What is the meaning of Ezekiel 21:17? I too will strike My hands together • Earlier in the chapter the LORD told Ezekiel, “Clap your hands and stamp your foot” as a prophetic sign (Ezekiel 21:14); now God Himself echoes the gesture, underscoring that He is personally involved. • Striking the hands conveys decisive emotion—anger mixed with resolve—seen elsewhere when Balak “struck his hands together” in fury (Numbers 24:10) and when people clap in derision at judgement (Job 27:23). • The Lord’s “clap” signals that the moment for warning is over and the execution of judgement is set in motion, just as His thunderous voice once shook Sinai (Exodus 19:19). and I will satisfy My wrath. • Divine wrath is not reckless rage; it is holy justice finally poured out after extended patience (2 Peter 3:9). • In Ezekiel’s day God’s wrath would be satisfied through Babylon’s sword, cleansing the land of idolatry (Ezekiel 21:3–5; 22:31). • The same principle appears earlier: “My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath” when Jerusalem was besieged (Ezekiel 5:13). • Ultimately, wrath is fully satisfied only at the cross where justice and mercy meet (Romans 3:25–26), yet those who spurn that provision still face certain judgement (John 3:36). I, the LORD, have spoken. • This closing declaration seals the certainty of the prophecy; His word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). • Throughout Ezekiel the phrase functions like a royal signature (Ezekiel 17:24; 24:14), reminding hearers that no power can annul His decree (Numbers 23:19). • Because the speaker is the covenant God—“the LORD,” Yahweh—His promise of judgement carries the same unbreakable authority as His promise of salvation (Hebrews 6:17–18). summary God’s emphatic handclap signals that the season for warnings has ended and active judgement is launching. His wrath, long restrained, will be fully satisfied through the calamity He appoints, proving that He punishes sin with perfect justice. The final line assures us that nothing can overturn His declared word. This verse therefore calls us to sober reverence and grateful trust in the One whose promises—of both judgement and redemption—stand forever. |
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