The Forgotten Fury of God Text: Ezekiel 21:28-32
Introduction: Judgment Begins
We live in a soft age. Our Christianity has become domesticated, declawed, and largely toothless. We speak much of God's love, as we ought, but we have become profoundly uncomfortable with His fury. We want a God who is a celestial grandfather, endlessly indulgent and perpetually affirming. But the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a consuming fire. He is holy, He is just, and He hates sin with a perfect and righteous hatred. To forget this is to create a god in our own image, a sentimental idol who cannot save and will not judge.
In this chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet has been watching the advance of Nebuchadnezzar. The sword of the Lord, wielded by the king of Babylon, has been sharpened against Jerusalem. The judgment of God's own house is at hand. But God is the God of all nations. His judgments are not provincial. After dealing with Judah, the prophecy now pivots. The camera turns to the east, to the sons of Ammon. The Ammonites were relatives of Israel, descendants of Lot. They were also perennial thorns in Israel's side, gloating over her calamities, encroaching on her land, and reveling in her downfall. They thought that because the judgment was falling on Jerusalem, they were somehow off the hook. They were spectators at the execution, snickering in the stands.
But God sees. God remembers. And God judges. This passage is a stark and terrifying reminder that no nation, no people, no individual can sin with impunity. God's justice is not limited by geography or genealogy. The same sword that is polished for Jerusalem can be turned, in a flash, against those who rejoice in her destruction. This is a word against Ammon, but it is also a word for us. We are tempted to look at the judgments falling on others, on our culture, on our nation, and think that we, as the church, are somehow immune. But judgment begins at the house of God, and it does not end there. This passage is a divine warning against all gloating, all arrogance, and all false security in the face of God's righteous wrath.
The Text
"Now as for you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach,' and say: 'A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning, while they behold for you worthless visions, while they divine lies for you, to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end. Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. And I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My fury, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, craftsmen of destruction. You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.’ ” (Ezekiel 21:28-32 LSB)
The Polished Sword and the Worthless Visions (v. 28-29)
The prophecy begins with the same instrument of judgment that was prepared for Judah.
"A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning, while they behold for you worthless visions, while they divine lies for you..." (Ezekiel 21:28b-29a)
The repetition, "A sword, a sword," conveys urgency and terrible certainty. This is not a distant threat. The sword is already out of its sheath. It is polished, not for a parade, but for slaughter. It is made to glint and flash like lightning, a terrifying spectacle of imminent, swift, and irresistible power. This is the sword of the Lord, and in this instance, it is the Babylonian army. God uses pagan nations as His instruments of chastisement and judgment. He is the Lord of history, and the armies of men are but an axe in His hand.
But while this very real, very sharp sword is being prepared, what are the Ammonites doing? They are amusing themselves with spiritual narcotics. They are listening to their court prophets, their spiritual gurus, who are seeing "worthless visions" and divining "lies." This is the constant temptation of a people ripe for judgment. They reject the hard word of the true prophet and seek out soothing lies from the false ones. They want prophets who will tell them what they want to hear, who will flatter their pride and confirm their biases. Their prophets tell them, "Don't worry about Babylon. They are focused on Jerusalem. We are safe. In fact, we will profit from their demise."
These lies have a deadly purpose. The text says they are "to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain." This is a grim picture of a battlefield after the slaughter, where the victors pile the bodies of the vanquished one on top of another. The false prophets, with their soothing lies, are marching the Ammonites right into the charnel house. They are promising them a place of honor, but they are leading them to a place on the heap of the dead. This is what false teaching always does. It promises life and delivers death. It promises peace and brings the sword. It promises exaltation and leads to the slaughter pile. The Ammonites were reproaching Judah, but their own prophets were reproaching God with their lies, and the result would be their utter ruin.
Judgment at the Source (v. 30)
God's judgment is not only certain, but it is also specific and poetically just.
"Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you." (Ezekiel 21:30 LSB)
The command, "Return it to its sheath," is directed at the sword, at Babylon. After its work is done on Ammon, it will be put away. But the focus immediately shifts back to Ammon. God's judgment upon them will be exquisitely tailored. "In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you."
There is a profound irony here. Nations often look to their origins, their homeland, as a place of security, pride, and identity. It is the source of their strength. But God declares that He will turn their cradle into their grave. The very place that gave them birth will be the place that witnesses their execution. Their national pride, rooted in their land and their history, will be the backdrop for their national humiliation. Their sin was one of arrogant pride against their brother Israel, gloating from their secure homeland. So God says, "I will come to your house. I will judge you on your home turf."
This is a principle that runs throughout Scripture. God's judgment often fits the crime. Jacob deceived his father with the skin of a goat and was later deceived by his sons with the blood of a goat. David committed adultery in secret, and his own household rebellion was proclaimed from the rooftops. The Ammonites sinned from their place of origin, and in their place of origin, they will be judged. There is no escaping the geography of God's justice.
The Fire of Fury (v. 31)
The nature of this judgment is described in terrifying, elemental terms.
"And I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My fury, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, craftsmen of destruction." (Ezekiel 21:31 LSB)
This is the language of holy war. This is not a polite disagreement. God is not merely displeased. His indignation will be "poured out" like a flood. His fury is a "fire," and He will "blow" on it, fanning the flames to a white-hot intensity. This is the unrestrained wrath of a holy God against covenantal treachery and pride. The Ammonites were not just any pagan nation; they were relatives who should have known better. Their sin was compounded by their proximity to the truth and their glee at the downfall of God's people.
And notice the instruments. God will give them "into the hand of brutal men, craftsmen of destruction." The Babylonians were not known for their gentle touch. They were masters of siege warfare, slaughter, and deportation. They were artisans of ruin. And God claims them as His tool. He is not a helpless bystander wringing His hands over the brutality of the Babylonians. He is sovereignly employing their brutality to accomplish His just ends. This is a hard doctrine for our soft age, but it is the clear teaching of Scripture. God is sovereign over the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and every "craftsman of destruction" in history. He uses the wicked to punish the wicked, and in the end, He will judge the instrument as well.
The Curse of Oblivion (v. 32)
The final verdict is not just death, but utter erasure.
"You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken." (Ezekiel 21:32 LSB)
The imagery is one of complete consumption. They will be "fuel for the fire." Not just burned, but used up, turned to ash. Their blood will soak their own land, the very "land of your origin" mentioned before. This is the complete reversal of all their national hopes.
But the most chilling part of the sentence is the final curse: "You will not be remembered." In the ancient world, to be remembered, to have your name carried on by your descendants, was everything. To be forgotten was the ultimate curse. God is saying that their entire national project, their history, their identity, will be wiped from the slate. And as a matter of historical fact, this is precisely what happened. The Ammonites were crushed by Babylon, harassed by their neighbors, and eventually disappeared from history, absorbed into the surrounding Arab peoples. They exist today only in the pages of Scripture as a warning.
And why is this sentence so certain? The prophecy concludes with the ultimate foundation of reality: "for I, Yahweh, have spoken." That is the end of the argument. When God speaks, reality conforms. His word does not return to Him void. It accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it, whether that purpose is salvation for His people or utter desolation for His enemies. The Ammonites had their lying diviners, but God has His spoken word. And there is no contest.
Conclusion: The Reproach and the Refuge
So what is the lesson for us? The sin of Ammon was "their reproach." They mocked the people of God in the day of their calamity. They kicked them when they were down. This is a grave sin. And it is a sin that the world perpetually commits against the church. But it is also a sin that Christians can commit against one another, or that we can be tempted to commit in our hearts against our enemies.
When we see judgment falling, our first response must not be glee, but rather fear and trembling. We must examine our own hearts. The sword of the Lord is drawn, and it is exceedingly sharp. The fire of His fury is real. And the only safe place to be is in Christ.
The good news is that this same fire of God's fury was poured out upon His own Son at the cross. Jesus endured the full measure of God's wrath against our sin. He was handed over to brutal men, craftsmen of destruction. His blood was spilled in the midst of the land. He was, for a time, seemingly forgotten in the tomb. He took the curse for us.
Therefore, for those who are in Him, there is no condemnation. The sword of justice has been returned to its sheath, for it was plunged into the heart of our substitute. The fire of fury has been quenched by His blood. And we are given a name that will be remembered forever, written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Let us therefore not be like Ammon, trusting in lying visions and gloating over the judgment of others. Let us rather flee to Christ, the only refuge from the storm of God's wrath. And let us heed the warning, for our God is indeed a consuming fire. And He has spoken.