mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 13.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xiv" n="xiv" next="Ez.xv" prev="Ez.xiii" progress="54.41%" title="Chapter XIII">
<h2 id="Ez.xiv-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xiv-p0.2">CHAP. XIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xiv-p1" shownumber="no">Mention had been made, in the chapter before, of
the vain visions and flattering divinations with which the people
of Israel suffered themselves to be imposed upon (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.24" parsed="|Ezek|13|24|0|0" passage="Eze 13:24">ver. 24</scripRef>); now this whole chapter is
levelled against them. God's faithful prophets are nowhere so sharp
upon any sort of sinners as upon the false prophets, not because
they were the most spiteful enemies to them, but because they put
the highest affront upon God and did the greatest mischief to his
people. The prophet here shows the sin and punishment, I. Of the
false prophets, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.1-Ezek.13.16" parsed="|Ezek|13|1|13|16" passage="Eze 13:1-16">ver.
1-16</scripRef>. II. Of the false prophetesses, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.17-Ezek.13.23" parsed="|Ezek|13|17|13|23" passage="Eze 13:17-23">ver. 17-23</scripRef>. Both agreed to sooth men up
in their sins, and, under pretence of comforting God's people, to
flatter them with hopes that they should yet have peace; but the
prophets shall be proved liars, their prophecies mere shams, and
the expectations of the people illusions; for God will let them
know that "the deceived and the deceiver are his," are both
accountable to him, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.16" parsed="|Job|12|16|0|0" passage="Job 12:16">Job xii.
16</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13" parsed="|Ezek|13|0|0|0" passage="Eze 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.1-Ezek.13.9" parsed="|Ezek|13|1|13|9" passage="Eze 13:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xiv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xiv-p1.8">The Guilt of False Prophets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   2 Son of man,
prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou
unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.2">Lord</span>;   3 Thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.3">God</span>; Woe unto the foolish
prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
  4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
  5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the
hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.4">Lord</span>.   6 They have seen
vanity and lying divination, saying, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.5">Lord</span> saith: and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.6">Lord</span> hath not sent them: and they have made
<i>others</i> to hope that they would confirm the word.   7
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying
divination, whereas ye say, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.7">Lord</span>
saith <i>it;</i> albeit I have not spoken?   8 Therefore thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.8">God</span>; Because ye have
spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I <i>am</i>
against you, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.9">God</span>.
  9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity,
and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my
people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house
of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye
shall know that I <i>am</i> the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p2.10">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p3" shownumber="no">The false prophets, who are here prophesied
against, were some of them at Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.14" parsed="|Jer|23|14|0|0" passage="Jer 23:14">Jer. xxiii. 14</scripRef>): <i>I have seen in the
prophets at Jerusalem a horrible thing;</i> some of them among the
captives in Babylon, for to them Jeremiah writes (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.29.8" parsed="|Jer|29|8|0|0" passage="Jer 29:8">Jer. xxix. 8</scripRef>), <i>Let not your
diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you.</i> And as
God's prophets, though at a distance from each other in place or
time, yet preached the same truths, which was an evidence that they
were guided by one and the same good Spirit, so the false prophets
prophesied the same lies, being actuated by one and the same spirit
of error. There were little hopes of bringing them to repentance,
they were so hardened in their sin; yet Ezekiel must prophesy
against them, in hopes that the people might be cautioned not to
hearken to them; and thus a testimony will be left upon record
against them, and they will thereby be left inexcusable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p4" shownumber="no">Ezekiel had express orders to <i>prophesy
against the prophets of Israel;</i> so they called themselves, as
if none but they had been worthy of the name of Israel's prophets,
who were indeed Israel's deceivers. But it is observable that
Israel was never imposed upon by pretenders to prophecy till after
they had rejected and abused the true prophets; as, afterwards,
they were never deluded by counterfeit messiahs till after they had
refused the true Messiah and rejected him. These false prophets
must be required to <i>hear the word of the Lord.</i> They took
upon them to speak what concerned others as from God; let them now
hear what concerned themselves as from him. And two things the
prophet is directed to do:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p5" shownumber="no">I. To discover their sin to them, and to
convince them of that if possible, or thereby to prevent their
proceeding any further, by making <i>manifest their folly unto all
men,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.3.9" parsed="|2Tim|3|9|0|0" passage="2Ti 3:9">2 Tim. iii. 9</scripRef>. They
are here called <i>foolish prophets</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.3" parsed="|Ezek|13|3|0|0" passage="Eze 13:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), men that did not at all
understand the business they pretended to; to make fools of the
people they made fools of themselves, and put the greatest cheat
upon their own souls. Let us see what is here laid to their charge.
1. They pretend to have a commission from God, whereas he never
sent them. They thrust themselves into the prophetic office,
without warrant from him who is <i>the Lord God</i> of the holy
prophets, which was a foolish thing; for how could they expect that
God should own them in a work to which he never called them? They
are <i>prophets out of their own hearts</i> (so the margin reads
it, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.2" parsed="|Ezek|13|2|0|0" passage="Eze 13:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), prophets
of their own making, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.6" parsed="|Ezek|13|6|0|0" passage="Eze 13:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. <i>They say, The Lord saith;</i> they pretend to be
his messengers, but <i>the Lord has not sent them,</i> has not
given them any orders. They counterfeit the broad seal of heaven,
than which they cannot do a greater indignity to mankind, for
hereby they put a reproach upon divine revelation, lessen its
credit, and weaken its credibility. When these pretenders are found
to be deceivers, atheists and infidels will thence infer, They are
all so. <i>The Lord has not sent them;</i> for though crafty enough
in other things <i>like the foxes,</i> and very wise for the world,
yet they are <i>foolish prophets</i> and have no experimental
acquaintance with the things of God. Note, Foolish prophets are not
of God's sending, for whom he sends he either finds fit or makes
fit. Where he gives warrant he gives wisdom. 2. They pretend to
have instructions from God, whereas he never made himself and his
mind known to them: <i>They followed their own spirit</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.3" parsed="|Ezek|13|3|0|0" passage="Eze 13:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>); they
delivered that as a message from God which was the product either
of their subtle invention, to serve a turn for themselves, or of
their own crazed and heated imagination, to give vent to a fancy.
For <i>they have seen nothing,</i> they have not really had any
heavenly vision; they pretend that what they say <i>the Lord saith
it,</i> but God disowns it: "<i>I have not spoken it,</i> I never
said it, never meant any such thing." What they delivered was not
what they had seen or heard, as that is which the ministers of
Christ deliver (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.1" parsed="|1John|1|1|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:1">1 John i.
1</scripRef>), but either what they had dreamed or what they
thought would please those they coveted to make an interest in;
this is called their <i>seeing vanity and lying divination</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.6" parsed="|Ezek|13|6|0|0" passage="Eze 13:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); they
pretended to have seen that which they did not see, and produced
that as a divine truth which they knew to be false. To the same
purport (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.7" parsed="|Ezek|13|7|0|0" passage="Eze 13:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>):
<i>You have see a vain vision and spoken a lying divination,</i>
which had no divine original and would have no effect, but would
certainly be disproved by the event; the words are changed
(<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.8" parsed="|Ezek|13|8|0|0" passage="Eze 13:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>You have
spoken vanity and seen lies;</i> what they saw and what they said
was all alike, a mere sham; they saw nothing, they said nothing, to
the purpose, nothing that could be relied on or that deserved
regard. Again (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.9" parsed="|Ezek|13|9|0|0" passage="Eze 13:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), They <i>see vanity and divine lies;</i> they
pretended to have had visions, as the true prophets had, whereas
really they had none, but either it was the creature of their own
fancy (they thought they had a vision, as men in a delirium do,
that was <i>seeing vanity</i>) or it was a fiction of their own
politics, and they knew they had none, and then they <i>saw lies,
and divined lies.</i> See <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.16" parsed="|Jer|23|16|0|0" passage="Jer 23:16">Jer. xxiii.
16</scripRef>, &amp;c. Note, Since the devil is universally know to
be the father of lies, those put the highest affront imaginable
upon God who tell lies, and then father them upon him. But those
that had put God's character upon Satan, in worshipping devils,
arrived at length at such a pitch of impiety as to put Satan's
character upon God. 3. They took no care to prevent the judgments
of God that were breaking in upon the kingdom. They are like <i>the
foxes in the deserts,</i> running to and fro, and seeming to be in
a great hurry, but it was to get away and shift for their own
safety, not to do any good: <i>The hireling flees, and leaves the
sheep.</i> They are like foxes that are greedy of prey for
themselves, crafty and cruel to feed themselves. But (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.5" parsed="|Ezek|13|5|0|0" passage="Eze 13:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), "You <i>have not gone
up into the gaps, nor made up the hedge of the house of Israel.</i>
A breach is made in their fences, at which judgments are ready to
pour in upon them, and then, if ever, is the time to do them
service; but you have done nothing to help them." They should have
made intercession for them, to turn away the wrath of God; but they
were not praying prophets, had no interest in heaven nor
intercourse with heaven (as prophets used to have, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.7" parsed="|Gen|20|7|0|0" passage="Ge 20:7">Gen. xx. 7</scripRef>) and so could do them no
service that way. They should have made it their business by
preaching and advice to bring people to repentance and reformation,
and so have <i>made up the hedge,</i> and put a stop to the
judgments of God; but this was none of their care: they contrived
how to pleased people, not how to profit them. They saw a deluge of
profaneness and impiety breaking in upon the land, waging war with
virtue and holiness, and threatening to crush them and bear them
down, and then they should have come in <i>to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty,</i> by witnessing
against the wickedness of the time and place they lived in; but
they thought that would be as dangerous a piece of service as
standing in a breach to make it good against the besiegers, and
therefore they declined it, did nothing to stem the tide, stood not
in the battle against vice and immorality, but basely deserted the
cause of religion and reformation, <i>in the day of the Lord,</i>
when it was proclaimed, <i>Who is on the Lord's side? Who will rise
up for me against the evil-doers?</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.16" parsed="|Ps|94|16|0|0" passage="Ps 94:16">Ps. xciv. 16</scripRef>. Those were unworthy the name of
prophets that could think so favourably of sin, and had so little
zeal for God and the public welfare. 4. They flattered people into
a vain hope that the judgments God had threatened would never come,
whereby they hardened those in sin whom they should have
endeavoured to turn from sin (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.6" parsed="|Ezek|13|6|0|0" passage="Eze 13:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>They have made others to
hope</i> that all should be well, and they should have peace,
though they went on still in their trespasses, and that the event
would confirm the word. They were still ready to say, "We will
warrant you that these troubles will be at an end quickly, and we
shall be in prosperity again." as if their warrants would confirm
false prophecies, in defiance of God himself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p6" shownumber="no">II. He is directed to denounce the
judgments of God against them for these sins, from which their
pretending to the character of prophets would not exempt them. 1.
In general, here is a <i>woe</i> against them (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.3" parsed="|Ezek|13|3|0|0" passage="Eze 13:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and what that woe is we are
told (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.8" parsed="|Ezek|13|8|0|0" passage="Eze 13:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>).
<i>Behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God.</i> Note, Those
are in a woeful condition that have God against them. Woe, and a
thousand woes, to those that have made him their enemy. 2. In
particular, they are sentenced to be excluded from all the
privileges of the commonwealth of Israel, for they are adjudged to
have forfeited them all (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.9" parsed="|Ezek|13|9|0|0" passage="Eze 13:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): God's <i>hand shall be upon them,</i> to seize them
and bring them to his bar, to shut them out from his presence, and
they will find it a <i>fearful thing to fall into his hands.</i>
They pretend to be prophets, particular favourites of heaven, and
authorized to preside in the congregation of his church on earth;
but, by pretending to the honours they were not entitled to, they
lost those that otherwise they might have enjoyed, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.19" parsed="|Matt|5|19|0|0" passage="Mt 5:19">Matt. v. 19</scripRef>. Their doom is, (1.) To be
expelled from the communion of saints, and not to be looked upon as
belonging to it: <i>They shall not be in the secret of my
people;</i> their folly shall be so clearly manifested that they
shall never be consulted, nor their advice asked; they shall not be
present at any debates about public affairs. Or, rather, they shall
not be in the assembly of God's people for religious worship, for
they shall be ashamed to show their heads there, when they are
proved by the events to be false prophets, and, like Cain, shall
<i>go out from the presence of the Lord.</i> The people that are
deceived by them shall abandon them, and resolve to have no more to
do with them. Those that usurped Moses's chair shall not be allowed
so much as a door-keeper's place. In the great day they shall
<i>not stand in the congregation of the righteous</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.5" parsed="|Ps|1|5|0|0" passage="Ps 1:5">Ps. i. 5</scripRef>), when God <i>gathers his
saints together to him</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.5 Bible:Ps.50.16" parsed="|Ps|50|5|0|0;|Ps|50|16|0|0" passage="Ps 50:5,16">Ps. l.
5, 16</scripRef>), <i>to be for ever with him.</i> (2.) To be
expunged out of the book of the living. They shall die in their
captivity, and shall die childless, shall leave no posterity to
take their denomination from them, and so their names shall not be
found among those who either themselves or their posterity returned
out of Babylon, of whom a particular account was kept in a public
register, which was called <i>the writing of the house of
Israel,</i> such as we have <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.2.1-Ezra.2.70" parsed="|Ezra|2|1|2|70" passage="Ezr 2:1-70">Ezra
ii.</scripRef> They shall not be found among the living in
Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.4.3" parsed="|Isa|4|3|0|0" passage="Isa 4:3">Isa. iv. 3</scripRef>. Or
they shall not be found written among those whom God has from
eternity chosen to be vessels of his mercy to eternity. We read of
those who <i>prophesied in Christ's name,</i> and yet he will tell
them that he <i>never knew them</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.22-Matt.7.23" parsed="|Matt|7|22|7|23" passage="Mt 7:22,23">Matt. vii. 22, 23</scripRef>), because they were not
among those that were <i>given to him.</i> The Chaldee paraphrase
reads it, <i>They shall not be written in the writing of eternal
life, which is written for the righteous of the house of
Israel.</i> See <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.69.28" parsed="|Ps|69|28|0|0" passage="Ps 69:28">Ps. lxix.
28</scripRef>. (3.) To be for ever excluded from the land of
Israel. God has <i>sworn in his wrath</i> concerning them that
<i>they shall never enter</i> with the returning captives into the
land of Canaan, which a second time remains a rest for them. Note,
Those who oppose the design of God's threatenings, and will not be
awed and influenced by them, forfeit the benefit of his promises,
and cannot expect to be comforted and encouraged by them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xiv-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.10-Ezek.13.16" parsed="|Ezek|13|10|13|16" passage="Eze 13:10-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xiv-p6.12">
<h4 id="Ez.xiv-p6.13">The Punishment of False Prophets; The Doom
of False Prophets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p6.14">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xiv-p7" shownumber="no">10 Because, even because they have seduced my
people, saying, Peace; and <i>there was</i> no peace; and one built
up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered <i>mortar:</i>
  11 Say unto them which daub <i>it</i> with untempered
<i>mortar,</i> that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing
shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind
shall rend <i>it.</i>   12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall
it not be said unto you, Where <i>is</i> the daubing wherewith ye
have daubed <i>it?</i>   13 Therefore thus saith the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p7.1">God</span>; I will even rend <i>it</i> with
a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower
in mine anger, and great hailstones in <i>my</i> fury to consume
<i>it.</i>   14 So will I break down the wall that ye have
daubed with untempered <i>mortar,</i> and bring it down to the
ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it
shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye
shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p7.2">Lord</span>.   15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath
upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered
<i>mortar,</i> and will say unto you, The wall <i>is</i> no
<i>more,</i> neither they that daubed it;   16 <i>To wit,</i>
the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and
which see visions of peace for her, and <i>there is</i> no peace,
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p7.3">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p8" shownumber="no">We have here more plain dealing with the
false prophets, and some further articles of their doom. We have
seen the people made ashamed of the false prophets (though
sometimes they had been fond of them) and casting them away, as
they shall do their false gods, with indignation; now here we find
them as much ashamed of their false prophecies, which they had
sometimes depended upon with much assurance. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p9" shownumber="no">I. How the people are deceived by the false
prophets. Those flatterers seduce them, saying, <i>Peace, and there
was no peace,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.10" parsed="|Ezek|13|10|0|0" passage="Eze 13:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. They pretended to have <i>seen visions of peace,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.16" parsed="|Ezek|13|16|0|0" passage="Eze 13:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. But that
could not be, for <i>there was no peace, saith the Lord God.</i>
There was no prosperity designed for them, and therefore there
could be no ground for their security; yet they told them that God
was at peace with them, and had mercy in reserve for them, and that
the war they were engaged in with the Chaldeans should soon end in
an honourable peace, and their land should enjoy a happy repose and
tranquillity. They told the idolaters and other sinners that there
was neither harm nor danger in the way they were in. Thus they
<i>seduced God's people;</i> they put a cheat upon them, led them
into mistakes, and drew them aside out of that way of repentance
and reformation which the other prophets were endeavouring to bring
them into. Note, Those are the most dangerous seducers who suggest
to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin and their
fear of God. Now this is compared to the building of a slight
rotten wall, or, according to our Saviour's similitude, which is to
the same purport with this (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.26" parsed="|Matt|7|26|0|0" passage="Mt 7:26">Matt. vii.
26</scripRef>), the <i>building of a house upon the sand,</i> which
seems to be a shelter and protection for a while, but will fall
when a storm comes. One false prophet built the wall, set up the
notion that God was not at all displeased with Jerusalem, but that
the city should be confirmed in its flourishing state, and be
victorious over the powers that now threatened it. This notion was
very pleasing, and he that started it made himself very acceptable
by it and was caressed by every body, which invited others to say
the same. They made the matter look yet more plausible and
promising; they <i>daubed the wall,</i> which the first had built,
but it was with <i>untempered mortar,</i> sorry stuff, that will
not bind nor hold the bricks together; they had no ground for what
they said, nor had it any consistency with itself, but was like
ropes of sand. They did not strengthen the wall, were in no care to
make it firm, to see that they went upon sure grounds; they only
daubed it to hide the cracks and make it look well to the eye. And
the wall thus built, when it comes to any stress, much more to any
distress, will bulge and totter, and come down by degrees. Note,
Doctrines that are groundless, though ever so grateful, that are
not built upon a scripture foundation nor fastened with a scripture
cement, though ever so plausible, ever so pleasing, are not of any
worth, nor will stand men in any stead; and those hopes of peace
and happiness which are not warranted by the word of God will but
cheat men, like a wall that is well daubed indeed, but
ill-built.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p10" shownumber="no">II. How they will be soon undeceived by the
judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth. 1. God
will in anger bring a terrible storm that shall beat fiercely and
furiously upon the wall. The descent which the Chaldean army shall
make upon Judah, and the siege which they shall lay to Jerusalem,
will be as <i>an overflowing shower,</i> or inundation (such as
Solomon calls a <i>sweeping rain that leaves no food,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.3" parsed="|Prov|28|3|0|0" passage="Pr 28:3">Prov. xxviii. 3</scripRef>), will bear down all
before it, as the deluge did in Noah's time: <i>You, O great
hailstones! shall fall,</i> the artillery of heaven, every
hailstone like a cannon-ball, battering this wall, and with these a
<i>stormy wind,</i> which is sometimes so strong as to <i>rend the
rocks</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.11" parsed="|1Kgs|19|11|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:11">1 Kings xix.
11</scripRef>), much more an ill-built wall, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.11" parsed="|Ezek|13|11|0|0" passage="Eze 13:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. But that which makes this
<i>rain,</i> and <i>hail,</i> and <i>wind,</i> most terrible is
that they arise from the wrath of God, and are enforced by that; it
is that which sends them; it is that which gives them the setting
on (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.13" parsed="|Ezek|13|13|0|0" passage="Eze 13:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); it is
<i>a stormy wind in my fury,</i> and <i>an overflowing shower in my
anger,</i> and <i>great hailstones in my fury.</i> The fury of
Nebuchadnezzar and his princes, who highly resented Zedekiah's
treachery, made the invasion very formidable, but that was nothing
in comparison with God's displeasure. <i>The staff in their hand is
my indignation,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.5" parsed="|Isa|10|5|0|0" passage="Isa 10:5">Isa. x.
5</scripRef>. Note, An angry God has winds and storms at command
wherewith to alarm secure sinners; and his wrath makes them
frightful and forcible indeed; for <i>who can stand before him when
he is angry?</i> 2. This storm shall overturn the wall: <i>it shall
fall,</i> and the wind shall <i>rend it</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.11" parsed="|Ezek|13|11|0|0" passage="Eze 13:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), the <i>hailstones shall
consume it</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.13" parsed="|Ezek|13|13|0|0" passage="Eze 13:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>); I will <i>break it down</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.14" parsed="|Ezek|13|14|0|0" passage="Eze 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>) and <i>bring it to the
ground,</i> so that the <i>foundation thereof shall be
discovered;</i> it will appear how false, how rotten it was, to the
prophetical reproach of the builders. When the Chaldean army has
made Judah and Jerusalem desolate then this credit of the prophets,
and the hopes of the people, will both sink together; the former
will be found false in flattering the people and the latter foolish
in suffering themselves to be imposed upon by them, and so exposed
to so much the greater confusion, when the judgment shall surprise
them in their security. Note, Whatever men think to shelter
themselves with against the judgments of God, while they continue
unreformed, will prove but a <i>refuge of lies</i> and will not
profit them <i>in the day of wrath.</i> See <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.17" parsed="|Isa|28|17|0|0" passage="Isa 28:17">Isa. xxviii. 17</scripRef>. Men's anger cannot shake
that which God has built (for <i>the blast of the terrible ones is
but as a storm against the wall,</i> which makes a great noise, but
never stirs the wall; see <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.4" parsed="|Isa|25|4|0|0" passage="Isa 25:4">Isa. xxv.
4</scripRef>), but God's anger will overthrow that which men have
built in opposition to him. They and all their attempts, they and
all the securities wherein they intrench themselves, shall be <i>as
a bowing wall and as a tottering fence</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.62.3 Bible:Ps.62.10" parsed="|Ps|62|3|0|0;|Ps|62|10|0|0" passage="Ps 62:3,10">Ps. lxii. 3, 10</scripRef>); and when their vain
predictions are disproved, and their vain expectations
disappointed, then it will be discovered that there was no ground
for either, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.12" osisRef="Bible:Hab.3.13" parsed="|Hab|3|13|0|0" passage="Hab 3:13">Hab. iii. 13</scripRef>.
The <i>day will declare</i> what every man's work is, and <i>the
fire will try</i> it, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.13" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.13" parsed="|1Cor|3|13|0|0" passage="1Co 3:13">1 Cor. iii.
13</scripRef>. 3. The builders of the wall, and those that daubed
it, will themselves be buried in the ruins of it: <i>It shall fall,
and you shall</i> be <i>consumed in the midst thereof,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.14" parsed="|Ezek|13|14|0|0" passage="Eze 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. And thus the
threatenings of God's wrath, and all the just intentions of it,
shall be accomplished to the uttermost, both upon <i>the wall</i>
and upon those <i>that have daubed it,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.15" parsed="|Ezek|13|15|0|0" passage="Eze 13:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. The same judgments that will
prove the false prophets to be false will punish them for their
falsehood; and they themselves shall be involved in the calamity
which they made the people believe there was no danger of, and
become monuments of that justice which they bade defiance to. Thus,
if <i>the blind lead the blind,</i> both the blind leaders and the
blind followers will <i>fall together into the ditch.</i> Note,
Those that deceive others will in the end prove to have deceived
themselves; and no doom will be more fearful than that of
unfaithful ministers, that flattered sinners in their sins. 4. Both
the deceivers and the deceived, when they thus perish together,
will justly be ridiculed and triumphed over (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.16" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.12" parsed="|Ezek|13|12|0|0" passage="Eze 13:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>When the wall has fallen
shall it not be said unto you,</i> by those that gave credit to the
true prophets, and feared the word of the Lord, "Now <i>where is
the daubing wherewith you have daubed the wall?</i> What has become
of all the fine soft words and fair promises wherewith you
flattered your wicked neighbours, and all the assurances you gave
them that the troubles of the nation should soon be at an end?" The
<i>righteous shall laugh at them,</i> the righteous God shall,
righteous men shall, saying, <i>Lo, this is the man that made not
God his strength,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.17" osisRef="Bible:Ps.52.6-Ps.52.7" parsed="|Ps|52|6|52|7" passage="Ps 52:6,7">Ps. lii. 6,
7</scripRef>. <i>I also will laugh at your calamity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.18" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.26" parsed="|Prov|1|26|0|0" passage="Pr 1:26">Prov. i. 26</scripRef>. They will say unto you
(<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.19" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.15" parsed="|Ezek|13|15|0|0" passage="Eze 13:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), "<i>The
wall is no more, neither he that daubed it;</i> your hopes have
vanished, and those that supported them, even <i>the prophets of
Israel,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p10.20" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.16" parsed="|Ezek|13|16|0|0" passage="Eze 13:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>.
Note, Those that usurp the honours that do not belong to them will
shortly be filled with the shame that does.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xiv-p10.21" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.17-Ezek.13.23" parsed="|Ezek|13|17|13|23" passage="Eze 13:17-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xiv-p10.22">
<h4 id="Ez.xiv-p10.23">The Guilt of the False
Prophetesses. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p10.24">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xiv-p11" shownumber="no">17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face
against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their
own heart; and prophesy thou against them,   18 And say, Thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p11.1">God</span>; Woe to the
<i>women</i> that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs
upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the
souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive <i>that
come</i> unto you?   19 And will ye pollute me among my people
for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls
that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not
live, by your lying to my people that hear <i>your</i> lies?  
20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p11.2">God</span>; Behold, I <i>am</i> against your pillows,
wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make <i>them</i> fly, and I
will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go,
<i>even</i> the souls that ye hunt to make <i>them</i> fly.  
21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of
your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and
ye shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p11.3">Lord</span>.   22 Because with lies ye have made
the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and
strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return
from his wicked way, by promising him life:   23 Therefore ye
shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will
deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xiv-p11.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p12" shownumber="no">As God has promised that when he pours out
his Spirit upon his people both <i>their sons and their daughters
shall prophesy,</i> so the devil, when he acts as a spirit of lies
and falsehood, is so in the mouth not only of false prophets, but
of false prophetesses too, and those are the deceivers whom the
prophet is here directed to prophesy against; for they are not such
despicable enemies to God's truths as deserve not to be taken
notice of, nor yet will either the weakness of their sex excuse
their sin or the tenderness and respect that are owing to it exempt
them from the reproaches and threatenings of the word of God. No:
<i>Son of man, set they face against the daughters of thy
people,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.17" parsed="|Ezek|13|17|0|0" passage="Eze 13:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
God takes no pleasure in owning them for his people. They are
<i>thy people,</i> as <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.7" parsed="|Exod|32|7|0|0" passage="Ex 32:7">Exod. xxxii.
7</scripRef>. The women pretend to a spirit of prophecy, and are in
the same song with the men, as Ahab's prophets were: <i>Go on, and
prosper.</i> They <i>prophesy out of their own heart</i> too; they
say what comes uppermost and what they know nothing of. Therefore
<i>prophesy against them</i> from God's own mouth. The prophet must
<i>set his face against them,</i> and try if they can look him in
the face and stand to what they say. Note, When sinners grow very
impudent it is time for reprovers to be very bold. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p13" shownumber="no">I. How the sin of these false prophetesses
is described, and what are the particulars of it. 1. They told
deliberate lies to those who consulted them, and came to them to be
advised, and to be told their fortune: "You do mischief <i>by your
lying to my people that hear your lies</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.19" parsed="|Ezek|13|19|0|0" passage="Eze 13:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>); they come to be told the
truth, but you tell them lies; and, because you humour them in
their sins, they are willing to hear you." Note, It is ill with
those people who can better hear pleasing lies than unpleasing
truths; and it is a temptation to those who lie in wait to deceive
to tell lies when they find people willing to hear them and to
excuse themselves with this, <i>Si populus vult decipi,
decipiatur—If the people will be deceived, let them.</i> 2. They
profaned the name of God by pretending to have received those lies
from him (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.19" parsed="|Ezek|13|19|0|0" passage="Eze 13:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
"<i>You pollute my name among my people,</i> and make use of that
for the patronising of your lies and the gaining of credit to
them." Note, Those greatly pollute God's holy name that make use of
it to give countenance to falsehood and wickedness. Yet this they
did <i>for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread.</i> They did it
for gain; they cared not what dishonour they did to God's name by
their lying, so they could but make a hand of it for themselves.
There is nothing so sacred which men of mercenary spirits, in whom
the love of this world reigns, will not profane and prostitute, if
they can but get money by the bargain. But they did it for poor
gain; if they could get no more for it, rather than break they
would sell you a false prophecy that should please you to a nicety
for the beggar's dole, a <i>piece of bread</i> or <i>a handful of
barley;</i> and yet that was more than it was worth. Had they asked
it as an alms, for God's sake, surely they might have had it, and
God would have been honoured; but, taking it as a fee for a false
prophecy, God's name if polluted, and the smallness of the reward
heightens the offence. <i>For a piece of bread that man will
transgress,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.21" parsed="|Prov|28|21|0|0" passage="Pr 28:21">Prov. xxviii.
21</scripRef>. Had their poverty been their temptation to <i>steal,
and so to take the name of the Lord in vain,</i> it would not have
been nearly so bad as when it tempted them to <i>prophesy lies in
his name</i> and so to profane it. 3. They kept people in awe, and
terrified them with their pretensions: "<i>You hunt the souls of my
people</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.18" parsed="|Ezek|13|18|0|0" passage="Eze 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>),
<i>hunt them to make them flee</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.20" parsed="|Ezek|13|20|0|0" passage="Eze 13:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>hunt them into gardens</i>
(so the margin reads it); you use all the arts you have to court or
compel them into those places where you deliver your pretended
predictions, or you have got such an influence upon them that you
make them do just as you would have them to do, and tyrannise over
them." It was indeed the people's fault that they did regard them,
but it was their fault by lies and falsehoods to command that
regard; they pretended to <i>save the souls alive that came to
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.18" parsed="|Ezek|13|18|0|0" passage="Eze 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. If
they would but be hearers of them, and contributors to them, they
might be sure of salvation; thus they beguiled unstable souls that
had a concern about salvation as their end but did not rightly
understand the way, and therefore hearkened to those who were most
confident in promising it to them. "But will you pretend to save
souls, or secure salvation to your party?" Those are justly
suspected that make such pretensions. 4. They discouraged those
that were honest and good, and encouraged those that were wicked
and profane: <i>You slay the souls that should not die, and save
those alive that should not live,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.19" parsed="|Ezek|13|19|0|0" passage="Eze 13:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. This is explained (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.22" parsed="|Ezek|13|22|0|0" passage="Eze 13:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>You have made the
heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad;</i> because
they would not, they durst not, countenance your pretensions, you
thundered out the judgments of God against them, to their great
grief and trouble; you put them under invidious characters, to make
them either despicable or odious to the people, and pretended to do
it in God's name, which made them go many a time with a sad heart;
whereas it was the will of God that they should be comforted, and
by having respect put upon them should have encouragement given
them. But on the other side, and which is still worse, you have
<i>strengthened the hands of the wicked</i> and emboldened them to
go on in their <i>wicked ways</i> and not to return from them,
which was the thing the true prophets with earnestness called them
to. "You have promised sinners life in their sinful ways, have told
them that they shall have peace though they go on, by which their
<i>hands have been strengthened</i> and their hearts hardened."
Some think this refers to the severe censures they passed upon
those who had already gone into captivity (who were humbled under
their affliction, by <i>which their hearts were made sad</i>), and
the commendations they gave to those who rebelled against the king
of Babylon, who were hardened in their impieties, by which their
<i>hands were strengthened;</i> or by their polluting the name of
God they saddened the hearts of good people who have a value and
veneration for the word of God, and confirmed atheists and infidels
in their contempt of divine revelation and furnished them with
arguments against it. Note, Those have a great deal to answer for
who grieve the spirits, and weaken the hands, of good people, and
who gratify the lusts of sinners, and animate them in their
opposition to God and religion. Nor can any thing strengthen the
hands of sinners more than to tell them that they may be saved in
their sins without repentance, or that there may be repentance
though they do not return from their wicked ways. 5. They mimicked
the true prophets, by giving signs for the illustrating of their
false predictions (as Hananiah did, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.28.10" parsed="|Jer|28|10|0|0" passage="Jer 28:10">Jer. xxviii. 10</scripRef>), and they were signs
agreeable to their sex; they <i>sewed little pillows to the
people's arm-holes,</i> to signify that they might be easy and
repose themselves, and needed not be disquieted with the
apprehensions of trouble approaching. And they <i>made kerchiefs
upon the head of every stature,</i> of persons of every age, young
and old, distinguishable by their stature, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p13.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.18" parsed="|Ezek|13|18|0|0" passage="Eze 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. These kerchiefs were badges of
liberty or triumph, intimating that they should not only be
delivered from the Chaldeans, but be victorious over them. Some
think these were some superstitious rites which they used with
those to whom they delivered their divinations, preparing them for
the reception of them by putting enchanted pillows under their arms
and handkerchiefs on their heads, to raise their fancies and their
expectations of something great. Or perhaps the expressions are
figurative: they did all they could to make people secure, which is
signified by laying them easy, and to make people proud, which is
signified by dressing them fine with handkerchiefs, perhaps laid or
embroidered on their heads.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xiv-p14" shownumber="no">II. How the wrath of God against them is
expressed. Here is a woe to them (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.18" parsed="|Ezek|13|18|0|0" passage="Eze 13:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), and God declares himself
against the methods they took to delude and deceive, <scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.20" parsed="|Ezek|13|20|0|0" passage="Eze 13:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. But what course will
God take with them? 1. They shall be confounded in their attempts,
and shall proceed no further; for (<scripRef id="Ez.xiv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.13.23" parsed="|Ezek|13|23|0|0" passage="Eze 13:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>) you shall <i>see no more
vanity nor divine revelations;</i> not that they shall themselves
lay down their pretensions in a way of repentance, but when the
event gives them the lie they shall be silent for shame; or their
fancies and imaginations shall not be disposed to receive
impressions which assist them in their divinations as they have
been; or they themselves shall be cut off. 2. God's people shall be
delivered out of their hands. When they see themselves deluded by
them into a false peace and a fool's paradise, and that though they
would not leave their sin their sin has left them, and they <i>see
no more vanity nor divine divinations,</i> they shall turn their
back upon them, shall slight their predictions. The righteous shall
be no more saddened by them, no, nor the wicked strengthened: The
<i>pillows shall be torn from their arms,</i> and the <i>kerchiefs
from their heads;</i> the fallacies shall be discovered, their
frauds detected, and the people of God shall no more be in their
hand, to be hunted as they had been. Note, It is a great mercy to
be delivered from a servile regard to, and fear of, those who,
under colour of a divine authority, impose upon and tyrannise over
the consciences of men, and say to their souls, <i>Bow down, that
we may go over.</i> But it is a sore grief to those who delight in
such usurpations to have their power broken and the prey delivered;
such was the reformation to the church of Rome. And, when God does
this, he makes it to appear that he is the Lord, that it is his
prerogative to give law to souls.</p>
</div></div2>