Commentary on Ezekiel Chapters 1-20 John Calvin
EZEKIEL
Lecture Nineteenth.
Ezekiel 7:9
9. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.
9. Et oculus meus non parcet, neque miserebor: secundum vias tuas super to ponam, et abominationes tuae in medio tui erunt: et cognoscetis quod ego Iehovah percutiens.
This verse contains nothing besides a repetition, unless that at last the Prophet more clearly points out what that knowledge was which he formerly mentioned, namely, that they should unwillingly feel God's power, because they had withdrawn their confidence from the Prophet's teaching. For he had said two or three times, ye shall know that I am Jehovah: now he adds the participle, and that it is I who smite you This then is the knowledge by which God makes himself known to the reprobate, while they are compelled, whether they will or not, to feel that there is a judge of the world. The faithful indeed profit under God's chastisements, and they are at times humbled under his hand, because they do not willingly obey his word: but we said that the Prophet here triumphs over the people's pride who dared to deride all threats as if God were sleeping in heaven. He says therefore at length, that when God strikes them they should feel what they did not believe. It follows ---
Ezekiel 7:10
10. Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
10. Ecce dies ecce venit: egressum est 152 mane, floruit baculus, germinavit superbia.
Now Ezekiel uses another figure, but to the same purpose. He repeats what he had said before: the day is come, and he adds another part, that the morning had advanced But we said that the impious, when God connives at their sins, exult as it were in darkness without shame or fear. Since therefore they were as wanton as if they had obtained the license of night, the Prophet denounces that morning is at hand, because God would suddenly bring to light what they thought would be always hidden. Since therefore, when God retired, they supposed themselves in complete darkness, the Prophet recalls them to the consideration of the daily order of things: for light emerges immediately from the dawn. Thus he laughs at their folly, because they thought that God had his eyes shut, when for the time he dissembles. This therefore is the reason, as was fully explained yesterday, why the Prophet calls the sudden change morning Therefore the morning has arisen, afterwards, the rod has blossomed, pride has flourished It is not doubtful that he means Nebuchadnezzar by the rod, but interpreters vary on the context; for many refer the following verse to the king of Babylon: but others, in my judgment rightly, take it of the Israelites themselves. As to his saying the rod has blossomed, it refers to God's forbearance. For when the Israelites had sinned a long while with impunity, they thought, as I said yesterday, that their peace with God would be perpetual. But 152Or, "has arisen" — Calvin.