mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Ez.viii" n="viii" next="Ez.ix" prev="Ez.vii" progress="52.21%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Ez.viii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.viii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter the approaching ruin of the land
of Israel is most particularly foretold in affecting expressions
often repeated, that if possible they might be awakened by
repentance to prevent it. The prophet must tell them, I. That it
will be a final ruin, a complete utter destruction, which would
make an end of them, a miserable end, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.1-Ezek.7.6" parsed="|Ezek|7|1|7|6" passage="Eze 7:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. That it is an approaching
ruin, just at the door, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.7-Ezek.7.10" parsed="|Ezek|7|7|7|10" passage="Eze 7:7-10">ver.
7-10</scripRef>. III. That it is an unavoidable ruin, because they
had by sin brought it upon themselves, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.10-Ezek.7.15" parsed="|Ezek|7|10|7|15" passage="Eze 7:10-15">ver. 10-15</scripRef>. IV. That their strength and
wealth should be no fence against it, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.16-Ezek.7.19" parsed="|Ezek|7|16|7|19" passage="Eze 7:16-19">ver. 16-19</scripRef>. V. That the temple, which they
trusted in, should itself be ruined, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.20-Ezek.7.22" parsed="|Ezek|7|20|7|22" passage="Eze 7:20-22">ver. 20-22</scripRef>. VI. That it should be a
universal ruin, the sin that brought it having been universal,
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.23-Ezek.7.27" parsed="|Ezek|7|23|7|27" passage="Eze 7:23-27">ver. 23-27</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.viii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7" parsed="|Ezek|7|0|0|0" passage="Eze 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.viii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.1-Ezek.7.15" parsed="|Ezek|7|1|7|15" passage="Eze 7:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.viii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Ez.viii-p1.10">The Desolation of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 594.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.viii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   2 Also, thou
son of man, thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p2.2">God</span>
unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four
corners of the land.   3 Now <i>is</i> the end <i>come</i>
upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge
thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine
abominations.   4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither
will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and
thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know
that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p2.3">Lord</span>.   5
Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p2.4">God</span>; An evil, an
only evil, behold, is come.   6 An end is come, the end is
come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.   7 The
morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the
time is come, the day of trouble <i>is</i> near, and not the
sounding again of the mountains.   8 Now will I shortly pour
out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I
will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for
all thine abominations.   9 And mine eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy
ways and thine abominations <i>that</i> are in the midst of thee;
and ye shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p2.5">Lord</span> that smiteth.   10 Behold the day,
behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath
blossomed, pride hath budded.   11 Violence is risen up into a
rod of wickedness: none of them <i>shall remain,</i> nor of their
multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither <i>shall there be</i>
wailing for them.   12 The time is come, the day draweth near:
let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath
<i>is</i> upon all the multitude thereof.   13 For the seller
shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet
alive: for the vision <i>is</i> touching the whole multitude
thereof, <i>which</i> shall not return; neither shall any
strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.   14 They have
blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the
battle: for my wrath <i>is</i> upon all the multitude thereof.
  15 The sword <i>is</i> without, and the pestilence and the
famine within: he that <i>is</i> in the field shall die with the
sword; and he that <i>is</i> in the city, famine and pestilence
shall devour him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p3" shownumber="no">We have here fair warning given of the
destruction of the land of Israel, which was now hastening on
apace. God, by the prophet, not only sends notice of it, but will
have it inculcated in the same expressions, to show that the thing
is certain, that it is near, that the prophet is himself affected
with it and desires they should be so too, but finds them deaf, and
stupid, and unaffected. When the town is on fire men do no seek for
fine words and quaint expressions in which to give an account of
it, but cry about the streets, with a loud and lamentable voice,
"Fire! fire!" So the prophet here proclaims, <i>An end! an end! it
has come, it has come; behold, it has come. He that hath ears to
hear let him hear.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p4" shownumber="no">I. <i>An end has come, the end has come</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.2" parsed="|Ezek|7|2|0|0" passage="Eze 7:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), and again
(<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.3 Bible:Ezek.7.6" parsed="|Ezek|7|3|0|0;|Ezek|7|6|0|0" passage="Eze 7:3,6"><i>v.</i> 3, 6</scripRef>), <i>Now
has the end come upon thee</i>—the end which all their wickedness
had a tendency to, and which God had often told them it would come
to at last, when by his prophets he had asked them, <i>What will
you do in the end hereof?</i>—the end which all the foregoing
judgments had been working towards, as means to bring it about
(their ruin shall now be completed)—or <i>the end,</i> that is,
the period of their state, the final destruction of their nation,
as the deluge was <i>the end of all flesh,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.6.13" parsed="|Gen|6|13|0|0" passage="Ge 6:13">Gen. vi. 13</scripRef>. They had flattered themselves
with hopes that they should shortly <i>see an end</i> of their
troubles. "Yea," says God, "<i>An end has come,</i> but a miserable
one, not <i>the expected end</i>" (which is promised to the pious
remnant among them, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.29.11" parsed="|Jer|29|11|0|0" passage="Jer 29:11">Jer. xxix.
11</scripRef>); "<i>it is the end, that end</i> which you have been
so often warned of, <i>that last end</i> which Moses wished you to
<i>consider</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.29" parsed="|Deut|32|29|0|0" passage="De 32:29">Deut. xxxii.
29</scripRef>), and which, because <i>Jerusalem remembered not,
therefore she came down wonderfully,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.9" parsed="|Lam|1|9|0|0" passage="La 1:9">Lam. i. 9</scripRef>. This end was long in coming, but
<i>now it has come.</i> Though the ruin of sinners comes slowly, it
comes surely. "<i>It has come;</i> it watches for thee, ready to
receive thee." This perhaps looks further, to the last destruction
of that nation by the Romans, which that by the Chaldeans was an
earnest of; and still further to the final destruction of the world
of the ungodly. <i>The end of all things is at hand;</i> and
Jerusalem's last end was a type of <i>the end of the world,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.3" parsed="|Matt|24|3|0|0" passage="Mt 24:3">Matt. xxiv. 3</scripRef>. Oh that we
could all see that end of time and days very near, and the end of
our own time and days much nearer, that we may secure a happy lot
<i>at the end of the days!</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.12.13" parsed="|Dan|12|13|0|0" passage="Da 12:13">Dan.
xii. 13</scripRef>. This <i>end comes upon the four corners of the
land.</i> The ruin, as it shall be final, so it shall be total; no
part of the land shall escape; no, not that which lies most remote.
Such will the destruction of the world be; all these things shall
be dissolved. Such will the destruction of sinners be; none can
avoid it. <i>Oh that the wickedness of the wicked</i> might <i>come
to an end,</i> before it bring them to <i>an end!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p5" shownumber="no">II. <i>An evil, an only evil, behold, has
come,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.5" parsed="|Ezek|7|5|0|0" passage="Eze 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Sin
is <i>an evil, an only evil, an evil</i> that has no good in it; it
is the worst of evils. But this is spoken of the evil of trouble;
it is <i>an evil,</i> one <i>evil,</i> and that one shall suffice
to affect and complete the ruin of the nation; there needs no more
to do its business; this one shall <i>make an utter end,</i>
affliction needs not <i>rise up a second time,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.9" parsed="|Nah|1|9|0|0" passage="Na 1:9">Nah. i. 9</scripRef>. It is <i>an evil</i> without
precedent or parallel, <i>an evil</i> that stands alone; you cannot
produce such another instance. It is to the impenitent <i>an evil,
an only evil;</i> it hardens their hearts and irritates their
corruptions, whereas there were those to whom it was sanctified by
the grace of God and made a means of much good; they were <i>sent
into Babylon for their good,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.24.5" parsed="|Jer|24|5|0|0" passage="Jer 24:5">Jer.
xxiv. 5</scripRef>. The wicked have <i>the dregs of that cup</i> to
drink which to the righteous is full of <i>mixtures of mercy,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.8" parsed="|Ps|75|8|0|0" passage="Ps 75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</scripRef>. The same
affliction is to us either a half <i>evil</i> or <i>an only
evil</i> according as we conduct ourselves under it and make use of
it. But when <i>an end, the end, has come</i> upon the wicked
world, then <i>an evil, an only evil,</i> comes upon it, and not
till then. The sorest of temporal judgments have their allays, but
the torments of the damned are <i>an evil, an only evil.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p6" shownumber="no">III. <i>The time has come,</i> the set
time, for the inflicting of this <i>only evil</i> and the making of
this <i>full end;</i> for to all God's purposes <i>there is a
time,</i> a proper time, and that prefixed, in which the purpose
shall have its accomplishment; particularly the time of reckoning
with wicked people, and rendering to them according to their
desserts, is fixed, <i>the day of the revelation of the righteous
judgment of god;</i> and <i>he sees,</i> whether we see it or no,
that <i>his day is coming.</i> This they are here told of again and
again (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.10" parsed="|Ezek|7|10|0|0" passage="Eze 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>):
<i>Behold, the day</i> that has lingered so long <i>has come</i> at
last, <i>behold, it has come. The time has come, the day draws
near, the day of trouble is near,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.7 Bible:Ezek.7.12" parsed="|Ezek|7|7|0|0;|Ezek|7|12|0|0" passage="Eze 7:7,12"><i>v.</i> 7, 12</scripRef>. Though threatened
judgments may be long deferred, yet they shall not be dropped; the
time for executing them will come. Though God's patience may put
them off, nothing but man's sincere repentance and reformation will
put them by. <i>The morning has come unto thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.7" parsed="|Ezek|7|7|0|0" passage="Eze 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), and again (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.10" parsed="|Ezek|7|10|0|0" passage="Eze 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), <i>The morning has
gone forth;</i> the day of trouble dawns, the day of destruction is
already begun. <i>The morning</i> discovers that which was hidden;
they thought their secret sins would never come to light, but now
they will be brought to light. They used to try and execute
malefactors in the morning, and such a morning of judgment and
execution is now coming upon them, <i>a day of trouble</i> to
sinners, <i>the year of their visitation.</i> See how stupid these
people were, that, though the day of their destruction was already
begun, yet they were not aware of it, but must be thus told of it
again and again. <i>The day of trouble,</i> real trouble, <i>is
near, and not the sounding again of the mountains,</i> that is, not
a mere echo or report of troubles, as they were willing to think it
was, nothing but a groundless surmise; as if the <i>men that came
against them</i> were but <i>the shadow of the mountains</i> (as
Zebul suggested to Gaal, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.9.36" parsed="|Matt|9|36|0|0" passage="Mt 9:36">Matt. ix.
36</scripRef>) and the intelligence they received were but <i>an
empty sound,</i> reverberated from the mountains. No; the trouble
is not a fancy, and so you will soon find.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. All this comes from God's wrath, not
allayed, as sometimes it has been, with mixtures of mercy. This is
the fountain from which all these calamities flow; and this is
<i>the wormwood and the gall</i> in <i>the affliction and the
misery,</i> which make it bitter indeed (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.3" parsed="|Ezek|7|3|0|0" passage="Eze 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>I will send my anger upon
thee.</i> Observe, God is Lord of his anger; it does not break out
but when he pleases, nor fasten upon any but as he directs it and
gives it commission. The expression rises higher (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.8" parsed="|Ezek|7|8|0|0" passage="Eze 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>Now will I shortly
pour out my fury upon thee</i> in full vials, <i>and accomplish my
anger,</i> all the purposes and all the products of it, <i>upon
thee.</i> This wrath does not single out here and there one to be
made examples, but it <i>is upon all the multitude thereof</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.12 Bible:Ezek.7.14" parsed="|Ezek|7|12|0|0;|Ezek|7|14|0|0" passage="Eze 7:12,14"><i>v.</i> 12, 14</scripRef>); the
whole body of the nation has become a <i>vessel of wrath, fitted
for destruction.</i> God does sometimes <i>in wrath remember
mercy,</i> but now he says, <i>My eye shall not spare thee, neither
will I have pity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.4 Bible:Ezek.7.9" parsed="|Ezek|7|4|0|0;|Ezek|7|9|0|0" passage="Eze 7:4,9"><i>v.</i> 4 and
again <i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Those shall <i>have judgment without
mercy</i> who made light of mercy when it was offered them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p8" shownumber="no">V. All this is the just punishment of their
sins, and it is what they have by their own folly brought upon
themselves. This is much insisted on here, that they might be
brought to justify God in all he had brought upon them. God never
sends his anger but in wisdom and justice; and therefore it
follows, "<i>I will judge thee according to thy ways,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.3" parsed="|Ezek|7|3|0|0" passage="Eze 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. I will examine what thy
ways have been, compare them with the law, and then deal with thee
according to the merit of them, and <i>recompense</i> them to
<i>thee,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.4" parsed="|Ezek|7|4|0|0" passage="Eze 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
Note, In the heaviest judgments God inflicts upon sinners he does
but <i>recompense their own ways upon them;</i> they are beaten
with their own rod. And, when God comes to reckon with a sinful
people, he will bring every provocation to account: "<i>will
recompense upon thee all thy abominations</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.3" parsed="|Ezek|7|3|0|0" passage="Eze 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>); and now <i>thy iniquity shall be
found to be hateful</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.2" parsed="|Ps|36|2|0|0" passage="Ps 36:2">Ps. xxxvi.
2</scripRef>) <i>and thy abominations shall be in the midst of
thee</i>" (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.4" parsed="|Ezek|7|4|0|0" passage="Eze 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>);
that is, the secret wickedness shall now be brought to light, and
that shall appear to have been in the midst of thee which before
was not suspected; and thy sin shall now become an
<i>abomination</i> to thyself. So the abomination of iniquity will
be when it comes to be an <i>abomination of desolation,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.15" parsed="|Matt|24|15|0|0" passage="Mt 24:15">Matt. xxiv. 15</scripRef>. Or, <i>Thy
abominations</i> (that is, the punishments of them) <i>shall be in
the midst of thee;</i> they shall <i>reach to thy heart.</i> See
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.18" parsed="|Jer|4|18|0|0" passage="Jer 4:18">Jer. iv. 18</scripRef>. Or therefore
<i>God will not spare, nor have pity,</i> because, even when he is
<i>recompensing their ways</i> upon them, yet <i>in their distress
they trespass yet more;</i> their <i>abominations</i> are still
<i>in the midst of them,</i> indulged and harboured in their
hearts. It is repeated again (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.8-Ezek.7.9" parsed="|Ezek|7|8|7|9" passage="Eze 7:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>), <i>I will judge thee, I
will recompense thee.</i> Two sins are particularly specified as
provoking God to bring these judgments upon them—pride and
oppression. 1. God will humble them by his judgments, for they have
magnified themselves. <i>The rod</i> of affliction <i>has
blossomed,</i> but it was <i>pride</i> that <i>budded,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.10" parsed="|Ezek|7|10|0|0" passage="Eze 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. What buds in
sin will blossom in some judgment or other. The pride of Judah and
Jerusalem appeared among all orders and degrees of men, as buds
upon the tree in spring. 2. Their enemies shall deal hardly with
them, for they have dealt hardly with one another (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.11" parsed="|Ezek|7|11|0|0" passage="Eze 7:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Violence has risen
up into a rod of wickedness;</i> that is, their injuriousness to
one another is protected and patronised by the power of the
magistrate. The rod of government had become a <i>rod of
wickedness,</i> to such a degree of impudence was <i>violence risen
up. I saw the place of judgment, that wickedness was there,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16 Bible:Isa.5.7" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|0|0;|Isa|5|7|0|0" passage="Ec 3:16,Isa 5:7">Eccl. iii. 16; Isa. v.
7</scripRef>. Whatever are the fruits of God's judgments, it is
certain that our sin is the root of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p9" shownumber="no">VI. There is no escape from these judgments
nor fence against them, for they shall be universal and shall bear
down all before them, without remedy. 1. Death in its various
shapes shall ride triumphantly, both in town and in country, both
within the city and without it, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.15" parsed="|Ezek|7|15|0|0" passage="Eze 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Men shall be safe nowhere; for
<i>he that is in the field shall die by the sword</i> (every field
shall be to them a field of battle) <i>and he that is in the
city,</i> though it be a holy city, yet it shall not be his
protection, but <i>famine and pestilence shall devour him.</i> Sin
had abounded both in city and country, <i>Iliacos intra muros
peccator et extra—Trojans and Greeks offend alike;</i> and
therefore among both desolations are made. 2. None of those that
are marked for death shall escape: There <i>shall none of them
remain.</i> None of those proud oppressors that did violence to
their poor neighbours with <i>the rod of wickedness,</i> none of
them shall be left, but they shall be all swept away by the
desolation that is coming (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.11" parsed="|Ezek|7|11|0|0" passage="Eze 7:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>None of their multitude,</i> that is, of the
rabble, whom they set on to do mischief, and to countenance them in
doing it, to cry, "Crucify, crucify," when they were resolved on
the destruction of any, <i>none of them shall remain, nor any of
theirs;</i> their families shall all be destroyed, and neither root
nor branch left them. This multitude, this mob, divine vengeance
will in a particular manner fasten upon; <i>for wrath is upon all
the multitude thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.12 Bible:Ezek.7.14" parsed="|Ezek|7|12|0|0;|Ezek|7|14|0|0" passage="Eze 7:12,14"><i>v.</i> 12, 14</scripRef>) and <i>the vision was
touching the whole multitude thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.13" parsed="|Ezek|7|13|0|0" passage="Eze 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), the bulk of the common people.
The judgments coming shall carry them away by wholesale, and they
shall neither secure themselves nor their masters whose creatures
and tools they were. God's judgments, when they come with
commission, cannot be overpowered by multitudes. <i>Though hand
join in hand, yet shall not the wicked go unpunished.</i> 3. Those
that fall shall not be lamented (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.11" parsed="|Ezek|7|11|0|0" passage="Eze 7:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>There shall be no wailing
for them,</i> for there shall be none left to bewail them, but such
as are hastening apace after them. And the times shall be so bad
that men shall rather congratulate than lament the death of their
friends, as reckoning those happy that are taken away from seeing
these desolations and sharing in them, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.16.4-Jer.16.5" parsed="|Jer|16|4|16|5" passage="Jer 16:4,5">Jer. xvi. 4, 5</scripRef>. 4. They shall not be able
to make any resistance. The decree has gone forth, and <i>the
vision</i> concerning them <i>shall not return,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.13" parsed="|Ezek|7|13|0|0" passage="Eze 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. God will not reveal it,
and they cannot defeat it; and therefore it <i>shall not return re
infecta—without having accomplished any thing,</i> but shall
<i>accomplish that for which he sends it.</i> God's word will take
place, and then, (1.) Particular persons cannot make their part
good against God: No man <i>shall strengthen himself in the
iniquity of his life;</i> it will be to no purpose for sinners to
set God and his judgments at defiance as they used to do. <i>None
ever hardened his heart against God and prospered.</i> Those that
strengthen themselves in their wickedness will be found not only to
weaken, but to ruin, themselves, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.52.7" parsed="|Ps|52|7|0|0" passage="Ps 52:7">Ps.
lii. 7</scripRef>. (2.) <i>The multitude</i> cannot resist the
torrent of these judgments, nor make head against them (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.14" parsed="|Ezek|7|14|0|0" passage="Eze 7:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>They have blown the
trumpet,</i> to call their soldiers together, and to animate and
encourage those whom they have got together, and thus they think
<i>to make all ready;</i> but all in vain; none enlist themselves,
or those that do have not courage to face the enemy. Note, If God
be against us, none can be for us to do us any service. 5. They
shall have no hope of the return of their prosperity, with which to
support themselves in their adversity; they shall have given up all
for gone; and therefore, "<i>Let not the buyer rejoice</i> that he
is increasing his estate and has become a purchaser; nor let <i>the
seller mourn</i> that he is lessening his estate and has become a
bankrupt," <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.12" parsed="|Ezek|7|12|0|0" passage="Eze 7:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
See the vanity of the things of this world, and how worthless they
are—that in a time of trouble, when we have most need of them, we
may perhaps make least account of them. Those that have sold are
the more easy, having the less to lose, and those that have bought
have but increased their own cares and fears. Because <i>the
fashion of this world passes away,</i> let <i>those that buy be as
though they possessed not,</i> because they know not how soon they
may be dispossessed, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.11" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.29-1Cor.7.31" parsed="|1Cor|7|29|7|31" passage="1Co 7:29-31">1 Cor. vii.
29-31</scripRef>. It is added (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.13" parsed="|Ezek|7|13|0|0" passage="Eze 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), "<i>The seller shall not
return,</i> at the year of jubilee, <i>to that which is sold,</i>
according to the law, though he should escape the sword and
pestilence, and live till that year comes; for no inheritances
shall be enjoyed here till the seventy years be accomplished, and
then men shall return to their possessions, shall claim and have
their own again." In the belief of this, Jeremiah, about this time,
<i>bought his uncle's field,</i> yet, according to the charge, the
buyer did not rejoice, but complain, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.13" osisRef="Bible:Jer.32.25" parsed="|Jer|32|25|0|0" passage="Jer 32:25">Jer. xxxii. 25</scripRef>. 6. God will be glorified in
all: "<i>You shall know that I am the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.4" parsed="|Ezek|7|4|0|0" passage="Eze 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>that I am the Lord that
smiteth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p9.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.9" parsed="|Ezek|7|9|0|0" passage="Eze 7:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>.
You look at second causes, and think it is Nebuchadnezzar that
smites you, but you shall be made to know he is but the staff: it
is the hand of the Lord that smiteth you, and who knows the weight
of his hand?" Those who would not know it was the <i>Lord that did
them good</i> shall be made to know it is <i>the Lord that
smiteth</i> them; for, one way or other, he will be owned.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.viii-p9.16" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.16-Ezek.7.22" parsed="|Ezek|7|16|7|22" passage="Eze 7:16-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.viii-p9.17">
<h4 id="Ez.viii-p9.18">The Desolation of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p9.19">b. c.</span> 594.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.viii-p10" shownumber="no">16 But they that escape of them shall escape,
and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of
them mourning, every one for his iniquity.   17 All hands
shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak <i>as</i> water.
  18 They shall also gird <i>themselves</i> with sackcloth,
and horror shall cover them; and shame <i>shall be</i> upon all
faces, and baldness upon all their heads.   19 They shall cast
their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their
silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day
of the wrath of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p10.1">Lord</span>: they shall
not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is
the stumbling-block of their iniquity.   20 As for the beauty
of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of
their abominations <i>and</i> of their detestable things therein:
therefore have I set it far from them.   21 And I will give it
into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of
the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.   22 My face
will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret
<i>place:</i> for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p11" shownumber="no">We have attended the fate of those that are
cut off, and are now to attend the flight of those that have an
opportunity of escaping the danger; some of them <i>shall
escape</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.16" parsed="|Ezek|7|16|0|0" passage="Eze 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>),
but what the better? As good die once as, in a miserable life, die
a thousand deaths, and escape only like Cain to be <i>fugitives and
vagabonds,</i> and afraid of being slain by every one they meet; so
shall these be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p12" shownumber="no">I. They shall have no comfort or
satisfaction in their own minds, but be in continual anguish and
terror; for, wherever they go, they carry about with them guilty
consciences, which make them a burden to themselves. 1. They shall
be always solitary and under prevailing melancholy; they shall not
be in the cities, or places of concourse, but all alone <i>upon the
mountains,</i> not caring for society, but shy of it, as being
ashamed of the low circumstances to which they are reduced. 2. They
shall be always sorrowful. Those have reason to be so that are
under the tokens of God's displeasure; and God can make those so
that have been most jovial and have set sorrow at defiance. Those
that once thought themselves as the lions of the mountains, so
daring were they, now become as the <i>doves of the valleys,</i> so
timid are they, and so dispirited, ready to <i>flee when none
pursues</i> and to tremble at the shaking of a leaf. They are all
of them mourning (not with a <i>godly sorrow,</i> but with the
<i>sorrow of the world,</i> which <i>works death), every one for
his iniquity,</i> that is, for those calamities which they now see
their iniquity has brought upon them, not only the iniquity of the
land, but their own: they shall then be brought to acknowledge what
they have each of them contributed to the national guilt. Note,
Sooner or later sin will have sorrow of one kind or other; and
those that will not repent of their iniquity may justly be left to
pine away in it; those that will not mourn for it as it is an
offence to God shall be made to mourn for it as it is a shame and
ruin to themselves, to <i>mourn at the last, when the flesh and the
body are consumed, and to say, How have I hated instruction!</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.11-Prov.5.12" parsed="|Prov|5|11|5|12" passage="Pr 5:11,12">Prov. v. 11, 12</scripRef>. 3. They
shall be deprived of all their strength of body and mind (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.17" parsed="|Ezek|7|17|0|0" passage="Eze 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>All hands shall be
feeble,</i> so that they shall not be able to fight, or defend
themselves, and <i>all knees shall be weak as water,</i> so that
they shall neither be able to flee nor to stand their ground; they
shall feel a universal colliquation: their knees <i>shall flow as
water,</i> so that they must fall of course. Note, It is folly for
the <i>strong man to glory in his strength,</i> for God can soon
weaken it. 4. They shall be deprived of all their hopes and shall
abandon themselves to despair (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.18" parsed="|Ezek|7|18|0|0" passage="Eze 7:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); they shall have nothing to
hold up their spirits with; their aspects shall show what are their
prospects, all dreadful, for they shall <i>gird themselves with
sackcloth,</i> as having no expectation ever to wear better
clothing. <i>Horror shall cover them,</i> and <i>shame,</i> and
<i>baldness,</i> all the expressions of a desperate sorrow,
<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.11" parsed="|Isa|17|11|0|0" passage="Isa 17:11">Isa. xvii. 11</scripRef>. Note, Those
that will not be kept from sin by fear and shame shall by fear and
shame be punished for it; such is the confusion that sin will end
in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p13" shownumber="no">II. They shall have no benefit from their
wealth and riches, but shall be perfectly sick of them, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.19" parsed="|Ezek|7|19|0|0" passage="Eze 7:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Those that were reduced
to this distress were such as had had abundance of <i>silver and
gold,</i> money, and plate, and jewels, and other valuable goods,
from which they promised themselves a great deal of advantage in
times of public trouble. They thought their wealth would be
<i>their strong city,</i> that with it they could bribe enemies and
buy friends, that it would be the ransom of their lives, that they
could never want bread as long as they had money, and that <i>money
would answer all things;</i> but see how it proved. 1. Their wealth
had been a great temptation to them in the <i>day of their
prosperity;</i> they set their affections upon it, and put their
confidence in it. By their eager pursuit of it they were drawn into
sin, and by their plentiful enjoyment of it they were hardened in
sin; and thus it was the stumbling-block of their iniquity; it
occasioned their falling into sin and obstructed their return to
God. Note, There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin. The
gaining of the world is the losing of their souls; it makes them
proud, secure, covetous, oppressive, voluptuous; and that which, if
well used, might have been the servant of their piety, being
abused, becomes <i>the stumbling-block of their iniquity.</i> 2. It
was no relief to them now in the day of their adversity; for, (1.)
Their <i>gold and silver</i> could not protect them from the
judgments of God. They <i>shall not be able to deliver them in the
day of the wrath of the Lord;</i> they shall not serve to atone his
justice, or turn away his wrath, nor to screen them from the
judgments he is bringing upon them. Note, <i>Riches profit not in
the day of wrath,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.4" parsed="|Prov|11|4|0|0" passage="Pr 11:4">Prov. xi.
4</scripRef>. They neither set them so high that God's judgments
cannot reach them nor make them so strong that they cannot conquer
them. There is a day of wrath coming, when it will appear that
men's wealth is utterly unable to deliver them or do them any
service. What the better was the rich man for his full barns when
his soul was required of him, or that other rich man for his
<i>purple, and scarlet, and sumptuous fare,</i> when in hell he
could not procure a drop of water to <i>cool his tongue?</i> Money
is no defence against the arrests of death, nor any alleviation to
the miseries of the damned. (2.) Their <i>gold and silver</i> could
not give them any content under their calamities. [1.] They could
not fill their bowels; when there was no bread left in the city,
none to be had for love or money, their silver and gold could not
satisfy their hunger, nor serve to make one meal's meat for them.
Note, We could better be without mines of gold than fields of corn;
the products of the earth, which may easily be gathered from the
surface of it, are much greater blessings to mankind than its
treasures, which are with so much difficulty and hazard dug out of
its bowels. If God give us daily bread, we have reason to be
thankful, and no reason to complain, though silver and gold we have
none. [2.] Much less could they satisfy their souls, or yield them
any inward comfort. Note, The wealth of this world has not that in
it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any
satisfaction to it in a day of distress. <i>He that loves silver
shall not be satisfied with silver,</i> much less he that loses it.
(3.) Their <i>gold and silver shall be thrown into the streets,</i>
either by the hands of the enemy, who shall have more spoil than
they care for or can carry away (silver shall be nothing accounted
of; they shall <i>cast that in the streets;</i> but the
<i>gold,</i> which is more valuable, shall be removed and brought
to Babylon); or they themselves shall <i>throw away their silver
and gold,</i> because it would be an incumbrance to them and retard
their flight, or because it would expose them and be a temptation
to the enemy to cut their throats for their money, or in
indignation at it, because, after all the care and pains they had
taken to scrape it together and hoard it up, they found that it
would stand them in no stead, but do them a mischief rather. Note,
<i>The world passes away, and the lusts thereof,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.17" parsed="|1John|2|17|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:17">1 John ii. 17</scripRef>. The time may come when
worldly men will be as weary of their wealth as now they are wedded
to it, when those will fare best that have least.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p14" shownumber="no">III. God's temple shall stand them in no
stead, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.20-Ezek.7.22" parsed="|Ezek|7|20|7|22" passage="Eze 7:20-22"><i>v.</i> 20-22</scripRef>.
This they had prided themselves in, and promised themselves
security from (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.4 Bible:Mic.3.11" parsed="|Jer|7|4|0|0;|Mic|3|11|0|0" passage="Jer 7:4,Mic 3:11">Jer. vii. 4;
Mic. iii. 11</scripRef>); but this confidence of theirs shall fail
them. Observe, 1. The great honour God had done to that people in
setting up his sanctuary among them (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.20" parsed="|Ezek|7|20|0|0" passage="Eze 7:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>As for the beauty of his
ornament,</i> that <i>holy and beautiful house,</i> where <i>they
and their fathers praised God</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.11" parsed="|Isa|64|11|0|0" passage="Isa 64:11">Isa. lxiv. 11</scripRef>), which was therefore
beautiful because holy (it was called the <i>beauty of
holiness,</i> and holiness is the beauty of its ornament; it was
also adorned with gold and gifts)—as for this, <i>he set it in
majesty;</i> every thing was contrived to make it magnificent, that
it might help to make the people of Israel the more illustrious
among their neighbours. <i>He built his sanctuary like high
palaces,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.69" parsed="|Ps|78|69|0|0" passage="Ps 78:69">Ps. lxxviii.
69</scripRef>. It was a <i>glorious high throne from the
beginning,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.12" parsed="|Jer|17|12|0|0" passage="Jer 17:12">Jer. xvii.
12</scripRef>. But, 2. Here is the great dishonour they had done to
God in profaning his sanctuary; they <i>made the images of
their</i> counterfeit deities, which they set up in rivalship with
God, and which are here called <i>their abominations</i> and
<i>their detestable things</i> (for so they were to God, and so
they should have been to them), and these they set up in God's
temple, than which a greater affront could not be put upon him. And
therefore, 3. It is here threatened that they shall be deprived of
the temple, and it shall be no succour to them: <i>Therefore have I
set it far from them,</i> that is, sent them far from it, so that
it is out of the reach of their services and they are out of the
reach of its influences. Note, God's ordinances, and the privileges
of a profession of religion, will justly be taken away from those
that despise and profane them. Nay, they shall not only be kept at
a distance from the temple, but the temple itself shall be involved
in the common desolation (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.21" parsed="|Ezek|7|21|0|0" passage="Eze 7:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>); the Chaldeans, who are <i>strangers,</i> and
therefore have no veneration for it, who are <i>the wicked of the
earth,</i> and therefore have an antipathy to it, shall <i>have it
for a prey</i> and for <i>a spoil;</i> all the ornaments and
treasures of it shall fall into their hands, who will make no
difference between that and other plunder. This was a grief to the
saints in Zion, who complained of nothing so much as of that which
<i>the enemy did wickedly in the sanctuary</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.3" parsed="|Ps|74|3|0|0" passage="Ps 74:3">Ps. lxxiv. 3</scripRef>); but it was the punishment of
the sinners in Zion, who, by profaning the temple with <i>strange
gods,</i> provoked God to suffer it to be profaned by <i>strange
nations,</i> and to <i>turn his face from those that did it</i> as
if he had not seen them and their crimes and from those that
deprecated it as not regarding them and their prayers. Let the
soldiers do as they will; let them <i>enter into the secret
place,</i> into the holy of holies, as robbers; let them strip it,
let them pollute it; its defence has departed, and then farewell
all its glory. Note, Those are unworthy to be honoured with the
form of godliness who will not be governed by the power of
godliness.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.viii-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.23-Ezek.7.27" parsed="|Ezek|7|23|7|27" passage="Eze 7:23-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.viii-p14.10">
<h4 id="Ez.viii-p14.11">The Desolation of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p14.12">b. c.</span> 594.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.viii-p15" shownumber="no">23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody
crimes, and the city is full of violence.   24 Wherefore I
will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their
houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their
holy places shall be defiled.   25 Destruction cometh; and
they shall seek peace, and <i>there shall be</i> none.   26
Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour;
then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall
perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.   27
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with
desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be
troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to
their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.viii-p15.1">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p16" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The prisoner arraigned: <i>Make
a chain,</i> in which to drag the criminal to the bar, and set him
before the tribunal of divine justice; let him stand in fetters (as
a notorious malefactor), stand pinioned to receive his doom. Note,
Those that break the bands of God's law <i>asunder,</i> and <i>cast
away those cords from them,</i> will find themselves bound and held
by the chains of his judgments, which they cannot break nor cast
from them. The chain signified the siege of Jerusalem, or the
slavery of those that were carried into captivity, or that they
were all bound over to the righteous judgment of God, <i>reserved
in chains.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p17" shownumber="no">II. The indictment drawn up against the
prisoner: <i>The land is full of bloody crimes,</i> full of <i>the
judgments of blood</i> (so the word is), that is, of the guilt of
blood which they had shed under colour of justice and by forms of
law, with the solemnity of a judgment. The innocent blood which
Manasseh shed, probably thus shed, by the <i>judgment of the
blood,</i> was the measure-filling sin of Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Ez.viii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.4" parsed="|2Kgs|24|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:4">2 Kings xxiv. 4</scripRef>. Or, It is full of
such crimes as by the law were to be punished with death, <i>the
judgment of blood.</i> Idolatry, blasphemy, witchcraft, Sodomy, and
the like, were <i>bloody crimes,</i> for which particular sinners
were to die; and therefore, when they had become national, there
was no remedy but the nation must be cut off. Note, Bloody crimes
will be punished with bloody judgments. <i>The city,</i> the city
of David, the holy city, that should have been the pattern of
righteousness, the protector of it, and the punisher of wrong,
<i>is now full of violence;</i> the rulers of that city, having
greater power and reputation, are greater oppressors than any
others. This was sadly to be lamented. <i>How has the faithful city
become a harlot!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.viii-p18" shownumber="no">III. Judgment given upon this indictment.
God will reckon with them not only for the profaning of his
sanctuary, but for the perverting of justice between man and man;
for, as <i>holiness becomes his house,</i> so the <i>righteous Lord
loves righteousness</i> and is the avenger of unrighteousness. Now
the judgment given is, 1. That since they had walked in the way of
the heathen, and done worse than they, God would <i>bring the worst
of the heathen upon them</i> to destroy them and lay them waste,
the most barbarous and outrageous, that have the least compassion
to mankind and the greatest antipathy to the Jews. Note, Of the
heathen some are worse than others, and God sometimes picks out the
worst to be a scourge to his own people, because he intends them
for the fire when the work is done. 2. That since they had filled
their houses with goods unjustly gotten, and used their pomp and
power for the crushing and oppressing of the weak, God would give
their houses to be possessed and all the furniture of them to be
enjoyed by strangers, and <i>make the pomp of the strong to
cease,</i> so that their great men should not dazzle the eyes of
the weak-sighted with their pomp, nor with their might at any time
prevail against right, as they had done. 3. That, since they had
<i>defiled the holy places</i> with their idolatries, God would
defile them with his judgments, since they had set up the images of
other gods in the temple, God would remove thence the tokens of the
presence of their own God. When the holy places are deserted by
their God they will soon be defiled by their enemies. 4. Since they
had followed one sin with another, God would pursue them with one
judgment upon another: "<i>Destruction comes, utter destruction</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.25" parsed="|Ezek|7|25|0|0" passage="Eze 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>); for there
shall come <i>mischief upon mischief</i> to ruin you, and <i>rumour
upon rumour</i> to frighten you, like the waves in a storm, one
upon the neck of another." Note, Sinners that are marked for ruin
shall be prosecuted to it; for God will overcome when he judges. 5.
Since they had disappointed God's expectations from them, he would
disappoint their expectations from him; for, (1.) They shall not
have the <i>deliverance out of their troubles</i> that they expect.
They shall <i>seek peace;</i> they shall desire it and pray for it;
they shall aim at and expect it: but <i>there shall be none;</i>
their attempts both to court their enemies and to conquer them
shall be in vain, and their troubles shall grow worse and worse.
(2.) They shall not have the direction in the trouble that they
expect (<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.26" parsed="|Ezek|7|26|0|0" passage="Eze 7:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>):
<i>They shall seek a vision of the prophet,</i> shall desire, for
their support under their troubles, to be assured of a happy issue
out of them. They did not desire a vision to reprove them for sin,
nor to warn them of danger, but to promise them deliverance. Such
messages they longed to hear. But <i>the law shall perish from the
priest;</i> he shall have no words either of counsel or comfort to
say to them. They would not hear what God had to say to them by
ways of conviction, and therefore he has nothing to say to them by
way of encouragement. <i>Counsel shall perish from the
ancients;</i> the elders of the people, that should advise them
what to do in this difficult juncture, shall be infatuated and at
their wits' end. It is bad with a people when those that should be
their counsellors know not how to consider within themselves,
consult with one another, or counsel them. 6. Since they had
animated and encouraged one another to sin, God would dispirit and
dishearten them all, so that they should not be able to make head
against the judgments of God that were breaking in upon them. All
orders and degrees of men shall lie down by consent under the load
(<scripRef id="Ez.viii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.27" parsed="|Ezek|7|27|0|0" passage="Eze 7:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): <i>The
king,</i> that should inspire life into them, and <i>the
prince,</i> that should lead them onto attack the enemy, <i>shall
mourn</i> and be <i>clothed with desolation;</i> their heads and
hearts shall fail, their politics and their courage; and then no
wonder if <i>the hands of the people of the land,</i> that should
fight for them, be <i>troubled.</i> None of the men of might shall
<i>find their hands.</i> What can men contrive or do for themselves
when God has departed from them and appears against them? All must
needs be in <i>tears,</i> all in <i>trouble,</i> when God comes to
<i>judge them according to their deserts,</i> and so make then
know, to their cost, that he is the Lord, the <i>God to whom
vengeance belongs.</i></p>
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