Verses 8-10
Another of Ezekiel’s messages was to be poetic. He was to announce that a sword had been sharpened and polished and was now ready to go to work slaughtering people quickly.
"A sword, a veritable Excalibur with a life of its own, is made ready for its grim destiny." [Note: Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, p. 26.]
How could the people rejoice since the rod (scepter, symbol of authority) of God’s representative (son) would have no respect for anyone (despise every tree, cf. Ezekiel 20:47) in this judgment? They could not. God’s son here refers to Nebuchadnezzar who would accomplish God’s will by executing His punishment.
The figures of the rod and the son of God both describe Messiah elsewhere (cf. Genesis 49:9-10; 2 Samuel 7:14), so Ezekiel’s hearers were accustomed to thinking of these figures as representing their deliverer. But here they learned that God had another son with a scepter who would destroy them (cf. Isaiah 10:5, where the rod is the Assyrians).
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