19. The Profane and Wicked Prince of Israel

“And thou, profane wicked Prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him” (Ezek. 21:25-27). The Profane and Wicked Prince of Israel here can be none other than the Antichrist, for we are expressly told that “his day shall be when iniquity shall have an end.” The reference is, of course, to Israel’s “iniquity,” and their iniquity shall end at the appearing of the Messiah (see Dan. 9:24) when “He shall be a priest upon His throne” (Zech. 6:13). Here in Ezekiel we see how the Son of Perdition shall ape the Christ of God, for he, too, will be a priest-king: “Remove the diadem” refers to the insignia of his priesthood (in every other place in the O. T. where this occurs the Hebrew word here translated “diadem” it is rendered “mitre” — worn only by the high priest of Israel); “take off the crown” is the symbol of his kingship.