mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 18.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xix" n="xix" next="Ez.xx" prev="Ez.xviii" progress="56.61%" title="Chapter XVIII">
<h2 id="Ez.xix-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xix-p0.2">CHAP. XVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xix-p1" shownumber="no">Perhaps, in reading some of the foregoing
chapters, we may have been tempted to think ourselves not much
concerned in them (though they also were written for our learning);
but this chapter, at first view, appears highly and nearly to
concern us all, very highly, very nearly; for, without particular
reference to Judah and Jerusalem, it lays down the rule of judgment
according to which God will deal with the children of men in
determining them to their everlasting state, and it agrees with
that very ancient rule laid down, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.4.7" parsed="|Gen|4|7|0|0" passage="Ge 4:7">Gen.
iv. 7</scripRef>, "If though doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted?" But, "if not, sin," the punishment of sin,"lies at the
door." Here is, I. The corrupt proverb used by the profane Jews,
which gave occasion to the message here sent them, and made it
necessary for the justifying of God in his dealings with them,
<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.1-Ezek.18.3" parsed="|Ezek|18|1|18|3" passage="Eze 18:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The reply
given to this proverb, in which God asserts in general his own
sovereignty and justice, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.4" parsed="|Ezek|18|4|0|0" passage="Eze 18:4">ver.
4</scripRef>. Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with them,
<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.4 Bible:Ezek.18.20" parsed="|Ezek|18|4|0|0;|Ezek|18|20|0|0" passage="Eze 18:4,20">ver. 4, 20</scripRef>. But say to
the righteous, It shall be well with them, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.5-Ezek.18.9" parsed="|Ezek|18|5|18|9" passage="Eze 18:5-9">ver.
5-9</scripRef>. In particular, as to the case complained of, he
assures us, 1. That it shall be ill with a wicked man, though he
had a good father, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.10-Ezek.18.13" parsed="|Ezek|18|10|18|13" passage="Eze 18:10-13">ver.
10-13</scripRef>. 2. That it shall be well with a good man, though
he had a wicked father, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.14-Ezek.18.18" parsed="|Ezek|18|14|18|18" passage="Eze 18:14-18">ver.
14-18</scripRef>. And therefore in this God is righteous, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.19-Ezek.18.20" parsed="|Ezek|18|19|18|20" passage="Eze 18:19,20">ver. 19, 20</scripRef>. 3. That it shall be
well with penitents, though they began ever so ill, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.21-Ezek.18.23 Bible:Ezek.18.27 Bible:Ezek.18.28" parsed="|Ezek|18|21|18|23;|Ezek|18|27|0|0;|Ezek|18|28|0|0" passage="Eze 18:21-23,27,28">ver. 21-23 and 27, 28</scripRef>. 4.
That it shall be ill with apostates, though they began ever so
well, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.24 Bible:Ezek.18.26" parsed="|Ezek|18|24|0|0;|Ezek|18|26|0|0" passage="Eze 18:24,26">ver. 24, 26</scripRef>. And
the use of all this is, (1.) To justify God and clear the equity of
all his proceedings, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.25 Bible:Ezek.18.29" parsed="|Ezek|18|25|0|0;|Ezek|18|29|0|0" passage="Eze 18:25,29">ver. 25,
29</scripRef>. (2.) To engage and encourage us to repent of our
sins and turn to God, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.30-Ezek.18.32" parsed="|Ezek|18|30|18|32" passage="Eze 18:30-32">ver.
30-32</scripRef>. And these are things which belong to our
everlasting peace. O that we may understand and regard them before
they be hidden from our eyes!</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xix-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18" parsed="|Ezek|18|0|0|0" passage="Eze 18" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xix-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.1-Ezek.18.9" parsed="|Ezek|18|1|18|9" passage="Eze 18:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xix-p1.15">
<h4 id="Ez.xix-p1.16">Proverb of the Sour Grapes; Reply to the
Sour Grapes; Divine Judgments Vindicated. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p1.17">b.
c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xix-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me again, saying,   2 What
mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's
teeth are set on edge?   3 <i>As</i> I live, saith the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p2.2">God</span>, ye shall not have
<i>occasion</i> any more to use this proverb in Israel.   4
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the
soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
  5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and
right,   6 <i>And</i> hath not eaten upon the mountains,
neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath
come near to a menstruous woman,   7 And hath not oppressed
any, <i>but</i> hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath
spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and
hath covered the naked with a garment;   8 He <i>that</i> hath
not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase,
<i>that</i> hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed
true judgment between man and man,   9 Hath walked in my
statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he <i>is</i>
just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p2.3">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p3" shownumber="no">Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; and
in like manner sometimes unjust reflections occasion just
vindications; evil proverbs beget good prophecies. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p4" shownumber="no">I. An evil proverb commonly used by the
Jews in their captivity. We had one before (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.12.22" parsed="|Ezek|12|22|0|0" passage="Eze 12:22"><i>ch.</i> xii. 22</scripRef>) and a reply to it; here
we have another. <i>That</i> sets God's justice at defiance:
"<i>The days are prolonged and every vision fails;</i> the
threatenings are a jest." <i>This</i> charges him with injustice,
as if the judgments executed were a wrong: "You use this proverb
<i>concerning the land of Israel,</i> now that it is laid waste by
the judgments of God, saying, <i>The fathers have eaten sour grapes
and the children's teeth are set on edge;</i> we are punished for
the sins of our ancestors, which is as great an absurdity in the
divine regimen as if the children should have their teeth set on
edge, or stupefied, by the fathers' eating sour grapes, whereas, in
the order of natural causes, if men eat or drink any thing amiss,
they only themselves shall suffer by it." Now, 1. It must be owned
that there was some occasion given for this proverb. God had often
said that he would <i>visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children,</i> especially the sin of idolatry, intending thereby to
express the evil of sin, of that sin, his detestation of it, and
just indignation against it, and the heavy punishments he would
bring upon idolaters, that parents might be restrained from sin by
their affection to their children and that children might not be
drawn to sin by their reverence for their parents. He had likewise
often declared by his prophets that in bringing the present ruin
upon Judah and Jerusalem he had an eye to the sins of Manasseh and
other preceding kings; for, looking upon the nation as a body
politic, and punishing them with national judgments for national
sins, and admitting the maxim in our law that <i>a corporation
never dies,</i> reckoning with them now for the iniquities of
former ages was but like making a man, <i>when he is old,</i> to
<i>possess the iniquities of his youth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.26" parsed="|Job|13|26|0|0" passage="Job 13:26">Job xiii. 26</scripRef>. And there is no
unrighteousness with God in doing so. But, 2. They intended it as a
reflection upon God, and an impeachment of his equity in his
proceedings against them. Thus far that is right which is implied
in this proverbial saying, That those who are guilty of wilful sin
<i>eat sour grapes;</i> they do that which they will feel from,
sooner or later. The grapes may look well enough in the temptation,
but they will be bitter as bitterness itself in the reflection.
They will set the sinner's teeth on edge. When conscience is awake,
and sets the sin in order before them, it will spoil the relish of
their comforts as when the teeth are set on edge. But they suggest
it as unreasonable that the children should smart for the fathers'
folly and feel the pain of that which they never tasted the
pleasure of, and that God was unrighteous in thus taking vengeance
and could not justify it. See how wicked the reflection is, how
daring the impudence; yet see how witty it is, and how sly the
comparison. Many that are impious in their jeers are ingenious in
their jests; and thus the malice of hell against God and religion
is insinuated and propagated. It is here put into a proverb, and
that proverb used, commonly used; they had it up ever and anon.
And, though it had plainly a blasphemous meaning, yet they
sheltered themselves under the similitude from the imputation of
downright blasphemy. Now by this it appears that they were
unhumbled under the rod, for, instead of condemning themselves and
justifying God, they condemned him and justified themselves; but
<i>woe to him that</i> thus <i>strives with his Maker.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p5" shownumber="no">II. A just reproof of, and reply to, this
proverb: <i>What mean you</i> by using it? That is the reproof. "Do
you intend hereby to try it out with God? Or can you think any
other than that you will hereby provoke him to be <i>angry with you
till he has consumed you?</i> Is this the way to reconcile
yourselves to him and make your peace with him?" The reply follows,
in which God tells them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p6" shownumber="no">1. That the use of the proverb should be
taken away. This is said, it is sworn (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.3" parsed="|Ezek|18|3|0|0" passage="Eze 18:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>You shall not have occasion
any more to use this proverb;</i> or (as it may be read), <i>You
shall not have the use of this parable.</i> The taking away of this
parable is made the matter of a promise, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.29" parsed="|Jer|31|29|0|0" passage="Jer 31:29">Jer. xxxi. 29</scripRef>. Here it is made the matter of
a threatening. There it intimates that God will return to them in
ways of mercy; here it intimates that God would proceed against
them in ways of judgment. He will so punish them for this impudent
saying that they shall not dare to use it any more; as in another
case, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.34 Bible:Jer.23.36" parsed="|Jer|23|34|0|0;|Jer|23|36|0|0" passage="Jer 23:34,36">Jer. xxiii. 34,
36</scripRef>. God will find out effectual ways to silence those
cavillers. Or God will so manifest both to themselves and others
that they have wickedness of their own enough to bring all these
desolating judgments upon them that they shall no longer for shame
lay it upon the sins of their fathers that they were thus dealt
with: "Your own consciences shall tell you, and all your neighbours
shall confirm it, that you yourselves have eaten the same sour
grapes that your fathers ate before you, or else your teeth would
not have been set on edge."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p7" shownumber="no">2. That really the saying itself was unjust
and a causeless reflection upon God's government. For,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p8" shownumber="no">(1.) God does not punish the children for
the fathers' sins unless they tread in their fathers' steps and
<i>fill up the measure of their iniquity</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.32" parsed="|Matt|23|32|0|0" passage="Mt 23:32">Matt. xxiii. 32</scripRef>), and then they have no
reason to complain, for, whatever they suffer, it is less than
their own sin has deserved. And, when God speaks of <i>visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children,</i> that is so far from
putting any hardship upon the children, to whom he only renders
<i>according to their works,</i> that it accounts for God's
patience with the parents, whom he therefore does not punish
immediately, because he <i>lays up their iniquity for their
children,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.19" parsed="|Job|21|19|0|0" passage="Job 21:19">Job xxi.
19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p9" shownumber="no">(2.) It is only in temporal calamities that
children (and sometimes innocent ones) fare the worse for their
parents' wickedness, and God can alter the property of those
calamities, and make them work for good to those that are visited
with them; but as to spiritual and eternal misery (and that is the
death here spoken of) the children shall by no means smart for the
parents' sins. This is here shown at large; and it is a wonderful
piece of condescension that the great God is pleased to reason the
case with such wicked and unreasonable men, that he did not
immediately strike them dumb or dead, but vouchsafed to state the
matter before them, that he may be clear when he is judged. Now, in
his reply,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p10" shownumber="no">[1.] He asserts and maintains his own
absolute and incontestable sovereignty: <i>Behold, all souls are
mine,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.4" parsed="|Ezek|18|4|0|0" passage="Eze 18:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. God
here claims a property in all the souls of the children of men, one
as well as another. <i>First,</i> Souls are his. He that is the
Maker of <i>all things</i> is in a particular manner the <i>Father
of spirits,</i> for his image is stamped on the souls of men; it
was so in their creation; it is so in their renovation. He <i>forms
the spirit of man within him,</i> and is therefore called <i>the
God of the spirits of all flesh,</i> of embodied spirits.
<i>Secondly,</i> All souls are his, all created by him and for him,
and accountable to him. <i>As the soul of the father, so the soul
of the son, is mine.</i> Our earthly parents are only the
<i>fathers of our flesh;</i> our souls are not theirs; God
challenges them. Now hence it follows, for the clearing of this
matter, 1. That God may certainly do what he pleases both with
fathers and children, and none may say unto him, <i>What doest
thou?</i> He that gave us our being does us no wrong if he takes it
away again, much less when he only takes away some of the supports
and comforts of it; it is as absurd to quarrel with him as for
<i>the thing formed to say to him that formed it, Why hast thou
made me thus?</i> 2. That God as certainly bears a good-will both
to father and son, and will put no hardship upon either. We are
sure that God hates nothing that he has made, and therefore
(speaking of the adult, who are capable of acting for themselves)
he has such a kindness for all souls that none die but through
their own default. <i>All souls are his,</i> and therefore he is
not partial in his judgment of them. Let us subscribe to his
interest in us and dominion over us. He says, <i>All souls are
mine;</i> let us answer, "Lord, my soul is thine; I devote it to
thee to be employed for thee and made happy in thee." It is with
good reason that God says, "<i>My son, give me thy heart,</i> for
it is my own," to which we must yield, "<i>Father, take my
heart,</i> it is thy own."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p11" shownumber="no">[2.] Though God might justify himself by
insisting upon his sovereignty, yet he waives that, and lays down
the equitable and unexceptionable rule of judgment by which he will
proceed as to particular persons; and it is this:—<i>First,</i>
The sinner that persists in sin shall certainly die, his iniquity
shall be his ruin: <i>The soul that sins shall die,</i> shall die
as a soul can die, shall be excluded from the favour of God, which
is the life and bliss of the soul, and shall lie for ever under his
wrath, which is its death and misery. Sin is the act of the
<i>soul,</i> the body being only the <i>instrument of
unrighteousness;</i> it is called the <i>sin of the soul,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.7" parsed="|Mic|6|7|0|0" passage="Mic 6:7">Mic. vi. 7</scripRef>. And therefore
the punishment of sin is the <i>tribulation and the anguish of the
soul,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.9" parsed="|Rom|2|9|0|0" passage="Ro 2:9">Rom. ii. 9</scripRef>.
<i>Secondly,</i> The righteous man that perseveres in his
righteousness shall certainly live. <i>If a man be just,</i> have a
good principle, a good spirit and disposition, and, as an evidence
of that, <i>do judgment and justice</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.5" parsed="|Ezek|18|5|0|0" passage="Eze 18:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), <i>he shall surely live, saith
the Lord God,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.9" parsed="|Ezek|18|9|0|0" passage="Eze 18:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. He that makes conscience of conforming in every thing
to the will of God, that makes it his business to serve God and his
aim to glorify God, shall without fail be happy here and for ever
in the love and favour of God; and, wherein he comes short of his
duty, it shall be forgiven him, through a Mediator. Now here is
part of the character of this just man. 1. He is careful to keep
himself clean from the pollutions of sin, and at a distance from
all the appearances of evil. (1.) From sins against the second
commandment. In the matters of God's worship he is jealous, for he
knows God is so. He has not only not sacrificed in the high places
to the images there set up, but he has not so much as <i>eaten upon
the mountains,</i> that is, not had any communion with idolaters by
<i>eating things sacrificed to idols,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.20" parsed="|1Cor|10|20|0|0" passage="1Co 10:20">1 Cor. x. 20</scripRef>. He would not only not kneel
with them at their altars, but not sit with them at their tables in
their high places. He detests not only the idols of the heathen but
<i>the idols of the house of Israel,</i> which were not only
allowed of, but generally applauded and adored, by those that were
accounted the professing people of God. He has not only not
worshipped those idols, but he has not so much as <i>lifted up his
eyes</i> to them; he has not given them a favourable look, has had
no regard at all to them, neither desired their favour nor dreaded
their frowns. He has observed so many bewitched by them that he has
not dared so much as to look at them, lest he should be taken in
the snare. The eyes of idolaters are said to <i>go a whoring,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.6.9" parsed="|Ezek|6|9|0|0" passage="Eze 6:9">Ezek. vi. 9</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.19" parsed="|Deut|4|19|0|0" passage="De 4:19">Deut. iv. 19</scripRef>. (2.) From sins against
the seventh commandment. He is careful to possess his vessel in
<i>sanctification and honour,</i> and not <i>in the lusts of
uncleanness;</i> and therefore he has not dared to <i>defile his
neighbour's wife,</i> nor said or done any thing which had the
least tendency to corrupt or debauch her, no, nor will he make any
undue approaches to his own wife when she is <i>put apart for her
uncleanness,</i> for it was forbidden by the law, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.8" passage="Le 18:19,20:18">Lev. xviii. 19; xx. 18</scripRef>. Note,
It is an essential branch of wisdom and justice to keep the
appetites of the body always in subjection to reason and virtue.
(3.) From sins against the eighth commandment. He is a <i>just
man,</i> who has not, by fraud and under colour of law and right,
<i>oppressed any,</i> and who has not with force and arms
<i>spoiled any by violence,</i> not spoiled them of their goods or
estates, much less of their liberties and lives, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.7" parsed="|Ezek|18|7|0|0" passage="Eze 18:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Oppression and violence were the
sins of the old world, that brought the deluge, and are sins of
which still God is and will be the avenger. Nay, he is one that has
not lent his money <i>upon usury,</i> nor <i>taken increase</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.8" parsed="|Ezek|18|8|0|0" passage="Eze 18:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), though,
being done by contract, it may seem free from injustice (<i>Volenti
non fit injuria—What is done to a person with his own consent is
no injury to him</i>), yet, as far as it is forbidden by the law,
he dares not do it. A moderate usury they were allowed to receive
from strangers, but not from their brethren. A just man will not
take advantage of his neighbour's necessity to make a prey of him,
nor indulge himself in ease and idleness to live upon the sweat and
toil of others, and therefore will not take increase from those who
cannot make increase of what he lends them, nor be rigorous in
exacting what was agreed for from those who by the act of God are
disabled to pay it; but he is willing to share in loss as well as
profit. <i>Qui sentit commodum, sentire debet et onus—He who
enjoys the benefit should bear the burden.</i> 2. He makes
conscience of doing the duties of his place. He has <i>restored the
pledge</i> to the poor debtor, according to the law. <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.26" parsed="|Exod|22|26|0|0" passage="Ex 22:26">Exod. xxii. 26</scripRef>. "<i>If thou take thy
neighbour's raiment</i> for a pledge, the raiment that is for
necessary use, thou shalt <i>deliver it</i> to him again, that he
may sleep in his own bedclothes." Nay, he has not only restored to
the poor that which was their own, but has <i>given his bread to
the hungry.</i> Observe, It is called <i>his bread,</i> because it
is honestly come by; that which is given to some is not unjustly
taken from others; for God has said, <i>I hate robbery for
burnt-offerings.</i> Worldly men insist upon it that their bread is
<i>their own,</i> as Nabal, who therefore would not give of it to
David (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.12" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.11" parsed="|1Sam|25|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 25:11">1 Sam. xxv. 11</scripRef>);
yet let them know that it is not so their own but that they are
bound to do good to others with it. Clothes are necessary as well
as food, and therefore this just man is so charitable as <i>to
cover the naked</i> also <i>with a garment,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.7" parsed="|Ezek|18|7|0|0" passage="Eze 18:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. The coats which Dorcas had made
for the poor were produced as witnesses of her charity, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.14" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.39" parsed="|Acts|9|39|0|0" passage="Ac 9:39">Acts ix. 39</scripRef>. This just man has
<i>withdrawn his hands from iniquity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.15" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.8" parsed="|Ezek|18|8|0|0" passage="Eze 18:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. If at any time he has been drawn
in through inadvertency to that which afterwards has appeared to
him to be a wrong thing, he does not persist in it because he has
begun it, but <i>withdraws his hand</i> from that which he now
perceives to be <i>iniquity;</i> for he <i>executes true judgment
between man and man,</i> according as his opportunity is of doing
it (as a judge, as a witness, as a juryman, as a referee), and in
all commerce is concerned that justice be done, that no man be
wronged, that he who is wronged be righted, and that every man have
his own, and is ready to interpose himself, and do any good office,
in order hereunto. This is his character towards his neighbours;
yet it will not suffice that he be just and true to his brother, to
complete his character he must be so to his God likewise (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.16" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.9" parsed="|Ezek|18|9|0|0" passage="Eze 18:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>He has walked in my
statutes,</i> those which relate to the duties of his immediate
worship; <i>he has kept</i> those and all his other
<i>judgments,</i> has had respect to them all, has made it his
constant care and endeavour to conform and come up to them all, to
deal truly, that so he may approve himself faithful to his covenant
with God, and, having joined himself to God, he does not
treacherously <i>depart from him,</i> nor <i>dissemble with
him.</i> This is a just man, and <i>living he shall live;</i> he
shall certainly live, shall have life and shall have it more
abundantly, shall live truly, live comfortably, live eternally.
<i>Keep the commandments,</i> and thou shalt <i>enter into
life,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p11.17" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.17" parsed="|Matt|19|17|0|0" passage="Mt 19:17">Matt. xix.
17</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xix-p11.18" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.10-Ezek.18.20" parsed="|Ezek|18|10|18|20" passage="Eze 18:10-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xix-p11.19">
<h4 id="Ez.xix-p11.20">The Ways of God Justified; God's Vindication
of Himself. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p11.21">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xix-p12" shownumber="no">10 If he beget a son <i>that is</i> a robber, a
shedder of blood, and <i>that</i> doeth the like to <i>any</i> one
of these <i>things,</i>   11 And that doeth not any of those
<i>duties,</i> but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled
his neighbour's wife,   12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy,
hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath
lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,  
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he
then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations;
he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.   14 Now,
lo, <i>if</i> he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins
which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
  15 <i>That</i> hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither
hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath
not defiled his neighbour's wife,   16 Neither hath oppressed
any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by
violence, <i>but</i> hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath
covered the naked with a garment,   17 <i>That</i> hath taken
off his hand from the poor, <i>that</i> hath not received usury nor
increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes;
he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely
live.   18 <i>As for</i> his father, because he cruelly
oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did <i>that</i>
which <i>is</i> not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in
his iniquity.   19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the
iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful
and right, <i>and</i> hath kept all my statutes, and hath done
them, he shall surely live.   20 The soul that sinneth, it
shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,
neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p13" shownumber="no">God, by the prophet, having laid down the
general rule of judgment, that he will render eternal life to those
that <i>patiently continue in well-doing,</i> but indignation and
wrath to those that do not <i>obey the truth,</i> but <i>obey
unrighteousness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.7-Rom.2.8" parsed="|Rom|2|7|2|8" passage="Ro 2:7,8">Rom. ii. 7,
8</scripRef>), comes, in these verses, to show that men's parentage
and relation shall not alter the case either one way or other.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p14" shownumber="no">I. He applied it largely and particularly
both ways. As it was in the royal line of the kings of Judah, so it
often happens in private families, that godly parents have wicked
children and wicked parents have godly children. Now here he
shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p15" shownumber="no">1. That a wicked man shall certainly perish
in his iniquity, though he be the son of a pious father. If that
righteous man before described <i>beget a son</i> whose character
is the reverse of his father's, his condition will certainly be so
too. (1.) It is supposed as no uncommon case, but a very melancholy
one, that the child of a very godly father, notwithstanding all the
instructions given him, the good education he has had and the
needful rebukes that have been given him, and the restraints he has
been laid under, after all the pains taken with him and prayers put
up for him, may yet prove notoriously wicked and vile, the grief of
his father, the shame of his family, and the curse and plague of
his generation. He is here supposed to allow himself in all those
enormities which his good father dreaded and carefully avoided, and
to shake off all those good duties which his father made conscience
of and took satisfaction in; he undoes all that his father did, and
goes counter to his example in every thing. He is here described to
be a highwayman—<i>a robber and a shedder of blood.</i> He is an
idolater: <i>He has eaten upon the mountains</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.11" parsed="|Ezek|18|11|0|0" passage="Eze 18:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>) and has <i>lifted up
his eyes to the idols,</i> which his good father never did, and has
come at length not only to feast with the idolaters, but to
sacrifice with them, which is here called <i>committing
abomination,</i> for the way of sin is down-hill. He is an
adulterer, has <i>defiled his neighbour's wife.</i> He is an
oppressor even of <i>the poor and needy;</i> he robs the spital,
and squeezes those who, he knows, cannot defend themselves, and
takes a pride and pleasure in trampling upon the weak and
impoverishing those that are poor already. He <i>takes away</i>
from those to whom he should <i>give.</i> He has <i>spoiled by
violence</i> and open force; he has <i>given forth upon usury,</i>
and so spoiled by contract; and he <i>has not restored the
pledge,</i> but unjustly detained it even when the debt was paid.
Let those good parents that have wicked children not look upon
their case as singular; it is a case put here; and by it we see
that grace does not run in the blood, nor always attend the means
of grace. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong, for then the children that are well taught would do
well, but God will let us know that his grace is his own and his
Spirit a free-agent, and that though we are tied to give our
children a good education he is not tied to bless it. In this, as
much as any thing, appears the power of original sin and the
necessity of special grace. (2.) We are here assured that this
wicked man shall perish for ever in his iniquity, notwithstanding
his being the son of a good father. He may perhaps prosper awhile
in the world, for the sake of the piety of his ancestors, but,
having <i>committed all these abominations,</i> and never repented
of them, <i>he shall not live,</i> he shall not be happy in the
favour of God; though he may escape the sword of men, he shall not
escape the curse of God. <i>He shall surely die;</i> he shall be
for ever miserable; <i>his blood shall be upon him.</i> He may
thank himself; he is his own destroyer. And his relation to a good
father will be so far from standing him in stead that it will
aggravate his sin and his condemnation. It made his sin the more
heinous, nay, it made him really the more vile and profligate, and,
consequently, will make his misery hereafter the more
intolerable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p16" shownumber="no">2. That a righteous man shall be certainly
happy, though he be the son of a wicked father. Though the father
did eat the sour grapes, if the children do not meddle with them,
they shall fare never the worse for that. Here, (1.) It is supposed
(and, blessed be God, it is sometimes a case in fact) that the son
of an ungodly father may be godly, that, observing how fatal his
father's errors were, he may be so wise as to <i>take warning,</i>
and not tread in his father's tests, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.14" parsed="|Ezek|18|14|0|0" passage="Eze 18:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Ordinarily, children partake
of the parents' temper and are drawn in to imitate their example;
but here the son, instead of <i>seeing his father's sins,</i> and,
as is usual, doing the like, sees them and dreads doing the like.
<i>Men</i> indeed do not <i>gather grapes of thorns,</i> but God
sometimes does, takes a branch from a wild olive and grafts it into
a good one. Wicked Ahaz begets a good Hezekiah, who <i>sees all his
father's sins which he has done,</i> and though he will not, like
Ham, proclaim his father's shame, or make the worst of it, yet he
loathes it, and blushes at it, and thinks the worse of sin because
it was the reproach and ruin of his own father. <i>He considers and
does not such like;</i> he considers how ill it became his father
to do such things, what an offence it was to God and all good men,
what a wound and dishonour he got by it, and what calamities he
brought into his family, and therefore he <i>does not such
like.</i> Note, If we did but duly <i>consider the ways</i> of
wicked men, we should all dread being associates with them and
followers of them. The particulars are here again enumerated almost
in the same words with that character given of the just man
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.6" parsed="|Ezek|18|6|0|0" passage="Eze 18:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>, &amp;c.), to
show how good men <i>walk in the same spirit and in the same
steps.</i> This just man here, when he took care to avoid his
father's sins, took care to imitate his grandfather's virtues; and,
if we look back, we shall find some examples for our imitation, as
well as others for our admonition. This just man can not only say,
as the Pharisee, <i>I am no adulterer, no extortioner,</i> no
oppressor, no usurer, no idolater; but he has <i>given his bread to
the hungry</i> and <i>covered the naked.</i> He has <i>taken off
his hand from the poor;</i> where he found his father had put
hardships upon poor servants, tenants, neighbours, he eased their
burden. He did not say, "What my father has done I will abide by,
and if it was a fault it was his and not mine;" as Rehoboam, who
contemned the taxes his father had imposed. No; he <i>takes his
hand off from the poor,</i> and restores them to their rights and
liberties again, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.15-Ezek.18.17" parsed="|Ezek|18|15|18|17" passage="Eze 18:15-17"><i>v.</i>
15-17</scripRef>. Thus he has <i>executed God's judgments</i> and
<i>walked in his statutes,</i> not only done his duty for once, but
one on in a course and way of obedience. (2.) We are assured that
the graceless father alone shall die in his iniquity, but his
gracious son shall fare never the worse for it. As for his father
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.18" parsed="|Ezek|18|18|0|0" passage="Eze 18:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), because he
was a cruel oppressor, and <i>did hurt,</i> nay, because, though he
had wealth and power, he did not with them do good among his
people, lo, <i>even he,</i> great as he is, <i>shall die in his
iniquity,</i> and be undone for ever; but he that kept his
integrity <i>shall surely live,</i> shall be easy and happy, and he
shall <i>not die for the iniquity of his father.</i> Perhaps his
father's wickedness has lessened his estate and weakened his
interest, but it shall be no prejudice at all to his acceptance
with God and his eternal welfare.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p17" shownumber="no">II. He appeals to themselves then whether
they did not wrong God with their proverb. "Thus plain the case is,
and <i>yet you say, Does not the son bear the iniquity of the
father?</i> No, he does not; he shall not if he will himself <i>do
that which is lawful and right,</i>" <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.19" parsed="|Ezek|18|19|0|0" passage="Eze 18:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. But this people that bore the
iniquity of their fathers had not done that which is lawful and
right, and therefore justly suffered for their own sin and had no
reason to complain of God's proceedings against them as at all
unjust, though they had reason to complain of the bad example their
fathers had left them as very unkind. <i>Our fathers have sinned
and are not, and we have borne their iniquity,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.5.7" parsed="|Lam|5|7|0|0" passage="La 5:7">Lam. v. 7</scripRef>. It is true that there is a
curse entailed upon wicked families, but it is as true that the
entail may be cut off by repentance and reformation; let the
impenitent and unreformed therefore thank themselves if they fall
under it. The settled rule of judgment is therefore repeated
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.20" parsed="|Ezek|18|20|0|0" passage="Eze 18:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>The
soul that sins shall die,</i> and not another for it. What
direction God has given to earthly judges (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.16" parsed="|Deut|24|16|0|0" passage="De 24:16">Deut. xxiv. 16</scripRef>) he will himself pursue:
<i>The son shall not die,</i> not die eternally, <i>for the
iniquity of the father,</i> if he do not tread in the steps of it,
nor the father <i>for the iniquity of the son,</i> if he endeavour
to do his duty for the preventing of it. In <i>the day of the
revelation of the righteous judgment of God,</i> which is now
clouded and eclipsed, <i>the righteousness of the righteous
shall</i> appear before all the world to be <i>upon him,</i> to his
everlasting comfort and honour, upon him as a robe, upon him as a
crown; and <i>the wickedness of the wicked</i> shall be <i>upon
him,</i> to his everlasting confusion, upon him as a chain, upon
him as a load, as a mountain of lead to sink him to the bottomless
pit.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xix-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.21-Ezek.18.29" parsed="|Ezek|18|21|18|29" passage="Eze 18:21-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xix-p17.6">
<h4 id="Ez.xix-p17.7">Encouragement to Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p17.8">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xix-p18" shownumber="no">21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins
that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which
is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be
mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall
live.   23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
die? saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p18.1">God</span>: <i>and</i>
not that he should return from his ways, and live?   24 But
when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, <i>and</i> doeth according to all the
abominations that the wicked <i>man</i> doeth, shall he live? All
his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his
trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath
sinned, in them shall he die.   25 Yet ye say, The way of the
Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way
equal? are not your ways unequal?   26 When a righteous
<i>man</i> turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth
iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done
shall he die.   27 Again, when the wicked <i>man</i> turneth
away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that
which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.   28
Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his
transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he
shall not die.   29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of
the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal?
are not your ways unequal?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p19" shownumber="no">We have here another rule of judgment which
God will go by in dealing with us, by which is further demonstrated
the equity of his government. The former showed that God will
reward or punish according to the change made in the family or
succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he
will reward or punish according to the change made in the person
himself, whether for the better or the worse. While we are in this
world we are in a state of probation; the time of trial lasts as
long as the time of life, and according as we are found at last it
will be with us to eternity. Now see here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p20" shownumber="no">I. The case fairly stated, much as it had
been before (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.3.18" parsed="|Ezek|3|18|0|0" passage="Eze 3:18"><i>ch.</i> iii.
18</scripRef>, &amp;c.), and here it is laid down once (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.21-Ezek.18.24" parsed="|Ezek|18|21|18|24" passage="Eze 18:21-24"><i>v.</i> 21-24</scripRef>) and again
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.26-Ezek.18.28" parsed="|Ezek|18|26|18|28" passage="Eze 18:26-28"><i>v.</i> 26-28</scripRef>),
because it is a matter of vast importance, a matter of life and
death, of life and death eternal. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p21" shownumber="no">1. A fair invitation given to wicked
people, to turn from their wickedness. Assurance is here given us
that, <i>if the wicked will turn,</i> he shall <i>surely live,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.21 Bible:Ezek.18.27" parsed="|Ezek|18|21|0|0;|Ezek|18|27|0|0" passage="Eze 18:21,27"><i>v.</i> 21, 27</scripRef>.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p22" shownumber="no">(1.) What is required to denominate a man a
true convert, how he must be qualified that he may be entitled to
this act of indemnity. [1.] The first step towards conversion is
consideration (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.28" parsed="|Ezek|18|28|0|0" passage="Eze 18:28"><i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>): <i>Because he considers and turns.</i> The reason
why sinners go on in their evil ways is because they do not
consider what will be <i>in the end thereof;</i> but if the
prodigal once <i>come to himself,</i> if he sit down and consider a
little how bad his state is and how easily it may be bettered, he
will soon <i>return to his father</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.15.17" parsed="|Luke|15|17|0|0" passage="Lu 15:17">Luke xv. 17</scripRef>), and the adulteress <i>to her
first husband</i> when she considers that <i>then it was better
with her than now,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.7" parsed="|Hos|2|7|0|0" passage="Ho 2:7">Hos. ii.
7</scripRef>. [2.] This consideration must produce an aversion to
sin. When he considers he must turn <i>away from his
wickedness,</i> which denotes a change in the disposition of the
heart; he must turn from <i>his sins and his transgression,</i>
which denotes a change in the life; he must break off from all his
evil courses, and, wherein he has done iniquity, must resolve to do
so no more, and this from a principle of hatred to sin. <i>What
have I to do any more with idols?</i> [3.] This aversion to sin
must be universal; he must turn from <i>all</i> his sins and
<i>all</i> his transgressions, with out a reserve for any Delilah,
any house of Rimmon. We do not rightly turn from sin unless we
truly hate it, and we do not truly hate sin, as sin, if we do not
hate all sin. [4.] This must be accompanied with a conversion to
God and duty; he must <i>keep all God's statutes</i> (for the
obedience, if it be sincere, will be universal) and must <i>do that
which is lawful and right,</i> that which agrees with the word and
will of God, which he must take for his rule, and not the will of
the flesh and the way of the world.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p23" shownumber="no">(2.) What is promised to those that do thus
turn from sin to God. [1.] They shall <i>save their souls
alive,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.27" parsed="|Ezek|18|27|0|0" passage="Eze 18:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>.
They shall <i>surely live, they shall not die,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.21 Bible:Ezek.18.28" parsed="|Ezek|18|21|0|0;|Ezek|18|28|0|0" passage="Eze 18:21,28"><i>v.</i> 21 and again <i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>. Whereas it was said, <i>The soul that sins it shall
die,</i> yet let not those that have sinned despair but that the
threatened death may be prevented if they will but turn and repent
in time. When David penitently acknowledges, <i>I have sinned,</i>
he is immediately assured of his pardon: "<i>The Lord has taken
away thy sin, thou shalt not die</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.13" parsed="|2Sam|12|13|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:13">2 Sam. xii. 13</scripRef>), thou shalt not die
eternally." He shall <i>surely live;</i> he shall be restored to
the favour of God, which is the life of the soul, and shall not lie
under <i>his wrath,</i> which is as <i>messengers of death</i> to
the soul. [2.] The sins they have repented of and forsaken shall
not rise up in judgment against them, nor shall they be so much as
upbraided with them: <i>All his transgressions that he has
committed,</i> though numerous, though heinous, though very
provoking to God, and redounding very much to his dishonour, yet
<i>they shall not be mentioned unto him</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.22" parsed="|Ezek|18|22|0|0" passage="Eze 18:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), not mentioned against them;
not only they shall not be imputed to him to ruin him, but in the
great day they shall not be remembered against him to grieve or
shame him; they shall be covered, shall be sought for and not
found. This intimates the fulness of pardoning mercy; when sin is
forgiven it is <i>blotted out,</i> it is <i>remembered no more.</i>
[3.] In <i>their righteousness they shall live;</i> not for their
righteousness, as if that were the purchase of their pardon and
bliss and an atonement for their sins, but in their righteousness,
which qualifies them for all the blessings purchased by the
Mediator, and is itself one of those blessings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p24" shownumber="no">(3.) What encouragement a repenting
returning sinner has to hope for pardon and life according to this
promise. He is conscious to himself that his obedience for the
future can never be a valuable compensation for his former
disobedience; but he has this to support himself with, that God's
nature, property, and delight, is to have mercy and to forgive, for
he has said (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.23" parsed="|Ezek|18|23|0|0" passage="Eze 18:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>): "<i>Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die?</i> No, by no means; you never had any cause given you
to think so." It is true God has determined to punish sinners; his
justice calls for their punishment, and, pursuant to that,
impenitent sinners will lie for ever under his wrath and curse;
that is the will of his decree, his consequent will, but it is not
his antecedent will, the will of his delight. Though the
righteousness of his government requires that sinners die, yet the
goodness of his nature objects against it. <i>How shall I give thee
up, Ephraim?</i> It is spoken here comparatively; he has not
pleasure in the ruin of sinners, for he would rather they should
<i>turn from their ways and live;</i> he is better pleased when his
mercy is glorified in their salvation than when his justice is
glorified in their damnation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p25" shownumber="no">2. A fair warning given to righteous people
not to turn from their righteousness, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.24-Ezek.18.26" parsed="|Ezek|18|24|18|26" passage="Eze 18:24-26"><i>v.</i> 24-26</scripRef>. Here is, (1.) The
character of an apostate, that <i>turns away from his
righteousness.</i> He never was in sincerity a righteous man (as
appears by that of the apostle, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.19" parsed="|1John|2|19|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:19">1 John
ii. 19</scripRef>, <i>If they had been of us, they would, no doubt,
have continued with us</i>), but he passed for a righteous man. He
had the denomination and all the external marks of a righteous man;
he thought himself one, and others thought him one. But he throws
off his profession, leaves his first love, disowns and forsakes the
truth and ways of God, and so <i>turns away from his
righteousness</i> as one sick of it, and now shows, what he always
had, a secret aversion to it; and, having <i>turned away from his
righteousness,</i> he <i>commits iniquity,</i> grows loose, and
profane, and sensual, intemperate, unjust, and, in short, <i>does
according to all the abominations that the wicked man does;</i>
for, when the unclean spirit recovers his possession of the heart,
he <i>brings with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself
and they enter in and dwell there,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.26" parsed="|Luke|11|26|0|0" passage="Lu 11:26">Luke xi. 26</scripRef>. (2.) The doom of an apostate:
<i>Shall he live</i> because he was once a <i>righteous man?</i>
No; <i>factum non dicitur quod non perseverat—that which does not
abide is not said to be done. In his trespass</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.24" parsed="|Ezek|18|24|0|0" passage="Eze 18:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>) and for his iniquity
(that is the meritorious cause of his ruin), <i>for the iniquity
that he has done, he shall die,</i> shall die eternally, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.26" parsed="|Ezek|18|26|0|0" passage="Eze 18:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. <i>The backslider in
heart shall be filled with his own ways.</i> But will not his
former professions and performances stand him in some stead—will
they not avail at least to mitigate his punishment? No: <i>All his
righteousness that he has done,</i> though ever so much applauded
by men, <i>shall not be mentioned</i> so as to be either a credit
or a comfort to him; the righteousness of an apostate is forgotten,
as the wickedness of a penitent is. Under the law, if a Nazarite
was polluted he lost all the foregoing days of his separation
(<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.6.12" parsed="|Num|6|12|0|0" passage="Nu 6:12">Num. vi. 12</scripRef>), so those that
have <i>begun in the spirit and end in the flesh</i> may reckon all
their past services and sufferings <i>in vain</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.3-Gal.3.4" parsed="|Gal|3|3|3|4" passage="Ga 3:3,4">Gal. iii. 3, 4</scripRef>); unless we persevere
we <i>lose what we have gained,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:2John.1.8" parsed="|2John|1|8|0|0" passage="2Jo 1:8">2
John 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p26" shownumber="no">II. An appeal to the consciences even of
the house of Israel, though very corrupt, concerning God's equity
in all these proceedings; for he will be justified, as well as
sinners judged, out of their own mouths. 1. The charge they drew up
against God is blasphemous, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.25 Bible:Ezek.18.29" parsed="|Ezek|18|25|0|0;|Ezek|18|29|0|0" passage="Eze 18:25,29"><i>v.</i> 25, 29</scripRef>. The <i>house of
Israel</i> has the impudence to say, <i>The way of the Lord is not
equal,</i> than which nothing could be more absurd as well as
impious. <i>He that formed the eye, shall he not see?</i> Can his
ways be unequal whose will is the eternal rule of good and evil,
right and wrong? <i>Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?</i> No doubt he shall; he cannot do otherwise. 2. God's
reasonings with them are very gracious and condescending, for even
these blasphemers God would rather have convinced and saved than
condemned. One would have expected that God would immediately
vindicate the honour of his justice by making those that impeached
it eternal monuments of it. Must those be suffered to draw another
breath that have once breathed out such wickedness as this? Shall
that tongue ever speak again any where but in hell that has once
said, <i>The ways of the Lord are not equal?</i> Yes, because this
is the day of God's patience, he vouchsafes to argue with them; and
he requires them to own, for it is so plain that they cannot deny,
(1.) The equity of his ways: <i>Are not my ways equal?</i> No doubt
they are. He never lays upon man more than is right. In the present
punishments of sinners and the afflictions of his own people, yea,
and in the eternal damnation of the impenitent, <i>the ways of the
Lord are equal.</i> (2.) The iniquity of their ways: "<i>Are not
your ways unequal?</i> It is plain that they are, and the troubles
you are in you have brought upon your own heads. God does you no
wrong, but you have wronged yourselves." <i>The foolishness of man
perverts his way,</i> makes that unequal, and then <i>his heart
frets against the Lord,</i> as if his ways were unequal, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.19.3" parsed="|Prov|19|3|0|0" passage="Pr 19:3">Prov. xix. 3</scripRef>. In all our disputes with
God, and in all his controversies with us, it will be found that
his ways are equal, but ours are unequal, that he is in the right
and we are in the wrong.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xix-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.30-Ezek.18.32" parsed="|Ezek|18|30|18|32" passage="Eze 18:30-32" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xix-p26.4">
<h4 id="Ez.xix-p26.5">Warning against Apostasy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p26.6">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xix-p27" shownumber="no">30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of
Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p27.1">God</span>. Repent, and turn <i>yourselves</i>
from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
  31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye
have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for
why will ye die, O house of Israel?   32 For I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xix-p27.2">God</span>: wherefore turn <i>yourselves,</i> and
live ye.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p28" shownumber="no">We have here the conclusion and application
of this whole matter. After a fair trial at the bar of right reason
the verdict is brought in on God's side; it appears that <i>his
ways are equal.</i> Judgment therefore is next to be given; and one
would think it should be a judgment of condemnation, nothing short
of <i>Go, you cursed, into everlasting fire.</i> But, behold, a
miracle of mercy; the day of grace and divine patience is yet
lengthened out; and therefore, though God will at last judge
<i>every one according to his ways,</i> yet he waits to be
gracious, and closes all with a call to repentance and a promise of
pardon upon repentance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p29" shownumber="no">I. Here are four necessary duties that we
are called to, all amounting to the same:—1. We must repent; we
must change our mind and change our ways; we must be sorry for what
we have done amiss and ashamed of it, and go as far as we can
towards the undoing of it again. 2. We must <i>turn ourselves from
all our transgressions,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.30 Bible:Ezek.18.32" parsed="|Ezek|18|30|0|0;|Ezek|18|32|0|0" passage="Eze 18:30,32"><i>v.</i> 30 and again <i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>.
<i>Turn yourselves,</i> face about; turn from sin, nay, turn
against it as the enemy you loathe, turn to God as the friend you
love. 3. We must <i>cast away from us all our transgressions;</i>
we must abandon and forsake them with a resolution never to return
to them again, give sin a bill of divorce, break all the leagues we
have made with it, throw it overboard, as the mariners did Jonah
(for it has raised the storm), cast it out of the soul, and crucify
it as a malefactor. 4. We must <i>make us a new heart and a new
spirit.</i> This was the matter of a promise, <scripRef id="Ez.xix-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.19" parsed="|Ezek|11|19|0|0" passage="Eze 11:19"><i>ch.</i> xi. 19</scripRef>. Here it is the matter of
a precept. We must do our endeavour, and then God will not be
wanting to us to give us his grace. St. Austin well explains this
precept. <i>Deus non jubet impossibilia, sed jubendo monet et
facere quod possis et petere quod non possis—God does not enjoin
impossibilities, but by his commands admonishes us to do what is in
our power and to pray for what is not.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xix-p30" shownumber="no">II. Here are four good arguments used to
enforce these calls to repentance:—1. It is the only way, and it
is a sure way, to prevent the ruin which our sins have a direct
tendency to: <i>So iniquity shall not be your ruin,</i> which
implies that, if we do not repent, iniquity will be our ruin, here
and for ever, but that, if we do, we are safe, we are snatched as
brands out of the burning. 2. If we repent not, we certainly
perish, and our blood will be upon our own heads. <i>Why will you
die, O house of Israel?</i> What an absurd thing it is for you to
choose death and damnation rather than life and salvation. Note,
The reason why sinners die is because they <i>will die;</i> they
will go down the way that leads to death, and not come up to the
terms on which life is offered. Herein sinners, especially sinners
of the house of Israel, are most unreasonable and act most
unaccountably. 3. The God of heaven has no delight in our ruin, but
desires our welfare (<scripRef id="Ez.xix-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.32" parsed="|Ezek|18|32|0|0" passage="Eze 18:32"><i>v.</i>
32</scripRef>): <i>I have no pleasure in the death of him that
dies,</i> which implies that he has pleasure in the recovery of
those that repent; and this is both an engagement and an
encouragement to us to repent. 4. We are made for ever if we
repent: <i>Turn yourselves, and live.</i> He that says to us,
<i>Repent,</i> thereby says to us, <i>Live,</i> yea, he says to us,
<i>Live;</i> so that life and death are here set before us.</p>
</div></div2>