Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"I will draw out a sword after them"
Text: Ezekiel 5:12
A DIRE WORD OF WARNING
The LORD warned Jerusalem of grave consequences that would occur shortly. How would the people ignore such grim words of warning?
“One-third of you shall die of the pestilence,
and be consumed with famine in your midst;
and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you;
and I will scatter another third to all the winds,
and I will draw out a sword after them.”
Ezekiel 5:12
1. A severe death toll would occur.
2. If the defenders still imagined that they would see a great deliverance, they would be greatly disappointed.
a) The idols they worshipped had no power to save them.
b) The LORD whom they had forsaken would not deliver them.
3. A grim word of warning was given:
a) A third of the people would die of the pestilence.
i) A siege takes a terrible toll
ii) Unhygienic conditions would result.
iii) Diseases would spread easily in an enclosed city.
iv) A third of people dying is a frightening figure.
b) Added to pestilence would be famine.
i) The food supply would run out.
ii) People would have to eat less.
iii) They would grow weak as a result.
iv) Pestilence and famine would easily kill a third of the population in Jerusalem.
c) Another third would fall by the sword.
i) These could be soldiers.
ii) They would be volunteer defenders.
iii) But they would be killed by the superior Babylonian forces.
d) The final third.
i) They would be dispersed.
ii) They would be driven by the winds to all the corners of the world.
e) God would draw His sword against Jerusalem!