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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ezekiel XXXIII].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC26032.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC26034.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The prophet has now come off his circuit, which he went as judge, in
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God's name, to try and pass sentence upon the neighbouring nations,
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and, having finished with them, and read them all their doom, in the
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eight chapters foregoing, he now returns to the children of his people,
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and receives further instructions what to say to them.
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I. He must let them know what office he was in among them as a prophet,
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that he was a watchman, and had received a charge concerning them, for
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which he was accountable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:1-9">ver. 1-9</A>.
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The substance of this we had before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:17"><I>ch.</I> iii. 17</A>,
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&c.
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II. He must let them know upon what terms they stand with God, that
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they are upon their trial, upon their good behaviour, that if a wicked
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man repent he shall not perish, but that if a righteous man apostatize
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he shall perish,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:10-20">ver. 10-20</A>.
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III. Here is a particular message sent to those who yet remained in the
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land of Israel, and (which is very strange) grew secure there, and
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confident that they should take root there again, to tell them that
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their hopes would fail them because they persisted in their sins,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:21-29">ver. 21-29</A>.
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IV. Here is a rebuke to those who personally attended Ezekiel's
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ministry, but were not sincere in their professions of devotion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:30-33">ver. 30-33</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze33_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Watchman's Office; The Prophet a Watchman to Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Again the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto
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them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the
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land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
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3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the
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trumpet, and warn the people;
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4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh
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not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood
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shall be upon his own head.
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5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his
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blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver
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his soul.
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6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the
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trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and
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take <I>any</I> person from among them, he is taken away in his
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iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
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7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the
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house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth,
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and warn them from me.
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8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked <I>man,</I> thou shalt surely
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die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that
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wicked <I>man</I> shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I
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require at thine hand.
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9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from
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it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity;
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but thou hast delivered thy soul.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet had been, by express order from God, taken off from
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prophesying to the Jews, just then when the news came that Jerusalem
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was invested, and close siege laid to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+24:27"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 27</A>.
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But now that Jerusalem is taken, two years after, he is appointed again
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to direct his speech to them; and there his commission is renewed. If
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God had abandoned them quite, he would not have sent prophets to them;
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nor, if he had not had mercy in store for them, would he have <I>shown
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them such things as these.</I> In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The office of a watchman laid down, the trust reposed in him, the
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charge given him, and the conditions adjusted between him and those
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that employ him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:2,6"><I>v.</I> 2, 6</A>.
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1. It is supposed to be a public danger that gives occasion for the
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appointing of a watchman--when <I>God brings the sword upon a land,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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The sword of war, whenever it comes upon a land, is of God's bringing;
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it is the <I>sword of the Lord,</I> of his justice, how unjustly soever
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men draw it. At such a time, when a country is in fear of a foreign
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invasion, that they may be informed of all the motions of the enemy,
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may not be surprised with an attack, but may have early notice of it,
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in order to their being at their arms and in readiness to give the
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invader a warm reception, they <I>set a man of their coast,</I> some
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likely person, that lives upon the borders of their country, where the
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threatened danger is expected, and is therefore well acquainted with
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all the avenues of it, and make him <I>their watchman.</I> Thus
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<I>wise</I> are the <I>children of this world in their generation.</I>
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Note, One man may be of public service to a whole country. Princes and
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statesmen are the watchmen of a kingdom; they are continually to employ
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themselves, and, if occasion be, as watchmen, to expose themselves for
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the public safety.
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2. It is supposed to be a public trust that is lodged in the watchman
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and that he is accountable to the public for the discharge of it. His
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business is,
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(1.) To discover the approaches and advances of the enemy; and
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therefore he must not be blind nor asleep, for then he cannot <I>see
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the sword coming.</I>
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(2.) To give notice of them immediately by sound of trumpet, or, as
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sentinels among us, by the discharge of a gun, as a signal of danger. A
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special trust and confidence is reposed in him by those that set him to
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be their watchman that he will faithfully do these two things; and they
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venture their lives upon his fidelity. Now,
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[1.] If he do his part, if he be betimes aware of all the dangers that
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fall within his cognizance, and give warning of them, he has discharged
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his trust, and has not only <I>delivered his soul,</I> but earned his
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wages. If the people do not take warning, if they either will not
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believe the notice he gives them, will not believe the danger to be so
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great or so near as really it is, or will not regard it, and so are
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surprised by the enemy in their security, it is their own fault; the
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blame is not to be laid upon the watchman, but their blood is upon
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their own head. If any person goes presumptuously into the mouth of
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danger, though he heard the sound of the trumpet, and was told by it
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where the danger was, and <I>so the sword comes</I> and <I>takes him
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away</I> in his folly, he is <I>felo de se--a suicide;</I> foolish man,
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he has <I>destroyed himself.</I> But,
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[2.] If the watchman do not do his duty, if he might have seen the
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danger, and did not, but was asleep, or heedless, or looking another
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way, or if he did <I>see the danger</I> (for so the case is put here)
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and shifted only for his own safety, and <I>blew not the trumpet</I> to
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<I>warn the people,</I> so that some are surprised and cut off <I>in
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their iniquity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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cut off suddenly, without having time to cry, <I>Lord, have mercy upon
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me,</I> time to repent and make their peace with God (which makes the
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matter much the worse, that the poor creature is <I>taken away in his
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iniquity</I>), his blood shall be required <I>at the watchman's
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hand;</I> he shall be found guilty of his death, because he did not
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<I>give him warning</I> of his danger. But if the watchman do his part,
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and the people do theirs, all is well; both he that gives warning and
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he that takes warning have delivered their souls.</P>
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<P>
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II. The application of this to the prophet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:7,9"><I>v.</I> 7, 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. He is a <I>watchman to the house of Israel.</I> He had occasionally
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given warning to the nations about, but to the house of Israel he was a
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watchman by office, for they were the <I>children of the prophets and
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the covenant</I> They did not <I>set him for a watchman,</I> as the
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people of the land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>
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(for they were not so wise for their souls as to secure the welfare of
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them, as they would have been for the protection of their temporal
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interests); but God did it for them; he appointed them a watchman.</P>
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<P>
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2. His business as a watchman is to give warning to sinners of their
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misery and danger by reason of sin. This is the word he must <I>hear
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from God's mouth</I> and <I>speak to them.</I>
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(1.) God has said, <I>The wicked man shall surely die;</I> he shall be
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miserable. Unless he repent, he shall be cut off from God and all
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comfort and hope in him, shall be cut off from all good. He shall fall
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and lie for ever under the wrath of God, which is the death of the
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soul, as his favour is its life. The righteous God has said it, and
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will never unsay it, nor can all the world gainsay it, that the
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<I>wages of sin is death. Sin, when it is finished, brings froth
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death.</I> The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, not only against
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wicked nations, speaking ruin to them as nations, but against wicked
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persons, speaking ruin to them in their personal capacity, their
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personal interests, which pass into the other world and last to
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eternity, as national interests do not.
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(2.) It is the will of God that the wicked man should be warned of
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this: <I>Warn them from me.</I> This intimates that there is a
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possibility of preventing it, else it were a jest to give warning of
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it; nay, and that God is desirous it should be prevented. Sinners are
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<I>therefore</I> warned of the wrath to come, that they may <I>flee
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from it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:7">Matt. iii. 7</A>.
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(3.) It is the work of ministers to give him warning, to say to the
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wicked, <I>It shall be ill with thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:11">Isa. iii. 11</A>.
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God ways in general, <I>The soul that sinneth it shall die.</I> The
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minister's business is to apply this to particular persons, and to say,
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"<I>O wicked man! thou shalt surely die,</I> whoever thou art; if thou
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go on still in thy trespasses, they will inevitably be thy ruin. O
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adulterer! O robber! O drunkard! O swearer! O sabbath-breaker! <I>thou
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shalt surely die.</I>" And he must say this, not in passion, to provoke
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the sinner, but in compassion, to <I>warn the wicked from hi way,</I>
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warn him to <I>turn from it,</I> that he may live. This is to be done
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by the faithful preaching of the word in public, and by personal
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application to those whose sins are open.</P>
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<P>
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3. If souls perish through his neglect of his duty, he brings guilt
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upon himself. "If the prophet do not warn the wicked of the ruin that
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is at the end of his wicked way, that <I>wicked man shall die in his
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iniquity;</I> for, though the watchman did not do his part, yet the
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sinner might have taken warning from the written word, from his own
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conscience, and from God's judgments upon others, by which his mouth
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shall be stopped, and God will be justified in his destruction." Note,
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It will not serve impenitent sinners to plead in the great day that
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their watchmen did not give them warning, that they were careless and
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unfaithful; for, though they were so, it will be made to appear that
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<I>God left not himself without witness.</I> "But he shall not perish
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alone in his iniquity; the watchman also shall be called to an account:
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<I>His blood will I require at thy hand.</I> The blind leader shall
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fall with the blind follower into the ditch." See what a desire God has
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of the salvation of sinners, in that he resents it so ill if those
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concerned do not what they can to prevent their destruction. And see
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what a great deal those ministers have to answer for another day who
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palliate sin, and flatter sinners in their evil way, and by their
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wicked lives countenance and harden them in their wickedness, and
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encourage them to believe that they shall have peace though they go
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on.</P>
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<P>
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4. If he do his duty, he may take the comfort of it, though he do not
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see the success of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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"<I>If thou warn the wicked of his way,</I> if thou tell him faithfully
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what will be the end thereof, and call him earnestly to turn from it,
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and he do not turn, but persist in it, <I>he shall die in his
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iniquity,</I> and the fair warning given him will be an aggravation of
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his sin and ruin; but <I>thou hast delivered thy soul.</I>" Note, It is
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a comfort to ministers that they may through grace save themselves,
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though they cannot be instrumental to save so many as they wish of
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those that hear them.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze33_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Cavils of the People Answered.</I></FONT></TD>
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||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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||
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</TABLE>
|
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|
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of
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Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins
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<I>be</I> upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
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||
|
11 Say unto them, <I>As</I> I live, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, 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 <I>righteousness</I> in the day that he sinneth.
|
||
|
13 When I shall say to the righteous, <I>that</I> 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 <I>If</I> 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.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
These verses are the substance of what we had before
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+18:20"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 20</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
&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,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
God had <I>set life before them,</I> 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
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+24:23"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 23</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>You shall pine away for your iniquities;</I> 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) "<I>if our transgressions and our sins be
|
||
|
upon us,</I> as thou hast often told us they are, and if we must, as
|
||
|
thou sayest, <I>pine away in them,</I> and wear out a miserable
|
||
|
captivity in a fruitless repentance, <I>how shall we then live?</I> If
|
||
|
this be our doom, there is no remedy. <I>We die, we perish, we all
|
||
|
perish.</I>" 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, <I>The way of the Lord is not
|
||
|
equal</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:17,20"><I>v.</I> 17, 20</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. Here is a satisfactory answer given to both these cavils.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. Those that despaired of finding mercy with God are here answered
|
||
|
with a solemn declaration of God's readiness to show mercy,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When they spoke of <I>pining away in their iniquity</I> 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 <I>hope in Israel.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(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 <I>turn and live,</I> 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 <I>swear by no greater, he
|
||
|
swears by himself: As I live.</I> They questioned whether they should
|
||
|
<I>live,</I> though they did repent and reform; yea, says God, as sure
|
||
|
<I>as I live,</I> true penitents shall live also; for <I>their life is
|
||
|
hid with Christ in God.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) It is certain that God is sincere and in earnest in the calls he
|
||
|
gives sinners to repent: <I>Turn you, turn you, from your evil way.</I>
|
||
|
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: <I>Turn
|
||
|
you, turn you.</I> 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
|
||
|
<I>frame their doings to turn to the Lord,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:4">Hos. v. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
For he has said, <I>I will pour out my Spirit unto you,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:23">Prov. i. 23</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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: <I>Why will you die, O house of
|
||
|
Israel?</I> God would have heard them, and they would not be heard.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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 <I>dead;</I> 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,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+18:8-10">Jer. xviii. 8-10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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, <I>The way of the Lord is not equal;</I> for these rules of
|
||
|
judgment are so plainly just that they need no other confirmation of
|
||
|
them than the repetition of them.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(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,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:12,13,18"><I>v.</I> 12, 13, 18</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] God says to the <I>righteous man</I> that <I>he shall surely
|
||
|
live,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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:
|
||
|
<I>If he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity,</I> 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
|
||
|
<I>trusted to themselves that they were righteous,</I> and that their
|
||
|
long prayers, and fasting twice in the week, would atone for their
|
||
|
devouring widows' houses.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] If righteous men <I>turn to iniquity,</I> 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 <I>righteousness of the righteous shall not
|
||
|
deliver him</I> from the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, <I>in
|
||
|
the day of his transgression.</I> 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; <I>he shall
|
||
|
not be able to live.</I> The remembrance of his former righteousness
|
||
|
shall be no satisfaction either to God's justice or his own conscience
|
||
|
<I>in the day that he sins,</I> but rather shall, in the estimate of
|
||
|
both, highly aggravate the sin and folly of his apostasy. And therefore
|
||
|
<I>for his iniquity that he committed he shall die,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And again
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>He shall even die thereby;</I> and it is owing to himself.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(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 <I>to the wicked, "Thou shalt surely die.</I> 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, <I>Thou shalt surely live,</I> 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, <I>Thou shalt surely die,</I> 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, <I>Thou shalt surely die,</I> 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 <I>turns from his sin</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and is resolved that he will have no more to do with it; and, as an
|
||
|
evidence of his repentance for wrong done, he <I>restores the
|
||
|
pledge</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
which he had taken uncharitably from the poor, <I>he gives again that
|
||
|
which he had robbed</I> and taken unjustly from the rich. Nor does he
|
||
|
only <I>cease to do evil,</I> but he <I>learns to do well;</I> he
|
||
|
<I>does that which is lawful and right,</I> 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 <I>the statues
|
||
|
of life,</I> in the way of God's commandments, which has both life in
|
||
|
it
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+12:28">Prov. xii. 28</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
and life at the end of it,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:17">Matt. xix. 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And in this good way he perseveres <I>without committing iniquity,</I>
|
||
|
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 <I>shall surely live;
|
||
|
he shall not die,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Again
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>He shall surely live.</I> Again
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>He has done that which is lawful and right,</I> and <I>he shall live
|
||
|
thereby.</I> But will not his wickednesses be remembered against him?
|
||
|
No; he shall not be punished for them
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>As for the wickedness of the wicked,</I> though it was very heinous,
|
||
|
<I>yet he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his
|
||
|
wickedness.</I> 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
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto
|
||
|
him,</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now lay all this together, and then judge whether the <I>way of the
|
||
|
Lord be not equal,</I> 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
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>"O you house of Israel,</I> 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>I will judge you every one
|
||
|
after his ways.</I>" 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 <I>render to every man
|
||
|
according to his works.</I> Therefore God's way is equal and
|
||
|
unexceptionable; but, as for the <I>children of thy people,</I> God
|
||
|
turns them over to the prophet, as he did to Moses
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:7">Exod. xxxii. 7</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
"They are thy people; I can scarcely own them for mine." As for them,
|
||
|
<I>their way is unequal;</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_21"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_22"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_23"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_24"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_25"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_26"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_27"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_28"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Eze33_29"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Message to Inhabitants of Judah; Rebuke to the Proud Jews.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in
|
||
|
the tenth <I>month,</I> in the fifth <I>day</I> of the month, <I>that</I> one
|
||
|
that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city
|
||
|
is smitten.
|
||
|
22 Now the hand of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>are</I> many; the land is given us for inheritance.
|
||
|
25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; 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 G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; <I>As</I> I
|
||
|
live, surely they that <I>are</I> in the wastes shall fall by the
|
||
|
sword, and him that <I>is</I> in the open field will I give to the
|
||
|
beasts to be devoured, and they that <I>be</I> 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 <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, when I have laid
|
||
|
the land most desolate because of all their abominations which
|
||
|
they have committed.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here we have,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+52:12,13">Jer. lii. 12, 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
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
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+24:26"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 26</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>He that escapes in that day shall come unto thee,</I> to <I>cause
|
||
|
thee to hear it with thy ears,</I> to hear it more distinctly than
|
||
|
ever, from one that could say, <I>Quæque ipse miserrima
|
||
|
vidi--These miserable scenes I saw.</I></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The divine impressions and influences he was under, to prepare him
|
||
|
for those heavy tidings
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>The hand of the Lord was upon me before he came, and had opened my
|
||
|
mouth</I> to speak to the house of Israel what we had in the former
|
||
|
part of this chapter. And now <I>he was no more dumb;</I> 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
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+24:1-32:32"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. to this chapter</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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 <I>Say to the
|
||
|
Ammonites, Say unto Tyrus, Say unto Pharaoh,</I> &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
|
||
|
<I>mouth is opened,</I> that he may <I>speak to the children of his
|
||
|
people.</I> 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 <I>the hand of the Lord came
|
||
|
upon him,</I> renewed his commission, gave him fresh instructions, and
|
||
|
<I>opened his mouth,</I> furnished him with power to speak to the
|
||
|
people <I>as he ought to speak.</I></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
III. The particular message he was entrusted with, relating to these
|
||
|
Jews that yet remained in the <I>land of Israel,</I> and <I>inhabited
|
||
|
the wastes</I> of that land,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
See what work sin had made. <I>The cities of</I> 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 <I>proud men</I> that joined with him, were at the
|
||
|
height
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:2">Jer. xliii. 2</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
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,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. An account of the pride of these remaining Jews, who dwelt in the
|
||
|
<I>wastes of the land of</I> 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, <I>They say, "The land is given us for inheritance,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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 <I>all waste,</I> 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,
|
||
|
<I>We have Abraham to our father.</I> "Abraham," say they, "<I>was
|
||
|
one,</I> one family, and <I>he inherited the land,</I> and lived many
|
||
|
years in the peaceable enjoyment of it; <I>but we are many,</I> many
|
||
|
families, more numerous than he; <I>the land is given us for
|
||
|
inheritance.</I>"
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) They think they can make out as good a title from God to this land
|
||
|
as Abraham could: "If God <I>gave this land</I> 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 <I>trained servants.</I>" This shows the
|
||
|
confidence they had in their own might; they had got possession, and
|
||
|
were resolved to keep it.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(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 <I>that they should possess the
|
||
|
land? "Shall you possess the land?</I> What! such wicked people as you
|
||
|
are? <I>How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
|
||
|
pleasant land?</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:19">Jer. iii. 19</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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: <I>You
|
||
|
eat with the blood,</I>" directly contrary to one of the precepts given
|
||
|
to Noah and his sons when God gave them possession of the earth,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:4">Gen. ix. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[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: <I>You lift up your eyes towards your
|
||
|
idols,</I> 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: <I>You shed
|
||
|
blood,</I> 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: <I>You
|
||
|
stand upon your sword</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
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 <I>his hand against every
|
||
|
man</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+16:12">Gen. xvi. 12</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and Esau's resolution to <I>live by his sword?</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:40">Gen. xxvii. 40</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We met with those
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+32:27"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 27</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
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, <I>not
|
||
|
trusting in their own sword,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:3">Ps. xliv. 3</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[5.] "You are guilty of all manner of abominations, and, particularly,
|
||
|
<I>you defile every one his neighbour's wife,</I> which is an
|
||
|
abomination of the first magnitude, <I>and shall you possess the
|
||
|
land?</I> What! such vile miscreants as you?" Note, Those cannot expect
|
||
|
to <I>possess the land,</I> nor to enjoy any true comfort or happiness
|
||
|
here or hereafter, who live in rebellion against the Lord.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(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, <I>As I live, saith the Lord.</I> Though he has sworn
|
||
|
that he delights not <I>in the death of sinners,</I> yet he has sworn
|
||
|
also that those who persist in impenitency and unbelief <I>shall not
|
||
|
enter into his rest.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] Those that are in the cities, here called the <I>wastes,</I> shall
|
||
|
<I>fall by the sword,</I> 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 <I>devoured by</I> wild
|
||
|
<I>beasts,</I> which swarmed, of course, in the country when it was
|
||
|
dispeopled, and there were none to master them and keep them under,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:29">Exod. xxiii. 29</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When the army of the enemy had quitted the country still there was no
|
||
|
safety in it. <I>Noisome beasts</I> constituted one of the four
|
||
|
<I>sore judgments,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:15"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] Those that are <I>in the forts and in the caves,</I> 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 <I>die of the
|
||
|
pestilence.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
[4.] The whole land, even the land of Israel, that had been the glory
|
||
|
of all lands, shall be <I>most desolate,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>It shall be desolation, desolation,</I> all over as desolate as
|
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|
desolation itself can make it. The <I>mountain of Israel,</I> the
|
||
|
fruitful mountains, Zion itself the holy mountain not excepted,
|
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|
<I>shall be desolate,</I> the roads unfrequented, the houses
|
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|
uninhabited, that <I>none shall pass through;</I> as it was threatened
|
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|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:62">Deut. xxviii. 62</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>You shall be left few in number.</I>
|
||
|
|
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|
[5.] The <I>pomp of her strength,</I> 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 <I>all their
|
||
|
abominations which they have committed.</I> 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: <I>Then shall they
|
||
|
know that I am the Lord,</I> am their Lord, and shall return to their
|
||
|
allegiance, <I>when I have made the land most desolate.</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
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<A NAME="Eze33_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_32"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze33_33"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Hypocritical Professions.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
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<P>
|
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<FONT SIZE=+1>30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are
|
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|
talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses,
|
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|
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
|
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|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
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|
31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
|
||
|
before thee <I>as</I> my people, and they hear thy words, but they
|
||
|
will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, <I>but</I>
|
||
|
their heart goeth after their covetousness.
|
||
|
32 And, lo, thou <I>art</I> 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.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
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|
|
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|
<P>
|
||
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|
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|
The
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:1-29">foregoing verses</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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
|
||
|
<I>mocking the messengers of the lord,</I> 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:--</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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, <I>The children of thy people are
|
||
|
still talking against thee</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
or <I>talking of thee,</I> 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, <I>by the walls and in the
|
||
|
doors of their houses,</I> 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, "<I>Come, and let us hear what is the word that comes
|
||
|
forth from the Lord;</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. The plausible profession which these people made and the
|
||
|
speciousness of their pretensions. They are like those
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:8">Matt. xv. 8</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
who <I>draw nigh to God with their mouths and honour him with their
|
||
|
lips, but their hearts are far from him.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) They were diligent and constant in their attendance upon the means
|
||
|
of grace: <I>They come unto thee as the people come.</I> In Babylon
|
||
|
they had no temple or synagogue, but they went to the prophet's house
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:1"><I>ch.</I> viii. 1</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and there, it is probable, they spent their <I>new moons and their
|
||
|
sabbaths</I> in religious exercises,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+4:23">2 Kings iv. 23</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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, <I>according to the coming of the
|
||
|
people,</I> as duly and as early as any of the prophet's hearers. Their
|
||
|
being said to come <I>as the people came</I> 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 <I>they sit before thee as my people,</I>
|
||
|
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 <I>hear thy words,</I> 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, <I>they showed much love</I> 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 <I>delighted
|
||
|
to know God's word,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:2">Isa. lviii. 2</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Herod heard John Baptist gladly,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+6:20">Mark vi. 20</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thou art unto them as a very lovely song.</I> 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 <I>that had a pleasant voice</I>
|
||
|
and could sing well, <I>or play well on an instrument.</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
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
|
||
|
<I>show much love</I> it is only <I>with the mouth,</I> from the teeth
|
||
|
outward, but <I>their heart goes after their covetousness;</I> 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 <I>inward thoughts</I> 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.
|
||
|
<I>The cares of</I> this world and the deceitfulness of riches are the
|
||
|
<I>thorns</I> that <I>choke the seed,</I> 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 <I>hear thy words,</I> but
|
||
|
it is only a hearing that they <I>give thee,</I> for they <I>will not
|
||
|
do them,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And again
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
they <I>do them not.</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. Let us see what will be in the end hereof: <I>Shall their
|
||
|
unbelief</I> and carelessness <I>make the word of God of no effect?</I>
|
||
|
By no means.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) God will confirm the prophet's word, though they contemn it, and
|
||
|
make light of it,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
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 <I>they shall know,</I> shall know to their cost, know to
|
||
|
their confusion, that <I>a prophet has been among them,</I> though they
|
||
|
made no more of him than as one that <I>had a pleasant voice.</I> 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 <I>hidden from their eyes.</I> 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 <I>a prophet has been among them</I>
|
||
|
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 <I>there is no more any prophet,</I> nor any <I>to
|
||
|
show them how long,</I> 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.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC26034.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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