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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. XXXIII.
The prophet has now come off his circuit, which he went as judge, in
God’s name, to try and pass sentence upon the neighbouring nations,
and, having finished with them, and read them all their doom, in the
eight chapters foregoing, he now returns to the children of his people,
and receives further instructions what to say to them.
I. He must let them know what office he was in among them as a prophet,
that he was a watchman, and had received a charge concerning them, for
which he was accountable,
The substance of this we had before,
&c.
II. He must let them know upon what terms they stand with God, that
they are upon their trial, upon their good behaviour, that if a wicked
man repent he shall not perish, but that if a righteous man apostatize
he shall perish,
III. Here is a particular message sent to those who yet remained in the
land of Israel, and (which is very strange) grew secure there, and
confident that they should take root there again, to tell them that
their hopes would fail them because they persisted in their sins,
IV. Here is a rebuke to those who personally attended Ezekiel’s
ministry, but were not sincere in their professions of devotion,
| The Watchman’s Office; The Prophet a Watchman to Israel. | B. C. 587. |
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1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto
them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the
land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the
trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh
not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood
shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his
blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver
his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the
trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and
take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the
house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth,
and warn them from me.
8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely
die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at thine hand.
9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from
it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity;
but thou hast delivered thy soul.
The prophet had been, by express order from God, taken off from
prophesying to the Jews, just then when the news came that Jerusalem
was invested, and close siege laid to it,
But now that Jerusalem is taken, two years after, he is appointed again
to direct his speech to them; and there his commission is renewed. If
God had abandoned them quite, he would not have sent prophets to them;
nor, if he had not had mercy in store for them, would he have shown
them such things as these. In these verses we have,
I. The office of a watchman laid down, the trust reposed in him, the
charge given him, and the conditions adjusted between him and those
that employ him,
1. It is supposed to be a public danger that gives occasion for the
appointing of a watchman–when God brings the sword upon a land,
v. 2.
The sword of war, whenever it comes upon a land, is of God’s bringing;
it is the sword of the Lord, of his justice, how unjustly soever
men draw it. At such a time, when a country is in fear of a foreign
invasion, that they may be informed of all the motions of the enemy,
may not be surprised with an attack, but may have early notice of it,
in order to their being at their arms and in readiness to give the
invader a warm reception, they set a man of their coast, some
likely person, that lives upon the borders of their country, where the
threatened danger is expected, and is therefore well acquainted with
all the avenues of it, and make him their watchman. Thus
wise are the children of this world in their generation.
Note, One man may be of public service to a whole country. Princes and
statesmen are the watchmen of a kingdom; they are continually to employ
themselves, and, if occasion be, as watchmen, to expose themselves for
the public safety.
2. It is supposed to be a public trust that is lodged in the watchman
and that he is accountable to the public for the discharge of it. His
business is,
(1.) To discover the approaches and advances of the enemy; and
therefore he must not be blind nor asleep, for then he cannot see
the sword coming.
(2.) To give notice of them immediately by sound of trumpet, or, as
sentinels among us, by the discharge of a gun, as a signal of danger. A
special trust and confidence is reposed in him by those that set him to
be their watchman that he will faithfully do these two things; and they
venture their lives upon his fidelity. Now,
[1.] If he do his part, if he be betimes aware of all the dangers that
fall within his cognizance, and give warning of them, he has discharged
his trust, and has not only delivered his soul, but earned his
wages. If the people do not take warning, if they either will not
believe the notice he gives them, will not believe the danger to be so
great or so near as really it is, or will not regard it, and so are
surprised by the enemy in their security, it is their own fault; the
blame is not to be laid upon the watchman, but their blood is upon
their own head. If any person goes presumptuously into the mouth of
danger, though he heard the sound of the trumpet, and was told by it
where the danger was, and so the sword comes and takes him
away in his folly, he is felo de se–a suicide; foolish man,
he has destroyed himself. But,
[2.] If the watchman do not do his duty, if he might have seen the
danger, and did not, but was asleep, or heedless, or looking another
way, or if he did see the danger (for so the case is put here)
and shifted only for his own safety, and blew not the trumpet to
warn the people, so that some are surprised and cut off in
their iniquity
(v. 6),
cut off suddenly, without having time to cry, Lord, have mercy upon
me, time to repent and make their peace with God (which makes the
matter much the worse, that the poor creature is taken away in his
iniquity), his blood shall be required at the watchman’s
hand; he shall be found guilty of his death, because he did not
give him warning of his danger. But if the watchman do his part,
and the people do theirs, all is well; both he that gives warning and
he that takes warning have delivered their souls.
II. The application of this to the prophet,
1. He is a watchman to the house of Israel. He had occasionally
given warning to the nations about, but to the house of Israel he was a
watchman by office, for they were the children of the prophets and
the covenant They did not set him for a watchman, as the
people of the land,
(for they were not so wise for their souls as to secure the welfare of
them, as they would have been for the protection of their temporal
interests); but God did it for them; he appointed them a watchman.
2. His business as a watchman is to give warning to sinners of their
misery and danger by reason of sin. This is the word he must hear
from God’s mouth and speak to them.
(1.) God has said, The wicked man shall surely die; he shall be
miserable. Unless he repent, he shall be cut off from God and all
comfort and hope in him, shall be cut off from all good. He shall fall
and lie for ever under the wrath of God, which is the death of the
soul, as his favour is its life. The righteous God has said it, and
will never unsay it, nor can all the world gainsay it, that the
wages of sin is death. Sin, when it is finished, brings froth
death. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, not only against
wicked nations, speaking ruin to them as nations, but against wicked
persons, speaking ruin to them in their personal capacity, their
personal interests, which pass into the other world and last to
eternity, as national interests do not.
(2.) It is the will of God that the wicked man should be warned of
this: Warn them from me. This intimates that there is a
possibility of preventing it, else it were a jest to give warning of
it; nay, and that God is desirous it should be prevented. Sinners are
therefore warned of the wrath to come, that they may flee
from it,
Matt. iii. 7.
(3.) It is the work of ministers to give him warning, to say to the
wicked, It shall be ill with thee,
Isa. iii. 11.
God ways in general, The soul that sinneth it shall die. The
minister’s business is to apply this to particular persons, and to say,
“O wicked man! thou shalt surely die, whoever thou art; if thou
go on still in thy trespasses, they will inevitably be thy ruin. O
adulterer! O robber! O drunkard! O swearer! O sabbath-breaker! thou
shalt surely die.” And he must say this, not in passion, to provoke
the sinner, but in compassion, to warn the wicked from hi way,
warn him to turn from it, that he may live. This is to be done
by the faithful preaching of the word in public, and by personal
application to those whose sins are open.
3. If souls perish through his neglect of his duty, he brings guilt
upon himself. “If the prophet do not warn the wicked of the ruin that
is at the end of his wicked way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; for, though the watchman did not do his part, yet the
sinner might have taken warning from the written word, from his own
conscience, and from God’s judgments upon others, by which his mouth
shall be stopped, and God will be justified in his destruction.” Note,
It will not serve impenitent sinners to plead in the great day that
their watchmen did not give them warning, that they were careless and
unfaithful; for, though they were so, it will be made to appear that
God left not himself without witness. “But he shall not perish
alone in his iniquity; the watchman also shall be called to an account:
His blood will I require at thy hand. The blind leader shall
fall with the blind follower into the ditch.” See what a desire God has
of the salvation of sinners, in that he resents it so ill if those
concerned do not what they can to prevent their destruction. And see
what a great deal those ministers have to answer for another day who
palliate sin, and flatter sinners in their evil way, and by their
wicked lives countenance and harden them in their wickedness, and
encourage them to believe that they shall have peace though they go
on.
4. If he do his duty, he may take the comfort of it, though he do not
see the success of it
(v. 9):
“If thou warn the wicked of his way, if thou tell him faithfully
what will be the end thereof, and call him earnestly to turn from it,
and he do not turn, but persist in it, he shall die in his
iniquity, and the fair warning given him will be an aggravation of
his sin and ruin; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Note, It is
a comfort to ministers that they may through grace save themselves,
though they cannot be instrumental to save so many as they wish of
those that hear them.
| The Cavils of the People Answered. | B. C. 587. |
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10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of
Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins
be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn
from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for
why will ye die, O house of Israel?
12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy
people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him
in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the
wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for
his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely
live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity,
all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his
iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if
he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had
robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing
iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned
unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall
surely live.
17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is
not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that
which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of
Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
These verses are the substance of what we had before
&c.) and they are so full and express a declaration of the terms on
which people stand with God (as the former were of the terms on which
ministers stand) that it is no wonder that they are here repeated, as
those were, though we had the substance of them before. Observe
here,
I. The cavils of the people against God’s proceedings with them. God
was now in his providence contending with them, but their uncircumcised
hearts were not as yet humbled, for they were industrious to justify
themselves, though thereby they reflected on God. Two things they
insisted upon, in their reproaches of God, and in both they added
iniquity to their sin and misery to their punishment:–
1. They quarrelled with his promises and favours, as having no kindness
nor sincerity in them,
God had set life before them, but they plead that he had set it
out of their reach, and therefore did but mock them with the mention of
it. The prophet had said, some time ago
(ch. xxiv. 23),
You shall pine away for your iniquities; with that word he had
concluded his threatenings against Judah and Jerusalem; and this they
now upbraided him with, as if it had been spoken absolutely, to drive
them to despair; whereas it was spoken conditionally, to bring them to
repentance. Thus are the sayings of God’s ministers perverted by men of
corrupt minds, who are inclined to pick quarrels. He puts them in hopes
of life and happiness; and herein they would make him contradict
himself; “for” (say they) “if our transgressions and our sins be
upon us, as thou hast often told us they are, and if we must, as
thou sayest, pine away in them, and wear out a miserable
captivity in a fruitless repentance, how shall we then live? If
this be our doom, there is no remedy. We die, we perish, we all
perish.” Note, It is very common for those that have been hardened
with presumption when they were warned against sin to sink into despair
when they are called to repent, and to conclude there is no hope of
life for them.
2. They quarrelled with his threatenings and judgments, as having no
justice or equity in them. They said, The way of the Lord is not
equal
(v. 17, 20),
suggesting that God was partial in his proceedings, that with him there
was respect of persons and that he was more severe against sin and
sinners than there was cause.
II. Here is a satisfactory answer given to both these cavils.
1. Those that despaired of finding mercy with God are here answered
with a solemn declaration of God’s readiness to show mercy,
When they spoke of pining away in their iniquity God sent the
prophet to them, with all speed, to tell them that though their case
was sad it was not desperate, but there was yet hope in Israel.
(1.) It is certain that God has no delight in the ruin of sinners, nor
does he desire it. If they will destroy themselves, he will glorify
himself in it, but he has no pleasure in it, but would rather they
should turn and live, for his goodness is that attribute of his
which is most his glory, which is most his delight. He would rather
sinners should turn and live than go on and die. He has said it, he has
sworn it, that by these two immutable things, in both which it is
impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. We have
his word and his oath; and, since he could swear by no greater, he
swears by himself: As I live. They questioned whether they should
live, though they did repent and reform; yea, says God, as sure
as I live, true penitents shall live also; for their life is
hid with Christ in God.
(2.) It is certain that God is sincere and in earnest in the calls he
gives sinners to repent: Turn you, turn you, from your evil way.
To repent is to turn from our evil way; this God requires sinners to
do; this he urges them to do by repeated pressing instances: Turn
you, turn you. O that they would be prevailed with to turn, to turn
quickly, without delay! This he will enable them to do if they will but
frame their doings to turn to the Lord,
Hos. v. 4.
For he has said, I will pour out my Spirit unto you,
Prov. i. 23.
And in this he will accept of them; for it is not only what he
commands, but what he courts them to.
(3.) It is certain that, if sinners perish in their impenitency, it is
owing to themselves; they die because they will die; and herein they
act most absurdly and unreasonably: Why will you die, O house of
Israel? God would have heard them, and they would not be heard.
2. Those that despaired of finding justice with God are here answered
with a solemn declaration of the rule of judgment which God would go by
in dealing with the children of men, which carries along with it the
evidence of its own equity; he that runs may read the justice of it.
The Jewish nation, as a nation, was now dead; it was ruined to
all intents and purposes. The prophet must therefore deal with
particular persons, and the rule of judgment concerning them is much
like that concerning a nation,
If God speak concerning it to build and to plant, and it do wickedly,
he will recall his favours and leave it to ruin. But if he speak
concerning it to pluck up and destroy, and it repent, he will revoke
the sentence and deliver it. So it is here. In short, The most
plausible professors, if they apostatize, shall certainly perish for
ever in their apostasy from God; and the most notorious sinners, if
they repent, shall certainly be happy for ever in their return to God.
This is here repeated again and again, because it ought to be again and
again considered, and preached over to our own hearts. This was
necessary to be inculcated upon this stupid senseless people, that
said, The way of the Lord is not equal; for these rules of
judgment are so plainly just that they need no other confirmation of
them than the repetition of them.
(1.) If those that have made a great profession of religion throw off
their profession, quit the good ways of God and grow loose and carnal,
sensual and worldly, the profession they made and all the religious
performances with which they had for a great while kept up the credit
of their profession shall stand them in no stead, but they shall
certainly perish in their iniquity,
[1.] God says to the righteous man that he shall surely
live,
v. 13.
He says it by his word, by his ministers. He that lives regularly, his
own heart tells him, his neighbours tell him, He shall live. Surely
such a man as this cannot but be happy. And it is certain, if he
proceed and persevere in his righteousness, and if, in order to that,
he be upright and sincere in it, if he be really as good as he seems to
be, he shall live; he shall continue in the love of God and be for ever
happy in that love.
[2.] Righteous men, who have very good hopes of themselves and whom
others have a very good opinion of, are yet in danger of turning to
iniquity by trusting to their righteousness. So the case is put here:
If he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, and
come to make a trade of sin–if he not only take a false step, but turn
aside into a false way and persist in it. This may possibly be the
case of a righteous man, and it is the effect of his trusting to his
own righteousness. Note, Many eminent professors have been ruined by a
proud conceitedness of themselves and confidence in themselves. He
trust to the merit of his own righteousness, and thinks he has already
made God so much his debtor that now he may venture to commit iniquity,
for he has righteousness enough in stock to make amends for it; he
fancies that whatever evil deeds he may do hereafter he can be in no
danger from them, having so many good deeds beforehand to
counterbalance them. Or, He trust to the strength of his own
righteousness, thinks himself now so well established in a course of
virtue that he may thrust himself into any temptation and it cannot
overcome him, and so by presuming on his own sufficiency he is brought
to commit iniquity. By making bold on the confines of sin he is drawn
at length into the depths of hell. This ruined the Pharisees; they
trusted to themselves that they were righteous, and that their
long prayers, and fasting twice in the week, would atone for their
devouring widows’ houses.
[3.] If righteous men turn to iniquity, and return not to their
righteousness, they shall certainly perish in their iniquity, and all
the righteousness they have formerly done, all their prayers, and all
their alms, shall be forgotten. No mention shall be made, no
remembrance had, of their good deeds; they shall be overlooked, as if
they had never been. The righteousness of the righteous shall not
deliver him from the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, in
the day of his transgression. When he becomes a traitor and a
rebel, and takes up arms against his rightful Sovereign, it will not
serve for him to plead in his own defence that formerly he was a loyal
subject, and did many good services to the government. No; he shall
not be able to live. The remembrance of his former righteousness
shall be no satisfaction either to God’s justice or his own conscience
in the day that he sins, but rather shall, in the estimate of
both, highly aggravate the sin and folly of his apostasy. And therefore
for his iniquity that he committed he shall die,
v. 13.
And again
(v. 18),
He shall even die thereby; and it is owing to himself.
(2.) If those that have lived a wicked life repent and reform, forsake
their wicked ways and become religious, their sins shall be pardoned,
and they shall be justified and saved, if they persevere in their
reformation.
[1.] God says to the wicked, “Thou shalt surely die. The way
that thou art in leads to destruction. The wages of thy sin is death,
and thy iniquity will shortly be thy ruin.” It was said to the
righteous man, Thou shalt surely live, for his encouragement to
proceed and persevere in the way of righteousness; but he made an ill
use of it, and was emboldened by it to commit iniquity. It was said to
the wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, for warning to him not to
persist in his wicked ways; and he makes a good use of it, and is
quickened thereby to return to God and duty. Thus even the threatenings
of the word are to some, by the grace of God, a savour of life unto
life, while even the promises of the word become to others, by their
own corruption, a savour of death unto death. When God says to the
wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, die eternally, it is to
frighten him, not out of his wits, but out of his sins.
[2.] There is many a wicked man who was hastening apace to his own
destruction who yet is wrought upon by the grace of God to return and
repent, and live a holy life. He turns from his sin
(v. 14),
and is resolved that he will have no more to do with it; and, as an
evidence of his repentance for wrong done, he restores the
pledge
(v. 15)
which he had taken uncharitably from the poor, he gives again that
which he had robbed and taken unjustly from the rich. Nor does he
only cease to do evil, but he learns to do well; he
does that which is lawful and right, and makes conscience of his
duty both to God and man–a great change, since, awhile ago, he neither
feared God nor regarded man. But many such amazing changes, and blessed
ones, have been wrought by the power of divine grace. He that was going
on in the paths of death and the destroyer now walks in the statues
of life, in the way of God’s commandments, which has both life in
it
and life at the end of it,
And in this good way he perseveres without committing iniquity,
though not free from remaining infirmity, yet under the dominion of no
iniquity. He repents not of his repentance, nor returns to the
commission of those gross sins which he before allowed himself in.
[3.] He that does thus repent and return shall escape the ruin he was
running into, and his former sins shall be no prejudice to his
acceptance with God. Let him not pine away in his iniquity, for, if he
confess and forsake it, he shall find mercy. He shall surely live;
he shall not die,
v. 15.
Again
(v. 16),
He shall surely live. Again
(v. 19),
He has done that which is lawful and right, and he shall live
thereby. But will not his wickednesses be remembered against him?
No; he shall not be punished for them
(v. 12):
As for the wickedness of the wicked, though it was very heinous,
yet he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his
wickedness. Now that it has become his grief it shall not be his
ruin. Now that there is a settled separation between him and sin there
shall be no longer a separation between him and God. Nay, he shall not
be so much as upbraided with them
(v. 16):
None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto
him, either as a clog to his pardon or an allay to the comfort of
it, or as any blemish and diminution to the glory that is prepared for
him.
Now lay all this together, and then judge whether the way of the
Lord be not equal, whether this will not justify God in the
destruction of sinners and glorify him in the salvation of penitents.
The conclusion of the whole matter is
(v. 20):
“O you house of Israel, though you are all involved now in the
common calamity, yet there shall be a distinction of persons made in
the spiritual and eternal state, and I will judge you every one
after his ways.” Though they were sent into captivity by the lump,
good fish and bad enclosed in the same net, yet there he will separate
between the precious and the vile and will render to every man
according to his works. Therefore God’s way is equal and
unexceptionable; but, as for the children of thy people, God
turns them over to the prophet, as he did to Moses
“They are thy people; I can scarcely own them for mine.” As for them,
their way is unequal; this way which they have got of
quarrelling with God and his prophets is absurd and unreasonable. In
all disputes between God and his creatures it will certainly be found
that he is in the right and they are in the wrong.
| Message to Inhabitants of Judah; Rebuke to the Proud Jews. | B. C. 587. |
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21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in
the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one
that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city
is smitten.
22 Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore
he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came
to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more
dumb.
23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of
Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land:
but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat
with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed
blood: and shall ye possess the land?
26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile
every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land?
27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I
live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the
sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the
beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the
caves shall die of the pestilence.
28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her
strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be
desolate, that none shall pass through.
29 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid
the land most desolate because of all their abominations which
they have committed.
Here we have,
I. The tidings brought to Ezekiel of the burning of Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans. The city was burnt in the eleventh year of the captivity and
the fifth month,
Tidings hereof were brought to the prophet by one that was an
eye-witness of the destruction, in the twelfth year, and the tenth
month
(v. 21),
which was a year and almost five months after the thing was done; we
may well suppose that, there being a constant correspondence at this
time more than ever kept up between Jerusalem and Babylon, he had heard
the news long before. But this was the first time he had an account of
it from a refugee, from one who escaped, who could be particular, and
would be pathetic, in the narrative of it. And the sign given him was
the coming of such a one to him as had himself narrowly escaped the
flames
(ch. xxiv. 26):
He that escapes in that day shall come unto thee, to cause
thee to hear it with thy ears, to hear it more distinctly than
ever, from one that could say, Quæque ipse miserrima
vidi–These miserable scenes I saw.
II. The divine impressions and influences he was under, to prepare him
for those heavy tidings
(v. 22):
The hand of the Lord was upon me before he came, and had opened my
mouth to speak to the house of Israel what we had in the former
part of this chapter. And now he was no more dumb; he prophesied
now with more freedom and boldness, being by the event proved a true
prophet, to the confusion of those that contradicted him. All the
prophecies from
have relation purely to the nations about, it is probable that the
prophet, when he received them from the Lord, did not deliver them by
word of mouth, but in writing; for he could not Say to the
Ammonites, Say unto Tyrus, Say unto Pharaoh, &c., so and so, but by
letters directed to the persons concerned, as Zacharias, when he could
not speak, wrote; and herein he was as truly executing his prophetic
office as ever. Note, Even silenced ministers may be doing a great deal
of good by writing letters and making visits. But now the prophet’s
mouth is opened, that he may speak to the children of his
people. It is probable that he had, during these three years, been
continually speaking to them as a friend, putting them in mind of what
he had formerly delivered to them, but that he never spoke to them as a
prophet, by inspiration, till now, when the hand of the Lord came
upon him, renewed his commission, gave him fresh instructions, and
opened his mouth, furnished him with power to speak to the
people as he ought to speak.
III. The particular message he was entrusted with, relating to these
Jews that yet remained in the land of Israel, and inhabited
the wastes of that land,
See what work sin had made. The cities of Israel had now become
the wastes of Israel, for they lay all in ruins; some few that had
escaped the sword and captivity still continued there and began to
think of re-settling. This was so long after the destruction of
Jerusalem that it was some time before this that Gedaliah (a modest
humble man) and his friends were slain; but probably at this time
Johanan, and the proud men that joined with him, were at the
height
and before they came to a resolution to go into Egypt, wherein Jeremiah
opposed them, it is probable that the project was to establish
themselves in the wastes of the land of Israel, in which Ezekiel here
opposed them, and probably despatched the message away by the person
that brought him the news of Jerusalem’s destruction. Or, perhaps,
those here prophesied against might be some other party of Jews, that
remained in the land, hoping to take root there and to be sole masters
of it, after Johanan and his forces had gone into Egypt. Now here we
have,
1. An account of the pride of these remaining Jews, who dwelt in the
wastes of the land of Israel. Though the providence of God
concerning them had been very humbling, and still was very threatening,
yet they were intolerably haughty and secure, and promised themselves
peace. He that brought the news to the prophet that Jerusalem was
smitten could not tell him (it is likely) what these people said, but
God tells him, They say, “The land is given us for inheritance,
v. 24.
Our partners being gone, it is now all our own by survivorship, or, for
want of heirs, it comes to us as occupants; we shall now be placed
alone in the midst of the earth and have it all to ourselves.” This
argues great stupidity under the weighty hand of God, and a reigning
selfishness and narrow-spiritedness; they pleased themselves in the
ruin of their country as long as they hoped to find their own account
in it, cared not though it were all waste, so that they might
have the sole property–a poor inheritance to be proud of! They have
the impudence to compare their case with Abraham’s, glorying in this,
We have Abraham to our father. “Abraham,” say they, “was
one, one family, and he inherited the land, and lived many
years in the peaceable enjoyment of it; but we are many, many
families, more numerous than he; the land is given us for
inheritance.”
(1.) They think they can make out as good a title from God to this land
as Abraham could: “If God gave this land to him, who was but one
worshipper of him, as a reward of his service, much more will he give
it to us, who are many worshippers of him, as the reward of our
service.” This shows the great conceit they had of the own merits, as
if they were greater than those of Abraham their father, who yet was
not justified by works.
(2.) They think they can make good the possession of this land against
the Chaldeans and all others invaders, as well as Abraham could against
those that were competitors with him for it: “If he, who was but one,
could hold it, much more shall we, who are many, and have many more at
command than his 300 trained servants.” This shows the
confidence they had in their own might; they had got possession, and
were resolved to keep it.
2. A check to this pride. Since God’s providences did neither humble
them nor terrify them, he sends them a message sufficient to do
both.
(1.) To humble them, he tells them of the wickedness they still
persisted in, which rendered them utterly unworthy to possess this
land, so that they could not expect God should give it to them. They
had been followed with one judgment after another, but they had not
profited by those means of grace as might be expected; they were still
unreformed, and how could they expect that they should possess the
land? “Shall you possess the land? What! such wicked people as you
are? How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land?
Jer. iii. 19.
Surely you never reflect upon yourselves, else you would rather wonder
that you are in the land of the living than expect to possess this
land. For do you now know how bad you are?”
[1.] “You make no conscience of forbidden fruit, forbidden food: You
eat with the blood,” directly contrary to one of the precepts given
to Noah and his sons when God gave them possession of the earth,
[2.] “Idolatry, that covenant-breaking sin, that sin which the jealous
God has been in a particular manner provoked by to lay your country
waste, is still the sin that most easily besets you and which you have
a strong inclination to: You lift up your eyes towards your
idols, which is a sign that though perhaps you do not bow your knee
to them so much as you have done, yet you set your hearts upon them and
hanker after them.”
[3.] “You are as fierce, and cruel, and barbarous as ever: You shed
blood, innocent blood.”
[4.] “You confide in your own strength, your own arm, your own bow, and
have no dependence on, or regard to, God and his providence: You
stand upon your sword
(v. 26);
you think to carry all before you, and make all your own, by force of
arms.” How can those expect the inheritance of Isaac (as these did) who
are of Ishmael’s disposition, that had his hand against every
man
(Gen. xvi. 12),
and Esau’s resolution to live by his sword?
Gen. xxvii. 40.
We met with those
who, when they died, thought they could not lie easy underground unless
they had their swords under their heads. Here we meet with those who,
while they live, think they cannot stand firmly above ground unless
they have their swords under their feet, as if swords were both the
softest pillows and the strongest pillars; though it was sin, it was
sin, that first drew the sword. But, blessed be God, there are those
who know better, who stand upon the support of the divine power and
promise and lay their heads in the bosom of divine love, not
trusting in their own sword,
Ps. xliv. 3.
[5.] “You are guilty of all manner of abominations, and, particularly,
you defile every one his neighbour’s wife, which is an
abomination of the first magnitude, and shall you possess the
land? What! such vile miscreants as you?” Note, Those cannot expect
to possess the land, nor to enjoy any true comfort or happiness
here or hereafter, who live in rebellion against the Lord.
(2.) To terrify them, he tells them of the further judgments God had in
store for them, which should make them utterly unable to possess this
land, so that they could not stand it out against the enemy. Do they
say that they shall possess the land? God has said they shall not, he
has sworn it, As I live, saith the Lord. Though he has sworn
that he delights not in the death of sinners, yet he has sworn
also that those who persist in impenitency and unbelief shall not
enter into his rest.
[1.] Those that are in the cities, here called the wastes, shall
fall by the sword, either by the sword of the Chaldeans, who
come to avenge the murder of Gedaliah, or by one another’s swords, in
their intestine broils.
[2.] Those that are in the open field shall be devoured by wild
beasts, which swarmed, of course, in the country when it was
dispeopled, and there were none to master them and keep them under,
When the army of the enemy had quitted the country still there was no
safety in it. Noisome beasts constituted one of the four
sore judgments,
ch. xiv. 15.
[3.] Those that are in the forts and in the caves, that think
themselves safe in artificial or natural fastnesses, because men’s eyes
cannot discover them nor men’s darts reach them, there the arrows of
the Almighty shall find them out; they shall die of the
pestilence.
[4.] The whole land, even the land of Israel, that had been the glory
of all lands, shall be most desolate,
v. 28.
It shall be desolation, desolation, all over as desolate as
desolation itself can make it. The mountain of Israel, the
fruitful mountains, Zion itself the holy mountain not excepted,
shall be desolate, the roads unfrequented, the houses
uninhabited, that none shall pass through; as it was threatened
You shall be left few in number.
[5.] The pomp of her strength, whatever she glories in as her
pomp and trusts to as her strength, shall be made to cease.
[6.] The cause of all this was very bad; it is for all their
abominations which they have committed. It is sin that does all
this mischief, that makes nations desolate; and therefore we ought to
call it an abomination.
[7.] Yet the effect of all this will be very good: Then shall they
know that I am the Lord, am their Lord, and shall return to their
allegiance, when I have made the land most desolate. Those are
untractable unteachable indeed that are not made to know their
dependence upon God when all their creature-comforts fail them and are
made desolate.
| Hypocritical Professions. | B. C. 587. |
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30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are
talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses,
and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come,
I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the
LORD.
31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they
will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but
their heart goeth after their covetousness.
32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one
that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument:
for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall
they know that a prophet hath been among them.
The
spoke conviction to the Jews who remained in the land of Israel, who
were monuments of sparing mercy and yet returned not to the Lord; in
these verses those are reproved who were now in captivity in Babylon,
under divine rebukes, and yet were not reformed by them. They are not
indeed charged with the same gross enormities that the others are
charged with. They made some show of religion and devotion; but their
hearts were not right with God. The thing they are here accused of is
mocking the messengers of the lord, one of their measure-filling
sins, which brought this ruin upon them, and yet they were not cured of
it. Two ways they mocked the prophet Ezekiel:–
I. By invidious ill natured reflections upon him, privately among
themselves, endeavouring by all means possible to render him
despicable. The prophet did not know it, but charitably thought that
those who spoke so well to him to his face, with so much seeming
respect and deference, would surely not speak ill of him behind his
back. But God comes and tells him, The children of thy people are
still talking against thee
(v. 30),
or talking of thee, no good, I doubt. Note, Public persons are a
common theme or subject of discourse; every one takes a liberty to
censure them at pleasure. Faithful ministers know not how much ill is
said of them every day; it is well that they do not; for, if they did,
it might prove a discouragement to them in their work not to be easily
got over. God takes notice of all that is said against his ministers,
not only what is decreed against them, or sworn against them, not only
what is written against them, or spoken with solemnity and
deliberation, but of what is said against them in common talk, among
neighbours when they meet in an evening, by the walls and in the
doors of their houses, where whatever freedom of speech they use,
if they reproach and slander any of God’s ministers, God will reckon
with them for it; his prophets shall not be made the song of the
drunkards always. They had no crime to lay to the prophet’s charge, but
they loved to talk of him in a careless, scornful, bantering way; they
said, jokingly, “Come, and let us hear what is the word that comes
forth from the Lord; perhaps it will be something new, and will
entertain us, and furnish us with matter for discourse.” Note, Those
have arrived as a great pitch of profaneness who can make so great a
privilege, and so great a duty, as the preaching and hearing of the
word of God, a matter of sport and ridicule, yea though it be not done
publicly, but in private conversation among themselves. Serious things
should be spoken of seriously.
II. By dissembling with him in their attendance upon his ministry.
Hypocrites mock God and mock his prophets. But their hypocrisy is open
before God, and the day is coming when, as here, it will be laid open.
Observe here,
1. The plausible profession which these people made and the
speciousness of their pretensions. They are like those
who draw nigh to God with their mouths and honour him with their
lips, but their hearts are far from him.
(1.) They were diligent and constant in their attendance upon the means
of grace: They come unto thee as the people come. In Babylon
they had no temple or synagogue, but they went to the prophet’s house
(ch. viii. 1),
and there, it is probable, they spent their new moons and their
sabbaths in religious exercises,
When the prophet was bound the word of the Lord was not bound; and the
people, when they had not the help for their souls that they wished
for, were thankful for what they had; it was a reviving in their
bondage. Now these hypocrites came, according to the coming of the
people, as duly and as early as any of the prophet’s hearers. Their
being said to come as the people came seems to intimate that the
reason why they came was because other people came; they did not come
out of conscience towards God, but only for company, for fashion-sake,
and because it was now the custom of their countrymen. Note, Those that
have no inward principle of love to God’s ordinances may yet be found
much in the external observance of them. Cain brought his sacrifice as
well as Abel; and the Pharisee went up to the temple to pray as well as
the publican.
(2.) They behaved themselves very decently and reverently in the public
assembly; there were none of them whispering, or laughing, or gazing
about them, or sleeping. But they sit before thee as my people,
with all the shows of gravity, and sereneness, and composure of mind.
They sit out the time, without weariness, or wishing the sermon done.
(3.) They were very attentive to the word preached: “They are not
thinking of something else, but they hear thy words, and take
notice of what thou sayest.”
(4.) They pretended to have a great kindness and respect for the
prophet. Though, behind his back, they could not give him a good word,
yet, to his face, they showed much love to him and his doctrine;
they pretended to have a great concern lest he should spend himself too
much in preaching or expose himself to the Chaldeans, for they would be
thought to be some of his best friends and well-wishers.
(5.) They took a great deal of pleasure in the word; they delighted
to know God’s word,
Isa. lviii. 2.
Herod heard John Baptist gladly,
Mark vi. 20.
Thou art unto them as a very lovely song. Ezekiel’s matter was
surprising, his language fine, his expressions elegant, his similitudes
apt, his voice melodious, and his delivery graceful; so that they could
sit with as much pleasure to hear him preach as (if I may speak in the
language of our times) to see a play or an opera, or to hear a concert
of music. Ezekiel was to them as one that had a pleasant voice
and could sing well, or play well on an instrument. Note, Men
may have their fancies pleased by the word, and yet not have their
consciences touched nor their hearts changed, the itching ear gratified
and yet not the corrupt nature sanctified.
2. The hypocrisy of these professions and pretensions; it is all a
sham, it is all a jest.
(1.) They have no cordial affection for the word of God. While they
show much love it is only with the mouth, from the teeth
outward, but their heart goes after their covetousness; they are
as much set upon the world as ever, as much in love and league with it
as ever. Hearing the word is only their diversion and recreation, a
pretty amusement now and then for an hour or two. But still their main
business is with their farm and merchandise; the bent and bias of their
souls are towards them, and their inward thoughts are employed
in projects about them. Note, Covetousness is the ruining sin of
multitudes that make a great profession of religion; it is the love of
the world that secretly eats the love of God out of their hearts.
The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are the
thorns that choke the seed, and choke the soul too. And
those neither please God nor profit themselves who, when they are
hearing the word of God, are musing upon their worldly affairs. God has
his eye on the hearts that do so.
(2.) They yield no subjection to it. They hear thy words, but
it is only a hearing that they give thee, for they will not
do them,
v. 31.
And again
(v. 32),
they do them not. They will not be persuaded by all the prophet
can say, either by authority or argument, to cross themselves in any
instance, to part with any one beloved sin, or apply themselves to any
one duty that is against the grain to flesh and blood. Note, There are
many who take pleasure in hearing the word, but make no conscience of
doing it; and so they build upon the sand, and deceive themselves.
3. Let us see what will be in the end hereof: Shall their
unbelief and carelessness make the word of God of no effect?
By no means.
(1.) God will confirm the prophet’s word, though they contemn it, and
make light of it,
What he says will come to pass, and not one jot or one tittle shall
fall to the ground. Note, The curses of the law, though they may be
bantered by profane wits, cannot be baffled.
(2.) They themselves shall rue their folly when it is too late. When it
comes to pass they shall know, shall know to their cost, know to
their confusion, that a prophet has been among them, though they
made no more of him than as one that had a pleasant voice. Note,
Those who will not consider that a prophet is among them, and who
improve not the day of their visitation while it is continued, will be
made to remember that a prophet has been among them when the things
that belong to their peace are hidden from their eyes. The day
is coming when vain and worldly men will have other thoughts of things
than now they have, and will feel a weight in that which they made
light of. They shall know that a prophet has been among them
when they see the event exactly answer the prediction, and the prophet
himself shall be a witness against them that they had fair warning
given them, but would not take it. When Ezekiel is gone, whom now they
speak against, and there is no more any prophet, nor any to
show them how long, then they will remember that once they had a
prophet, but knew not how to use him well. Note, Those who will not
know the worth of mercies by the improvement of them will justly be
made to know the worth of them by the want of them, as those who should
desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, which now they
slighted, and might not see it.
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