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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. XXV.
Judgment began at the house of God, and therefore with them the
prophets began, who were the judges; but it must not end there, and
therefore they must not. Ezekiel had finished his testimony which
related to the destruction of Jerusalem. As to that he was ordered to
say no more, but stand upon his watch-tower and wait the issue; and yet
he must not be silent; there are divers nations bordering upon the land
of Israel, which he must prophesy against, as Isaiah and Jeremiah had
done before; and must proclaim God’s controversy with them, chiefly for
the injuries and indignities which they had done to the people of God
in the day of their calamity. In this chapter we have his prophecy,
I. Against the Ammonites,
II. Against the Moabites,
III. Against the Edomites,
IV. Against the Philistines,
That which is laid to the charge of each of them is their barbarous and
insolent conduct towards God’s Israel, for which God threatens to put
the same cup of trembling into their hand. God’s resenting it thus
would be an encouragement to Israel to believe that though he had dealt
thus severely with them yet he had not cast them off, but would still
own them and plead their cause.
| Various Nations Threatened. | B. C. 590. |
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1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy
against them;
3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD;
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my
sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel,
when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they
went into captivity;
4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east
for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and
make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they
shall drink thy milk.
5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites
a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the
LORD.
6 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped
thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart
with all thy despite against the land of Israel;
7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and
will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee
off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the
countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am
the LORD.
Here,
I. The prophet is ordered to address himself to the Ammonites, in the
name of the Lord Jehovah the God of Israel, who is also
the God of the whole earth. But what can Chemosh, the god of the
children of Ammon, say, in answer to it? He is bidden to set his
face against the Ammonites, for he is God’s representative as a
prophet, and thus he must signify that God set his face against
them, for the face of the Lord is against those that do
evil,
Ps. xxxiv. 16.
He must speak with boldness and assurance, as one that knew whose
errand he went upon, and that he should be borne out in delivering it.
He must therefore set his face as a flint,
Isa. i. 7.
He must show his displeasure against these proud enemies of Israel, and
face them down, though they were very impudent, and thus must show
that, though he had prophesied so much and so long against
Israel, yet still he was for Israel, and, while he witnessed
against their corruptions, he adhered to and gloried in God’s covenant
with them. Note, Those are miserable that have the preaching and
praying of God’s prophets against them, against whom their faces are
set.
II. He is directed what to say to them. Ezekiel is now a captive in
Babylon, and has been so many years, and knows little of the state of
his own nation, much less of the nations that were about it; but God
tells him both what they were doing and what he was about to do with
them. And thus by the spirit of prophecy he is enabled to speak as
pertinently to their case as if he had been among them.
1. He must upbraid the Ammonites with their insolent and barbarous
triumphs over the people of Israel in their calamities,
v. 3.
The Ammonites said, when all went against the Jews, Aha! so would we
have it. They were glad to see,
(1.) The temple burned, the sanctuary profaned by the victorious
Chaldeans. This is put first, to intimate what was the cause of the
controversy; they had an enmity to the Jews for the sake of their
religion, though it was only some poor remains of the profession of it
that were to be found among them.
(2.) The nation ruined. They rejoiced when the land of Israel was
made desolate, the cities burnt, the country wasted, and both
depopulated, and when the house of Judah went into captivity.
When they had not power to oppress God’s Israel themselves they were
pleased to see the Chaldeans oppress them, partly because they envied
their wealth and the good land they enjoyed, partly because they feared
their growing power, and partly because they hated their religion and
the divine oracles they were favoured with. It is repeated again
(v. 6):
They clapped with their hands, to irritate the rage of the
Chaldeans, and to set them on as dogs upon the game; or they clapped
their hands in triumph, attended this tragedy with their
Plaudite–Give us your applause, thinking it well acted; never
was there any thing more diverting or entertaining to them. They
stamped with their feet, ready to leap and dance for joy upon
this occasion; they not only rejoiced in heart, but they could
not forbear showing it, though every one that had any sense of honour
and humanity would cry shame upon them for it, especially considering
that they rejoiced thus, not for any thing they got by Israel’s fall
(if so, they would have been the more excusable: most people are for
themselves); but this as purely from a principle of malice and enmity:
Thou hast rejoiced in heart with all thy despite (which
signifies both scorn and hatred) against the land of Israel.
Note, The people of God have always had a great deal of ill-will borne
them by this wicked world; and their calamities have been their
neighbours’ entertainments. See to what unnatural instances of malice
the enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the
woman will carry them. The Ammonites, of all people, should not have
rejoiced in Jerusalem’s ruin, but should rather have trembled, because
they themselves had such a narrow escape at the same time; it was but
“cross or pile” [the toss of a halfpenny] which should be besieged
first, Rabbath or Jerusalem,
And they had reason to think that the king of Babylon would set upon
them next. But thus were their hearts hardened to their ruin, and their
insolence against Jerusalem was to them an evident token of
perdition,
Phil. i. 28.
It is a very wicked thing to be glad at the calamities of any,
especially of God’s people, and a sin that God will surely reckon for;
such delight has God in showing mercy, and so backward is he to punish,
that nothing is more pleasing to him than to be stopped in the ways of
his judgments by intercessions, not any thing more provoking than to
help forward the affliction when he is but a little
displeased,
Zech. i. 15.
2. He must threaten the Ammonites with utter ruin for this insolence
which they were guilty of. God turns away his wrath from Israel against
them, as is said,
God is jealous for his people’s honour, because his own is so nearly
interested in it. And therefore those that touch that shall be made to
know that they touch the apple of his eye. He had before predicted the
destruction of the Ammonites,
Had they repented, that would have been revoked; but now it is
ratified.
(1.) A destroying enemy is brought against them: I will
deliver thee to the men of the east, first to the Chaldeans, who
came from the north-east, and whose army, under the command of
Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the country of the Ammonites, about five
years after the destruction of Jerusalem (as Josephus relates,
Antiq. 10.181), and then to the Arabians, who were properly the
children of the east, who, when the Chaldeans had made the
country desolate, and quitted it, came and took possession of it for
themselves, probably with the consent of the conquerors. Shepherds’
tents were their palaces; these they set up in the country of the
Ammonites; there they made their dwellings,
v. 4.
They enjoyed the products of the country: They shall eat thy fruit
and drink thy milk; and the milk from the cattle is the fruit of
the ground at second-hand. They made use even of the royal city for
their cattle
(v. 5):
I will make Rabbath, that was a nice and splendid city, to be
a stable for camels; for its new masters, whose wealth lies all
in cattle, will not think they can put the palaces of Rabbath to a
better use. Rabbath had been a habitation of brutish men; justly
therefore is it now made a stable for camels and the country a
couching-lace for flocks, more innocent beasts than those with
which it had been before replenished.
(2.) God himself acts as an enemy to them
(v. 7):
I will stretch out my hand upon thee, a hand that will reach far
and strike home, which there is no resisting the blow of, for it is a
mighty hand, nor bearing the weight of, for it is a heavy hand. God’s
hand stretched out against the Ammonites will not only deliver them
for a spoil to the heathen, so that all their neighbours shall
prey upon them, but will cut them off from the people and
made them perish out of the countries, so that there shall be no
remains of them in that place. Compare with this,
&c. What can sound more terrible than that resolution
(v. 7),
I will destroy thee? For the almighty God is able both to
save and to destroy, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his
hands. Both the threatenings here
conclude with this, You shall know that I am the Lord. For,
[1.] Thus God will maintain his own honour, and will make it appear
that he is the God of Israel, though he suffers them for a time to be
captives in Babylon.
[2.] Thus he will bring those that were strangers to him into an
acquaintance with him, and it will be a blessed effect of their
calamities. Better know God and be poor than be rich and ignorant of
him.
| Various Nations Threatened. | B. C. 590. |
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8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say,
Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the
cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory
of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim,
10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give
them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered
among the nations.
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know
that I am the LORD.
12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt
against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly
offended, and revenged himself upon them;
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out
mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and
I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall
by the sword.
14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my
people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger
and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith
the Lord GOD.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt
by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to
destroy it for the old hatred;
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch
out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the
Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious
rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall
lay my vengeance upon them.
Three more of Israel’s ill-natured neighbours are here arraigned,
convicted, and condemned to destruction, for contributing to and
triumphing in Jerusalem’s fall.
I. The Moabites. Seir, which was the seat of the Edomites, is joined
with them
(v. 8),
because they said the same as the Moabites; but they were afterwards
reckoned with by themselves,
Now observe,
1. What was the sin of the Moabites; they said, Behold, the house of
Judah is like unto all the heathen. They triumphed,
(1.) In the apostasies of Israel, were please to see them forsake their
God and worship idols, and hoped that in a while their religion would
be quite lost and forgotten and the house of Judah would be
like all the heathen, perfect idolaters. When those that profess
religion walk unworthy of their profession they encourage the enemies
of religion to hope that it will in time sink, and be run down, and
quite abandoned; but let the Moabites know that, though there are those
of the house of Judah who have made themselves like the heathen,
yet there is a remnant that retain their integrity, the religion of the
house of Judah shall recover itself, its peculiarities shall be
preserved, it shall not lose itself among the heathen, but
distinguish itself from them, till it deliver itself honourably into a
better institution.
(2.) In the calamities of Israel. They said, “The house of Judah is
like all the heathen, in as bad a state as they; their God is no
more able to deliver them from this overflowing scourge of these
parts of the world than the gods of the heathen are to deliver them.
Where are the promises they gloried in and all the wonders which they
and their fathers told us of? What the better are they for the covenant
of peculiarity, upon which they so much valued themselves? Those that
looked with so much scorn upon all the heathen are now set upon
a level with them, or rather sunk below them.” Note, Those who judge
only by outward appearance are ready to conclude that the people of God
have lost all their privileges when they have lost their worldly
prosperity, which does not follow, for good men, even in affliction, in
captivity among the heathen, have graces and comforts within sufficient
to distinguish them from all the heathen. Though the event seem one to
the righteous and wicked, yet indeed it is vastly different.
2. What should be the punishment of Moab for this sin; because they
triumphed in the overthrow of Judah, their country shall be in like
manner overthrown with that of the Ammonites, who were guilty of the
same sin
(v. 9, 10):
“I will open the side of Moab, will uncover its shoulder, will
take away all its defences, that it may become an easy prey to any that
will make a prey of it.”
(1.) See here how it shall be exposed; the frontier-towns, that were
its strength and guard, shall be demolished by the Chaldean forces, and
laid open. Some of the cities are here named, which are said to be
the glory of the country, which they trusted in, and boasted of
as impregnable; these shall decay, be deserted, or betrayed, or fall
into the enemies’ hands, so that Moab shall lie exposed, and whoever
will may penetrate into the heart of the country. Note, Those who glory
in any other defence and protection than that of the divine power,
providence, and promise, will sooner or later see cause to be ashamed
of their glorying.
(2.) See here to whom it shall be exposed: The men of the east,
when they come to take possession of the country of the Ammonites,
shall seize that of the Moabites too. God, the Lord of all lands, will
give them that land; for the kingdoms of men he gives to whomsoever he
will. The Arabians, who are shepherds, and live quietly, plain men
dwelling in tents, shall by an overruling Providence be put in
possession of the land of the Moabites, who are soldiers, men of war,
and cunning hunters, that live turbulently. The Chaldeans shall get it
by war, and the Arabians shall enjoy it in peace. Concerning the
Ammonites it is said, They shall no more be remembered among the
nations
(v. 10),
for they had been accessory to the murder of Gedaliah,
But of the Moabites it is said, I will execute judgments upon
Moab; they shall feel the weight of God’s displeasure, but perhaps
not to that degree that the Ammonites shall; however, so far as that
they shall know that I am the Lord, that the God of Israel is a
God of power, and that his covenant with his people is not broken.
II. The Edomites, the posterity of Esau, between whom and Jacob there
had been an old enmity. And here is,
1. The sin of the Edomites,
They not only triumphed in the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, as the
Moabites and Ammonites had done, but they took advantage from the
present distressed state to which the Jews were reduced to do them some
real mischiefs, probably made inroads upon their frontiers and
plundered their country: Edom has dealt against the house of Judah
by taking vengeance. The Edomites had of old been tributaries to
the Jews, according to the sentence that the elder should serve the
younger. In Jehoram’s time they revolted. Amaziah severely chastised
them
and for this they took vengeance. Now they would pay off all the
old scores, and not only incensed the Babylonians against Jerusalem,
crying, Rase it, rase it
but cut off those that escaped, as we find in the prophecy of
Obadiah, which is wholly directed against Edom,
&c. It is called here revenging a revenge, which intimates that
they were not only eager upon it, but very cruel in it, and recompensed
to the Jews more than double. “Herein he has greatly offended.”
Note, It is a great offence to God for us to revenge ourselves upon our
brother; for God has said, Vengeance is mine. We are forbidden
to revenge or to bear a grudge. Suppose Judah had been
hard upon Edom formerly, it was a base thing for the Edomites now, in
revenge for it, to smite them secretly. But the Jews had a
divine warrant to reign over the Edomites, for that therefore they
ought not to have made reprisals; and it was the more disingenuous for
them to retain the old enmity when God had particularly commanded his
people to forget it.
Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite.
2. The judgments threatened against them for this sin. God will take
them to task for it
(v. 13):
I will stretch out my hand upon Edom Their country shall be
desolate from Teman, which lay in the south part of it; and
they shall fall by the sword unto Dedan, which lay north; the
desolations of war should go through the nation.
(1.) They had taken vengeance, and therefore God will lay his
vengeance upon them
(v. 14):
They shall know my vengeance. Those that will not leave it to
God to take vengeance for them may expect that he will take vengeance
on them; and those that will not believe and fear his vengeance shall
be made to know and feel his vengeance; they shall be dealt with
according to God’s anger and according to his fury, not
according to the weakness of the instruments that are employed in it,
but according to the strength of the arm that employs them.
(2.) They had taken vengeance on Israel, and God will lay his vengeance
on them by the hand of his people Israel. They suffered much by
the Chaldeans, which seems to be referred to,
But besides that there were saviours to come upon Mount
Zion, who should judge the mount of Esau
(Obad. 21),
and Israel’s Redeemer comes with dyed garments from Bozrah
this implies a promise that Israel should recover itself again to such
a degree as to be in a capacity of curbing the insolence of its
neighbours. And we find
(1 Mac. v. 3)
that Judas Maccabeus fought against the children of Esau in Idumea,
gave them a great overthrow, abated their courage, and took their
spoil; and Josephus says (Antiq. 13.257), that Hircanus made
the Edomites tributaries to Israel. Note, The equity of God’s judgments
is to be observed when he not only avenges injuries upon those that did
them, but by those against whom they were done.
III. The Philistines. And,
1. Their sin is much the same with that of the Edomites: They have
dealt by revenge with the people of Israel, and have taken
vengeance with a despiteful heart, not to disturb them only, but to
destroy them, for the old hatred
(v. 15),
the old grudge they bore them, or (as the margin reads it) with
perpetual hatred, a hatred that began long since and which they
resolved to continue. The anger was implacable: they dealt by
revenge, traded in the acts of malice; it was their constant
practice, and their heart, their spiteful heart, was upon it.
2. Their punishment likewise is much the same,
Those that were for destroying God’s people shall themselves be cut off
and destroyed; and
(v. 17)
those that were for avenging themselves shall find that God will
execute great vengeance upon them. This was fulfilled when that
country was wasted by the Chaldean army, not long after the destruction
of Jerusalem, which is foretold,
It was strange that these nations, which bordered upon the land of
Israel, were not alarmed by the success of the Chaldean army, and made
to tremble in the apprehension of their own danger; when their
neighbour’s house was on fire it was time to look to their own; but
their impiety and malice made them forget their politics, till God by
his judgments convinced them that the cup was going round, and they
were the less safe for being secure.
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