21:25-27 This judgment would extend against Zedekiah, the corrupt and wicked prince of Israel, as well as against the people. Ezekiel identifies Zedekiah by title rather than by name, indicating that his office was also under judgment. He would be stripped of the emblems of royalty and brought low, while the Lord exalted the lowly. The old order would experience destruction. • the one appears who has the right to judge it: This coming judge is often understood to be the Messiah (cp. Gen 49:10). In this context, however, the Lord was handing Judah over to the Babylonians for judgment (see Ezek 23:24). Ezekiel was probably reshaping the traditional messianic oracle of Gen 49:10 into a message of imminent judgment by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, acting as an agent of God. God temporarily took away the scepter from Judah because Israel’s rulers had sinned, but he would eventually give it back.