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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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God, having given the prophet a clear foresight of the people's
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miseries that were hastening on, here gives him a clear insight into
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the people's wickedness, by which God was provoked to bring these
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miseries upon them, that he might justify God in all his judgments,
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might the more particularly reprove the sins of the people, and with
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the more satisfaction foretel their ruin. Here God, in vision, brings
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him to Jerusalem, to show him the sins that were committed there,
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though God had begun to contend with them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>),
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and there he sees,
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I. The image of jealousy set up at the gate of the altar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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II. The elders of Israel worshipping all manner of images in a secret
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chamber,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:7-12">ver. 7-12</A>.
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III. The women weeping for Tammuz,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:13,14">ver. 13, 14</A>.
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IV. The men worshipping the sun,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:15,16">ver. 15, 16</A>.
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And then appeals to him whether such a provoking people should have any
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pity shown them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vision of the Divine Glory.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth <I>month,</I>
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in the fifth <I>day</I> of the month, <I>as</I> I sat in mine house, and
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the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>
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fell there upon me.
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2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire:
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from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from
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his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the
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colour of amber.
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3 And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock
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of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and
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the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to
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the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where
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<I>was</I> the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to
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jealousy.
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4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel <I>was</I> there,
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according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
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5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the
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way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the
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north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image
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of jealousy in the entry.
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6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they
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do? <I>even</I> the great abominations that the house of Israel
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committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but
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turn thee yet again, <I>and</I> thou shalt see greater abominations.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Ezekiel was now in Babylon; but the messages of wrath he had delivered
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in the foregoing chapters related to Jerusalem, for in the peace or
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trouble thereof the captives looked upon themselves to have peace or
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trouble, and therefore here he has a vision of what was done at
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Jerusalem, and this vision is continued to the close of the 11th
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chapter.</P>
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<P>
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I. Here is the date of this vision. The first vision he had was in
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<I>the fifth year of the captivity, in the fourth month</I> and <I>the
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fifth day of the month,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+1:1,2"><I>ch.</I> i. 1, 2</A>.
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This was just fourteen months after. Perhaps it was after he had lain
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390 days on his left side, to bear the iniquity of Israel, and before
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he began the forty days on his right side, to bear the iniquity of
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Judah; for now he was sitting in the house, not lying. Note, God keeps
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a particular account of the messages he sends to us, because he will
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shortly call us to account about them.</P>
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<P>
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II. The opportunity is taken notice of, as well as the time.
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1. The prophet was himself <I>sitting in his house,</I> in a sedate
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composed frame, deep perhaps in contemplation. Note, The more we
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retreat from the world, and retire into our own hearts, the better
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frame we are in for communion with God: those that sit down to consider
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what they have learned shall be taught more. Or, he <I>sat in his
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house,</I> ready to preach to the company that resorted to him, but
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waiting for instructions what to say. God will communicate more
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knowledge to those who are communicative of what they do know.
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2. <I>The elders of Judah,</I> that were now in captivity with him,
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<I>sat before him.</I> It is probable that it was on the sabbath day,
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and that it was usual for them to attend on the prophet every sabbath
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day, both to hear the word from him and to join with him and prayer and
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praise: and how could they spend the sabbath better, now that they had
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neither temple nor synagogue, neither priest nor altar? It was a great
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mercy that they had opportunity to spend it so well, as the good people
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in Elisha's time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+4:23">2 Kings iv. 23</A>.
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But some think it was on some extraordinary occasion that they attended
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him, to enquire of the Lord, and <I>sat down</I> at his feet to <I>hear
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his word.</I> Observe here,
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(1.) When the <I>law had perished from the priests</I> at Jerusalem,
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whose <I>lips should keep knowledge</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:26"><I>ch.</I> vii. 26</A>),
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those in Babylon had a prophet to consult. God is not tied to places
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or persons.
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(2.) Now that the elders of Judah were in captivity they paid more
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respect to God's prophets, and his word in their mouth, than they did
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when they lived in peace in their own land. When God brings men into
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the <I>cords of affliction,</I> then he <I>opens their ears to
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discipline,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+36:8,10,Ps+141:6">Job xxxvi. 8, 10; Ps. cxli. 6</A>.
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Those that despised vision in the <I>valley of vision</I> prized it now
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that the word of the Lord precious and there was <I>no open vision.</I>
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(3.) When our teachers are driven into corners, and are forced to
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preach in private houses, we must diligently attend them there. A
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minister's house should be a church for all his neighbours. Paul
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preached in his own hired house at Rome, and God owned him there, and
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<I>no man forbad him.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. The divine influence and impression that the prophet was now
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under: <I>The hand of the Lord fell there upon me.</I> God's hand took
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hold of him, and arrested him, as it were, to employ him in this
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vision, but at the same time supported him to bear it.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The vision that the prophet saw,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He <I>beheld a likeness,</I> of a man we may suppose, for that was the
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likeness he saw before, but it was all <I>brightness</I> above the
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girdle and all <I>fire</I> below, fire and flame. This agrees with the
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description we had before of the apparition he saw,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+1:27"><I>ch.</I> i. 27</A>.
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It is probably that it was the same person, the man Christ Jesus. It is
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probable that the elders that <I>sat with him</I> (as the men that
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journeyed with Paul) saw a light and were afraid, and this happy sight
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they gained by attending the prophet in a private meeting, but they had
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no distinct view of him that spoke to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+22:9">Acts xxii. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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V. The prophet's remove, in vision, to Jerusalem. The apparition he saw
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<I>put forth the form of a hand,</I> which <I>took him by a lock of his
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head,</I> and the Spirit was that hand which was put forth, for the
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Spirit of God is called <I>the finger of God.</I> Or, The spirit within
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him <I>lifted him up,</I> so that he was borne up and carried on by an
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internal principle, not an external violence. A faithful ready servant
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of God will be drawn by a hair, by the least intimation of the divine
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will, to his duty; for he has that within him which inclines him to a
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compliance with it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:8">Ps. xxvii. 8</A>.
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He was miraculously <I>lifted up between heaven and earth,</I> as if he
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were to fly away upon eagles' wings. This, it is probable (so Grotius
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thinks), the elders that sat with him saw; they were witnesses of
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<I>the hand taking him by the lock</I> of hair, and <I>lifting him
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up,</I> and then perhaps laying him down again in a trance of ecstasy,
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while he had the following visions, <I>whether in the body or out of
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the body,</I> we may suppose, he <I>could not tell,</I> any more than
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Paul in a like case, much less can we. Note, Those are best prepared
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for communion with God and the communications of divine light that by
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divine grace are raised up above the earth and the things of it, to be
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out of their attractive force. But, being lifted up towards heaven, he
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was carried in vision to Jerusalem, and to God's sanctuary there; for
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those that would go to heaven must take that in their way. The Spirit
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represented to his mind the city and temple as plainly as if he had
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been there in person. O that by faith we could thus enter into the
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Jerusalem, the holy city, above, and see the things that are
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invisible!</P>
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<P>
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VI. The discoveries that were made to him there.</P>
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<P>
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1. There he saw the glory of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Behold, the glory of the god of Israel was there,</I> the same
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appearance of the living creatures, and the wheels, and the throne,
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that he had seen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+1:1-28"><I>ch.</I> i.</A>
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Note, God's servants, wherever they are and whithersoever they go,
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ought to carry about with them a believing regard to the glory of God
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and to set that always before them; and those that have seen God's
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power and glory in the sanctuary should desire to see them again, so as
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they have seen them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:2">Ps. lxiii. 2</A>.
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Ezekiel has this repeated vision of the glory of God both to give
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credit to and to put honour upon the following discoveries. But it
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seems to have a further intention here; it was to aggravate this sin of
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Israel, in changing their own God, the God of Israel (who is a God of
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so much glory as here he appears to be), for dunghill gods, scandalous
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gods, false gods, and indeed no gods. Note, The more glorious we see
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God to be the more odious we shall see sin to be, especially idolatry,
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which turns his truth in to a lie, his glory into shame. It was also to
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aggravate their approaching misery, when this glory of the Lord should
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remove from them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+11:23"><I>ch.</I> xi. 23</A>)
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and leave the house and city desolate.</P>
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<P>
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2. There he saw the reproach of Israel--and that was <I>the image of
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jealousy,</I> set <I>northward, at the gate of the altar,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:3,5"><I>v.</I> 3, 5</A>.
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What image this was is uncertain, probably an image of Baal, or of the
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grove, which Manasseh made and set in the temple
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:7,2Ch+33:3">2 Kings xxi. 7, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3</A>),
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which Josiah removed, but his successors, it seems, replace there, as
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probably they did the <I>chariots of the sun</I> which he found <I>at
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the entering in of the house of the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:11">2 Kings xxiii. 11</A>),
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and this is here said to be <I>in the entry.</I> But the prophet,
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instead of telling us what image it was, which might gratify our
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curiosity, tells us that it was <I>the image of jealousy,</I> to
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convince our consciences that, whatever image it was, it was in the
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highest degree offensive to God and <I>provoked him to jealousy.</I> he
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resented it as a husband would resent the whoredoms of his wife, and
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would certainly revenge it; for <I>God is jealous, and the Lord
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revenges,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+1:2">Nah. i. 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The very setting up of this image <I>in the house of the Lord</I>
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was enough to <I>provoke him to jealousy;</I> for it is in the matters
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of his worship that we are particularly told, <I>I the Lord thy God am
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a jealous God.</I> Those that placed this image at <I>the door of the
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inner gate,</I> where the people assembled, called <I>the gate of the
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altar</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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thereby plainly intended,
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[1.] To affront God, to provoke him to his face, by advancing an idol
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to be a rival with him for the adoration of his people, in contempt of
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his law and in defiance of his justice.
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[2.] To debauch the people, and pick them up as they were entering into
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the courts of the Lord's house to bring their offerings to him, and to
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tempt them to offer them to this image; like the adulteress Solomon
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describes, that <I>sits at the door of her house, to call passengers
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who go right on their ways, Whoso is simple, let him turn in
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hither,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+9:14-16">Prov. ix. 14-16</A>.
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With good reason therefore is this called <I>the image of
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jealousy.</I></P>
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<P>
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(2.) We may well imagine what a surprise and what a grief it was to
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Ezekiel to see this image in the house of God, when he was in hopes
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that the judgments they were under had, by this time, wrought some
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reformation among them; but there is more wickedness in the world, in
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the church, than good men think there is. And now,
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[1.] God appeals to him whether this was not bad enough, and a
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sufficient ground for God to go upon in casting off this people and
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abandoning them to ruin. Could he, or any one else, expect any other
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than <I>that God should go far from his sanctuary,</I> when there were
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such abominations committed there, in that very place; nay, was he not
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perfectly driven thence? They did these things designedly, and on
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purpose that he should leave his sanctuary, and so shall their doom be;
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they have hereby, in effect, like the Gadarenes, desired him <I>to
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depart out of their coasts,</I> and therefore he will depart; he will
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no more dignify and protect his sanctuary, as he has done, but will
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give it up to reproach and ruin. But,
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[2.] Though this is bad enough, and serves abundantly to justify God in
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all that he brings upon them, yet the matter will appear to be much
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worse: <I>But turn thyself yet again,</I> and thou wilt be amazed to
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<I>see greater abominations than these.</I> Where there is one
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abomination it will be found that there are many more. Sins do not go
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alone.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Secret Abominations Discovered; The Chambers of Imagery.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
|
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
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<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I
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looked, behold a hole in the wall.
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8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and
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|
when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
|
|
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked
|
|
abominations that they do here.
|
|
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping
|
|
things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of
|
|
Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
|
|
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of
|
|
the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the
|
|
son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a
|
|
thick cloud of incense went up.
|
|
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the
|
|
ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the
|
|
chambers of his imagery? for they say, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> seeth us not; the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath forsaken the earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here a further discovery of the abominations that were
|
|
committed at Jerusalem, and within the confines of the temple, too. Now
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How this discovery is made. God, in vision, brought Ezekiel to the
|
|
<I>door of the court,</I> the outer court, along the sides of which the
|
|
priests' lodgings were. God could have introduced him at first into
|
|
<I>the chambers of imagery,</I> but he brings him to them by degrees,
|
|
partly to employ his own industry in searching out these mysteries of
|
|
iniquity, and partly to make him sensible with what care and caution
|
|
those idolaters concealed their idolatries. Before the priests'
|
|
apartments they had run up a wall, to make them the more private, that
|
|
they might not lie open to the observation of those who passed by--a
|
|
shrewd sign that they did something which they had reason to be ashamed
|
|
of. <I>He that doth evil hates the light.</I> They were not willing
|
|
that those who saw them in God's house should see them in their own,
|
|
lest they should see them contradict themselves and undo in private
|
|
what they did in public. But, <I>behold, a hole in the wall,</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
a spy-hole, by which you might see that which would give cause to
|
|
suspect them. When hypocrites screen themselves behind the wall of an
|
|
external profession, and with it think to conceal their wickedness from
|
|
the eye of the world and carry on their designs the more successfully,
|
|
it is hard for them to manage it with so much art by that there is some
|
|
hole or other left in the wall, something that betrays them, to those
|
|
who look diligently, not to be what they pretend to be. The ass's ears
|
|
in the fable appeared from under the lion's skin. This <I>hole in the
|
|
wall</I> Ezekiel made wider, and <I>behold a door,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
This door he goes in by into <I>the treasury,</I> or some of the
|
|
apartments of the priests, and sees <I>the wicked abominations that
|
|
they do there,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that would discover the mystery of iniquity in others, or
|
|
in themselves, must accomplish a diligent search; for Satan has his
|
|
wiles, and depths, and devices, which we should not be ignorant of, and
|
|
<I>the heart is deceitful above all things;</I> in the examining of it
|
|
therefore we are concerned to be very strict.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What the discovery is. It is a very melancholy one.
|
|
|
|
1. He sees a chamber set round with idolatrous pictures
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>All the idols of the house of Israel,</I> which they had borrowed
|
|
from the neighbouring nations, were <I>portrayed upon the wall round
|
|
about,</I> even the vilest of them, <I>the forms of creeping
|
|
things,</I> which they worshipped, and <I>beasts,</I> even
|
|
<I>abominable ones,</I> which are poisonous and venomous; at least they
|
|
were abominable when they were worshipped. This was a sort of
|
|
pantheon, a collection of all the idols together which they paid their
|
|
devotions to. Though the second commandment, in the letter of it,
|
|
forbids only graven images, yet painted ones are as bad and as
|
|
dangerous.
|
|
|
|
2. He sees this chamber filled with idolatrous worshippers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
There were <I>seventy men of the elders of Israel</I> offering incense
|
|
to these painted idols. Here was a great number of idolaters
|
|
strengthening one another's hands in this wickedness; though it was in
|
|
a private chamber, and the meeting industriously concealed, yet here
|
|
were seventy men engaged in it. I doubt these elders were many more
|
|
than those in Babylon that sat before the prophet in his house,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were <I>seventy men,</I> the number of the great Sanhedrim, or
|
|
chief council of the nation, and, we have reason to fear, the same men;
|
|
for they were <I>the ancients of the house of Israel,</I> not only in
|
|
age, but in office, who were bound, by the duty of their place, to
|
|
restrain and punish idolatry and to destroy and abolish all
|
|
superstitious images wherever they found them; yet these were those
|
|
that did themselves worship them in private, so undermining that
|
|
religion which in public they professed to own and promote only because
|
|
by it they held their preferments. They had <I>every man his censer in
|
|
his hand;</I> so fond were they of the idolatrous service that they
|
|
would all be their own priests, and very prodigal they were of their
|
|
perfumes in honour of these images, for <I>a thick cloud of incense
|
|
went up,</I> that filled the room. O that the zeal of these idolaters
|
|
might shame the worshippers of the true God out of their indifference
|
|
to his service! The prophet took particular notice of one whom he knew,
|
|
who <I>stood in the midst of</I> these idolaters, as chief among them,
|
|
being perhaps president of the great council at this time or most
|
|
forward in this wickedness. No wonder the people were corrupt when the
|
|
elders were so. The sins of leaders are leading sins.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. What the remark is that made upon it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Son of man, hast thou seen this?</I> Couldst thou have imagined
|
|
that there was such wickedness committed?" It is here observed
|
|
concerning it,
|
|
|
|
1. That it was done <I>in the dark;</I> for sinful works are <I>works
|
|
of darkness.</I> They concealed it, lest they should lose their places,
|
|
or at least their credit. There is a great deal of secret wickedness in
|
|
the world, which the day will declare, <I>the day of the revelation of
|
|
the righteous judgment of God.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. That this one idolatrous chapel was but a specimen of many the like.
|
|
Here they met together, to worship their images in concert, but, it
|
|
should seem, they had <I>every man the chamber of his imagery</I>
|
|
besides, a room in his own house for this purpose, in which every man
|
|
gratified his own fancy with such pictures as he liked best. Idolaters
|
|
had their household gods, and their family worship of them in private,
|
|
which is a shame to those who call themselves Christians and yet have
|
|
no church in their house, no worship of God in their family. Had they
|
|
<I>chambers of imagery,</I> and shall not we have chambers of devotion?
|
|
|
|
3. That atheism was at the bottom of their idolatry. They worship
|
|
images <I>in the dark,</I> the images of the gods of other nations, and
|
|
<I>they say,</I> "Jehovah, the God of Israel, whom we should serve,
|
|
<I>seeth us not.</I> Jehovah <I>hath forsaken the earth,</I> and we may
|
|
worship what God we will; he regards us not."
|
|
|
|
(1.) They think themselves out of God's sight: <I>They say, The Lord
|
|
seeth us not.</I> They imagined, because the matter was carried on so
|
|
closely that men could not discover it, nor did any of their neighbours
|
|
suspect them to be idolaters, that therefore it was hidden from the eye
|
|
of God; as if there were any <I>darkness, or shadow of death, where the
|
|
workers of iniquity may hide themselves.</I> Note, A practical
|
|
disbelief of God's omniscience is at the bottom of our treacherous
|
|
departures from him; but the church argues justly, as to this very sin
|
|
of idolatry
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:20,21">Ps. xliv. 20, 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>If we have forgotten the name of our God, and stretched forth our
|
|
hand to a strange god, will not God search this out?</I> No doubt he
|
|
will.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They think themselves out of God's care: "<I>The Lord has forsaken
|
|
the earth,</I> and looks not after the affairs of it; and then we may
|
|
as well worship any other god as him." Or, "He has forsaken our land,
|
|
and left it to be a prey to its enemies; and therefore it is time for
|
|
us to look out for some other god, to whom to commit the protection of
|
|
it. Our one God cannot, or will not, deliver us; and therefore let us
|
|
have many." This was a blasphemous reflection upon God, as if he had
|
|
forsaken them first, else they would not have forsaken him. Note, Those
|
|
are ripe indeed for ruin who have arrived at such a pitch of impudence
|
|
as to lay the blame of their sins upon God himself.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze8_18"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Chambers of Imagery.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, <I>and</I> thou shalt
|
|
see greater abominations that they do.
|
|
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s
|
|
house which <I>was</I> toward the north; and, behold, there sat women
|
|
weeping for Tammuz.
|
|
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen <I>this,</I> O son of man?
|
|
turn thee yet again, <I>and</I> thou shalt see greater abominations
|
|
than these.
|
|
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s house,
|
|
and, behold, at the door of the temple of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, between the
|
|
porch and the altar, <I>were</I> about five and twenty men, with their
|
|
backs toward the temple of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and their faces toward the
|
|
east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
|
|
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen <I>this,</I> O son of man?
|
|
Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the
|
|
abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the
|
|
land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger:
|
|
and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
|
|
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not
|
|
spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears
|
|
with a loud voice, <I>yet</I> will I not hear them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. More and greater abominations discovered to the prophet. He thought
|
|
that what he had seen was bad enough and yet
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Turn thyself again, and thou shalt see yet greater abominations,</I>
|
|
and greater still,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
There are those who live in retirement who do no think what wickedness
|
|
there is in this world; and the more we converse with it, and the
|
|
further we go abroad into it, the more corrupt we see it. When we have
|
|
seen that which is bad we may have our wonder at it made to cease by
|
|
the discovery of that which, upon some account or other, is a great
|
|
deal worse. We shall find it so in examining our own hearts and
|
|
searching into them; there is a world of iniquity in them, a great
|
|
abundance and variety of abominations, and, when we have found out much
|
|
amiss, still we shall find more; for <I>the heart is desperately
|
|
wicked, who can know it</I> perfectly? Now the abominations here
|
|
discovered were,
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Women weeping for Tammuz,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
An abominable thing indeed, that any should choose rather to serve an
|
|
idol in tears than to serve the true God <I>with joyfulness and
|
|
gladness of heart!</I> Yet such absurdities as these are those guilty
|
|
of who <I>follow after lying vanities</I> and <I>forsake their own
|
|
mercies.</I> Some think it was for Adonis, an idol among the Greeks,
|
|
other for Osiris, an idol of the Egyptians, that they shed these tears.
|
|
The image, they say, was made to weep, and then the worshippers wept
|
|
with it. They bewailed the death of this Tammuz, and anon rejoiced in
|
|
its returning to life again. These mourning women <I>sat at the door of
|
|
the gate of the Lord's house,</I> and there shed their idolatrous
|
|
tears, as it were in defiance of God and the sacred rites of his
|
|
worship, and some think, with their idolatry, prostrating themselves
|
|
also to corporeal whoredom; for these two commonly went together, and
|
|
those that dishonoured the divine nature by the one were justly
|
|
<I>given up to vile affections</I> and a reprobate sense to dishonour
|
|
the human nature, which nowhere ever sunk so far below itself as in
|
|
these idolatrous rites.
|
|
|
|
2. <I>Men worshipping the sun,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
And this was so much the greater an abomination that it was practised
|
|
<I>in the inner court of the Lord's house at the door of the temple of
|
|
the lord, between the porch and the altar.</I> There, where the most
|
|
sacred rites of their holy religion used to be performed, was this
|
|
abominable wickedness committed. Justly might God in jealousy say to
|
|
those who thus affronted him at his own door, as the king to Haman,
|
|
<I>Will he force the queen also before me in the house?</I> Here
|
|
<I>were about twenty-five men</I> giving that honour to the sun which
|
|
is due to God only. Some think they were the king and his princes; it
|
|
should rather seem that they were priests, for this was the court of
|
|
the priests, and the proper place to find them in. Those that were
|
|
entrusted with the true religion, had it committed to their care and
|
|
were charged with the custody of it, they were the men that betrayed
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They turned <I>their backs towards the temple of the Lord,</I>
|
|
resolvedly forgetting it and designedly slighting it and putting
|
|
contempt upon it. Note, When men turn their backs upon God's
|
|
institutions, and despise them, it is no marvel if they wander
|
|
endlessly after their own inventions. Impiety is the beginning of
|
|
idolatry and all iniquity.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They turned <I>their faces towards the east, and worshipped the
|
|
sun,</I> the rising sun. This was an ancient instance of idolatry; it
|
|
is mentioned in Job's time
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:26">Job xxxi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and had been generally practised among the nations, some worshipping
|
|
the sun under one name, others under another. These priests, finding it
|
|
had antiquity and general consent and usage on its side (the two pleas
|
|
which the papists use at this day in defence of their superstitious
|
|
rites, and particularly this of worshipping towards the east),
|
|
practised it in the court of the temple, thinking it an omission that
|
|
it was not inserted in their ritual. See the folly of idolaters in
|
|
worshipping that as a god, and calling it <I>Baal--a lord,</I> which
|
|
God made to be a servant to the universe (for such the sun is, and so
|
|
his name <I>Shemesh</I> signified,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:19">Deut. iv. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and in adoring the borrowed light and despising the <I>Father of
|
|
lights.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The inference drawn from these discoveries
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Hast thou seen this, O son of man!</I> and couldst thou have
|
|
thought ever to see such things done in the temple of the Lord?" Now,
|
|
|
|
1. He appeals to the prophet himself concerning the heinousness of the
|
|
crime. Can he think it <I>is a light thing to the house of Judah,</I>
|
|
who know and profess better things, and are dignified with so many
|
|
privileges above other nations? Is it an excusable thing in those that
|
|
have God's oracles and ordinances <I>that they commit the abominations
|
|
which they commit here?</I> Do not those deserve to suffer that thus
|
|
sin? Should not such abominations as these <I>make desolate?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:27">Dan. ix. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He aggravates it from the fraud and oppression that were to be found
|
|
in all parts of the nations: <I>They have filled the land with
|
|
violence.</I> It is not strange if those that wrong God thus make no
|
|
conscience of wronging one another, and with all that is sacred trample
|
|
likewise upon all that is just. And their wickedness in their
|
|
conversations made even the worship they paid to their own God an
|
|
abomination
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:11">Isa. i. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.): "<I>They fill the land with violence,</I> and then they return to
|
|
the temple <I>to provoke me to anger</I> there; for even their
|
|
sacrifices, instead of making an atonement, do but add to their guilt.
|
|
They <I>return to provoke me</I> (they repeat the provocation, do it,
|
|
and do it again), <I>and, lo, they put the branch to their nose</I>"
|
|
--a proverbial expression denoting perhaps their scoffing at God and
|
|
having him in derision; they snuffed at his service, as men do when
|
|
they <I>put a branch to their nose.</I> Or it was some custom used by
|
|
idolaters in honour of the idols they served. We read of garlands used
|
|
in their idolatrous worships
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+14:13">Acts xiv. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
out of which every zealot took a branch which they smelled to as a
|
|
nosegay. Dr. Lightfoot (<I>Hor. Heb. in John</I> 15.6) gives another
|
|
sense of this place: <I>They put the branch to their wrath,</I> or
|
|
<I>to his wrath,</I> as the Masorites read it; that is, they are still
|
|
bringing more fuel (such as the withered branches of the vine) to the
|
|
fire of divine wrath, which they have already kindled, as if that wrath
|
|
did not burn hot enough already. Or putting the branch to the nose may
|
|
signify the giving of a very great affront and provocation either to
|
|
God or man; they are an abusive generation of men.
|
|
|
|
3. He passes sentence upon them that they shall be utterly cut off:
|
|
<I>Therefore,</I> because they are thus furiously bent upon sin, <I>I
|
|
will also deal in fury</I> with them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>They filled the land with their violence,</I> and God will fill it
|
|
with the violence of their enemies; and he will not lend a favourable
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ear to the suggestions either,
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(1.) Of his own pity: <I>My eye shall not spare, neither will I have
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pity;</I> repentance shall be hidden from his eyes; or,
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(2.) Of their prayers: <I>Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice,
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yet will I not hear them;</I> for still their sins cry more loudly for
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vengeance than their prayers cry for mercy. God will now be as deaf to
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their prayers as their own idols were, on whom they cried aloud, but in
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vain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:26">1 Kings xviii. 26</A>.
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Time was when God was ready to hear even <I>before they cried</I> and
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to <I>answer while they were yet speaking;</I> but now <I>they shall
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seek me early and not find me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:28">Prov. i. 28</A>.
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It is not the loud voice, but the upright heart, that God will
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regard.</P>
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