Ezekiel 21:22
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
The king of Babylon stood at a crossroads using divination to decide his course, and the divination coming at his right hand marked Jerusalem as his target, a decision God Himself guided. Having thus chosen Jerusalem, he prepared its siege by appointing captains, opening the mouth in slaughter and lifting up the voice with shouting, and appointing battering rams against the gates with a cast mount and a built fort. Historically this was Nebuchadnezzar coming to conquer Jerusalem after capturing Tyre, part of Babylon's overthrow of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, contrary to the false prophets who said he was not coming against Jerusalem. The passage belongs to twenty-two years of pleading through Ezekiel for Israel to turn to God, showing how God brings down pride as He did with the kingdoms around Israel.
The slaughter and siege described is one of the steps that led to Israel's dispersion and captivity in Babylon, the harvest of their own sowing and fruit of their transgressions, coming because of idolatry mingled with Sabbath desecration. The verse points out the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the change in human dominion, and forms part of the setting for the later prophecy that Israel's kingdom would be overturned. Three more overturnings were to take place by Medo-Persia, by Grecia, and by Rome, and then Christ would come and the kingdom would be His.