And now follows a most interesting utterance of the prophet which has a future meaning. There can be no question that Zedekiah is first of all in view as the profane wicked[15] prince of Israel. But the prophecy looks far beyond Zedekiah. It is the coming wicked prince, the one who comes in his own name, the final Antichrist, the false Messiah, or, as he is also called in Revelation, the false prophet. That verse 25 refers to the time of the end is seen by the words, "in the time of the iniquity of the end" (correct translation). The same phrase appears in Dan. xi:35-39, "the time of the end," and the person described in that passage is the Antichrist, the wicked prince. It is the time of the future great tribulation "when the transgressors are come to the full" (Dan. viii:23). This false Christ will claim priestly and kingly honors. He is the beast out of the earth (Rev. xiii) having two horns like a lamb, but speaking as a dragon. The two horns represent the priesthood and the kingship he assumes. And this we learn from verse 26 is the character of the wicked prince of Israel of whom Ezekiel speaks. Again, we must correct the faulty translation of the authorized version: "Remove the mitre and take off the crown"; the word "diadem" is mitre, the head-dress of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii:4). He wears the mitre of the priest and the crown of the king. He is Satan's final counterfeit (like the pope) of the Priest-King. In verse 27 the overturning times are mentioned. Thrice it is stated, "I will overturn." Even so will it be at the time of the end until He comes whose right it is. And the coming One, who will exalt what is low and abase what is high, who will remove the mitre and the crown from the Antichrist, destroying him by the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. ii) is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is interesting to see that there is in the Hebrew a word used which is very suggestive. In Genesis xlix:10 we have Christ spoken of as Shiloh. The word "until He come" in the Hebrew is almost the same as Shiloh; it is Shelloh. And surely the overturning times are almost upon us, and soon that profane wicked Prince may arise. However, we do not wait for that wicked one; we wait for the Lord. [15] Literal translation is, "O deadly wounded wicked one, the Prince of Israel." V. The Judgment to Fall Upon Ammon.