Ezekiel 21:1-7 - Perfected through trials

In the last verse of Ezekiel 20, the people sarcastically suggest that the prophet was speaking in a parable and not making sense. When the prophet turned to the Lord, God in Ezekiel 21:1-7 then provided the interpretation of the forest fire. The Prophet was told to set his face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against the whole land of Israel. The forest fire would be the impending Babylonian sword God would use to bring about Judah’s destruction. He said, “Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. Thus, all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.”

In short, the Lord was explaining that the whole nation would be impacted by the sword with the Babylonians would wield against them. God Himself was taking full responsibility for the judgment on them. In this judgment, no one and nothing would be left out. Both the righteous as well as the wicked would be dealt with. There would be no abating of the judgment because God was not putting the sword back into the sheath. This meant that God there was not going to be any pause till the judgment had been completed and there would be a recognition that this was the Lord’s reckoning.  And it would be made clear to everyone that it was indeed the Lord who had acted.

In verses 6-7, God then instructed Ezekiel to start mourning. He was to go public and groan as a mourner in mourning. When people asked what he was doing? He was to tell them that everyone would be mourning and groaning like what he was doing now. For God’s judgment was looming. And “Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water.” Ezekiel was to make known that the Lord had declared it, and the scheduled judgment would certainly come to pass.

The purpose of this judgment was to make known that it was the Lord who had acted.  It would become clear and leave everyone with no question that God was truly the Lord and that He had and would be faithful to the covenant.

Everything, positive or negative, that God allows us to experience is to bring us to recognize His hand in our lives. When God is in control of our lives, everything good or bad is His way of molding and perfecting us. We should never complain about any tough circumstance. We must consider it all joy when facing trials. Enduring them will bring maturity and stability to our lives and we will found be lacking nothing.