Should This Matter?

“In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them: and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 29:21

As I finish out my study on chapter 29 of Ezekiel, the last verse, verse 21, stands in my way. The verse is deceptively simple. With a deep look, however, this verse causes a bit of a dilemma. Is it Messianic or not?

In the preceding verses, verses 13 – 20, God is providing a prophecy regarding the destruction of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, God says that the destruction of Egypt is basically Nebuchadnezzar’s spoil that he should have received from his defeat of Tyre. Nebuchadnezzar’s subjugation of Tyre resulted in a 13 year siege. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t really receive the reward that he would typically receive from overtaking a city likely due to the fact that many of the people left the mainland portion of the city of Tyre for the island part of the city which Nebuchadnezzar was not able to fully capture. It was also likely that Egypt helped Tyre during this time maybe even removing valuables and hiding them since Egypt was a main factor in inciting rebellions against Babylon. God promises that, as a result, Egypt will suffer invasion by Nebuchadnezzar who will receive spoil from Egypt instead. Herodotus, an ancient historian, tells us that within 3 years of this prophecy, Egypt is indeed invaded by Nebuchadnezzar. While the country is not subjugated, it is weakened.

After issuing this prophecy, one small verse is added at the end of the chapter: verse 21. While the prior prophecy is relatively obvious and direct, this small prophecy is not. As I looked into what commentators thought about this prophecy, I saw a significant amount of debate mainly focused on whether this is messianic or not. My initial gut instinct is that this prophecy is Messianic, and after a bit of thinking and research, I confirmed that it is most certainly messianic. I opted to record my reasoning here in case anyone else runs up against how to take this verse.

“In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Separating Phrases for Meaning

I found that by analyzing each phrase in the verse separately before putting them back together, I was able to obtain a clearer picture of what this verse might be saying. I will go over each phrase before putting them together.

“In that day…”

One’s initial response might be to see this phrase tying this verse to the preceding prophecy against Egypt. For example, I would paraphrase it this way: ‘When Egypt is spoiled by Babylon, then…’. This certainly could be the case. However, the messianic ties of the following phrases make this solution difficult. Ezekiel 24:27 may be an example of this (see further down in this article for more information on this passage).

Plus, the phrase “in that day’’ is often a Messianic phrase or one associated with the ‘Day of the Lord’ elsewhere in Scripture. In fact, it almost always, at a minimum is referencing the end-times. Isaiah used it a lot when speaking of far future events and other prophets use it similarly lending credence to the view that this may be an Messianic prophecy.

If this indeed is a Messianic prophecy, this phrase would not be linking the prophecy of verse 21 to the prophecy of the previous verses. Instead, the phrase actually separates this prophecy from the one before it by serving as a time period designation. It would denote that this prophecy is associated with “that day” (a.k.a. End-time or Messianic).

“…will I cause the horn of the house of Israel …”

In the Bible, the horn symbolized ‘king.’ For example, a ram’s horn was the center of it’s power just as a king is the center of the power of a nation. We see that God uses the symbol of a horn for a ‘king’ in Daniel 7:24, Daniel 8, Revelation 12:3, Revelation 13:1, and Revelation 17:12 where He clearly defines the term for us.

So, using God’s own symbolism, this phrase could be paraphrased as follows: I will cause the king of Israel to spring up. Now, who is this king? After the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon, Israel never again had a king sit on the throne. In fact, the king of Judah, Zedekiah, was killed by Nebuchadnezzar during the final siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Of course, Zedekiah was a puppet king placed by Nebuchadnezzar once the true king at the time, Jehoiachin, was taken captive by to Babylon in 597/598 BC after only sitting on the throne for 3 months. He was released after 37 years in prison and treated kindly, but he never ruled again.

This leaves us only one option for the ‘king’ of Israel: Christ. Christ was always the TRUE king anyway, but once the Messiah came and defeated death, He ascended to the throne to continue His rule and will one day rule the earthly kingdom during the Millennium.

There is additional Scriptural references that point to Christ as the “horn” of Israel. In Luke 1:68-79, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophecies that redemption for Israel has come via “an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David…”. There is really no doubt in this scenario that Christ is being referenced as the “horn”. Psalm 132:17 also may provide a link to Christ. I say may because this passage does have some ambiguity. In chapter 132, God is speaking about His Zion dwelling place saying, “There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.” This passage could be referring the fact that the dwelling place will be the temple in Jerusalem that David is planning to build. David is called God’s anointed on several occasions. In addition, the tribe of Judah is called a “light” in I Kings 11:36 when God promises that one tribe, Judah, will remain with the house of David. Taking all of this into account, this verse could be paraphrased: ‘I will make David’s throne to grow in Jerusalem through the tribe of Judah’. The future kings of Judah do continue to sit on the throne in Jerusalem until the Babylon captivity when the royal house is fully dethroned. However, this could also be referring the promise that David’s throne is established forever through the Messiah. David symbolizes the Messiah and Messiah is to come through his lineage. One could easily infer that the “horn of David” is the throne of David which will light the way through the tribe of Judah. While, this could be a prophecy regarding the temple, it can also be viewed as Messianic because Christ is the fulfillment of the throne of David and his lineage is through Judah. For example, ‘Judah lights the way of the Messiah’. Christ is also considered God’s “anointed,”

“…to bud forth…”

This phrase is “tsamach” in Hebrew which means to sprout or grow up. Like “in that day,” this phrase is not unique in Scripture and is also often Messianic in it’s application elsewhere.

Jeremiah 33:15 uses the same terminology when he is speaking of the “BRANCH of Righteousness,” another name for the Messiah, “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the BRANCH of Righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land.” Zechariah also uses the same words when he too describes the “BRANCH” when he says, “…behold the man whose name is BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord” in Zechariah 6:12, another Messianic passage. Additional passages that utilize this phrase in relation to the Messiah are Psalm 85:11, Psalm 132:17, Isaiah 42:9, Isaiah 43:19, Isaiah 44:4. There are several more passages and a quick google search can provide them.

I see that some commentators are relating this phrase to the rebuilding of the temple or to the repentance of the Jews after the exile is over. I can see this interpretation, but it is very hard to ignore the exact words which are proven time and time again in scripture to be Messianic.

“…and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them…”

This phrase along with “in that day” are the two reasons why I believe many commentators are hesitant to ascribe the prophecy of verse 21 as Messianic. But I don’t think that this clause necessarily precludes the Messianic designation. The ambiguity of the expression lends to confusion and there are several ways to interpret it. Mainly, what does this expression mean? And then, who is the “thee” and the “they” here?

The clause regarding “opening of the mouth” seems to refer to ‘open speech’ or ‘speaking freely’ or maybe even ‘the words to say.’ In other words, ‘this person will be able to speak among these other people.’ In Ezekiel 29:19-27, we see something similar to this phrase used and I believe It may offer a clue to how to understand the clause here in Ezekiel 29:21.

Here is a summary of the passage. Ezekiel’s wife dies. God uses the term “the desire of thine eyes” to describe her. God tells Ezekiel not to weep, cover his head, go barefoot, or have a funeral feast. These were common mourning rituals, so Ezekiel’s deliberate avoidance of them attracted attention. Sensing that Ezekiel’s actions (or inaction in this case) may be a sign of a prophecy, people ask Ezekiel what his actions are supposed to mean. Ezekiel tells them that just as “the desire of [his] eyes” was taken from him, so will the “desire of [their] eyes” be taken from them which is the temple, Jerusalem, and the people who live in Jerusalem. He is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem which would occur shortly despite the widely held belief that God would never allow his sanctuary to be destroyed which was spread by false prophets at the time. The people held out hope that Egypt would come and save Judah from Babylon and that they would return home soon. The fall of Jerusalem and the temple would be such a shock to the captives in Babylon that they will not even be able to grieve. Perhaps they wouldn’t believe it or it would take time for them to understand the severity of the destruction by Babylon, but either way, the captives will not grieve like they normally would. Instead this event will lead to inward mourning and a melting away of their sin. In addition, when those who survive the destruction of Jerusalem are taken to Babylon and reveal the awful truth of what happened, the people will finally hear what God had been saying all along. At that point, Ezekiel’s mouth will speak to those who survived and will be a sign to them. How? Because what he had been prophesying for so long which seemed so impossible actually happened. And finally, they will know that God did this!

The clause in Ezekiel 24: 26, “…mouth be opened to him…” can be interpreted in different ways. Here are the interpretation possibilities that I have come up with:

1. Ezekiel will literally be silent until the surviving captives from the fall of Jerusalem arrive in Babylon. There is nothing else in the passage that indicates this except for the phrase, “be no more dumb.”

2. God has nothing more to say to the people until judgement is accomplished, so Ezekiel does not prophesy anymore until the moment captives arrive in Babylon.

3. The context infers that it isn’t until the people see that their hope (which was Jerusalem and the temple, not God) had actually fallen away that they would be able to ‘hear’ Ezekiel’s words for the first time. Without their hope in Jerusalem, they place their hope back in God. This does prove to be true as when the exiles return to the rubble of Jerusalem 70 years later, they are repentant and adamant to return to serving God.

While the passage of Ezekiel 24 doesn’t provide an exact meaning to the phrase of “opening of the mouth,” I think that it does offer some additional context to the phrase too consider. I consider the third interpretation as the most likely option based on the entire passage. The phrase may be making more of a statement about the listener instead of the speaker.

If I were to apply this interpretation to Ezekiel 29:21, then the phrase could be said this way: ‘At this time, they will finally be willing to listen and hear the truth from the speaker.’ We still do not know who the speaker is or who the listener is and the possibility depends on whether or not this is a Messianic prophecy. Is It Ezekiel? Or Prophets in general? Or Christ? Or the Church? Or the Gentiles?

“…and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

This phrase is also found in the other passage we looked at earlier, Ezekiel 24. It implies that the words being spoken in addition to the prophecy fulfillment will cause others to see that God kept His promise and that the event was His handiwork. If we take this prophecy is historical and related to the prophecy regarding Nebuchadnezzar in the preceding verses, it would mean that when the captives see that Nebuchadnezzar does indeed invade Egypt for spoil, they would believe what Ezekiel had been saying and they will know that God was behind it. If the prophecy is Messianic, then those who see the coming of the Messiah would know that the prophecies spoken before where true prophecies and the fact that God was behind everything will be apparent.

Putting Them Back Together

Now that we have isolated each phrase and analyzed them, we can put them back together. The fact is that there is no obvious answer. It is even possible that both options are correct. But here are the two possibilities:

Historical Interpretation: when Nebuchadnezzar spoils Egypt, the Jewish captives will return to God, and Ezekiel’s prophecies will be proven true. The captives will finally hear the message that Ezekiel has been trying to tell them all along. They will see God behind everything that happened.

Messianic Interpretation: During the last days, the Messiah will come and Ezekiel’s prophecies will be believed by many because they will see that the sign of the Messiah proved true. These people will know that God was behind everything including Jesus Christ.

While both interpretations are certainly possible, the specific clause, “…will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth…” is what convinces me that this prophecy is Messianic. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfills so many Old Testament prophecies, it is amazing! Because of this, many have believed in Jesus because they saw the sign come true. In Acts (and much of the New Testament), the apostles focused on showing the Jews how Jesus Christ fulfilled what the Scripture said about the Messiah. For example, Acts 17:2-4 tells us, “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scripture, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed…”

I do not believe it is wrong to view this verse in a historical context, but I believe the Messianic context is true. After Christ, many who were waiting for the Messiah saw the signs and believed. The “horn of the house of Israel” certainly sprouted with Christ’s death and resurrection. Those of us who see the signs and accept Christ as the Messiah will not just hear the prophecies of the prophets but believe them and wait for their fulfillment.