Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
Ezekiel 21:20 belongs to the account of the judgments that led to Israel's dispersion and captivity, appointing the way for the sword to come to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. The transgressions behind those troubles included idolatry and Sabbath desecration, for which the sword against Judah and Jerusalem was fitted as judgment.
Nebuchadnezzar's choice of route for his sword against Rabbath of the Ammonites and against Jerusalem was under God's guidance, so that his resort to divination did not place the outcome beyond God's control.
The verse marks the overturning of Israel by Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, showing the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and a change in human dominion. That Babylonian overturning precedes three further overturnings described in Ezekiel 21:27. Those three were to take place by Medo-Persia, by Grecia, and by Rome, after which Christ will come and the kingdom will be His.
Ezekiel 21:20 belongs to the account of the judgments that led to Israel's dispersion and captivity, appointing the way for the sword to come to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. The transgressions behind those troubles included idolatry and Sabbath desecration, for which the sword against Judah and Jerusalem was fitted as judgment.
Nebuchadnezzar's choice of route for his sword against Rabbath of the Ammonites and against Jerusalem was under God's guidance, so that his resort to divination did not place the outcome beyond God's control.
The verse marks the overturning of Israel by Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, showing the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and a change in human dominion. That Babylonian overturning precedes three further overturnings described in Ezekiel 21:27. Those three were to take place by Medo-Persia, by Grecia, and by Rome, after which Christ will come and the kingdom will be His.