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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. XXII.</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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Here are three separate messages which God entrusts the prophet to
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deliver concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and all to the same purport, to
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show them their sins and the judgments that were coming upon them for
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those sins.
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I. Here is a catalogue of their sins, by which they had exposed
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themselves to shame and for which God would bring them to ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:1-16">ver. 1-16</A>.
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II. They are here compared to dross, and are condemned as dross to the
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fire,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:17-22">ver. 17-22</A>.
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III. All orders and degrees of men among them are here found guilty of
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the neglect of the duty of their place and of having contributed to the
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national guilt, which therefore, since none appeared as intercessors,
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they must all expect to share in the punishment of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:23-31">ver. 23-31</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze22_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze22_16"> </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 Sins of Jerusalem.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 591.</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 Moreover the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the
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bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
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3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, The city sheddeth
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blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh
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idols against herself to defile herself.
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4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and
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hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and
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thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come <I>even</I> unto
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thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the
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heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
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5 <I>Those that be</I> near, and <I>those that be</I> far from thee,
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shall mock thee, <I>which art</I> infamous <I>and</I> much vexed.
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6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to
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their power to shed blood.
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7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the
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midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in
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thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
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8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my
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sabbaths.
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9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee
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they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit
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lewdness.
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10 In thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in
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thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
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11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's
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wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and
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another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
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12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken
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usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy
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neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord
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G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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13 Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest
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gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in
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the midst of thee.
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14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the
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days that I shall deal with thee? I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have spoken <I>it,</I>
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and will do <I>it.</I>
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15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee
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in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
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16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the
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sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses the prophet by a commission from Heaven sits as a judge
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upon the bench, and Jerusalem is made to hold up her hand as a prisoner
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at the bar; and, if prophets were set over other nations, much more
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over God's nation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:10">Jer. i. 10</A>.
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This prophet is authorized to <I>judge the bloody city,</I> the <I>city
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of bloods.</I> Jerusalem is so called, not only because she had been
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guilty of the particular sin of blood-shed, but because her crimes in
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general were bloody crimes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:23"><I>ch.</I> vii. 23</A>),
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such as polluted her in her blood, and for which she deserved to have
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blood given her to drink. Now the business of a judge with a malefactor
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is to convict him of his crimes, and then to pass sentence upon him for
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them. These two things Ezekiel is to do here.</P>
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<P>
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I. He is to find Jerusalem guilty of many heinous crimes here
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enumerated in a long bill of indictment, and it is <I>billa vera--a true
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bill;</I> so he writes upon it whose judgment we are sure is according
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to truth. He must <I>show her all her abominations</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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that God may be justified in all the desolations brought upon her. Let
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us take a view of all the particular sins which Jerusalem here stands
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charged with; and they are all exceedingly sinful.</P>
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<P>
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1. Murder: <I>The city sheds blood,</I> not only in the suburbs, where
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the strangers dwell, but <I>in the midst of it,</I> where, one would
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think, the magistrates would, if any where, be vigilant. Even there
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people were murdered either in duels or by secret assassinations and
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poisonings, or in the courts of justice under colour of law, and there
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was no care taken to discover and punish the murderers according to the
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law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:6">Gen. ix. 6</A>),
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no, nor so much as the ceremony used to expiate an uncertain murder
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+21:1">Deut. xxi. 1</A>),
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and so the guilt and pollution remains upon the city. Thus <I>thou hast
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become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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This crime is insisted most upon, for it was Jerusalem's
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measure-filling sin more than any; it is said to be that <I>which the
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Lord would not pardon,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+24:4">2 Kings xxiv. 4</A>.
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(1.) The <I>princes of Israel,</I> who should have been the protectors
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of injured innocence, <I>every one were to their power to shed
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blood,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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They thirsted for it, and delighted in it, and whoever came within
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their power were sure to feel it; whoever lay at their mercy were sure
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to find none.
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(2.) There were those who <I>carried tales to shed blood,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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They told lies of men to the princes, to whom they knew it would be
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pleasing, to incense them against them; or they betrayed what passed in
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private conversation, to make mischief among neighbours, and set them
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together by the ears, to bite, and devour, and worry one another, even
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to death. Note, Those who, by giving invidious characters and telling
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ill-natured stories of their neighbours, sow discord among brethren,
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will be accountable for all the mischief that follows upon it; as he
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that kindles a fire will be accountable for all the hurt it does.
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(3.) There were those who <I>took gifts to shed blood</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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who would be hired with money to swear a man out of his life, or, if
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they were upon a jury, would be bribed to find an innocent man guilty.
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When so much barbarous bloody work of this kind was done in Jerusalem
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we may well conclude,
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[1.] That men's consciences had become wretchedly profligate and seared
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and their hearts hardened; for those would stick at no wickedness who
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would not stick at this.
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[2.] That abundance of quiet, harmless, good people were made away
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with, whereby, as the guilt of the city was increased, so the number of
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those that should have stood in the gap to turn away the wrath of God
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was diminished.</P>
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<P>
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2. Idolatry: <I>She makes idols against herself to destroy herself,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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And again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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<I>Thou hast defiled thyself in thy idols which thou hast made.</I>
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Note, Those who make idols for themselves will be found to have made
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them against themselves, for idolaters put a cheat upon themselves and
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prepare destruction for themselves; besides that thereby they pollute
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themselves, they render themselves odious in the eyes of the just and
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jealous God, and even <I>their mind and conscience are defiled,</I> so
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that to them <I>nothing is pure.</I> Those who did not make idols
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themselves were yet found guilty of <I>eating upon the mountains,</I>
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or high places
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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in honour of the idols and in communion with idolaters.</P>
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<P>
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3. Disobedience to parents
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>In thee have</I> the children <I>set light by their father and
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mother,</I> mocked them, cursed them, and despised to obey them, which
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was a sign of a more than ordinary corruption of nature as well as
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manners, and a disposition to all manner of disorder,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:5">Isa. iii. 5</A>.
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Those that set light by their parents are in the highway to all
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wickedness. God had made many wholesome laws for the support of the
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paternal authority, but no care was taken to put them in execution;
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nay, the Pharisees in their day taught children, under pretence of
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respect to the Corban, to set light by their parents and refuse to
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maintain them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:5">Matt. xv. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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4. Oppression and extortion. To enrich themselves they wronged the poor
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>They dealt by oppression</I> and <I>deceit with the stranger,</I>
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taking advantage of his necessities, and his ignorance of the laws and
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customs of the country. In Jerusalem, that should have been a sanctuary
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to the oppressed, <I>they vexed the fatherless and widows</I> by
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unreasonable demands and inquisitions, or troublesome law-suits, in
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which might prevails against right. "<I>Thou hast taken usury and
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increase</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
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not only there are those in thee that do it, but thou hast done it." It
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was an act of the city or community; the public money, which should
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have been employed in public charity, was put out to usury, with
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extortion. <I>Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours</I> by
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<I>violence</I> and <I>wrong.</I> For neighbours to gain by one another
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in a way of fair trading is well, but those who are <I>greedy of
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gain</I> will not be held within the rules of equity.</P>
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<P>
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5. Profanation of the sabbath and other holy things. This commonly goes
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along with the other sins for which they here stand indicted
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Thou hast despised my holy things,</I> holy oracles, holy
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ordinances. The rites which God appointed were thought too plain, too
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ordinary; they despised them, and therefore were fond of the customs of
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the heathen. Note, Immorality and dishonesty are commonly attended with
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a contempt of religion and the worship of God. <I>Thou hast profaned my
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sabbaths.</I> There was not in Jerusalem that face of
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sabbath-sanctification that one would have expected in the <I>holy
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city.</I> Sabbath-breaking is an iniquity that is an inlet to all
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iniquity. Many have owned it to contribute as much to their ruin as any
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thing.</P>
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<P>
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6. Uncleanness and all manner of seventh-commandment sins, fruits of
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those vile affections to which God in a way of righteous judgment gives
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men up, to punish them for their idolatry and profanation of holy
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things. Jerusalem had been famous for its purity, but now <I>in the
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midst of thee they commit lewdness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
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lewdness goes bare-faced, though in the most scandalous instances, as
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that of a man's having his father's wife, which is the <I>discovery of
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the father's nakedness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
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and is a sin not <I>to be named among Christians</I> without the utmost
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detestation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:1">1 Cor. v. 1</A>),
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and was made a capital crime by the law of Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:11">Lev. xx. 11</A>.
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The time <I>to refrain from embracing</I> has not been observed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:6">Eccles. iii. 6</A>),
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for <I>they have humbled her that was set apart for her pollution.</I>
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They made nothing of committing lewdness with a <I>neighbour's
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wife,</I> with a <I>daughter-in-law,</I> or a sister,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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And <I>shall not God visit for these things?</I></P>
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<P>
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7. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom of all this wickedness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
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"<I>Thou hast forgotten me,</I> else thou wouldst not have done thus."
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Note, Sinners do that which provokes God because they forget him; they
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forget their descent from him, dependence on him, and obligations to
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him; they forget how valuable his favour is, which they make themselves
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unfit for, and how formidable his wrath, which they make themselves
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obnoxious to. Those that <I>pervert their ways forget the Lord their
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God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:21">Jer. iii. 21</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He is to pass sentence upon Jerusalem for these crimes.</P>
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<P>
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1. Let her know that she has filled up the measure of her iniquity, and
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that her sins are such as forbid delays and call for speedy vengeance.
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She has made <I>her time to come</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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<I>her days to draw near;</I> and she <I>has come to her years</I> of
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maturity for punishment
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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as an heir that has <I>come to age</I> and is ready for his
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inheritance. God would have borne longer with them, but they had
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arrived at such a pitch of impudence in sin that God could not in
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honour give them a further day. Note, Abused patience will at last be
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weary of forbearing. And, when sinners (as Solomon speaks) grow
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<I>overmuch wicked,</I> they <I>die before their time</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:17">Eccl. vii. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
and shorten their reprieves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Let her know that she has exposed herself, and therefore God has
|
|
justly exposed her, to the contempt and scorn of all her neighbours
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I have made thee a reproach to the heathen,</I> both <I>those who
|
|
are near,</I> who are eye-witnesses of Jerusalem's apostasy and
|
|
degeneracy, and <I>those afar off,</I> who, though at a distance, will
|
|
think it worth taking notice of
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
they shall all <I>mock thee.</I> While they were reproached by their
|
|
neighbours for their adherence to God it was their honour, and they
|
|
might be sure that God would roll away their reproach. But, now that
|
|
they are laughed at for their revolt from God, they must lie down in
|
|
their shame, and must say, <I>The Lord is righteous.</I> They make a
|
|
mock at Jerusalem, both because her sins had been very
|
|
<I>scandalous</I> (she is <I>infamous, polluted in name,</I> and has
|
|
quite lost her credit), and because her punishment is very
|
|
<I>grievous</I>--she is <I>much vexed</I> and frets without measure at
|
|
her troubles. Note, Those who fret most at their troubles have commonly
|
|
those about them who will be so much the more apt to make a jest of
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Let her know that God is displeased, highly displeased, at her
|
|
wickedness, and does and will witness against it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain.</I> God, both by his
|
|
prophets and by his providence, revealed his wrath from heaven against
|
|
their <I>ungodliness</I> and <I>unrighteousness,</I> the oppressions
|
|
they were guilty of, though they got by them, and <I>their murders</I>
|
|
(the <I>blood which has been in the midst of thee</I>), and all their
|
|
other sins. Note, God has sufficiently discovered how angry he is at
|
|
the wicked courses of his people; and, that they may not say that they
|
|
have not had fair warning, he <I>smites his hand</I> against the sin
|
|
before he <I>lays his hand</I> upon the sinner. And this is a good
|
|
reason why we should despise dishonest gain, even the <I>gain of
|
|
oppressions,</I> and <I>shake our hands from holding bribes,</I>
|
|
because these are sins against which God <I>shakes his hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Let her know that, proud and secure as she is, she is no match for
|
|
God's judgments,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) She is assured that the destruction she has deserved will come:
|
|
<I>I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.</I> He that is true to
|
|
his promises will be true to his threatenings too, for he is not a man
|
|
that he should repent.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is supposed that she thinks herself able to contend with God,
|
|
and so stand a siege against his judgments. She bade defiance to the
|
|
day of the Lord,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:19">Isa. v. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(3.) She is convinced of her utter inability to make her part good with
|
|
him: "<I>Can thy heart endure, or can thy hand be strong, in the days
|
|
that I shall deal with thee?</I> Thou thinkest thou hast to do only
|
|
with men like thyself, but shalt be made to know that thou fallest into
|
|
the hands of a living God." Observe here,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There is a day coming when God will <I>deal with sinners,</I> a
|
|
day of visitation. He deals with some to bring them to repentance, and
|
|
there is no resisting the force of convictions when he sets them on; he
|
|
deals with others to bring them to ruin. He deals with sinners in this
|
|
life, when he brings upon them his sore judgments; but the days of
|
|
eternity are especially the days in which God will deal with them, when
|
|
the full vials of God's wrath will be poured out without mixture.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The wrath of God against sinners, when he comes to deal with them,
|
|
will be found both intolerable and irresistible. There is no heart
|
|
stout enough to endure it; it is none of the infirmities which <I>the
|
|
spirit of a man will sustain.</I> Damned sinners can neither forget nor
|
|
despise their torments, nor have they any thing wherewith to support
|
|
themselves under their torments. There are no hands strong enough
|
|
either to ward off the strokes of God's wrath or to break the chains
|
|
with which sinners are bound over to the day of wrath. <I>Who knows the
|
|
power of God's anger?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Let her know that, since she has walked in the way of the heathen,
|
|
and learned their works, she shall have enough of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will</I> not only send thee <I>among the heathen,</I> out of thy
|
|
own land, but <I>I will scatter thee</I> among them and <I>disperse
|
|
thee in the countries,</I> to be abused and insulted over by
|
|
strangers." And since her <I>filthiness</I> and <I>filthy ones</I>
|
|
continued in her, notwithstanding all the methods God had taken to
|
|
<I>refine</I> her (she <I>would not be made clean,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:27">Jer. xiii. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
he will be his judgments <I>consume her filthiness out of her;</I> he
|
|
will destroy those that are incurably bad and reform those that are
|
|
inclined to be good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. Let her know that God has disowned her and cast her off. He had been
|
|
her heritage and portion; but now
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself,</I> shift for thyself,
|
|
make the best hand thou canst for thyself, for God will no longer
|
|
undertake for thee." Note, Those that give up themselves to be ruled by
|
|
their lusts will justly be given up to be portioned by them. Those that
|
|
resolve to be their own masters, let them expect no other comfort and
|
|
happiness than what their own hands can furnish them with, and a
|
|
miserable portion it will prove. <I>Verily, I say unto you, They have
|
|
their reward. Thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things.</I>
|
|
These are the same with this, "<I>Thou shalt take thy inheritance in
|
|
thyself,</I> and then, when it is too late, shalt own <I>in the sight
|
|
of the heathen that I am the Lord,</I> who alone am a portion
|
|
sufficient for my people." Note, Those that have lost their interest in
|
|
God will know how to value it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Sins of Jerusalem.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 591.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
|
|
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all
|
|
they <I>are</I> brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of
|
|
the furnace; they are <I>even</I> the dross of silver.
|
|
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Because ye are all become
|
|
dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of
|
|
Jerusalem.
|
|
20 <I>As</I> they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and
|
|
tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to
|
|
melt <I>it;</I> so will I gather <I>you</I> in mine anger and in my fury,
|
|
and I will leave <I>you there,</I> and melt you.
|
|
21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my
|
|
wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
|
|
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye
|
|
be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
have poured out my fury upon you.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The same melancholy string is still harped upon, and various turns are
|
|
given it, to make it affecting, that it may be influencing. The prophet
|
|
must here show, or at least it is here shown him, that the whole house
|
|
of Israel has become as dross and that as dross they shall be consumed.
|
|
What David has said concerning the wicked ones of the world is here
|
|
said concerning the wicked ones of the church, now that it is corrupt
|
|
and degenerate
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:119">Ps. cxix. 119</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. See here how the wretched degeneracy of the house of Israel is
|
|
described. That state, in David's and Solomon's time, had been <I>a
|
|
head of gold;</I> when the kingdoms were divided it was as the <I>arms
|
|
of silver.</I> But now,
|
|
|
|
1. It has degenerated into baser metal, of no value in comparison with
|
|
what it formerly was: <I>They are all brass, and tin, and iron, and
|
|
lead,</I> which some make to signify divers sorts of sinners among
|
|
them. Their being brass denotes the impudence of some in their
|
|
wickedness; they are <I>brazen-faced,</I> and cannot blush; their
|
|
<I>shoes</I> had been <I>iron and brass</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:25">Deut. xxxiii. 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
but now their brow is so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+48:4">Isa. xlviii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their being tin denotes the hypocritical profession of piety with which
|
|
many of them cover their iniquity; they have a specious show, but no
|
|
intrinsic worth. Their being iron denotes the cruel disposition of
|
|
some, and their delight in war, according to the character of the
|
|
<I>iron age.</I> Their being lead denotes their dulness, sottishness,
|
|
and stupidity: though soft and pliable to evil, yet heavy and not
|
|
movable to good. <I>How has the gold become dross! How has the most
|
|
fine gold changed!</I> So is Jerusalem's degeneracy bewailed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:1">Lam. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet this is not the worst; these metals, though of less value, are yet
|
|
of good use. But,
|
|
|
|
2. The <I>house of Israel has become dross to me.</I> So she is in
|
|
God's account, whatever she is in her own and her neighbours' account.
|
|
They were silver, but now they are <I>even the dross of silver;</I> the
|
|
word signifies all the dirt, and rubbish, and worthless stuff, that are
|
|
separated from the silver in the washing, melting, and refining of it.
|
|
Note, Sinners, and especially degenerate professors, are in God's
|
|
account as dross, vile, and contemptible, and of no account, as the
|
|
<I>evil figs</I> which <I>could not be eaten, they were so evil.</I>
|
|
They are useless and fit for nothing; of no consistency with themselves
|
|
and no service to man.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How the woeful destruction of this degenerate house of Israel is
|
|
foretold. They are all gathered together in Jerusalem; thither people
|
|
fled from all parts of the country as to a city of refuge, not only
|
|
because it was a strong city, but because it was the holy city. Now God
|
|
tells them that their flocking into Jerusalem, which they intended for
|
|
their security, should be as the gathering of various sorts of metal
|
|
into the furnace or crucible, to be melted down, and to have the dross
|
|
separated from them. They are <I>in the midst of Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
surrounded by the forces of the enemy; and, being thus enclosed,
|
|
|
|
1. The <I>fire of God's wrath</I> shall be kindled upon this furnace,
|
|
and it shall be <I>blown,</I> to make it burn fiercely and strongly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
God will <I>gather them in his anger and fury.</I> The blowing of the
|
|
fire makes a great noise, so will the judgments of God upon Jerusalem.
|
|
When God stirs up himself to execute judgments upon a provoking people,
|
|
from the consideration of his own glory and the necessity of making
|
|
some examples, then he may be said to <I>blow the fire of his wrath</I>
|
|
against sin and sinners, to <I>heat the furnace seven times hotter.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. The several sorts of metal gathered in it shall be melted; by a
|
|
complication of judgments, as by a raging fire, their constitution
|
|
shall be dissolved, they shall lose all their former shape and
|
|
strength, and shall be utterly unable to stand before the wrath of God.
|
|
The various sorts of sinners shall be melted down together, and united
|
|
in a common overthrow, as <I>brass</I> and <I>lead</I> in the same
|
|
furnace, as trees are <I>bound in bundles for the fire.</I> They came
|
|
together into Jerusalem as a place of defence, but God brought them
|
|
together there as unto a place of execution.
|
|
|
|
3. God will leave them in the furnace
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
I will <I>gather you into the furnace</I> and will <I>leave you
|
|
there.</I> When God brings his own people into the furnace he sits by
|
|
them, as the refiner by his gold, to see that they be not continued
|
|
there any longer than is fitting and needful; but he will bring these
|
|
people into the furnace, as men throw dross into it, which they design
|
|
shall be consumed, and therefore are in no care about it, but <I>leave
|
|
it there.</I> Compare with this
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:14">Hos. v. 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I will tear and go away.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. Hereby the dross shall be wholly separated and the good metal
|
|
purified, the impenitent shall be destroyed and the penitent reformed
|
|
and fitted for deliverance. <I>Take away the dross from the silver, and
|
|
there shall come forth a vessel for the finer,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:4">Prov. xxv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
This judgment shall do that in the house of Israel for the doing of
|
|
which other methods had been tried in vain, and <I>reprobate silver
|
|
shall they no more be called,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:30">Jer. vi. 30</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze22_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Charge against Prophets and Priests.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 591.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
|
|
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou <I>art</I> the land that is not
|
|
cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
|
|
25 <I>There is</I> a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst
|
|
thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have
|
|
devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things;
|
|
they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
|
|
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine
|
|
holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and
|
|
profane, neither have they shewed <I>difference</I> between the
|
|
unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths,
|
|
and I am profaned among them.
|
|
27 Her princes in the midst thereof <I>are</I> like wolves ravening
|
|
the prey, to shed blood, <I>and</I> to destroy souls, to get dishonest
|
|
gain.
|
|
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered <I>mortar,</I>
|
|
seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith
|
|
the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath not spoken.
|
|
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised
|
|
robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have
|
|
oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
|
|
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the
|
|
hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should
|
|
not destroy it: but I found none.
|
|
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I
|
|
have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have
|
|
I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. A general idea given of the land of Israel, how well it deserved the
|
|
judgments coming to destroy it and how much it needed these judgments
|
|
to refine it. Let the prophet tell her plainly, "<I>Thou art the land
|
|
that is not cleansed,</I> not refined as metal is, and therefore
|
|
needest to be again put into the furnace. Means and methods of
|
|
reformation have been ineffectual; thou art <I>not rained upon in the
|
|
day of indignation.</I>" This was one of the judgments which God
|
|
brought upon them in the day of his wrath, he <I>withheld the rain</I>
|
|
from them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:4">Jer. xiv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or, "When thou art under the tokens of God's displeasure, even in the
|
|
day of indignation thou art <I>not rained upon;</I> thou hast not
|
|
received instruction by the prophets, whose doctrine is said to
|
|
<I>descend as the rain.</I>" Or, "When thou art corrected thou art not
|
|
cleansed; thy filth is not carried away as that in the streets is by a
|
|
sweeping rain. Nay, though it be a <I>day of indignation</I> with thee,
|
|
yet thy filthiness, which should be done away, has become more
|
|
<I>offensive,</I> as that of a city is in dry weather, when it is not
|
|
rained upon." Or, "Thou hast nothing to refresh and comfort thyself
|
|
with <I>in the day of indignation;</I> thou art not rained upon by
|
|
divine consolations." So the rich man in torment had not a <I>drop of
|
|
water,</I> or rain, <I>to cool his tongue.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A particular charge drawn up against the several orders and degrees
|
|
of men among them, which shows that they had all helped to fill the
|
|
measure of the nation's guilt, but none had done any thing towards the
|
|
emptying of it; they are therefore all alike.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They have every one <I>corrupted his way,</I> and those who should
|
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have been the brightest examples of virtue were ringleaders in iniquity
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and patterns of vice.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The <I>prophets,</I> who pretended to make known the mind of God
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to them, were not only <I>deceivers,</I> but <I>devourers</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
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and hardened them in their wickedness both by their preaching, wherein
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|
they promised them impunity and prosperity, and by their conversation,
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|
in which they were as profligate as any. <I>There is a conspiracy of
|
|
her prophets</I> against God and religion, against the true prophets
|
|
and all good men; they conspired together to be all in one song, as
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|
Ahab's prophets were, to assure them of peace in their sinful ways.
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|
Note, The unity which is found among pretenders to infallibility, and
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|
which they so much boast of, is only the result of a secret
|
|
<I>conspiracy</I> against the truth. Satan is not <I>divided against
|
|
himself.</I> The prophets are <I>in conspiracy</I> with the murderers
|
|
and oppressors, to patronise and protect them in their wickedness, and
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|
justify what they did with their false prophecies, provided they may
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|
come in sharers with them in the profits of it. They are like <I>a
|
|
roaring lion ravening the prey;</I> they thunder out threats against
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|
those whose ruin is aimed at, terrify them, or make them odious to the
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|
people, and so make themselves masters,
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|
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[1.] Of their lives: They <I>have devoured souls,</I> have been
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|
accessory to the shedding of the blood of many an innocent person, and
|
|
so have made many to become sorrowful widows who were comfortable
|
|
wives. They have persecuted those to death who witnessed against their
|
|
pretensions to prophecy and would not be imposed upon by their
|
|
counterfeit commission. Or, They devoured souls by flattering sinners
|
|
into a false peace and a vain hope, and seducing them into the paths of
|
|
sin, which would be their eternal ruin. Note, Those who draw men to
|
|
wickedness, and encourage them in it, are the devourers and murderers
|
|
of their souls.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Of their estates. When Naboth is slain they take possession of his
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|
vineyard; <I>They have seized the treasure and precious things,</I> as
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|
forfeited; some way or other they had of <I>devouring the widows'
|
|
houses,</I> as the Pharisees,
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:14">Matt. xxiii. 14</A>.
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Or, They got this <I>treasure,</I> and all these <I>precious
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|
things,</I> as fees for false and flattering prophecies; for <I>he that
|
|
puts not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+3:5">Mic. iii. 5</A>.
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It was said with Jerusalem when such men as these passed for
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|
prophets.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
(2.) The priests, who were teachers by office, and had the custody of
|
|
the sacred things, and should have called the false prophets to
|
|
account, were as bad as they,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
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|
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|
[1.] They violated the law of God, which they should have observed and
|
|
taught others to observe. They made no conscience of the law of the
|
|
priesthood, but openly broke it, and with contempt, as Hophni and
|
|
Phinehas. They did what they had a mind, with an express <I>non
|
|
obstante--notwithstanding</I> to the word of God. And how should those
|
|
teach the people their duty who lived in contradiction to their own?
|
|
|
|
[2.] They <I>profaned God's holy things,</I> about which they were to
|
|
minister, and which they ought to have restrained others from the
|
|
profanation of. They suffered those to eat of the holy things who were
|
|
unqualified by the law. The table of the Lord was contemptible with
|
|
them. By dealing in holy things with such unhallowed hands they did
|
|
themselves profane them.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They did not themselves put a difference, nor did they show the
|
|
people how to <I>put a difference, between the holy and profane, the
|
|
clean and the unclean,</I> according to the directions and distinctions
|
|
of the law. They did not exclude those from God's courts who were
|
|
excluded by the law, nor teach the people to observe the difference the
|
|
law had made between food clean and unclean, between times and places
|
|
holy and common; but they lived at large themselves and encouraged the
|
|
people to do so too.
|
|
|
|
[4.] They <I>hid their eyes from God's sabbaths;</I> they took no care
|
|
about them; it was all one to them whether God's sabbaths were kept
|
|
holy or no; they neither gave countenance to those who observed them
|
|
nor check to those who profaned them, nor did they themselves show any
|
|
regard to them or veneration for them. They winked at those who did
|
|
servile works on that day, and looked another way when they should have
|
|
inspected the behaviour of the people on sabbath days. God's sabbaths
|
|
have such a beauty and glory put upon them by the divine institution as
|
|
may command respect; but they <I>hid their eyes</I> from them and would
|
|
not see that excellency in them.
|
|
|
|
[5.] By all this God himself was <I>profaned among them;</I> his
|
|
authority was slighted, his goodness made light of, and the highest
|
|
affront and contempt imaginable were put upon his holiness. Note, The
|
|
profanation of the honour of the scriptures, of sabbaths and sacred
|
|
things, is a profanation of the honour of God himself, who is
|
|
interested in them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The princes, who should have interposed with their authority to
|
|
redress these grievances, were as daring transgressors of the law as
|
|
any
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They are like wolves ravening the prey;</I> for such is power
|
|
without justice and goodness to direct it. All their business was to
|
|
gratify,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Their own pride and ambition, by making themselves arbitrary and
|
|
formidable.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Their own malice and revenge, by <I>shedding blood</I> and
|
|
<I>destroying souls,</I> sacrificing to their cruelty all those that
|
|
stood in their way or had in any thing disobliged them.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Their own avarice; all they aim at is to <I>get dishonest
|
|
gain,</I> by crushing and oppressing their subject. <I>Lucri bonus est
|
|
odor ex re qualibet. Rem, rem, quocunque modo rem--Sweet is the odour
|
|
of gain, from whatever substance it ascends. Money, money, by fairness
|
|
or by fraud, get money.</I> But, though they had power sufficient to
|
|
carry them on in their oppressive courses, yet how could they answer it
|
|
both to their credit and to their consciences? We are told how
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
The prophets <I>daubed them with untempered mortar,</I> told them in
|
|
God's name (horrid wickedness!) that there was no harm in what they
|
|
did, that they might dispose of the lives and estates of their subjects
|
|
as they pleased, and could do no wrong, nay, that in prosecuting such
|
|
and such whom they had marked out they did God service; and thus they
|
|
stopped the mouth of their consciences. They also justified what they
|
|
did, to the people, nay, and <I>magnified</I> it as if it were all for
|
|
the public good, and so saved their reputation, and kept their
|
|
oppressed subjects from murmuring. Note, Daubing prophets are the great
|
|
supporters of ravening princes, but will prove at last their great
|
|
deceivers, for they daub with untempered mortar which will not hold,
|
|
nor will the wall stand long that is built up with it. They pretend to
|
|
be seers, but they <I>see vanity;</I> they pretend to be diviners, but
|
|
they <I>divine lies;</I> they pretend a warrant from Heaven for what
|
|
they say, and that it is all as true as gospel; they say, <I>Thus saith
|
|
the Lord God,</I> but it is all a sham, for <I>the Lord has not spoken
|
|
any such thing.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) The people that had any power in their hands learned of their
|
|
princes to abuse it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that should have complained of the oppression of the subject, and
|
|
have put in a <I>claim of rights</I> on behalf of the injured, that
|
|
should have stood up for liberty and property, were themselves invaders
|
|
of them: <I>The people of the land have used oppression and exercised
|
|
robbery.</I> The rich oppress the poor, masters their servants,
|
|
landlords their tenants, and even parents their own children; nay, the
|
|
buyers and sellers will find some way to oppress one another. This is
|
|
such a sin as, when it is national, is indeed a national judgment, and
|
|
is threatened as such.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:5">Isa. iii. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>The people shall be oppressed every one by his neighbour.</I> It is
|
|
an aggravation of the sin that they have <I>vexed the poor and
|
|
needy,</I> whom they should have relieved, and have <I>oppressed the
|
|
stranger</I> and deprived him of <I>his right,</I> to whom they ought
|
|
to have been not only just, but kind. Thus was the apostasy universal
|
|
and the disease epidemical.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. There is none that appears as an intercessor for them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I sought for a man among them that should stand in the gap, but I
|
|
found none.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Sin makes a gap in the hedge of protection that is about a people
|
|
at which good things run out from them and evil things pour in upon
|
|
them, a gap by which God enters to destroy them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) There is a way of standing in the gap, and making up the breach
|
|
against the judgments of God, by repentance, and prayer, and
|
|
reformation. Moses stood in the gap when he made intercession for
|
|
Israel to <I>turn away the wrath of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:23">Ps. cvi. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) When God is coming forth against a sinful people to destroy them
|
|
he expects some to intercede for them, and enquires if there be but one
|
|
that does; so much is it his desire and delight to show mercy. If there
|
|
be but a man that stands in the gap, as Abraham for Sodom, he will
|
|
discover him and be well pleased with him.
|
|
|
|
(4.) It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them,
|
|
and the spirit of prayer is restrained, so that <I>not one is found</I>
|
|
that will either give them a good word or speak a good word for them.
|
|
|
|
(5.) When it is so, what can be expected but utter ruin? <I>Therefore
|
|
have I poured out my indignation upon them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+22:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
have given it full scope, that it may come upon them in a full stream;
|
|
yet, whatever God's wrath inflicts upon a people, it is <I>their own
|
|
way</I> that is therein <I>recompensed upon their heads,</I> and God
|
|
deals with them no worse, but even much better, than their iniquity
|
|
deserves.</P>
|
|
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