Ezekiel 21:3-5

Ezekiel 21:3-5

[3] And say  to the land  of Israel,  Thus saith  the LORD;  Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth  my sword  out of his sheath,  and will cut off  from thee the righteous  and the wicked.  [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:  [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.

What does Ezekiel 21:3-5 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Ezekiel was to announce that Yahweh stood opposed to His people (cf. Luke 9:5; Luke 9:41; Luke 19:41; Luke 21:20-24). Instead of being their divine defender (cf. Deuteronomy 32:41; Joshua 5:13-15; Isaiah 31:8; Isaiah 34:5-8; Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:31; Jeremiah 50:35-37; Zephaniah 2:12), He was going to turn against them. He would put them to death with a sword (cf. fire, Ezekiel 20:47-48), both the righteous (the green tree) and the wicked (the dry tree) throughout the whole land. The Book of Habakkuk deals with the problem of how and why God would use the wicked Babylonians as His instrument of chastening, a problem that the Israelites could not solve on their own. Everyone would know that He had been responsible for the judgment, and He would not sheath His sword (quench the fire, Ezekiel 20:48). This chapter has more references to the sword of the Lord as a figure of God"s judgment than any other chapter in the Bible.
"Unfortunately, some of the righteous would suffer along with the wicked, but this is often the case in times of war." [1]