel) is a fiery trial which is not an easy experience for our flesh. These are the encouraging words of our Lord as we go through this harrowing experience:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 

Eze 21:14  Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. 
Eze 21:15  I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. 
Eze 21:16  Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. 
Eze 21:17  I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it. 

These verses show us that the Lord will do a thorough work with His judgment of the sword in our lives. In verse 14, the Lord commanded the sword to be doubled the third time. This is to show us the benefits of the Lord’s judgment. Doubling the sword does not mean that the Lord will increase the suffering that we go through. Doubling something means multiplying by 2. This implies that it is through His judgment that we become witnesses (the significance of the number 2) for Christ in this life. Doubling the sword for the third time (the significance of the number three) is to make us aware that it is through the process of the Lord’s judgment we become spiritually mature.  The judgment of the Lord which, in this case is the sword, is for the thorough destruction of our old man as symbolized by the slaying of many people in these verses. 

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 

The Judgement of Jerusalem First

Eze 21:18  The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, 
Eze 21:19  Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. 
Eze 21:20  Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 
Eze 21:21  For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 
Eze 21:22  At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. 

In these verses, the Lord has chosen the king of Babylon as His instrument of judgment by the sword. The task that the king of Babylon had to perform was twofold. First, to overcome the inhabitants of Jerusalem and after that to go to Rabbah to defeat the Ammonites. In the process of choosing between which city to attack first, that is, Rabbah and Jerusalem, we are shown in verse 21 that the king of Babylon used divination. In verse 22, we see that it was through the use of divination he concluded that he must attack Jerusalem first.  We know from the word of the Lord that He hates divination and that it is a lie of the devil.

Eze 13:6  They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 

Deu 18:10  There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 
Deu 18:11  Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 
Deu 18:12  For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Deu 18:13  Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 

2Ki 17:17  And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

In this passage of scripture under review, however, the Lord’s instrument of judgment, that is, the king of Babylon, used divination to attack Jerusalem first which was in the perfect will of the Lord. This is to demonstrate to us that everything under heaven, both good or evil that is going on in this world is according to the perfect will of God. That is another way of saying the following:

Pro 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Spiritually, the coming of the king of Babylon to Jerusalem first signifies that as the Lord’s elect (Jerusalem), we must first be taken captive by Babylon before we are given to overcome the flesh, signified by the invasion of the Ammonites by the king of Babylon. It is through this Babylonian captivity that we are made aware of our sins which is a prerequisite to the coming of the Lord with His brightness and spirit of His mouth into our lives. In other words, the man of sin must be revealed before the coming of the Lord in our lives.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first (Babylonian captivity), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Eze 21:23  And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. 
Eze 21:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
Eze 21:25  And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 
Eze 21:26  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 
Eze 21:27  I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem would not regard the fact that it is the Lord who had sent the king of Babylon as they would regard his divination as false. In our time in Babylon, we also thought that it is impossible for us to be taken captive by the harlot woman since we claimed to be the Lord’s children. Here in verse 23 and 24 we are made aware that the king of Babylon would remind us of our sins as we are taken as captives by him. This implies that the essence of our Babylonian captivity is to show us our sins, which is a prerequisite for the coming of the Lord in our lives. As we are aware, we must fall away first and come to know our sins as the man of sin in our lives (the flesh) is revealed to us. It is then that the Lord comes to help us destroy the man of sin.  

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

In verse 25, being called profane wicked princes shows us our state when the Lord came to us. However, we are made aware in the same verse that our iniquity shall come to an end. Our judgment shall surely result in us learning righteousness.

Verse 26 continues to show us our state in Babylon. Our lifestyle did not reflect our royal priesthood status as our diadem and crowns as royals were taken away by the evil one. By God’s grace, our status as royal priesthood has been restored through the judgment of the Lord. We are therefore admonished to ensure that no one takes away our crowns.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

As the Lord declared here in Revelation 3:11, the only way we can protect our crowns is to hold on fast to what we have received. In other words, we must continue to walk in the truth we have received to qualify ourselves as overcomers. 

In verse 26, we are also told that those who are low shall be exalted and those who exalt themselves shall be abased. We, the Lord’s elect, are those who through the Lord’s judgment are humbled or abased to become exalted in the fullness of time. 

Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Verse 27 focuses on the ruin being brought about by the judgment of the Lord. As we are aware, it is our old man who is being destroyed and therefore being ruined or overturned in this judgment process. As a result, the power of the old man to influence our lives shall be no more. The one that comes whose right it is in verse 27 refers to our new man who is after the image of Christ.

The Judgment of the Ammonites after that of Jerusalem

Eze 21:28  And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: 
Eze 21:29  Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. 
Eze 21:30  Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 
Eze 21:31  And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy. 
Eze 21:32  Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it. 

The Lord’s judgment of the Ammonites is a judgment of our old man. The old man or the flesh is referred to in verse 29 as the wicked whose day of judgment is come. Through the Lord’s judgment of our old man, our iniquity shall come to an end.  As indicated earlier, we must of necessity go into Babylonian captivity before we are given to deal with our old man or flesh through the judgment of the Lord. In verse 32, we are shown that our old man or flesh is like fuel for the fire of the Lord’s judgment. Being delivered to brutish men who are skillful to destroy in verse 31 refer to being handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. 

1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

May the Lord be praised for His wonderful plan of salvation. Amen!!