mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 15.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xvi" n="xvi" next="Ez.xvii" prev="Ez.xv" progress="55.21%" title="Chapter XV">
<h2 id="Ez.xvi-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xvi-p0.2">CHAP. XV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xvi-p1" shownumber="no">Ezekiel has again and again, in God's name,
foretold the utter ruin of Jerusalem; but, it should seem, he finds
it hard to reconcile himself to it, and to acquiesce in the will of
God in this severe dispensation; and therefore God takes various
methods to satisfy him not only that it shall be so, but that there
is no remedy: it must be so; it is fit that it should be so. Here,
in this short chapter, he shows him (probably with design that he
should tell the people) that it was as requisite Jerusalem should
be destroyed as that the dead and withered branches of a vine
should be cut off and thrown into the fire. I. The similitude is
very elegant (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.1-Ezek.15.5" parsed="|Ezek|15|1|15|5" passage="Eze 15:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>),
but, II. The explanation of the similitude is very dreadful,
<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.6-Ezek.15.8" parsed="|Ezek|15|6|15|8" passage="Eze 15:6-8">ver. 6-8</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15" parsed="|Ezek|15|0|0|0" passage="Eze 15" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.1-Ezek.15.8" parsed="|Ezek|15|1|15|8" passage="Eze 15:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xvi-p1.5">
<h4 id="Ez.xvi-p1.6">Jerusalem a Condemned Vine. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xvi-p1.7">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xvi-p2" shownumber="no">1 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xvi-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   2 Son of man,
What is the vine tree more than any tree, <i>or than</i> a branch
which is among the trees of the forest?   3 Shall wood be
taken thereof to do any work? or will <i>men</i> take a pin of it
to hang any vessel thereon?   4 Behold, it is cast into the
fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the
midst of it is burned. Is it meet for <i>any</i> work?   5
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less
shall it be meet yet for <i>any</i> work, when the fire hath
devoured it, and it is burned?   6 Therefore thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xvi-p2.2">God</span>; As the vine tree among the
trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so
will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.   7 And I will set
my face against them; they shall go out from <i>one</i> fire, and
<i>another</i> fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xvi-p2.3">Lord</span>, when I set my
face against them.   8 And I will make the land desolate,
because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xvi-p2.4">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xvi-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet, we may suppose, was thinking
what a glorious city Jerusalem was, above any city in the world; it
was the crown and <i>joy of the whole earth;</i> and therefore what
a pity it was that it should be destroyed; it was a noble
structure, the city of God, and the city of Israel's solemnities.
But, if these were the thoughts of his heart, God here returns an
answer to them by comparing Jerusalem to a vine. 1. It is true, if
a vine be fruitful, it is a most valuable tree, none more so; it
was one of those that were courted to have dominion over the trees,
and the fruit of it is such as <i>cheers God and man</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.12-Judg.9.13" parsed="|Judg|9|12|9|13" passage="Jdg 9:12,13">Judg. ix. 12, 13</scripRef>); it <i>makes
glad the heart,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.15" parsed="|Ps|104|15|0|0" passage="Ps 104:15">Ps. civ.
15</scripRef>. So Jerusalem was <i>planted a choice and noble vine,
wholly a right seed</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.21" parsed="|Jer|2|21|0|0" passage="Jer 2:21">Jer. ii.
21</scripRef>); and, if it had brought forth fruit suitable to its
character as a holy city, it would have been the glory both of God
and Israel. It was a vine which <i>God's right hand had
planted,</i> a <i>branch out of a dry ground,</i> which, though its
original was mean and despicable, God had <i>made strong for
himself</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.15" parsed="|Ps|80|15|0|0" passage="Ps 80:15">Ps. lxxx. 15</scripRef>),
to be <i>to him for a name and for a praise.</i> 2. But, if it be
not fruitful, it is good for nothing, it is as worthless and
useless a production of the earth as even thorns and briers are:
<i>What is the vine-tree,</i> if you take the tree by itself,
without consideration of the fruit? <i>What is it more than any
tree,</i> that it should have so much care taken of it and so much
cost laid out upon it? What is a branch of the vine, though it
spread <i>more than a branch which is among the trees of the
forest,</i> where it grows neglected and exposed? Or, as some read
it, <i>What is the vine more than any tree if the branch of it be
as the trees of the forest;</i> that is, if it bear no fruit, as
forest-trees seldom do, being designed for timber-trees, not
fruit-trees? Now there are some fruit-trees which, if they do not
bear, are nevertheless of good use, as the wood of them may be made
to turn to a good account; but the vine is not of this sort: if
that do not answer its end as a fruit-tree, it is worth nothing as
a timber-tree. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xvi-p4" shownumber="no">I. How this similitude is expressed here.
The wild vine, that <i>is among the trees of the forest,</i> or the
empty vine (which Israel is compared to, <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.1" parsed="|Heb|10|1|0|0" passage="Heb 10:1">Hos. x. 1</scripRef>), that bears no more fruit than a
forest-tree, is good for nothing; it is as useless as a brier, and
more so, for that will add some sharpness to the thorny hedge,
which the vine-branch will not do. He shows, 1. That it is fit for
no use. The <i>wood</i> of it is not <i>taken to do any work;</i>
one cannot so much as make <i>a pin of it to hand a vessel
upon,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.3" parsed="|Ezek|15|3|0|0" passage="Eze 15:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. See
how variously the gifts of nature are dispensed for the service of
man. Among the plants, the roots of some, the seeds or fruits of
others, the leaves of others, and of some the stalks, are most
serviceable to us; so, among trees, some are strong and not
fruitful, as the oaks and cedars; others are weak but very
fruitful, as the vine, which is unsightly, low, and depending, yet
of great use. Rachel is comely but barren, Leah homely but
fruitful. 2. That therefore it is made use of <i>for fuel;</i> it
will serve to heat the oven with. Because <i>it is</i> not <i>meet
for any work, it is cast into the fire,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.4" parsed="|Ezek|15|4|0|0" passage="Eze 15:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. When it is good for nothing else
it is useful this way, and answers a very needful intention, <i>for
fuel</i> is a thing we must have, and to burn any thing for fuel
which is good for other work is bad husbandry. <i>To what purpose
is this waste?</i> The unfruitful vine is disposed of in the same
way with the briers and thorns, which are rejected, and <i>whose
end is to be burnt,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.8" parsed="|Heb|6|8|0|0" passage="Heb 6:8">Heb. vi.
8</scripRef>. And what care is taken of it then? If a piece of
solid timber be kindled, somebody perhaps may snatch it <i>as a
brand out of the burning,</i> and say, "It is a pity to burn it,
for it may be put to some better use;" but if the branch of a vine
be on fire, and, as usual, both the ends of it and the middle be
kindled together, nobody goes about to save it. <i>When it was
whole it was meet for no work, much less when the fire has devoured
it</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.5" parsed="|Ezek|15|5|0|0" passage="Eze 15:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); even
the ashes of it are not worth saving.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xvi-p5" shownumber="no">II. How this similitude is applied to
Jerusalem. 1. That holy city had become unprofitable and good for
nothing. It had been as <i>the vine-tree among the trees of the</i>
vineyard, abounding in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of
God. When religion flourished there, and the pure worship of God
was kept up, many a joyful vintage was then gathered in from it;
and, while it continued so, God made a hedge about it; it was his
<i>pleasant plant</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.7" parsed="|Isa|5|7|0|0" passage="Isa 5:7">Isa. v.
7</scripRef>); he <i>watered it every moment</i> and <i>kept it
night and day</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.3" parsed="|Isa|27|3|0|0" passage="Isa 27:3">Isa. xxvii.
3</scripRef>); but it had now become <i>the degenerate plant of a
strange vine,</i> of a wild vine (such as we read of <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.4.39" parsed="|2Kgs|4|39|0|0" passage="2Ki 4:39">2 Kings iv. 39</scripRef>), <i>a vine-tree among
the trees of the wild grapes</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.4" parsed="|Isa|5|4|0|0" passage="Isa 5:4">Isa.
v. 4</scripRef>), which are not only of no use, but are nauseous
and noxious (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.32" parsed="|Deut|32|32|0|0" passage="De 32:32">Deut. xxxii.
32</scripRef>), <i>their grapes are grapes of gall, and their
clusters are bitter.</i> It is explained (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.8" parsed="|Ezek|15|8|0|0" passage="Eze 15:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>They have trespassed a
trespass,</i> that is, they have treacherously prevaricated with
God and perfidiously apostatized from him;" for so the word
signifies. Note, Professors of religion, if they do not live up to
their profession, but contradict it, if they degenerate and depart
from it, are the most unprofitable creatures in the world, like the
<i>salt</i> that has <i>lost its savour</i> and is thenceforth
<i>good for nothing,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Mark.9.50" parsed="|Mark|9|50|0|0" passage="Mk 9:50">Mark ix.
50</scripRef>. Other nations were famed for valour or politics,
some for war, others for trade, and retained their credit; but the
Jewish nation, being famous as a holy people, when they lost their
holiness, and became wicked, were thenceforth <i>good for
nothing;</i> with that they lost all their credit and usefulness,
and became the most base and despicable people under the sun,
<i>trodden under foot of the Gentiles.</i> Daniel, and other pious
Jews, were of great use in their generation; but the idolatrous
Jews then, and the unbelieving Jews now since the preaching of the
gospel, have been, and are, of no common service, not fit <i>for
any work.</i> 2. Being so, it is <i>given to the fire for fuel,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.6" parsed="|Ezek|15|6|0|0" passage="Eze 15:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Note, Those
who are not fruitful to the glory of God's grace will be fuel to
the fire of his wrath; and thus, if they give not honour to him, he
will <i>get himself honour upon them,</i> honour that will shine
brightly in that flaming fire by which impenitent sinners will be
for ever consumed. He will not be a loser at last by any of his
creatures. <i>The Lord has made all things for himself,</i> yea,
<i>even the wicked,</i> that would not otherwise be for him, <i>for
the day of evil</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.4" parsed="|Prov|16|4|0|0" passage="Pr 16:4">Prov. xvi.
4</scripRef>); and in those who would not glorify him as <i>the God
to whom</i> duty <i>belongs</i> he will be glorified as <i>the God
to whom vengeance belongs.</i> The fire of God's wrath had before
<i>devoured both the ends of</i> the Jewish nation (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.4" parsed="|Ezek|15|4|0|0" passage="Eze 15:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), Samaria and the cities
of Judah; and now Jerusalem, that was <i>the midst of it,</i> was
thrown <i>into the fire,</i> to be <i>burnt</i> too, for <i>it is
meet for no work;</i> it will not be wrought upon, by any of the
methods God has taken, to be serviceable to him. <i>The inhabitants
of Jerusalem</i> were like a vine-branch, rotten and awkward; and
therefore (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.7" parsed="|Ezek|15|7|0|0" passage="Eze 15:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
"<i>I will set my face against them,</i> to thwart all their
counsels," as they set their faces against God, to contradict his
word and defeat all his designs. It is decreed; the consumption is
determined: <i>I will make the land</i> quite <i>desolate,</i> and
therefore, when they <i>go out from one fire, another fire shall
devour them</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.7" parsed="|Ezek|15|7|0|0" passage="Eze 15:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>); the end of one judgment shall be the beginning of
another, and their escape from one only a reprieve till another
comes; they shall go from misery in their own country to misery in
Babylon. Those who kept out of the way of the sword perished by
famine or pestilence. When one descent of the Chaldean forces upon
them was over, and they thought, <i>Surely the bitterness of death
is past,</i> yet soon after they returned again with double
violence, till they had made a full end. Thus <i>they shall know
that I am the Lord,</i> a God of almighty power, <i>when I set my
face against them.</i> Note, God shows himself to be <i>the
Lord,</i> by perfecting the destruction of his implacable enemies
as well as the deliverances of his obedient people. Those whom God
<i>sets his face,</i> though they may come out of one trouble
little hurt, will fall into another; though they <i>come out of the
pit,</i> they will be <i>taken in the snare</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.24.18" parsed="|Isa|24|18|0|0" passage="Isa 24:18">Isa. xxiv. 18</scripRef>); though they escape <i>the
sword of Hazael,</i> they will fall by that of Jehu (<scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.17" parsed="|1Kgs|19|17|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:17">1 Kings xix. 17</scripRef>); for <i>evil
pursues sinners.</i> Nay, though <i>they go out from the fire</i>
of temporal judgments, and seem to die in peace, yet there is an
everlasting fire that will <i>devour them;</i> for, <i>when God
judges,</i> first or last <i>he will overcome,</i> and he will be
<i>known by the judgments which he executes.</i> See <scripRef id="Ez.xvi-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.10 Bible:John.15.6" parsed="|Matt|3|10|0|0;|John|15|6|0|0" passage="Mt 3:10,Joh 15:6">Matt. iii. 10; John xv.
6</scripRef>.</p>
</div></div2>