mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 36.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxxvii" n="xxxvii" next="Ez.xxxviii" prev="Ez.xxxvi" progress="63.55%" title="Chapter XXXVI">
<h2 id="Ez.xxxvii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxxvii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxxvii-p1" shownumber="no">We have done with Mount Seir, and left it
desolate, and likely to continue so, and must now turn ourselves,
with the prophet, to the mountains of Israel, which we find
desolate too, but hope before we have done with the chapter to
leave in better plight. Here are two distinct prophecies in this
chapter:—I. Here is one that seems chiefly to relate to the
temporal estate of the Jews, wherein their present deplorable
condition is described and the triumphs of their neighbours in it;
but it is promised that their grievances shall be all redressed and
that in due time they shall be settled again in their own land, in
the midst of peace and plenty, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.1-Ezek.36.15" parsed="|Ezek|36|1|36|15" passage="Eze 36:1-15">ver.
1-15</scripRef>. II. Here is another that seems chiefly to concern
their spiritual estate, wherein they are reminded of their former
sins and God's judgments upon them, to humble them for their sins
and under God's mighty hand, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.16-Ezek.36.20" parsed="|Ezek|36|16|36|20" passage="Eze 36:16-20">ver.
16-20</scripRef>. But it is promised, 1. That God would glorify
himself in showing mercy to them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.21-Ezek.36.24" parsed="|Ezek|36|21|36|24" passage="Eze 36:21-24">ver. 21-24</scripRef>. 2. That he would sanctify
them, by giving them his grace and fitting them for his service;
and this for his own name's sake and in answer to their prayers,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.25-Ezek.36.38" parsed="|Ezek|36|25|36|38" passage="Eze 36:25-38">ver. 25-38</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36" parsed="|Ezek|36|0|0|0" passage="Eze 36" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.1-Ezek.36.15" parsed="|Ezek|36|1|36|15" passage="Eze 36:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.8">God's Compassion for Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 587.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the
mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.1">Lord</span>:   2 Thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.2">God</span>; Because the enemy hath
said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in
possession:   3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.3">God</span>; Because they have made
<i>you</i> desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye
might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are
taken up in the lips of talkers, and <i>are</i> an infamy of the
people:   4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word
of the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.4">God</span>; Thus saith the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.5">God</span> to the mountains, and to the
hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes,
and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and
derision to the residue of the heathen that <i>are</i> round about;
  5 Therefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.6">God</span>; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I
spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea,
which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of
all <i>their</i> heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a
prey.   6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel,
and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to
the valleys, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.7">God</span>; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in
my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:   7
Therefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.8">God</span>; I
have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that <i>are</i> about
you, they shall bear their shame.   8 But ye, O mountains of
Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to
my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.   9 For,
behold, I <i>am</i> for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall
be tilled and sown:   10 And I will multiply men upon you, all
the house of Israel, <i>even</i> all of it: and the cities shall be
inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:   11 And I will
multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring
fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do
better <i>unto you</i> than at your beginnings: and ye shall know
that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.9">Lord</span>.   12
Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, <i>even</i> my people
Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their
inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them <i>of
men.</i>   13 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.10">God</span>; Because they say unto you, Thou <i>land</i>
devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations;   14
Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy
nations any more, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.11">God</span>.   15 Neither will I cause <i>men</i>
to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt
thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou
cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p2.12">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet had been ordered to set his
face <i>towards the mountains of Israel</i> and <i>prophesy against
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.6.2" parsed="|Ezek|6|2|0|0" passage="Eze 6:2"><i>ch.</i> vi. 2</scripRef>.
Then God was coming forth to contend with his people; but now that
God is returning in mercy to them he must speak good words and
comfortable words to these mountains, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.1 Bible:Ezek.36.4" parsed="|Ezek|36|1|0|0;|Ezek|36|4|0|0" passage="Eze 36:1,4"><i>v.</i> 1 and again <i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. <i>You
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord;</i> and what he
says to them he says <i>to the hills, to the rivers, to the
valleys, to the desolate wastes</i> in the country, and to the
cities <i>that are forsaken,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.4 Bible:Ezek.36.6" parsed="|Ezek|36|4|0|0;|Ezek|36|6|0|0" passage="Eze 36:4,6"><i>v.</i> 4 and again <i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. The
people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained
there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys;
these the Chaldeans could not carry away with them. <i>The earth
abides for ever.</i> Now, to show the mercy God had in reserve for
the people, he is to speak of him as having a dormant kindness for
the place, which, if the Lord had been pleased for ever to abandon,
he would not have called upon to <i>hear the word of the Lord,</i>
nor <i>would he as at this time have shown it such things as
these.</i> Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The compassionate notice God takes of
the present deplorable condition of the land of Israel. It has
become both a <i>prey</i> and a <i>derision to the heathen that are
round about,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.4" parsed="|Ezek|36|4|0|0" passage="Eze 36:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 1. It has become a prey to them; and they are all
enriched with the plunder of it. When the Chaldeans had conquered
them all their neighbours flew to the spoil as to a shipwreck,
every one thinking all his own that he could lay his hands on
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.3" parsed="|Ezek|36|3|0|0" passage="Eze 36:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>They have
made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you
might be a possession to the heathen,</i> to the <i>residue</i> of
them, even such as had themselves narrowly escaped the like
desolation. No one thought it any crime to strip an Israelite.
<i>Turba Romæ sequitur fortunam ut semper—The mob of Rome still
praise the elevated and despise the fallen.</i> It is the common
dry, when a man is down, <i>Down with him.</i> 2. It has become a
derision to them. They took all they had and laughed at them when
they had done. <i>The enemy said, "Aha! even the ancient high
places are ours in possession,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.2" parsed="|Ezek|36|2|0|0" passage="Eze 36:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Neither the antiquity, nor the
dignity, neither the sanctity nor the fortifications, of the land
of Israel, are its security, but we have become masters of it all."
The more honours that land had been adorned with, and the greater
figure it had made among the nations, the more pride and pleasure
did they take in making a spoil of it, which is an instance of a
base and sordid spirit; for the more glorious and prosperity was
the more piteous is the adversity. God takes notice of it here as
an aggravation of the present calamity of Israel: <i>You are taken
up in the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the people,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.3" parsed="|Ezek|36|3|0|0" passage="Eze 36:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. All the talk
of the country about was concerning the overthrow of the Jewish
nation; and every one that spoke of it had some peevish ill-natured
reflection or other upon them. They were the <i>scorning of those
that were at ease and the contempt of the proud,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.123.4" parsed="|Ps|123|4|0|0" passage="Ps 123:4">Ps. cxxiii. 4</scripRef>. There are some that
are noted for talkers, that have something to say of every body,
but cannot find in their hearts to speak well of any body; God's
people, among such people, were sure to be a reproach when the
crown had fallen from their head. Thus it was the lot of
Christianity, in its suffering days, to be <i>every where spoken
against.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The expressions of God's just
displeasure against those who triumphed in the desolations of the
land of Israel, as many of its neighbours did, even the residue of
the brethren, and Idumea particularly. Let us see, 1. How they
dealt with the Israel of God. They carved out large possessions to
themselves out of their land, out of God's land; for so indeed it
was: "<i>They have appointed my land into their possession</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.5" parsed="|Ezek|36|5|0|0" passage="Eze 36:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), and so not
only invaded their neighbour's property, but intrenched upon God's
prerogative." It was the holy land which they laid their
sacrilegious hands upon. They did not own any dependence upon God,
as the God of that land, nor acknowledge any remaining interest
that Israel had in it, but <i>cast it out for a prey,</i> as if
they had won it in a lawful war. And this they did without any
dread of God and his judgments and without any compassion for
Israel and their calamities, but with the <i>joy of all their
hearts,</i> because they got by it, and <i>with despiteful
minds</i> to Israel that lost by it. Increasing wealth, by right or
wrong, is all the joy of a worldly heart; and the calamities of
God's people are all the joy of a despiteful mind. And those that
had not an opportunity of making a prey of God's people made a
reproach of them; so that they were <i>the shame of the
heathen,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.6" parsed="|Ezek|36|6|0|0" passage="Eze 36:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
Every body ridiculed them and made a jest of them; and the truth is
they had by their own sin made themselves vile; so that God was
righteous herein, but men were unrighteous and very barbarous. 2.
How God would deal with those who were thus in word and deed
abusive to his people. He has <i>spoken against the heathen;</i> he
has passed sentence upon them; he has determined to reckon with
them for it, and this <i>in the fire of his jealousy,</i> both for
his own honour and for the honour of his people, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.5" parsed="|Ezek|36|5|0|0" passage="Eze 36:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Having a <i>love</i> for both as
<i>strong as death,</i> he has a <i>jealousy</i> for both as
<i>cruel as the grave.</i> They spoke in their malice against God's
people, and he will speak in his jealousy against them; and it is
easy to say which will speak most powerfully. God will speak <i>in
his jealousy and in his fury,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.6" parsed="|Ezek|36|6|0|0" passage="Eze 36:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Fury is not in God; but he will
exert his power against them and handle them as severely as men do
when they are in a fury. He will so <i>speak to them in his wrath
as to vex them in his sore displeasure.</i> What he says he will
stand to, for it is backed with an oath. He has <i>lifted up his
hand</i> and sworn by himself, has sworn and will not repent. And
what is it that is said with so much heat, and yet with so much
deliberation? It is this (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.7" parsed="|Ezek|36|7|0|0" passage="Eze 36:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>), <i>Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall
bear their shame.</i> Note, The righteous God, to whom vengeance
belongs, will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and
reproach upon God's people will, sooner or later, have it <i>burned
upon themselves,</i> perhaps in this world (either their follies or
their calamities, their miscarriages or their mischances, shall be
their reproach), at furthest in that day when all the impenitent
shall <i>rise to shame and everlasting contempt.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p6" shownumber="no">III. The promises of God's favour to his
Israel and assurances given of great mercy God had in store for
them. God takes occasion from the outrage and insolence of their
enemies to show himself so much the more concerned for them and
ready to do them good, as David hoped that God would recompense him
good for Shimei's cursing him. <i>Let them curse, but bless
thou.</i> In this way, as well as others, the enemies of God's
people do them real service, even by the injuries they do them,
against their will and beyond their intention. We shall have no
reason to complain if, the more unkind men are, the more kind God
is—if, the more kindly he speaks to us by his word and Spirit, the
more kindly he acts for us in his providence. The prophet must say
so to the <i>mountains of Israel,</i> which were now <i>desolate
and despised,</i> that God is <i>for them</i> and will <i>burn to
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.9" parsed="|Ezek|36|9|0|0" passage="Eze 36:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. As
the curse of God reaches the ground for man's sake, so does the
blessing. Now that which is promised is, 1. That their rightful
owners should return to the possession of them: <i>My people Israel
are at hand to come,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.8" parsed="|Ezek|36|8|0|0" passage="Eze 36:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. Though they are at a great distance from their own
country, though they are dispersed in many countries, and though
they are detained by the power of their enemies, yet they shall
<i>come again to their own border,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.17" parsed="|Jer|31|17|0|0" passage="Jer 31:17">Jer. xxxi. 17</scripRef>. The time is at hand for their
return. Though there were above forty years of the seventy (perhaps
fifty) yet remaining, it is spoken of as near, because it is sure,
and there were some among them that should live to see it. A
<i>thousand years are</i> with God but <i>as one day.</i> The
mountains of Israel are now desolate; but God will <i>cause men to
walk upon them</i> again, <i>even his people Israel,</i> not as
travellers passing over them, but as inhabitants—not tenants, but
freeholders: <i>They shall possess thee,</i> not for term of life,
but for themselves and their heirs; <i>thou shalt be their
inheritance.</i> It was a type of the heavenly Canaan, to which all
God's children are heirs, every Israelite indeed, and into which
they shall shortly be all brought together, out of the countries
where they are now scattered. 2. That they should afford a
plentiful comfortable maintenance for their owners at their return.
When the land had <i>enjoyed her sabbaths</i> for so many years, it
should be so much the more fruitful afterwards, as we should be
after rest, especially a sabbath rest: <i>You shall be tilled and
sown</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.9" parsed="|Ezek|36|9|0|0" passage="Eze 36:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) and
shall <i>yield your fruit to my people Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.8" parsed="|Ezek|36|8|0|0" passage="Eze 36:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Note, It is a blessing
to the earth to be made serviceable to men, especially to good men,
that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good
things which the earth serves up to them. 3. That the people of
Israel should have not only a comfortable sustenance, but a
comfortable settlement, in their own land: The <i>cities shall be
inhabited; the wastes shall be builded,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.10" parsed="|Ezek|36|10|0|0" passage="Eze 36:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. And <i>I will settle you after
your old estates,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.11" parsed="|Ezek|36|11|0|0" passage="Eze 36:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. Their own sin had unsettled them, but now God's
favour shall resettle them. When the prodigal son has become a
penitent he is settled again in his father's house, according to
his former estate. Bring hither the <i>first robe,</i> and put it
on him. Nay, <i>I will do better unto you</i> now <i>than at your
beginnings.</i> There is more joy for the sheep that is brought
back than there would have been if it had never gone astray. And
God sometimes multiplies his people's comforts in proportion to the
<i>time that he has afflicted them.</i> Thus God blessed the latter
end of Job more than his beginning, and doubled to him all he had.
4. That the people, after their return, should be <i>fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the land,</i> so that it should not only be
inhabited again, but as thickly inhabited, and as well peopled, as
ever. God will bring back to it <i>all the house of Israel, even
all of it</i> (observe what an emphasis is laid upon that,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.10" parsed="|Ezek|36|10|0|0" passage="Eze 36:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), all
<i>whose spirits God stirred up</i> to return; and those only were
reckoned of <i>the house of Israel,</i> the rest had cut themselves
off from it; or, though but few, in comparison, returned at first,
yet afterwards, at divers times, they <i>all</i> returned; and then
(says God) <i>I will multiply these men</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.10" parsed="|Ezek|36|10|0|0" passage="Eze 36:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), <i>multiply man and beast;
and they shall increase,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.11" parsed="|Ezek|36|11|0|0" passage="Eze 36:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Note, God's kingdom in the
world is a growing kingdom; and his church, though for a time it
may be diminished, shall recover itself and be again replenished.
5. That the reproach long since cast up on the land of Israel by
the evil spies, and of late revived, that <i>it was a land that ate
up the inhabitants</i> of it by famine, sickness, and the sword,
should be quite rolled away, and there should never be any more
occasion for it. Canaan had got into a bad name. It had of old
<i>spued out the inhabitants</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Lev.18.28" parsed="|Lev|18|28|0|0" passage="Le 18:28">Lev.
xviii. 28</scripRef>), the natives, the aborigines, which was
turned to its reproach by those that should have put another
construction upon it, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Num.13.32" parsed="|Num|13|32|0|0" passage="Nu 13:32">Num. xiii.
32</scripRef>. It had of late devoured the Israelites, and spued
them out too; so that it was commonly said of it, It is a land
which, instead of supporting its nations or tribes that inhabit it,
<i>bereaves</i> them, <i>overthrows</i> them, and <i>causes them to
fall;</i> it is a tenement which breaks all the tenants that come
upon it. This character it had got among the neighbours; but God
now promises that it shall be so no more: <i>Thou shalt no more
bereave them of men</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.12" parsed="|Ezek|36|12|0|0" passage="Eze 36:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), shalt <i>devour men no more,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.14" parsed="|Ezek|36|14|0|0" passage="Eze 36:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. But the inhabitants shall live
to a good old age, and not have the number of their months cut off
in the midst. Compare this with that promise, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.15" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.4" parsed="|Zech|8|4|0|0" passage="Zec 8:4">Zech. viii. 4</scripRef>. Note, God will take away the
reproach of his people by taking away that which was the occasion
of it. When the nation is made to flourish in peace, plenty, and
power, then they <i>hear no more the shame of the heathen</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.16" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.15" parsed="|Ezek|36|15|0|0" passage="Eze 36:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), especially
when it is reformed; when sin, which is the reproach of any people,
particularly of God's professing people, is taken away, then they
<i>hear no more the reproach of the people.</i> Note, When God
returns in mercy to a people that return to him in duty, all their
grievances will be soon redressed and their honour retrieved.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.17" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.16-Ezek.36.24" parsed="|Ezek|36|16|36|24" passage="Eze 36:16-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.18">
<h4 id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.19">God's Compassion for Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p6.20">b. c.</span> 587.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7" shownumber="no">16 Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   17 Son of man,
when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it
by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as
the uncleanness of a removed woman.   18 Wherefore I poured my
fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and
for their idols <i>wherewith</i> they had polluted it:   19
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed
through the countries: according to their way and according to
their doings I judged them.   20 And when they entered unto
the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when
they said to them, These <i>are</i> the people of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7.2">Lord</span>, and are gone forth out of his land.  
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had
profaned among the heathen, whither they went.   22 Therefore
say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7.3">God</span>; I do not <i>this</i> for your sakes, O
house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have
profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.   23 And I will
sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which
ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know
that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7.4">Lord</span>, saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p7.5">God</span>, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes.   24 For I will take you from among
the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring
you into your own land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p8" shownumber="no">When God promised the poor captives a
glorious return, in due time, to their own land, it was a great
discouragement to their hopes that they were unworthy, utterly
unworthy, of such a favour; therefore, to remove that
discouragement, God here shows them that he would do it for them
purely <i>for his own name's sake,</i> that he might be glorified
in them and by them, that he might manifest and magnify his mercy
and goodness, that attribute which of all others is most his glory.
And, the restoration of that people being typical of our redemption
by Christ, this is intended further to show that the ultimate end
aimed at in our salvation, to which all the steps of it were made
subservient, was the glory of God. To this end Christ directed all
he did in that short prayer, <i>Father, glorify thy name;</i> and
God declared it was his end in all he did in the immediate answer
given to that prayer, by a voice from heaven: <i>I have glorified
it, and I will glorify it yet again,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:John.12.28" parsed="|John|12|28|0|0" passage="Joh 12:28">John xii. 28</scripRef>. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p9" shownumber="no">I. How God's name had suffered both by the
sins and by the miseries of Israel; and this was more to be
regretted than all their sorrow, which they had brought upon
themselves; for the honour of God lies nearer the hearts of good
men than any interests of their own. 1. God's glory had been
injured by the sin of Israel when they were in their own land,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.17" parsed="|Ezek|36|17|0|0" passage="Eze 36:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. It was a
good land, a holy land, a land that had the eye of God upon it.
<i>But they defiled it by their own way,</i> their wicked way; that
is <i>our own</i> way, the way of our own choice; and we ourselves
must bear the blame and shame of it. The sin of a people defiles
their land, renders it abominable to God and uncomfortable to
themselves; so that they cannot have any holy communion with him
nor with one another. What was unclean might not be made use of. By
the abuse of the gifts of God's bounty to us we forfeit the use of
them; and, the mind and conscience being defiled with guilt, no
comfort is allowed us, <i>nothing is pure</i> to us. Their way in
the eye of God was like the pollution of a woman during the days of
her separation, which shut her out from the sanctuary and made very
things she touched ceremonially unclean, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.15.19" parsed="|Lev|15|19|0|0" passage="Le 15:19">Lev. xv. 19</scripRef>. Sin is that <i>abominable thing
which the Lord hates,</i> and which he cannot endure to look upon.
They <i>shed blood</i> and <i>worshipped idols</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.18" parsed="|Ezek|36|18|0|0" passage="Eze 36:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>) and with those sins
<i>defiled the land.</i> For this God <i>poured out his fury</i>
upon them, <i>scattered them among the heathen.</i> Their own land
was sick of them, and they were sent into other lands. Herein God
was righteous, and was justified in what he did; none could say
that he did them any wrong, nay, he did justice to his own honour,
for he <i>judged them according to their way and according to their
doings,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.19" parsed="|Ezek|36|19|0|0" passage="Eze 36:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>.
And yet, the matter being not rightly understood, he was not
glorified in it; for the enemies did say, as Moses pleaded the
Egyptians would say if he had destroyed them in the wilderness,
that <i>for mischief he brought them forth.</i> Their neighbours
considered them rather as a holy people than as a sinful people,
and therefore took occasion from the calamities they were in,
instead of glorifying God, as they might justly have done, to
reproach him and put contempt upon him; and God's name was
<i>continually every day blasphemed</i> by their oppressors,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.5" parsed="|Isa|52|5|0|0" passage="Isa 52:5">Isa. lii. 5</scripRef>. 2. When they
<i>entered into the land of the heathen</i> God had no glory by
them there; but, on the contrary, his holy name was profaned,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.20" parsed="|Ezek|36|20|0|0" passage="Eze 36:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. (1.) It was
profaned by the sins of Israel; they were no credit to their
profession wherever they went, but, on the contrary, a reproach to
it. The <i>name of God</i> and his holy religion was <i>blasphemed
through them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.24" parsed="|Rom|2|24|0|0" passage="Ro 2:24">Rom. ii.
24</scripRef>. When those that pretended to be in relation to God,
in covenant and communion with him, were found corrupt in their
morals, slaves to their appetites and passions, dishonest in their
dealings, and false to their words and the trust reposed in them,
the enemies of the Lord had thereby great occasion given them to
blaspheme, especially when they quarrelled with their God for
correcting them, than which nothing could be more scandalous. (2.)
It was profaned by the sufferings of Israel; for from them the
enemies of God took occasion to reproach God, as unable to protect
his own worshippers and to make good his own grants. They said, in
scorn, "<i>These are the people of the land,</i> these wicked
people (you see he could not keep them in their obedience to his
precepts), these <i>miserable people</i>—you see he could not keep
them in the enjoyment of his favours. These are <i>the people that
came out of Jehovah's land,</i> they are the very scum of the
nations. Are these those that had statues so righteous whose lives
are so unrighteous? Is this the nation that is so much celebrated
for a <i>wise and understanding people,</i> and that is said to
have <i>God so nigh unto them?</i> Do these belong to that brave,
that holy nation, who appear here so vile, so abject?" Thus God
sold his people and did not <i>increase his wealth by their
price,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.12" parsed="|Ps|44|12|0|0" passage="Ps 44:12">Ps. xliv. 12</scripRef>.
The reproach they were under reflected upon him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p10" shownumber="no">II. Let us now see how God would retrieve
his honour, secure it, and advance it, by working a great
reformation upon them and then working a great salvation for them.
He would have <i>scattered them among the heathen, were it not that
he feared the wrath of the enemy,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.26-Deut.32.27" parsed="|Deut|32|26|32|27" passage="De 32:26,27">Deut. xxxii. 26, 27</scripRef>. But, though they were
unworthy of his compassion, yet <i>he had pity for his own holy
name,</i> and a thousand pities it was that that should be trampled
upon and abused. He looked with compassion on his own honour, which
lay bleeding among the heathen, on that jewel which was trodden
into the dirt, which <i>the house of Israel,</i> even in the land
of their captivity, <i>had profaned,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.21" parsed="|Ezek|36|21|0|0" passage="Eze 36:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. In pity to that God brought
them out from the heathen, because their sins were more scandalous
there than they had been in their own land. "Therefore I <i>will
gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own
land,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.24" parsed="|Ezek|36|24|0|0" passage="Eze 36:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>.
<i>Not for your sake,</i> because you are worthy of such a favour,
for you are most unworthy, but <i>for my holy name's sake</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.22" parsed="|Ezek|36|22|0|0" passage="Eze 36:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), that <i>I
may sanctify my great name,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.23" parsed="|Ezek|36|23|0|0" passage="Eze 36:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Observe, by the way, God's
holy name is his great name. His holiness is his greatness; so he
reckons it himself. Nor does any thing make a man truly great but
being truly good, and partaking of God's holiness. God will magnify
his name as a holy name, for he will sanctify it: <i>I will
sanctify my name which you have profaned.</i> When God performs
that which he has sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his
name. The effect of this shall be very happy: <i>The heathen shall
know that I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified in you before
their eyes</i> and yours. When God proves his own holy name, and
his saints praise it, then he is sanctified in them, and this
contributes to the propagating of the knowledge of him. Observe, 1.
God's reasons of mercy are all fetched from within himself; he will
bring his people out of Babylon, not for their sakes, but <i>for
his own name's sake,</i> because he will be glorified. 2. God's
goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the
more illustrious; <i>therefore</i> he will sanctify his name by the
pardon of sin, because it has been profaned by the commission of
sin.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.25-Ezek.36.38" parsed="|Ezek|36|25|36|38" passage="Eze 36:25-38" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.8">The Promise of a New Heart; The Promise of
Sanctifying Grace; Promised Blessings Must Be Prayed
for. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p10.9">b.
c.</span> 587.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11" shownumber="no">25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your
idols, will I cleanse you.   26 A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh.   27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
<i>them.</i>   28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave
to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
  29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I
will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine
upon you.   30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and
the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach
of famine among the heathen.   31 Then shall ye remember your
own evil ways, and your doings that <i>were</i> not good, and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for
your abominations.   32 Not for your sakes do I <i>this,</i>
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.1">God</span>, be it known unto
you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of
Israel.   33 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.2">God</span>; In the day that I shall have cleansed you
from all your iniquities I will also cause <i>you</i> to dwell in
the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.   34 And the
desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight
of all that passed by.   35 And they shall say, This land that
was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and
desolate and ruined cities <i>are become</i> fenced, <i>and</i> are
inhabited.   36 Then the heathen that are left round about you
shall know that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.3">Lord</span> build the
ruined <i>places, and</i> plant that that was desolate: I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.4">Lord</span> have spoken <i>it,</i> and I will do
<i>it.</i>   37 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.5">God</span>; I will yet <i>for</i> this be enquired of
by the house of Israel, to do <i>it</i> for them; I will increase
them with men like a flock.   38 As the holy flock, as the
flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities
be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I <i>am</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxvii-p11.6">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p12" shownumber="no">The people of God might be discouraged in
their hopes of a restoration by the sense not only of their
unworthiness of such a favour (which was answered, in the <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.1-Ezek.36.24" parsed="|Ezek|36|1|36|24" passage="Eze 36:1-24">foregoing verses</scripRef>, with this, that
God, in doing it, would have an eye to his own glory, not to their
worthiness), but of their unfitness for such a favour, being still
corrupt and sinful; and that is answered in these verses, with a
promise that God would by his grace prepare and qualify them for
the mercy and then bestow it on them. And this was in part
fulfilled in that wonderful effect which the captivity in Babylon
had upon the Jews there, that it effectually cured them of their
inclination to idolatry. But it is further intended as a draught of
the covenant of grace, and a specimen of those spiritual blessings
with which we are blessed in heavenly things by that covenant. As
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.34.1-Ezek.34.31" parsed="|Ezek|34|1|34|31" passage="Eze 34:1-31"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv.</scripRef>)
after a promise of their return the prophecy insensibly slid into a
promise of the coming of Christ, the great Shepherd, so here it
insensibly slides into a promise of the Spirit, and his gracious
influences and operations, which we have as much need of for our
sanctification as we have of Christ's merit for our
justification.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p13" shownumber="no">I. God here promises that he will work a
good work in them, to qualify them for the good work he intended to
bring about for them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.25-Ezek.36.27" parsed="|Ezek|36|25|36|27" passage="Eze 36:25-27"><i>v.</i>
25-27</scripRef>. We had promises to the same purport, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.18-Ezek.11.20" parsed="|Ezek|11|18|11|20" passage="Eze 11:18-20"><i>ch.</i> xi. 18-20</scripRef>. 1. That God
would cleanse them from the pollutions of sin (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.25" parsed="|Ezek|36|25|0|0" passage="Eze 36:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>I will sprinkle clean
water upon you,</i> which signifies both the book of Christ
sprinkled upon the conscience to purify that and to take away the
sense of guilt (as those that were sprinkled with the water of
purification were thereby discharged from their ceremonial
uncleanness) and the grace of the Spirit sprinkled on the whole
soul to purify it from all corrupt inclinations and dispositions,
as Naaman was cleansed from his leprosy by dipping in Jordan.
Christ was himself clean, else his blood could not have been
cleansing to us; and it is a Holy Spirit that makes us holy:
<i>From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse
you.</i> And (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.29" parsed="|Ezek|36|29|0|0" passage="Eze 36:29"><i>v.</i>
29</scripRef>) <i>I will save you from all your uncleannesses.</i>
Sin is defiling, idolatry particularly is so; it renders sinners
odious to God and burdensome to themselves. When guilt is pardoned,
and the corrupt nature sanctified, then we are cleansed from our
filthiness, and there is no other way of being saved from it. This
God promises his people here, in order to his being sanctified in
them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.23" parsed="|Ezek|36|23|0|0" passage="Eze 36:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. We
cannot sanctify God's name unless he sanctify our hearts, nor live
to his glory, but by his grace. 2. That God would give them a
<i>new heart,</i> a disposition of mind excellent in itself and
vastly different from what it was before. God will work an inward
change in order to a universal change. Note, All that have an
interest in the new covenant, and a title to the new Jerusalem,
have a new heart and a new spirit, and these are necessary in order
to their walking in <i>newness of life.</i> This is that <i>divine
nature</i> which believers are by the promises made partakers of.
3. That, instead of a <i>heart of stone,</i> insensible and
inflexible, unapt to receive any divine impressions and to return
any devout affections, God would give a <i>heart of flesh,</i> a
soft and tender heart, that has spiritual senses exercised,
conscious to itself of spiritual pains and pleasures, and complying
in every thing with the will of God. Note, Renewing grace works as
great a change in the soul as the turning of a dead stone into
living flesh. 4. That since, besides our inclination to sin, we
complain of an inability to do our duty, God will <i>cause them to
walk in his statutes,</i> will not only show them the way of his
statutes before them, but incline them to walk in it, and
thoroughly furnish them with wisdom and will, and active powers,
for every good work. In order to this he will <i>put his Spirit
within them,</i> as a teacher, guide, and sanctifier. Note, God
does not force men to walk in his statutes by external violence,
but causes them to walk in his statutes by an internal principle.
And observe what use we ought to make of this gracious power and
principle promised us, and put within us: <i>You shall keep my
judgments.</i> If God will do his part according to the promise, we
must do ours according to the precept. Note, The promise of God's
grace to enable us for our duty should engage and quicken our
constant care and endeavour to do our duty. God's promises must
drive us to his precepts as our rule, and then his precepts must
send us back to his promises for strength, for without his grace we
can do nothing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p14" shownumber="no">II. God here promises that he will take
them into covenant with himself. The sum of the covenant of grace
we have, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.28" parsed="|Ezek|36|28|0|0" passage="Eze 36:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>.
<i>You shall be my people, and I will be your God.</i> It is not,
"If you will be my people, I will be your God" (though it is very
true that we cannot expect to have God to be to us a God unless we
be to him a people), but he has chosen us, and loved us, first, not
we him; therefore the condition is of grace, is by promise, as well
as the reward; not of merit, not of works: "<i>You shall be my
people;</i> I will make you so; I will give you the nature and
spirit of my people, and then <i>I will be your God.</i>" And this
is the foundation and top-stone of a believer's happiness; it is
heaven itself, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.3 Bible:Rev.21.7" parsed="|Rev|21|3|0|0;|Rev|21|7|0|0" passage="Re 21:3,7">Rev. xxi. 3,
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p15" shownumber="no">III. He promises that he will bring about
all that good for them which the exigence of their case calls for.
When they are thus prepared for mercy, 1. Then they shall return to
their possessions and be settled again in them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.28" parsed="|Ezek|36|28|0|0" passage="Eze 36:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>You shall dwell in the
land that I gave to your fathers.</i> God will, in bringing them
back to it, have an eye not to any merit of theirs, but to the
promise made to the fathers; for therefore he gave it to them at
first, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.7-Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|7|7|8" passage="De 7:7,8">Deut. vii. 7, 8</scripRef>.
<i>Therefore</i> he is gracious, because he has said that he will
be so. This shall follow upon the blessed reformation God would
work among them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.33" parsed="|Ezek|36|33|0|0" passage="Eze 36:33"><i>v.</i>
33</scripRef>): "<i>In the day that I shall have cleansed you from
all your iniquities,</i> and so shall have made you meet for the
inheritance, <i>I will cause you to dwell in the cities,</i> and so
put you in possession of the inheritance." This is God's method of
mercy indeed, first to part men from their sins, and then to
restore them to their comforts. 2. Then they shall enjoy a plenty
of all good things. When they are saved <i>from their
uncleanness,</i> from their sins which kept good things from them,
then <i>I will call for the corn and will increase it,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.29" parsed="|Ezek|36|29|0|0" passage="Eze 36:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Plenty comes
at God's call, and the plenty he calls for shall be still growing;
and when he speaks the word the fruit both of the tree and of the
field shall multiply. As the inhabitants multiply the productions
shall multiply for their maintenance; for he that sends mouths will
send meat. Famine was one of the judgments which they had laboured
under, and it had been as much as any a reproach to them, that they
should be starved in a land so famed for fruitfulness. But now <i>I
will lay no famine upon you;</i> and none are under that rod
without having it laid on by him. Then they <i>shall receive no
more reproach of famine,</i> shall never be again upbraided with
that, nor shall it ever be said that God is a Master that keeps his
servants to short allowance. Nay, they shall not only be cleared
from the reproach of famine, but they shall have the credit of
abundance. The land that had long <i>lain desolate in the sight of
all that passed by,</i> that looked upon it, some with contempt and
some with compassion, shall again <i>be tilled</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.34" parsed="|Ezek|36|34|0|0" passage="Eze 36:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>), and, having long lain
fallow, it will now be the more fruitful. Observe, God will <i>call
for the corn</i> and yet they must <i>till the ground</i> for it.
Note, Even promised mercies must be laboured for; for the promise
is not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage our industry and
endeavour. And such a blessing will God command on the <i>hand of
the diligent</i> that all who pass by shall take notice of it, with
wonder, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.35" parsed="|Ezek|36|35|0|0" passage="Eze 36:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>. They
shall say, "See what a blessed change here is, how <i>this land
that was desolate</i> has <i>become like the garden of Eden,</i>
the desert turned again into a paradise," Note, God has honours in
reserve for his people to be crowned with sufficient to
counterbalance the contempt they are now loaded with, and in them
he will be honoured. This wonderful increase both of the people of
the land and of its products is compared (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.38" parsed="|Ezek|36|38|0|0" passage="Eze 36:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>) to the large flocks of cattle
that are brought to Jerusalem, to be sacrificed at one of the
solemn feasts. Even the cities that now lie waste shall be filled
with <i>flocks of men,</i> not like the flocks with which the
pastures are <i>covered over</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.13" parsed="|Ps|65|13|0|0" passage="Ps 65:13">Ps.
lxvi. 13</scripRef>), but like the holy flock which is brought to
the courts of the Lord's house. Note, <i>Then</i> the increase of
the numbers of a people is honourable and comfortable indeed when
they are all dedicated to God as a holy flock, to be presented to
him for <i>living sacrifices.</i> Crowds are a lovely sight in
God's temple.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p16" shownumber="no">IV. He shows what shall be <i>the happy
effects of this blessed change.</i> 1. It shall have a happy effect
upon the people of God themselves, for it shall bring them to an
ingenuous repentance for their sins (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.31" parsed="|Ezek|36|31|0|0" passage="Eze 36:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>): <i>Then shall you remember
your own evil ways and shall loathe yourselves.</i> See here what
sin is; it is an <i>abomination,</i> a loathsome thing, that
abominable thing which the Lord hates. See what is the first step
towards repentance; it is <i>remembering our own evil ways,</i>
reflecting seriously upon the sins we have committed and being
particular in recapitulating them. We must remember against
ourselves not only our gross enormities, <i>our own evil ways,</i>
but our defects and infirmities, <i>our doings that were not
good,</i> not so good as they should have been; not only our direct
violations of the law, but our coming short of it. See what is
evermore a companion of true repentance, and that is self-loathing,
a holy shame and confusion of face: "You shall <i>loathe yourselves
in your own sight,</i> seeing how loathsome you have made
yourselves in the sight of God." Self-love is at the bottom of sin,
which we cannot but blush to see the absurdity of; but our
quarrelling with ourselves is in order to our being, upon good
grounds, reconciled to ourselves. And, <i>lastly,</i> see what is
the most powerful inducement to an evangelical repentance, and that
is a sense of the mercy of God; when God settles them in the midst
of plenty, <i>then they shall loathe themselves for their
iniquities.</i> Note, The goodness of God should overcome our
badness and <i>lead us to repentance.</i> The more we see of God's
readiness to receive us into favour upon our repentance the more
reason we shall see to be ashamed of ourselves that we could ever
sin against so much love. That heart is hard indeed that will not
be thus melted. 2. It shall have a happy effect upon their
neighbours, for it shall bring them to a more clear knowledge of
God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.36" parsed="|Ezek|36|36|0|0" passage="Eze 36:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>):
"<i>Then the heathen that are left round about you,</i> that spoke
ignorantly of God (for so all those do that speak <i>ill</i> of
him) when they saw the land of Israel desolate, shall begin to know
better, and to speak more intelligently of God, being convinced
that he is able to rebuild the most desolate cities and to replant
the most desolate countries, and that, though the course of his
favours to his people may be obstructed for a time, they shall not
be cut off for ever." They shall be made to know the truth of
divine revelation by the exact agreement which they shall discern
between God's word which he has spoken to Israel and his works
which he has done for them: <i>I the Lord have spoken it, and I
will do it.</i> With us saying and doing are two things, but they
are not so with God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p17" shownumber="no">V. He proposes these things to them, not as
the <i>recompence</i> of their merits, but as the return of their
prayers.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p18" shownumber="no">1. Let them not think that they have
deserved it: <i>Not for your sakes do I this, be it known to
you</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.22 Bible:Ezek.36.32" parsed="|Ezek|36|22|0|0;|Ezek|36|32|0|0" passage="Eze 36:22,32"><i>v.</i> 22,
32</scripRef>); no, <i>be you ashamed and confounded for your own
ways.</i> God is <i>doing</i> this, all this which he has promised;
it is as sure to be done as if it were done already, and present
events have a tendency towards it. But then, (1.) They must
renounce the merit of their own good works, and be brought to
acknowledge that it is not for their sakes that it is done; so,
when God brought Israel into Canaan the first time, an express
<i>caveat</i> was entered against this thought. <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.9.4-Deut.9.6" parsed="|Deut|9|4|9|6" passage="De 9:4-6">Deut. ix. 4-6</scripRef>, <i>It is not for thy
righteousness.</i> It is not for the sake of any of their good
qualities or good deeds, not because God had any need of them, or
expected any benefit by them. No, in showing mercy he acts by
prerogative, not for our deserts, but for his own honour. See how
emphatically this is expressed: <i>Be it known to you,</i> it is
<i>not for your sakes,</i> which intimates that we are apt to
entertain a high conceit of our own merits and are with difficulty
persuaded to disclaim a confidence in them. But, one way or other,
God will make all his favourites to know and own that it is his
grace, and not their goodness, his mercy, and not their merit, that
made them so; and that therefore not unto them, not unto them, but
unto him, is all the glory due. (2.) They must repent of the sin of
their own evil ways. They must own that the mercies they receive
from God are not only not merited, but that they are a thousand
times forfeited; and therefore they must be so far from boasting of
their good works that they must be ashamed and confounded for their
evil ways, and then they are best prepared for mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxvii-p19" shownumber="no">2. Yet let them know that they must desire
and expect it (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.37" parsed="|Ezek|36|37|0|0" passage="Eze 36:37"><i>v.</i>
37</scripRef>): <i>I will yet for this be enquired of by the house
of Israel.</i> God has spoken, and he will do it, and he will be
sought unto for it. He requires that his people should <i>seek unto
him,</i> and he will incline their hearts to do it, when he is
coming towards them in ways of mercy. (1.) They must pray for it,
for by prayer God is sought unto, and enquired after. What is the
matter of God's promises must be the matter of our prayers. By
asking for the mercy promised we must give glory to the donor,
express a value for the gift, own our dependence, and put honour
upon prayer which God has put honour upon. Christ himself must ask,
and then God will <i>give him the heathen for his inheritance,</i>
must <i>pray the Father,</i> and then he will <i>send the
Comforter;</i> much more must we ask that we may receive. (2.) They
must consult the oracles of God, and thus also God is sought unto
and enquired after. The mercy must be, not an act of providence
only, but a child of promise; and therefore the promise must be
looked at, and prayer made for it with an eye of faith fastened
upon the promise, which must be both the guide and the ground of
our expectations. Both these ways we find God enquired of by
Daniel, in the name of the house of Israel, when he was about to do
those great things for them; he consulted the oracles of God, for
he <i>understood by books,</i> the book of the prophet Jeremiah,
both what was to be expected and when; and then he <i>set his
face</i> to seek God by prayer, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxvii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.2-Dan.9.3" parsed="|Dan|9|2|9|3" passage="Da 9:2,3">Dan.
ix. 2, 3</scripRef>. Note, Our communion with God must be kept up
by the word and prayer in all the operations of his providence
concerning us and in both he must be enquired of.</p>
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