mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 23.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxiv" n="xxiv" next="Ez.xxv" prev="Ez.xxiii" progress="58.93%" title="Chapter XXIII">
<h2 id="Ez.xxiv-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxiv-p1" shownumber="no">This long chapter (as before <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.1-Ezek.16.62 Bible:Ezek.20.1-Ezek.20.44" parsed="|Ezek|16|1|16|62;|Ezek|20|1|20|44" passage="Eze 16:1-62,20:1-44"><i>ch.</i> xvi. and xx.</scripRef>) is a
history of the apostasies of God's people from him and the
aggravations of those apostasies under the similitude of corporal
whoredom and adultery. Here the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the
ten tribes and the two, with their capital cities, Samaria and
Jerusalem, are considered distinctly. Here is, I. The apostasy of
Israel and Samaria from God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.1-Ezek.23.8" parsed="|Ezek|23|1|23|8" passage="Eze 23:1-8">ver.
1-8</scripRef>) and their ruin for it, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.9-Ezek.23.10" parsed="|Ezek|23|9|23|10" passage="Eze 23:9,10">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>. II. The apostasy of Judah and
Jerusalem from God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.11-Ezek.23.21" parsed="|Ezek|23|11|23|21" passage="Eze 23:11-21">ver.
11-21</scripRef>) and sentence passed upon them, that they shall in
like manner be destroyed for it, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.22-Ezek.23.35" parsed="|Ezek|23|22|23|35" passage="Eze 23:22-35">ver. 22-35</scripRef>. III. The joint wickedness of
them both together (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.36-Ezek.23.44" parsed="|Ezek|23|36|23|44" passage="Eze 23:36-44">ver.
36-44</scripRef>) and the joint ruin of them both, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.45-Ezek.23.49" parsed="|Ezek|23|45|23|49" passage="Eze 23:45-49">ver. 45-49</scripRef>. And all that is
written for warning against the sins of idolatry, and confidence in
an arm of flesh, and sinful leagues and confederacies with wicked
people (which are the sins here meant by committing whoredom), is
that others may hear and fear, and not sin after the similitude of
the transgressions of Israel and Judah.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23" parsed="|Ezek|23|0|0|0" passage="Eze 23" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.1-Ezek.23.10" parsed="|Ezek|23|1|23|10" passage="Eze 23:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiv-p1.10">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiv-p1.11">The Sins of Samaria and
Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p1.12">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p2.1">Lord</span> came again unto me, saying,   2 Son of
man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:   3
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in
their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they
bruised the teats of their virginity.   4 And the names of
them <i>were</i> Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and
they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus <i>were</i>
their names; Samaria <i>is</i> Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
  5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she
doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians <i>her</i> neighbours,  
6 <i>Which were</i> clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of
them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.   7
Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them <i>that
were</i> the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted:
with all their idols she defiled herself.   8 Neither left she
her whoredoms <i>brought</i> from Egypt: for in her youth they lay
with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured
their whoredom upon her.   9 Wherefore I have delivered her
into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon
whom she doted.   10 These discovered her nakedness: they took
her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she
became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon
her.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p3" shownumber="no">God had often spoken to Ezekiel, and by him
to the people, to this effect, but now his word <i>comes again;</i>
for <i>God speaks</i> the same thing <i>once, yea, twice,</i> yea,
many a time, and all little enough, and too little, for <i>man
perceives it not.</i> Note, To convince sinners of the evil of sin,
and of their misery and danger by reason of it, there is need of
<i>line upon line,</i> so loth we are to know the worst of
ourselves. The sinners that are here to be exposed are <i>two
women,</i> two kingdoms, sister-kingdoms, Israel and Judah,
<i>daughters of one mother,</i> having been for a long time but
<i>one people.</i> Solomon's kingdom was so large, so populous,
that immediately after his death it divided into two. Observe, 1.
Their character when they were one (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.3" parsed="|Ezek|23|3|0|0" passage="Eze 23:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>They committed whoredoms in
Egypt,</i> for there they were guilty of idolatry, as we read
before, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.8" parsed="|Ezek|20|8|0|0" passage="Eze 20:8"><i>ch.</i> xx. 8</scripRef>.
The representing of those sins which are most provoking to God and
most ruining to a people by the sin of whoredom plainly intimates
what an exceedingly sinful sin uncleanness is, how offensive, how
destructive. Doubtless it is itself one of the worst of sins, for
the worst of other sins are compared to it here and often
elsewhere, which should increase our detestation and dread of all
manner of <i>fleshly lusts,</i> all appearances of them and
approaches to them, as <i>warring against the soul,</i> infatuating
sinners, bewitching them, alienating their minds from God and all
that is good, debauching conscience, rendering them odious in the
eyes of the pure and holy God, and drowning them at last in
destruction and perdition. 2. Their names when they became two,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.4" parsed="|Ezek|23|4|0|0" passage="Eze 23:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. The kingdom of
Israel is called the <i>elder sister,</i> because that first made
the breach, and separated from the family both of kings and priests
that God had appointed—the <i>greater sister</i> (so the word is),
for ten tribes belonged to that kingdom and only two to the other.
God says of them both, <i>They were mine,</i> for they were the
seed of Abraham <i>his friend</i> and of Jacob <i>his chosen;</i>
they were in covenant with God, and carried about with them the
sign of <i>their circumcision,</i> the seal of the covenant.
<i>They were mine;</i> and therefore their apostasy was the highest
injustice. It was alienating God's property, it was the basest
ingratitude to the best of benefactors, and a perfidious
treacherous violation of the most sacred engagements. Note, Those
who have been in profession the people of God, but have revolted
from him, have a great deal to answer for more than those who never
made any such profession. "<i>They were mine;</i> they were
espoused to me, and to me <i>they bore sons and daughters;</i>"
there were many among them that were devoted to God's honour, and
employed in his service, and were the strength and beauty of these
kingdoms, as children are of the families they are born in. In this
parable Samaria and the kingdom of Israel shall bear the name of
<i>Aholah—her own tabernacle,</i> because the places of worship
which that kingdom had were of their own devising, their own
choosing, and the worship itself was their own invention; God never
owned it. <i>Her tabernacle to herself</i> (so some render it);
"let her take it to herself, and make her best of it." Jerusalem
and the kingdom of Judah bear the name of <i>Aholibah—my
tabernacle is in her,</i> because <i>their</i> temple was the place
which God himself had <i>chosen</i> to <i>put his name there.</i>
He acknowledged it to be his, and honoured them with the tokens of
his presence in it. Note, Of those that stand in relation to God,
and make profession of his name, some have greater privileges and
advantages than others; and, as those who have greater are thereby
rendered the more inexcusable if they revolt from God, so those who
have less will not thereby be rendered inexcusable. 3. The
treacherous departure of the kingdom of Israel from God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.5" parsed="|Ezek|23|5|0|0" passage="Eze 23:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>Aholah played the
harlot when she was mine.</i> Though the ten tribes had deserted
the house of David, yet God owned them for <i>his</i> still; though
Jeroboam, in setting up the golden calves, <i>sinned, and made
Israel to sin,</i> yet, as long as they worshipped the God of
Israel only, though by images, he did not quite cast them off. But
the way of sin is down-hill. Aholah played the harlot, brought in
the worship of Baal (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.31" parsed="|1Kgs|16|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:31">1 Kings xvi.
31</scripRef>), set up that other god, that dunghill-god, in
competition with Jehovah (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.21" parsed="|1Kgs|18|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:21">1 Kings
xviii. 21</scripRef>), as a vile adulteress <i>dotes on her
lovers,</i> because they are well dressed and make a figure,
because they are young and handsome (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.6" parsed="|Ezek|23|6|0|0" passage="Eze 23:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), <i>clothed with blue, captains
and rulers, desirable young</i> men, genteel, and that pass for men
of honour, so she doted upon her neighbours, particularly the
Assyrians, who had extended their conquests near them; she admired
their idols and worshipped them, admired the pomp of their courts
and their military strength and courted alliances with them upon
any terms, as if her own God were not sufficient to be depended
upon. We find one of the kings of Israel giving a <i>thousand
talents</i> to the <i>king of Assyria,</i> to engage him in his
interests, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.19" parsed="|2Kgs|15|19|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:19">2 Kings xv. 19</scripRef>.
She doted on the <i>chosen men of Assyria,</i> as worthy to be
trusted and employed in the service of the state (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.7" parsed="|Ezek|23|7|0|0" passage="Eze 23:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), and <i>on all their
idols with which she defiled herself.</i> Note, Whatever creature
we dote upon, pay homage to, and put a confidence in, we make an
idol of that creature; and whatever we make an idol of we defile
ourselves with. And now again the conviction looks back as far as
the original of their nation: <i>Neither left she her whoredoms
which she brought from Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.8" parsed="|Ezek|23|8|0|0" passage="Eze 23:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Their being idolaters in Egypt
was a thing never to be forgotten—that they should be in love with
Egypt's idols even when they were continually in fear of Egypt's
tyrants and task-masters! But (as some have observed) therefore, at
that time, when Satan boasted of his having <i>walked through the
earth</i> as all his own, to disprove his pretensions God did not
say, Hast thou considered <i>my people Israel in Egypt?</i> (for
they had become idolaters, and were not to be boasted of), but,
<i>Hast thou considered my servant Job in the land of Uz?</i> And
this corrupt disposition in them, when they were first formed into
a people, is an emblem of that original corruption which is born
with us and is woven into our constitution, a strong bias towards
the world and the flesh, like that in the Israelites towards
idolatry; it was <i>bred in the bone</i> with them, and was charged
upon them long after, that they <i>left not their whoredoms brought
from Egypt.</i> It would never <i>out of the flesh,</i> though
Egypt had been a house of bondage to them. Thus the corrupt
affections and inclinations which we brought into the world with us
we have not lost, nor got clear of, but still retain them, though
the iniquity we were born in was the source of all the calamities
which human life is liable to. 4. The destruction of the kingdom of
Israel for their apostasy from God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.9-Ezek.23.10" parsed="|Ezek|23|9|23|10" passage="Eze 23:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>): <i>I have delivered her
into the hand of her lovers.</i> God first justly gave her up to
her lust (<i>Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone</i>), and
then gave her up <i>to her lovers.</i> The neighbouring nations,
whose idolatries she had conformed to and whose friendship she had
confided in, and in both had affronted God, are now made use of as
the instruments of her destruction. The <i>Assyrians, on whom she
doted,</i> soon spied out the <i>nakedness of the land,</i>
discovered her blind side, on which to attack her, stripped her of
all her ornaments and all her defences, and so <i>uncovered</i>
her, and <i>made her naked and bare,</i> carried her <i>sons and
daughters</i> into captivity, <i>slew her with the sword,</i> and
quite destroyed that kingdom and put an end to it. We have the
story at large <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.17.6" parsed="|2Kgs|17|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 17:6">2 Kings xvii.
6</scripRef>, &amp;c., where the cause of the ruin of that once
flourishing kingdom by the Assyrians is shown to be their forsaking
the God of Israel, <i>fearing other gods,</i> and <i>walking in the
statutes of the heathen;</i> it was for this that God was very
<i>angry with them and removed them out of his sight,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.18" parsed="|Ezek|23|18|0|0" passage="Eze 23:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. And that the
Assyrians, whom they had been so fond of, should be employed in
<i>executing judgments</i> upon them was very remarkable, and shows
how God, in a way of righteous judgment, often makes that a scourge
to sinners which they have inordinately set their hearts upon. The
devil will for ever be a tormentor to those impenitent sinners who
now hearken to him and comply with him as a tempter. Thus Samaria
became <i>famous among women,</i> or <i>infamous</i> rather; she
<i>became a name</i> (so the word is); not only she came to be the
subject of discourse, and much talked of, as the desolations of
cities and kingdoms fill the newspapers, but she was thus ruined
for her idolatries <i>in terrorem—for warning</i> to all people to
take heed of doing likewise; as the public execution of notorious
malefactors makes them such <i>a name,</i> such an ill name, as may
serve to frighten others from those wicked courses which have
brought them to a miserable and shameful end. <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.21" parsed="|Deut|21|21|0|0" passage="De 21:21">Deut. xxi. 21</scripRef>, <i>All Israel shall hear and
fear.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxiv-p3.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.11-Ezek.23.21" parsed="|Ezek|23|11|23|21" passage="Eze 23:11-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiv-p3.16">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiv-p3.17">The Sins of Samaria and
Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p3.18">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiv-p4" shownumber="no">11 And when her sister Aholibah saw <i>this,</i>
she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her
whoredoms more than her sister in <i>her</i> whoredoms.   12
She doted upon the Assyrians <i>her</i> neighbours, captains and
rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of
them desirable young men.   13 Then I saw that she was
defiled, <i>that</i> they <i>took</i> both one way,   14 And
<i>that</i> she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men
portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with
vermilion,   15 Girded with girdles upon their loins,
exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to
look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land
of their nativity:   16 And as soon as she saw them with her
eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into
Chaldea.   17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of
love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was
polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.   18
So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then
my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from
her sister.   19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling
to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the
harlot in the land of Egypt.   20 For she doted upon their
paramours, whose flesh <i>is as</i> the flesh of asses, and whose
issue <i>is like</i> the issue of horses.   21 Thus thou
calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy
teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p5" shownumber="no">The prophet Hosea, in his time, observed
that the two tribes retained their integrity, in a great measure,
when the ten tribes had apostatized (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.12" parsed="|Hos|11|12|0|0" passage="Ho 11:12">Hos. xi. 12</scripRef>, <i>Ephraim indeed compasses me
about with lies, but Judah yet rules with God and is faithful with
the saints;</i> and this was justly expected from them: <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.15" parsed="|Hos|4|15|0|0" passage="Ho 4:15">Hos. iv. 15</scripRef>, <i>Though thou Israel
play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend</i>); but this lasted not
long. By some unhappy matches made between the house of David and
the house of Ahab the worship of Baal had been brought into the
kingdom of Judah, but had been by the reforming kings worked out
again; and at the time of the captivity of the ten tribes, which
was in the reign of Hezekiah, things were in a good posture: but it
lasted not long. In the reign of Manasseh, soon after the kingdom
of Judah had seen the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, they
became more corrupt than Israel had been in their inordinate love
of idols, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.11" parsed="|Ezek|23|11|0|0" passage="Eze 23:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.
Instead of being made better by the warning which that destruction
gave them, they were made worse by it, as if they were
<i>displeased because the Lord had made that breach upon
Israel,</i> and for that reason became disaffected to him and to
his service. Instead of being made to stand in awe of him as a
<i>jealous God,</i> they therefore grew strange to him, and liked
those gods better that would admit of partners with them. Note,
Those may justly expect God's judgments upon themselves who do not
take warning by his judgments upon others, who see in others what
is the end of sin and yet continue to make a light matter of it.
But it is bad indeed with those who are made worse by that which
should make them better, and have their lusts irritated and
exasperated by that which was designed to suppress and subdue them.
Jerusalem grew worse <i>in her whoredoms</i> than her sister
Samaria had been <i>in her whoredoms.</i> This was observed before
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.51" parsed="|Ezek|16|51|0|0" passage="Eze 16:51"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 51</scripRef>),
<i>Neither has Samaria committed half of thy sins.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p6" shownumber="no">I. Jerusalem, that had been a <i>faithful
city, became a harlot,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.21" parsed="|Isa|1|21|0|0" passage="Isa 1:21">Isa. i.
21</scripRef>. She also <i>doted upon the Assyrians</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.12" parsed="|Ezek|23|12|0|0" passage="Eze 23:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), joined in league with
them, joined in worship with them, grew to be in love with their
<i>captains and rulers,</i> and cried them up as finer and more
accomplished gentlemen than any that ever the land of Israel
produced. "See how richly, how neatly, they are dressed, <i>clothed
most gorgeously;</i> how well they sit a horse; they are
<i>horsemen riding on horses;</i> how charmingly they look, <i>all
of them desirable young men.</i>" And thus they grew to affect
every thing that was foreign and to despise their own nation; and
even the religion of it was mean and homely, and not to be compared
with the curiosity and gaiety of the heathen temples. Thus she
<i>increased her whoredoms;</i> she fell in love, fell in league,
with the Chaldeans. Hezekiah himself was faulty this way when he
was proud of the court which the king of Babylon made to him and
complimented his ambassadors with the sight of all his treasures,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.39.2" parsed="|Isa|39|2|0|0" passage="Isa 39:2">Isa. xxxix. 2</scripRef>. And the
humour increased (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.14" parsed="|Ezek|23|14|0|0" passage="Eze 23:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>); she doted upon the pictures of the Babylonian
captains (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.15-Ezek.23.16" parsed="|Ezek|23|15|23|16" passage="Eze 23:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15,
16</scripRef>), joined in alliance with that kingdom, invited them
to come and settle in Jerusalem, that they might refine the genius
of the Jewish nation and make it more polite; nay, they sent for
patterns of their images, altars, and temples, and made use of them
in their worship. Thus was she <i>polluted with her whoredoms</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.17" parsed="|Ezek|23|17|0|0" passage="Eze 23:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), and
thereby she <i>discovered her own whoredom</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.18" parsed="|Ezek|23|18|0|0" passage="Eze 23:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), her own strong inclination to
idolatry. And when she had had enough of the Chaldeans, and grew
tired of them and disposed to break her league with them, as
Jehoiakim and Zedekiah did, <i>her mind being alienated from
them,</i> she courted the <i>Egyptians, doted upon their
paramours</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.20" parsed="|Ezek|23|20|0|0" passage="Eze 23:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), would come into an alliance with them, and, to
strengthen the alliance, would join with them in their idolatries
and then depend upon them to be their protectors from all other
nations; for so wise, so rich, so strong, was the Egyptian nation,
and came to such perfection in idolatry, that there was no nation
now which they could take such satisfaction in as in Egypt. Thus
they <i>called to remembrance the days of their youth</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.19" parsed="|Ezek|23|19|0|0" passage="Eze 23:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), the
<i>lewdness of their youth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.21" parsed="|Ezek|23|21|0|0" passage="Eze 23:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. 1. They pleased themselves
with the remembrance of it. When they began to set their affections
upon Egypt, they encouraged themselves to put a confidence in that
kingdom, because of the old acquaintance they had with it, as if
they still retained the gust and relish of the <i>leeks and
onions</i> they ate there, or rather of the idolatrous worship they
learned there, and brought up with them thence. When they began an
acquaintance with Egypt they remembered how merrily their fathers
worshipped the golden calf, what music and dancing they had at that
sport, which they learned in Egypt; and they hoped they should now
have a fair pretence to come to that again. Thus <i>she multiplied
her whoredoms,</i> repeated her former whoredoms, and encouraged
herself to close with present temptations, by calling <i>to
remembrance the days of her youth.</i> Note, Those who, instead of
reflecting upon their former sins with sorrow and shame, reflect
upon them with pleasure and pride, contract new guilt thereby,
strengthen their own corruptions, and in effect bid defiance to
repentance. This is returning <i>with the dog to his vomit.</i> 2.
They called it <i>God's remembrance,</i> and provoked him to
remember it against them. God had said indeed that he would reckon
with them for <i>the golden calf,</i> that <i>idol of Egypt</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.34" parsed="|Exod|32|34|0|0" passage="Ex 32:34">Exod. xxxii. 34</scripRef>); but such
was his patience that he seemed to have forgotten it till they, by
their league now with the Egyptians against the Chaldeans, did, as
it were, put him in mind of it; and in the day <i>when he visits he
will now,</i> as he has said, <i>visit for that.</i> It is very
observable how this adulteress changes her lovers: she dotes first
on the Assyrians; then she thought the Chaldeans finer and courted
them; after a while her mind was alienated from them, and she
thought the Egyptians more powerful (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.20" parsed="|Ezek|23|20|0|0" passage="Eze 23:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>) and she must contract an
intimacy with them. This shows the folly, (1.) Of fleshly lusts;
when they are indulged they grow humoursome and fickle, are soon
surfeited but never satisfied; they must have variety, and what is
loved one day is loathed the next. <i>Unius adulterium matrimonium
vocant—One adultery is called marriage,</i> as Seneca observes.
(2.) Of idolatry. Those who think one God too little will not think
a hundred sufficient, but will still be for trying more, as finding
all insufficient. (3.) Of seeking to creatures for help; we go from
one to another, but are disappointed in them all, and can never
rest till we have made the God of Israel our help.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p7" shownumber="no">II. The faithful God justly gives a bill of
divorce to this now faithless city, that has <i>become a
harlot.</i> His jealousy soon discovered her lewdness (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.13" parsed="|Ezek|23|13|0|0" passage="Eze 23:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>I saw that she was
defiled,</i> that she was debauched, and saw which way her
inclination was, that the <i>two sisters both took one way,</i> and
that Jerusalem grew worse than Samaria. For, <i>if we stretch out
our hand to a strange god, will not God search this out?</i> No
doubt he will; and when he has found it can he be pleased with it?
No (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.18" parsed="|Ezek|23|18|0|0" passage="Eze 23:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>Then
my mind was alienated from her, as it was from her sister.</i> How
could the pure and holy God any longer take delight in such a lewd
generation? Note, Sin alienates God's mind from the sinner, and
justly, for it is the alienation of the sinner's mind from God; but
woe, and a thousand woes, to those from whom God's mind is
alienated; for whom he turns from he will turn against.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.22-Ezek.23.35" parsed="|Ezek|23|22|23|35" passage="Eze 23:22-35" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiv-p7.4">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiv-p7.5">The Punishment of Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p7.6">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiv-p8" shownumber="no">22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p8.1">God</span>; Behold, I will raise up thy
lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will
bring them against thee on every side;   23 The Babylonians,
and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, <i>and</i> all the
Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and
rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
  24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, waggons,
and wheels, and with an assembly of people, <i>which</i> shall set
against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will
set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to
their judgments.   25 And I will set my jealousy against thee,
and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy
nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they
shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be
devoured by the fire.   26 They shall also strip thee out of
thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.   27 Thus will I
make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom
<i>brought</i> from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift
up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.   28 For
thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p8.2">God</span>; Behold, I
will deliver thee into the hand <i>of them</i> whom thou hatest,
into the hand <i>of them</i> from whom thy mind is alienated:
  29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take
away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the
nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness
and thy whoredoms.   30 I will do these <i>things</i> unto
thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen,
<i>and</i> because thou art polluted with their idols.   31
Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give
her cup into thine hand.   32 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p8.3">God</span>; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep
and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it
containeth much.   33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness
and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the
cup of thy sister Samaria.   34 Thou shalt even drink it and
suck <i>it</i> out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and
pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken <i>it,</i> saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p8.4">God</span>.   35 Therefore thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p8.5">God</span>; Because thou
hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou
also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p9" shownumber="no">Jerusalem stands indicted by the name of
<i>Aholibah,</i> for that she, as a false traitor to her sovereign
Lord the God of heaven, not having his fear before her eyes, but
moved by the instigation of the devil, had revolted from her
allegiance to him, had compassed and imagined to shake off his
government, had kept up a correspondence had joined in confederacy
with his enemies, and the pretenders to a deity, in contempt of his
crown and dignity. To this indictment she has pleaded, Not guilty:
<i>I am not polluted; I have not gone after Baalim.</i> But it is
found against her by the notorious evidence of the fact, and she
stands convicted of it, nor has any thing material to offer why
judgment should not be given and execution awarded according to
law. In these verses, therefore, we have the sentence.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p10" shownumber="no">I. Her old confederates must be her
executioners; and those whom she had courted to be her leaders in
sin are now to be employed as instruments of her punishment
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.22" parsed="|Ezek|23|22|0|0" passage="Eze 23:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): "<i>I will
raise up thy lovers against thee,</i> the Chaldeans, whom formerly
thou didst so much admire and covet an acquaintance with, but from
whom thy mind is since alienated and with whom thou hast
perfidiously broken covenant." They are called <i>thy lovers</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.22" parsed="|Ezek|23|22|0|0" passage="Eze 23:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>) and yet
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.28" parsed="|Ezek|23|28|0|0" passage="Eze 23:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>) <i>those
whom thou hatest.</i> Note, It is common for sinful love soon to
turn into hatred; as Amnon's to Tamar. Those of headstrong and
unreasonable passions are often very hot against those persons and
things that a little before they were as hot for. Fools run into
extremes; nay, and wise men may see cause to change their
sentiments. And therefore, as we should rejoice and weep as if we
rejoiced not and wept not, so we should love and hate as if we
loved not and hated not. <i>Ita ama tanquam osurus—Love as one who
may have cause to feel aversion.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p11" shownumber="no">II. The execution to be done upon her is
very terrible.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p12" shownumber="no">1. Her enemies shall come against her <i>on
every side</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.22" parsed="|Ezek|23|22|0|0" passage="Eze 23:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>), those of the several nations that constituted the
Chaldean army (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.23" parsed="|Ezek|23|23|0|0" passage="Eze 23:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>), all of them <i>great lords and renowned,</i> whose
pomp, and grandeur, and splendid appearance made them look the more
amiable when they came as friends to protect and patronise
Jerusalem, but the more formidable when they came to chastise its
treachery and aimed at no less than its ruin. (1.) They shall come
with a great deal of military force (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.24" parsed="|Ezek|23|24|0|0" passage="Eze 23:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>), with <i>chariots and
wagons</i> furnished with all necessary provisions for a camp, with
arms and ammunition, bag and baggage, with a vast army, and well
armed. (2.) They shall have justice on their side: "<i>I will set
judgment before them</i>" (they shall have right with them as well
as might; for the king of Babylon had just cause to make war upon
the king of Judah, because he had broken his league with him), "and
therefore they <i>shall judge thee,</i> not only according to God's
judgments, as the instruments of his justice, to punish thee for
the indignities done to him, but <i>according to their
judgments,</i> according to the law of nations, to punish thee for
thy perfidious dealings with them." (3.) They shall prosecute the
war with a great deal of fury and resentment. It being a war of
revenge, <i>they shall deal with thee hatefully,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.29" parsed="|Ezek|23|29|0|0" passage="Eze 23:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. This will make the
execution the more severe that their swords will be dipped in
poison. Thou hatest them, and they shall deal hatefully with thee;
those that hate will be hated and will be hatefully dealt with.
(4.) God himself will lead them on, and his anger shall be mingled
with theirs (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.25" parsed="|Ezek|23|25|0|0" passage="Eze 23:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>): <i>I will set my jealousy against thee;</i> that
shall kindle this fire, and then <i>they shall deal furiously with
thee.</i> If men deal ever so hatefully, ever so furiously, with
us, yet, if we have God on our side, we need not fear them; they
can do us no real hurt. But if men deal furiously with us, and God
set his jealousy against us too, what will become of us?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p13" shownumber="no">2. The particulars of the sentence here
passed upon this notorious adulteress are, (1.) That all she has
shall be seized on. The <i>clothes</i> and the <i>fair jewels,</i>
with which she had endeavoured to recommend herself to her lovers,
these she shall be stripped of, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.26" parsed="|Ezek|23|26|0|0" passage="Eze 23:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. All those things that were the
ornaments of their state shall be taken away: "<i>They shall take
away all thy labour,</i> all that thou hast gotten by thy labour,
and shall <i>leave thee naked and bare,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.29" parsed="|Ezek|23|29|0|0" passage="Eze 23:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Both city and country shall be
impoverished and all the wealth of both swept away. (2.) That her
children shall go into captivity. "They shall <i>take thy sons and
thy daughters,</i> and make slaves of them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.25" parsed="|Ezek|23|25|0|0" passage="Eze 23:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>); for they are <i>children of
whoredoms,</i> unworthy the dignities and privileges of
Israelites," <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.4" parsed="|Hos|2|4|0|0" passage="Ho 2:4">Hos. ii. 4</scripRef>. (3.)
That she shall be stigmatized and deformed: "They shall <i>take
away thy nose and thy ears,</i> shall mark thee for a harlot, and
render thee for ever odious," <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.25" parsed="|Ezek|23|25|0|0" passage="Eze 23:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. This intimates the many
cruelties of the Chaldean soldiers towards the Jews that fell into
their hands, whom, it is probable, they used barbarously. Some will
have this to be understood figuratively; and by the nose they think
is meant the kingly dignity, and by the ears that of the
priesthood. (4.) That she shall be exposed to shame: <i>Thy
lewdness and thy whoredoms shall be discovered</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.29" parsed="|Ezek|23|29|0|0" passage="Eze 23:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), as, when a malefactor
is punished, all his crimes are ripped up, and repeated to his
disgrace; what was secret then comes to light, and what was done
long since is then called to mind. (5.) That she shall be quite cut
off and ruined: "The <i>remnant</i> of thy people that have escaped
the famine and pestilence shall fall <i>by the sword;</i> and the
residue of thy houses that have not been battered down about thy
ears shall be <i>devoured by the fire,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.25" parsed="|Ezek|23|25|0|0" passage="Eze 23:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. And this shall be the end of
Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p14" shownumber="no">III. Because she has trod in the steps of
Samaria's sins, she must expect no other than Samaria's fate. It is
common, in giving judgment, to have an eye to precedents; so has
God in passing this sentence on Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.31" parsed="|Ezek|23|31|0|0" passage="Eze 23:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>, &amp;c.): "<i>Thou hast walked
in the way of thy sister,</i> notwithstanding the warning thou hast
had given thee, by the fatal consequences of her wickedness; and
therefore I <i>will give her cup,</i> her portion of miseries,
<i>into thy hand,</i> the cup of the Lord's fury, which will be to
thee a <i>cup of trembling.</i>" Now, 1. This cup is said to be
<i>deep and large,</i> and to <i>contain much</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.32" parsed="|Ezek|23|32|0|0" passage="Eze 23:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), abundance of God's
wrath and abundance of miseries, the fruits of that wrath. It is
such a cup as that which we read of, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.15-Jer.25.16" parsed="|Jer|25|15|25|16" passage="Jer 25:15,16">Jer. xxv. 15, 16</scripRef>. The cup of divine
vengeance holds a great deal, and so those will find into whose
hand it shall be put. 2. They shall be made to drink the very dregs
of this cup, as the <i>wicked</i> are said to do (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.8" parsed="|Ps|75|8|0|0" passage="Ps 75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</scripRef>): "<i>Thou shalt drink it
and suck it out,</i> not because it is pleasant, but because it is
forced upon thee (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.34" parsed="|Ezek|23|34|0|0" passage="Eze 23:34"><i>v.</i>
34</scripRef>); <i>thou shalt break the shreds thereof,</i> and
<i>pluck off thy own breasts,</i> for indignation at the extreme
bitterness of this cup, being <i>full of the fury of the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.20" parsed="|Isa|51|20|0|0" passage="Isa 51:20">Isa. li. 20</scripRef>), as men in
great anguish tear their hair, and throw every thing from them.
Finding there is no remedy, but it must be drank (for <i>I have
spoken it, saith the Lord God</i>), thou shalt have no manner of
patience in the drinking of it." 3. They shall be intoxicated by
it, made sick, and be at their wits' end, as men in drink are,
staggering, and stumbling, and ready to fall (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.33" parsed="|Ezek|23|33|0|0" passage="Eze 23:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>): <i>Thou shalt be filled with
drunkenness and sorrow.</i> Note, Drunkenness has sorrow attending
it, to such a degree that the utmost confusion and astonishment are
here represented by it. Who would think that that which is such a
force upon nature, such a scandal to it, which deprives men of
their reason, disorders them to the last degree, and is therefore
expressive of the greatest misery, should yet be with many a
beloved sin, that they should damn their own souls to distemper
their own bodies? <i>Who has woe</i> and <i>sorrow</i> like them?
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.29" parsed="|Prov|23|29|0|0" passage="Pr 23:29">Prov. xxiii. 29</scripRef>. 4. Being
so intoxicated, they shall become, as drunkards deserve to be, a
laughing-stock to all about them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.32" parsed="|Ezek|23|32|0|0" passage="Eze 23:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>): <i>Thou shalt be laughed to
scorn and had in derision,</i> as acting ridiculously in every
thing thou goest about. When God is about to ruin a people he
<i>makes their judges fools</i> and <i>pours contempt on their
princes,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.17 Bible:Job.12.21" parsed="|Job|12|17|0|0;|Job|12|21|0|0" passage="Job 12:17,21">Job xii. 17,
21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p15" shownumber="no">IV. In all this God will be justified, and
by all this they will be reformed; and so the issue even of this
will be God's glory and their good. 1. They have been bad, very
bad, and that justifies God in all that is brought upon them
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.30" parsed="|Ezek|23|30|0|0" passage="Eze 23:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>): <i>I will
do these things unto thee because thou hast gone a whoring after
the heathen,</i> and (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.35" parsed="|Ezek|23|35|0|0" passage="Eze 23:35"><i>v.</i>
35</scripRef>) <i>because thou hast forgotten me and cast me behind
thy back.</i> Note, Forgetfulness of God, and a contempt of him, of
his eye upon us and authority over us, are at the bottom of all our
treacherous adulterous departures from him. <i>Therefore</i> men
wander after idols, because they forget <i>God,</i> and their
obligations to him; nor could they look with so much desire and
delight upon the baits of sin if they did not first cast God
<i>behind their back,</i> as not worthy to be regarded. And those
who put such an affront upon God, how can they think but that it
should turn upon themselves at last? <i>Therefore bear thou also
thy lewdness and thy whoredoms;</i> that is, thou shalt <i>suffer
the punishment</i> of them, and thou alone must <i>bear the
blame.</i> Men need no more to sink them than the weight of their
own sins; and those who will not part with their lewdness and their
whoredoms must bear them. 2. They shall be better, much better, and
this fire, though consuming to many, shall be refining to a remnant
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.27" parsed="|Ezek|23|27|0|0" passage="Eze 23:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): <i>Thus
will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee.</i> The judgments
which were brought upon them by their sins parted between them and
their sins, and taught them at length to say, <i>What have we to do
any more with idols?</i> Observe, (1.) How inveterate the disease
was: <i>Thy whoredoms were brought from the land of Egypt.</i>
Their disposition to idolatry was early and innate, their practice
of it was ancient, and had gained a sort of prescription by long
usage. (2.) How complete the cure was notwithstanding: "Though it
has taken root, yet it shall be made to cease, so that thou shalt
not so much as <i>lift up thy eyes</i> to the idols again, nor
<i>remember Egypt</i> with pleasure <i>any more.</i>" They shall
avoid the occasions of this sin, for they shall not so much as look
upon an idol, lest their hearts should unawares <i>walk after their
eyes.</i> And they shall abandon all inclinations to it: "They
shall <i>not remember Egypt;</i> they shall not retain any of that
affection for idols which they had from the very infancy of their
nation." They got it, through the corruption of nature, in their
bondage in Egypt, and lost it, through the grace of God, in their
captivity in Babylon, which this was the blessed fruit of, even
<i>the taking away of sin,</i> of <i>that</i> sin; so that whereas,
before the captivity, no nation (all things considered) was more
impetuously bent upon idols and idolatry than they were, after that
captivity no nation was more vehemently set against idols and
idolatry than they were, insomuch that at this day the
image-worship which is practised in the church of Rome confirms the
Jews as much as any thing in their prejudices against the Christian
religion.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxiv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.36-Ezek.23.49" parsed="|Ezek|23|36|23|49" passage="Eze 23:36-49" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiv-p15.5">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiv-p15.6">Israel and Judah Accused; Judgments
Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p15.7">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiv-p16" shownumber="no">36 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p16.1">Lord</span> said
moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah?
yea, declare unto them their abominations;   37 That they have
committed adultery, and blood <i>is</i> in their hands, and with
their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused
their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through <i>the
fire,</i> to devour <i>them.</i>   38 Moreover this they have
done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and
have profaned my sabbaths.   39 For when they had slain their
children to their idols, then they came the same day into my
sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst
of mine house.   40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men
to come from far, unto whom a messenger <i>was</i> sent; and, lo,
they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes,
and deckedst thyself with ornaments,   41 And satest upon a
stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast
set mine incense and mine oil.   42 And a voice of a multitude
being at ease <i>was</i> with her: and with the men of the common
sort <i>were</i> brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put
bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
  43 Then said I unto <i>her that was</i> old in adulteries,
Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she <i>with them?</i>
  44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman
that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto
Aholibah, the lewd women.   45 And the righteous men, they
shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the
manner of women that shed blood; because they <i>are</i>
adulteresses, and blood <i>is</i> in their hands.   46 For
thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p16.2">God</span>; I will
bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and
spoiled.   47 And the company shall stone them with stones,
and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and
their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.   48 Thus
will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may
be taught not to do after your lewdness.   49 And they shall
recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of
your idols: and ye shall know that I <i>am</i> the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiv-p16.3">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p17" shownumber="no">After the ten tribes were carried into
captivity, and that kingdom was made quite desolate, the remains of
it by degrees incorporated with the kingdom of Judah, and gained a
settlement (many of them) in Jerusalem; so that the <i>two
sisters</i> had in effect become <i>one</i> again; and therefore,
in these verses, the prophet takes those to task jointly who were
thus conjoined: "<i>Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah</i>
together? <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.36" parsed="|Ezek|23|36|0|0" passage="Eze 23:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>.
Wilt thou go about to frame an excuse for them? Thou seest the
matter is so bad as not to bear an excuse." Or, rather, "Thou shalt
now be employed, in God's name, to <i>judge them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.4" parsed="|Ezek|20|4|0|0" passage="Eze 20:4"><i>ch.</i> xx. 4</scripRef>. The matter is
rather worse than better since the union."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p18" shownumber="no">I. Let them be made to see the sins they
are guilty of: <i>Declare unto them</i> openly and boldly <i>their
abominations.</i> 1. They have been guilty of gross idolatry, here
called <i>adultery. With their idols they have committed
adultery</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.37" parsed="|Ezek|23|37|0|0" passage="Eze 23:37"><i>v.</i>
37</scripRef>), have broken their marriage-covenant with God, have
lusted after the gratifications of a carnal sensual mind in the
worship of God. This is the first and worst of the abominations he
is to charge them with. 2. They have committed the most barbarous
murders, in sacrificing their children to Moloch, a sin so
unnatural that they deserve to hear of it upon all occasions:
<i>Blood is in their hands,</i> innocent blood, the blood of their
own children, which they have <i>caused to pass through the
fire</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.37" parsed="|Ezek|23|37|0|0" passage="Eze 23:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>),
not that they might be dedicated to the idols, but that they might
be devoured, a sign that they loved their idols better than that
which was dearest to them in the world. 3. They have profaned the
sacred things with which God had dignified and distinguished them:
This <i>they have done unto me,</i> this indignity, this injury,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.38" parsed="|Ezek|23|38|0|0" passage="Eze 23:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>. Every
contempt put upon that which is holy reflects upon him who is the
fountain of holiness, and from a relation to whom whatever is
called holy has its denomination. God had set up his sanctuary
among them, but they defiled it, by making it a house of
merchandise, a den of thieves; nay, and much worse; there they set
up their idols and worshipped them, and there they shed the blood
of God's prophets. God had revealed to them his holy sabbaths, but
they profaned them, by doing all manner of servile work therein, or
perhaps by sports and recreations on that day, not only practised,
but allowed and encouraged by authority. They <i>defiled the
sanctuary</i> on <i>the same day</i> that they <i>profaned the
sabbath.</i> To defile the sanctuary was bad enough on any day, but
to do it on the sabbath day was an aggravation. We commonly say,
<i>The better day the better deed;</i> but here, the better day the
worse deed. God takes notice of the circumstances of sin which add
to the guilt. He shows (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.39" parsed="|Ezek|23|39|0|0" passage="Eze 23:39"><i>v.</i>
39</scripRef>) what was their profanation both of the sanctuary and
of the sabbath. <i>They slew their children,</i> and sacrificed
them <i>to their idols,</i> to the great dishonour both of God and
of human nature; and then came, on <i>the same day,</i> their hands
imbrued with the blood of their children and their clothes stained
with it, to attend in <i>God's sanctuary,</i> not to ask pardon for
what they had done, but to present themselves before him, as other
Israelites did, expecting acceptance with him, notwithstanding
these villanies which they were guilty of; as if God either did not
know their wickedness or did not hate it. Thus they <i>profaned the
sanctuary,</i> as if that were a protection to the worst of
malefactors; for thus they did <i>in the midst of his house.</i>
Note, It is a profanation of God's solemn ordinances when those
that are grossly and openly profane and vicious impudently and
impenitently so intrude upon the services and privileges of them.
<i>Give not that which is holy unto dogs. Friend, how camest thou
in hither?</i> 4. They have courted foreign alliances, been proud
of them, and reposed a confidence in them. This also is represented
by the sin of adultery, for it was a departure from God, not only
<i>to whom</i> alone they ought to pay their homage and not to
idols, but <i>in</i> whom alone they ought to put their trust, and
not in creatures. Israel was a peculiar people, must <i>dwell
alone</i> and not be <i>reckoned among the nations;</i> and they
profane their crown, and lay their honour in the dust, when they
covet to be like them or in <i>league</i> with them. But this they
have now done; they have entered into strict alliances with the
Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, the most renowned and potent
kingdoms at that time; but they scorned alliances with the petty
kingdoms and states that lay near them, which yet might have been
of more real service to them. Note, Affecting an acquaintance and
correspondence with great people has often been a snare to good
people. Let us see how Jerusalem courts her high allies, thinking
thereby to make herself considerable. (1.) She privately requested
that a public embassy might be sent to her (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.40" parsed="|Ezek|23|40|0|0" passage="Eze 23:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>): You <i>sent a messenger for
men to come from far.</i> It seems, then, that the neighbours had
no desire to come into a confederacy with Jerusalem, but she thrust
herself upon them, and sent under-hand to desire them to court her:
and, <i>lo, they came.</i> The wisest and best may be drawn
unavoidably into company and conversation with profane and wicked
people: but it is no sign either of wisdom or goodness to covet an
intimacy with such and to court it. (2.) Great preparation was made
for the reception of these foreign ministers, for their public
entry and public audience, which is compared to the pains that an
adulteress takes to make herself look handsome. Jezebel-like, thou
<i>paintedst thy face</i> and <i>deckedst thyself with
ornaments,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.40" parsed="|Ezek|23|40|0|0" passage="Eze 23:40"><i>v.</i>
40</scripRef>. The king and princes made themselves new clothes,
fitted up the rooms of state, beautified the furniture, and made it
look fresh. Thou <i>sattest upon a stately bed</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.41" parsed="|Ezek|23|41|0|0" passage="Eze 23:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>), a stately throne;
<i>a table was prepared, whereon thou has set my oil and my
incense.</i> This was either, [1.] A feast for the ambassadors, a
noble treat, agreeable to the other preparations. There was incense
to perfume the room and oil to anoint their heads. Or, [2.] An
altar already furnished for the ambassadors' use in the worship of
their idols, to let them know that the Israelites were not so
strait-laced but that they could allow foreigners the free exercise
of their religion among them, and furnish them with chapels, yea,
and complimented them so far as to join with them in their
devotions; though the law of their God was against it, yet they
could easily dispense with themselves to oblige a friend. The oil
and incense God calls <i>his,</i> not only because they were the
gift of his providence, but because they should have been offered
at his altar, which was an aggravation of their sin in serving
idols and idolaters with them. See <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.8" parsed="|Hos|2|8|0|0" passage="Ho 2:8">Hos.
ii. 8</scripRef>. (3.) There was great joy at their coming, as if
it were such a blessing as never happened to Jerusalem before
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.42" parsed="|Ezek|23|42|0|0" passage="Eze 23:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>): <i>A voice
of a multitude being at ease was with her.</i> The people were very
easy, for they thought themselves very safe and happy now that they
had such powerful allies; and therefore attended the ambassadors
with loud huzzas and acclamations of joy. A great confluence of
people there was to the court upon this occasion. The <i>men of the
common sort</i> were there to grace the solemnity, and to increase
the crowd; and <i>with them were brought Sabeans from the
wilderness.</i> The margin reads it <i>drunkards from the
wilderness,</i> that would drink healths to the prosperity of this
grand alliance, and force them upon others, and be most noisy in
shouting upon this occasion. Whoever they were, in honour of the
ambassadors they put <i>bracelets upon their hands and beautiful
crowns upon their heads,</i> which made the cavalcade appear very
splendid. (4.) God by his prophets warned them against making these
dangerous leagues with foreigners (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.43" parsed="|Ezek|23|43|0|0" passage="Eze 23:43"><i>v.</i> 43</scripRef>): "<i>Then said I unto her that
was old in adulteries,</i> that from the first was fond of leagues
with the heathen, of matching with their families (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.11" osisRef="Bible:Judg.3.6" parsed="|Judg|3|6|0|0" passage="Jdg 3:6">Judg. iii. 6</scripRef>), and afterwards of
making alliances with their kingdoms, and, though often
disappointed therein, would never be dissuaded from it (this was
the adultery she was old in), I said, <i>Will they now commit
whoredoms with her and she with them?</i> Surely experience and
observation will by this time have convinced both them and her that
an alliance between the nation of the Jews and a heathen nation can
never be for the advantage of either." They are <i>iron and
clay,</i> that will not mix, nor will God bless such an alliance,
or smile upon it. But, it seems, her being old in these adulteries,
instead of weaning her from them, as one would expect, does but
make her the more impudent and insatiable in them; for, though she
was thus admonished of the folly of it, <i>yet they went in unto
her,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.44" parsed="|Ezek|23|44|0|0" passage="Eze 23:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>. A
bargain was soon clapped up, and a league made, first with this,
and then with the other, foreign state. Samaria did so, Jerusalem
did so, like lewd women. They could not rest satisfied in the
embraces of God's laws and care, and the assurances of protection
he gave them; they could not think his covenant with them security
enough. But they must by treaties and leagues, politic ones (they
thought) and well-concerted, throw themselves into the arms of
foreign princes, and put their interests under their protection.
Note, Those hearts go a whoring from God that take a complacency in
the pomp of the world and put a confidence in its wealth, and in an
<i>arm of flesh,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p18.13" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.5" parsed="|Jer|17|5|0|0" passage="Jer 17:5">Jer. xvii.
5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiv-p19" shownumber="no">II. Let them be made to foresee the
judgments that are coming upon them for these sins (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.45" parsed="|Ezek|23|45|0|0" passage="Eze 23:45"><i>v.</i> 45</scripRef>): <i>The righteous men,
they shall judge them.</i> Some make the instruments of their
destruction to be the righteous men that shall judge them. The
Assyrians that destroyed Samaria, the Chaldeans that destroyed
Jerusalem, those were comparatively righteous, had a sense of
justice between man and man and justly resented the treachery of
the Jewish nation; however, they executed God's judgments, which,
we are sure, are all righteous. Others understand it of the
prophets, whose office it was, in God's name, to judge them and
pass sentence upon them. Or we may take it as an appeal to all
righteous men, to all that have a sense of equity; they shall all
judge concerning these cities, and agree in their verdict, that
forasmuch as they have been notoriously guilty of adultery and
murder, and the guilt is national, therefore they ought to suffer
the pains and penalties which by law are inflicted upon women in
their personal capacity that shed blood and are adulteresses.
Righteous men will say, "Why should bloody filthy cities escape any
better than bloody filthy persons? <i>Judge, I pray thee,</i>"
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.3" parsed="|Isa|5|3|0|0" passage="Isa 5:3">Isa. v. 3</scripRef>. This judgment
being given by the righteous men, the righteous God will award
execution. See here, 1. What the execution will be, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.46-Ezek.23.47" parsed="|Ezek|23|46|23|47" passage="Eze 23:46,47"><i>v.</i> 46, 47</scripRef>. The same as
before, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.23" parsed="|Ezek|23|23|0|0" passage="Eze 23:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>,
&amp;c. God will <i>bring a company</i> of enemies <i>upon
them,</i> who shall be made to serve his holy purposes even when
they are serving their own sinful appetites and passions. These
enemies shall easily prevail, for God will <i>give them</i> into
their hands <i>to be removed and spoiled;</i> this company shall
<i>stone them with stones</i> as malefactors, shall <i>single them
out</i> and <i>dispatch them with their swords;</i> and, as was
sometimes done in severe executions (witness that of Achan), they
shall <i>slay their children and burn their houses.</i> 2. What
will be the effects of it. (1.) Thus they shall suffer for their
sins: Their <i>lewdness shall be recompensed upon them</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.49" parsed="|Ezek|23|49|0|0" passage="Eze 23:49"><i>v.</i> 49</scripRef>); and they
shall <i>bear the sins of their idols,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.35 Bible:Ezek.23.39" parsed="|Ezek|23|35|0|0;|Ezek|23|39|0|0" passage="Eze 23:35,39"><i>v.</i> 35, 49</scripRef>. Thus God will assert
the honour of his broken law and injured government, and let the
world know what a just and jealous God he is. (2.) Thus they shall
be broken off from their sins: <i>I will cause lewdness to cease
out of the land,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.27 Bible:Ezek.23.48" parsed="|Ezek|23|27|0|0;|Ezek|23|48|0|0" passage="Eze 23:27,48"><i>v.</i> 27,
48</scripRef>. The destruction of God's city, like the death of
God's saints, shall do that for them which ordinances and
providences before could not do; it shall quite take away their
sin, so that Jerusalem shall rise out of its ashes a new lump, as
gold comes out of the furnace purified from its dross. (3.) Thus
other cities and nations will have fair warning given them to keep
themselves from idols. That <i>all women may be taught not to do
after your lewdness.</i> This is the end of the punishment of
malefactors, that they may be made examples to others, who will
<i>see and fear. Smite the scorner and the simple will beware.</i>
The judgments of God upon some are designed to teach others, and
happy are those who receive instruction from them not to tread in
the steps of sinners, lest they be taken in their snares; those who
would be taught this must <i>know God is the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiv-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.23.49" parsed="|Ezek|23|49|0|0" passage="Eze 23:49"><i>v.</i> 49</scripRef>), that he is the
governor of the world, a God that judges in the earth, and with
whom there is <i>no respect of persons.</i></p>
</div></div2>