What other scriptures emphasize God's sovereignty in judgment like Ezekiel 21:30? Setting the Scene with Ezekiel 21:30 “Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.” Ezekiel pictures the Lord’s sword going back to its scabbard, yet judgment still falls exactly where God decrees. Scripture repeatedly reinforces this absolute right of God to judge. Echoes from the Law (Pentateuch) • Deuteronomy 32:39 – “See now that I am He; there is no god besides Me. I bring death and I restore life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” • Deuteronomy 32:41 – “When I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My foes and repay those who hate Me.” Voices in Israel’s Early History • 1 Samuel 2:6-7 – “The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.” • 1 Samuel 2:10 – “Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.” Prophetic Trumpet Blasts • Isaiah 45:7 – “I form the light and create darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.” • Isaiah 63:3-4 – “I have trodden the winepress alone… For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come.” • Jeremiah 18:6 – “House of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? … so are you in My hand.” • Jeremiah 51:20 – “You are My war club, My weapon for battle; with you I shatter nations.” • Nahum 1:2-3 – “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God… the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” • Zephaniah 3:5 – “The LORD within her is righteous; He does no injustice… morning after morning He renders His judgment.” • Ezekiel 18:4 – “Behold, every soul belongs to Me… the soul who sins is the one who will die.” • Daniel 4:35 – “He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” Testimony from Psalms and Wisdom Literature • Psalm 9:7-8 – “He has established His throne for judgment. He judges the world with justice.” • Psalm 75:6-7 – “It is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.” • Proverbs 16:4 – “The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.” • Lamentations 3:37-38 – “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? Do not both calamities and good come from the mouth of the Most High?” New Testament Confirmations • Acts 17:31 – “He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed.” • Romans 9:18, 20-21 – “Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden… Does not the potter have the right…?” • Revelation 19:15 – “From His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations… He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” • Revelation 20:11-12 – “I saw a great white throne… and the dead were judged according to their deeds.” Key Takeaways on God’s Unrivaled Authority • God alone decides when, where, and how judgment falls; no power can thwart His decree. • His sovereignty extends over life and death, prosperity and calamity, nations and individuals. • Old and New Testaments speak with one voice: the Judge of all the earth always acts in perfect righteousness. |
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