You have
despised the rod (NRSV,
Ezekiel 21:13).
Ezekiel writes of a
sword, sharpened and polished (v. 9).
This polished sword was the King (and military) of Babylon, which God would
wield against the nation of Judah.
There were those who
refused to believe any lasting wrong could come to Jerusalem because of the
Davidic promise: Your throne will be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16). But those who were staking
their claims on David’s throne being established forever, had forgotten a
preceding verse: When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod
of men (v. 14). God had
promised David that when Israel got off track, foreign enemies would be the rod of his discipline designed to get the
nation’s attention, explicitly so it would realize the error of its ways and
make things right.
Once as a child I
was warned not to ride my bike with the two flat tires (you’d hardly think
someone would have to be told that), but the minute my dad drove off, out came
the bicycle and I labored to pedal around the driveway (how much fun could that
have been anyway?). Of course, my dad came home much, much sooner than I
expected, and I never underestimated the rod again.
Similarly, after
God’s repeated warnings to Judah, and now with the nation literally crumbling
around them, Ezekiel asks the people, Why didn’t you pay attention
to God’s discipline and submit to his Lordship? Why have you despised the rod?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Consider the last time God
used a rod of correction in your life? Did you learn your lesson?
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