"Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud; the Branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low" (Isa. 25:5). The first five verses of this chapter contemplate the Enemy's stronghold -- Babylon -- and the remainder of the chapter pictures the blessedness of the millennial era. In the fifth verse the Antichrist's overthrow is announced: "The Branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low." With this should be compared Isa. 14:19, where of Lucifer it is said, "Thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable Branch." This points another contrast. The "Branch" is one of the Messianic names: "Behold, I will bring forth My Servant, the Branch" (Zech. 3:8); "Behold the man whose name is the Branch" (Zech. 6:12). By placing together Isa. 4:2 and Isa. 14:19 the antithesis will be more evident. Of Christ it is said, "The Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious." Antichrist is called "an abominable Branch": Christ is "the Branch of the Lord;" Antichrist is "the Branch ofthe terrible ones."
"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[ndash ]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.