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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. XXIV.
Here are two sermons in this chapter, preached on a particular
occasion, and they are both from Mount Sinai, the mount of terror, both
from Mount Ebal, the mount of curses; both speak the approaching fate
of Jerusalem. The occasion of them was the king of Babylon’s laying
siege to Jerusalem, and the design of them is to show that in the issue
of that siege he should be not only master of the place, but destroyer
of it.
I. By the sign of flesh boiling in a pot over the fire are shown the
miseries that Jerusalem should suffer during the siege, and justly, for
her filthiness,
II. By the sign of Ezekiel’s not mourning for the death of his wife is
shown that the calamities coming upon Jerusalem were too great to be
lamented, so great that they should sink down under them into a silent
despair,
| The Parable of the Boiling Pot; The Explanation of the Parable. | B. C. 590. |
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1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth
day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this
same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this
same day.
3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and
also pour water into it:
4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece,
the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under
it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it
therein.
6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to
the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out
of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.
7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top
of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with
dust;
8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have
set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be
covered.
9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I
will even make the pile for fire great.
10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice
it well, and let the bones be burned.
11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of
it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may
be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum
went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee,
and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy
filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon
thee.
14 I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I
will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither
will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy
doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
We have here,
I. The notice God gives to Ezekiel in Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar’s
laying siege to Jerusalem, just at the time when he was doing it
(v. 2):
“Son of man, take notice, the king of Babylon, who is now
abroad with his army, thou knowest not where, set himself against
Jerusalem this same day.” It was many miles, it was many days’
journey, from Jerusalem to Babylon. Perhaps the last intelligence they
had from the army was that the design was upon Rabbath of the children
of Ammon and that the campaign was to be opened with the siege of that
city. But God knew, and could tell the prophet, “This day, at
this time, Jerusalem is invested, and the Chaldean army has sat down
before it.” Note, As all times, so all places, even the most remote,
are present with God and under his view. He tells the prophet, that the
prophet might tell the people, that so when it proved to be punctually
true, as they would find by the public intelligence in a little time,
it might be a confirmation of the prophet’s mission, and they might
infer that, since he was right in his news, he was so in his
predictions, for he owed both to the same correspondence he had with
Heaven.
II. The notice which he orders him to take of it. He must enter it in
his book, memorandum, that in the ninth year of
Jehoiachin’s captivity (for thence Ezekiel dated,
which was also the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, for he began to
reign when Jehoiachin was carried off), in the tenth month, on the
tenth day of the month, the king of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem;
and the date here agrees exactly with the date in the history,
See how God reveals things to his servants the prophets, especially
those things which serve to confirm their word, and so to confirm their
own faith. Note, It is good to keep an exact account of the date of
remarkable occurrences, which may sometimes contribute to the
manifesting of God’s glory so much the more in them, and the explaining
and confirming of scripture prophecies. Known unto God are all his
works.
III. The notice which he orders him to give to the people thereupon,
the purport of which is that this siege of Jerusalem, now begun, will
infallibly end in the ruin of it. This he must say to the rebellious
house, to those of them that were in Babylon, to be by them
communicated to those that were yet in their own land. A rebellious
house will soon be a ruinous house.
1. He must show them this by a sign; for that stupid people needed to
be taught as children are. The comparison made use of is that of a
boiling pot. This agrees with Jeremiah’s vision many years
before, when he first began to be a prophet, and probably was designed
to put them in mind of that
I see a seething pot, with the face towards the north; and the
explanation of it,
makes it to signify the besieging of Jerusalem by the northern
nations); and, as this comparison is intended to confirm Jeremiah’s
vision, so also to confront the vain confidence of the princes of
Jerusalem, who had said
(ch. xi. 3),
This city is the caldron and we are the flesh, meaning, “We are
as safe here as if we were surrounded with walls of brass.” “Well,”
says God, “it shall be so; you shall be boiled in Jerusalem, as the
flesh in the caldron, boiled to pieces; let the pot be set on
with water in it
(v. 4);
let it be filled with the flesh of the choice of the flock
(v. 5),
with the choice pieces
(v. 4),
and the marrow-bones, and let the other bones serve for fuel, that, one
way or other, either in the pot or under it, the whole beast may be
made use of.” A fire of bones, though it be a slow fire (for the siege
was to be long), is yet a sure and lasting fire; such was God’s wrath
against them, and not like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
which has noise and blaze, but no intense heat. Those that from all
parts of the country fled into Jerusalem for safety would be sadly
disappointed when the siege laid to it would soon make the place too
hot for them; and yet there was not getting out of it, but they must be
forced to abide by it, as the flesh in a boiling pot.
2. He must give them a comment upon this sign. It is to be construed as
a woe to the bloody city,
v. 6.
And again
(v. 9),
being bloody, let it go to pot, to be boiled; that is the
fittest place for it. Let us here see,
(1.) What is the course God takes with it. Jerusalem, during the siege,
is like a pot boiling over the fire, all in a heat, all in a hurry.
[1.] Care is taken to keep a good fire under the pot, which signifies
the closeness of the siege, and the many vigorous attacks made upon the
city by the besiegers, and especially the continued wrath of God
burning against them
(v. 9):
I will make the pile for fire great. Commission is given to the
Chaldeans
(v. 10)
to heap on wood, and kindle the fire, to make Jerusalem more and
more hot to the inhabitants. Note, The fire which God kindles for the
consuming of impenitent sinners shall never abate, much less go out,
for want of fuel. Tophet has fire and much wood,
Isa. xxx. 33.
[2.] The meat, as it is boiled, is taken out, and given to the
Chaldeans for them to feast upon. “Consume the flesh; let it be
thoroughly boiled, boiled to rags. Spice it well, and make it
savoury, for those that will fees sweetly upon it. Let the bones be
burnt.” either the bones under the pot (“let them be
consumed with the other fuel”) or, as some think, the bones in
the pot–“let it boil so furiously that not only the flesh may be
sodden, but even the bones softened; let all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem be by sickness, sword, and famine, reduced to the extremity
of misery.” And then
(v. 6),
“Bring it out piece by piece; let every man be delivered into
the enemy’s hand, to be either put to the sword or made a prisoner. Let
them be an easy prey to them, and let the Chaldeans fall upon them as
eagerly as a hungry man does upon a good dish of meat when it is set
before him. Let no lot fall upon it; every piece in the pot
shall be fetched out and devoured, first or last, and therefore it is
no matter for casting lots which shall be fetched out first.” It was a
very severe military execution when David measured Joab with two
lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive,
2 Sam. viii. 2.
But here is no line, no lot of mercy, made use of; all goes one way,
and that is to destruction.
[3.] When all the broth is boiled away the pot is set empty upon the
coals, that it may burn too, which signifies the setting of the city on
fire,
The scum of the meat, or (as some translate it) the rust of the
meat, has so got into the pot that there is no making it clean by
washing or scouring it, and therefore it must be done by fire; so let
the filthiness be burnt out of it, or, rather, melted in it and
burnt with it. Let the vipers and their nest be consumed together.
(2.) What is the quarrel God has with it. He would not take these
severe methods with Jerusalem but that he is provoked to it; she
deserves to be thus dealt with, for,
[1.] It is a bloody city
(v. 7, 8):
Her blood is in the midst of her. Many a barbarous murder has
been committed in the very heart of the city; nay, and they have a
disposition to cruelty in their hearts; they inwardly delight in
blood-shed, and so it is in the midst of them. Nay, they commit
their murders in the face of the sun, and openly and impudently avow
them, in defiance of the justice both of God and man. She did not
pour out the blood she shed upon the ground, to cover it with
dust, as being ashamed of the sin or afraid of the punishment. She
did not look upon it as a filthy thing, proper to be concealed
much less dangerous. Nay, she poured out the innocent blood she shed
upon a rock, where it would not soak in, upon the top of a rock,
in despite of divine views and vengeance. They shed innocent blood
under colour of justice; so that they gloried in it, as if they had
done God and the country good service, so put it, as it were, on the
top of a rock. Or it may refer to the sacrificing of their children
on their high places, perhaps on the top of rocks. Now thus they
caused fury to come up and take vengeance,
v. 8.
It could not be avoided but that God must in anger visit for
these things; his soul must be avenged on such a nation as this. It
is absolutely necessary that such a bloody city as this should have
blood given her to drink, for she is worthy, for the vindicating of the
honour of divine justice. And, the crime having been public and
notorious, it is fit that the punishment should be so too: I have
set her blood on the top of a rock. Jerusalem was to be made an
example, and therefore was made a spectacle, to the world; God dealt
with her according to the law of retaliation. It is fit that those who
sin before all should be rebuked before all; and that the
reputation of those should not be consulted by the concealment of their
punishment who were so impudent as not to desire the concealment of
their sin.
[2.] It is a filthy city. Great notice is taken, in this explanation of
the comparison, of the scum of this pot, which signifies the sin
of Jerusalem, working up and appearing when the judgments of God were
upon her. It is the pot whose scum is therein and has not
gone out of it,
v. 6.
The great scum that went not forth out of her
(v. 12),
that stuck to the pot when all was boiled away, and was molten in
it
(v. 11),
some of this runs over into the fire
(v. 12),
inflames that, and makes it burn the more furiously, but it shall
all be consumed at last,
When the hand of God had gone out against them, instead of humbling
themselves under it, repenting and reforming, and accepting the
punishment of their iniquity, they grew more impudent and outrageous in
sin, quarrelled with God, persecuted his prophets, were fierce to one
another, enraged to the last degree against the Chaldeans, snarled at
the stone, gnawed their chain, and were like a wild bull in a net. This
as their scum; in their distress they trespassed yet more
against the Lord, like that king Ahaz,
2 Chron. xxviii. 22.
There is little hope of those who are made worse by that which should
make them better, whose corruptions are excited an exasperated by those
rebukes both of the word and of the providence of God which were
designed for the suppressing and subduing of them, or of those whose
scum boiled up once in convictions, and confessions of sin, as if it
would be taken off by reformation, but afterwards returned again, in a
revolt from their good overtures; and the heart that seemed softened is
hardened again. This was Jerusalem’s case: She has wearied with
lies, wearied her God with purposes and promises of amendment,
which she never stood to, wearied herself with her carnal confidences,
which have all deceived her,
Note, Those that follow after lying vanities weary themselves with the
pursuit. Now see her doom,
Because she is incurably wicked she is abandoned to ruin, without
remedy. First, Methods and means of reformation had been tried
in vain
(v. 13):
“In thy filthiness is lewdness; thou hast become obstinate and
impudent in it; thou hast got a habit of it, which is confirmed by
frequent acts. In thy filthiness thee is a rooted lewdness; as
appears by this, I have purged thee and thou wast not purged. I
have given thee medicine, but it has done thee no good. I have used the
means of cleansing thee, but they have been ineffectual; the intention
of them has not been answered.” Note, It is sad to think how many there
are on whom ordinances and providences are all lost. Secondly,
It is therefore resolved that no more such methods shall be sued:
Thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more. The fire
shall no longer be a refining fire, but a consuming fire, and therefore
shall not be mitigated and shortened, as it has been, but shall be
continued in extremity, till it has done its destroying work. Note,
Those that will not be healed are justly given up and their case
adjudged desperate. There is a day coming when it will be said, He
that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Thirdly, Nothing remains
then but to bring them to utter ruin: I will cause my fury to rest
upon thee. This is the same with what is said of the later Jews,
that wrath has come upon them to the uttermost,
1 Thess. ii. 16.
They deserve it: According to thy doings they shall judge thee,
v. 14.
And God will do it. The sentence is bound on with repeated
ratifications, that they might be awakened to see how certain their
ruin was: “I the Lord have spoken it, who am able to make good
what I have spoken; it shall come to pass, nothing shall prevent
it, for I will do it myself, I will not go back upon any
entreaties; the decree has gone forth, and I will not spare in
compassion to them, neither will I repent.” He will neither
change his mind nor his way. Hereby the prophet was forbidden to
interceded for them, and they were forbidden to flatter themselves with
hopes of an escape. God hath said it, and he will do it. Note, The
declarations of God’s wrath against sinners are as inviolable as the
assurances he has given of favour to his people; and the case of such
is sad indeed, who have brought it to this issue, that either God must
be false or they must be damned.
| The Death of the Prophet’s Wife; A Sign of Jerusalem’s Ruin. | B. C. 590. |
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15 Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of
thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep,
neither shall thy tears run down.
17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire
of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and
cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my
wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19 And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what
these things are to us, that thou doest so?
20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your
strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul
pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall
fall by the sword.
22 And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your
lips, nor eat the bread of men.
23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes
upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine
away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he
hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I
am the Lord GOD.
25 Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I
take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire
of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their
sons and their daughters,
26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to
cause thee to hear it with thine ears?
27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is
escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou
shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the
LORD.
These verses conclude what we have been upon all along from the
beginning of this book, to wit, Ezekiel’s prophecies of the destruction
of Jerusalem; for after this, though he prophesied much concerning
other nations, he said no more concerning Jerusalem, till he heard of
the destruction of it, almost three years after,
He had assured them, in the former part of this chapter, that there was
no hope at all of the preventing of the trouble; here he assures them
that they should not have the ease of weeping for it. Observe here,
I. The sign by which this was represented to them, and it was a sign
that cost the prophet very dear; the more shame for them that when he,
by a divine appointment, was at such an expense to affect them with
what he had to deliver, yet they were not affected by it.
1. He must lose a good wife, that should suddenly be taken from him by
death. God gave him notice of it before, that it might be the less
surprise to him
(v. 16):
Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thy eyes with a
stroke. Note,
(1.) A married state may very well agree with the prophetical office;
it is honourable in all, and therefore not sinful in ministers.
(2.) Much of the comfort of human life lies in agreeable relations. No
doubt Ezekiel found a prudent tender yoke-fellow, that shared with him
in his griefs and cares, to be a happy companion in his captivity.
(3.) Those in the conjugal relation must be to each other not only a
covering of the eyes
(Gen. xx. 16),
to restrain wandering looks after others; but a desire of the
eyes, to engage pleasing looks on one another. A beloved wife is
the desire of the eyes, which find not any object more grateful.
(4.) That is least safe which is most dear; we know not how soon the
desire of our eyes may be removed from us and may become the sorrow of
our hearts, which is a good reason why those that have wives
should be as though they had none, and those who rejoice
in them as though they rejoiced not,
1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.
Death is a stroke which the most pious, the most useful, the most
amiable, are not exempted from.
(5.) When the desire of our eyes is taken away with a stroke we must
see and own the hand of God in it: I take away the desire of thy
eyes. He takes our creature-comforts from us when and how he
pleases; he gave them to us, but reserved to himself a property in
them; and may he not do what he will with his own?
(6.) Under afflictions of this kind it is good for us to remember that
we are sons of men; for so God calls the prophet here. If thou
art a son of Adam, thy wife is a daughter of Eve, and
therefore a dying creature. It is an affliction which the children of
men are liable to; and shall the earth be forsaken for us?
According to this prediction, he tells us
(v. 18),
I spoke unto the people in the morning; for God sent his
prophets, rising up early and sending them; then he thought, if
ever, they would be disposed to hearken to him. Observe,
[1.] Though God had given Ezekiel a certain prospect of this affliction
coming upon him, yet it did not take him off from his work, but he
resolved to go on in that.
[2.] We may the more easily bear an affliction if it find us in the way
of our duty; for nothing can hurt us, nothing come amiss to us, while
we keep ourselves in the love of God.
2. He must deny himself the satisfaction of mourning for his wife,
which would have been both an honour to her and an ease to the
oppression of his own spirit. He must not use the natural expressions
of sorrow,
He must not give vent to his passion by weeping, or letting
his tears run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead,
and, when the body is sown, it is fit that it should thus be watered.
But Ezekiel is not allowed to do this, though he thought he had as much
reason to do it as any man and would perhaps be ill thought of by the
people if he did it not. Much less might he use the customary
formalities of mourners. He must dress himself in his usual attire,
must bind his turban on him, here called the tire of his head,
must put on his shoes, and not go barefoot, as was usual in such
cases; he must not cover his lips, not throw a veil over his
face (as mourners were wont to do,
must not be of a sorrowful countenance, appearing unto men to
fast,
Matt. vi. 18.
He must not eat the bread of men, nor expect that his neighbours
and friends should send him in provisions, as usually they did in such
cases, presuming the mourners had no heart to provide meat for
themselves; but, if it were sent, he must not eat of it, but go on in
his business as at other times. It could not but be greatly against the
grain to flesh and blood not to lament the death of one he loved so
dearly, but so God commands; and I did in the morning as I was
commanded. He appeared in public, in his usual habit, and looked as
he used to do, without any signs of mourning.
(1.) Here there was something peculiar, and Ezekiel, to make himself a
sign to the people, must put a force upon himself and exercise an
extraordinary piece of self-denial. Note, Our dispositions must always
submit to God’s directions, and his command must be obeyed even in that
which is most difficult and displeasing to us.
(2.) Though mourning for the dead be a duty, yet it must always be kept
under the government of religion and right reason, and we must not
sorrow as those that have no hope, nor lament the loss of any
creature, even the most valuable, and that which we could worst spare,
as if we had lost our God, or as if all our happiness were gone with
it; and, of this moderation in mourning, ministers, when it is their
case, ought to be examples. We must at such a time study to improve the
affliction, to accommodate ourselves to it, and to get our acquaintance
with the other world increased, by the removal of our dear relations,
and learn with holy Job to bless the name of the Lord even when
he takes as well as when he gives.
II. The explication and application of this sign. The people enquired
the meaning of it
(v. 19):
Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us that thou doest
so? They knew that Ezekiel was an affectionate husband, that the
death of his wife was a great affliction to him, and that he would not
appear so unconcerned at it but for some good reason and for
instruction to them; and perhaps they were in hopes that it had a
favourable signification, and gave them an intimation that God would
now comfort them again according to the time he had afflicted them, and
make them look pleasant again. Note, When we are enquiring concerning
the things of God our enquiry must be, “What are those thing to
us? What are we concerned in them? What conviction, what counsel,
what comfort, do they speak to us? Wherein do they reach our case?”
Ezekiel gives them an answer verbatim–word for word as he had
received it from the Lord, who had told him what he must speak to
the house of Israel.
1. Let them know that as Ezekiel’s wife was taken from him by a stroke
so would God take from them all that which was dearest to them,
If this was done to the green tree, what shall be done to the
dry? If a faithful servant of God was thus afflicted only for his
trial, shall such a generation of rebels against God go unpunished? By
this awakening providence God showed that he was in earnest in his
threatenings, and inexorable. We may suppose that Ezekiel prayed that,
if it were the will of God, his wife might be spared to him, but God
would not hear him; and should he be heard then in his intercessions
for this provoking people? No, it is determined: God will take away
the desire of your eyes. Note, The removal of the comforts of
others should awaken us to think of parting with ours too; for are
we better than they? We know not how soon the same cup, or a more
bitter one, may be put into our hands, and should therefore weep with
those that weep, as being ourselves also in the body. God will take
away that which their soul pities, that is, of which they say, What
a pity is it that it should be cut off and destroyed! That for which
your souls are afraid (so some read it); you shall lose that which
you most dread the loss of. And what is that?
(1.) That which was their public pride, the temple: “I will profane
my sanctuary, by giving that into the enemy’s hand, to be plundered
and burnt.” This was signified by the death of a wife, a dear wife, to
teach us that God’s sanctuary should be dearer to us, and more the
desire of our eyes, than any creature-comfort whatsoever. Christ’s
church, that is his spouse, should be ours too. Though this people were
very corrupt, and had themselves profaned the sanctuary, yet it is
called the desire of their eyes. Note, Many that are destitute
of the power of godliness are yet very fond of the form
of it; and it is just with God to punish them for their hypocrisy by
depriving them of that too. The sanctuary is here called the
excellency of their strength; they had many strong-holds and
places of defence, but the temple excelled them all. It was the
pride of their strength; they prided in it as their strength
that they were the temple of the Lord,
Jer. vii. 4.
Note, The church-privileges that men are proud of are profaned by their
sins, and it is just with God to profane them by his judgments. And
with these God will take away,
(2.) That which was their family-pleasure, which they looked upon with
delight: “Your sons and your daughters (which are the dearer to
you because they are but few left of many, the rest having perished by
famine and pestilence) shall fall by the sword of the
Chaldeans.” What a dreadful spectacle would it be to see their own
children, pieces, pictures, of themselves, whom they had taken such
care and pains to bring up, and whom they loved as their own souls,
sacrificed to the rage of the merciless conquerors! This, this, was the
punishment of sin.
2. Let them know that as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction so neither
should they weep for theirs. He must say, You shall do as I have
done,
v. 22.
You shall not mourn nor weep,
v. 23.
Jeremiah had told them the same, that men shall not lament for the
dead nor cut themselves
(Jer. xvi. 6);
not that there shall be any such merciful circumstance without, or any
such degrees of wisdom and grace within, as shall mitigate and moderate
the sorrow; but they shall not mourn, for,
(1.) Their grief shall be so great that they shall be quite overwhelmed
with it; their passions shall stifle them, and they shall have no power
to ease themselves by giving vent to it.
(2.) Their calamities shall come so fast upon them, one upon the neck
of another, that by long custom they shall be hardened in their
sorrows
and perfectly stupefied, and moped (as we say), with them.
(3.) They shall not dare to express their grief, for fear of being
deemed disaffected to the conquerors, who would take their lamentations
as an affront and disturbance to their triumphs.
(4.) They shall not have hearts, nor time, nor money, wherewith to put
themselves in mourning, and accommodate themselves with the ceremonies
of grief: “You will be so entirely taken up with solid substantial
grief that you will have no room for the shadow of it.”
(5.) Particular mourners shall not need to distinguish themselves by
covering their lips, and laying aside their ornaments, and
going barefoot; for it is well known that every body is a
mourner.
(6.) There shall be none of that sense of their affliction and sorrow
for it which would help to bring them to repentance, but that only
which shall drive them to despair; so it follows: “You shall pine
away for your iniquities, with seared consciences and reprobate
minds, and you shall mourn, not to God in prayer and confession
of sin, but one towards another,” murmuring, and fretting, and
complaining of God, thus making their burden heavier and their wound
more grievous, as impatient people do under their afflictions by
mingling their own passions with them.
III. An appeal to the event, for the confirmation of all this
(v. 24):
“When this comes, as it is foretold, when Jerusalem, which is
this day besieged, is quite destroyed and laid waste, which now you
cannot believe will ever be, then you shall know that I am the Lord
God, who have given you this fair warning of it. Then you will
remember that Ezekiel was to you a sign.” Note, Those who regard not
the threatenings of the word when they are preached will be made to
remember them when they are executed. Observe,
1. The great desolation which the siege of Jerusalem should end in
(v. 25):
In that day, that terrible day, when the city shall be broken
up, I will take from them,
(1.) That which they depended on–their strength, their walls,
their treasures, their fortifications, their men of war; none shall
stand them in stead.
(2.) That which they boasted of–the joy of their glory, that
which they looked upon as most their glory, and which they most
rejoiced in, the temple of their God and the palaces of their princes.
(3.) That which they delighted in, which was the desire of their
eyes, and on which they set their minds. Note, Carnal people
set their minds upon that on which they can set their eyes; they look
at, and dote upon, the things that are seen; and it is their
folly to set their minds upon that which they have no assurance
of and which may be taken from them in a moment,
Their sons and their daughters were all this–their strength,
and joy, and glory; and these shall go into captivity.
2. The notice that should be brought to the prophet, not be revelation,
as the notice of the siege was brought to him
(v. 2),
but in an ordinary way
(v. 26):
“He that escapes in that day shall, by a special direction of
Providence, come to thee, to bring thee intelligence of it,”
which we find was done,
The ill-news came slowly, and yet to Ezekiel and his fellow-captives it
came too soon.
3. The divine impression which he should be under upon receiving that
notice,
Whereas, from this time to that, Ezekiel was thus far dumb that he
prophesied no more against the land of Israel, but against the
neighbouring nations, as we shall find in the following chapters, then
he shall have orders given him to speak again to the children of his
people
then his mouth shall be opened. He was suspended from
prophesying against them in the mean time, because, Jerusalem being
besieged, his prophecies could not be sent into the city,–because,
when God was speaking so loudly by the rod, there was the less need of
speaking by the word,–and because then the accomplishment of his
prophecies would be the full confirmation of his mission, and would the
more effectually clear the way for him to begin again. It being
referred to that issue, that issue must be waited for. Thus Christ
forbade his disciples to preach openly that he was Christ till after
his resurrection, because that was to be the full proof of it. “But
then thou shalt speak with the greater assurance, and the more
effectually, either to their conviction or to their confusion.” Note,
God’s prophets are never silenced but for wise and holy ends. And when
God gives them the opening of the mouth again (as he will in due time,
for even the witnesses that are slain shall arise) it
shall appear to have been for his glory that they were for a while
silent, that people may the more certainly and fully know that
God is the Lord.
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