And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, at the time of the iniquity of the end,
God turns from the armies of Babylon to speak straight to the man on Judah's throne. The sentence is personal and final — yet it opens a far bigger question: if David's line loses its crown, has God's promise failed?
Commentators name this ruler as Zedekiah, Judah's last king. One writer points to the broken oath behind the charge:
While David's throne stood, it was still "the throne of Jehovah" — however feeble and contemptible its occupants might be. The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery. Nebuchadnezzar "made him swear by God" (2 Chron. 36:13), but he despised the oath by breaking the covenant (Ezek. 17:17-18). Nothing was sacred in his eyes.
One writer finds the same description in Absalom, the son who rebelled against King David:
Absalom is the profane as well as the wicked prince (Ezek. 21:25). With him it is not simply unbridled wickedness, but that profane wickedness that could trample on all the claims even of nature.
Some older translations read "when iniquity shall have an end." Writers correct this to "the time of the iniquity of the end" — sin that has run its full course and is itself bringing on the collapse.
Divine government has not loosened its hand on men in all this. No, it is the very thing that is coming out in its full reality. The "iniquity of the end" (which is bringing about the end) has taken place. The crown is gone from the head of the king of Israel. The mitre of the high priest, which the crown supported, has to go too.
The next verse orders both headpieces removed. One writer, quoting an older translation, explains what each one stands for:
Remove the diadem [literally, "the mitre" — emblem of religious authority] and take off the crown [emblem of kingship] … I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.
That fall marks a turning point: rule over the earth passed from Jerusalem to the nations.
At last the end came. Zedekiah was the last wearer of the diadem, though perhaps he wore it only in name. He added treachery to his many sins and dishonoured the name of his God. Scripture records what followed no less than three times — 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 52. Jerusalem fell before the Babylonians, and the rule passed into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. So "the times of the Gentiles" set in.
Commentators differ on how far the verse reaches. Some keep it to Zedekiah. Others read "the time of the end" as pointing past him to a final false ruler who claims both the mitre and the crown.
There can be no question that Zedekiah is first of all in view as the profane wicked prince of Israel. But the prophecy looks far beyond Zedekiah… The words "in the time of the iniquity of the end" (correct translation) show that verse 25 refers to the time of the end. The same phrase appears in Dan. 11:35-39, "the time of the end"… He [the coming false ruler] wears the mitre of the priest and the crown of the king.
The centuries since have borne the sentence out. One writer sees a single pattern running through all of history:
If a comprehensive history of the world could be compiled, it would prove to be nothing but a record of two things. First, the many efforts of men and nations to exalt themselves and seize the diadem. Second, the sure and skilful way God has abased and overturned them, just when they seemed to have reached their goal.
Yet the overturning is not aimless. It is holding a place open.
All other hands prove unable to hold this sceptre, which God is taking for a time from the line of David. There is One, however, who has the right, and who will press His claim… How we forget this! The overturning is not against His right; it has His right in view. Israel's desolate land, in all its desolation, speaks of a people it is waiting for in God's design. In the same way, the broken sceptre and the empty throne are only waiting for the One to come.
- Profane — Zedekiah treated an oath sworn in God's name as nothing. Profane wickedness tramples even what nature holds sacred.
- Ripe — "whose day has come" marks iniquity run to the full. The sin of the end is what brings the end.
- Stripped — mitre and crown come off together. Priesthood and kingship both end, and the times of the Gentiles begin.
- Overturned — since that day, history is one long record of men seizing the diadem and God bringing them down.
- Reserved — the empty throne is no accident. It is a place kept open for the One whose right it is.
-- thus saith the Lord Jehovah Remove the mitre and take off the crown; what is shall be no [more]. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
God speaks here to Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, as Babylon's army closes in. The sentence falls not only on the man but on the office he holds. Two pieces of headgear come off. God turns the whole social order upside down. How long does that reversal last, and who ends it?
The man called "profane, wicked prince" is the final king of David's line before the exile, and his particular crime was breaking a sworn oath to Nebuchadnezzar. One writer traces how much was lost when that one man failed:
While David's throne stood, however feeble and contemptible its occupants might be, it was still "the throne of Jehovah." The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery. Nebuchadnezzar "made him swear by God" (2 Chron. 36:13), but he "despised the oath by breaking the covenant" (Ezek. 17:17-18). Nothing was sacred in his eyes… Ever since that day David's throne has lain in the dust, and the diadem of rulership over the nations has been removed.
Older translations read "diadem" where the ESV reads "turban." The Hebrew word behind it is the name of the high priest's headdress, the mitre. So God strips two offices at once, not one:
The word is mitsnepheth. Translated "diadem," it appears again in a striking reference to the "profane wicked prince of Israel." Though it refers to the king of that day, Zedekiah, it seems to point on to the future Antichrist together with the Roman beast, for he is pictured wearing both the mitre and the crown, and both will be removed. God will overturn, overturn, "until He comes whose right it is; and I will give it to Him." Ezek. 21:25-27.
The fall of Jerusalem cost far more than a dynasty:
At the taking of Jerusalem we see the judgment of God carried out on His people: the ark of the covenant taken; the house of God burnt; its royal authority taken from the family of David, until the coming of the true son of David… the throne of God removed from the earth, and sovereign authority placed in the hands of the Gentiles. In a word, everything that, as institutions, formed the link between God and the people is set aside.
"Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted" is no one-off event. God has kept applying that rule ever since. Read that way, world history becomes a single repeated story:
The diadem has indeed been removed. If a full history of the world could be written, it would prove to be nothing but a record of two things. First, the efforts of men and nations to exalt themselves and seize the diadem. Second, the sure and skilful way God has brought them low and overturned them, just when they seemed to have reached their goal.
The verse sounds purely destructive until you read the next line with it. The demolition has a purpose and a stopping point:
The crown is gone from the head of the king of Israel, and the mitre of the high priest, which the crown upheld, has to go too. What still existed was to be no more. The wheel was going round! … "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it," says Jehovah; "and it shall be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him." So there is even here a gleam of light through the thunderclouds… How we forget this: the overturning is not something against His right, but has His right in view. Israel's desolate land, for all its desolation, speaks of a people it is waiting for, in God's design. In the same way the broken sceptre and the empty throne are only waiting for the One to come, who will surely fulfil every promise and outdo all that the heart can imagine, in the blessing He brings.
The removal is permanent only until the rightful owner appears. Then the reversal runs the other way, and stays:
In that day the long-lost diadem will be seen on the head of the once-rejected Man of Nazareth, our adorable Lord Jesus. It will be bright then, not only with the gems of creation, but with the brighter jewels of redemption. From there it will never be removed. At the end of the thousand years of His righteous reign a released Satan will stir up rebellion, as Revelation 20:7-10 foretells, but that uprising will be crushed at once, so it never becomes an overturning. On His sacred brow the diadem will have found its permanent, its eternal resting-place.
after_note: DISCUSS
- Cause. Zedekiah's broken oath ended David's throne on earth; since that day it "has lain in the dust."
- Cost. Both headpieces come off together. The king's crown upheld the priest's turban, so the turban fell with it.
- Consequence. Sovereign authority passed to the nations. God set aside every institution that linked Him to His people.
- Pattern. World history since is men grasping at the lost diadem and God bringing every high thing low.
- Purpose. The overturning is not against Christ's right. It aims at it. The empty throne is a reserved seat, and the crown's final resting place is His head.
I will overturn, overturn, overturn it! This also shall be no [more], until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [to him].
These words fall on Zedekiah, the last king to sit on David's throne in Jerusalem. Babylon's army was closing in, and God was taking the crown off his head. What follows is a sentence over all human rule until one Person comes to claim it.
(The writers below quote an older translation of this verse: "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it... until He come whose right it is.")
The throne he lost was never merely his own:
While David's throne stood, however feeble and contemptible its occupants might be, it was still "the throne of Jehovah." The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery. Nebuchadnezzar "made him swear by God" (2 Chron. 36:13), but he "despised the oath by breaking the covenant" (Ezek. 17:17-18). Nothing was sacred in his eyes... Ever since that day David's throne has lain in the dust, and the diadem of rulership over the nations has been removed.
The verse just before removes two head-coverings, not one. Some writers see here a final false ruler who wears both:
The word "diadem" is mitre, the head-dress of the high priest (Exodus 28:4). He wears the mitre of the priest and the crown of the king. He is Satan's final counterfeit of the Priest-King.
Commentators differ on how far ahead the verse looks. Other writers keep to Zedekiah himself and to the long overturning that follows him.
The threefold word is not an outburst. One writer reads all of world history by it:
The diadem has indeed been removed. Suppose someone could compile a full history of the world. It would prove to be nothing but a record of the various efforts of men and nations to exalt themselves and seize the diadem. It would also record the sure and skilful way God has abased and overturned them, just when they appeared to have achieved their aim.
That has a sharp edge for anyone with large ambitions:
There have always been men who want to rule the world, and some have had a measure of success for a time. But against all such persons stands the solemn sentence of Ezekiel 21: "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it." Whoever sets his mind on ruling the world courts ruin — for himself, and for everyone tied to him.
From here, world power passes to the nations — on loan, never by right:
Jehovah would have no throne any longer on earth. His throne had been the unique throne of David's house (1 Chron. 29:23). Other monarchs reign by God's providence. But Jehovah reigned through David and his line only, looking on, no doubt, to a greater than them all — the Messiah... Until He comes to take the throne of David... power is transferred to the Gentiles. But they, though ordained of God, never had and do not have any such title.
The verse ends with a gift, not with wreckage. The overturning aims at someone — the promised ruler this writer calls Shiloh:
All other hands are proved incompetent to wield this sceptre, which God is taking for the time being from the line of David. But there is One who has the right, and who will put forward His claim to it. Judah's rod of rule would not cease until Shiloh comes. How sweet such a promise to a sorely-stricken heart! How sweet it is for us in our own day! It reveals the mystery behind the breakdown of everything we rest our human hopes on — "until He comes whose right it is!" How we forget this — the overturning is not something against His right, but has His right in view. Israel's desolate land, for all its desolation, speaks of a people it is waiting for in God's design. In the same way, the broken sceptre and the empty throne are only waiting for the One who is to come. He will surely fulfil every promise and outdo all that the heart can imagine, in the blessing He brings.
If every throne stands under notice, where should a believer put hope and energy?
It is quite true that in a little while it will be said, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." Suppose the Lord's interests are our interests, and we believe He will yet be revealed as Lord of all. How then can we have any appetite for the political excitement and party struggles of today? Why not wait instead until "He shall come whose right it is"? He is the One who said, as He neared the cross, "Now is the judgment of this world."
- Removed — David's last king in Jerusalem broke a sworn oath, so the crown came off. With it went a throne that had been God's own throne on earth.
- Overturned — world history since is a record of men reaching for that fallen crown. God unseats them each time they seem to have it.
- Borrowed — power passed to the nations by God's providence. They hold it without title, and no ruler since has had the right to it.
- Reserved — the empty throne is not waste. The overturning clears the ground for the One whose right it is, and God Himself will hand it over.
- Awaited — every throne today stands under notice. So hope belongs to His coming, not to the struggles that fill the news.