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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. II.
What our Lord Jesus said to St. Paul
may fitly be applied to the prophet Ezekiel, to whom the same Jesus is
here speaking, “Rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto
thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister.” We have here Ezekiel’s
ordination to his office, which the vision was designed to fit him for,
not to entertain his curiosity with uncommon speculations, but to put
him into business. Now here,
I. He is commissioned to go as a prophet to the house of Israel, now
captives in Babylon, and to deliver God’s messages to them from time to
time,
II. He is cautioned not to be afraid of them,
III. He is instructed what to say to them, and has words put into his
mouth, signified by the vision of a roll, which he was ordered to eat
(ver. 7-10),
and which, in the next chapter, we find he did eat.
| The Prophet Commissioned to Reprove. | B. C. 595. |
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1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I
will speak unto thee.
2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set
me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children
of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me:
they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto
this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send
thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
GOD.
5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will
forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that
there hath been a prophet among them.
The title here given to Ezekiel, as often afterwards, is very
observable. God, when he speaks to him, calls him, Son of man
(v. 1, 3),
Son of Adam, Son of the earth. Daniel is once called so
and but once; the compellation is used to no other of the prophets but
to Ezekiel all along. We may take it,
1. As a humble diminishing title. Lest Ezekiel should be lifted up with
the abundance of the revelations, he is put in mind of this, that sill
he is a son of man, a mean, weak, mortal creature. Among other
things made known to him, it was necessary he should be made to know
this, that he was a son of man, and therefore that it was
wonderful condescension in God that he was pleased thus to manifest
himself to him. Now he is among the living creatures, the angels; yet
he must remember that he is himself a man, a dying creature. What is
man, or the son of man, that he should be thus visited, thus
dignified? Though God had here a splendid retinue of holy angles about
his throne, who were ready to go on his errands, yet he passes them all
by, and pitches on Ezekiel, a son of man, to be his messenger to
the house of Israel; for we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, and God’s messages sent us by men like ourselves, whose
terror shall not make us afraid nor their hand be heavy upon
us. Ezekiel was a priest, but the priesthood was brought low and
the honour of it laid in the dust. It therefore became him, and all of
his order, to humble themselves, and to lie low, as sons of men, common
men. He was now to be employed as a prophet, God’s ambassador, and a
ruler over the kingdoms
(Jer. i. 10),
a post of great honour, but he must remember that he is a son of
man, and, whatever good he did, it was not by any might of his own,
for he was a son of man, but in the strength of divine grace,
which must therefore have all the glory. Or,
2. We may take it as an honourable dignifying title; for it is one of
the titles of the Messiah in the Old Testament
I saw one like the Son of man come with the clouds of heaven),
whence Christ borrows the title he often calls himself by, The Son
of man. The prophets were types of him, as they had near access to
God and great authority among men; and therefore as David the king is
called the Lord’s anointed, or Christ, so Ezekiel the
prophet is called son of man.
I. Ezekiel is here set up, and made to stand, that he might receive his
commission,
He is set up,
1. By a divine command: Son of man, stand upon thy feet. His
lying prostrate was a posture of greater reverence, but his standing up
would be a posture of greater readiness and fitness for business. Our
adorings of God must not hinder, but rather quicken and excite, our
actings for God. He fell on his face in a holy fear and awe of
God, but he was quickly raised up again; for those that humble
themselves shall be exalted. God delights no in the dejections of
his servants, but the same that brings them low will raise them up; the
same that is a Spirit of bondage will be a Spirit of adoption.
Stand, and I will speak to thee. Note, We may expect that God
will speak to us when we stand ready to do what he commands us.
2. By a divine power going along with that command,
v. 2.
God bade him stand up; but, because he had not strength of his
own to recover his feet nor courage to face the vision, the Spirit
entered into him and set him upon his feet. Note, God is
graciously pleased to work that in us which he requires of us and
raises those whom he bids rise. We must stir up ourselves, and then God
will put strength into us; we must work out our salvation, and
then God will work in us. He observed that the Spirit entered
into him when Christ spoke to him; for Christ conveys his Spirit by his
word as the ordinary means and makes the word effectual by the Spirit.
The Spirit set the prophet upon his feet, to raise him up
from his dejections, for he is the Comforter. Thus, in a similar
case, Daniel was strengthened by a divine touch
and John was raised by the right hand of Christ laid upon him,
The Spirit set him upon his feet, made him willing and forward
to do as he was bidden, and then he heard him that spoke to him.
He heard the voice before
(ch. i. 28),
but now he heard it more distinctly and clearly, heard it and submitted
to it. The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our will to our
duty, and thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge
of it.
II. Ezekiel is here sent, and made to go, with a message to the
children of Israel
(v. 3):
I send thee to the children of Israel. God had for many ages
been sending to them his servants the prophets, rising up betimes and
sending them, but to little purpose; they were now sent into captivity
for abusing God’s messengers, and yet even there God sends this prophet
among them, to try if their ears were open to discipline, now that they
were holden in the cords of affliction. As the supports of life, so the
means of grace, are continued to us after they have been a thousand
times forfeited. Now observe,
1. The rebellion of the people to whom this ambassador is sent; he is
sent to reduce them to their allegiance, to bring back the children of
Israel to the Lord their God. Let the prophet know that there is
occasion for his going on this errand, for they are a rebellious
nation
(v. 3),
a rebellious house,
v. 5.
They are called children of Israel; they retain the name of
their pious ancestors, but they have wretchedly degenerated, they have
become Goim–nations, the word commonly used for the Gentiles.
The children of Israel have become as the children of the
Ethiopian
(Amos ix. 7),
for they are rebellious; and rebels at home are much more
provoking to a prince than enemies abroad. Their idolatries and false
worships were the sins which, more than any thing, denominated them a
rebellious nation; for thereby they set up another prince in
opposition to their rightful Sovereign, and did homage and paid tribute
to the usurper, which is the highest degree of rebellion that can be.
(1.) They had been all along a rebellious generation and had persisted
in their rebellion: They and their fathers have transgressed against
me. Note, Those are not always in the right that have antiquity and
the fathers on their side; for there are errors and corruptions of long
standing: and it is so far from being an excuse for walking in a bad
way that our fathers walked in it that it is really an aggravation, for
it is justifying the sin of those that have gone before us. They have
continued in their rebellion even unto this very day;
notwithstanding the various means and methods that have been made use
of to reclaim them, to this day, when they are under divine
rebukes for their rebellion, they continue rebellious; many
among them, like Ahaz, even in their distress, trespass yet
more; they are not the better for all the changes that have
befallen them, but still remain unchanged.
(2.) They were now hardened in their rebellion. They are impudent
children, brazen-faced, and cannot blush; they are still-hearted,
self-willed, and cannot bend, cannot stoop, neither ashamed nor afraid
to sin; they will not be wrought upon by the sense either of honour or
duty. We are willing to hope this was not the character of all, but of
many, and those perhaps the leading men. Observe,
[1.] God knew this concerning them, how inflexible, how incorrigible,
they were. Note, God is perfectly acquainted with every man’s true
character, whatever his pretensions and professions may be.
[2.] He told the prophet this, that he might know the better how to
deal with them and what handle to take them by. He must rebuke such
men as those sharply, cuttingly, must deal plainly with them, though
they call it dealing roughly. God tells him this, that it might
be no surprise or stumbling-block to him if he found that his preaching
should not make that impression upon them, which he had reason to think
it would.
2. The dominion of the prince by whom this ambassador is sent.
(1.) He has authority to command him whom he sends: “I do send thee
unto them, and therefore thou shalt say thus and thus unto
them,”
v. 4.
Note, it is the prerogative of Christ to send prophets and ministers
and to enjoin them their work. St. Paul thanked Christ Jesus who put
him into the ministry
(1 Tim. i. 12);
for, as he was sent of the Father, ministers are sent by him; and as he
received the Spirit without measure he gives the Spirit by measure,
saying, Receive you the Holy Ghost. They are impudent and
rebellious, and yet I send thee unto them. Note, Christ
gives the means of grace to many who he knows will not make a good use
of those means, puts many a price into the hand of fools to get wisdom,
who not only have no heart to it, but have their hearts turned against
it. Thus he will magnify his own grace, justify his own judgment, leave
them inexcusable, and make their condemnation more intolerable.
(2.) He has authority by him to command those to whom he sends him:
Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. All he said
to them must be spoken in God’s name, enforced by his authority, and
delivered as from him. Christ delivered his doctrines as a
Son–Verily, verily, I say unto you; the prophets as
servants–Thus saith the Lord God, our Master and yours. Note,
The writings of the prophets are the word of God, and so are to be
regarded by every one of us.
(3.) He has authority to call those to an account to whom he sends his
ambassadors. Whether they will hear or whether they will
forbear, whether they will attend to the word or turn their backs
upon it, they shall know that there has been a prophet among
them, shall know by experience.
[1.] If they hear and obey, they will know by comfortable experience
that the word which did them good was brought to them by one that had a
commission from God and a divine power going along with him in the
execution of it. Thus those who were converted by St. Paul’s preaching
are said to be the seals of his apostleship,
1 Cor. ix. 2.
When men’s hearts are made to burn under the word, and their wills to
bow to it, then they know and bear the witness in themselves that it is
not the word of men, but of God.
[2.] If they forbear, if they turn a deaf ear to the word (as it is to
be feared they will, for they are a rebellious house), yet they
shall be made to know that he whom they slighted was indeed a prophet,
by the reproaches of their own consciences and the just judgments of
God upon them for refusing him; they shall know it to their cost, know
it to their confusion, know it by sad experience, what a pernicious
dangerous thing it is to despise God’s messengers. They shall know by
the accomplishment of the threatenings that the prophet who denounced
them was sent of God; thus the word will take hold of men,
Zech. i. 6.
Note, First, Those to whom the word of God is sent are upon
their trial whether they will hear or whether they will
forbear, and accordingly will their doom be. Secondly,
Whether we be edified by the word or no, it is certain that God will be
glorified and his word magnified and made honourable. Whether it be a
savour of life unto life or of death unto death, either
way it will appear to be of divine original.
| The Prophet Cautioned Not to Fear; Charge Given to the Prophet. | B. C. 595. |
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6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be
afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee,
and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their
words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a
rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will
hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most
rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou
rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat
that I give thee.
9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and,
lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and
without: and there was written therein lamentations, and
mourning, and woe.
The prophet, having received his commission, here receives a charge
with it. It is a post of honour to which he is advanced, but withal it
is a post of service and work, and it is here required of him,
I. That he be bold. He must act in the discharge of this trust with an
undaunted courage and resolution, and not be either driven off from his
work or made to drive on heavily, by the difficulties and oppositions
that he would be likely to meet with in it: Son of man, be not
afraid of them,
v. 6.
Note, Those that will do any thing to purpose in the service of God
must not be afraid of the face of man; for the fear of men will bring a
snare, which will be very entangling to us in the work of God.
1. God tells the prophet what was the character of those to whom he
sent him, as before,
They are briers and thorns, scratching, and tearing, and vexing
a man, which way soever he turns. They are continually teazing God’s
prophets and entangling them in their talk
they are pricking briers and grieving thorns. The best of
them is as a brier, and the most upright sharper than a
thorn-hedge,
Mic. vii. 4.
Thorns and briers are the fruit of sin and the curse, and of equal date
with the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the
serpent. Note, Wicked men, especially the persecutors of God’s prophets
and people, are as briers and thorns, which are hurtful to the ground,
choke the good seed, hinder God’s husbandry, are vexatious to his
husbandmen; but they are nigh unto cursing and their end is
to be burned. Yet God makes use of them sometimes for the
correction and instruction of his people, as Gideon taught the men
of Succoth with thorns and briers,
Judg. viii. 16.
Yet this is not the worst of their character: they are
scorpions, venomous and malignant. The sting of a scorpion is a
thousand times more hurtful than the scratch of a brier. Persecutors
are a generation of vipers, are of the serpent’s seed, and the
poison of asps is under their tongue; and they are more
subtle than any beast of the field. And, which makes the prophet’s
case the more grievous, he dwells among these scorpions; they are
continually about him, so that he cannot be safe nor quiet in his own
house; these bad men are his bad neighbours, who thereby have many
opportunities, and will let slip none, to do him a mischief. God takes
notice of this to the prophet, as Christ to the angel of one of the
churches,
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat
is. Ezekiel had been, in vision, conversing with angels, but when
he comes down from this mount he finds he dwells with scorpions.
2. He tells him what would be their conduct towards him, that they
would do what they could to frighten him with their looks and
their words; they would hector him and threaten him, would look
scornfully and spitefully at him, and do their utmost to face him down
and put him our of countenance, that they might drive him off from
being a prophet, or at least from telling them of their faults and
threatening them with the judgments of God; or, if they could not
prevail in this, that they might vex and perplex him, and disturb the
repose of his mind. They were now themselves in subjection, divested of
all power, so that they had no other way of persecuting the prophet
than with their looks and their words; and so they did persecute
him. Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou
couldest,
Jer. iii. 5.
If they had had more power, they would have done more mischief. They
were now in captivity, smarting for their rebellion, and particularly
their misusing God’s prophets; and yet they are as bad as ever.
Though thou brag a fool in a mortar, yet will not his foolishness
depart from him; no providences will of themselves humble and
reform men, unless the grace of God work with them. But, how malicious
soever they were, Ezekiel must not be afraid of them nor
dismayed, he must not be deterred from his work, or any part of
it, nor be disheartened or dispirited in it by all their menaces, but
go on in it with resolution and cheerfulness, assuring himself of
safety under the divine protection.
II. It is required that he be faithful,
v. 7.
1. He must be faithful to Christ who sent him: Thou shalt speak my
words unto them. Note, As it is the honour of prophets that they
are entrusted to speak God’s words, so it is their duty to cleave
closely to them and to speak nothing but what is agreeable to the words
of God. Ministers must always speak according to that rule.
2. He must be faithful to the souls of those to whom he was sent:
Whether they will hear of whether they will forbear, he must
deliver his message to them as he received it. He must bring them to
comply with the word, and not study to accommodate the word to their
humours. “It is true they are most rebellious, they are
rebellion itself; but, however, speak my words to them, whether
they are pleasing or unpleasing.” Note, The untractableness and
unprofitableness of people under the word are no good reason why
ministers should leave off preaching to them; nor must we decline an
opportunity by which good may be done, though we have a great deal of
reason to think no good will be done.
III. It is required that he be observant of his instructions.
1. Here is a general intimation what the instructions were that were
given him, in the contents of the book which was spread before
him,
v. 10.
(1.) His instructions were large; for the roll was written within
and without, on the inside and on the outside of the roll. It was
as a sheet of paper written on all the four sides. One side contained
their sins; the other side contained the judgments of God coming upon
them for those sins. Note, God has a great deal to say to his people
when they have degenerated and become rebellious.
(2.) His instructions were melancholy. He was sent on a sad errand; the
matter contained in the book was, lamentations, and mourning, and
woe. The idea of his message is taken from the impression it would
make upon the minds of those that carefully attended to it; it would
set them a weeping and crying out, Woe! and, Alas! Both the
discoveries of sin and the denunciations of wrath would be matter of
lamentation. What could be more lamentable, more mournful, more woeful,
than to see a holy happy people sunk into such a state of sin and
misery as it appears by the prophecy of this book the Jews were at this
time? Ezekiel echoes to Jeremiah’s lamentations. Note, Though God is
rich in mercy, yet impenitent sinners will find there are even among
his words lamentations and woe.
2. Here is an express charge given to the prophet to observe his
instructions, both in receiving his message and delivering it. He is
now to receive it and is here commanded,
(1.) To attend diligently to it: son of man, hear what I say unto
thee,
v. 8.
Note, Those that speak from God to others must be sure to hear from God
themselves and be obedient to his voice: “Be not thou
rebellious; do not refuse to go on this errand, or to deliver it;
do not fly off, as Jonah did, for fear of disobliging thy countrymen.
They are a rebellious house, among whom thou livest; but be not
thou like them, do not comply with them in any thing that is evil.” If
ministers, who are reprovers by office, connive at sin and indulge
sinners, either show them not their wickedness or show them not the
fatal consequences of it, for fear of displeasing them and getting
their ill-will, they hereby make themselves partakers of their guilt
and are rebellious like them. If people will not do their duty in
reforming, yet let ministers do theirs in reproving, and they will have
the comfort of it in the reflection, whatever the success be, as that
prophet had,
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. Even
the best of men, when their lot is cast in bad times and places, have
need to be cautioned against the worst of crimes.
(2.) To digest it in his own mind by an experience of the favour and
power of it: “Do not only hear what I say unto thee, but open
thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee. Prepare to eat it and
eat it willingly and with an appetite.” All God’s children are content
to be at their heavenly father’s finding, and to eat whatever he gives
them. That which God’s hand reached out to Ezekiel was a roll of a
book, or the volume of a book, a book or scroll of paper or
parchment fully written and rolled up. Divine revelation comes to us
from the hand of Christ; he gave it to the prophets,
When we look at the roll of thy book we must have an eye to the
hand by which it is sent to us. He that brought it to the prophet
spread it before him, that he might now swallow it with an
implicit faith, but might fully understand the contents of it, and then
receive it and make it his own. Be not rebellious, says Christ,
but eat what I give thee. If we receive not what Christ in his
ordinances and providences allots for us, if we submit not to his word
and rod, and reconcile not ourselves to both, we shall be accounted
rebellious.
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