mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Ez.vi" n="vi" next="Ez.vii" prev="Ez.v" progress="51.62%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Ez.vi-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.vi-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have a further, and no less
terrible, denunciation of the judgments of God, which were coming
with all speed and force upon the Jewish nation, which would
utterly ruin it; for when God judges he will overcome. This
destruction of Judah and Jerusalem is here, I. Represented by a
sign, the cutting, and burning, and scattering of hair, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.1-Ezek.5.4" parsed="|Ezek|5|1|5|4" passage="Eze 5:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. That sign is
expounded, and applied to Jerusalem. 1. Sin is charged upon
Jerusalem as the cause of this desolation—contempt of God's law
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.5-Ezek.5.7" parsed="|Ezek|5|5|5|7" passage="Eze 5:5-7">ver. 5-7</scripRef>) and profanation
of his sanctuary, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.11" parsed="|Ezek|5|11|0|0" passage="Eze 5:11">ver. 11</scripRef>.
2. Wrath is threatened, great wrath (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.8-Ezek.5.10" parsed="|Ezek|5|8|5|10" passage="Eze 5:8-10">ver. 8-10</scripRef>), a variety of miseries
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.12 Bible:Ezek.5.16 Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|12|0|0;|Ezek|5|16|0|0;|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:12,16,17">ver. 12, 16, 17</scripRef>),
such as should be their reproach and ruin, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.13-Ezek.5.15" parsed="|Ezek|5|13|5|15" passage="Eze 5:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.vi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5" parsed="|Ezek|5|0|0|0" passage="Eze 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.vi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.1-Ezek.5.4" parsed="|Ezek|5|1|5|4" passage="Eze 5:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.vi-p1.9">
<h4 id="Ez.vi-p1.10">The Representation of Jerusalem's
Ruin. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p1.11">b. c.</span> 594.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.vi-p2" shownumber="no">1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife,
take thee a barber's razor, and cause <i>it</i> to pass upon thine
head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and
divide the <i>hair.</i>   2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third
part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are
fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, <i>and</i> smite about
it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind;
and I will draw out a sword after them.   3 Thou shalt also
take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.   4
Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire,
and burn them in the fire; <i>for</i> thereof shall a fire come
forth into all the house of Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p3" shownumber="no">We have here the sign by which the utter
destruction of Jerusalem is set forth; and here, as before, the
prophet is himself the sign, that the people might see how much he
affected himself with, and interested himself in, the case of
Jerusalem, and how it lay to his heart, even when he foretold the
desolations of it. He was so much concerned about it as to take
what was done to it as done to himself, so far was he from desiring
the woeful day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p4" shownumber="no">I. He must <i>shave off the hair of his
head and beard</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.1" parsed="|Ezek|5|1|0|0" passage="Eze 5:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), which signified God's utter rejecting and abandoning
that people, as a useless worthless generation, such as could well
be spared, nay, such as it would be his honour to part with; his
judgments, and all the instruments he made use of in cutting them
off, were this <i>sharp knife</i> and this <i>razor,</i> that were
proper to be made use of, and would do execution. Jerusalem had
been the head, but, having degenerated, had become as the
<i>hair,</i> which, when it grows thick and long, is but a burden
which a man wishes to get clear of, as God of the sinners in Zion.
<i>Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.24" parsed="|Isa|1|24|0|0" passage="Isa 1:24">Isa. i. 24</scripRef>. Ezekiel must not cut off that
hair only which was superfluous, but <i>cut it all off,</i>
denoting the full end that God would make of Jerusalem. The hair
that would not be trimmed and kept neat and clean by the
admonitions of the prophets must be all shaved off by utter
destruction. Those will be ruined that will not be reformed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p5" shownumber="no">II. He must <i>weigh the hair</i> and
<i>divide it into three parts.</i> This intimates the very exact
directing of God's judgments according to equity (by him men and
their actions are <i>weighed</i> in the unerring balance of truth
and righteousness) and the proportion which divine justice observes
in punishing some by one judgment and others by another; one way or
other, they shall all be met with. Some make the shaving of the
hair to denote the loss of their liberty and of their honour: it
was looked upon as a mark of ignominy, as in the disgrace Hanun put
on David's ambassadors. It denotes also the loss of their joy, for
they shaved their heads upon occasion of great mourning; I may add
the loss of their Nazariteship, for the shaving of the head was a
period to that vow (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.6.18" parsed="|Num|6|18|0|0" passage="Nu 6:18">Num. vi.
18</scripRef>), and Jerusalem was now no longer looked upon as a
<i>holy city.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p6" shownumber="no">III. He must dispose of the hair so that it
might all be destroyed or dispersed, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.2" parsed="|Ezek|5|2|0|0" passage="Eze 5:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. 1. One <i>third part</i> must
<i>be burnt in the midst of the city,</i> denoting the multitudes
that should perish by famine and pestilence, and perhaps many in
the conflagration of the city, <i>when the days of the siege were
fulfilled.</i> Or the laying of that glorious city in ashes might
well be looked upon as a third part of the destruction threatened.
2. Another third part was to be <i>cut in pieces with a knife,</i>
representing the many who, during the siege, were slain by the
sword, in their sallies out upon the besiegers, and especially when
the city was taken by storm, the Chaldeans being then most furious
and the Jews most feeble. 3. Another third part was to be
<i>scattered in the wind,</i> denoting the carrying away of some
into the land of the conqueror and the flight of others into the
neighbouring countries for shelter; so that they were hurried, some
one way and some another, like loose hairs in the wind. But, lest
they should think that this dispersion would be their escape, God
adds, <i>I will draw out a sword after them,</i> so that wherever
they go evil shall pursue them. Note, God has variety of judgments
wherewith to accomplish the destruction of a sinful people and to
make an end when he begins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p7" shownumber="no">IV. He must preserve a small quantity of
the third sort that were to be <i>scattered in the wind,</i> and
<i>bind them in his skirts,</i> as one would bind that which he is
very mindful and careful of, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.3" parsed="|Ezek|5|3|0|0" passage="Eze 5:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. This signified perhaps that little handful of people
which were left under the government of Gedaliah, who, it was
hoped, would keep possession of the land when the body of the
people was carried into captivity. Thus God would have done well
for them if they would have done well for themselves. But these few
that were reserved must be taken and <i>cast into the fire,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.4" parsed="|Ezek|5|4|0|0" passage="Eze 5:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. When Gedaliah
and his friends were slain the people that put themselves under his
protection were scattered, some gone into Egypt, others carried off
by the Chaldeans, and in short the land totally cleared of them;
then this was fulfilled, for out of those combustions <i>a fire
came forth into all the house of Israel,</i> who, as fuel upon the
fire, kindled and consumed one another. Note, It is ill with a
people when those are taken away in wrath that seemed to be marked
for monuments of mercy; for then there is no remnant or escaping,
none shut up or left.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.vi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.5-Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|5|5|17" passage="Eze 5:5-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.vi-p7.4">
<h4 id="Ez.vi-p7.5">The Guilt of Jerusalem; The Punishment of
Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p7.6">b. c.</span> 594.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.vi-p8" shownumber="no">5 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.1">God</span>; This <i>is</i> Jerusalem: I have set it in
the midst of the nations and countries <i>that are</i> round about
her.   6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness
more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that
<i>are</i> round about her: for they have refused my judgments and
my statutes, they have not walked in them.   7 Therefore thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.2">God</span>; Because ye
multiplied more than the nations that <i>are</i> round about you,
<i>and</i> have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my
judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the
nations that <i>are</i> round about you;   8 Therefore thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.3">God</span>; Behold, I, even
I, <i>am</i> against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst
of thee in the sight of the nations.   9 And I will do in thee
that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more
the like, because of all thine abominations.   10 Therefore
the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons
shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and
the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.  
11 Wherefore, <i>as</i> I live, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.4">God</span>; Surely, because thou hast defiled my
sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine
abominations, therefore will I also diminish <i>thee;</i> neither
shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.   12 A
third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine
shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall
fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part
into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.  
13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury
to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know
that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.5">Lord</span> have spoken
<i>it</i> in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.
  14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the
nations that <i>are</i> round about thee, in the sight of all that
pass by.   15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an
instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that <i>are</i>
round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger
and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.6">Lord</span> have spoken <i>it.</i>   16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for
<i>their</i> destruction, <i>and</i> which I will send to destroy
you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your
staff of bread:   17 So will I send upon you famine and evil
beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall
pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.vi-p8.7">Lord</span> have spoken <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p9" shownumber="no">We have here the explanation of the
foregoing similitude: <i>This is Jerusalem.</i> Thus it is usual in
scripture language to give the name of the thing signified to the
sign; as when Christ said, <i>This is my body.</i> The prophet's
head, which was to be shaved, signified Jerusalem, which by the
judgments of God was now to be stripped of all its ornaments, to be
emptied of all its inhabitants, and to be set <i>naked and
bare,</i> to be <i>shaved with a razor that is hired,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.20" parsed="|Isa|7|20|0|0" passage="Isa 7:20">Isa. vii. 20</scripRef>. The head of one that
was a priest, a prophet, a holy person, was fittest to represent
Jerusalem the holy city. Now the contents of these verses are much
the same with what we have often met with, and still shall, in the
writings of the prophets. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p10" shownumber="no">I. The privileges Jerusalem was honoured
with (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.5" parsed="|Ezek|5|5|0|0" passage="Eze 5:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>I
have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are
round about her,</i> and those famous nations and very
considerable. Jerusalem was not situated in a remote obscure corner
of the world, far from neighbours, but in the midst of kingdoms
that were populous, polite, and civilized, famed for learning,
arts, and sciences, and which then made the greatest figure in the
world. But there seems to be more in it than this. 1. Jerusalem was
dignified and preferred above the neighbouring nations and their
cities. it was <i>set in the midst</i> of them as excelling them
all. This <i>holy mountain was exalted above all the hills,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.2" parsed="|Isa|2|2|0|0" passage="Isa 2:2">Isa. ii. 2</scripRef>. <i>Why leap you,
you high hills? This is the hill which God desires to dwell in,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.16" parsed="|Ps|68|16|0|0" passage="Ps 68:16">Ps. lxviii. 16</scripRef>. Jerusalem
was a city upon a hill, conspicuous and illustrious, and which all
the neighbouring nations had an eye upon, some for good-will, some
for ill-will. 2. Jerusalem was designed to have a good influence
upon <i>the nations and countries round about,</i> was set in the
midst of them as a candle upon a candlestick, to spread the light
of divine revelation, which she was blessed with, to all the dark
corners of the neighbouring nations, that from them it might
diffuse itself further, even to the ends of the earth. Jerusalem
was set <i>in the midst</i> of the nations, to be as the heart in
the body, to invigorate this dead world with a divine life as well
as to enlighten this dark world with a divine light, to be an
example of every thing that was good. The nations that observed
what excellent <i>statutes and judgments</i> they had concluded
them to be <i>a wise and understanding people</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.6" parsed="|Deut|4|6|0|0" passage="De 4:6">Deut. iv. 6</scripRef>), fit to be consulted as an
oracle, as they were in Solomon's time, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.4.34" parsed="|1Kgs|4|34|0|0" passage="1Ki 4:34">1 Kings iv. 34</scripRef>. And, had they preserved this
reputation and made a right use of it, what a blessing would
Jerusalem have been to all the nations about! But, failing to be
so, the accomplishment of this intention was reserved for its
latter days, <i>when out of Zion went forth the</i> gospel <i>law
and the word of the Lord</i> Jesus <i>from Jerusalem,</i> and there
<i>repentance and remission</i> began to be preached, and thence
the preachers of them <i>went forth into all nations.</i> And, when
that was done, Jerusalem was levelled with the ground. Note, When
places and persons are made great, it is with design that they may
do good and that those about them may be the better for them, that
their <i>light may shine before men.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p11" shownumber="no">II. The provocations Jerusalem was guilty
of. A very high charge is here drawn up against that city, and
proved beyond contradiction sufficient to justify God in seizing
its privileges and putting it under military execution. 1. She has
<i>not walked in God's statutes,</i> nor <i>kept his judgments</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.7" parsed="|Ezek|5|7|0|0" passage="Eze 5:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); nay, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem had <i>refused his judgments and his
statutes</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.6" parsed="|Ezek|5|6|0|0" passage="Eze 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>);
they did not do their duty, nay, they <i>would not,</i> they said
that they would not. Those <i>statutes and judgments</i> which
their neighbours admired they despised, which they should have set
before their face they cast behind their back. Note, A contempt of
the word and law of God opens a door to all manner of iniquity.
God's statutes are the terms on which he deals with men; those that
refuse his terms cannot expect his favours. 2. She had <i>changed
God's judgments into wickedness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.6" parsed="|Ezek|5|6|0|0" passage="Eze 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), a very high expression of
profaneness, that the people had not only broken God's laws, but
had so perverted and abused them that they had made them the excuse
and colour of their wickedness. They introduced the abominable
customs and usages of the heathen, instead of God's institutions;
this was changing <i>the truth of God into a lie</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.25" parsed="|Rom|1|25|0|0" passage="Ro 1:25">Rom. i. 25</scripRef>) and the <i>glory of God
into shame,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.2" parsed="|Ps|4|2|0|0" passage="Ps 4:2">Ps. iv. 2</scripRef>.
Note, Those that have been well educated, if they live ill, put the
highest affront imaginable upon God, as if he were the patron of
sin and <i>his judgments</i> were <i>turned into wickedness.</i> 3.
She had been worse than the neighbouring nations, to whom she
should have set a good example: <i>She has changed my
judgments,</i> by idolatries and false worship, <i>more than the
nations</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.6" parsed="|Ezek|5|6|0|0" passage="Eze 5:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
and she has <i>multiplied</i> (that is, multiplied idols and
altars, gods and temples, multiplied those things the unity of
which was their praise) <i>more than the nations that were round
about.</i> Israel's God is one, and his name one, his altar one;
but they, not content with this one God, multiplied their gods to
such a degree that <i>according to the number of their cities so
were their gods,</i> and their altars were <i>as heaps in the
furrows of the field;</i> so that they exceeded all their
neighbours in having <i>gods many and lords many.</i> They
corrupted revealed religion more than the Gentiles had corrupted
natural religion. Note, If those who have made a profession of
religion, and have had a pious education, apostatize from it, they
are commonly more profane and vicious than those who never made any
profession; they have <i>seven other spirits more wicked.</i> 4.
She had <i>not done according to the judgments of the nations,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.7" parsed="|Ezek|5|7|0|0" passage="Eze 5:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Israel had not
acted towards their God, as the nations had acted towards their
gods, though they were false gods; they had not been so observant
of him nor so constant to him. Has a nation <i>changed its
gods,</i> or slighted them, so as they have? <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.11" parsed="|Jer|2|11|0|0" passage="Jer 2:11">Jer. ii. 11</scripRef>. Or it may refer to their morals;
instead of reforming their neighbors, they came short of them; and
many who were of the <i>uncircumcision kept the righteousness of
the law</i> better than those who were <i>of the circumcision,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.26-Rom.2.27" parsed="|Rom|2|26|2|27" passage="Ro 2:26,27">Rom. ii. 26, 27</scripRef>. Those
who had the light of scripture did not <i>according to the
judgments</i> of many who had only the light of nature. Note, There
are those who are called <i>Christians</i> who will in the great
day be condemned by the better tempers and better lives of sober
heathens. 5. The particular crime charged upon Jerusalem is
profaning the holy things, which she had been both entrusted and
honoured with (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p11.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.11" parsed="|Ezek|5|11|0|0" passage="Eze 5:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>Thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy
detestable things,</i> with thy idols and idolatries. The images of
their pretended deities, and the groves erected in honour of them,
were brought into the temple; and the ceremonies used by idolaters
were brought into the worship of God. Thus every thing that is
sacred was polluted. Note, Idols are detestable things any where,
but more especially so in the sanctuary.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p12" shownumber="no">III. The punishments that Jerusalem should
fall under for these provocations: <i>Shall not God visit for these
things?</i> No doubt he shall. The matter of the sentence here
passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, and the manner of
expression makes it yet more so; the judgments are various, and the
threatenings of them varied, reiterated, inculcated, that one may
well say, <i>Who is able to stand in God's sight when once he is
angry?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p13" shownumber="no">1. God will take this work of punishing
Jerusalem into his own hands; and <i>who knows the power of his
anger</i> and what <i>a fearful thing it is to fall into his
hands?</i> Observe what a strong emphasis is laid upon it
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.8" parsed="|Ezek|5|8|0|0" passage="Eze 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>I, even I,
am against thee.</i> God had been for Jerusalem, to defend and save
it; but miserable is its case when he has turned to be its enemy
and fights against it. If God be against us, the whole creation is
at war with us, and nothing can be for us so as to stand us in any
stead: "You think it is only the Chaldean army that is against you,
but they are God's hand, or rather the staff in his hand; it is
<i>I, even I,</i> that <i>am against thee,</i> not only to speak
against thee by prophets, but to act against thee by providence.
<i>I will execute judgments in thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.10" parsed="|Ezek|5|10|0|0" passage="Eze 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), <i>in the midst of thee</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.8" parsed="|Ezek|5|8|0|0" passage="Eze 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), not only in
the suburbs, but in the heart of the city, not only in the borders,
but in the bowels of the country." Note, Those who will not observe
the judgments of God's mouth shall not escape the judgments of his
hand; and God's judgments, when they come with commission, will
penetrate into the midst of a people, will enter into the soul,
<i>into the bowels like water</i> and <i>like oil into the bones. I
will execute judgments.</i> Note, God himself undertakes to execute
his own judgments, according to the true and full intent of them;
whatever are the instruments, he is the principal agent.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p14" shownumber="no">2. These punishments shall come from his
displeasure. As to the body of the people, it shall not be a
correction in love, but he will <i>execute judgments in anger, and
in fury, and in furious rebukes</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.15" parsed="|Ezek|5|15|0|0" passage="Eze 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), strange expressions to come
from a God who has said, <i>Fury is not in me,</i> and who has
declared himself <i>gracious, and merciful,</i> and <i>slow to
anger.</i> But they are designed to show the malignity of sin, and
the offence it gives to the just and holy God. That must needs be a
very evil thing which provokes him to such resentments, and against
his own people too, that had been so high in his favour, and
expressed with so much satisfaction (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.13" parsed="|Ezek|5|13|0|0" passage="Eze 5:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): "<i>My anger,</i> which has
long been withheld, <i>shall</i> now <i>be accomplished, and I will
cause my fury to rest upon them;</i> it shall not only light upon
them, but lie upon them, and fill them as vessels of wrath fitted
by their own wickedness to destruction; <i>and,</i> justice being
hereby glorified, <i>I will be comforted,</i> I will be entirely
satisfied in what I have done." As, when God is dishonoured by the
sins of men, he is said to be <i>grieved</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.10" parsed="|Ps|95|10|0|0" passage="Ps 95:10">Ps. xcv. 10</scripRef>), so when he is honoured by their
destruction he is said to <i>be comforted.</i> The struggle between
mercy and judgment is over, and in this case judgment triumphs,
triumphs indeed; for mercy that has been so long abused is now
silent and gives up the cause, has not a word more to say on the
behalf of such an ungrateful incorrigible people: <i>My eye shall
not spare, neither will I have any pity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.11" parsed="|Ezek|5|11|0|0" passage="Eze 5:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Divine compassion defers the
punishment, or mitigates it, or supports under it, or shortens it;
but here is <i>judgment without mercy,</i> wrath without any
mixture or allay of pity. These expressions are thus sharpened and
heightened perhaps with design to look further, to the vengeance of
eternal fire, which some of the destructions we read of in the Old
Testament were typical of, and particularly that of Jerusalem; for
surely it is nowhere on this side hell that this word has its full
accomplishment, <i>My eye shall not spare,</i> but <i>I will cause
my fury to rest.</i> Note, Those who live and die impenitent will
perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when <i>the Lord
will not spare.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p15" shownumber="no">3. Punishments shall be public and open:
<i>I will execute</i> these <i>judgments in the sight of the
nations</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.8" parsed="|Ezek|5|8|0|0" passage="Eze 5:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>);
the judgments themselves shall be so remarkable that all the
nations far and near shall take notice of them; they shall be all
the talk of that part of the world, and the more for the
conspicuousness of the place and people on which they are
inflicted. Note, Public sins, as they call for public reproofs
(<i>those that sin rebuke before all</i>), so, if those prevail
not, they call for public judgments. <i>He strikes them as wicked
men in the open sight of others</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.26" parsed="|Job|34|26|0|0" passage="Job 34:26">Job xxxiv. 26</scripRef>), that he may maintain and
vindicate the honour of his government, for (as Grotius descants
upon it here) <i>why should he suffer it to be said, See what
wicked lives those lead who profess to be the worshippers of the
only true God!</i> And, as the publicity of the judgments will
redound to the honour of God, so it will serve, (1.) To aggravate
the punishment, and to make it lie the more heavily. Jerusalem,
being made <i>waste,</i> becomes <i>a reproach among the nations in
the sight of all that pass by,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.14" parsed="|Ezek|5|14|0|0" passage="Eze 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. The more conspicuous and the
more peculiar any have been in the day of their prosperity the
greater disgrace attends their fall; and that was Jerusalem's case.
The more Jerusalem had been <i>a praise in the earth</i> the more
it is now <i>a reproach and a taunt,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.15" parsed="|Ezek|5|15|0|0" passage="Eze 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. This she was warned of as much
as any thing when her glory commenced (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.9.8" parsed="|1Kgs|9|8|0|0" passage="1Ki 9:8">1 Kings ix. 8</scripRef>), and this was lamented as much
as any thing when it was laid in the dust, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.15" parsed="|Lam|2|15|0|0" passage="La 2:15">Lam. ii. 15</scripRef>. (2.) To teach the nations to fear
before the God of Israel, when they see what a jealous God he is,
and how severely he punishes sin even in those that are nearest to
him: <i>It shall be an instruction to the nations,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.15" parsed="|Ezek|5|15|0|0" passage="Eze 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Jerusalem should have
taught her neighbours the fear of God by her piety and virtue, but,
she not doing that, God will teach it to them by her ruin; for they
have reason to say, <i>If this be done in the green tree, what
shall be done in the dry?</i> If <i>judgment begin at the house of
God,</i> where will it end? If those be thus punished who only had
some idolaters among them, what will become of us who are all
idolaters? Note, The destruction of some is designed for the
instruction of others. Malefactors are publicly punished <i>in
terrorem</i>—<i>that others may take warning.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p16" shownumber="no">4. These punishments, in the kind of them,
shall be very severe and grievous. (1.) They shall be such as have
no precedent or parallel. Their sins being more provoking than
those of others, the judgments executed upon them should be
uncommon (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.9" parsed="|Ezek|5|9|0|0" passage="Eze 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>):
<i>"I will do in thee that which I have not done</i> in thee
before, though thou hast long since deserved it; nay, that which I
have not done in any other city." This punishment of Jerusalem is
said to be <i>greater than that of Sodom</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.6" parsed="|Lam|4|6|0|0" passage="La 4:6">Lam. iv. 6</scripRef>), which was more grievous than all
that went before it; nay, it is such as "<i>I will not do any more
the like,</i> all the circumstances taken in, to any other city,
till the like come to be done again to this city, in the final
overthrow by the Romans." This is a rhetorical expression of the
most grievous judgments, like that character of Hezekiah, that
there was <i>none like him, before or after him.</i> (2.) They
shall be such as will force them to break the strongest bonds of
natural affection to one another, which will be a just punishment
of them for their wilfully breaking the bonds of their duty to God
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.10" parsed="|Ezek|5|10|0|0" passage="Eze 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>The
fathers shall eat the sons, and the sons shall eat the fathers,</i>
through the extremity of the famine, or shall be compelled to do it
by their barbarous conquerors. (3.) There shall be a complication
of judgments, any one of them terrible enough, and desolating; but
what then would they be when they came all together and in
perfection? Some shall be taken away by the plague (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.12" parsed="|Ezek|5|12|0|0" passage="Eze 5:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); the <i>pestilence
shall pass through thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), sweeping all before it, as the destroying angel;
others <i>shall be consumed with famine,</i> shall gradually waste
away as men in a consumption (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.12" parsed="|Ezek|5|12|0|0" passage="Eze 5:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); this is again insisted on
(<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.16" parsed="|Ezek|5|16|0|0" passage="Eze 5:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>I will
send upon them the evil arrows of famine;</i> hunger shall make
them pine, and shall pierce them to the heart, as if arrows,
<i>evil arrows,</i> poisoned darts, were shot into them. God has
many arrows, <i>evil arrows,</i> in his quiver; when some are
discharged, he has still more in reserve. <i>I will increase the
famine upon you.</i> A famine in a bereaved country may
<i>decrease</i> as fruits spring forth; but a famine in a besieged
city will <i>increase</i> of course; yet God speaks of it as his
act: "<i>I will increase it, and will break your staff of
bread,</i> will take away the necessary supports of life, will
disappoint you of all that which you depend upon, so that there is
no remedy, but you must fall to the ground." Life is frail, is
weak, is burdened, so that, if it have not daily bread for its
staff to lean upon, it cannot but sink, and is soon gone if that
staff be broken. Others <i>shall fall by the sword round about</i>
Jerusalem, when they sally out upon the besiegers; it is a
<i>sword</i> which God <i>will bring,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. The sword of the Lord, that
used to be drawn for Jerusalem's defence, is now drawn for its
destruction. Others are devoured by <i>evil beasts,</i> which will
make a prey of those that fly for shelter to the deserts and
mountains. They shall meet their ruin where they expected refuge,
for there is no escaping the judgments of God, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. And, <i>lastly,</i> those who
escape shall be <i>scattered into</i> all parts of the world,
<i>into all the winds</i> (so it is expressed, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.10 Bible:Ezek.5.12" parsed="|Ezek|5|10|0|0;|Ezek|5|12|0|0" passage="Eze 5:10,12"><i>v.</i> 10, 12</scripRef>), intimating that they
should not only be dispersed, but hurried, and tossed, and driven
to and fro, as <i>chaff before the wind.</i> Nay, and Cain's curse
(to be fugitives and vagabonds) is not the worst of it neither;
their restless life shall be cut off by a bloody death: "<i>I will
draw out a sword after them,</i> which shall follow them wherever
they go." <i>Evil pursues sinners;</i> and the curse shall come
upon them and overtake them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p17" shownumber="no">5. These punishments will prove their ruin
by degrees. They shall be <i>diminished</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.11" parsed="|Ezek|5|11|0|0" passage="Eze 5:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>); their strength and glory shall
grow less and less. They shall be <i>bereaved</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), emptied of all that
which was their joy and confidence. God sends these judgments on
purpose to destroy them, <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.16" parsed="|Ezek|5|16|0|0" passage="Eze 5:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. The arrows are not sent (as those which Jonathan
shot) for their direction, but <i>for their destruction;</i> for
God will <i>accomplish his fury upon them</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.13" parsed="|Ezek|5|13|0|0" passage="Eze 5:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); the day of God's patience is
over, and the ruin is remediless. Though this prophecy was to have
its accomplishment now quickly, in the destruction of Jerusalem by
the Chaldeans, yet the executioners not being named here, but the
criminal only (<i>this is Jerusalem</i>), we may well suppose that
it looks further, to the final destruction of that great city by
the Romans when God made a full end of the Jewish nation, and
<i>caused his fury to rest upon them.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.vi-p18" shownumber="no">6. All this is ratified by the divine
authority and veracity: <i>I the Lord have spoken it,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.15" parsed="|Ezek|5|15|0|0" passage="Eze 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef> and again <scripRef id="Ez.vi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.17" parsed="|Ezek|5|17|0|0" passage="Eze 5:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. The sentence is passed
by him that is Judge of heaven and earth, whose <i>judgment is
according to truth,</i> and the judgments of whose hand are
according to the judgments of his mouth. He has spoken it who can
do it, for with him nothing is impossible. He has spoken it who
will do it, for <i>he is not a man that he should lie.</i> He has
spoken it whom we are bound to hear and heed, whose <i>ipse
dixit—word</i> commands the most serious attention and submissive
assent: <i>And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.vi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.5.13" parsed="|Ezek|5|13|0|0" passage="Eze 5:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. There were
those who thought it was only the prophet that spoke it in his
delirium; but God will make them know, by the accomplishment of it,
that he has spoken it in his zeal. Note, Sooner or later, God's
word will prove itself.</p>
</div></div2>