Visions of the Kingdom

Visions of the Kingdom: Week 24

21:3 "both the righteous and the wicked" - Israel was so corrupt that no part could be spared
21:6 Ezekiel is to once again put on a little drama. He reacts to the horrific news before it reaches anyone else.
21:9 "A sword, a sword" - the prophecy is delivered as a dramatic poem.
21:10 "despised every such stick" - as Andrew Jackson put it when despising the SCOTUS, "You and what army?"
21:14 "two times even three" - or "do double damage the third time". This is the third time Nebuchadnezzar has had to deal with these "backsliders" (in the Elizabethan sense) - and he has had it!
21:20 Nebuchadnezzar had two problems to deal with militarily. Which should he do first? Either could take time.
21:21 "..consults the liver" - Neb is after all a pagan king, and this is how it was done. In many ways, it was more reliable than consulting the "experts".
21:22 "the omen appears for Jerusalem" - "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." Proverbs 16:33
21:23 "false omen" - the people of Jerusalem are praying that he will go to Ammon. But God sends him to Jerusalem. They swore solemn oaths, but conspired with Egypt, dishonouring God and enraging Nebuchadnezzar. Neb will "draw attention to their guilt and take them captive."
21:26 "exalt the lowly" - Jeremiah 39:10
21:27 "it will not be restored" - the kingship. Another statement of the "curse of Jeconiah".
"until the Return of the King" - Jeremiah 23 describes the Righteous Branch.

21:28 "their contempt" - the Ammonites were delighted, and mocked Judea as the Chaldean armies took the road to Jerusalem and systematically destroyed their capital city. But Ammon was next on the hit list. Five years later, they were destroyed also.
21:32 "will not be remembered" - unlike Israel, the Ammonites would never again be a major kingdom. Daniel prophesies them as one of the three tiny Middle Eastern nations that Octavius Ceasar is unable to conquer. Daniel 11:41