mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 20.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxi" n="xxi" next="Ez.xxii" prev="Ez.xx" progress="57.35%" title="Chapter XX">
<h2 id="Ez.xxi-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxi-p0.2">CHAP. XX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxi-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter, I. The prophet is consulted by
some of the elders of Israel, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.1" parsed="|Ezek|20|1|0|0" passage="Eze 20:1">ver.
1</scripRef>. II. He is instructed by his God what answer to give
them. He must, 1. Signify God's displeasure against them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.2-Ezek.20.3" parsed="|Ezek|20|2|20|3" passage="Eze 20:2,3">ver. 2, 3</scripRef>. And, 2. He must show
them what just cause he had for that displeasure, by giving them a
history of God's grateful dealings with their fathers and their
treacherous dealings with God. (1.) In Egypt, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.5-Ezek.20.9" parsed="|Ezek|20|5|20|9" passage="Eze 20:5-9">ver. 5-9</scripRef>. (2.) In the wilderness, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.10-Ezek.20.26" parsed="|Ezek|20|10|20|26" passage="Eze 20:10-26">ver. 10-26</scripRef>. (3.) In Canaan,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.27-Ezek.20.32" parsed="|Ezek|20|27|20|32" passage="Eze 20:27-32">ver. 27-32</scripRef>. 3. He must
denounce the judgments of God against them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.33-Ezek.20.36" parsed="|Ezek|20|33|20|36" passage="Eze 20:33-36">ver. 33-36</scripRef>. 4. He must tell them likewise
what mercy God had in store for them, when he would bring a remnant
of them to repentance, re-establish them in their own land, and set
up his sanctuary among them again, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.37-Ezek.20.44" parsed="|Ezek|20|37|20|44" passage="Eze 20:37-44">ver. 37-44</scripRef>. 5. Here is another word
dropped towards Jerusalem, which is explained and enlarged upon in
the next chapter, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.45-Ezek.20.49" parsed="|Ezek|20|45|20|49" passage="Eze 20:45-49">ver.
45-49</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20" parsed="|Ezek|20|0|0|0" passage="Eze 20" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.1-Ezek.20.4" parsed="|Ezek|20|1|20|4" passage="Eze 20:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p1.11">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p1.12">The Prophet Consulted by the
Elders. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p1.13">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p2" shownumber="no">1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in
the fifth <i>month,</i> the tenth <i>day</i> of the month,
<i>that</i> certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p2.1">Lord</span>, and sat before me.   2
Then came the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p2.2">Lord</span> unto
me, saying,   3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel,
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p2.3">God</span>; Are ye come to enquire of me? <i>As</i> I
live, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p2.4">God</span>, I will not
be enquired of by you.   4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man,
wilt thou judge <i>them?</i> cause them to know the abominations of
their fathers:</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, 1. The occasion of the message
which we have in this chapter. That sermon which we had <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.1-Ezek.18.32" parsed="|Ezek|18|1|18|32" passage="Eze 18:1-32"><i>ch.</i> xviii.</scripRef> was occasioned
by their presumptuous reflections upon God; this was occasioned by
their hypocritical enquiries after him. Each shall have his own.
This prophecy is exactly dated, in the <i>seventh year of the</i>
captivity, about two years after Ezekiel began to prophesy. God
would have them to keep account how long their captivity lasted,
that they might see how the years went on towards their
deliverance, though very slowly. <i>Certain of the elders of Israel
came to enquire of the Lord,</i> not statedly (as those <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.1" parsed="|Ezek|8|1|0|0" passage="Eze 8:1"><i>ch.</i> viii. 1</scripRef>), but, as it should
seem, occasionally, and upon a particular emergency. Whether they
were of those that were now in captivity, or elders lately come
from Jerusalem upon business to Babylon, is not certain; but, by
what the prophet says to them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.32" parsed="|Ezek|20|32|0|0" passage="Eze 20:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), it should seem, their enquiry
was whether now that they were captives in Babylon, at a distance
from their own country, where they had not only no temple, but no
synagogue, for the worship of God, it was not lawful for them, that
they might ingratiate themselves with their lords and masters, to
join with them in their worship and do <i>as the families of these
countries</i> do, that <i>serve wood and stone.</i> This matter was
palliated as well as it would bear, like Naaman's pleading with
Elisha for leave to bow in the house of Rimmon, in compliment to
the king; but we have reason to suspect that their enquiry drove at
this. Note, Those hearts are wretchedly hardened which ask God
leave to go on in sin, and that when they are suffering for it.
They came and <i>sat</i> very demurely and with a show of devotion
<i>before the prophet,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.33.31" parsed="|Ezek|33|31|0|0" passage="Eze 33:31"><i>ch.</i>
xxxiii. 31</scripRef>. 2. The purport of this message. (1.) They
must be made to know that <i>God is angry with them;</i> he takes
it as an affront that they come to enquire of him when they are
resolved to go on still in their trespasses: <i>As I live, saith
the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.3" parsed="|Ezek|20|3|0|0" passage="Eze 20:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Their shows of devotion
shall be neither acceptable to God nor advantageous to themselves.
God will not take notice of their enquiries, nor give them any
satisfactory answers. Note, A hypocritical attendance on God and
his ordinances is so far from being pleasing to him that it is
provoking. (2.) They must be made to know that God is justly angry
with them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.4" parsed="|Ezek|20|4|0|0" passage="Eze 20:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
"<i>Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them?</i>
Thou art a prophet, surely thou wilt not <i>plead for them,</i> as
an intercessor with God; but surely thou wilt <i>pass sentence</i>
on them as a judge for God. <i>See, I have set thee over the
nation;</i> wilt thou not declare to them the judgments of the
Lord? Cause them therefore <i>to know the abominations of their
fathers.</i>" So the orders run now, as before (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.2" parsed="|Ezek|16|2|0|0" passage="Eze 16:2"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 2</scripRef>) he must cause them to
<i>know their own abominations.</i> Though their own abominations
were sufficient to justify God in the severest of his proceedings
against them, yet it would be of use for them to know the
<i>abominations of their fathers,</i> that they might see what a
righteous thing it was with God now at last to cut them off from
being a people, who from the first were such a provoking
people.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.5-Ezek.20.9" parsed="|Ezek|20|5|20|9" passage="Eze 20:5-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p3.9">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p3.10">God's Gracious Dealings with
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p3.11">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p4" shownumber="no">5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p4.1">God</span>; In the day when I chose Israel, and
lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made
myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine
hand unto them, saying, I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p4.2">Lord</span> your God;   6 In the day <i>that</i> I
lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of
Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and
honey, which <i>is</i> the glory of all lands:   7 Then said I
unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and
defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I <i>am</i> the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p4.3">Lord</span> your God.   8 But they
rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not
every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did
they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my
fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of
the land of Egypt.   9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that
it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they
<i>were,</i> in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in
bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p5" shownumber="no">The history of the ingratitude and
rebellion of the people of Israel here begins as early as their
beginning; so does the history of man's apostasy from his Maker. No
sooner have we read the story of our first parents' creation than
we immediately meet with that of their rebellion; so we see here it
was with Israel, a people designed to represent the body of mankind
both in their dealings with God and in his with them. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p6" shownumber="no">I. The gracious purposes of God's law
concerning Israel in Egypt, where they were bond-slaves to Pharaoh.
Be it spoken, be it written, to the immortal honour of free grace,
that then and there, 1. He chose Israel to be a peculiar people to
himself, though their condition was bad and their character worse,
that he might have the honour of mending both. He <i>therefore</i>
chose them, because they were <i>the seed of the house of
Jacob,</i> the posterity of that prince with God, <i>that he might
keep the oath which he had sworn unto their fathers,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.7-Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|7|7|8" passage="De 7:7,8">Deut. vii. 7, 8</scripRef>. 2. He <i>made
himself known to them</i> by his name <i>Jehovah</i> (a new name,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.6.3" parsed="|Exod|6|3|0|0" passage="Ex 6:3">Exod. vi. 3</scripRef>), when by reason
of their servitude they had almost lost the knowledge of that name
by which he was known to their fathers, <i>God Almighty.</i> Note,
As the foundation of our blessedness is laid in God's choosing us,
so the first step towards it is God's making himself known to us.
And whatever distance we are at, whatever distress we are in, he
that made himself known to Israel even in the land of Egypt can
find us out, and follow us with the gracious discoveries and
manifestations of his favour. 3. He made over himself to them as
their God in covenant: <i>I lifted up my hand unto them,</i> saying
it, and confirming it with an oath. "<i>I am the Lord your God,</i>
to whom you are to pay your homage, and from whom and in whom you
are to expect your bliss." 4. He promised to bring them out of
Egypt; and made good what he promised. He <i>lifted up his
hand,</i> that is, he swore unto them, that he would deliver them;
and, they being very unworthy, and their deliverance very unlikely,
it was requisite that the promise of it should be <i>confirmed by
an oath.</i> Or, He <i>lifted up his hand,</i> that is, he put
forth his almighty power to do it; he did it with an
<i>outstretched arm,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.12" parsed="|Ps|136|12|0|0" passage="Ps 136:12">Ps. cxxxvi.
12</scripRef>. 5. He assured them that he would put them in
possession of the land of Canaan. He <i>therefore</i> brought them
out of Egypt, <i>that he might bring them into a land that he had
spied</i> out <i>for them,</i> a second garden of Eden, which was
<i>the glory of all lands.</i> So he found it, the climate being
temperate, the soil fruitful, the situation pleasant, and every
thing agreeable (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.7 Bible:Deut.11.12" parsed="|Deut|8|7|0|0;|Deut|11|12|0|0" passage="De 8:7,11:12">Deut. viii. 7;
xi. 12</scripRef>); or, however this might be, so he made it, by
setting up his sanctuary in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p7" shownumber="no">II. The reasonable commands he gave them,
and the easy conditions of his covenant with them at that time.
Having told them what they might expect from him, he next tells
them what was all he expected from them; it was no more than this
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.7" parsed="|Ezek|20|7|0|0" passage="Eze 20:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "<i>Cast you
away every man</i> his images that he uses for worship, that are
the adorations, but should be the <i>abominations, of his eyes.</i>
Let him abominate them, and put them out of his sight, and
<i>defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt.</i>" Of these, it
seems, many of them were fond; the golden calf was one of them. It
was just, and what might reasonably be expected, that, being
delivered from the Egyptian slavery, they should quit the Egyptian
idolatry, especially when God, at bringing them out, <i>executed
judgment upon the gods of Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.33.4" parsed="|Num|33|4|0|0" passage="Nu 33:4">Num. xxxiii. 4</scripRef>) and thereby showed himself
above them. And, whatever other idols they might have an
inclination to, one would think they should have had a rooted
aversion to the gods of Egypt for Egypt's sake, which had been to
them a house of bondage. Yet, it seems, they needed this caution,
and it is backed with a good reason: <i>I am the Lord your God,</i>
who neither need an assistant nor will admit a rival.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p8" shownumber="no">III. Their unreasonable disobedience to
these commands, for which God might justly have cut them off as
soon as ever they were formed into a people (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.8" parsed="|Ezek|20|8|0|0" passage="Eze 20:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>They rebelled against
God,</i> not only refused to comply with his particular precepts,
but shook off their allegiance, and in effect told him that they
should be at liberty to worship what god they pleased. And even
then when God came down to deliver them, and sent Moses for that
purpose, yet they would not <i>forsake the idols of Egypt,</i>
which perhaps made them speak so affectionately of the <i>onions of
Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.5" parsed="|Num|11|5|0|0" passage="Nu 11:5">Num. xi. 5</scripRef>), for
among other things the Egyptians worshipped an onion. It was
strange that all the plagues of Egypt would not prevail to cure
them of their affection to the <i>idols of Egypt.</i> For this God
said he would <i>pour out his fury upon them,</i> even while they
were yet <i>in the midst of the land of Egypt.</i> Justly might he
have said, "Let them die with the Egyptians." This magnifies the
riches of God's goodness, that he was pleased to work so great a
salvation for them even when he saw them ripe for ruin. Well might
Moses tell them, It is <i>not for your righteousness,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.9.4-Deut.9.5" parsed="|Deut|9|4|9|5" passage="De 9:4,5">Deut. ix. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p9" shownumber="no">IV. The wonderful deliverance which God
wrought for them, notwithstanding. Though they forfeited the favour
while it was in the bestowing, and when God <i>would have healed
them</i> when their <i>iniquity was discovered</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.7.1" parsed="|Hos|7|1|0|0" passage="Ho 7:1">Hos. vii. 1</scripRef>), yet <i>mercy rejoiced
against judgment,</i> and God did what he designed purely <i>for
his own name's sake,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.9" parsed="|Ezek|20|9|0|0" passage="Eze 20:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. When nothing in us will furnish him with a reason for
his favours he furnishes himself with one. God <i>made himself
known</i> to them <i>in the sight of the heathen</i> when he
ordered Moses publicly to say to Pharaoh, Israel is <i>my son, my
first-born,</i> let them go, <i>that they may serve me.</i> Now, if
he had left them to perish for their wickedness as they deserved,
the Egyptians would have reflected upon him for it, and his name
would have been polluted, which ought to be sanctified and shall be
so. Note, The church is secured, even when it is corrupt, because
God will secure his own honour.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.10-Ezek.20.26" parsed="|Ezek|20|10|20|26" passage="Eze 20:10-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p9.4">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p9.5">The Privileges and Sins of
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p9.6">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p10" shownumber="no">10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of
the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.   11
And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which
<i>if</i> a man do, he shall even live in them.   12 Moreover
also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them,
that they might know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p10.1">Lord</span> that sanctify them.   13 But the house
of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in
my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which <i>if</i> a man
do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly
polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the
wilderness, to consume them.   14 But I wrought for my name's
sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose
sight I brought them out.   15 Yet also I lifted up my hand
unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the
land which I had given <i>them,</i> flowing with milk and honey,
which <i>is</i> the glory of all lands;   16 Because they
despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted
my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.   17
Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did
I make an end of them in the wilderness.   18 But I said unto
their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of
your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile
yourselves with their idols:   19 I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p10.2">Lord</span> your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my
judgments, and do them;   20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they
shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p10.3">Lord</span> your God.  
21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked
not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which
<i>if</i> a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my
sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to
accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.   22
Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake,
that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in
whose sight I brought them forth.   23 I lifted up mine hand
unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among
the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;   24
Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my
statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after
their fathers' idols.   25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes
<i>that were</i> not good, and judgments whereby they should not
live;   26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that
they caused to pass through <i>the fire</i> all that openeth the
womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might
know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p10.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p11" shownumber="no">The history of the struggle between the
sins of Israel, by which they endeavoured to ruin themselves, and
the mercies of God, by which he endeavoured to save them and make
them happy, is here continued: and the instances of that struggle
in these verses have reference to what passed between God and them
in the wilderness, in which God honoured himself and they shamed
themselves. The story of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in
the New Testament (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.1-1Cor.10.33 Bible:Heb.3.1-Heb.3.19" parsed="|1Cor|10|1|10|33;|Heb|3|1|3|19" passage="1Co 10:1-33,Heb 3:1-19">1
Cor. x. and Heb. iii.</scripRef>), as well as often in the Old, for
warning to us Christians; and therefore we are particularly
concerned in these verses. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p12" shownumber="no">I. The great things God did for them, which
he puts them in mind of, not as grudging them his favours, but to
show how ungrateful they had been. And we say, If you call a man
ungrateful, you can call him no worse. It was a great favour, 1.
That God <i>brought them forth out of Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.10" parsed="|Ezek|20|10|0|0" passage="Eze 20:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), though, as it follows, he
<i>brought them into the wilderness</i> and not into Canaan
immediately. It is better to be at liberty in a wilderness than
bond-slaves in a land of plenty, to enjoy God and ourselves in
solitude than to lose both in a crowd; yet there were many of them
who had such base servile spirits as not to understand this, but,
when they met with the difficulties of a desert, wished themselves
in Egypt again. 2. That he gave them the law upon Mount Sinai
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.11" parsed="|Ezek|20|11|0|0" passage="Eze 20:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), not only
instructed them concerning good and evil, but by his authority
bound them from the evil and to the good. He <i>gave them his
statutes,</i> and a valuable gift it was. <i>Moses commanded them a
law that was the inheritance of the congregation of Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.4" parsed="|Deut|33|4|0|0" passage="De 33:4">Deut. xxxiii. 4</scripRef>. God <i>made
them to know his judgments,</i> not only enacted laws for them, but
showed them the reasonableness and equity of those laws, with what
judgment they were formed. The laws he gave them they were
encouraged to observe and obey; for, <i>if a man do them, he shall
even live in them;</i> in keeping God's commandments there is
abundance of comfort and a great reward. Christ says, <i>If thou
wilt into enter life,</i> and enjoy it, <i>keep the
commandments.</i> Though those who are the most strict in their
obedience are thus far unprofitable servants that they do no more
than is their duty to do, yet it is thus richly recompensed:
<i>This do, and thou shalt live.</i> The Chaldee says, <i>He shall
live an eternal life in them.</i> St. Paul quotes this (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.12" parsed="|Gal|3|12|0|0" passage="Ga 3:12">Gal. iii. 12</scripRef>) to show that <i>the law
is not of faith,</i> but proposes life upon condition of perfect
obedience, which we are not capable of rendering, and therefore
must have recourse to the grace of the gospel, without which we are
all undone. 3. That he revived the ancient institution of the
sabbath day, which was lost and forgotten while they were
bond-slaves in Egypt; for their task-masters there would by no
means allow them to rest one day in seven. In the wilderness indeed
every day was a day of rest; for what need had those to labour who
lived upon manna, and whose raiment waxed not old? But one day in
seven must be a holy rest (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.12" parsed="|Ezek|20|12|0|0" passage="Eze 20:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): <i>I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me
and them</i> (the institution of the sabbath was a sign of God's
good-will to them, and their observance of it a sign of their
regard to him), <i>that they might know that I am the Lord that
sanctify them.</i> By this God made it to appear that he had
distinguished them from the rest of the world, and designed to
model them for a peculiar people to himself; and by their
attendance on God in solemn assemblies on sabbath days they were
made to increase in the knowledge of God, in an experimental
knowledge of the powers and pleasures of his sanctifying grace.
Note, (1.) Sabbaths are privileges, and are so to be accounted; the
church acknowledges as a great favour, in that chapter which is
parallel to this and seems to have a reference to this (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.14" parsed="|Neh|9|14|0|0" passage="Ne 9:14">Neh. ix. 14</scripRef>), <i>Thou madest known
unto them thy holy sabbaths.</i> (2.) Sabbaths are signs; it is a
sign that men have a sense of religion, and that there is some good
correspondence between them and God, when they make conscience of
keeping holy and sabbath day. (3.) Sabbaths, if duly sanctified,
are the means of our sanctification; if we do the duty of the day,
we shall find, to our comfort, <i>it is the Lord that sanctifies
us,</i> makes us holy (that is, truly happy) here, and prepares us
to be happy (that is, perfectly holy) hereafter.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p13" shownumber="no">II. Their disobedient undutiful conduct
towards God, for which he might justly have thrown them out of
covenant as soon as he had taken them into covenant (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.13" parsed="|Ezek|20|13|0|0" passage="Eze 20:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>They rebelled in
the wilderness.</i> There where they received so much mercy from
God, and had such a dependence upon him, and were in their way to
Canaan, yet there they broke out in many open rebellions against
the God that led them and fed them. They did not only not <i>walk
in God's statutes,</i> but they <i>despised his judgments</i> as
not worth observing; instead of sanctifying the sabbaths, they
polluted them, greatly polluted them; one gathered sticks, many
went out to gather manna on this day. Hereupon God was ready
sometimes to cut them off; he said, more than once, that he would
<i>consume them in the wilderness.</i> But Moses interceded, so did
God's own mercy more powerfully, and most of all a concern for his
own glory, that <i>his name might not be polluted and profaned
among the heathen</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.14" parsed="|Ezek|20|14|0|0" passage="Eze 20:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), that the Egyptians might not say that for mischief
he brought them thus far, or that he was not able to bring them any
further, or that he had no such good land as was talked of to bring
them to, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.12 Bible:Num.14.13" parsed="|Exod|32|12|0|0;|Num|14|13|0|0" passage="Ex 32:12,Nu 14:13">Exod. xxxii. 12;
Num. xiv. 13</scripRef>, &amp;c. Note, God's strongest reasons for
his sparing mercy are those which are fetched from his own
glory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p14" shownumber="no">III. God's determination to cut off that
generation of them in the wilderness. He who <i>lifted up his
hand</i> for them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.6" parsed="|Ezek|20|6|0|0" passage="Eze 20:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>) now <i>lifted up his hand against them;</i> he who by
an oath confirmed his promise to bring them out of Egypt now by an
oath confirmed his threatenings that he would not bring them into
Canaan (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.15-Ezek.20.16" parsed="|Ezek|20|15|20|16" passage="Eze 20:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15,
16</scripRef>): <i>I lifted up my hand unto them,</i> saying, <i>As
truly as I live, these men who have tempted me these ten times
shall never see the land which I swore unto their fathers,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.22-Num.14.23 Bible:Ps.95.11" parsed="|Num|14|22|14|23;|Ps|95|11|0|0" passage="Nu 14:22,23,Ps 95:11">Num. xiv. 22, 23; Ps. xcv.
11</scripRef>. By their contempt of God's laws, and particularly of
his sabbaths, they put a bar in their own door; and that which was
at the bottom of their disobedience to God, and their neglect of
his institutions, was a secret affection to the gods of Egypt:
<i>Their heart went after their idols.</i> Note, The bias of the
mind towards the world and the flesh, the money and the belly
(those two great objects of spiritual idolatry), is the root of
bitterness from which springs all disobedience to the divine law.
The heart that goes after those idols despises God's judgments.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p15" shownumber="no">IV. The reservation of a seed that should
be admitted upon a new trial, and the instructions given to that
seed, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.17" parsed="|Ezek|20|17|0|0" passage="Eze 20:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Though
they thus deserved ruin, and were doomed to it, yet <i>my eye
spared them.</i> When he looked upon them he had compassion on
them, and did not <i>make an end of them,</i> but reprieved them
till a new generation was reared. Note, It is owing purely to the
mercy of God that he has not long ago <i>made an end of us.</i>
This new generation is well educated. Moses in Deuteronomy reported
and enforce the laws which had been given to those that came out of
Egypt, that their children might have them as it were sounding in
their ears afresh when they entered Canaan (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.18" parsed="|Ezek|20|18|0|0" passage="Eze 20:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): "<i>I said unto their
children in the wilderness,</i> in the plains of Moab, Walk in the
statutes of your God and <i>walk not in the statutes of your
fathers;</i> do not imitate their superstitious usages nor retain
their foolish wicked customs; away with their vain conversation,
which has nothing else to say for itself but that it was
<i>received by the tradition of your fathers,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.18" parsed="|1Pet|1|18|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:18">1 Pet. i. 18</scripRef>. <i>Defile not
yourselves with their idols,</i> for you see how odious they
rendered themselves to God by them. But <i>keep my judgments</i>
and <i>hallow my sabbaths,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.19-Ezek.20.20" parsed="|Ezek|20|19|20|20" passage="Eze 20:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19, 20</scripRef>. Note, If parents be
careless, and do not give their children good instructions as they
ought, the children ought to make up the want by studying the word
of God so much the more carefully and diligently themselves when
they grow up; and the bad examples of parents must be made use of
by their children for admonition, and not for imitation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p16" shownumber="no">V. The revolt of the next generation from
God, by which they also made themselves obnoxious to the wrath of
God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.21" parsed="|Ezek|20|21|0|0" passage="Eze 20:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): <i>The
children rebelled against me</i> too. And the same that was said of
the fathers' rebellion is here said <i>of the children's,</i> for
they were a seed of evil-doers. Moses told them that he <i>knew
their rebellion and their stiff neck,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.31.27" parsed="|Deut|31|27|0|0" passage="De 31:27">Deut. xxxi. 27</scripRef>. And <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.9.24" parsed="|Deut|9|24|0|0" passage="De 9:24">Deut. ix. 24</scripRef>, <i>You have been rebellious
against the Lord from the day that I knew you. They walked not in
my statutes</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.21" parsed="|Ezek|20|21|0|0" passage="Eze 20:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>); nay, <i>they despised my statutes,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.24" parsed="|Ezek|20|24|0|0" passage="Eze 20:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. Those who disobey
God's statutes despise them, they show that they have a mean
opinion of them and of him whose statutes they are. They
<i>polluted God's sabbaths,</i> as their fathers. Note, The
profanation of the sabbath day is an inlet to all impiety; those
who pollute holy time will keep nothing pure. It was said of the
fathers (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.16" parsed="|Ezek|20|16|0|0" passage="Eze 20:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>)
that <i>their heart went after their idols;</i> they worshipped
idols because they had an affection for them. It is said of the
children (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.24" parsed="|Ezek|20|24|0|0" passage="Eze 20:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>)
that <i>their eyes went after their fathers' idols;</i> they had
grown atheistical, and had no affection for any gods at all, but
they worshipped <i>their fathers' idols</i> because they were their
fathers' and they had them before their eyes. They were used to
them; and, if they must have gods, they would have such as they
could see, such as they could manage. And that which aggravated
their disobedience to God's statutes was that, <i>if they had done
them, they might have lived in them</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.21" parsed="|Ezek|20|21|0|0" passage="Eze 20:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), might have been a happy
thriving people. Note, Those that go contrary to their duty go
contrary to their interest; they will not obey, will not come to
Christ, that they may have life, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:John.5.40" parsed="|John|5|40|0|0" passage="Joh 5:40">John
v. 40</scripRef>. And it is therefore just that those who will not
live and flourish as they might in their obedience should die and
perish in their disobedience. Now the great instance of that
generation's rebellion and inclination to idolatry was the
<i>iniquity of Peor,</i> as that of their fathers was the <i>golden
calf.</i> Then <i>the anger of the Lord was kindled against
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.3" parsed="|Num|25|3|0|0" passage="Nu 25:3">Num. xxv. 3</scripRef>.
Then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if
it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas's zeal, had cut them
all off; and yet they owned, in Joshua's time, We were not
<i>cleansed from that iniquity unto this day,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.11" osisRef="Bible:Josh.22.17 Bible:Ps.106.29" parsed="|Josh|22|17|0|0;|Ps|106|29|0|0" passage="Jos 22:17,Ps 106:29">Josh. xxii. 17; Ps. cvi.
29</scripRef>. Then it was that God said he would <i>pour out his
fury upon them</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.21" parsed="|Ezek|20|21|0|0" passage="Eze 20:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), that he <i>lifted up his hand unto them in the
wilderness,</i> when they were a second time just ready to enter
Canaan, <i>that he would scatter them among the heathen.</i> This
very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.13" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.20" parsed="|Deut|32|20|0|0" passage="De 32:20">Deut. xxxii. 20</scripRef>. Because they
<i>provoked him to jealousy with strange gods,</i> he said, <i>I
will hide my face from them;</i> and (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.26-Ezek.20.27" parsed="|Ezek|20|26|20|27" passage="Eze 20:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26, 27</scripRef>) he said, <i>I would
scatter them into corners, were it not that I feared the wrath of
the enemy,</i> which explains this (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p16.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.21-Ezek.20.22" parsed="|Ezek|20|21|20|22" passage="Eze 20:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>), <i>I said I would pour
out my fury upon them,</i> but <i>I withdrew</i> my hand <i>for my
name's sake.</i> Note, When the corruptions of the visible church
are such, and so provoking, that we have reason to fear its total
extirpation, yet then we may be confident of this, to our comfort,
that God will secure his own honour, by making good his purpose,
that while the world stands he will have a church in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p17" shownumber="no">VI. The judgments of God upon them for
their rebellion. They would not regard the statutes and judgments
by which God prescribed them their duty, but despised them, and
therefore God <i>gave them statutes and judgments</i> which <i>were
not good,</i> and <i>by which they should not live,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.25" parsed="|Ezek|20|25|0|0" passage="Eze 20:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. By this we may
understand the several ways by which God punished them while they
were in the wilderness—the plague that broke in upon them, the
fiery serpent, and the like—which, in allusion to the law they had
broken, are called <i>judgments,</i> because inflicted by the
justice of God, and <i>statutes,</i> because he gave orders
concerning them and commanded desolations as sometimes he had
commanded deliverances, and appointed Israel's plagues as he had
done the plagues of Egypt. When God said, <i>I will consume them in
a moment</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.21" parsed="|Num|16|21|0|0" passage="Nu 16:21">Num. xvi.
21</scripRef>), when he said, <i>Take the heads of the people and
hang them up</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.4" parsed="|Num|25|4|0|0" passage="Nu 25:4">Num. xxv.
4</scripRef>), when he threatened them with the curse and obliged
them to say <i>Amen</i> to every curse (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.27.28" parsed="|Deut|27|28|0|0" passage="De 27:28">Deut. xxvii. 28</scripRef>), then he gave them judgments
by <i>which they should not live.</i> More is implied than is
expressed; they are judgments by which they should die. Those that
will not be bound by the precepts of the law shall be bound by the
sentence of it; for one way or other the word of God will <i>take
hold</i> of men, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.6" parsed="|Zech|1|6|0|0" passage="Zec 1:6">Zech. i. 6</scripRef>.
Spiritual judgments are the most dreadful; and these God punished
them with. The statutes and judgments which the heathen observed in
the worship of their idols were not good, and in practising them
they could not live; and God gave them up to those. He made their
sin to be their punishment, gave them up to a <i>reprobate
mind,</i> as he did the Gentile idolaters (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.24 Bible:Rom.1.26" parsed="|Rom|1|24|0|0;|Rom|1|26|0|0" passage="Ro 1:24,26">Rom. i. 24, 26</scripRef>), gave them up to their own
heart's lusts (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.81.12" parsed="|Ps|81|12|0|0" passage="Ps 81:12">Ps. lxxxi.
12</scripRef>), punished them for those superstitious customs which
were against the written law by giving them up to those which were
against the very light and law of nature; he left them to
themselves to be guilty of the most impure idolatries, as in the
worship of Baal-peor (he <i>polluted them,</i> that is, her
permitted them to pollute themselves, <i>in their own gifts,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p17.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.26" parsed="|Ezek|20|26|0|0" passage="Eze 20:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), and of the
most barbarous idolatries, as in the worship of Moloch, when they
<i>caused their children,</i> especially their first-born, which
God challenged a particular property in (<i>the first-born of thy
sons shalt thou give unto me</i>), to pass <i>through the fire,</i>
to be sacrificed to their idols; that thus he might <i>make them
desolate,</i> not only that he might justly do it, but that he
might do it by their own hands; for this must needs be a great
weakening to their families and a diminution of the honour and
strength of their country. Note, God sometimes makes sin to be its
own punishment, and yet is not the author of sin; and there needs
no more to make men miserable than to give them up to their own
vile appetites and passions. Let them be put into the hand of their
own counsels, and they will ruin themselves and make themselves
desolate. And thus God makes them know that he is the Lord, and
that he is a righteous God, which they themselves will be compelled
to own when they see how much their wilful transgressions
contribute to their own desolations. Note, Those who will not
acknowledge God as the Lord their ruler shall be made to
acknowledge him as the Lord their judge when it is too late.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p17.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.27-Ezek.20.32" parsed="|Ezek|20|27|20|32" passage="Eze 20:27-32" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p17.10">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p17.11">The Rebellions of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p17.12">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p18" shownumber="no">27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house
of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p18.1">God</span>; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed
me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.   28
<i>For</i> when I had brought them into the land, <i>for</i> the
which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every
high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their
sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their
offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out
there their drink offerings.   29 Then I said unto them, What
<i>is</i> the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is
called Bamah unto this day.   30 Wherefore say unto the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p18.2">God</span>;
Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye
whoredom after their abominations?   31 For when ye offer your
gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute
yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be
enquired of by you, O house of Israel? <i>As</i> I live, saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p18.3">God</span>, I will not be enquired of
by you.   32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be
at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of
the countries, to serve wood and stone.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p19" shownumber="no">Here the prophet goes on with the story of
their rebellions, for their further humiliation, and shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p20" shownumber="no">I. That they had persisted in them after
they were settled in the land of Canaan. Though God had so many
times testified his displeasure against their wicked courses, "yet
<i>in this</i> (that is, in the very same thing) <i>your fathers
have blasphemed me,</i> continued to affront me, that they <i>also
have trespassed a trespass against me,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.27" parsed="|Ezek|20|27|0|0" passage="Eze 20:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. Note, It is a great
aggravation of sin when men will not take warning by the
mischievous consequences of sin in those that have gone before
them: this is <i>blaspheming God;</i> it is speaking reproachfully
of his judgments, as if they were of no significancy and were not
worth regarding. 1. God had made good his promise: <i>I brought
them into the land</i> that I had sworn to give them. Though their
unbelief and disobedience had made the performance slow, and much
retarded it, yet it did not <i>make the promise of no effect.</i>
They were often very near being cut off in the wilderness, but a
step between them and ruin, and yet they came to Canaan at last.
Note, Even God's Israel get to heaven by hell-gates; so many are
their transgressions, and so strong their corruptions, that it is a
miracle of mercy they are happy at last; as hypocrites go to hell
by heaven-gates. <i>The righteous scarcely are saved. Per tot
discrimina rerum tendimus ad cœlum—Ten thousand dangers fill
the road to heaven.</i> 2. They had broken his precept by their
abominable idolatries. God had appointed them to destroy all the
monuments of idolatry, that they might not be tempted to desert his
sanctuary; but, instead of defacing them, they fell in love with
them, and when they <i>saw every high hill</i> whence they had the
most delightful prospects, and all the <i>thick trees</i> where
they had the most delightful shades (the former to show forth their
pompous idolatries, the latter to conceal their shameful ones),
<i>there they offered their sacrifices</i> and <i>made their sweet
savour,</i> which should have been presented upon God's altar only.
<i>There they presented the provocation of their offering</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.28" parsed="|Ezek|20|28|0|0" passage="Eze 20:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>), that is,
their offerings, which, instead of pacifying God, or pleasing him,
were highly provoking-sacrifices which, though costly, yet being
misplaced, were an abomination to the Lord. 3. They obstinately
persisted herein notwithstanding all the admonitions that were
given them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.29" parsed="|Ezek|20|29|0|0" passage="Eze 20:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>):
"<i>Then I told them,</i> by my servants the prophets, told them
<i>where the high place was, to which they went;</i> nay, I put
them upon considering it, and asking their own consciences
concerning it, by putting this question to them, <i>Which is the
high place whereunto you go?</i> What do you find there so inviting
that you will leave God's altars, where he requires your
attendance, to frequent such places as he has forbidden you to
worship in? Do you not know that those high places are of a
heathenish extraction, and that the things which the Gentiles
sacrificed they sacrificed to devils and not to God? Did not Moses
tell you so? <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.17" parsed="|Deut|32|17|0|0" passage="De 32:17">Deut. xxxii.
17</scripRef>. <i>And will you have fellowship with devils? What is
that high place to which you go</i> when you turn your back on
God's altars? <i>O foolish</i> Israelites, <i>who</i> or what
<i>has bewitched you,</i> that you will forsake the fountain of
life for broken cisterns, that worship which God appoints, and will
accept, for that which he forbids, which he abhors, and which he
will punish?" And yet <i>the name is called Bamah unto this
day;</i> they will have their way, let God and his prophets say
what they please to the contrary. They are wedded to their <i>high
places;</i> even in the best reigns those were not taken away; you
could not prevail to take away the name of <i>Bamah—the high
place,</i> out of their mouths, but still they would have that in
the place of their worship. The sin and the sinner are with
difficulty parted.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p21" shownumber="no">II. That this generation, after they were
unsettled, continued under the dominion of the same corrupt
inclinations to idolatry, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.30" parsed="|Ezek|20|30|0|0" passage="Eze 20:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>. He must <i>say to</i> the present <i>house of
Israel,</i> some of whose elders were now sitting before him,
"<i>Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers?</i> After
all that God has said against you by a succession of prophets, and
done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no
warning? Will you still be as bad as your fathers were, and commit
the same abominations that they committed? I see you will; you are
bent upon returning to the old abominations; you <i>offer your
gifts</i> in the high places, and you <i>make your sons to pass
through the fire;</i> either you actually do it or you do it in
purpose and imagination, and so you continue idolaters <i>to this
day.</i>" These elders seem now to have been projecting a coalition
with the heathen; their hearts they will reserve for the God of
Israel, but their knees they will be at liberty to bow to the gods
of the nations among whom they live, that they may have the more
respect and the fairer quarter among them. Now the prophet is here
ordered to tell those who were forming this scheme, and were for
compounding the matter between God and Baal, that they should have
no comfort or benefit from either. 1. They should have no benefit
by their consulting in private with the prophets of the Lord; for,
because they were hearkening after idols, God would have nothing to
do with them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.31" parsed="|Ezek|20|31|0|0" passage="Eze 20:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>): <i>As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be
enquired of by you.</i> What he had said before (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.3" parsed="|Ezek|20|3|0|0" passage="Eze 20:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), having largely shown how just
it was, he here repeats, as that which he would abide by. Let them
not think that they honoured him by their enquiries, nor expect an
answer of peace from him, as long as they continued in love and
league with their idols. Note, Those reap no benefit by their
religion that are not entire and sincere in it; nor can we have any
comfortable communion with God in ordinances of worship unless we
be inward and upright with him therein. We make nothing of our
profession if it be but a profession. Nay, 2. They should have no
benefit from their conforming in public to the practice of their
neighbours (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.32" parsed="|Ezek|20|32|0|0" passage="Eze 20:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>):
"<i>That which comes into your mind</i> as a piece of refined
politics in the present difficult juncture, and which you would be
advised to for your own preservation, and that you may not by being
singular expose yourselves to abuses, it <i>shall not be at
all,</i> it shall turn to no account to you. You say, <i>'We will
be as the heathen,</i> we will join with them in worshipping their
gods, though at the same time we do not believe them to be gods,
but <i>wood and stone,</i> and then we should be taken <i>as the
families of the countries;</i> they will not know, or in a little
while will have forgotten, that we are Jews, and will allow us the
same privileges with their own countrymen.' Tell them," says God,
"that this project shall <i>never prosper.</i> Either their
neighbours will not admit them to join with them in their worship,
or, if they do, will think never the better, but the worse, of them
for it, and will look upon them as dissemblers, and not fit to be
trusted, who are thus false to their God, and put a cheat upon
their neighbours." Note, There is nothing got by sinful
compliances; and the carnal projects of hypocrites will stand them
in no stead. It is only integrity and uprightness that will
preserve men, and recommend them to God and man.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.33-Ezek.20.44" parsed="|Ezek|20|33|20|44" passage="Eze 20:33-44" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p21.6">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p21.7">The Sins of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p21.8">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p22" shownumber="no">33 <i>As</i> I live, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.1">God</span>, surely with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
  34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather
you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
  35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people,
and there will I plead with you face to face.   36 Like as I
pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt,
so will I plead with you, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.2">God</span>.   37 And I will cause you to pass
under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
  38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them
that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the
country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land
of Israel: and ye shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.3">Lord</span>.   39 As for you, O house of Israel,
thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.4">God</span>; Go ye,
serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter <i>also,</i> if ye will
not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your
gifts, and with your idols.   40 For in mine holy mountain, in
the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.5">God</span>, there shall all the house of Israel, all of
them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there
will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your
oblations, with all your holy things.   41 I will accept you
with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and
gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and
I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.   42 And ye
shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.6">Lord</span>, when I shall bring you into the land of
Israel, into the country <i>for</i> the which I lifted up mine hand
to give it to your fathers.   43 And there shall ye remember
your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and
ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils
that ye have committed.   44 And ye shall know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.7">Lord</span>, when I have
wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked
ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel,
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p22.8">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p23" shownumber="no">The design which was now on foot among the
elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered
among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and
conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that
the design should not take effect, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.32" parsed="|Ezek|20|32|0|0" passage="Eze 20:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. Now, in these verses, he shows
particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the
<i>mingling</i> of the families of <i>Israel with the families of
the countries;</i> but it will prove in the issue that the wicked
Israelites, notwithstanding their compliances, shall not mingle
with them in their prosperity, but shall be distinguished from them
for destruction; for idolatrous Israelites, that are apostates from
God, shall be sooner and more sorely punished than idolatrous
Babylonians that never knew the way of righteousness. Read and
tremble at the doom here passed upon them; it is backed with an
oath not to be reversed: <i>As I live, saith the Lord God,</i> thus
and thus will I deal with you. They think to make both Jerusalem
and Babylon their friends by halting between two; but God threatens
that neither of them shall serve for a rest or refuge for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p24" shownumber="no">I. Babylon shall not protect them, nor any
of the countries of the heathen; for God will cast them out of his
protection and then what prince, what people, what place, can serve
to be a sanctuary to them? God was Israel's King of old, and had
they continued his loyal subjects he would have <i>ruled over
them</i> with care and tenderness for their good, but now <i>with a
stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.33" parsed="|Ezek|20|33|0|0" passage="Eze 20:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>.
That power which should have been exerted fore their protection
shall be exerted for their destruction. Note, There is no shaking
off God's dominion; rule he will, either with the golden sceptre or
with the iron rod; and those that will not yield to the power of
his grace shall be made to sink under the power of his wrath. Now
when God is angry with them, though they may think that they shall
be lost in the crowd of the heathen among whom they are scattered,
they will be disappointed; for (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.34" parsed="|Ezek|20|34|0|0" passage="Eze 20:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>) <i>I will gather you out of
the countries wherein you are scattered,</i> as, when the rebels
are dispersed in battle, those that have escaped the sword of war
are pursued and brought together out of all the places whither they
were scattered, to be punished by the sword of justice. They shall
be brought <i>into the wilderness of the people</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.35" parsed="|Ezek|20|35|0|0" passage="Eze 20:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>), either into Babylon,
which is called a <i>wilderness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.19.13" parsed="|Ezek|19|13|0|0" passage="Eze 19:13"><i>ch.</i> xix. 13</scripRef>), and the <i>desert of
the sea</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.1" parsed="|Isa|21|1|0|0" passage="Isa 21:1">Isa. xxi. 1</scripRef>),
or into some place which, though full of people, shall be to them
as the wilderness was to Israel after they came out of Egypt, a
place where God will <i>plead with them face to face,</i> as he
<i>pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.36" parsed="|Ezek|20|36|0|0" passage="Eze 20:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>),—where
their carcases shall fall and where he will swear concerning them
that they shall never return to Canaan, as he did swear concerning
their fathers that they should never come into Canaan,—where he
will avenge the breach of his law with as much terror as that with
which he gave it in the wilderness of Sinai. Note, God has a good
action against apostates, and will find not only time, but a proper
place, to plead with them in upon that action, a wilderness even in
the midst of the people for that purpose.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p25" shownumber="no">II. Israel shall be no more able to protect
them than Babylon could; nor shall their relation to God's people
stand them in any more stead for the other world than their
compliance with idolaters shall for this world; nor shall they
stand <i>in the congregation of the righteous</i> any more than in
the congregation of evil-doers; for there will come a
distinguishing day, when God will separate between the precious and
the vile; he will <i>cause them,</i> as the shepherd causes his
sheep, to <i>pass under the rod,</i> when he tithes them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.27.32" parsed="|Lev|27|32|0|0" passage="Le 27:32">Lev. xxvii. 32</scripRef>), that he may mark
which is for God. God will take particular notice of each of them,
one by one, as sheep are counted, and <i>he will bring them into
the bond of the covenant</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.37" parsed="|Ezek|20|37|0|0" passage="Eze 20:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>); he will try them and judge of
them according to the tenour of the covenant, and the difference
made between some and others by the blessings and curses of the
covenant. Or it may refer to those among them that repented and
reformed; he will cause them to pass under the rod of affliction,
and, having done them good by it, he will bring them again <i>into
the bond of the covenant,</i> will be to them a God in covenant,
and use them again as <i>heirs of promise.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p26" shownumber="no">1. He will separate the wicked from among
them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.38" parsed="|Ezek|20|38|0|0" passage="Eze 20:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>): "<i>I
will purge out from among you the rebels,</i> who have been a grief
and scandal to you, and who have by their rebellions brought all
these calamities upon you." The judgments of God shall find them
out, and their naming the name of Israel shall be no shelter to
them. They shall be <i>brought out of the countries where they
sojourn,</i> and shall not have that rest in them which they
promised themselves. But they <i>shall not enter into the land of
Israel,</i> nor enjoy the benefit of that rest which God has
promised to his people. Note, Though godly people may share with
the wicked in the calamities of the world, yet wicked people shall
have no share with the godly in the heavenly Canaan; but it shall
be part of the blessedness of that world that they shall be
<i>purged out from among them,</i> the tares from the wheat, the
chaff from the corn, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.9" parsed="|Ezek|13|9|0|0" passage="Eze 13:9"><i>ch.</i> xiii.
9</scripRef>. But wherever these idolaters of <i>the house of
Israel</i> were contriving to worship both God and their idols,
thinking to please both, God here protests against it (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.39" parsed="|Ezek|20|39|0|0" passage="Eze 20:39"><i>v.</i> 39</scripRef>), as Elijah had done in
his name: "<i>If the Lord be God, then follow him, but, if Baal,
then follow him;</i> if you will serve your idols, do, and take
what comes of it; but then do not pretend relation to God and a
religious regard to him, nor <i>pollute his holy name with your
gifts</i> at his altar." Spiritual judgments are the sorest
judgments. Two of that kind of judgments are threatened in
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.39" parsed="|Ezek|20|39|0|0" passage="Eze 20:39">this verse</scripRef> against those
that were for dividing between the God of Israel and the gods of
the nations:—(1.) That they should be given up to the service of
their idols. To them he said ironically, "<i>Since you will not
hearken unto me, go you, serve every one his idols,</i> now that
you think it will be for your interest, <i>and hereafter also.</i>
You shall go on in it. <i>Ephraim is joined to idols, let him
alone;</i> let him take his course, and see what he will get by it
at last." Note, Those who think to serve themselves by sin will
find in the end that they have but enslaved themselves to sin. (2.)
That they should be cut off from the service of God and communion
with God: "You <i>shall not pollute my holy name</i> with your
<i>vain oblations,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.11" parsed="|Isa|1|11|0|0" passage="Isa 1:11">Isa. i.
11</scripRef>. You bring your gifts in your hands, wherewith you
pretend to honour me, but at the same time you bring your idols in
your hearts, and therefore you do but pollute me, which I will not
suffer any more," <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.21-Amos.5.22" parsed="|Amos|5|21|5|22" passage="Am 5:21,22">Amos v. 21,
22</scripRef>. Note, Those are justly forbidden God's house that
profane his house.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p27" shownumber="no">2. He will separate them to himself again.
(1.) He will <i>gather them</i> in mercy <i>out of the countries
whither they were scattered,</i> to be monuments of mercy, as the
incorrigible were gathered to be vessels of wrath, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.41" parsed="|Ezek|20|41|0|0" passage="Eze 20:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>. Not one of God's
jewels shall be lost in the lumber of this world. (2.) He will
<i>bring them to the land of Israel,</i> which he had promised to
<i>give to their fathers;</i> and the discontinuance of their
possession shall be no defeasance of their right; it is the <i>land
of Israel</i> still, and thither God will bring them safely again,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.42" parsed="|Ezek|20|42|0|0" passage="Eze 20:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>. (3.) He will
re-establish his ordinances among them, will set up his sanctuary
in his holy mountain, which is here called <i>the mountain of the
height of Israel;</i> for, though the Mount Zion was none of the
highest mountains, yet the temple there was one of the highest
honours of Israel. It is promised that those who preserved their
integrity, and would not serve idols, in other lands, shall return
to their prosperity and shall serve the true God in their own land:
<i>All of them in the land shall serve me.</i> Note, It is the true
happiness of a people, and a sure token for good to them, when
there is a prevailing disposition in them to serve God. Whereas God
had forbidden the idolaters to bring their gifts to his altar, of
these he will <i>require offerings and first-fruits,</i> and will
accept them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.40" parsed="|Ezek|20|40|0|0" passage="Eze 20:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>.
What he does not require he will not accept, but what is done with
a regard to his precepts he will be well pleased with. He will
<i>accept them with their sweet savour,</i> or <i>savour of
rest</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.41" parsed="|Ezek|20|41|0|0" passage="Eze 20:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>),
as being very grateful to him and what he takes a complacency in;
whereas, to hypocritical worshippers, he says, <i>I will not smell
in your solemn assemblies.</i> (4.) He will give them true
repentance for their sins, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.43" parsed="|Ezek|20|43|0|0" passage="Eze 20:43"><i>v.</i>
43</scripRef>. When they find how gracious God is to them they will
be overcome with his kindness, and blush to think of their bad
behaviour towards so <i>good a God:</i> "There, in <i>my holy
mountain,</i> when you come to enjoy the privileges of that again,
<i>there</i> shall you <i>remember your doings,</i> wherein you
have been defiled." Note, The more conversant we are with God's
holiness the more we shall see of the odious nature of sin. There
<i>you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight.</i> Note,
Ingenuous evangelical repentance makes people loathe themselves for
their sins, as <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.42.5-Job.42.6" parsed="|Job|42|5|42|6" passage="Job 42:5,6">Job xlii. 5,
6</scripRef>. (5.) He will give them the knowledge of himself:
<i>They shall know</i> by experience that <i>he is the Lord,</i>
that he is a God of almighty power and inexhaustible goodness, kind
to his people and faithful to his covenant with them. Note, All the
favours we receive from God should lead us into a more intimate
acquaintance with him. (6.) He will do all this for his own name's
sake, notwithstanding their undeservings and ill-deservings
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.44" parsed="|Ezek|20|44|0|0" passage="Eze 20:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>); he has
<i>wrought with them,</i> that is, wrought for them, wrought in
favour of them, wrought in concurrence with them, they doing their
endeavour; he has wrought with them purely <i>for his name's
sake.</i> His reasons were all fetched from himself. Had he dealt
with them <i>according to their wicked ways and their corrupt
doings,</i> though they were the better and sounder part of the
house of Israel, he would have left them to be scattered and lost
with the rest; but he recovered and restored them for the sake of
his own name, not only that it might not be <i>polluted</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.14" parsed="|Ezek|20|14|0|0" passage="Eze 20:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), but that
he might be <i>sanctified in them before the heathen</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.41" parsed="|Ezek|20|41|0|0" passage="Eze 20:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>), that he might
<i>sanctify himself</i> (so the word is); for it is God's work to
glorify his own name. He will do well for his people that he may
have the glory of it, that he may manifest himself to be a God
pardoning sin and so keeping promise, that his people may praise
him, and that their neighbours may likewise take notice of him, as
they did when God <i>burned again their captivity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p27.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.126.3" parsed="|Ps|126|3|0|0" passage="Ps 126:3">Ps. cxxvi. 3</scripRef>. <i>Then said they among
the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxi-p27.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.45-Ezek.20.49" parsed="|Ezek|20|45|20|49" passage="Eze 20:45-49" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxi-p27.12">
<h4 id="Ez.xxi-p27.13">Judgment and Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p27.14">b. c.</span> 592.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxi-p28" shownumber="no">45 Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p28.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   46 Son of man,
set thy face toward the south, and drop <i>thy word</i> toward the
south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;  
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p28.2">Lord</span>; Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p28.3">God</span>; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and
it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the
flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south
to the north shall be burned therein.   48 And all flesh shall
see that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p28.4">Lord</span> have kindled it:
it shall not be quenched.   49 Then said I, Ah Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxi-p28.5">God</span>! they say of me, Doth he not speak
parables?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p29" shownumber="no">We have here a prophecy of wrath against
Judah and Jerusalem, which would more fitly have begun the next
chapter than conclude this; for it has no dependence on what goes
before, but that which follows in the beginning of the next chapter
is the explication of it, when the people complained that this was
a parable which they understood not. In this parable, 1. It is a
forest that is prophesied against, <i>the forest of the south
field,</i> Judah and Jerusalem. These lay south from Babylon, where
Ezekiel now was, and therefore he is directed to <i>set his face
towards the south</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.46" parsed="|Ezek|20|46|0|0" passage="Eze 20:46"><i>v.</i>
46</scripRef>), to intimate to them that God had set his face
against them, was displeased with them, and determined to destroy
them. But, though it be a message of wrath which he has to deliver,
he must deliver it with mildness and tenderness; he must <i>drop
his word towards the south;</i> his doctrine must <i>distil as the
rain</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.2" parsed="|Deut|32|2|0|0" passage="De 32:2">Deut. xxxii. 2</scripRef>),
that people's hearts might be softened by it, as the earth by the
<i>river of God,</i> which <i>drops upon the pastures of the
wilderness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.12" parsed="|Ps|65|12|0|0" passage="Ps 65:12">Ps. lxv.
12</scripRef>) and which a south land more especially calls for,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.15.19" parsed="|Josh|15|19|0|0" passage="Jos 15:19">Josh. xv. 19</scripRef>. Judah and
Jerusalem are called <i>forests,</i> not only because they had been
full of people, as a wood of trees, but because they had been empty
of fruit, for fruit-trees grow not in a forest; and a forest is put
in opposition to a fruitful field, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.15" parsed="|Isa|32|15|0|0" passage="Isa 32:15">Isa. xxxii. 15</scripRef>. Those that should have been
as the garden of the Lord, and his vineyard, had become like a
forest, all overgrown with <i>briers and thorns;</i> and those that
are so, that bring not forth the fruits of righteousness, God's
word prophesies against. 2. It is a fire kindled in his forest that
is prophesied of, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.47" parsed="|Ezek|20|47|0|0" passage="Eze 20:47"><i>v.</i>
47</scripRef>. All those judgments which wasted and consumed both
the city and the country-sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity,
are signified by this fire. (1.) It is a fire of God's own
kindling: <i>I will kindle a fire in thee;</i> the <i>breath of the
Lord</i> is not as a drop, but <i>as a stream, of brimstone</i> to
set it on fire, <scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|33|0|0" passage="Isa 30:33">Isa. xxx.
33</scripRef>. He that had been himself a protecting fire about
Jerusalem is now a consuming fire in it. <i>All flesh shall see</i>
by the fury of this fire, and the desolations it shall make,
especially when they compare it with the sins which had made them
fuel for this fire, that it is <i>the Lord</i> that <i>has kindled
it</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxi-p29.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.48" parsed="|Ezek|20|48|0|0" passage="Eze 20:48"><i>v.</i> 48</scripRef>), as
a just avenger of his own injured honour. (2.) This conflagration
shall be general: all orders and degrees of men shall be devoured
by it—young and old, rich and poor, high and low. Even <i>green
trees,</i> which the fire does not easily fasten upon, shall be
devoured by this fire; even good people shall some of them be
involved in these calamities; and <i>if this be done in the green
trees, what shall be done in the dry?</i> The dry trees shall be as
tinder and touch-wood to this fire. <i>All faces</i> (that is, all
that covers the face of the earth) <i>from the south</i> of Canaan
to the north, from Beer-sheba to Dan, shall be <i>burnt
therein.</i> (3.) The fire <i>shall not be quenched;</i> no
attempts to give check to the dissolution shall prevail. When God
will ruin a nation, who or what can save it?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxi-p30" shownumber="no">Now observe, 1. The people's reflection
upon the prophet on occasion of this discourse. They said, <i>Does
he not speak parables?</i> This was the language either of their
ignorance or infidelity (the plainest truths were as parables to
them), or of their malice and ill-will to the prophet. Note. It is
common for those who will not be wrought upon by the word to pick
quarrels with it; it is either too plain or too obscure, too fine
or too homely, too common or too singular; something or other is
amiss in it. 2. The prophet's complaint to God: <i>Ah, Lord God!
they say</i> so and so of me. Note, It is a comfort to us, when
people speak ill of us unjustly, that we have a God to complain
to.</p>
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