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Welcome to Bible Fiber! Here, we explore the rich textures and shades of the biblical tapestry through the lens of twelve Minor Prophets, two reformers, and one exile. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization dedicated to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern. This week, we are diving into Ezekiel 21, although I am also including in this segment the last five verses of Chapter 20.
In Hebrew Bibles, the division and versification of Chapter 20 and 21 varies from that of English Bibles. By connecting Ezekiel’s divine fire prophecy (20:45-49) with the series of divine sword prophecies that follow (21:1-32), Hebrew Bibles create a correlation. No matter the differing agents of death, they all predict Jerusalem’s coming devastation. However, English Bibles include the fire prophecy in Chapter 20. For our study, I use the verse references from the English Bible, but I am including the fire oracle with the Chapter 21 study. It seems logical to me that the fire oracle is a fitting segue to the four sword oracles.
Fire against the south (20:45-49)
After establishing Israel’s guilt as a habitual covenant violator in the last chapter, Ezekiel pronounced that the time for Israel to repent had passed. Yahweh announced, “I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it” (20:47). He instructed Ezekiel to face toward the south, then prophesy against the forest land. The “south” and “forest land” were parabolic code for Jerusalem and Judah.
The unstoppable divine fire would devour everything in its path. In Ezekiel’s vision, the dry tree symbolized the wicked, while the green trees portrayed the righteous. Typically, a dry tree was more ignitable than a green one, but God’s fire consumed both without discrimination. He described everyone, regardless of guilt or innocence, as facing the consequences of Israel’s disobedience.
In 586 BCE, Ezekiel’s predictions came to fulfillment. Led by King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Babylonian army breached the walls of Jerusalem, setting the city ablaze. The inferno engulfed the First Temple, the royal palaces, and large parts of the city. According to descriptions in 2 Kings and Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar burned down every significant structure (2 Kings 25:9; Jer. 52:13). The ferocity of the devastation is supported by archaeological findings, which reveal thick layers of ash and debris corresponding to the Babylonian assault. Among the ruins in the Babylonian destruction layer, archaeologists have found artifacts fused or distorted by the intense heat.
In response to the metaphor about forest land and various trees, the exiled Israelites grumbled about Ezekiel’s cryptic language. Ezekiel lamented to God, “They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of allegories?” (20:49). While the exiles’ stubbornness may have contributed to their dismissal of Ezekiel’s message, their critique was not unfounded. Prior to his candid reflection in Chapter 20, Ezekiel relied on symbolic actions and allegories to convey his prophecies, making them easier to overlook or misinterpret.
Sword against Jerusalem (21:1-7)
God responded to Ezekiel’s complaint about his unpopularity. He allowed him to reexplain the fire oracle in clearer terms, but it was still through the language of symbols. An unsheathed sword replaced the fire as God’s agent of death. In the divine fire oracle, he used three different words for “south” or “southern,” but never identified Jerusalem as the actual subject of the divine curse. In the clarifying sword oracle, he dropped the vague terms and addressed Jerusalem, the temple, and the land of Israel (21:2). He replaced the description of green and dry trees with a straightforward warning to Judah’s righteous and wicked citizenry. Ezekiel prophesied, “I am coming against you and will draw my sword out of its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked” (21:3).
Critics of Ezekiel accuse the prophet of lacking a systematic theology on the doctrine of damnation. Ezekiel’s prior utterances assured that the sins of the wicked did not impact the righteous (18:9). Yet, the sword and fire oracles make it seem like the fates of the righteous and the wicked are linked. Ezekiel described “all faces” as scorched by the “blazing flame” (20:47). Ezekiel held true to his earlier assurances that God would judge everyone based on their own merit. However, the immediate consequences of generational unfaithfulness swept up all of Israel.
To come to the prophets with the lens of theological studies is to overlook the prophetic experience in favor of the seminary experience. Prophets operated as God’s mouthpieces, but they preached charismatically, not mechanically. Rabbi Abraham Heschel warned against attempts to force all prophetic utterances to cohere into one unified presentation of God’s methods and ways. Heschel said the prophets “disclosed attitudes of God rather than about God.”[1]
In addition, Ezekiel may have emphasized the totality of the coming devastation, because his present audience imagined a future attack would be like the two previous Babylonian attacks. In 597 and 591 BCE, the Babylonian army deported Jerusalem’s elite and spared the temple and palace. The presumption was that the deportees were wicked, while the people who stayed in Jerusalem were deemed innocent. Ezekiel’s sharp rhetoric debunked the assumption that Jerusalem would survive the coming assault as it survived previous attacks. Also, the people’s definition of righteous and wicked was not God’s definition, which will come up in Chapter 24’s oracle about the cooking pot.
To outwardly show his sense of inward despair, God instructed Ezekiel to groan loudly enough for others to hear (21:6). The groaning got the exiles’ attention and provoked questions. God said, “When they say to you, ‘Why do you moan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that has come” (21:7). If his oracles had fallen on deaf ears, Ezekiel assured them that the actual punishment would leave their hearts melting, their hands feeble, and their knees weak (21:7).
Sword against Babylon (21:8-17)
In the second sword oracle, Ezekiel sang a poetic ode to Yahweh’s avenging sword and prophesied against Jerusalem and the temple. Ezekiel described the sword in poetic terms as sharp, polished, and flashing like lightning (21:9-10). Ready for battle, the sword had two targets: the population of Israel and the princes of Israel (21:12). Ezekiel added musicality to the song with the line: “Let the sword fall twice, thrice; it is a sword for killing” (21:14). Perhaps he repurposed a preexisting tune for Israelite warriors going to battle.
The sword obeyed Yahweh’s battle commands, relentlessly pursuing its target and blocking any escape from the city. Ezekiel sang, “Attack to the right! Engage to the left! — wherever your edge is directed” (21:16). The Babylonians acted as Yahweh’s appointed agents of execution, positioning their attack weaponry at every gate of Jerusalem to prevent anyone from escaping (21:15).
To dramatize the oracle, Yahweh orchestrated Ezekiel’s gestures. He directed him to smack his thighs and clap his hands in anger (21:12, 14). Through his body language, he mourned the coming destruction of the holy city.
The Signpost (21:18-23)
After the sword song, Ezekiel switched modes from singer to performer. God told Ezekiel to “mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon” (21:19). This is the first specific reference to the “king of Babylon” as Yahweh’s named executioner. The text lacks details on how Ezekiel mapped the road, maybe he sketched in the dirt with a branch, or he could have inscribed another brick. God told him to draw a fork in the road from Babylon that splits into two directions. One road led to Rabbah, the Ammonite city, which is today modern Amman, the capital of Jordan. The other road led to Jerusalem. God instructed Ezekiel to place a signpost where the three roads intersected. As the Babylonian army moved southward, they faced a crucial choice. Both the Ammonite and Israelite kingdoms had rebelled against the empire, giving Nebuchadnezzar justification to attack them both. (Refer to Ezekiel 17 to learn how Zedekiah violated the treaty with Babylon.)
Using his visual aide, Ezekiel imitated Nebuchadnezzar trying to decide which direction he should take his military campaign. Ezekiel performed three distinct types of divination (21:21). First, he drew an arrow from a quiver, a practice known as belomancy. This ancient method is akin to drawing a name from a hat in modern times. Presumably, one arrow bore the inscription “Jerusalem” while the other bore “Rabbah.” Second, Nebuchadnezzar consulted his household idols, known as teraphim in Hebrew. Historians do not know how the ancients consulted teraphim. One theory is that the statues represented ancestors or deified family members; they may have been intermediaries between the family and the divine.
Lastly, Nebuchadnezzar examined an animal’s liver, a widespread divination practice in the ancient Near East called hepatoscopy. Archaeologists have uncovered clay models of animal livers at various sites like Mari, Hazor, and Nippur. Priests would interpret the markings on the liver of a sacrificed animal to divine the future, like the practice of palm reading today. In Babylon, archaeologists discovered an instructional clay model of a sheep’s liver that contained over 50 inscriptions explaining the significance of every blemish.
All three divination methods pointed to Jerusalem. Ezekiel, acting as Nebuchadnezzar, trusted that his course of action was clear. For the exiles observing Ezekiel’s symbolic enactments, it must have been strange seeing a prophet of Yahweh conduct pagan rituals prohibited in the Israelite religion. However, God used Ezekiel’s charade to reveal the coming disaster. God was going to direct Nebuchadnezzar’s path even if that meant directing the pagan king through divination.
King Zedekiah was the recipient of Ezekiel’s last message in the signpost oracle. In previous references to Zedekiah, he deprecated him by calling him “prince,” as if he was undeserving of the title “king.” By this point in Ezekiel’s prophetic career, his vitriol escalated, and he referred to Zedekiah as the “vile, wicked prince of Israel” (21:25). Ezekiel commanded Zedekiah to strip off his robe and royal turban which he had surely profaned. Ezekiel prophesied the end of the Davidic royal line, permanently overthrown until God’s anointed one arrived (21:27). Only a worthy Davidic descendant could reinstate the monarchy and take rule. Beyond that, Ezekiel also longed for the dramatic restructuring of the entire social order in Judah. Ezekiel said, “Exalt that which is low; humble that which is high,” (21:26), a sentiment very familiar to Christians. The apostle Paul described the Gospel as “God chos[ing] what is low and despised in the world” (1 Cor. 1:28).
Sword against the Ammonites and Babylonians (21:28-32)
In his last oracle, Ezekiel turned his attention from Jerusalem to the Ammonites (21:28). God would punish the Ammonites, even if Nebuchadnezzar targeted Jerusalem first. They were the sword of judgment’s next victim.
Despite kinship, the Ammonites were long adversaries of Israel. The Ammonites traced their lineage back to Ben-Ammi, the product of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his younger daughter (Gen. 19:38). Throughout biblical history, Israel and Ammon engaged in a cycle of provocation and retaliation. During the time of the Judges, the Ammonites oppressed Israel until Jephthah led a successful campaign against them (Judg. 10-11). In the monarchy era, both King Saul and later King David waged military campaigns against the Ammonites (1 Sam. 11; 2 Sam. 10-12). Despite intermittent periods of cold peace, animosity between Israel and Ammon endured for centuries. The prophet Zephaniah even likened Ammon to Gomorrah, suggesting they deserved a similar fate (Zeph. 2:9-10).
Although Ezekiel did not have access to an Ammonite audience while he was in exile, he taunted them through his oracle. He said, “A sword, a sword! Drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning” (21:28). After Jerusalem’s destruction, he explained, the sword would fall on Ammon, and she would receive her “final punishment” (21:29).
The final three verses of Chapter 21 could either be a continuation of the prophecy concerning Ammon or a new oracle directed at Babylon. Suddenly, God commanded the sword to return to its sheath (21:30). Once the sword was sheathed, God pronounced his judgment on the sword itself. /God warned, “In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you” (21:30). Since Babylon acted as God’s sword throughout the oracle, it seems like Ezekiel’s last message was a warning to Babylon. When the Babylonian army’s military campaign had run its course, Nebuchadnezzar and his troops returned to Babylon. Perhaps this is what Ezekiel meant by returning to the place of their origin.
Although God used the Babylonian army to inflict his punishment on Judah, God also had every intention of avenging his covenant people. He alerted the sword, “I will pour out my indignation upon you; with the fire of my wrath, I will blow upon you. I will deliver you into brutish hands, those skillful to destroy” (21:31). /With Jerusalem, God chastised them hoping to initiate their eventual redemption. Their punishment was brutal but temporary. On the other hand, he informed Babylon that her memory would be completely erased from the earth forever (21:32). No one would remember either Babylon or the Ammonites.
Ezekiel does not explain why God punished Babylon if she had fulfilled his own aim in punishing Israel. Although it is a complex theological position, the prophetic writings state many times that the Babylonians were still morally responsible for their actions. God may have used them as a tool of discipline, but their own greed, ambition, and cruelty motivated them. As such, they were accountable for their sins and excesses against God’s people (Jer. 50:11-13). /Prophets like Isaiah and Daniel denounced Babylon’s pride in their writings, emphasizing her self-exaltation as a significant factor that led to her eventual downfall (Isa. 14:12-15; Dan. 4:30-31).
Sword imagery in the Bible
Ezekiel used God’s sword to represent his absolute authority over human affairs, but the image of Yahweh with a drawn sword was an established biblical theme. /For example, prior to the Israelite army’s assault on Jericho, Joshua encountered a divine angel wielding a drawn sword. The angel promised to lead Joshua into battle as commander of the Lord’s army (Josh. 5:13-15). In that case, Yahweh drew his sword against Israel’s enemies for her protection. However, Yahweh did not hesitate to draw his sword of judgment on his own people when necessary. Centuries later, when King David defied God’s commands by ordering a census, he saw Yahweh positioned between heaven and earth with a drawn sword aimed at Jerusalem (1 Chron. 21:16).
When Moses reaffirmed the covenant, he prized faithfulness to God’s commands and warned that if the people turned against him, he would draw his punishing sword (Lev. 26:25). In the Song of Moses, God declared, “When I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me” (Deut. 32:41-42). /Ezekiel’s sword song echoed Moses’s imagery of a sharpened and flashing sword aimed at covenant breakers. The sword represented God’s absolute authority and the severity of his judgments against sin and disobedience.
That is all for Ezekiel’s fire and sword mini oracles. Thank you for listening and please continue to take part in this Bible Reading Challenge. /To access the podcast transcript with biblical references, simply visit our blog and sign up for our weekly newsletter. We just added a free downloadable goodie on our website to anyone who signs up so go to www.thejerusalemconnection.us and check it out. Don’t forget to rate Bible Fiber wherever you listen to your podcasts or email me at srn@tjci.org if you would like to sponsor an episode for 76.00
Until next week, Shabbat Shalom and Am Israel Chai!
[1] Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, (United Kingdom: HarperCollins, 2001), 286.