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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have a further, and no less terrible, denunciation
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of the judgments of God, which were coming with all speed and force
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upon the Jewish nation, which would utterly ruin it; for when God
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judges he will overcome. This destruction of Judah and Jerusalem is
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here,
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I. Represented by a sign, the cutting, and burning, and scattering of
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hair,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. That sign is expounded, and applied to Jerusalem.
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1. Sin is charged upon Jerusalem as the cause of this
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desolation--contempt of God's law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>)
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and profanation of his sanctuary,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:11">ver. 11</A>.
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2. Wrath is threatened, great wrath
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>),
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a variety of miseries
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:12,16,17">ver. 12, 16, 17</A>),
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such as should be their reproach and ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Representation of Jerusalem's Ruin.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 594.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a
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barber's razor, and cause <I>it</I> to pass upon thine head and upon
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thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the
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<I>hair.</I>
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2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the
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city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt
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take a third part, <I>and</I> smite about it with a knife: and a third
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part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword
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after them.
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3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them
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in thy skirts.
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4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the
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fire, and burn them in the fire; <I>for</I> thereof shall a fire come
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forth into all the house of Israel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the sign by which the utter destruction of Jerusalem is
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set forth; and here, as before, the prophet is himself the sign, that
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the people might see how much he affected himself with, and interested
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himself in, the case of Jerusalem, and how it lay to his heart, even
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when he foretold the desolations of it. He was so much concerned about
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it as to take what was done to it as done to himself, so far was he
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from desiring the woeful day.</P>
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<P>
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I. He must <I>shave off the hair of his head and beard</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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which signified God's utter rejecting and abandoning that people, as a
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useless worthless generation, such as could well be spared, nay, such
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as it would be his honour to part with; his judgments, and all the
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instruments he made use of in cutting them off, were this <I>sharp
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knife</I> and this <I>razor,</I> that were proper to be made use of,
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and would do execution. Jerusalem had been the head, but, having
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degenerated, had become as the <I>hair,</I> which, when it grows thick
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and long, is but a burden which a man wishes to get clear of, as God of
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the sinners in Zion. <I>Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24">Isa. i. 24</A>.
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Ezekiel must not cut off that hair only which was superfluous, but
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<I>cut it all off,</I> denoting the full end that God would make of
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Jerusalem. The hair that would not be trimmed and kept neat and clean
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by the admonitions of the prophets must be all shaved off by utter
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destruction. Those will be ruined that will not be reformed.</P>
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<P>
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II. He must <I>weigh the hair</I> and <I>divide it into three
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parts.</I> This intimates the very exact directing of God's judgments
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according to equity (by him men and their actions are <I>weighed</I> in
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the unerring balance of truth and righteousness) and the proportion
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which divine justice observes in punishing some by one judgment and
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others by another; one way or other, they shall all be met with. Some
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make the shaving of the hair to denote the loss of their liberty and of
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their honour: it was looked upon as a mark of ignominy, as in the
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disgrace Hanun put on David's ambassadors. It denotes also the loss of
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their joy, for they shaved their heads upon occasion of great mourning;
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I may add the loss of their Nazariteship, for the shaving of the head
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was a period to that vow
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+6:18">Num. vi. 18</A>),
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and Jerusalem was now no longer looked upon as a <I>holy city.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. He must dispose of the hair so that it might all be destroyed or
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dispersed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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1. One <I>third part</I> must <I>be burnt in the midst of the city,</I>
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denoting the multitudes that should perish by famine and pestilence,
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and perhaps many in the conflagration of the city, <I>when the days of
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the siege were fulfilled.</I> Or the laying of that glorious city in
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ashes might well be looked upon as a third part of the destruction
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threatened.
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2. Another third part was to be <I>cut in pieces with a knife,</I>
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representing the many who, during the siege, were slain by the sword,
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in their sallies out upon the besiegers, and especially when the city
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was taken by storm, the Chaldeans being then most furious and the Jews
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most feeble.
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3. Another third part was to be <I>scattered in the wind,</I> denoting
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the carrying away of some into the land of the conqueror and the flight
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of others into the neighbouring countries for shelter; so that they
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were hurried, some one way and some another, like loose hairs in the
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wind. But, lest they should think that this dispersion would be their
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escape, God adds, <I>I will draw out a sword after them,</I> so that
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wherever they go evil shall pursue them. Note, God has variety of
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judgments wherewith to accomplish the destruction of a sinful people
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and to make an end when he begins.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He must preserve a small quantity of the third sort that were to be
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<I>scattered in the wind,</I> and <I>bind them in his skirts,</I> as
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one would bind that which he is very mindful and careful of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This signified perhaps that little handful of people which were left
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under the government of Gedaliah, who, it was hoped, would keep
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possession of the land when the body of the people was carried into
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captivity. Thus God would have done well for them if they would have
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done well for themselves. But these few that were reserved must be
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taken and <I>cast into the fire,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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When Gedaliah and his friends were slain the people that put themselves
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under his protection were scattered, some gone into Egypt, others
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carried off by the Chaldeans, and in short the land totally cleared of
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them; then this was fulfilled, for out of those combustions <I>a fire
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came forth into all the house of Israel,</I> who, as fuel upon the
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fire, kindled and consumed one another. Note, It is ill with a people
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when those are taken away in wrath that seemed to be marked for
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monuments of mercy; for then there is no remnant or escaping, none shut
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up or left.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze5_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze5_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Guilt of Jerusalem; The Punishment of Jerusalem.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 594.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; This <I>is</I> Jerusalem: I have set it
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in the midst of the nations and countries <I>that are</I> round about
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her.
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6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than
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the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that <I>are</I>
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round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my
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statutes, they have not walked in them.
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7 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Because ye multiplied more
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than the nations that <I>are</I> round about you, <I>and</I> have not
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walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither
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have done according to the judgments of the nations that <I>are</I>
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round about you;
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8 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Behold, I, even I, <I>am</I>
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against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in
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the sight of the nations.
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9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and
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whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine
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abominations.
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10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of
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thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute
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judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter
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into all the winds.
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11 Wherefore, <I>as</I> I live, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Surely, because
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thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things,
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and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish
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<I>thee;</I> neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any
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pity.
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12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with
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famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third
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part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter
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a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword
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after them.
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13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my
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fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall
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know that I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have spoken <I>it</I> in my zeal, when I have
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accomplished my fury in them.
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14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the
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nations that <I>are</I> round about thee, in the sight of all that
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pass by.
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15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
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astonishment unto the nations that <I>are</I> round about thee, when I
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shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in
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furious rebukes. I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have spoken <I>it.</I>
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16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which
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shall be for <I>their</I> destruction, <I>and</I> which I will send to
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destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will
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break your staff of bread:
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17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they
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shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through
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thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have
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spoken <I>it.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the explanation of the foregoing similitude: <I>This is
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Jerusalem.</I> Thus it is usual in scripture language to give the name
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of the thing signified to the sign; as when Christ said, <I>This is my
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body.</I> The prophet's head, which was to be shaved, signified
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Jerusalem, which by the judgments of God was now to be stripped of all
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its ornaments, to be emptied of all its inhabitants, and to be set
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<I>naked and bare,</I> to be <I>shaved with a razor that is hired,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:20">Isa. vii. 20</A>.
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The head of one that was a priest, a prophet, a holy person, was
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fittest to represent Jerusalem the holy city. Now the contents of these
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verses are much the same with what we have often met with, and still
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shall, in the writings of the prophets. Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The privileges Jerusalem was honoured with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are
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round about her,</I> and those famous nations and very considerable.
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Jerusalem was not situated in a remote obscure corner of the world, far
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from neighbours, but in the midst of kingdoms that were populous,
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polite, and civilized, famed for learning, arts, and sciences, and
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which then made the greatest figure in the world. But there seems to be
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more in it than this.
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1. Jerusalem was dignified and preferred above the neighbouring nations
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and their cities. it was <I>set in the midst</I> of them as excelling
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them all. This <I>holy mountain was exalted above all the hills,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:2">Isa. ii. 2</A>.
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<I>Why leap you, you high hills? This is the hill which God desires to
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dwell in,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:16">Ps. lxviii. 16</A>.
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Jerusalem was a city upon a hill, conspicuous and illustrious, and
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which all the neighbouring nations had an eye upon, some for good-will,
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some for ill-will.
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2. Jerusalem was designed to have a good influence upon <I>the nations
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and countries round about,</I> was set in the midst of them as a candle
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upon a candlestick, to spread the light of divine revelation, which she
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was blessed with, to all the dark corners of the neighbouring nations,
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that from them it might diffuse itself further, even to the ends of the
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earth. Jerusalem was set <I>in the midst</I> of the nations, to be as
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the heart in the body, to invigorate this dead world with a divine life
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as well as to enlighten this dark world with a divine light, to be an
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example of every thing that was good. The nations that observed what
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excellent <I>statutes and judgments</I> they had concluded them to be
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<I>a wise and understanding people</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:6">Deut. iv. 6</A>),
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fit to be consulted as an oracle, as they were in Solomon's time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+4:34">1 Kings iv. 34</A>.
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And, had they preserved this reputation and made a right use of it,
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what a blessing would Jerusalem have been to all the nations about!
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But, failing to be so, the accomplishment of this intention was
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reserved for its latter days, <I>when out of Zion went forth the</I>
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gospel <I>law and the word of the Lord</I> Jesus <I>from Jerusalem,</I>
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and there <I>repentance and remission</I> began to be preached, and
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thence the preachers of them <I>went forth into all nations.</I> And,
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when that was done, Jerusalem was levelled with the ground. Note, When
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places and persons are made great, it is with design that they may do
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good and that those about them may be the better for them, that their
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<I>light may shine before men.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. The provocations Jerusalem was guilty of. A very high charge is
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here drawn up against that city, and proved beyond contradiction
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sufficient to justify God in seizing its privileges and putting it
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under military execution.
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1. She has <I>not walked in God's statutes,</I> nor <I>kept his
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judgments</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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nay, the inhabitants of Jerusalem had <I>refused his judgments and his
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statutes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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they did not do their duty, nay, they <I>would not,</I> they said that
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they would not. Those <I>statutes and judgments</I> which their
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neighbours admired they despised, which they should have set before
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their face they cast behind their back. Note, A contempt of the word
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and law of God opens a door to all manner of iniquity. God's statutes
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are the terms on which he deals with men; those that refuse his terms
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cannot expect his favours.
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2. She had <I>changed God's judgments into wickedness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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a very high expression of profaneness, that the people had not only
|
|
broken God's laws, but had so perverted and abused them that they had
|
|
made them the excuse and colour of their wickedness. They introduced
|
|
the abominable customs and usages of the heathen, instead of God's
|
|
institutions; this was changing <I>the truth of God into a lie</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:25">Rom. i. 25</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the <I>glory of God into shame,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+4:2">Ps. iv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that have been well educated, if they live ill, put the
|
|
highest affront imaginable upon God, as if he were the patron of sin
|
|
and <I>his judgments</I> were <I>turned into wickedness.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. She had been worse than the neighbouring nations, to whom she should
|
|
have set a good example: <I>She has changed my judgments,</I> by
|
|
idolatries and false worship, <I>more than the nations</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and she has <I>multiplied</I> (that is, multiplied idols and altars,
|
|
gods and temples, multiplied those things the unity of which was their
|
|
praise) <I>more than the nations that were round about.</I> Israel's
|
|
God is one, and his name one, his altar one; but they, not content with
|
|
this one God, multiplied their gods to such a degree that <I>according
|
|
to the number of their cities so were their gods,</I> and their altars
|
|
were <I>as heaps in the furrows of the field;</I> so that they exceeded
|
|
all their neighbours in having <I>gods many and lords many.</I> They
|
|
corrupted revealed religion more than the Gentiles had corrupted
|
|
natural religion. Note, If those who have made a profession of
|
|
religion, and have had a pious education, apostatize from it, they are
|
|
commonly more profane and vicious than those who never made any
|
|
profession; they have <I>seven other spirits more wicked.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. She had <I>not done according to the judgments of the nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Israel had not acted towards their God, as the nations had acted
|
|
towards their gods, though they were false gods; they had not been so
|
|
observant of him nor so constant to him. Has a nation <I>changed its
|
|
gods,</I> or slighted them, so as they have?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:11">Jer. ii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or it may refer to their morals; instead of reforming their neighbors,
|
|
they came short of them; and many who were of the <I>uncircumcision
|
|
kept the righteousness of the law</I> better than those who were <I>of
|
|
the circumcision,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:26,27">Rom. ii. 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who had the light of scripture did not <I>according to the
|
|
judgments</I> of many who had only the light of nature. Note, There are
|
|
those who are called <I>Christians</I> who will in the great day be
|
|
condemned by the better tempers and better lives of sober heathens.
|
|
|
|
5. The particular crime charged upon Jerusalem is profaning the holy
|
|
things, which she had been both entrusted and honoured with
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things,</I>
|
|
with thy idols and idolatries. The images of their pretended deities,
|
|
and the groves erected in honour of them, were brought into the temple;
|
|
and the ceremonies used by idolaters were brought into the worship of
|
|
God. Thus every thing that is sacred was polluted. Note, Idols are
|
|
detestable things any where, but more especially so in the
|
|
sanctuary.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The punishments that Jerusalem should fall under for these
|
|
provocations: <I>Shall not God visit for these things?</I> No doubt he
|
|
shall. The matter of the sentence here passed upon Jerusalem is very
|
|
dreadful, and the manner of expression makes it yet more so; the
|
|
judgments are various, and the threatenings of them varied, reiterated,
|
|
inculcated, that one may well say, <I>Who is able to stand in God's
|
|
sight when once he is angry?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God will take this work of punishing Jerusalem into his own hands;
|
|
and <I>who knows the power of his anger</I> and what <I>a fearful thing
|
|
it is to fall into his hands?</I> Observe what a strong emphasis is
|
|
laid upon it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I, even I, am against thee.</I> God had been for Jerusalem, to
|
|
defend and save it; but miserable is its case when he has turned to be
|
|
its enemy and fights against it. If God be against us, the whole
|
|
creation is at war with us, and nothing can be for us so as to stand us
|
|
in any stead: "You think it is only the Chaldean army that is against
|
|
you, but they are God's hand, or rather the staff in his hand; it is
|
|
<I>I, even I,</I> that <I>am against thee,</I> not only to speak
|
|
against thee by prophets, but to act against thee by providence. <I>I
|
|
will execute judgments in thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>in the midst of thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
not only in the suburbs, but in the heart of the city, not only in the
|
|
borders, but in the bowels of the country." Note, Those who will not
|
|
observe the judgments of God's mouth shall not escape the judgments of
|
|
his hand; and God's judgments, when they come with commission, will
|
|
penetrate into the midst of a people, will enter into the soul, <I>into
|
|
the bowels like water</I> and <I>like oil into the bones. I will
|
|
execute judgments.</I> Note, God himself undertakes to execute his own
|
|
judgments, according to the true and full intent of them; whatever are
|
|
the instruments, he is the principal agent.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. These punishments shall come from his displeasure. As to the body of
|
|
the people, it shall not be a correction in love, but he will
|
|
<I>execute judgments in anger, and in fury, and in furious rebukes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
strange expressions to come from a God who has said, <I>Fury is not in
|
|
me,</I> and who has declared himself <I>gracious, and merciful,</I> and
|
|
<I>slow to anger.</I> But they are designed to show the malignity of
|
|
sin, and the offence it gives to the just and holy God. That must needs
|
|
be a very evil thing which provokes him to such resentments, and
|
|
against his own people too, that had been so high in his favour, and
|
|
expressed with so much satisfaction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>My anger,</I> which has long been withheld, <I>shall</I> now <I>be
|
|
accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them;</I> it shall
|
|
not only light upon them, but lie upon them, and fill them as vessels
|
|
of wrath fitted by their own wickedness to destruction; <I>and,</I>
|
|
justice being hereby glorified, <I>I will be comforted,</I> I will be
|
|
entirely satisfied in what I have done." As, when God is dishonoured by
|
|
the sins of men, he is said to be <I>grieved</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:10">Ps. xcv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
so when he is honoured by their destruction he is said to <I>be
|
|
comforted.</I> The struggle between mercy and judgment is over, and in
|
|
this case judgment triumphs, triumphs indeed; for mercy that has been
|
|
so long abused is now silent and gives up the cause, has not a word
|
|
more to say on the behalf of such an ungrateful incorrigible people:
|
|
<I>My eye shall not spare, neither will I have any pity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Divine compassion defers the punishment, or mitigates it, or supports
|
|
under it, or shortens it; but here is <I>judgment without mercy,</I>
|
|
wrath without any mixture or allay of pity. These expressions are thus
|
|
sharpened and heightened perhaps with design to look further, to the
|
|
vengeance of eternal fire, which some of the destructions we read of in
|
|
the Old Testament were typical of, and particularly that of Jerusalem;
|
|
for surely it is nowhere on this side hell that this word has its full
|
|
accomplishment, <I>My eye shall not spare,</I> but <I>I will cause my
|
|
fury to rest.</I> Note, Those who live and die impenitent will perish
|
|
for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when <I>the Lord will not
|
|
spare.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Punishments shall be public and open: <I>I will execute</I> these
|
|
<I>judgments in the sight of the nations</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
the judgments themselves shall be so remarkable that all the nations
|
|
far and near shall take notice of them; they shall be all the talk of
|
|
that part of the world, and the more for the conspicuousness of the
|
|
place and people on which they are inflicted. Note, Public sins, as
|
|
they call for public reproofs (<I>those that sin rebuke before
|
|
all</I>), so, if those prevail not, they call for public judgments.
|
|
<I>He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:26">Job xxxiv. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he may maintain and vindicate the honour of his government, for
|
|
(as Grotius descants upon it here) <I>why should he suffer it to be
|
|
said, See what wicked lives those lead who profess to be the
|
|
worshippers of the only true God!</I> And, as the publicity of the
|
|
judgments will redound to the honour of God, so it will serve,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To aggravate the punishment, and to make it lie the more heavily.
|
|
Jerusalem, being made <I>waste,</I> becomes <I>a reproach among the
|
|
nations in the sight of all that pass by,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The more conspicuous and the more peculiar any have been in the day of
|
|
their prosperity the greater disgrace attends their fall; and that was
|
|
Jerusalem's case. The more Jerusalem had been <I>a praise in the
|
|
earth</I> the more it is now <I>a reproach and a taunt,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
This she was warned of as much as any thing when her glory commenced
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+9:8">1 Kings ix. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and this was lamented as much as any thing when it was laid in the
|
|
dust,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+2:15">Lam. ii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To teach the nations to fear before the God of Israel, when they
|
|
see what a jealous God he is, and how severely he punishes sin even in
|
|
those that are nearest to him: <I>It shall be an instruction to the
|
|
nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jerusalem should have taught her neighbours the fear of God by her
|
|
piety and virtue, but, she not doing that, God will teach it to them by
|
|
her ruin; for they have reason to say, <I>If this be done in the green
|
|
tree, what shall be done in the dry?</I> If <I>judgment begin at the
|
|
house of God,</I> where will it end? If those be thus punished who only
|
|
had some idolaters among them, what will become of us who are all
|
|
idolaters? Note, The destruction of some is designed for the
|
|
instruction of others. Malefactors are publicly punished <I>in
|
|
terrorem</I>--<I>that others may take warning.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. These punishments, in the kind of them, shall be very severe and
|
|
grievous.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They shall be such as have no precedent or parallel. Their sins
|
|
being more provoking than those of others, the judgments executed upon
|
|
them should be uncommon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>"I will do in thee that which I have not done</I> in thee before,
|
|
though thou hast long since deserved it; nay, that which I have not
|
|
done in any other city." This punishment of Jerusalem is said to be
|
|
<I>greater than that of Sodom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:6">Lam. iv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
which was more grievous than all that went before it; nay, it is such
|
|
as "<I>I will not do any more the like,</I> all the circumstances taken
|
|
in, to any other city, till the like come to be done again to this
|
|
city, in the final overthrow by the Romans." This is a rhetorical
|
|
expression of the most grievous judgments, like that character of
|
|
Hezekiah, that there was <I>none like him, before or after him.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) They shall be such as will force them to break the strongest bonds
|
|
of natural affection to one another, which will be a just punishment of
|
|
them for their wilfully breaking the bonds of their duty to God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The fathers shall eat the sons, and the sons shall eat the
|
|
fathers,</I> through the extremity of the famine, or shall be compelled
|
|
to do it by their barbarous conquerors.
|
|
|
|
(3.) There shall be a complication of judgments, any one of them
|
|
terrible enough, and desolating; but what then would they be when they
|
|
came all together and in perfection? Some shall be taken away by the
|
|
plague
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
the <I>pestilence shall pass through thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
sweeping all before it, as the destroying angel; others <I>shall be
|
|
consumed with famine,</I> shall gradually waste away as men in a
|
|
consumption
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
this is again insisted on
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will send upon them the evil arrows of famine;</I> hunger shall
|
|
make them pine, and shall pierce them to the heart, as if arrows,
|
|
<I>evil arrows,</I> poisoned darts, were shot into them. God has many
|
|
arrows, <I>evil arrows,</I> in his quiver; when some are discharged, he
|
|
has still more in reserve. <I>I will increase the famine upon you.</I>
|
|
A famine in a bereaved country may <I>decrease</I> as fruits spring
|
|
forth; but a famine in a besieged city will <I>increase</I> of course;
|
|
yet god speaks of it as his act: "<I>I will increase it, and will break
|
|
your staff of bread,</I> will take away the necessary supports of life,
|
|
will disappoint you of all that which you depend upon, so that there is
|
|
no remedy, but you must fall to the ground." Life is frail, is weak, is
|
|
burdened, so that, if it have not daily bread for its staff to lean
|
|
upon, it cannot but sink, and is soon gone if that staff be broken.
|
|
Others <I>shall fall by the sword round about</I> Jerusalem, when they
|
|
sally out upon the besiegers; it is a <I>sword</I> which God <I>will
|
|
bring,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sword of the Lord, that used to be drawn for Jerusalem's defence,
|
|
is now drawn for its destruction. Others are devoured by <I>evil
|
|
beasts,</I> which will make a prey of those that fly for shelter to the
|
|
deserts and mountains. They shall meet their ruin where they expected
|
|
refuge, for there is no escaping the judgments of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, <I>lastly,</I> those who escape shall be <I>scattered into</I> all
|
|
parts of the world, <I>into all the winds</I> (so it is expressed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:10,12"><I>v.</I> 10, 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimating that they should not only be dispersed, but hurried, and
|
|
tossed, and driven to and fro, as <I>chaff before the wind.</I> Nay,
|
|
and Cain's curse (to be fugitives and vagabonds) is not the worst of it
|
|
neither; their restless life shall be cut off by a bloody death: "<I>I
|
|
will draw out a sword after them,</I> which shall follow them wherever
|
|
they go." <I>Evil pursues sinners;</I> and the curse shall come upon
|
|
them and overtake them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. These punishments will prove their ruin by degrees. They shall be
|
|
<I>diminished</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
|
|
|
their strength and glory shall grow less and less. They shall be
|
|
<I>bereaved</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
emptied of all that which was their joy and confidence. God sends these
|
|
judgments on purpose to destroy them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The arrows are not sent (as those which Jonathan shot) for their
|
|
direction, but <I>for their destruction;</I> for god will <I>accomplish
|
|
his fury upon them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
the day of God's patience is over, and the ruin is remediless. Though
|
|
this prophecy was to have its accomplishment now quickly, in the
|
|
destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, yet the executioners not
|
|
being named here, but the criminal only (<I>this is Jerusalem</I>), we
|
|
may well suppose that it looks further, to the final destruction of
|
|
that great city by the Romans when God made a full end of the Jewish
|
|
nation, and <I>caused his fury to rest upon them.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. All this is ratified by the divine authority and veracity: <I>I the
|
|
Lord have spoken it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sentence is passed by him that is Judge of heaven and earth, whose
|
|
<I>judgment is according to truth,</I> and the judgments of whose hand
|
|
are according to the judgments of his mouth. He has spoken it who can
|
|
do it, for with him nothing is impossible. He has spoken it who will do
|
|
it, for <I>he is not a man that he should lie.</I> He has spoken it
|
|
whom we are bound to hear and heed, whose <I>ipse dixit--word</I>
|
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commands the most serious attention and submissive assent: <I>And they
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shall know that I the Lord have spoken it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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There were those who thought it was only the prophet that spoke it in
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his delirium; but God will make them know, by the accomplishment of it,
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that he has spoken it in his zeal. Note, Sooner or later, God's word
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will prove itself.</P>
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