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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. XXVIII.
In this chapter we have,
I. A prediction of the fall and ruin of the king of Tyre, who, in the
destruction of that city, is particularly set up as a mark for God’s
arrows,
II. A lamentation for the king of Tyre, when he has thus fallen, though
he falls by his own iniquity,
III. A prophecy of the destruction of Zidon, which as in the
neighbourhood of Tyre and had a dependence upon it,
IV. A promise of the restoration of the Israel of God, though in the
day of their calamity they were insulted over by their neighbours,
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1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I
am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas;
yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as
the heart of God:
3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that
they can hide from thee:
4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten
thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased
thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set
thine heart as the heart of God;
7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the
terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against
the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the
deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God?
but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that
slayeth thee.
10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand
of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
We had done with Tyrus in the foregoing chapter, but now the prince of
Tyrus is to be singled out from the rest. Here is something to be said
to him by himself, a message to him from God, which the prophet
must send him, whether he will hear or whether he will forbear.
I. He must tell him of his pride. His people are proud
and so is he; and they shall both be made to know that God resists
the proud. Let us see,
1. What were the expressions of his pride: His heart was lifted
up,
v. 2.
He had a great conceit of himself, was puffed up with an opinion of his
own sufficiency, and looked with disdain upon all about him. Out of the
abundance of the pride of his heart he said, I am a god; he did
not only say it in his heart, but had the impudence to speak it out.
God has said of princes, They are gods
but it does not become them to say so of themselves; it is a high
affront to him who is God alone, and will not give his glory to
another. He thought that the city of Tyre had as necessary a dependence
upon him as the world has upon the God that made it, and that he was
himself independent as God and unaccountable to any. He thought himself
to have as much wisdom and strength as God himself, and as
incontestable an authority, and that his prerogatives were as absolute
and his word as much a law as the word of God. He challenged divine
honours, and expected to be praised and admired as a god, and doubted
not to be deified, among other heroes, after his death as a great
benefactor to the world. Thus the king of Babylon said, I will be
like the Most High
(Isa. xiv. 14),
not like the Most Holy. “I am the strong God, and therefore will
not be contradicted, because I cannot be controlled. I sit in the
seat of God; I sit as high as God, my throne equal with his.
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet–Cæsar divides
dominion with Jove. I sit as safely as God, as safely in the
heart of the seas, and as far out of the reach of danger, as he in
the height of heaven.” He thinks his guards of men of war about
his throne as pompous and potent as the hosts of angels that are about
the throne of God. He is put in mind of his meanness and mortality,
and, since he needs to be told, he shall be told, that self-evident
truth, Thou art a man, and not God, a depending creature; thou
art flesh, and not spirit,
Isa. xxxi. 3.
Note, Men must be made to know that they are but men,
Ps. ix. 20.
The greatest wits, the greatest potentates, the greatest saints, are
men, and not gods. Jesus Christ was both God and man. The king
of Tyre, though he has such a mighty influence upon all about him, and
with the help of his riches bears a mighty sway, though he has tribute
and presents brought to his court with as much devotion as if they were
sacrifices to his altar, though he is flattered by his courtiers and
made a god of by his poets, yet, after all, he is but a man; he
knows it; he fears it. But he sets his heart as the heart of
God; “Thou hast conceited thyself to be a god, hast compared
thyself with God, thinking thyself as wise and strong, and as fit to
govern the world, as he.” It was the ruin of our first parents, and
ours in them, that they would be as gods,
Gen. iii. 5.
And still that corrupt nature which inclines men to set up themselves
as their own masters, to do what they will, and their own carvers, to
have what they will, their own end, to live to themselves, and their
own felicity, to enjoy themselves, sets their hearts as the heart of
God, invades his prerogatives, and catches at the flowers of his
crown–a presumption that cannot go unpunished.
2. We are here told what it was that he was proud of.
(1.) His wisdom. It is probable that this prince of Tyre was a man of
very good natural parts, a philosopher, and well read in all the parts
of learning that were then in vogue, at least a politician, and one
that had great dexterity in managing the affairs of state. And then he
thought himself wiser than Daniel,
v. 3.
We found, before, that Daniel, though now but a young man, was
celebrated for his prevalency in prayer,
Here we find he was famous for his prudence in the management of the
affairs of this world, a great scholar and statesman, and withal a
great saint, and yet not a prince, but a poor captive. It was strange
that under such external disadvantages his lustre should shine forth,
so that he had become wise to a proverb. When the king of Tyre
dreams himself to be a god he says, I am wiser than Daniel. There is
no secret that they can hide from thee. Probably he challenged all
about him to prove him with questions, as Solomon was proved,
and he had unriddled all their enigmas, had solved all their problems,
and none of them all could puzzle him. He had perhaps been successful
in discovering plots, and diving into the counsels of the neighbouring
princes, and therefore thought himself omniscient, and that no thought
could be withholden from him; therefore he said, I am a god.
Note, Knowledge puffeth up; it is hard to know much and not to
know it too well and to be elevated with it. He that was wiser than
Daniel was prouder than Lucifer. Those therefore that are knowing
must study to be humble and to evidence that they are so.
(2.) His wealth. That way his wisdom led him; it is not said that by
his wisdom he searched into the arcana either of nature or government,
modelled the state better than it was, or made better laws, or advanced
the interests of the commonwealth of learning; but his wisdom and
understanding were of use to him in traffic. As some of the
kings of Judah loved husbandry
so the king of Tyre loved merchandise, and by it he got riches,
increased his riches, and filled his treasures with gold and
silver,
v. 4, 5.
See what the wisdom of this world is; those are cried up as the wisest
men that know how to get money and by right or wrong to raise estates;
and yet really this their way is their folly,
Ps. xlix. 13.
It was the folly of the king of Tyre,
[1.] That he attributed the increase of his wealth to himself and not
to the providence of God, forgetting him who gave him power to get
wealth,
Deut. viii. 17, 18.
[2.] That he thought himself a wise man because he was a rich man;
whereas a fool may have an estate
(Eccl. ii. 19),
yea, and a fool may get an estate, for the world has been often
observed to favour such, when bread is not to the wise,
Eccl. ix. 11.
[3.] That his heart was lifted up because of his riches, because
of the increase of his wealth, which made him so haughty and secure, so
insolent and imperious, and which set his heart as the heart of
God. The man of sin, when he had a great deal of worldly
pomp and power, showed himself as a god,
2 Thess. ii. 4.
Those who are rich in this world have therefore need to charge that
upon themselves which the word of God charges upon them, that they
be not high-minded,
1 Tim. vi. 17.
II. Since pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before
a fall, he must bell him of that destruction, of that fall, which
was now hastening on as the just punishment of his presumption in
setting up himself a rival with God. “Because thou hast pretended to
be a god
(v. 6),
therefore thou shalt not be long a man,”
v. 7.
Observe here,
1. The instruments of his destruction: I will bring strangers upon
thee–the Chaldeans, whom we do not find mentioned among the many
nations and countries that traded with Tyre,
If any of those nations had been brought against it, they would have
had some compassion upon it, for old acquaintance-sake; but these
strangers will have none. They are people of a strange language,
which the king of Tyre himself, wise as he is, perhaps understands not.
They are the terrible of the nations; it was an army made up of
many nations, and it was at this time the most formidable both for
strength and fury. These God has at command, and these he will bring
upon the king of Tyre.
2. The extremity of the destruction: They shall draw their swords
against the beauty of thy wisdom
(v. 7),
against all those things which thou gloriest in as thy beauty and the
production of thy wisdom. Note, It is just with God that our enemies
should make that their prey which we have made our pride. The king of
Tyre’s palace, his treasury, his city, his navy, his army, these he
glories in as his brightness, these, he thinks, made him illustrious
and glorious as a god on earth. But all these the victorious enemy
shall defile, shall deface, shall deform. He thought them sacred,
things that none durst touch; but the conquerors shall seize them as
common things, and spoil the brightness of them. But, whatever becomes
of what he has, surely his person is sacred. No
(v. 8):
They shall bring thee down to the pit, to the grave; thou shalt
die the death. And,
(1.) It shall not be an honourable death, but an ignominious one. He
shall be so vilified in his death that he may despair of being deified
after his death. He shall die the deaths of those that are slain in
the midst of the seas, that have no honour done them at their
death, but their dead bodies are immediately thrown overboard, without
any ceremony or mark of distinction, to be a feast for the fish. Tyre
is likely to be destroyed in the midst of the sea
and the prince of Tyre shall fare no better than the people.
(2.) It shall not be a happy death, but a miserable one. He shall
die the deaths of the uncircumcised
(v. 10),
of those that are strangers to God and not in covenant with him, and
therefore die under his wrath and curse. It is deaths, a double
death, temporal and eternal, the death both of body and soul. He shall
die the second death; that is dying miserably indeed. The
sentence of death here passed upon the king of Tyre is ratified by a
divine authority: I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And what
he has said he will do. None can gainsay it, nor will he unsay it.
3. The effectual disproof that this will be of all his pretensions to
deity
(v. 9):
“When the conqueror sets his sword to thy breast, and thou seest no way
of escape, wilt thou then say, I am God? Wilt thou then have
such a conceit of thyself as thou now hast? No; thy being overpowered
by death, and by the fear of it, will force thee to own that thou art
not a god, but a weak, timorous, trembling, dying man. In the hand
of him that slays thee (in the hand of God, and of the instruments
that he employed) thou shalt be a man, and not God, utterly
unable to resist, and help thyself.” I have said, You are gods; but
you shall die like men,
Ps. lxxxii. 6, 7.
Note, Those who pretend to be rivals with God shall be forced one way
or other to let fall their claims. Death at furthest, when we come into
his hand, will make us know that we are men.
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11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus,
and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the
sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious
stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond,
the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald,
and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and
of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast
created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set
thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast
walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast
created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the
midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I
will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will
destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of
fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast
corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast
thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may
behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I
bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,
and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all
them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished
at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any
more.
As after the prediction of the ruin of Tyre
followed a pathetic lamentation for it
(ch. xxvii.),
so after the ruin of the king of Tyre is foretold it is bewailed.
I. This is commonly understood of the prince who then reigned over
Tyre, spoken to,
v. 2.
His name was Ethbaal, or Ithobalus, as Diodorus Siculus
calls him that was king of Tyre when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it. He
was, it seems, upon all external accounts an accomplished man, very
great and famous; but his iniquity was his ruin. Many expositors have
suggested that besides the literal sense of this lamentation there is
an allegory in it, and that it is an allusion to the fall of the angels
that sinned, who undid themselves by their pride. And (as is usual in
texts that have a mystical meaning) some passages here refer primarily
to the king of Tyre, as that of his merchandises, others to the angels,
as that of being in the holy mountain of God. But, if there be
any thing mystical in it (as perhaps there may), I shall rather refer
it to the fall of Adam, which seems to be glanced at,
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God, and that in the day thou
wast created.
II. Some think that by the king of Tyre is meant the whole royal
family, this including also the foregoing kings, and looking as far
back as Hiram, king of Tyre. The then governor is called prince
(v. 2);
but he that is here lamented is called king. The court of Tyre
with its kings had for many ages been famous; but sin ruins it. Now we
may observe two things here:–
1. What was the renown of the king of Tyre. He is here spoken of as
having lived in great splendour,
He as a man, but it is here owned that he was a very considerable man
and one that made a mighty figure in his day.
(1.) He far exceeded other men. Hiram and other kings of Tyre had done
so in their time; and the reigning king perhaps had not come short of
any of them: Thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in
beauty. But the powers of human nature and the prosperity of human
life seemed in him to be at the highest pitch. He was looked upon to
be as wise as the reason of men could make him, and as happy as the
wealth of this world and the enjoyment of it could make him; in him you
might see the utmost that both could do; and therefore seal up the
sum, for nothing can be added; he is a complete man, perfect in
suo genere–in his kind.
(2.) He seemed to be as wise and happy as Adam in innocency
(v. 13):
“Thou hast been in Eden, even in the garden of God; thou
hast lived as it were in paradise all thy days, hast had a full
enjoyment of every thing that is good for food or pleasant to
the eyes, and an uncontroverted dominion over all about thee, as
Adam had.” One instance of the magnificence of the king of Tyre is,
that he outdid all others princes in jewels, which those have the
greatest plenty of that trade most abroad, as he did: Every precious
stone was his covering. There is a great variety of precious
stones; but he had of every sort and in such plenty that besides what
were treasured up in his cabinet, and were the ornaments of his crown,
he had his clothes trimmed with them; they were his covering.
Nay
(v. 14),
he walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, that
is, these precious stones, which glittered and sparkled like fire. His
rooms were in a manner set round with jewels, so that he walked in the
midst of them, and then fancied himself as glorious as if, like God, he
had been surrounded by so many angels, who are compared to a flame
of fire. And, if he be such an admirer of precious stones as to
think them as bright as angels, no wonder that he is such an admirer of
himself as to think himself as great as God. Nine several sorts of
previous stones are here named, which were all in the high priest’s
ephod. Perhaps they are particularly named because he, in his pride,
used to speak particularly of them, and tell those about him, with a
great deal of foolish pleasure, “This is such a precious stone, of such
a value, and so and so are its virtues.” Thus is he upbraided with his
vanity. Gold is mentioned last, as far inferior in value to
those precious stones; and he used to speak of it accordingly. Another
thing that made him think his palace a paradise was the curious music
he had, the tabrets and pipes, hand-instruments and
wind-instruments. The workmanship of these was extraordinary,
and they were prepared for him on purpose; prepared in thee, the
pronoun is feminine–in thee, O Tyre! or it denotes that the
king was effeminate in doting on such things. They were prepared in
the day he was created, that is, either born, or created king; they
were made on purpose to celebrate the joys either of his birth-day or
of his coronation-day. These he prided himself much in, and would have
all that came to see his palace take notice of them.
(3.) He looked like an incarnate angel
(v. 14):
Thou art the anointed cherub that covers or protects;
that is, he looked upon himself as a guardian angel to his people, so
bright, so strong, so faithful, appointed to this office and qualified
for it. Anointed kings should be to their subjects as anointed
cherubim, that cover them with the wings of their power; and, when they
are such, God will own them. Their advancement was from him: I have
set thee so. Some think, because mention was made of Eden, that it
refers to the cherub set on the east of Eden to cover it,
He thought himself as able to guard his city from all invaders as that
angel was for his charge. Or it may refer to the cherubim in the most
holy place, whose wings covered the ark; he thought himself as bright
as one of them.
(4.) He appeared in as much splendour as the high priest when he was
clothed with his garments for glory and beauty: “Thou wast upon the
holy mountain of God, as president of the temple built on that holy
mountain; thou didst look as great, and with as much majesty and
authority, as ever the high priest did when he walked in the temple,
which was garnished with precious stones
and had his habit on, which had precious stones both in the breast and
on the shoulders; in that he seemed to walk in the midst of the
stones of fire.” Thus glorious is the king of Tyre; at least he
thinks himself so.
2. Let us now see what was the ruin of the king of Tyre, what it was
that stained his glory and laid all this honour in the dust
(v. 15):
“Thou wast perfect in thy ways; thou didst prosper in all thy
affairs and every thing went well with thee; thou hadst not only a
clear, but a bright reputation, from the day thou wast created,
the day of thy accession to the throne, till iniquity was found in
thee; and that spoiled all.” This may perhaps allude to the
deplorable case of the angels that fell, and of our first parents, both
of whom were perfect in their ways till iniquity was found in
them. And when iniquity was once found in him it increased;
he grew worse and worse, as appears
(v. 18):
“Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries; thou hast lost the benefit
of all that which thou thoughtest sacred, and in which, as in a
sanctuary, thou thoughtest to take refuge; these thou hast
defiled, and so exposed thyself by the multitude of thy
iniquities.” Now observe,
(1.) What the iniquity was that was the ruin of the king of Tyre.
[1.] The iniquity of his traffic (so it is called,
v. 18),
both his and his people’s, for their sin is charged upon him, because
he connived at it and set them a bad example
(v. 16):
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of
thee with violence, and thus thou hast sinned. The king had
so much to do with his merchandise, and was so wholly intent upon the
gains of that, that he took no care to do justice, to give redress to
those that suffered wrong and to protect them from violence; nay, in
the multiplicity of business, wrong was done to many by oversight; and
in his dealings he made use of his power to invade the rights of those
he dealt with. Note, Those that have much to do in the world are in
great danger of doing much amiss; and it is hard to deal with many
without violence to some. Trades are called mysteries; but too many
make them mysteries of iniquity.
[2.] His pride and vain-glory
(v. 17):
“Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou wast in
love with thyself, and thy own shadow. And thus thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of the brightness, the pomp and splendour,
wherein thou livedst.” He gazed so much upon this that it dazzled his
eyes and prevented him from seeing his way. He appeared so puffed up
with his greatness that it bereaved him both of his wisdom and of the
reputation of it. He really became a fool in glorying. Those
make a bad bargain for themselves that part with their wisdom for the
gratifying of their gaiety, and, to please a vain humour, lose a real
excellency.
(2.) What the ruin was that this iniquity brought him to.
[1.] He was thrown out of his dignity and dislodged from his palace,
which he took to be his paradise and temple
(v. 16):
I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. His
kingly power was high as a mountain, setting him above others;
it was a mountain of God, for the powers that be are ordained of
God, and have something in them that is sacred; but, having abused his
power, he is reckoned profane, and is therefore deposed and expelled.
He disgraces the crown he wears, and so has forfeited it, and shall be
destroyed from the midst of the stones of fire, the precious
stones with which his palace was garnished, as the temple was; and they
shall be no protection to him.
[2.] He was exposed to contempt and disgrace, and trampled upon by his
neighbours: “I will cast thee to the ground
(v. 17),
will cast thee among the pavement-stones, from the midst of the
precious stones, and will lay thee a rueful spectacle
before kings, that they may behold thee and take warning by thee
not to be proud and oppressive.”
[3.] He was quite consumed, his city and he in it: I will bring
forth a fire from the midst of thee. The conquerors, when they have
plundered the city, will kindle a fire in the heart of it, which shall
lay it, and the palace particularly, in ashes. Or it may be taken more
generally for the fire of God’s judgments, which shall devour both
prince and people, and bring all the glory of both to ashes upon the
earth; and this fire shall be brought forth from the midst of
thee. All God’s judgments upon sinners take rise from themselves;
they are devoured by a fire of their own kindling.
[4.] He was hereby made a terrible example of divine vengeance. Thus he
is reduced in the sight of all those that behold him
(v. 18):
Those that know him shall be astonished at him, and shall wonder
how one that stood so high could be brought so low. The king of Tyre’s
palace, like the temple at Jerusalem, when it is destroyed shall be
an astonishment and a hissing,
2 Chron. vii. 20, 21.
So fell the king of Tyre.
| The Fall of Zidon. | B. C. 588. |
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20 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against
it,
22 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against
thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and
they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed
judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her
streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by
the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house
of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about
them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the
Lord GOD.
25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the
house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered,
and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then
shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant
Jacob.
26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses,
and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when
I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round
about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
God’s glory is his great end, both in all the good and in all the evil
which proceed out of the mouth of the Most High; so we find in
these verses.
1. God will be glorified in the destruction of Zidon, a city that lay
near to Tyre, was more ancient, but not so considerable, had a
dependence upon it and stood and fell with it. God says here, I am
against thee, O Zidon! and I will be glorified in the midst of
thee,
v. 22.
And again, “Those that would not know be gentler methods shall be made
to know that I am the Lord, and I alone, and that I am a just
and jealous God, when I shall have executed judgments in her,
destroying judgments, when I shall have done execution according to
justice and according to the sentence passed, and so shall be
sanctified in her.” The Zidonians, it should seem, were more
addicted to idolatry than the Tyrians were, who, being men of business
and large conversation, were less under the power of bigotry and
superstition. The Zidonians were noted for the worship of Ashtaroth;
Solomon introduced it,
Jezebel was daughter to the king of Zidon, who brought the worship of
Baal into Israel
so that God had been much dishonoured by the Zidonians. Now, says he,
I will be glorified, I will be sanctified. The Zidonians were
borderers upon the land of Israel, where God was known, and where they
might have got the knowledge of him and have learned to glorify him;
but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their
idols. Note, When God is sanctified he is glorified, for his holiness
is his glory; and those whom he is not sanctified and glorified by he
will be sanctified and glorified upon, by executing judgments upon
them, which declare him a just avenger of his own and his people’s
injured honour. The judgments that shall be executed upon Zidon are war
and pestilence, two wasting depopulating judgments,
They are God’s messengers, which he sends on his errands, and they
shall accomplish that for which he sends them. Pestilence and
blood shall be sent into her streets; there the dead
bodies of those shall lie who perished, some by the plague, occasioned
perhaps through ill diet when the city was besieged, and some by the
sword of the enemy, most likely the Chaldean armies, when the city was
taken, and all were put to the sword. Thus the wounded shall be judged;
when they are dying of their wounds they shall judge themselves, and
others shall say, They justly fall. Or, as some read it, They shall
be punished by the sword, that sword which has commission to
destroy on every side. It is God that judges, and he will
overcome. Nor is it Tyre and Zidon only on which God would execute
judgments, but on all those that despised his people Israel, and
triumphed in their calamities; for this was now God’s controversy with
the nations that were round about them,
v. 26.
Note, When God’s people are under his correcting hand for their faults
he takes care, as he did concerning malefactors that were scourged,
that they shall not seem vile to those that are about them, and
therefore takes it ill of those who despise them and so help forward
the affliction when he is but a little displeased,
Zech. i. 15.
God regards them even in their low estate; and therefore let not men
despise them.
2. God will be glorified in the restoration of his people to their
former safety and prosperity. God had been dishonoured by the sins of
his people, and their sufferings too had given occasion to the enemy to
blaspheme
(Isa. lii. 5);
but God will now both cure them of their sins and ease them of their
troubles, and so will be sanctified in them in the sight of the
heathen, will recover the honour of his holiness, to the
satisfaction of all the world,
For,
(1.) They shall return to the possession of their own land again: I
will gather the house of Israel out of their dispersions, in answer
to that prayer
(Ps. cvi. 27),
Save us, O Lord our God! and gather us from among the heathen;
and in pursuance of that promise
(Deut. xxx. 4),
Thence will the Lord thy God gather thee. Being gathered, they
shall be brought in a body, to dwell in the land that I have given
to my servant Jacob. God had an eye to the ancient grant, in
bringing them back, for that remained in force, and the discontinuance
of the possession was not a defeasance of the right. He that gave it
will again give it.
(2.) They shall enjoy great tranquillity there. When those that have
been vexatious to them are taken off they shall live in quietness;
there shall be no more a pricking brier nor a grieving thorn,
v. 24.
They shall have a happy settlement, for they shall build houses,
and plant vineyards; and they shall enjoy a happy security and
serenity there; they shall dwell safely, shall dwell with
confidence, and there shall be none to disquiet them or make them
afraid,
This never had full accomplishment in the body of that people, for
after their return out of captivity they were ever and anon molested by
some bad neighbour or other. Nor has the gospel-church been ever quite
free from pricking briers and grieving thorns; yet sometimes the
church has rest, and believers always dwell safely under the divine
protection and may be quiet from the fear of evil. But the full
accomplishment of this promise is reserved for the heavenly Canaan,
when all the saints shall be gathered together, and every thing that
offends shall be removed, and all griefs and fears for ever
banished.
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