Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
The verse belongs to Ezekiel's recital to the captives in Babylon of the steps that led to their dispersion. The sword is the sword of divine judgment, and its being sharpened and furbished or polished means it is ready to strike. The trouble and exile it presents are the harvest of Judah's own sowing, brought on by idolatry mingled with Sabbath desecration. It shows the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and a change in human dominion, after which 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. The furbished sword applies to the approaching judgments of God, while the unrest and anger of nations are signs of the coming final conflict at Armageddon.
The verse belongs to Ezekiel's recital to the captives in Babylon of the steps that led to their dispersion. The sword is the sword of divine judgment, and its being sharpened and furbished or polished means it is ready to strike. The trouble and exile it presents are the harvest of Judah's own sowing, brought on by idolatry mingled with Sabbath desecration. It shows the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and a change in human dominion, after which 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. The furbished sword applies to the approaching judgments of God, while the unrest and anger of nations are signs of the coming final conflict at Armageddon.