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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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God was, in the foregoing chapter, reckoning with the people of Judah,
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and bringing ruin upon them for their treachery in breaking covenant
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with him; in this chapter he is reckoning with the king of Judah for
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his treachery in breaking covenant with the king of Babylon; for when
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God came to contend with them he found many grounds of his controversy.
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The thing was now in doing: Zedekiah was practising with the king of
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Egypt underhand for assistance in a treacherous project he had formed
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to shake off the yoke of the king of Babylon, and violate the homage
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and fealty he had sworn to him. For this God by the prophet here,
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I. Threatens the ruin of him and his kingdom, by a parable of two
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eagles and a vine
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>),
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and the explanation of that parable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:11-21">ver. 11-21</A>.
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But, in the close,
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II. He promises hereafter to raise the royal family of Judah again, the
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house of David, in the Messiah and his kingdom,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:22-24">ver. 22-24</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Parable of the Eagles; The Parable Explained; Ruin of Zedekiah Predicted.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the
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house of Israel;
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3 And say, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; A great eagle with great
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wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours,
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came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
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4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it
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into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
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5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a
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fruitful field; he placed <I>it</I> by great waters, <I>and</I> set it <I>as</I>
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a willow tree.
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6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature,
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whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were
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under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and
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shot forth sprigs.
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7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many
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feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him,
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and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by
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the furrows of her plantation.
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8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might
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bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might
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be a goodly vine.
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9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Shall it prosper? shall he
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not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof,
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that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring,
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even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the
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roots thereof.
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10 Yea, behold, <I>being</I> planted, shall it prosper? shall it not
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utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither
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in the furrows where it grew.
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11 Moreover the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these
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<I>things mean?</I> tell <I>them,</I> Behold, the king of Babylon is come
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to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes
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thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
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13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with
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him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty
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of the land:
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14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift
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itself up, <I>but</I> that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
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15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into
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Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he
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prosper? shall he escape that doeth such <I>things?</I> or shall he
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break the covenant, and be delivered?
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16 <I>As</I> I live, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, surely in the place <I>where</I>
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the king <I>dwelleth</I> that made him king, whose oath he despised,
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and whose covenant he brake, <I>even</I> with him in the midst of
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Babylon he shall die.
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17 Neither shall Pharaoh with <I>his</I> mighty army and great
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company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and
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building forts, to cut off many persons:
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18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when,
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lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these <I>things,</I> he
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shall not escape.
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19 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; <I>As</I> I live, surely mine
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oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken,
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even it will I recompense upon his own head.
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20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in
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my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with
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him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
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21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the
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sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds:
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and ye shall know that I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have spoken <I>it.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We must take all these verses together, that we may have the parable
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and the explanation of it at one view before us, because they will
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illustrate one another.
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1. The prophet is appointed to <I>put forth a riddle</I> to the
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<I>house of Israel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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not to puzzle them, as Samson's riddle was put forth to the
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Philistines, not to hide the mind of God from them in obscurity, or to
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leave them in uncertainty about it, one advancing one conjecture and
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another another, as is usual in expounding riddles; no, he is
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immediately to tell them the meaning of it. <I>Let him that speaks in
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an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:13">1 Cor. xiv. 13</A>.
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But he must deliver this message in a riddle or parable that they might
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take the more notice of it, might be the more affected with it
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themselves, and might the better remember it and tell it to others. For
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these reasons God often used similitudes by his servants the prophets,
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and Christ himself <I>opened his mouth in parables.</I> Riddles and
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parables are used for an amusement to ourselves and an entertainment to
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our friends. The prophet must make use of these to see if in this dress
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the things of God might find acceptance, and insinuate themselves into
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the minds of a careless people. Note, Ministers should study to find
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out acceptable words, and try various methods to do good; and, as far
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as they have reason to think will be for edification, should both bring
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that which is familiar into their preaching and their preaching too
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into their familiar discourse, that there may not be so vast a
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dissimilitude as with some there is between what they say in the pulpit
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and what they say out.
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2. He is appointed to expound this riddle to <I>the rebellious
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house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Though being <I>rebellious</I> they might justly have been left in
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ignorance, to see and hear and not perceive, yet the thing shall be
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explained to them: <I>Know you not what these things mean?</I> Those
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that knew the story, and what was now in agitation, might make a shrewd
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guess at the meaning of this riddle, but, that they might be left
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without excuse, he is to give it to them in plain terms, stripped of
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the metaphor. But the enigma was first propounded for them to study on
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awhile, and to send to their friends at Jerusalem, that they might
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enquire after and expect the solution of it some time after.</P>
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<P>
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Let us now see what the matter of this message is.</P>
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<P>
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I. Nebuchadnezzar had some time ago carried off Jehoiachin, the same
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that was called <I>Jeconiah,</I> when he was but eighteen years of age
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and had reigned in Jerusalem but <I>three months,</I> him and his
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princes and great men, and had brought them captives to Babylon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+24:12">2 Kings xxiv. 12</A>.
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This in the parable is represented by an eagle's cropping the top and
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tender branch of <I>a cedar,</I> and carrying it into <I>a land of
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traffic,</I> a <I>city of merchants</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>),
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which is explained
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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The <I>king of Babylon</I> took the <I>king of Jerusalem,</I> who was
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no more able to resist him than a young twig of a tree is to contend
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with the strongest bird of prey, that easily crops it off, perhaps
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towards the making of <I>her nest.</I> Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel's
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vision, is <I>a lion,</I> the king of beasts
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:4">Dan. vii. 4</A>);
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there he has <I>eagle's wings,</I> so swift were his motions, so speedy
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were his conquests. Here, in this parable, he is <I>an eagle,</I> the
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king of birds, a <I>great eagle,</I> that lives upon spoil and rapine,
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whose young ones <I>suck up blood,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:30">Job xxxix. 30</A>.
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His dominion extends itself far and wide, like the great and long wings
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of an eagle; the people are numerous, for it is <I>full of
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feathers;</I> the court is splendid, for it has <I>divers colours,</I>
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which look like <I>embroidering,</I> as the word is. Jerusalem is
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Lebanon, a forest of houses, and very pleasant. The royal family is
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<I>the cedar;</I> Jehoiachin is the <I>top branch,</I> the <I>top of
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the young twigs,</I> which he crops off. Babylon is the <I>land of
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traffic</I> and <I>city of merchants</I> where it is set. And the king
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of Judah, being of the house of David, will think himself much degraded
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and disgraced to be lodged among tradesmen; but he must make the best
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of it.</P>
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<P>
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II. When he carried him to Babylon he made his uncle Zedekiah king in
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his room,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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His name was <I>Mattaniah--the gift of the Lord,</I> which
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Nebuchadnezzar changed into <I>Zedekiah--the justice of the Lord,</I>
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to remind him to be just like the God he called his, for fear of his
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justice. This was <I>one of the seed of the land,</I> a native, not a
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foreigner, not one of his Babylonian princes; he was <I>planted in a
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fruitful field,</I> for so Jerusalem as yet was; he <I>placed it by
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great waters,</I> where it would be likely to grow, like <I>a
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willow-tree,</I> which grows quickly, and grows best in moist ground,
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but is never designed nor expected to be a stately tree. He <I>set it
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with</I> care and <I>circumspection</I> (so some read it); he wisely
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provided that it might grow, but that it might not grow too big. <I>He
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took of the king's seed</I> (so it is explained,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
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and <I>made a covenant with him</I> that he should have the kingdom,
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and enjoy the regal power and dignity, provided he held it as his
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vassal, dependent on him and accountable to him. He <I>took an oath of
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him,</I> made him swear allegiance to him, swear by his own God, the
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God of Israel, that he would be a faithful tributary to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:13">2 Chron. xxxvi. 13</A>.
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He also <I>took away the mighty of the land,</I> the chief of the men
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of war, partly as hostages for the performance of the covenant, and
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partly that, the land being thereby weakened, the king might be the
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less able, and therefore the less in temptation, to break his league.
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What he designed we are told
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
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<I>That the kingdom might be base,</I> in respect both of honour and
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strength, might neither be a rival with its powerful neighbours, nor a
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terror to its feeble ones, as it had been, that <I>it might not left up
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itself</I> to vie with the kingdom of Babylon, or to bear down any of
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the petty states that were in subjection to it. But yet he designed
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that by <I>the keeping of this covenant it might stand,</I> and
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continue a kingdom. Hereby the pride and ambition of that haughty
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potentate would be gratified, who aimed to be <I>like the Most High</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+14:14">Isa. xiv. 14</A>),
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to have all about him subject to him. Now see here,
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1. How sad a change sin made with the royal family of Judah. Time was
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when all the nations about were tributaries to that; now that has not
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only lost its dominion over other nations, but has itself become a
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tributary. <I>How has the gold become dim!</I> Nations by sin sell
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their liberty, and princes their dignity, and <I>profane their crowns
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by casting them to the ground.</I>
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2. How wisely Zedekiah did for himself in accepting these terms, though
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they were dishonourable, when necessity brought him to it. A man may
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live very comfortably and contentedly, though he cannot bear a part,
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and make a figure, as formerly. A kingdom may stand firmly and safely,
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though it do not stand so high as it has sometimes done; and so may a
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family.</P>
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<P>
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III. Zedekiah, while he continued faithful to the king of Babylon, did
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very well, and, if he would but have reformed his kingdom, and returned
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to God and his duty, he would have done better, and by that means might
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soon have recovered his former dignity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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This plant grew, and though it was <I>set as a willow-tree,</I> and
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little account was made of it, yet it became <I>a spreading vine of low
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stature,</I> a great blessing to his own country, and his fruits
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<I>made glad their hearts;</I> and it is better to be a spreading vine
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of low stature than a lofty cedar of no use. Nebuchadnezzar was
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pleased, for <I>the branches turned towards him,</I> and rested on him
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as the vine on the wall, and he had his share of the fruits of this
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vine; <I>the roots thereof</I> too were <I>under him,</I> and at his
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disposal. The Jews had reason to be pleased, for they sat under their
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own vine, which <I>brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs,</I>
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and looked pleasant and promising. See how gradually the judgments of
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God came upon this provoking people, how God gave them respite and so
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gave them space to repent. He made <I>their kingdom base,</I> to try if
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that would humble them, before he made it no kingdom; yet left it easy
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for them, to try if that would win upon them to return to him, that the
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troubles threatened might be prevented.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Zedekiah knew not when he was well off, but grew impatient of the
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disgrace of being a tributary to the king of Babylon, and, to get clear
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of it, entered into a private league with the king of Egypt. He had no
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reason to complain that the king of Babylon put any new hardships upon
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him or improved his advantages against him, that he oppressed or
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impoverished his country, for, as the prophet had said before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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to aggravate his treachery, he shows again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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what a fair way he was in to be considerable: <I>He was planted in a
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good soil by great waters;</I> his family was likely enough to be built
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up, and his exchequer to be filled, in a little time, so that, if he
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had dealt faithfully, he might have been <I>a goodly vine.</I> But
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there was <I>another great eagle</I> that he had an affection for, and
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put a confidence in, and that was the <I>king of Egypt,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those two great potentates, the kings of Babylon and Egypt, were but
|
|
two great eagles, <I>birds of prey.</I> This great eagle of Egypt is
|
|
said to have <I>great wings,</I> but not to be <I>long-winged</I> as
|
|
the king of Babylon, because, though the kingdom of Egypt was strong,
|
|
yet it was not of such a vast extent as that of Babylon was. The great
|
|
eagle is said to have <I>many feathers,</I> much wealth and many
|
|
soldiers, which he depended upon as a substantial defence, but which
|
|
really were no more than so <I>may feathers.</I> Zedekiah, promising
|
|
himself liberty, made himself a vassal to the king of Egypt, foolishly
|
|
expecting ease by changing his master. Now <I>this vine</I> did
|
|
secretly and under-hand <I>bend her roots towards</I> the king of
|
|
Egypt, that great eagle, and after awhile did openly <I>shoot forth her
|
|
branches towards him,</I> give him an intimation how much she coveted
|
|
an alliance with him, <I>that he might water it by the furrows of her
|
|
plantation,</I> whereas it was <I>planted by great waters,</I> and did
|
|
not need any assistance from him. This is expounded,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon in <I>sending his
|
|
ambassadors into Egypt,</I> that they might <I>give him horses and much
|
|
people,</I> to enable him to contend with the king of Babylon. See what
|
|
a change sin had made with the people of God! God promised that they
|
|
should be a numerous people, as the sand of the sea; yet now, if their
|
|
king had occasion for <I>much people,</I> he must send to Egypt for
|
|
them, they being for sin <I>diminished and brought low,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:39">Ps. cvii. 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
See also the folly of fretful discontented spirits, that ruin
|
|
themselves by striving to better themselves, whereas they might be easy
|
|
and happy enough if they would but <I>make the best of that which
|
|
is.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. God here threatens Zedekiah with the utter destruction of him and
|
|
his kingdom, and, in displeasure against him, passes that doom upon him
|
|
for his treacherous revolt from the king of Babylon. This is
|
|
represented in the parable
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:9,19"><I>v.</I> 9, 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
by the <I>plucking up of this vine by the roots, the cutting off of the
|
|
fruit,</I> and <I>the withering of the leaves,</I> the leaves <I>of her
|
|
spring,</I> when they are in their greenness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:12">Job viii. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
before they begin in autumn to wither of themselves. The project shall
|
|
be blasted; it shall <I>utterly wither.</I> The affairs of this
|
|
perfidious prince shall be ruined past retrieve; as a vine when the
|
|
east wind blasts it, so that it shall be fit for nothing but the fire
|
|
(as we had it in that parable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+15:4"><I>ch.</I> xv. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
it shall wither even <I>in the furrows where it grew,</I> though they
|
|
were ever so well watered. It shall be destroyed <I>without great power
|
|
or many people to pluck it up;</I> for what need is there of raising
|
|
the militia to pluck up a vine? Note, God can bring great things to
|
|
pass without much ado. He needs not great power and many people to
|
|
effect his purposes; a handful will serve if he pleases. He can without
|
|
any difficulty ruin a sinful king and kingdom, and make no more of it
|
|
than we do of rooting up a tree that cumbers the ground. In the
|
|
explanation of the parable the sentence is very largely recorded:
|
|
<I>Shall be prosper?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Can he expect to do ill and fare well? Nay, shall he that does such
|
|
wicked things <I>escape?</I> Shall he <I>break the covenant, and be
|
|
delivered</I> from that vengeance which is the just punishment of his
|
|
treachery? No; can he expect to do ill and not suffer ill? Let him hear
|
|
his doom.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. It is ratified by the oath of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As I live, saith the Lord God, he shall die</I> for it. This
|
|
intimates how highly God resented the crime, and how sure and severe
|
|
the punishment of it would be. God <I>swears in his wrath,</I> as he
|
|
did
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:11">Ps. xcv. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, As God's promises are confirmed with an oath, for comfort to the
|
|
saints, so are his threatenings, for terror to the wicked. As sure as
|
|
God lives and is happy (I may add, and as long), so sure, so long,
|
|
shall impenitent sinners die and be miserable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It is justified by the heinousness of the crime he had been guilty
|
|
of.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He had been very ungrateful to his benefactor, who had <I>made him
|
|
king,</I> and undertook to protect him, had made him a prince when he
|
|
might as easily have made him a prisoner. Note, It is a sin against God
|
|
to be unkind to our friends and to lift up the heel against those that
|
|
have helped to raise us.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had been very false to him whom he had covenanted with. This is
|
|
mostly insisted on: He <I>despised the oath.</I> When his conscience or
|
|
friends reminded him of it he made a jest of it, put on a daring
|
|
resolution, and <I>broke it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:15,16,18,19"><I>v.</I> 15, 16, 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He broke through it, and took a pride in making nothing of it, as a
|
|
great tyrant in our own day, whose maxim (they say) it is, <I>That
|
|
princes ought not to be slaves to their word any further than it is for
|
|
their interest.</I> That which aggravated Zedekiah's perfidiousness was
|
|
that the oath by which he had bound himself to the king of Babylon was,
|
|
|
|
[1.] A solemn oath. An emphasis is laid upon this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When, lo, he had given his hand,</I> as a confederate with the king
|
|
of Babylon, not only as his subject, but as his friend, the joining of
|
|
hands being a token of the joining of hearts.
|
|
|
|
[2.] As sacred oath. God says
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
It is <I>my oath</I> that he has despised and <I>my covenant that he
|
|
has broken.</I> In every solemn oath God is appealed to as a witness of
|
|
the sincerity of him that swears, and invocated as a judge and revenger
|
|
of his treachery if he now swear falsely or at any time hereafter break
|
|
his oath. But the oath of allegiance to a prince is particularly called
|
|
<I>the oath of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:2">Eccl. viii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
as if that had something in it more sacred than another oath; for
|
|
princes are <I>ministers of God to us for good,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:4">Rom. xiii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now Zedekiah's breaking this oath and covenant is the sin which God
|
|
will <I>recompense upon his own head</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
the <I>trespass which he has trespassed against God,</I> for which God
|
|
will <I>plead with him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Perjury is a heinous sin and highly provoking to the God of
|
|
heaven. It would not serve for an excuse, <I>First,</I> That he who
|
|
took this oath was a king, a king of the house of David, whose liberty
|
|
and dignity might surely set him above the obligation of oaths. No;
|
|
though kings are gods to us, they are men to God, and not exempt from
|
|
his law and judgment. The prince is doubtless as firmly bound before
|
|
God to the people by his coronation-oath as the people are to the
|
|
princes by the oath of allegiance. <I>Secondly,</I> Nor that this oath
|
|
was sworn to the king of Babylon, a heathen prince, worse than a
|
|
heretic, with whom the church of Rome says, <I>No faith is to be
|
|
kept.</I> No; though Nebuchadnezzar was a worshipper of false gods, yet
|
|
the true God will avenge this quarrel when one of his worshippers
|
|
breaks his league with him; for truth is a debt due to all men; and, if
|
|
the professors of the true religion deal perfidiously with those of a
|
|
false religion, their profession will be so far from excusing, much
|
|
less justifying them, that it aggravates their sin, and God will the
|
|
more surely and severely punish it, because by it they give occasion to
|
|
the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme; as that Mahometan prince, who,
|
|
when the Christians broke their league with him, cried out, <I>O Jesus!
|
|
are these thy Christians? Thirdly,</I> Nor would it justify him that
|
|
the oath was extorted from him by a conqueror, for the covenant was
|
|
made upon a valuable consideration. He held his life and crown upon
|
|
this condition, that he should be faithful and bear true allegiance to
|
|
the king of Babylon; and, if he enjoy the benefit of his bargain, it is
|
|
very unjust if he do not observe the terms. Let him know then that,
|
|
having <I>despised the oath,</I> and <I>broken the covenant,</I> he
|
|
<I>shall not escape.</I> And if the contempt and violation of such an
|
|
oath, such a covenant as this, would be so punished, of how much sorer
|
|
punishment shall those be thought worthy who break covenant with God
|
|
(when, <I>lo, they had given their hand</I> upon it that they would be
|
|
faithful), who <I>tread under foot the blood</I> of that
|
|
<I>covenant</I> as an unholy thing? Between the covenants there is no
|
|
comparison.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. It is particularized in divers instances, wherein the punishment is
|
|
made to answer the sin.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He had rebelled against the king of Babylon, and the king of
|
|
Babylon should be his effectual conqueror. In the place where that king
|
|
<I>dwells</I> whose <I>covenant he broke,</I> even <I>with him in the
|
|
midst of Babylon he shall die,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
He thinks to get out of his hands, but he shall fall, more than before,
|
|
into his hands. God himself will now take part with the king of Babylon
|
|
against him: <I>I will spread my net upon him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
God has a net for those who deal perfidiously and think to escape his
|
|
righteous judgments, in which those shall be taken and held who would
|
|
not be held by the bond of an oath and covenant. Zedekiah dreaded
|
|
Babylon: "Thither I will bring him," says God, "and <I>plead with him
|
|
there.</I>" Men will justly be forced upon that calamity which they
|
|
endeavour by sin to flee from.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had <I>relied upon the king of Egypt,</I> and the king of Egypt
|
|
should be his ineffectual helper: <I>Pharaoh with his mighty army shall
|
|
not make for him in the war</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
shall to him no service, nor give any check to the progress of the
|
|
Chaldean forces; he shall not assist him in the <I>siege</I> by
|
|
<I>casting up mounts and building forts,</I> nor in battle by
|
|
<I>cutting off many person.</I> Note, Every creature is that to us
|
|
which God makes it to be; and he commonly weakens and withers that
|
|
<I>arm of flesh</I> which we trust in and stay ourselves upon. Now was
|
|
again fulfilled what was spoken on a former similar occasion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:7">Isa. xxx. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The Egyptians shall help in vain.</I> They did so; for though, upon
|
|
the approach of the Egyptian army, the Chaldeans withdrew from the
|
|
siege of Jerusalem, upon their retreat they returned to it again and
|
|
took it. It should seem, the Egyptians were not hearty, had strength
|
|
enough, but no good-will, to help Zedekiah. Note, Those who deal
|
|
treacherously with those who put a confidence in them will justly be
|
|
dealt treacherously with by those they put a confidence in. Yet the
|
|
Egyptians were not the only states Zedekiah stayed himself upon; he had
|
|
bands of his own to stand by him, but those bands, though we may
|
|
suppose they were veteran troops and the best soldiers his kingdom
|
|
afforded, shall become <I>fugitives,</I> shall quit their posts, and
|
|
make the best of their way, and shall <I>fall by the sword</I> of the
|
|
enemy, and the <I>remains of them shall be scattered,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was fulfilled <I>when the city was broken up and all the men of
|
|
war fled,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+52:7">Jer. lii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
This <I>you shall now that I the Lord have spoken it.</I> Note, Sooner
|
|
or later God's word will prove itself; and those who will not believe
|
|
shall find by experience the reality and weight of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze17_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze17_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze17_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; I will also take of the highest
|
|
branch of the high cedar, and will set <I>it;</I> I will crop off from
|
|
the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant <I>it</I> upon
|
|
a high mountain and eminent:
|
|
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and
|
|
it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly
|
|
cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the
|
|
shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
|
|
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have
|
|
dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish:
|
|
I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have spoken and have done <I>it.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
When the royal family of Judah was brought to desolation by the
|
|
captivity of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah it might be asked, "What has now
|
|
become of the covenant of royalty made with David, that <I>his children
|
|
should sit upon his throne for evermore?</I> Do the <I>sure mercies of
|
|
David</I> prove thus unsure?" To this it is sufficient for the
|
|
silencing of the objectors to answer that the promise was conditional.
|
|
If <I>they will keep my covenant,</I> then they shall continue,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+132:12">Ps. cxxxii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
But David's posterity broke the condition, and so forfeited the
|
|
promise. But the unbelief of man shall not invalidate the promise of
|
|
God. He will find out another <I>seed of David</I> in which it shall be
|
|
accomplished; and that is promised in these verses.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The house of David shall again be magnified, and out of its ashes
|
|
another phoenix shall arise. The metaphor of a tree, which was made us
|
|
of in the threatening, is here presented in the promise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This promise had its accomplishment in part when Zerubbabel, a branch
|
|
of the house of David, was raised up to head the Jews in their return
|
|
out of captivity, and to rebuild the city and temple and re-establish
|
|
their church and state; but it was to have its full accomplishment in
|
|
the kingdom of the Messiah, who was a root out of a dry ground, and to
|
|
whom God, according to promise, gave <I>the throne of his father
|
|
David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:32">Luke i. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. God himself undertakes the reviving and restoring of the house of
|
|
David. Nebuchadnezzar was the <I>great eagle</I> that had attempted the
|
|
re-establishing of the house of David in a dependence upon him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
But the attempt miscarried; his plantation withered and was plucked up.
|
|
"Well," says God, "the next shall be of my planting: <I>I will also
|
|
take of the highest branch of the high cedar and I will set it.</I>"
|
|
Note, As men have their designs, God also has his designs; but his will
|
|
prosper when theirs are blasted. Nebuchadnezzar prided himself in
|
|
setting up kingdoms at his pleasure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:19">Dan. v. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
But those kingdoms soon had an end, whereas the <I>God of heaven sets
|
|
up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:44">Dan. ii. 44</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The house of David is revived in a <I>tender one cropped from the
|
|
top of his young twigs.</I> Zerubbabel was so; that which was hopeful
|
|
in him was but the <I>day of small things</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+4:10">Zech. iv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet before him <I>great mountains</I> were <I>made plain.</I> Our Lord
|
|
Jesus was <I>the highest branch of the high cedar,</I> the furthest of
|
|
all from <I>the root</I> (for soon after he appeared the <I>house of
|
|
David</I> was all cut off and extinguished), but the nearest of all to
|
|
heaven, for his kingdom was not of this world. He was <I>taken from the
|
|
top of the young twigs,</I> for he is <I>the man, the branch, a
|
|
tender</I> plant, and a <I>root out of a dry ground</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:2">Isa. liii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
but a <I>branch of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may
|
|
be glorified.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. This branch is planted <I>in a high mountain</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
in the <I>mountain of the height of Israel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thither he brought Zerubbabel in triumph; there he raised up his son
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Jesus, sent him to gather the <I>lost sheep of the house of Israel</I>
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that were <I>scattered upon the mountains,</I> set him <I>his king</I>
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upon <I>his holy hill of Zion,</I> sent forth the gospel from <I>Mount
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Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;</I> there, in the <I>height
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|
of Israel,</I> a nation which all its neighbours had an eye upon as
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|
conspicuous and illustrious, was the Christian church first planted.
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The churches of Judea were the most primitive churches. The unbelieving
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Jews did what they could to prevent its being planted there; but who
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can pluck up what God will plant?
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4. Thence it spreads far and wide. The Jewish state, though it began
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|
very low in Zerubbabel's time, was set as a tender branch, which might
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|
easily be plucked up, yet took root, spread strangely, and after some
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|
time became very considerable; those of other nations, <I>fowl of every
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|
wing,</I> put themselves under the protection of it. The Christian
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|
church was at first like a grain of mustard-seed, but became, like this
|
|
tender branch, a great tree, its beginning small, but its latter end
|
|
increasing to admiration. When the Gentiles flocked into the church
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|
then did the <I>fowl of every wing</I> (even the birds of prey, which
|
|
those preyed upon, as the <I>wolf and the lamb</I> feeding together,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+11:6">Isa. xi. 6</A>)
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come and <I>dwell under the shadow of this goodly cedar.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:21">Dan. iv. 21</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. God himself will herein be glorified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
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The setting up of the Messiah's kingdom in the world shall discover
|
|
more clearly than ever to the children of men that <I>God is the King
|
|
of all the earth,</I>
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|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+47:7">Ps. xlvii. 7</A>.
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|
Never was there a more full conviction given of this truth, that all
|
|
things are governed by an infinitely wise and mighty Providence, than
|
|
that which was given by the exaltation of Christ and the establishment
|
|
of his kingdom among men; for by that it appeared that God has all
|
|
hearts in his hand, and the sovereign disposal of all affairs. <I>All
|
|
the trees of the field shall know,</I>
|
|
|
|
1. That the tree which God will have to be <I>brought down,</I> and
|
|
<I>dried up,</I> shall be so, though it be ever so high and stately,
|
|
ever so green and flourishing. Neither honour nor wealth, neither
|
|
external advancements nor internal endowments, will secure men from
|
|
humbling withering providence.
|
|
|
|
2. That the tree which God will have to be exalted, and to flourish,
|
|
shall so be, shall so do, though ever so low, and ever so dry. The
|
|
house of Nebuchadnezzar, that now makes so great a figure, shall be
|
|
extirpated, and the house of David, that now makes so mean a figure,
|
|
shall become famous again; and the Jewish nation, that is now
|
|
despicable, shall be considerable. The kingdom of Satan, that has borne
|
|
so long, so large, a sway, shall be broken, and the kingdom of Christ,
|
|
that was looked upon with contempt, shall be established. The Jews,
|
|
who, in respect of church-privileges, had been high and green, shall be
|
|
thrown out, and the Gentiles, who had been low and dry trees, shall be
|
|
taken in their room,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:1">Isa. liv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
All the enemies of Christ shall be abased and made his footstool, and
|
|
his interests shall be confirmed and advanced: <I>I the Lord have
|
|
spoken</I> (it is the decree, the declared decree, that Christ must be
|
|
exalted, must be the headstone of the corner), and <I>I have done
|
|
it,</I> that is, I will do it in due time, but it is as sure to be done
|
|
as if it were done already. With men <I>saying and doing are two
|
|
things,</I> but they are not so with God. What he has spoken we may be
|
|
sure that he will do, nor shall one iota or tittle of his word fall to
|
|
the ground, for <I>he is not a man, that he should lie, or the son of
|
|
man, that he should repent</I> either of his threatenings or of his
|
|
promises.</P>
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