Ezekiel 21:4

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: THEREFORE SHALL MY SWORD GO FORTH OUT OF HIS SHEATH AGAINST ALL FLESH FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH. The "sword " did not, literally, slay all; but the judgments of God by the foe swept through the land "from the south to the north....

1-17 Here is an explanation of the parable in the last chapter. It is declared that the Lord was about to cut off Jerusalem and the whole land, that all might know it was his decree against a wicked and rebellious people. It behoves those who denounce the awful wrath of God against sinners, to show that they do not desire the woful day. The example of Christ teaches us to lament over those whose ruin we declare. Whatever instruments God uses in executing his judgments, he will strengthen them according to the service they are employed in. The sword glitters to the terror of those against whom it is drawn. It is a sword to others, a rod to the people of the Lord. God is in earnest in pronouncing this sentence, and the prophet must show himself in earnest in publishing it....

Verse Ezekiel 21:4. _FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH_] The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other....

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED - take the place of “every green tree and every dry tree” Ezekiel 20:47; “all faces” that of “all flesh:” to show the universality of the destructions. National judgment involves the innocent in the temporal ruin of the guilty. The equity of God is vindicated by the ruin being only temporal. FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH - From one end of the holy land to the other; the seer is in the north, and looks at once on the whole extent of the ruin....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 21:2, EZEKIEL 21:3 The opening words, reproducing those of Ezekiel 20:46, indicate that the interpretation of that parable is coming. So the three variants of "south" are shown to mean respectively Jerusalem, the holy places, and the land of Israel. So, in Ezekiel 20:3, the RIGHTEOUS and the WICKED take the place of the "green" and the "dry" tree, and the fire is explained as meaning the sword of the invader. The teaching of Ezekiel

SEEING THEN THAT I WILL CUT OFF FROM THEE THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED,.... Some by the sword, some by famine, some by pestilence, and others by captivity; and, upon the whole, none spared, but the land left desolate: THEREFORE SHALL MY SWORD GO FORTH OUT OF HIS SHEATH AGAINST ALL FLESH, FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH; the Chaldean army shall go out of their own land against all the inhabitants of Judea, from Beersheba to Dan; this explains what is meant by all faces being burnt from the south to the north, Ezekiel 20:47, namely, the general destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans....

Ezekiel 21:1. A solemn message is given to the prophet: “Behold I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.” It was to be a widespread judgment, against all flesh. Ezekiel was commanded to sigh with bitterness before their eyes and was to tell them the cause of his grief (Ezekiel 21:1). The sharpening of the sword of judgment is given in Ezekiel 21:8. It was hanging over their heads, ready to strike at any moment. The question is asked, “Should we then make mirth?” is this the time of mirth, worldly pleasures and enjoyment? Not for the faithful in Israel. Nor is the present solemn time a time of mirth for those who know the signs of the times and

EZEKIEL 20:45 TO EZEKIEL 21:32. THE TERRIBLE SWORD OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. Here again, as shortly before (chs. 18f.), a piece of theological oratory is followed by a poem this time a wild irregular dithyramb (esp. Ezekiel 21:8), the text of which is, unhappily, corrupt in places to the point of desperation. But perhaps its very perplexities reflect the tumult of the prophet's soul. The nearer the doom approaches, the more vividly does he conceive it. EZEKIEL 20:5. He begins by announcing a supernatural conflagration in the south, which is to scorch the land bare. On Ezekiel's audience objecting to his allegorical descript

Ezekiel 21:1-5. These verses, though still figurative, are plainer than the preceding, of which they furnish the explanation. The sword of the Lord is drawn finally from its sheath, to which it shall not return (Ezekiel 21:5); it is drawn against Jerusalem and its sanctuaries (Ezekiel 21:2); it shall slay indiscriminately righteous and wicked (Ezekiel 21:3, cf. Ezekiel 20:47), and all flesh shall know that it is the sword of the Lord, and that it is his hand that wields it (Eze

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 ...