Chapter LII (continued, part 3)
altsir 6. that 1 viiould (be compelled by their sin tc) go far
oft fioni my sanctuary-(Ch. 10.18); the sure precursor of its destruction. 7. door of ti\e courts i. e., of the inner court (v. 3);' the court of tlie pi iestsand Levites, into which now otiiers were admitted in violation of the law. [Gronus.J liole iu . . . wall i.e., an aperture or window in the wall of the priests' chambers, through which he could eee into the various apartments, wherein was the idola-
trous shrine. 8. dig—for it had been blocked up during Josiah's reformation. Or rather, the vision is not of au actual scene, but an ideal pictorial representation of the Egyptian idolatries into which the covenant-people had
relapsed, practising them in secret places where they shrank from the light of day [FAiRBAiiiN] (John 3. 20). But cf. as to the literal introduction of idolatries into the temple, ch. .5. 11; Jeremiah 7. 30; 32. 34. 10. creeping things . . . beasts—worshipped in Egypt; still found portrayed on tlieir chamber walls ; so among the troglodytie. rottnd about—on every side they surrounded themselves with incentives to superstition. 11. seventy men—the seventy members composing the Sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, the origination of which we find in the Seventy elders, representatives of the congregation, who went up with Moses to the mount to behold the glory of Jehovah, and to witness the secret transactions relating to the establishment of the covenant; also, in the seventy elders appointed to share the burden of the people with Moses. How awfully it aggravates the national sin, that the seventy, once admitte<l to the Lord's secret coun-
24. IS, 19, with the high priest, " the princes of the sanctu. ary," Isaiah 43. 28), representing the whole priesthood, as the seventy elders represented the people, stood with their backs turned on the temple, and their faces towards the east, making obeisance to the rising sun (contrast 1 Kings
8. +1.) Sun-worship came from the Persians, who made the sun the eye of their god Ormuzd. It existed as early as Job (Job 31. 26; cf. Deuteronomy 4. 19). Josiah could only suspend it for the time of his reign (2 Kings 23. 5, 11);
it revived under his successors, worshipped— in the Hebreiv a corrupt form is used to exjjress Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship. 17. put . . . branch to . . . nose—proverbial, for " tliey turn up the nose in scorn," expressing their insolent security. [LXX.] Not content with outraging "with their violence" the second table of the law, viz., that of duty towards one's neighbour, " they have returned" (t. e., they turn back afresh) to provoke me by violations of the first table. [Calvin.] Kather, they held up a branch or bundle of tamarisk (called barsom) to their nose at daybreak, whilst singing hymns to the rising sun. [Strabo, 1. 15, p. 733.] Sacred trees were frequent symbols in idol-worship. Calvin translates, "to their own ruin," lit., "to their nose," i. e., with the effect of rousing my anger (of which the Hebrew is "nose") to their ruin. 18. though they cry . . . yet will I not hear—(Proverbs 1.28; Isaiah 1. 15.)
cil (Psalm 25. 14), should now, "in the dark," enter "the secret" of the wicked (Genesis 49. 6), those judicially bound to suppress Idolatry being the ringleaders of it! Jaa-
, eanlali-perhaps chief of the seventy: son of Shnphan, the scribe who read to Josiah the book of the law; the spiritual privileges of the son (2 Kings 22. 10-14) increased his guilt. The very name means, "Jehovah hears," giving the lie to the unbelief which virtually said (ch. 9.9), "The Lord seeth us not," <fec. (cf. Psalm 10. 11, 14; 50. 21 ; 94.
7, 9X The offering of Incense belonged not to the elders, but to the priests; this usurpation added to the guilt of the former, cloud of Incense — they spared no expense for their Idols. Oh that there were the same liberality iu
The Sealing of the Faithful, EZEKIEL IX, X. and the Destruction of the Re^
CHAPTER TX.
.Ime to sprinkle the blood-mark, ensuring their safety
(cf. Revelation 7.3; Amos 9.9). So the early Christians had Pella provided as a refuge for them, before the d^ struction of Jerusalem, upon the foreheads—the most conspicuous part of the person, to imply how that their safety would be manifested to all (cf. Jeremiah 15. 11; 39. 11-18). It was customary thus to mark worshippers (Revelation 13. 16; 14. 1, 9) and servants. So the Church of England marks the forehead with the sign of the cross in baptizing. At the exodus the mark was on the houses, for tlien it was families; here. It Is on the foreheads, for it is individuals whose safety Is guaranteed, sigh and . . . cry — similarly-sounding verbs In Hebrew, as in English
Ver. I-II. CoXTINtTATION OF THE PRECEDING VISION: The Sealing of the Faithful. 1. cried—contrasted with their "cry" for mercy (ch. 8. 18) is the "cry" here for vengeance, showing how vain was tlie former, tliem tliat liave charge lit., officers; so officers (Isaiali 60. 17), having tlie city in charge, not to guard, but to punish it. The angels who as "watchers" fulfil God's judgments (Daniel 4. 13, 17, 23; 10. 20, 21); the "princes" (Jeremiah 39.
3) of Nebucliadnezzar's army were under their guidance, draw near—in tlie Hebrew intensive, "to draw near quickly." 2. clotJicd with linen—(Daniel 10.5; 12.6, 7.) His clothing niarlted his office as distinct from that of the six ofRcers.of vengeance ; " linen" characterized the higli priest (Leviticus 16. 4); emblematic of purity. The same garment is assigned to the angel of the Lord (for which Michael is but another name) in the contemporary prophet Daniel (Daniel 10.5; 12.6,7.) Tlierefore the Intercessory High Priest in heaven must be meant (Zechariah
Version, expressing the prolonged sound of tlieir grief. " Sigh" implies their inward grief ("groanings which cannot be uttered," Romans 8. 26); " cry," the outward expression of it. So Lot (2 Peter 2. 7, 8). Tenderness should cliaracterize the man of God, not harsh sternness in opposing tlie ungodly (Psalm 119. 53, 136; Jeremiah 13. 17; 2 Corinthians 12. 21); at the same time zeal for the honour of God (Psalm 69. 9, 10; 1 John 5. 19). 5. tlie otiiers—the six officers ofjudgment (u. 2). 6. come not near any . . . upon whom . . . mark—(Revelation 9. 4.) It may be objected that Daniel, Jeremiah, and others were carried away, whereas many of the vilest were left in the land. But God does not promise believers exemption from all sufl'ering, but only from what will prove really and lastingly hurtful to them. His sparing the ungodly turns to their destruction, and leaves them without excuse. [Calvin.] However the prophecy waits a fuller and final fulfilment, for Revelation 7. 3-8, In ages long after Babylon,
1.12). The .six with Him are His subordinates; therefore He Is said to be "among them," lit., "in the "midst of them," as their recognized Lord (Hebrews 1. 6). He appears as a "man," implying His incarnation; as "one" (cf. 1 Timothy 2. 5). Salvation is peculiarly assigned to Him, and so He bears tlie "inkhorn" in order to "mark" His elect (v.i; cf. Exodus 12. 7; Revelation 7. 3; 9. 4; 13. 16, 17;
20. i), and to write their names in His book of life (Revelation 13. 8). As Oriental scribes suspend their inkhorn at their side in tlie present day, and as a "scribe of the host is found in Assyrian inscriptions accompanying the host" to number tlie heads of the slain, so He stands ready for the work before Him. "The higher gate" was probably where now tlie gate of Damascus Is. The six with Him malje up the saered and perfect number, seven (Zechariali S. 9; Revelation 5.6). The executors of judgment on the wiciced, in Scripture teaching, are good, not bad, angels; the bad have permitted to them the trial of the pious (Job 1. 12; 2 Corinthians 12. 7). The judgment is executed Ijy Him (cli. 10. 2, 7; John 5. 22, 27) through the six (Matthew 13. 41 ; 25. 31); so beautifully does the Old Testament harmonize witli tlie New Testament. Tlie seven come " from tlie way of tlie north ;" for it was there tlie Idolatries were seen, and from the same quarter must proceed tlie judgment (Babylon lying north-east of Judea).
foretells, as still future, the same sealing of a remnant
(144,000) of Israel previous to the final outpouring of wrath on the rest of the nation; the correspondence is exact; the same pouring of fire from the altar follows the marking of the remnant In both (cf. Revelation 8. 5, with ch.
10. 2); so Zechariah 13. 9; 14. 2, distinguishes the remnant from the rest of Israel, begin at . , . sanctuary—for in
it the greatest abominations had been committed ; it had lost the reality of consecration by the blood of victims sacrificed to idols ; it must, therefore, lose its semblance
bj' the dead bodies of the slain Idolaters {v. 7). God's heaviest wrath falls on those who have sinned against the highest privileges; these are made to feel it first (1 Peter
4. 17, 18). He hates sin most in those nearest to him; e.g., the priests, &c. ancient men—the seventy elders. 8. I was left lit., "there was left I." So universal seemed the slaughter that Ezekiel thought himself the only one left. [Calvin.] He was the only one left of the priests " in the sanctuary." fell upon my face—to intercede for his countrymen (so Numbers 16. 22). all the residue—a ple.a drawn from God's covenant promise to save the elect remnant. 9. exceeding— lit., very, very; doubled, perversencss— "apostasy" [Grotius]; or, "wresting aside of Justice." Liord . . . forsaken . . . earth . . . seeth not—the ortler
So Matthew 2^1. 2S. stood—the atti tude of waiting reverently /or Jeliovali's commands, brazen altar—the altar of burnt offerings, not the altar of incense, which was of gold. They "stood" there to imply reverent obedience; for there God gave His answers to prayer [Calvin]; also as being aliout to slay victims to God's Justice, they stand where sacrifices are usually slain [Guotius] (ch. 39. 17; Isaiah 34. fi; Jeremiah 12. 3; 46. 10). 3. glory of . . . God— which had lieretofore, as a brlglit cloud, rested on the mercy-seat between the cherubim in the holy of holies (2 Samuel 6. 2; Psalm 80. 1) ; its departure was the pre-sage of the temple being given up to ruin; its going from tlie Inner sanctuary to the threshold without, towards the oflicrrs standing at the altar outside, was in order to give the/n tlio commission of vengeance. *. midst of . . . city
is reversed from ch. 8. 12. There they speak of His neglect of His people in their misery ; here they go farther and deny His providence (Psalm 10. 11), so that they may sin fearlessly. God, in answer to Ezekiel's question (v. 8), leaves the diflflculty unsolved ; He nierely vindicates Hla justice by showing it did not exceed their sin : He would liave us humbly acquiesce In His judgments, and wait and trust. 10. mine eye—to show them their mistake In saying, "The Lord seeth not." recompense their way upon their head— (Proverbs 1. 31.) Retribution in kind. 11. I have done as thou hast commanded—The churacter-
, . . midst of Jerusalem — Tliis twofold designation marks more empliafically the scene of the Divine Judgments, a mark— the Hebrew letter Tan, the last in the alpiiabet, used as a mark (Job 31. 35, Margin, "my sign"); lit., Tau; originally written in tlie form of acro*», wliicli Tertullian explains as referring to the badge and ot,!y means of salvation, the cross (K Christ. But jowliere in Scripture are the words which are now employed as names of letters used to denote the letters themselves or their figures. [Vitringa.] The noun here
Istlc of Messiah (John 17. 4). So the angels (Psalm 103. 21); and the apostles report their fulfilment of their orders (Mark 6. 30).
Is cognate to tlie verb, "mark a mark." So in Revelation
7. 3 no particular mark is specified. We seal what we wish to guard securely. When all things else on earth are confounded, God will secure His people from the common ruin. God gives tlie/[r4< charge as to their safety before He orders the punishment of the rest (Psalm 31.20; Isaiah
Ver. 1-22. Vision of Coals of Fire scattered oveb THE City: Repetition of the Vision of the Cherubim. 1. The throne of Jehovah appearing In the mid.st of the Judgments implies tnal, whatever Intermediate agencies be employed. He controls them, and that the whole flows as a necessary consequence from His essential holiness (ch. 1. 22,26). cherubim-in ch. 1. 5, called "Uvlug
26. 20,21 ^. So in the case of Lot and Sodom (Genesis 19.22); also the Egyptian first-born were not slain till Israel hud
The Vision of Ike Coals of Fire. EZEKIEL X. The Vision of the Cherubim.
express tlie manifold changes and revolutions in the world; also that in the chariot of His providence God transports the Church from one place to anotlier, and everywhere can preserve it; a truth calcuiateil to alarm the people In Jerusalem, and to console the exiles. [PoLANTJS.] 10. four had one likeness— in the wonderful variety of God's works there is the greatest harmony :—
creatures." The repetition of the vision implies that the judgments are approaching nearer and nearer. These two visions of Deity were granted in the beginning of Ezekiel's
career, to qualify him for witnessing to God's glory amidst
his God-forgetting people, and to stamp trutli on his announcements; also to signify the removal of God's mani-
festation from the visible temple (u. 18) for a long period
(ch. 43. 2). The feature (u. 12) mentioned as to the cherubim that they were "full of eyes," though omitted in the former vision, is not a difference, but a more specific de-
"In human works, though laboured on with pain.
One tliousand movements scarce one purpose gain
In God's one single doth its end produce.
tail observed by Ezekiel now on closer inspection. Also, here, there is no rainbow (the symbol of mercy after the flood wrath) as in the former; for here judgment is the promiiieni thought, though the marking of the remnant m ch. 9. -1, 6 shows that there was mercy in the background. The cherubim, perhaps, represent redeemed humanity combining in and with itself the highest forms of subordinate creaturely life (cf. Romans 8. 20). Therefore they are asso^-iated with the twenty-four elders, and distinguished from the angels (Revelation 5). They stand on the mercy-seat of the ark, and on that ground become the habitation of God from which His glory is to shine upon the world. The ditferent forms symbolize the different
Yet serves to second, too, some other use."
(See note, ch. I. 16.) wheel . . ^ in . . . a wheel—cutting one another at right angles, so as that the whole might move in any of the four directions or quarters of the world. God's doings, however involved they seem to us, cohere, so that lower causes subserve the higher. 11.
(Kote, ch. 1. 17.) turned out—without accomplishing their course (Isaiah 55.11). [Gbotius.] Rather, "they moved
straight on without turning" (so ch. 1. 9). Having a face towards each of the four quarters, they needed not
to turn round when changing their direction, whither
. . . head looked—?:, e., " whither the head" of the animal cherub-foi-m, belonging to and directing each wheel, "looked," thither the wheel "followed." The wheels were not guided by some external adventitious impetus, but by some secret Divine impulse of the cherubim them-
l>na.sesof the Church. So the quadriform Gospel, in which the incarnate Saviour has lodged the revelation of Him-
self in a fourfold aspect, and from which His glory shines on the Christian world, answers to the emblematic throne from which He shone on the Jewish Church. 3. he— Jehovah; He who sat on the "throne." tUe man— the Messenger of mercy becoming the Messenger ofJudgment (Xote, ch. 9. 2). Human agents of destruction shall fulfil the will of "the Man," who is Lord of men. wheels— Hebrew, galgal, implyi ng quick revolution ; so the impetuous
selves. 13. l>ody—lit., flesh; because a body consists of
flesh, wheels . . . full of eyes—The description (ch. 1.
IS) attributes eyes to the "wheels" alone; hi^re there is added, on closer observation, that the cherubim tliemselves had them. The "eyes" imply that God, by His wisdom, beautifully reconciles seeming contrarieties (cf. 2 Clironi-
cles 16. 9; Proverbs 15. 3; Zechariah 4. 10). 13. 6 wheel—
oiuiet 0/ the foe (cf. ch. 23. 24; 26. 10); whereas " Ophan," in
cii. 1. lo, 16 implies mere revolution, coals of Are—the wratli of God about to burn the city, as His sword had previously s/rii7t its guilty inhabitants. This " fire," how different from the fire on the altar never going out (Leviticus 6.
rathei', "tliey were called, whirling," i. e., they were moitt rapid in their revolutions [Maukek]; or, better, "It was cried unto them, The wliirling." [Fairbairu.] Galgal here used for " wheel," is ditTerent from Ophan, the simple word for "wheel." Galgal is the whole xvheclwork machinery with its whirlwind-like rotation. Their being su addressed is in order to call them immediately to put themselves in rapid motion. 14. clierub—but in ch. I. 10
12, 13), whereby, in type, peace was made with God! Cf. Isaiah 33. 12, 11. It is therefore not taken from the altar of reconciliation, but from between the wheels of the cherubim, representing the providence of God, whereby, and not by cliance, judgment is to fall. 3. right ... of
it is anox. The chi^f of the four cherubic forms was not the ox, but man. Therefore "cherub" cannot be synonymous with "ox." Probably Ezekiel, standing in front ol one of the cherubim (viz., that which handed the coals to the man in linen), saw of him, not merely the ox-form, but the whole fourfold form, and therefore calls him simyily " cherub ;" whereas of the otlier three, having only a side view, he specifies the form of each which met his eye. [Fairbaikn.J As to the likelihood of the lower animalssharing in "the restoration of all things," see Isaiah 11. 6;
. , . house—the scene of the locality whence judgment emanates is the temple, to mark God's vindication of His
holiness injured there. The cherubim here are not those In the holy of holita, for the latter had not "wheels." They stood on " the right of the house," i. e., the south, for the Chaldean power, guided by them, had already advanced from the north (the direction of Babylon), and had destroyed the men in the temple, and were now proceeding t o destroy the city, which lay south and west, the cherubim . . . the man— There was perfect concert of action between the cherubic representative of the angels and " the Man," to minister to whom they " stood" there
65. 25; Romans 8. 20, 21; this accords with the animal forms combined with the human to typify redeemed man. 15'. The repeated declaration of the identity of the vision with that at the Chebar is to arouse attention to It (so vi
(«. 7). cloud—emblem of God's displeasure ; as the " glory" or "brightness" (v.i) typifies His majesty and clearness In judgment. 4. The court outside was full of the Lord's brightness, whilst it was only the cloud that filled the house
22; ch. 3.23). the li-ring creature—used collectively, as in V. 17. 20; ch. 1. 20. 16. (Note, v. 11 ; ch. 1. 19.) lifted up
. . . wings—to depart, following "the glory of the Lord" which was on the point of departing (v. IS). 17. (Ch. 1. 12,
inside, the scene of idolatries, and therefore of God's displeasure. God's throne was on tlie threshold. The temple, once tilled with brightness. Is now darkened with cloud. 5. souuci of . . . wliigs— prognostic of great and awful changes, voice of . . . God— the thunder (Psalm 29. 3, Ac). O. went In—not Into the temple, but between the cherubim. Ezekiel sets aside the Jews' boast of the presence of God with them. The cherubim, once the ministers of grace, are now the ministers of vengeance. When "comn)anded" He without delay obeys (Psalm 40. 8; Hebrews 10. 7). 7. See v. 3, Note, one cherub—one of the four clieruljim. his hand—(Ch. 1. 8.) went out—to burn the city. 8. " wings" denote alacrity, the " hands" efficacy and aptness. In executing the functions assigned to them. 9. wheels—(..Vote, ch. 1. 15, 18.) The things which, from v.
20, 21.) stood—God never startds still (John 5. 17), therefore neither do the angels; but to human perceptions He seems to do so. 18. The departure of the symliol of God's presence from the temple preparatory to the destrnction of the city. Foretold, Deuteronomy 31. 17. Woe be to those from whom God departs (Hosea 9. 12) ! Cf. 1 Samiiel 28.15,16; 4.21: "I-chabod, Thy glory is departed." Successive steps are marked in His departui-e; so slowly and reluctantly does the merciful God leave His house. First He leaves the sanctuary (ch. 9. 3); He elevates His throne above the threshold of the house (v. 1); leaving the cherubim He sits on the throne (v. 4); He and the cherubim, after standing for a time at the door of. the east gate (where was the exit to the lower court of the people), leave the house altogether (v. 18, 19), not to return till ch.
t to the end of the chapter, are repeated from ch. 1., are expressed more decidedly, now that he gets a nearer view: tlie words "as it were," and "an )f," so often occurring In ch. 1., ar» therefore mostly omitted. The " wheels" ^7
43.2. ao. I knew . . . cherubim—by the second sight of the cherubim he learnt to identify them with the augelic forms situated above Hue .-ark,, of the covenaut In
The Judgment of the Princes. EZEKIEL XI. The Sudden Death of Pelatiah.
the temple, which as a priest, he " knew" abont from the high priest. 31. The repetition is in.order tliat tliepeopie about to live without the temple mis^ht have, instcaU, the knowledge of the temple mysteries, thus preparing tliem for a future restoration of the covenant. So pei-verse were they that they would say, Ezekiel fancies he saw what has no existence. He, therefore, repeats it over and over auaiii. tl-i, stralglit for^varcl—intent upon the object they aimed at, not deviating from the way nor losing sight of the end (Luke 9. 52).
posed to a consuming foe, and yourselves in It and with
it." 4. prophesy . . . propliesy— Llie repetition marks emphatic earnestness. 5. Spirit . . . fell upon me— stronger than "entered into lue" (ch. 2. 2; 3. 24j, implying the zeal of the Spirit of God roused to immediate indiguiition at the contempt of God shown by the scorners. 1 know—(Psalm 139.1-4.) Your .scornful jests at my word escape not my notice. 6. your slain— tliose on wlioin you have brought ruin by your wicked counsels. Bloody crimes within the city brought on it a bloody foe from without (ch. 7. 23, 24). They had made it a caldron in which to boil the flesh of God's people (Micah 3. 1-3), and eat it by unrighteous oppression; tlierefore God will make
it a caldron in a different sense, one not wherein they may be safe In their guilt, but "out of the midst of" wliicli they shall be "brought forth" (Jeremiah 31. 4, 5). 7. The city is a caldron to them, but it shall not be so to you. Ye shall meet your doom on the frontier. 8. The Clialdeaa sword, to escape which ye abandoned your God, shall be brought on you by God because of that very abandonment of Him. 9. ont of the midst thereof— e., of the city, as captives led into the open plain for judgment. 10. in the border of Israel—on the frontier : at Riblah, in the. land of Hamath (cf. 2 Kings 25. 19-21, with 1 Kings 8. &5). ye shall know that I am the Lord—by tlie judgments I in-
Ver. 1-25. Prophecy of the Destkitction of the CORRUPT "PEINCE.S OF THE PEOPLE;" PeLATIAH DIES; Promise of Grace to the believing Remnant; Departure of THE Glory of God from the City; Ezekiel'.s Retckn to the Captives. 1. east gate—to which the glory of God had moved itself (ch. 10. 19), the chief entrance of the sanctuary; the portico or porch of Solomon. The Spirit moves the prophet thither, to witness, in the presence of tlie Divine glory, a new scene of destruction, five and twenty men—The same as the tweut.v-five («. c, twenty-four heads of courses, and the high-priest i sun-worshippers seen in ch. 8. 16. The leading
flict (Psalm 9. 10). H. (Note, v. 3.) 13. (Deuteronomy 12,
priesi.i were usually called "princes of the sanctuary" (Isaiah 4.x 2S), and "chiefs of the priests" (2 Chronicles 36.
30, 31.) 13. Pelatiah—probably the ringleader of the scorners {v. 1) ; his being stricken dead (like Ananias, Acts
14.'; but here two of them are called "princes of the people," with irony, as using their priestly influence to be ringleaders of the people in sin [v. 2). Already the wrath of God had visited the pcopZe represented by theeWer«(ch.
5. 5) was an earnest of the destruction of the rest of the twenty-five, as Ezekiel had foretold, as also of the general ruin, fell . . . npou . . . face—(jYo^e, ch. 9. 8.) wilt thou make a fvill end of the remnant—is Pelatiati's destruction to be the token of the destruittion of all, «iven of
9. fii; also the glory of the Lord had left Its place in the ho.ly of holies, and, like the cherubim and flaming sword in E'ion, had occupied the gate into the deserted sanctuar.v. The judgment on the representatives of the priesthood natariiUy follows here,ju.st as the sin of the priests liad followed in the description (ch. 8. 12, 16) after the sin of the elders. .Taazanlali—signifjnng "God hears." son of Azm-—different from Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan
tlie remnant? The people regarded Pelatiah as » mainstay of the city. His name (derived from' a IIebr(,'v root, "a remnant," or else "God delivers") suggested hope. Is that hope, asks Ezekiel, to be disappointed? 15. thy brethren . . . brethren—the repetition implies, "Thy real brethren" are no longer the priests at Jerusalem witii whom thou art connected by the na^urai ties of blood and common temple service; but thy fellow-exiles on the Chebar, and the house of Israel whosoever of them belong to the remnant to be spared, men of thy kindred—/it., of thy redemjition, i. e., the nearest relatives, who.se duty it was to do the part of Gael, or vindicator and redeemer of a forfeited inheritance (Leviticus 25. 2.5). Ezekiel, seeing the priesthood doomed to destruction, as a priest, felt anxious to vindicate their cause, as if they were his nearest kinsmen and he their Goel. But he is told to look for his true kinsmen in those, his fellow-exiles, whom his natural kinsmen at Jerusalem despised, and to be their vindicator. Spiritual ties, as in the case of Levi (Deuteronomy 33. 9), the type of Messiah (Iilatlhew 12. 47-50), are to supersede natural ones where the two clash. The hope of better days was to rise from the despised exiles. The gospel principle is shadowed forth here, that tlie despised of men are often the chosen of God, and tiie higlily esteemed among men are an abomination before Him (Luke
(cli. 8. 11). Azur means "help." He and Pelatiah (" God delivers"), son of Benaiah ("God builds"), are singled out as .Ia.izaniah, son of Shaphan, In the case of the seventy elders (ch. 8. 11, 12), because their names ought to have reminded them that "God" would have "heard" had they souglit His " help" to deliver" and " build" them up. But, neglecting this, they incurred the heavier judgment by the very relation in which they stood to God. [Fairb.4IRN.] 3. he— the Lord sitting on the cherubim (ch. 10. 2). wicked e«»insel—in opposition to the prophets of God (v.S). 3. It
lit not near—d'z., the destruction of the city; therefore " let us build houses," as if there was no fear. But the Hrbmi' tipposes English Version, which would require the ilifinitive ab.solute. Rather, "Not at hand is the building of houses." They sneer at Jeremiah's letter to tlie captives, among whom Ezekiel lived (Jeremiah 29. 5). "Build ye houses, and dwell in them," i, e., do not fancy, as many persuade you, that your sojourn in I'.aliylon is to be short, it will be for seventy years (Jeremiah 2.^. 11, 12; 29. 10); therefore build houses ami settle
16. 15; 1 Corintliians 1. 20-28). "No door of iiope but in tlio valley of Achor" ("trouble," Hosea 2. 15). [Fairbairn.] Get you far . . . unto us is tills land—The coutempluoua words of those left still in the city at the carrying away of Jeconiah to tlie exiles, " However far ye bo outcasts from the Lord and His temple, we are secure iu our possession of the land." IG. Although—anticipating the objection of the priests at Jerusalem, that the exiles were "cast far oft." Though this be so, and they arc far from the outer temple at Jerusalem, I will bo their asylum or sanctuary instead (Psalm 90.1; 91.9; Isaia^ 8. 14). My shrine is the liumble heart: a preparation for gospel catliolicity when the local and material temple should give place to the spiritual (Isaiah 57. 15; 60. 1; Malachi 1
(juii Uy lliere. The scorners in Jerusalem reply. Those far
irfl' in exile may build if they please, but it is too remote a concern f.)r us lo trouble ourselves about [Faikhairn] (cf. ch. 12. 22, 27 ; 2 Peter 3. 4). tItU city . . . caldron ... we
. . . fleali—sneering at Jeremiali 1. 13, where he compared the city to a caldron with its moutli towards the north.
•' Let Jerusalem be so if you will, and we the 11 esh, exposed
•to the raging loe from the north, still its fortifications will secure us from the H.^me of war outside; the city must
Btaiid for our .sakes, just as the pot exists for the safety of the flesh in it." In opposition to this God salth (t». 11), "Thi.s clt.y shall not be your caldron, to defend you in it •from tlie Uw oiilsiilc: nay, ye sliall bo driven out of your .imaginary sanctuary, and slain in the border of the land."
11 ; John 4. 21-24 ; Acts 7. 48, 49). The trying discipline of the exile was to chasten the outcasts so as to be meet r»» cipients of God's grace, wlilcli the carnal cciitldeiice of the priests disqualified them for. The dispersion served the md of spiritualizing and enlarging the views even erf the better Jews, so as to be able to worship Ood ever}/-
"But,"sailh God. iu i>. 7, "your slain are tlie flesh, and
fills city the caldrim ; but (not as you fancy shall ye be kept ."ate inside) I will bring you forth out of the midst of it;" and again, in ch. 21. 3, "Though not a caldron in your sense, •Jerusalem shall be so In tlie sense of Its being ex-
. e78
Tnc Glory of God leaveth the City, EZEKIEL XII. The Captivity of Zedekiah Typified.
Distance of the Event Reproved. 1, 3. eyes to see, and see not . . . ears to hear, and lienr not—fulttlling the prophecy of Deuteronomy 4, here quoted by Ezekiel (cf. Isaiah 6. 9; Jeremiah 5.21). Ezekiel needed often to be reminded of the people's perversity, lest he should be discouraged by the little elTeet produced by his prophe-
u:here wilhout a material temple; and, at the same time,
it iiiflus(\(l some knoVvletlge of God amongst the greatest
CiiMitile nations, thus providing materials for the gather-
ing in of the Clnistiau Church among the Gentiles; so marvellously did God overrule a present evil for an ultimate good. Still more does all this hold good in the present much longer dispersion which is preparing for a more
cies. Their "not seeing" is the result of perversity, not incapacity. They are wilfully blind. The persons most Interested in tills prophecy were those dwelling at Jerusalem; and it is among them that Ezekiel was transported in spirit, and performed in vision, not outwardly, the typical acts. At the same time, the symbolical prophecy was designed to warn the exiles at Chebar against cherishing hopes, as many did In opposition to God^s revealed word, of returning to Jerusalem, as if that city was to stand ; externallj' living afar ofT, their hearts dwelt in that corrupt and doomed capital. 3. stiiflT for removing—rather, " an exile's outfit," (he articles proper
perfect and universal restoration (Isaiah 2. 2-4 ; Jeremiah
8. 16-18). Tlieir long privation of the temple will prep.are them for appreciating the more, but without Jewish narrowness, tlie temple that is to be (chs. 40.-41). a little
rather, " for a little season :" how long soever the captiv-
ity be, yet the seventy years will be but as a little season, compared with their long subsequent settlement in their
land. This holds true only partially in the case of the
first restoration ; but as in a few centuries they were dispersed again, the full and permanent restoration is yet future (JeremiiUi 21. 6). 17. (Ch. 28. 2.5; 31. 13; 36. 21.) 18. They have eschewed every vestige of idolatry ever since
to a person going as an exile, a staff and knapsack, with a supply of food and clothing ; so in Jeremiah 46. 19, Maryin, " instruments of captivity," i. e., tlie needful equipments
their return from Babylon. But still the Shekinah glory had departed, the ark was not restored, nor was the second temple strictly inhabited by God until He came who made it more glorious than the first temple (Haggai
for it. His simple announcements having failed, he is symbolically to give them an ocular demonstration conveyed by a word-painting of actions performed in vision, consider—(Deuteronomy 32. 29.) 4. by day—in broad day-
2. 9) ; even tlien His stay was short, and ended in His being rejected ; so that the full realization of the promise must still be future. 19. I will give them—lest they
light, when all can see thee, at even—not contradicting the Words " by day." The baggage was to be sent before by day, and Ezekiel was to follow at nightfall. [Grotitjs.] Or, the preparations were to be made by day, tlie actual departure was to be effected at night. [Henderson.] ns. they that go fortli into captivity lit., o.s the goings forth
siiould claim to themselves the praise given them in v. 18, God declares it is to be the free gift of His Spirit, ome heart —not sinf/lenexs, i. e., uprightness, but oneness of heart in
all, unanimousljj seeking Him in contrast to their state at
tlial time, when only single scattered individuals sought God (Jeremiah 32. 39; Zephaniah ,3. 9). [Hengstenberg.]
of the captivity, i. e., of the captive band of e.xiles, i'/z.,ainid the silent darkness: typifying Zedekiah's flight by night on the taking of the city (Jeremiah 39. 4; 52. 7). 5. Dig As Zedekiah was to escape like one digging through a wall, furtively to effect an escape (v. 12). carry owt—viz., " thy stufT" (u. 4). tl»crcby—by the opening in the wall. Zedekiah escaped "by the gate betwi.xt the two walls" (Jeremiah 39.4). 6. in . . , twillglit — rather, "in tlie dark." So in Genesis 15.17, "it" refers to "thy stuff." cover thy face—as one who muflles his face, afraid of being known by any one meeting him. So the Jews and Zedekiah .should make their exit stealthily and afraid to look around, so hurried should be their flight. [Calvin.] sign—rather, a portent, viz., for evil. 9. What doest thou 1—They ask not in a docile spirit, but making a jest of his proceedings. 10. burden i. e., weighty oracle, the prince—the very man Zedekiah; in whom they trust for safety, is to be the chief sufferer. Josephus {Antiqui-
Or, "content with one God" not distracted with "the many detestable things" (r. 18; 1 Kings 18. 21 ; Hosea 10. 2). [CaLiVis.] new spirit—(Psalm 51. 10; Jeremiah 31. 33.) Realized fully in the " new creature" of the New Testament (2 Corinthians 5. 17). Having new motives, new rules, new aims, stoiij^ heart—like "adamant" (Zechariah 7. 12); the natural heart of every man. heart of flesh—impres-
Btl le to what is good, tender. 30. walk in my statutes r-jgeneration shows itself by its fruits (Galatians 5. 22, 25). they . . . my people . . . I . . . tlieir God—(Ch. 14. 11
3d. 28; 37. 27; Jeremiah 24. 7.) In its fullest sense still future (Zechariali 13. 9). 31. Avhose heart . . . after . . . heart of. . . detestable things—The repetition of "heart"
is emphatic, signifying that the heart of those who so obstinately clung to idols, impelled itself to fresh superstitions in one continuous tenor. [Calvin.] Perhaps it
Is implied that they and their idols are much alike in character (Psalm 11.5. 8). The licarl walks astray first, the feet follow, recompense . . . way upon . , . heads—They have abandoned me, so will I abandon them ; they profaned my temple, so will I profane it by the Chaldeans
ties, 10. 7) reports that Ezekiel sent a copy of this prophecy to Zedekiah. As Jeremiah had sent a letter to the captives at the Chebar, which was the means of calling forth at
first the agency of Ezekiel, so it was natural for Ezekiel to send a message to Jerusalem confirming the warnings of .Jeremiah. The prince, however, fancying a contradiction between ch. 12. 13, " he shall not see Babylon," and Jeremiah U. S, 9, declaring he should be carried to Babylon, believed neither. .Scheming discrepancies in Scripture on deeper search prove to be hidden harmonies. 11. sign—portent of evil to come (ch. 24. 27 ; Zechariah 3. 8, Mar-
(ch. 9. 10). as. The Shekinah glory now moves from the east gate (ch. 10. 4, 19) to the Mount of Olives, altogether abandoning the temple. That mount was cho.senas being the heiglit whence tlie missiles of the foe were about to descend on the city. So it was from it that Jesus ascended to heaven when about to send His judgments on the Jews; niul from it He predicted its overthrow before His crucifixion (Mattliew 24. 3). It is also to be the scene of Kis return l)i person to deliver His people (Zecliariah 14.
gin). Fulfilled (2 Kings 25.1-7; Jeremiah 52. 1-11). 13. prince . . . among them lit., that is in the midst of them,
i.e., on whom the eyes of all are cast, and " under whose shadow" they hope to live (Lamentations 4. 20). sliali bear— his "stuff for removing;" hi? equipments for his journey, cover Iiis face, tliat lie see not the ground —Note, V. 6; the symbol in v. 6 is explained in this verse. He shall muffle his face so as not to be recognized: a humiliation for a king! 13. My net—The Chaldean army He shall be inextricably entangled in it, as in the meshes of a net. It Is God's net (Joli 19. 6). Baliylon was God's instrument (Isaiah 10.5). Called "a net" (llaliakkuk 1.
4). when He shall come by the same way as He went, "the way of the east" (ch. 43. 2). 34. brought me in . . . viiiion—not in actual fact, but In ecstatic vision. He had been as to the outward world all the time before the elders
(cli. 8.3) in Chaldea; he now reports what he had witnessed witli the inner eye. 35. things . . . showed me
<i7., words; an appropriate expression; for the word communicated to him was not simply a word, but one clollu'd with outward symbols "shown" to him as in the sacrament, which Augustine terms "the visible word." (Calvin.]
14-16). bring him to Habylon . . . yet shall he not see
it—because he should be deprived of sight before he arrived there (Jeremiah 52. 11). 11. all . . . about him— his satellites: his liody-guard. bands— iiZ., the wingS ot an army (Isaiah 8. 8). drawn out . . . sword after tlieiu —(Note, ch. 5. 2, 12.) IC. I will leave a few . . . ttiat thc^
V<>r. 1-28. EzEKiEL's TypiCAi, Moving to Exile: Pkopiiecy ok Zedekiah's Captivity and Privation or Sight: the Jews' Unuelxevinq Sl'bmise as to the
o7S>
TJie Jens' Presumptuousness Reproved. EZEKIEL XIII. The Reproof of Lying Prophets.
may declare . . . abominations—God's purpose in scattering a remnant of Jews among the Gentiles; viz., not only tliat they themselves should be weaned from idolatry (see V. 15), but that by their own word, as also by their whole state as exiles, they should make God's righteousness manifest among the Gentiles, as vindicated in their punisliment for their sins (cf. Isaiah 43. 10; Zechariah 8.
these some were conscious knaves, others fanatical dupes of their own frauds; e. jr., Ahab, Zedekiah, and Sliemaiali. Hananiah must have believed his own lie, else he would not have specified so circumstantial details (Jeremiah 2S.
2-4) ; the conscious knaves gave only general assurances of peace (Jeremiah 5. 31; 6.14; 14. 13). The language of Ezekiel has plain references to the similar language of Jeremiah (e. g., Jeremiah 23.9-38); the baneof fivlse prophecy, which had its stronghold in Jerusalem, having in some degree extended to the Chebar ; this chapter, there-
18). 18. Symbolical representation of the famine and fear with which they should eat their scanty morsel, in their exile, and especially at the siege. 19. people of the IkimI—the Jews " in the land" of Chaldea who thought themselves miserable as being exiles, and envied the Jews left in Jerusalem as fortunate, land of Israel contrasted with "the people in the land" of Chaldea. So far from being fortunate, as the exiles in Chaldea regarded them, the Jews in Jerusalem are truly miserable, for the worst is before them, whereas the exiles have escaped the miseries of the coming siege, land . . . desolate from all tliat is therein lit., ""'that the land
fore, is, primarily, intended as a message to those still in the Jewish metropolis; and, secondarily, for the good of the exiles at the Chebar. 3. tliat prophesy viz., a .speedy return to Jerusalem, out off . . . own hearts—alluding to the woi-ds of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23. 16, 26); i. e., wliat they prophesied was what they and the people wished; the wish was father to the thought. The people wished to be deceived, and so were deceived. They were inexcusable, for they had among them true prophets (who spake not their own thoughts, but as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, 2 Peter 1. 21), whom they might have known to be such, but they did not wish to know (John 3. 19). 3. foolish—though vaunting as though exclusively possessing "wisdom" (1 Corinthians I. 19-21); the fear of God being the only beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111. 10). their own spirit—instead of the Spirit of God. A threefold distinction lay between the false and the true proph-
(viz., Judea) may be despoiled of the fulness thereof;" emptied of the inhabitants and abundance of flocks and corn with which it was filled, because of . . . violence—(Psalm 107. 34.) 30. the cities—left in Judea, after the desti'uction of Jerusalem. 33. proverb—the
infidel scoft', that the threatened judgment was so long in coming, it would not come at all, had by frequent repetition come to be a "proverb" with them. This skep-
ets: (1) The source of their messages respectively; of Hie
tical habit contemporary prophets testify to (Jeremiah 17.
false, " their own hearts;" of the true, an object presented to the spiritual sense (named from the noblest of the senses, a seeing) by the Spirit of God as from without, not produced by their own natural powers of reflection. The word, the body of the thought, presented itself not audibly to the natural sense, but directly to the spirit of the prophet ; and so the perception of it Is properly called a
lo; 20.7; Zephaniah 1. 12). Ezekiel, at the Chebar, thus sj'mpatliizes with Jeremiah, and strengthens his testimony at Jerusalem. The Zendencj/ to the same scoflT showed
itself in earlier times, but not then developed into a settled " proverb" (Isaiah .5. 19 ; Amos 5. 18). It shall again be the characteristic of the last times, when "faith" shall be regarded as an antiquated thing (Luke 18. 8), seeing that
it remains stationary, whereas worldly arts and sciences progress, and when the "continuance of all things from creation" will be the argument against the possibility of their being suddenly brought to a stand still by the coming of the Lord (Isaiah 66. 5; 2 Peter 3. 3, 4). The very long-suffering of God, wliich ought to lead men to repentance, is made an argument against His word (Ecolesiastes 8. 11; Amos C. 3). days . . . prolonged . . . vision falleth
seeing, he perceiving that which thereafter forms itself in his soul as the cover of the external word [Delitszch]; hence the peculiar expression, seeing the ivwd of God (Isaiah 2. 1 ; 13. 1 ; Amos 1. 1 ; Micah 1. 1). (2) The point aimed at; the false "walking after their own spirit; ' the true, after the Spirit of God. (3) The result: the false saw nothing, but spake as if they had seen; the true had a vision, not subjective, but objectively real. [Fairbairn.] A refutation of those who set the inward word above the
their twofold argument: (1) The predictions shall not come
lo pass till long after our time. (2) They shall fail and prove vain shadows. God answers both in v. 23, 25. 33. effect— the word, viz., fulfilled; t. e., the effective fulfilment of whatever the prophets have spoken is at hand. 31. no more . . . vain vision . . . flattering divination -All those false prophets (Lamentations 2. 14), who "flattered" the people with promises of peace and safety, shall be detected and confounded by the event itself. 35. word
objective, and represent the Bible as flowing subjectively from the inner light of its writers, not from the revelation of the Holy Ghost from without. "They are impatient to get possession of the kernel without its fostering shell —they would have Christ without the Bible." [Besgel.] 4. foxes—which cunningly "spoil the vines" (Song of Solomon 2. 15), Israel being the vineyard (Psalm 80.8-15; Isaiah 5. 1-7; 27. 2; Jeremiah 2. 21); their duty was to have guarded it from being spoiled, whereas they themselves spoiled it by corruptions, in . . . deserts—whei'e. there is nothing to eat; whence the foxes become so ravenous and crafty in their devices to get food. So the prophets wander in Israel, a moral desert, unrestrained, greedy of gain which they get by craft. 5. not gone up into . . . gaps —metaphor from breaches made in a wall, to which the defenders ought to betake themselves in order to repel the entrance of the foe. The breach is that made In the theocracy through the nation's sin ; and, unless it be made up, the vengeance of God will break in through it. Those who would advise the people to repentance are the restorers of the breach (ch. 22. 30; Psalm 106. 23, 30). hedge— the law of God (Psalm 80. 12; Isaiah 5. 2, 5) ; by violating it, the people stripped themselves of the fence of God's pro-
. . . sljall come to pass—in opposition to their scoflf " the vision faileth" (y. 22). The repetition, "I will speak . .'.
speak," &c. (or as Fairbairn, " For I, Jehovali, will speak whatever word I shall speak, and it shall be done") im-
plies, tliat whenever God speaks, the effect must follow;
for God, wlio speaks, is not divided in Himself (ti. 28; Isaiah 00. 11 ; Daniel 9. 12; Luke 21. 33). no more prolonged —in opposition to the scoff" {v. 22), "The days are prolonged." in your days—whilst you are living (cf. Mat-
tliew 24. 31). 37. Not a mere repetition of the scofl"(u. 22)
t liere the scoffers asserted that the evil was so often threatened and postponed, it must have no reality; Ivive formal-
ists do not go so far as to deny that a day of evil Is coming, but assert it is far otT yet (Amos 6.3). The transition is easy from this carnal security to the gross infidelity of the former class.
tection, and lay exposed to the foe. The false prophets did not try to repair the evil by bringing back the people
to the law with good counsels, or by checking the bad with reproofs. These two duties answer to the double
Ver. 1-23. Denunciation op False Prophets and I'ROl'HETESSKS; THEIR FALSE TEACHINGS, AND GOD'S CON.SEauENT Judgments. 1. As ch. 12. denounced the
office of defenders in case of a breach made in a wall : (1) To repair the breach from within. (2) To oppose the foe from without, to stantl-j. e., that the city may " stand." In . . . day of . . . Iiord—in the day of the battle which God wages against Israel for their sins, ye do not try to
false expectations of the people, so this denounces the
false leailers who fed those expectations. As an independent witness, Kzekiel confirms at the Chebar the testimony of Jeremiah (cli. 2!). 21, 31) in his letter from Jerusalem lo Uie captive exiles, against the false prophets; of
stay God's vengeance by prayers, and by leading the nation to repentance. 6. made others to Itopc, Ac—
7^ Fake Prophet^ Teachings, EZEKIEL XIV. and Goc^s Consequent Judgments.
rather, "they hoped" to confirm (i. e., mak« good) their word, by the event corresponding to their prophecy. The Hebrew requires tliis. [Havernick.] Also the parallel clause, " they have seen vanity," Implies tJaat they believed their own lie (2 Thessalonians 2. 11). Subjective revelation is false, unless it rests on the objective. 8. I am against yon—rather, understand, "I come against you," to punish your wicked profanation of my name (cf. Revelation 2, 5, 16). 9. mine hand—my power in vengeance, not . . . in . . . assembly—rather, Ihe council; "they shall not occupy the honourable oiRce of councillors
18. sew pillows . .-. to arm-holes—rather, elbows and
ivrists, for which the false prophetesses made cushions to lean on, as a symbolical act, typifying the perfect tranquility which they foretold to those consulting them. Perhaps they made their dupes rest on these cushions in a fancied state of ecstasy ; after they had made 1 hem a*
first stand (whence the expression, "every stature," \^ used for "men of every age"). As the men are said to have built a wall {v. 10), so the women are said to sew pillows, &c., both alike typifying the "peace" they promised the impenitent, make kerchiefs—magical veils, which they put over the heads of those consulting them, as if to fit them for receiving a response, that they might be rapt in spiritual trance above the world, head of every stature men of every age, old and young, great and small, if only these had pay to offer them, htmt souls—eagerly trying to allure them to the love of yourselves (Proverbs 6. 26; 2 Peter 2. 14), so as unwarily to become your prey, will ye save . . . souls . . . that come unto you—will ye haul after souls, and when they are yours ("come unto you"), will ye promise them life f "Save" is explained (iJ. 22), " promising life." [Grotius.] Calvin explains, " Will ye hunt my people's souls, and yet will ye save your own souls;" I, the Lord God, will not allow it. But "save" is used (v. 19) of the false prophetesses promising life to the Impenitent, so tliat English Version and Grotius explain it best. 19. handfuls—expressing the paltry gain for which they bartered immortal souls (cf. Micah 3. 5, 11; Hebrews 12. 16). They "polluted" God by making His name the cloak under which they uttered falsehoods, among my people—an aggravation of their sin, that they committed it "among the people" whom God had chosen as peculiarly His on<n, and among wliom He had His temple. It would have been a sin to have done so even among the Gentiles, who knew not God ; much more so among the people of God
III the senate of elders after the return from Babylon" (Ezra 2. 1, 2). neither . . . written in . . . Israel—they shall not even have a place in the register kept of all citi-
zens' names; they shall be erased from it, just as the names of those who died in the year, or had been deprived of citizenship for their crimes, were at the annual revisal erased. Cf. Jeremiah 17. 13; Luke 10. 20; Revelation 3. 5, as to those spiritual!!/ Israelites; John 1. 47, and those not so. Literally fulfilled (Ezra 2. 59, 62; cf. Nehemiah 7. 5; Psalm
69. 2S). neither . . . enter . . . land—they shall not so much as be allowed to come back at all to their country. 10. Recanse, even because—The repetition heightens the einphfisis. Peace—iSa/c^2/ to the nation. Ezekiel confirms Jf^reiniah 6. 14; 8.11. one lit., this one; said contemptuously, as in 2 Chronicles 28. 22. a wall—rather, a loose UKtll. Ezekiel had said, that the false prophets did not "go up Into the gaps, or make up the breaches" (u. 5), as good architects do; now he adds that they make a bustling bhow of anxiety about repairing the wall; but it is without right mortar, and therefore of no use. one . . . others —besides individual effort, Vney jointly co-operated to delude
the people, daiitoed . . . with untempered mortar—as sand without lime, mud without straw. [Grotius.] YwunKXRy; translates, "plaster it with whitewash." But besides the hypocrisy of merely outwardly "daubing" to make the wall look fair (Matthew 23.27,29; Acts 23.3), there is implied the unsoundness of the wall from the absence of true unilinr; cement; the "untempered cement" answering to the lie of the prophets, who , in support
(cf. Proverbs 28. 21). slay . . . souls that should not die, &c.—to predict the slaying or perdition of the godly whom I will s?»ve. As true ministers are said to save and slay their hearers, according to the spirit respectively in which these receive their message (2 Corinthians 2. 15,
of their prophecies, "Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken" (ch. 22. 2S). 11. overflowing inundating ; such as will at once wash away the mere clay mor-
16); so false ministers imitate them; but promise safety to those on the broad way to ruin, and predict ruin to those on the narrow way of God. my people tikat hear your lies—who are therefore wilfully deceived, so that their guilt lies at their own door (John 3. 19.) 30. I am against your pillows i. e., against your Ij'ing ceremonial tricks by which ye cheat the people, to make them fly viz., into their snares, as fowlers disturb birds so as to he suddenly caught in the net spread for them. " Fly''
tar. The three most destructive agents shall co-operate, against the wall—wind, rain, and hailstones. These last In the East are moi-e out of the regular course of nature, and are therefore often particularly specified as the instruments of God's displeasure against His foes (Exodus
9. 18; Joshua 10. 11; Job 38. 22; Psalm 18. 12, 13; Isaiah 28.
2; 30. .30; Revelation 16. 21). The Hebrew here is, lit., stones of ice. They fall in Palestine at times an inch thick with a destructive velocity. The personification heightens the vivid effect, " O ye hailstones." The Chaldeans will be the violent agency whereby God will unmask and refute them, overthrowing their edifice of lies. 13. shall it not be said—Your vanity and folly shall be so manifested, that it shall pass Into a proverb, "Where is the daubing?" Ac. 13. God repeats, in His own name, as the Source of the coming calamity, what had been expressed generally
is peculiarly appropriate as to those lofty spiritual flights to which they pretended to raise their dupes, when they veiled their heads with kerchiefs and made them rest on luxurious arm-cushions (v. 18). let . . . souls go—"ye make them fly" in order to destroy them; "I will let them go" in order to save them (Psalm 91. 3; Proverbs 6.
5; Hosea9. 8). SJl. in your hand—in your power. "My people" are the elect remnant of Israel to be saved, j'e sitall know—by the judgments which ye shall suH'er. 33. ye Iiave made . . . the righteous sad—by lying predictions of calamities impeuding over the godly, strengtiicned . . . wicked—(Jeremiah 23. 14.) heart of . . . rigliteous . . . Itands of . . . wicked heart is applied to the righteous, because the terroi's foretold penetrated to their inmost feelings; hands, to the wicked, because they were so hardened as not only to despise God in their minds, but also to manifest it in their whole acts, as if avowedly waging war with Him. 33. ye sixall see no more vanity —the event shall confute your lies, involving yourselves in destruction (v. 9; ch. 14. 8; 15. 7; Micah 3. G).
ill f. 11. 14. The repetition of the same threat is to awaken the people out of their <lream of safety by the certainty of the event, foundation—As the "wall" represents the security of the nation, .so the "foundation" \h. Jerusalem, on the fortifications of which they rested their confidence. GuoTiiT.s makes the " foundation" refer to tte _fal.ie principles on whicli they rested; v. 16 supports the former view. 16, iiropltcsy concerning Jerusalem—with all their "seeing visions of peace for her," they cannot ensure peace or safety to themselves. 17. set thy face—put on a bold countenance, fearlessly to denounce them (ch. 3. 8, 9; Isaiah 50. 7). daughters—the false prophetesses; alluded to only here; elsewhere the guilt specified in the women
Is the active share they took in maintaining Idolatry (ch.
Ver. 1-23. Hypocriticai^ Inquirers are Answered ACCOUniNG TO THEIR Hyi'OCWISY. THE CALAMITIES COMING ON THE PEOPLE; IlUT A REMNANT IS TO ESCAPB.
8. 14). It was ouly in extraordinary emergencies that God bestowed prophecy on women, e. on Miriam, Debor.-ih, Huldah (Elxodus 15. 20; Judges 4.4; 2 Kings 22. 14); so in thp laal days to come (Joel 2. 28). The rareness of such InitsnceK enhanced their guilt in pretending inspiiation.
1. elders—persons holding that dignity among the exiles at the C'hebar. Grotius refers this to Scraiah and luuse
5S1
An Exliotialiwi to Eepentarux, EZEKIEL XIV. Jmfear of God' ss Judgmenia.
sent wilh him/com Ji/c/ca (Jeremiah 51. 59). The prophet's reply, first, reflectiiig on the character of the iiitiiHrers, ami, ^^ec^>llUly, foretelling the calainilios coming on J udea, may furnish au idea of the subject of their inquiry, sat bt'lore lue—uot at once able to find a bet;inning'of their spee(th; indicative of anxiety and despondency.
vile, and to "jirove" His people (Deuteronomj13.3; 1 Kings 22. '23; Jeremiah 4. It); 2 Thessalonians 2. 11,12). Evil comes not from, (jod, though God overrules it to serve His will (Job 12. Hi; James 1. 13). This declaration of God
is intended to answer their objection, "Jeremiah and Eze-
kiel are but two opposed to the many prophets who announce 'peace' to us." "Nay, deceive not yourselves, those prophets of yours are deluding you, and I permit them to do so as a righteous judgment on your wilful blindness." 10. As they dealt deceitluiiy wilh God by seeking answers of peace without repentance, so God would let them be dealt deceitfully with by the prophets •whom they consulted. God would chastise their sin with a corresponding sin; as they rejected the sale directions of the true light, he would send the pernicious delusions
3. Iicai-t . . . face—the lieail is first corrupted, and then
tlie uatwHrd. maiii/eslatiuii of idol-worship follows; they
s<.t their idols be/ore their eyes. With all their pretence of consulting God now, they have not even put away their idols oatwardiy ; implying gross contempt of Gml. "8et u\i," lU., raised aloj'l; implying that their idols had gained the snprenie a>icen<iaiii:y over them, stinutolinj^- l>iovk of . . . iniqiiity—Hee Proverbs 3. lil, %i, " Lot not
liiein (God's lawsj depart fro'm thine eyes, then . . . thy
of a talse one; prophets would be given them who should re-echo the deceitfulness that already wrought in their own bosom, to their ruin. [FaiiibaiUN.] The people had themselves alone to blame, lor they were long ago lorewarned how to discern and to treat a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13. 3); the very existence of such deceivers among them was .a sign of God's judicial displeasure (cf.
foot shall not stumble." Instead of God's law, which, by being kept before their eyes, would have saved them from stninuling, tliey set up their idols before their eyes, which proved a stumljling-block, causing them to stumble (ch.
7. 11)). inquired of at all lit., should I with inquiry be in-
(juired o/ by such hypocrites as they are? (I'salm (iO. IS; Proverbs V\2i); 28.9.) 1. and coinetli and yet cometh, feigning himself to be a true \yorshipper of Jehovah,
in Saul's case, 1 Samuel IG. 14; 28. 0,7). They and the prophet, being dupes of a cominou delusic>u. should be involved in a common ruin. 11. Love was "ihe spring of God's very judgments on His people, who were incurable by any otlier process (ch. 11. 20 ; 37. 27). Vi, The second part of the chapter : the ell'ecl which the presence of a few righteous persons was to have on the purposes of God
liijii tliat coiiM-tli—so the Mare/in Hebrew reads. But the
tc.cl Hebrew reading is, "according to ti, according to the jiiultilude of his idols:" the anticipative clause with the pronoun not being pleonastic, but increasing the empiiasis of the following clause with the noun. "I will answer," Zi/'., reflexively, "1 will myself (or /or myself) answer him." according to . . . Idols—thus, "answering a fool according to his folly;" making the sinner's sin his punishment; retributive justice (Proverbs 1.31;
(cf. Genesis 18.24-32). God had told Jeremiah tliat the guilt of Judah was too great to be pardoned even for the intercession of Moses aiKl Samuel (Psalm 99. 6; Jeremiah
26. 5,1. 5. That I may take— i. e., unveil and overtake with 'punishment the dissimulation and impiety of Israel hid in their own heart. Or, rather, " That I may punish them by answering them arter their own hearts;" corresponding to
14.2; 15. 1), whiclt had prevailed formerly (Exodus 32. 11-
14; Numbers 14.13-20; I Samuel 7. 8-12), implying the extraordinary heinousness of their guilt, since in ordinary cases "the ett'ectual fervent prayer of a righteous luau
(for others)availeth much " (James 5. IG). Ezeliiel supplements Jeremiah by adding that not only those two once successl'iU intercessors, but uot even the three pre-eminently righteous men, Noah, Daniel, and, Job, could stay God's judgments by their riglileousness. 13. stall;" of . . . l>read—on which man's existence is supported as on a
"according to the multitude of his idols" {Note, v. 4); an instance is given, u. 9; llomansl. 28; 2 Thessalonians 2.
11, God giving them up in wrath to their own lie. idols tliough pretending to "inquire" of me, "in their hearts" they are "estranged from me," and love "idols." 0. Though God so threatened the people for tlieir idolatry
(v. o), .vet He would ratlier they should avert the calamity by "repentance." turn yourselves — Calvin translates, "turn others" {viz., the stranger proselytes in the land). As ye have been the advisers of others (see «. 7, "the
stall' (ch. 4. 16; 5. 16; Leviticus 26. '26; Psalm 104. 15; IsaiaU
3. 1). I will send a famine. 14. Noali, Daniel . . . Job specified in particular as having been saved from overwhelming calamities for tlieir personal righteousness. Noah had the members of his family alone given to hiiu, amidst the general wreck. Daniel saved from the fury of the king of Babylon tile three yoiHhs (Daniel 2. 17, 18, 48,
Bl ranger that sojourneth in Israel") to idolatry, so bestow at least as much pains in turning them to the truth: the KUi-est proof of repentance. But the parallelism to v. 3, 4 lavours Eni/lish Version; their sin was twofold: (l.)"Iu tiieir heart" or inner man. (2.) "Put before their face,"
49). Thouglt liis prophecies mostly were later than those of Ezekiel, his fame for piety and ivisdom was already established, and the events recorded (Daniel 1.2) had transpired. The Jews would naturally, in their fallen condition, pride themselves on one who rejlectetl such glory oU
i. e., e.Nliibited outivardly. So their repentance is generally expressed by " repent,'" and is then divided into: (1.) "Turn j/ourspZw* (in wanily) from your idols." (2.) "Turn away your/ace* toutwardly) from all your abominations." It is uot likely that au exhortation to convert others .siiouUl come between the two iitlecting tliemselves. 7. uti anger—the prosidyle, toli^rated in Israel only oU coniliMon of Worshipping no God but Jehovah (Leviticus 17.
Ills nation at the heathen capital, and would build vain hopes (liere set aside) on his inlluence in averting ruin from lliem. Thus the olijection to the authenticity of Dan-
iel from this passage vanishes. "Job" forms the climax (and is therefore jnit out of chronological order), having uot even been leltasou or a daughter, and having had himself to pass through an ordeal of suH'ering before his final deliverance, and therefore forming the most simple instance of the righteousness of God, which would save the righteous themselves alone in tho nation, and thataftcran ordeal ot suli'ering, but not spare even a son or daughti.''r for their sake (u. 10, 18, 20; cf. Jeremiah 7. 10; 11. 14; 14. U). deliver . . . souls by . . . rlgliteousness—(Proverbs 11.4); not the righteousness of works, but that of grace, a truth less clearly understood under tlie law (Komans 4. 3). 15-'ll. Theargument is cuinidative. Ilellrstpuls thecase of the land sinning so as to fall under the judglnent ol" a famine (u. 13); tlien (r. 15) " noisome beasts" ^Levitlcllll
8, inqniB-e of liiin concerning ine—i.e., concerning my will, by myself—not by word, but by deed, i.e., by judymrnts, niarlcin;/ my hanil and direct agency ; instead of aiiswcring him through the i>r()phet he consults. F'Alli- )JAIUN translates, as it is tlie sanu.' y/c6rpa'as in the jirevious clause, "concerning ine," it is natural that God should use the same expression in His reply as was used in the consultation of Him. But the sense, I till nk, is the same. The hypocrite Inquires of the prophet concerning God; and God, instead of replying through the proijhct, reiilies lor Ilim-
tii^K concerning Himself. 8. make Itiin a sign—///., " I will
d< stroy him so as to become a sign ;" It will be no ordinmy destruction, but such as will malco liim bo an object pointed at with wonder l)y all, as Korah, &ti. (Numbers
2(5. 22); then " the sword ;" then, worst of all, " pc^stilenco:" the three most rlgliteous of men should deliver only theiaselves, in those several four eases. In o. 21 he concentrates the whole in one mass of condemnation. If Noah, I>anlel, Job, could not deliver tlio land, when deserving only one Judgment, "how muoU more" when all /our J udgmonis
2ii. 1'); Deuleronomy 2.S. 37). U. I tlic Loi-d Itave deeei\-cd
t'.i.it projtliet-not directly, but through Satan and his
lui ulsl,(;r.s ; not merely perinissi vely, but by overruling Ihfir evil to serve the puri.os(^s of His righteous Judgment, to be a touclistouc to separuie the precious Irom tho 5S2
The Rejeciion of Jerusalem. EZEKIEL XV, XYI. Her Ori'jinal Siate Described,
combined are justly to visit tlie land for sin, shall these
tliiee righteous men not lieliver it. 19. In blood—not lit-
Ver. ]-t;3. Detailed Api-lication of the Parabolical Delineation of Cii.\i>. 15. to Jerusalem peimouIFIED AS A Daughter. 1. Taken up by (iod's gratuitous favour from iiifaiic.v (t: 1-7); 2. and, when grown up, joined to Him in spiritual marriage (u. 8-H) ; 3. her unfaithfulness, her sin {v. 15-31); 4. tliejudgment (v. 3.5-52); 5. her unlopked-for restoration (u. 53 to the close). 3. cause Jerusalem to know—Men often are so blind as uot to perceive their guilt which is patent to all. "Jerusalem" represents
enilly. In Hebrew, "blood" expresses every premature kind of deatli. ai. How much more—lit., "Burely shall U be so now, when I send," &o. If none could avert tlie
one on!// jailgmmt incurred, snrely >ww, wlien all four are Incurred by sin, tnucJi more impossible it will be to deliver
tlie land. 3^. Yet ... a remnant—not of rigliteous persons, but some of the guilty who should "come forth" from the destruction of Jerusalem to Babylon, to. lead a life of hopeless exile tliere. Tlie reference here is to judgment, not mercy, as v. 23 sliows. ye shall see tliclr . . . doliigsi
tlie whole kingdom of .ludah. 3. birth . . . nativity thy origin anil liirtli ; lit., tliij digginys (cf. Isaiali 51. 1) and thy briitginy.t forth, of , . . Canaan—in whieli Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate cliaracteristics tliaii from tlie virtues of those tliy progenitors
and . . . he coiixfovtenl—ye, the exiles at tlie Chebar, who now iiuirnuir at God s judgment about to be inflicted on Jerusa lem as liai-sli, when ye shall see the wicked " ways" and cliaraoter of tlie escaped remnant, sliall acknowledge
tiiat both Jerusalem and its inhabitants deserved their
(cli. 21.30). an iVmorite . . . an Ilittite—these being the most iiowerful tribes stand for tlie whole of the Canaanite nations (cf. Joshua 1. 4; Amos 2. 9), whicli wei'e so abomiualjly corrupt as to have been doomed to utter extermination by God (Leviticus LS. 24,2.5, 28; Deuteronomy 18. 12).
fide; his recognition of the righteousness of the judgment will reconcile you to it, and so ye shall be "comforted" under it, [Cai.vin.] Then would follow mercy to tlie