| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| |
|
| 1 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying: |
|
| 2 Son of man, Set thy face against Jerusalem, And drop [thy word] against the holy places, And prophesy against the soil of Israel. |
|
| 3 Thou shalt say then to the soil of Israel, Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me against thee, Therefore will I bring forth my sword out of its sheath,–and will cut off from thee, the righteous and the lawless. |
|
| 4 Because I have cut off from thee, the righteous and the lawless, Therefore, shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from south to north: |
|
| 5 So shall all flesh know, that, I, Yahweh, have brought forth my sword, out of its sheath,–it shall not return any more. |
|
| 6 Thou, therefore, O son of man, sigh,–In the sharp pain of thy loins and in bitterness, shalt thou sigh, before their eyes. |
|
| 7 And it shall come to pass, when they shall say unto thee, Wherefore art thou, sighing? that thou shalt say, For the report, because it cometh, When every heart, shall melt, And all hands, be unnerved, And every spirit, shall become faint, And, all knees, shall be weak as water, Lo! it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, Saith My Lord, Yahweh. |
|
| |
|
| 8 And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying: |
|
| 9 Son of man, Prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus, saith My Lord,–Say, A sword! a sword! Sharpened, moreover also furbished: |
|
| 10 To make a slaughter, is it sharpened, That it may flash as lightning, is it furbished. Or shall we flourish the royal rod of my son, which despiseth every tree? |
|
| 11 It hath, however, been given to be furbished, that it may be grasped by the hand: The same, is a sword, sharpened, Yea, the same, is furbished, Ready to be given into the hand of the slayer. |
|
| 12 Make an outcry and howl, son of man, For, the same, hath come against my people, The same, is against all the princes of Israel,–Who are, thrown to the sword, with my people, Therefore, smite thou upon thy thigh. |
|
| 13 For trial hath been made, What then, even though the royal rod despiseth, shall it not be? Demandeth My Lord, Yahweh. |
|
| 14 Thou, therefore, son of man, Prophesy, and smite thy hands together, And let the sword smite twice, thrice, the sword of the slain! The same, is the great sword of the slain, that which hemmeth them in. |
|
| 15 That the heart, may melt, And the overthrow be multiplied, at all their gates, I have recompensed a slaying by the sword: Surely it hath been made ready to flash like lightning, keen for slaughter. |
|
| 16 One firm stroke to the right, Turn to the left,–Whithersoever thine edge is directed, |
|
| 17 Yea, even I myself, will smite my hands together, And will cause mine indignation to find rest,–I, Yahweh, have spoken. |
|
| |
|
| 18 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying: |
|
| 19 Thou, therefore, son of man, Appoint thee two ways, For the sword of the king of Babylon to enter, Out of one land shall those two [ways] come,–And, a hand, engrave thou, At the head of the way to the city, engrave it. |
|
| 20 A way, shalt thou appoint, for the sword, to enter, Even to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon,–And to Judah, against Jerusalem, the defenced, |
|
| 21 For the king of Babylon, hath come to a stand, At the parting of the way, At the head of the two ways, To divine a divination: He hath shaken with arrows, He hath asked of the household gods, He hath inspected the liver. |
|
| 22 On his right hand, hath come the divination–Jerusalem! To plant battering-rams. To open a hole by breach, To lift up the voice, with a war-shout,–To plant battering-rams against the gates, To cast up an earth-work, To build a siege-wall.
|
|
| 23 Though it will become to them a veritably false, divination in their eyes, even when bound by oaths to them, Yet, he, calling to mind iniquity, [will determine] that it shall be captured. |
|
| 24 Therefore, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Because ye have brought to mind your iniquity, by revealing your transgressions, causing your sins to appear, in all your doings,–Because ye have brought yourselves to mind, By force, shall ye be captured. |
|
| 25 Thou, therefore, O profane, lawless one, prince of Israel,–Whose day, hath come, in a time of final iniquity: |
And thou – Zedekiah, the last king of the Jewish nation. A248; R2401:2, R3616:1; SM416:1; PD47/59[PD47]
Profane wicked prince – "Death-deserving wicked one." (Leeser) R1372:6
Whose day is come – 3520 years after the fall in the Garden of Eden, and 3520 years before the end of the Millennial age in 2914 AD. R3460:3,4*
"Seven Times," or seven symbolic years, began on the day of Zedekiah's overthrow and are due to end October 1914. OV80:10
Not that the Gentiles would be fully out of power by 1914, but, their lease expiring, their eviction would begin.
Have an end – Termination of the typical kingdom of God. R1372:6[R1372]
|
| 26 Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Remove the turban, And lift off the crown,–This, not that, The abased, exalt, And, the exalted, abase. |
Take off the crown – The Davidic crown. OV52:4; PD47/59[PD47]
The crown and diadem of authority and power. R3687:4[R3687]
Because of sin, God removed his throne from the Davidic line. R507:2[R507]
The typical crown of the typical kingdom of God. A248; B76, B79; Q80:1, Q93:8, R507:2[R507]
Israel had proven themselves unfit for exaltation to universal dominion, having become corrupt, vain and idolatrous. B75[B75]
From king Zedekiah in 606 BC. R5598:6, R5406:2; SM416:2; Q80:1; B79
God gave the lease of earthly power to Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. SM478:T, R5328:5, R5526:1
God actually removed his typical kingdom to permit Nebuchadnezzar's government to become universal; for it would be impossible for the Gentiles to have universal sway so long as God's kingdom, even in a typical form, existed. R1979:1
In 606 BC, at the midpoint between the ending of Adam's 1000-year day and the 1000-year day of the second Adam. R3460:3*
Not be the same – I will discontinue this order of things. Q79:2; R166:1*, R419:5
Him that is low – Humble. R2401:2
The line of Nathan. E133
Him that is high – Proud. R2401:2
The line of Solomon. E133
|
| 27 An overthrow, overthrow, overthrow, will I make it,–Even this, hath not befallen until the coming of One to whom belongeth the right, Then will I bestow it. |
Overturn, overturn – Satan's earthly empires. R362:5
Completely overturn Solomon's line. E133
The typical kingdom of God. A248; R1979:1, R4497:3, R4833:4, R5673:4; Q83:1
First to Babylon, then to Medo-Persia, then to Grecia, then to Rome. B76, B79; R5673:4
First at the Babylonian captivity, 606 BC; second at the destruction of Jerusalem, AD 70; third will be the one spoken of in Zech. 14. R107:6*
The new King (The Christ, complete) will dethrone and bind the former prince of the power of the air, Satan, and accomplish the final overturning. R362:1
The overturning of Zedekiah's government until the establishment of Messiah's Kingdom, corresponding to the 2520 years' lease to the Gentiles. R5526:2, R2977:1, R4867:2, R5564:3, R5598:6, R5710:3, R1979:2, R4497:3; CR41:3; PD47/59; HG48:1
Shall be no more – It shall not belong to anyone. R1372:6
There has been no king of Israel from Zedekiah's day to the present--the overturning has been very thorough. The kings of Israel at the first advent were not Israelitish nor of Israelitish birth, but appointees of Gentile governments. R3259:5[R3259], R4867:4; Q79:2, Q93:8; OV52:4; CR139:4
It was to remain overturned until Christ, the rightful heir, should claim it. Thus, inferentially, any claims by others to be "kingdoms of God" are spurious. A249
There has been no earthly kingdom of God from that time onward. Q79:2
During which time kings and emperors did not reign by the grace of God, though he permitted various experiments at self-government for an appointed time. R1094:5
Though restored to national existence by Cyrus, they were subjects and tribute-payers to the successive empires of Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. A248
Until he come – Until Messiah himself, at his second advent, shall take the throne as the antitypical Son of David. CR41:3
The Christ, Messiah. R166:1[R166], R419:5, R5328:4, R5589:3; SM478:T;
The glorified Christ, Jesus and the Church. R3616:2, R1979:1; SM416:1; HG675:6
The great Prophet, Priest, King and Judge. R2609:1
The immediate beginning of the legal restoration of the Jews by the Anglo-Saxon treaty is circumstantial and visible evidence that "he whose right it is" has come. R82:2*
The "Times of the Gentiles" applying to the interval between the removal of the typical kingdom and the establishment of its antitype, the true Kingdom, when Christ comes to be glorified in his saints. B73; A249
The treading down of Jerusalem would then cease. R5328:5
Whose right it is – In whose hands is the shaping of the destinies of nations and individuals. R1619:3
I will give it him – The dominion is about to be given. R5489:4
We believe that the time for the giving of the Kingdom to the Messiah is near at hand. (1915 comment) R5680:2
1914 is the date when Christendom will lose its crown and when he "whose right it is" will take his great power and reign. R3574:1*, R4867:5
Speedily following the introduction of the Millennial judgment reign. R2609:1
We are not to expect that this transfer will come as a flash of lightning it will require a little time. R5328:5
The time of trouble will be the natural consequence of the transfer of rulership from the devil, the prince of this world, to "him whose right it is." R592:2
For an inheritance. (Psa. 2:8) D12
At, or during, the sounding of the seventh and last trump. (Rev. 11:15) HG20:1
Has the Kingdom begun in any sense of the word? We so believe. The light now going forth is under the direction of the Captain of our Salvation. R5567:3
"And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him." (Dan. 7:14) R2609:1; OV83:4
"And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." (Dan. 7:22) R2609:1
|
| |
|
| 28 Thou, therefore, son of man, Prophesy and say, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, As to the sons of Ammon, and as to their reproach, Yea thou shalt say, A sword! a sword! Drawn, for slaughter, Furbished, that when it beginneth, it may flash like lightning; |
|
| 29 Since they see for thee, false visions, Since they divine for thee, lies, To stretch thee upon the necks of them who are the most profaned of lawless ones, Whose day, hath come, in a time of final iniquity, |
|
| 30 Put it back into its sheath! In the place where thou wast created, In the land of thy nativity, will I judge, thee |
|
| 31 Then will I pour out upon thee mine indignation, With the fire of mine outburst, will I blow upon thee; and will deliver thee up into the hand of brutish men, skilled to destroy. |
|
| 32 For the fire, shalt thou serve as fuel, Thy blood, shall be in the midst of the land,–Thou shalt not be remembered, For, I, Yahweh, have spoken. |
|