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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. XIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Hearing the word, and prayer, are two great ordinances of God, in which
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we are to give honour to him and may hope to find favour and acceptance
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with him; and yet in this chapter, to our great surprise, we find some
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waiting upon God in the one and some in the other and yet not meeting
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with success as they expected.
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I. The elders of Israel come to hear the word, and enquire of the
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prophet, but, because they are not duly qualified, they meet with a
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rebuke instead of acceptance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>)
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and are called upon to repent of their sins and reform their lives,
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else it is at their peril to enquire of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:6-11">ver. 6-11</A>.
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II. Noah, Daniel, and Job, are supposed to pray for this people, and
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yet, because the decree has gone forth, and the destruction of them is
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determined by a variety of judgments, their prayers shall not be
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answered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:12-21">ver. 12-21</A>.
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And yet it is promised, in the close, that a remnant shall escape,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:22,23">ver. 22, 23</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze14_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze14_11"> </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 Elders of Israel Rebuked; The Prophet's Address to the Elders.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat
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before me.
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2 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart,
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and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face:
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should I be enquired of at all by them?
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4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the
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Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his
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idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his
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iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his
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idols;
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5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart,
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because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
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6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord
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G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Repent, and turn <I>yourselves</I> from your idols; and turn away
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your faces from all your abominations.
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7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that
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sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and
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setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block
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of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to
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enquire of him concerning me; I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will answer him by
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myself:
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8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a
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sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my
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people; and ye shall know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my
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hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people
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Israel.
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10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the
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punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him
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that seeketh <I>unto him;</I>
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11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me,
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neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but
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that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the
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Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The address which some of the elders of Israel made to the prophet,
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as an oracle, to enquire of the Lord by him. They <I>came, and sat
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before him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It is probable that they were not of those who were now his
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fellow-captives, and constantly attended his ministry (such as those we
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read of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:1"><I>ch.</I> viii. 1</A>),
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but some occasional hearers, some of the grandees of Jerusalem who had
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come upon business to Babylon, perhaps public business, on an embassy
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from the king, and in their way called on the prophet, having heard
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much of him and being desirous to know if he had any message from God,
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which might be some guide to them in their negotiation. By the severe
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answer given them one would suspect they had a design to ensnare the
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prophet, or to try if they could catch hold of any thing that might
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look like a contradiction to Jeremiah's prophecies, and so they might
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have occasion to reproach them both. However, they feigned themselves
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just men, complimented the prophet, and sat before him gravely enough,
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as God's people used to sit. Note, It is no new thing for bad men to be
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found employed in the external performances of religion.</P>
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<P>
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II. The account which God gave the prophet privately concerning them.
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They were strangers to him; he only knew that they were <I>elders of
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Israel;</I> that was the character they wore, and as such he received
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them with respect, and, it is likely, was glad to see them so well
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disposed. But God gives him their real character
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>);
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they were idolaters, and did only consult Ezekiel as they would any
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oracle of a pretended deity, to gratify their curiosity, and therefore
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he appeals to the prophet himself whether they deserved to have any
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countenance or encouragement given them: "<I>Should I be enquired of at
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all by them?</I> Should I accept their enquiries as an honour to
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myself, or answer them for satisfaction to them? No; they have no
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reason to expect it;" for,
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1. They <I>have set up their idols in their heart;</I> they not only
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have idols, but they are in love with them, they dote upon them, are
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wedded to them, and have laid them so near their hearts, and have given
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them so great a room in their affections, that there is no parting with
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them. The idols they have set up in their houses, though they are now
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at a distance from <I>the chambers of their imagery,</I> yet they have
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them in their hearts, and they are ever and anon worshipping them in
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their fancies and imaginations. <I>They have made their idols to ascend
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upon their hearts</I> (so the word is); they have subjected their
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hearts to their idols, they are upon the throne there. Or when they
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came to enquire of the prophet they pretended to put away their idols,
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but it was in pretence only; they still had a secret reserve for them.
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They kept them <I>up in their hearts;</I> and, if they left them for a
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while, it was <I>cum animo revertendi--with an intention to return to
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them,</I> not a final farewell. Or it may be understood of spiritual
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idolatry; those whose affections are placed upon the wealth of the
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world and the pleasures of sense, whose god is their money, <I>whose
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god is their belly,</I> they <I>set up their idols in their heart.</I>
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Many who have no idols in their sanctuary have idols in their hearts,
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which is no less a usurpation of God's throne and a profanation of his
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name. <I>Little children, keep yourselves from</I> those <I>idols.</I>
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2. They <I>put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their
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face.</I> Their <I>silver and gold</I> were called <I>the
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stumbling-block of their iniquity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:19"><I>ch.</I> vii. 19</A>),
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their <I>idols of silver and gold,</I> by the beauty of which they were
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allured to idolatry, and so it was the block at which they stumbled,
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and fell into that sin; or <I>their iniquity</I> is their
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<I>stumbling-block,</I> which throws them down, so that they fall into
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ruin. Note, Sinners are their own tempters (<I>every man is tempted
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when he is drawn aside of his own lust</I>), and so they are their own
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destroyers. <I>If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it;</I> and thus
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<I>they put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their</I> own
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<I>faces,</I> and stumble upon it though they see it before their eyes.
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It intimates that they are resolved to go on in sin, whatever comes of
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it. <I>I have loved strangers, and after them I will go;</I> that is
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the language of their hearts. And <I>should</I> God <I>be enquired
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of</I> by such wretches? Do they not hereby rather put an affront upon
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him than do him any honour, as those did who <I>bowed the knee</I> to
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Christ in mockery? Can those expect an answer of peace from God who
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thus continue their acts of hostility against him? "Ezekiel, what
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thinkest thou of it?"</P>
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<P>
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III. The answer which God, in just displeasure, orders Ezekiel to give
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Let them know that it is not out of any disrespect to their persons
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that God refuses to give them an answer, but it is laid down as a rule
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for <I>every man of the house of Israel,</I> whoever he be, that if he
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continue in love and league with his idols, and come to enquire of God,
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God will resent it as an indignity done to him, and will answer him
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according to his real iniquity, not according to his pretended piety.
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He <I>comes to the prophet,</I> who, he expects, will be civil to him,
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but God will give him his answer, by punishing him for his impudence:
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<I>I the Lord,</I> who <I>speak and it is done, I will answer him that
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cometh, according to the multitude of his idols.</I> Observe, Those who
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<I>set up idols in their hearts,</I> and set their hearts upon their
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idols, commonly have a multitude of them. Humble worshippers God
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answers <I>according to the multitude of his mercies,</I> but bold
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intruders he answers <I>according to the multitude of their idols,</I>
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that is,
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1. According to the desire of their idols; he will give them up <I>to
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their own hearts' lust,</I> and leave them to themselves to be as bad
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as they have a mind to be, till they <I>have filled up the measure of
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their iniquity.</I> Men's corruptions are <I>idols in their hearts,</I>
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and they are of their own setting up; their temptations are <I>the
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stumbling-block of their iniquity,</I> and they are of their own
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putting, and God will answer them accordingly; let them take their
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course.
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2. According to the desert of their idols; they shall have such an
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answer as it is just that such idolaters should have. God will punish
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them as he usually punishes idolaters, that is, when they stand in need
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of his help he will <I>send them to the gods whom they have chosen,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:13,14">Judg. x. 13, 14</A>.
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Note, The judgment of God will dwell with men according to what they
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are really (that is, according to what their hearts are), not according
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to what they are in show and profession. And what will be the end of
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this? What will this threatened answer amount to? He tells them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart,</I> may lay
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them open to the world, that they may be ashamed; nay, lay them open to
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the curse, that they may be ruined. Note, The sin and shame, and pain
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and ruin, of sinners, are all from themselves, and their own hearts are
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the snares in which they are taken; they seduce them, they betray them;
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their own consciences witness against them, condemn them, and are a
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terror to them. If God take them, if he discover them, if he convict
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them, if he bind them over to his judgment, it is all by <I>their own
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hearts. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself. The house of Israel</I>
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is ruined by its own hands, <I>because they are all estranged from me
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through their idols.</I> Note,
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(1.) The ruin of sinners is owing to their estrangement from God.
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(2.) It is through some idol or other that the hearts of men are
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estranged from God; some creature has gained that place and dominion in
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the heart that God should have.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The extent of this answer which God had given them--to all <I>the
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house of Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
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The same thing is repeated, which intimates God's just displeasure
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against hypocrites, who mock him with the shows and forms of devotion,
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while their hearts are estranged from him and at war with him. Observe,
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1. To whom this declaration belongs. It concerns not only every one of
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the house of Israel (as before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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but <I>the stranger that sojourns in Israel;</I> let him not think it
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will be an excuse for him in his idolatries that he is but a stranger
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and a sojourner in Israel, and does but worship the gods that his
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father served and that he himself was bred up in the service of; no,
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let him not expect any benefit from Israel's oracles or prophets unless
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he thoroughly renounce his idolatry. Note, Even proselytes shall not be
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countenanced if they be not sincere: a dissembled conversion is no
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conversion.
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2. The description here given of hypocrites: They <I>separate
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themselves from</I> God by their fellowship with idols; they cut
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themselves off from their relation to God and their interest in him;
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they break off their acquaintance and intercourse with him, and set
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themselves at a distance from him. Note, Those that join themselves to
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idols separate themselves from God; nor shall any be for ever separated
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from the vision and fruition of God, but such as now separate
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themselves from his service and wilfully withdraw their allegiance from
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him. But there are those who thus separate themselves from God, and yet
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come to the prophets with a seeming respect and deference to their
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office, <I>to enquire of them concerning</I> God, in order to satisfy a
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vain curiosity, to stop the mouth of a clamorous conscience, or to get
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or save a reputation among men, but without any desire to be acquainted
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with God or any design to be ruled by him.
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3. The doom of those who thus trifle with God and think to impose upon
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him: "<I>I the Lord will answer him by myself;</I> let me alone to deal
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with him; I will give him an answer that shall fill him with confusion,
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that shall make him repent of his daring impiety." He shall have his
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answer, not by the words of the prophet, but by the judgments of God.
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<I>And I will set my face against that man,</I> which denotes great
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displeasure against him and a fixed resolution to ruin him. God can
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outface the most impenitent sinner. The hypocrite thought to save his
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credit, nay, and to gain applause, but, on the contrary, God <I>will
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make him a sign and a proverb,</I> will inflict such judgments upon him
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as shall make him remarkable and contemptible in the eyes of all about
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him; his misery shall be made use of to express the greatest misery, as
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when the worst of sinners are said to have <I>their portion appointed
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them with hypocrites,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:51">Matt. xxiv. 51</A>.
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God will make him an example; his judgments upon him shall be for
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warning to others to take heed of mocking God: for <I>thus shall it be
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done to the man that separates himself from</I> God, and yet pretends
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to <I>enquire concerning him.</I> The hypocrite thought to pass for one
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of God's people, and to crowd into heaven among them; but God <I>will
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cut him off from the midst of his people,</I> will discover him, and
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pluck him out from the thickest of them; and by this, says God, <I>you
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shall know that I am the Lord.</I> By the discovery of hypocrites it
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appears that God is omniscient: ministers know not how people stand
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affected when they come to hear the word, by God does. And by the
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punishment of hypocrites it appears that he is a jealous God, and one
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that cannot and will not be imposed upon.</P>
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<P>
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V. The doom of those pretenders to prophecy who give countenance to
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these pretenders to piety,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
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These hypocritical enquirers, though Ezekiel will not give them a
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comfortable answer, yet hope to meet with some other prophets that
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will; and if they do, as perhaps they may, let them know that God
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permits those lying prophets to deceive them in part of punishment:
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"<I>If the prophet</I> that flatters them <I>be deceived,</I> and gives
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them hopes which there is no ground for, <I>I the Lord have deceived
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that prophet,</I> have suffered the temptation to be laid before him,
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and suffered him to yield to it, and overruled it for the hardening of
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those in their wicked courses who were resolved to go on in them." We
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are sure that God is not the author of sin, but we are sure that he is
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the Lord of all and the Judge of sinners, and that he often makes use
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of one wicked man to destroy another, and so of one wicked man to
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deceive another. Both are sins in him who does them, and so they are
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<I>not</I> from God; both are punishments to him to whom they are done,
|
|
and so they <I>are</I> from God. We have a full instance of this in the
|
|
story of Ahab's prophets, who were deceived by a lying spirit, which
|
|
God put into their mouths
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+22:23">1 Kings xxii. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
and another in those whom God <I>gives up to strong delusions, to
|
|
believe a lie, because they received not the love of the truth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+2:10,11">2 Thess. ii. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
But read the fearful doom of the lying prophet: <I>I will stretch out
|
|
my hand upon him and will destroy him.</I> When God has served his own
|
|
righteous purposes by him he shall be reckoned with for his unrighteous
|
|
purposes. As, when God had made use of the Chaldeans for the wasting
|
|
of a sinful people, he justly punished them for their rage, so when he
|
|
had made use of <I>false prophets,</I> and afterwards of <I>false
|
|
Christs,</I> for the deceiving of a sinful people, he justly punished
|
|
them for their falsehood. But herein we must acknowledge (as Calvin
|
|
upon this place reminds us) that God's <I>judgments are a great
|
|
deep,</I> that we are incompetent judges of them, and that, though we
|
|
cannot account for the equity of God's proceedings to the satisfying
|
|
and silencing of every caviller, yet there is a day coming when he will
|
|
be justified before all the world, and particularly in this instance,
|
|
when <I>the punishment of the prophet</I> that flattereth the hypocrite
|
|
in his evil way shall be as the punishment of the hypocrite that
|
|
seeketh to him and bespeaks <I>smooth things</I> only,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:10">Isa. xxx. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The ditch shall be the same to the blind leader and the blind
|
|
followers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The good counsel that is given them for the preventing of this
|
|
fearful doom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Therefore repent, and turn yourselves from your idols.</I> Let
|
|
<I>this</I> separate between you and them, that they separate between
|
|
you and God; because they set God's face against you, do you <I>turn
|
|
away your faces from them,</I>" which denotes, not only forsaking them,
|
|
but forsaking them with loathing and detestation: "Turn from them as
|
|
from abominations that you are sick of; and then you will be welcome to
|
|
enquire of the Lord. <I>Come now, and let us reason together.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. The good issue of all this as to the house of Israel;
|
|
<I>therefore</I> the pretending prophets, and the pretending saints,
|
|
shall perish together by the judgments of God, that, some being made
|
|
examples, the body of the people may be reformed, <I>that the house of
|
|
Israel may go no more astray from me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The punishments of some are designed for the prevention of sin,
|
|
that others may hear, and fear, and take warning. When we see what
|
|
becomes of those that go astray from God we should thereby be engaged
|
|
to keep close to him. And, if <I>the house of Israel go not astray,
|
|
they will not be polluted any more.</I> Note, Sin is a polluting thing;
|
|
it renders the sinner odious in the eyes of the pure and holy God, and
|
|
in his own eyes too whenever conscience is awakened; and therefore they
|
|
shall <I>no more be polluted, that they may be my people and I may be
|
|
their God.</I> Note, Those whom God takes into covenant with himself
|
|
must first be cleansed from the pollutions of sin; and those who are so
|
|
cleansed shall not only be saved from ruin, but be entitled to all the
|
|
privileges of God's people.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze14_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Destruction of the People Determined; The Variety of the Divine Judgment; A Remnant Preserved.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 593.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 The word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came again to me, saying,
|
|
13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing
|
|
grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will
|
|
break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon
|
|
it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
|
|
14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it,
|
|
they should deliver <I>but</I> their own souls by their righteousness,
|
|
saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
|
|
15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they
|
|
spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through
|
|
because of the beasts:
|
|
16 <I>Though</I> these three men <I>were</I> in it, <I>as</I> I live, saith
|
|
the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they
|
|
only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
|
|
17 Or <I>if</I> I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go
|
|
through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
|
|
18 Though these three men <I>were</I> in it, <I>as</I> I live, saith the
|
|
Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they
|
|
only shall be delivered themselves.
|
|
19 Or <I>if</I> I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my
|
|
fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
|
|
20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, <I>were</I> in it, <I>as</I> I live,
|
|
saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter;
|
|
they shall <I>but</I> deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
|
|
21 For thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; How much more when I send my
|
|
four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine,
|
|
and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man
|
|
and beast?
|
|
22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be
|
|
brought forth, <I>both</I> sons and daughters: behold, they shall come
|
|
forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and
|
|
ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought
|
|
upon Jerusalem, <I>even</I> concerning all that I have brought upon
|
|
it.
|
|
23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their
|
|
doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all
|
|
that I have done in it, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The scope of these verses is to show,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That national sins bring national judgments. When virtue is ruined
|
|
and laid waste every thing else will soon be ruined and laid waste too
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When the land sins against me,</I> when vice and wickedness become
|
|
epidemical, <I>when the land sins by trespassing grievously,</I> when
|
|
the sinners have become very numerous and their sins very heinous, when
|
|
gross impieties and immoralities universally prevail, <I>then will I
|
|
stretch forth my hand upon it,</I> for the punishment of it. The divine
|
|
power shall be vigorously and openly exerted; the judgments shall be
|
|
extended and stretched forth to all the corners of the land, to all the
|
|
concerns and interests of the nation. Grievous sins bring grievous
|
|
plagues.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That God has a variety of sore judgments wherewith to punish sinful
|
|
nations, and he has them all at command and inflicts which he pleases.
|
|
He did indeed give David his choice what judgment he would be punished
|
|
with for his sin in numbering the people; for any of them would serve
|
|
to answer the end, which was to lessen the numbers he was proud of; but
|
|
David, in effect, referred it to God again: "<I>Let us fall into the
|
|
hands of the Lord;</I> let him choose with what rod we shall be
|
|
beaten." But he uses a variety of judgments that it may appear he has a
|
|
universal dominion, and that in all our concerns we may see our
|
|
dependence on him. <I>Four sore judgments</I> are here specified:--
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Famine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The denying and withholding of common mercies is itself judgment
|
|
enough, there needs no more to make a people miserable. God needs not
|
|
bring the staff of oppression, it is but <I>breaking the staff of
|
|
bread</I> and the work is soon done; he <I>cuts off man and beast</I>
|
|
by cutting off the provisions which nature makes for both in the annual
|
|
products of the earth. God <I>breaks the staff of bread</I> when,
|
|
though we have bread, yet we are not nourished and strengthened by it.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6">Hag. i. 6</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>You eat, but you have not enough.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Hurtful <I>beasts, noisome</I> and noxious, either as poisonous or
|
|
as ravenous. God can make these <I>to pass through the land</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:15><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
to increase in all parts of it, and to bereave it, not only of the tame
|
|
cattle, preying upon their flocks and herds, but of their people,
|
|
devouring men, women, and children, so <I>that no man may pass through
|
|
because of the beasts;</I> none dare travel even in the high roads for
|
|
fear of being pulled in pieces by lions, or other beasts of prey, as
|
|
the children of Beth-el by two bears. Note, When men revolt from their
|
|
allegiance to God, and rebel against him, it is just with God that the
|
|
inferior creatures should rise up in arms against men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:22">Lev. xxvi. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. War. God often chastises sinful nations by bringing a sword upon
|
|
them, the sword of a foreign enemy, and he gives it its commission and
|
|
orders what execution it shall do
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
he says, <I>Sword, go through the land.</I> It is bad enough if the
|
|
sword do but enter into the borders of a land, but much worse when it
|
|
goes through the bowels of a land. By it God <I>cuts off man and
|
|
beast,</I> horse and foot. What execution the sword does God does by
|
|
it; for it is his sword, and it acts as he directs.
|
|
|
|
4. <I>Pestilence</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
a dreadful disease, which has sometimes depopulated cities; by it God
|
|
<I>pours out his fury in blood</I> (that is, in death); the pestilence
|
|
kills as effectually as if the blood were shed by the sword, for it is
|
|
poisoned by the disease, <I>the sickness</I> we call it. See how
|
|
miserable the case of mankind is that lies thus exposed to deaths in
|
|
various shapes. See how dangerous the case of sinners is against whom
|
|
God has so many ways of fighting, so that, though they escape one
|
|
judgment, God has another waiting for them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That when God's professing people revolt from him, and rebel
|
|
against him, they may justly expect a complication of judgments to fall
|
|
upon them. God has various ways of contending with a sinful nation; but
|
|
if Jerusalem, the holy city, <I>become a harlot,</I> God will send upon
|
|
her all his <I>four sore judgments</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>);
|
|
|
|
for the nearer any are to God in name and profession the more severely
|
|
will he reckon with them if they reproach that worthy name by which
|
|
they are called and give the lie to that profession. They shall be
|
|
punished <I>seven times more.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. That there may be, and commonly are, some few very good men, even
|
|
in those places that by sin are ripened for ruin. It is no foreign
|
|
supposition that, even in a land that has <I>trespassed grievously,</I>
|
|
there may be <I>three</I> such <I>men</I> as <I>Noah, Daniel, and
|
|
Job.</I> Daniel was now living, and at this time had scarcely arrived
|
|
at the prime of his eminency, but he was already famous (at least this
|
|
word of God concerning him would without fail make him so); yet he was
|
|
carried away into captivity with the first of all,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:6">Dan. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some of the better sort of people in Jerusalem might perhaps think
|
|
that, if Daniel (of whose fame in the king of Babylon's court they had
|
|
heard much) had but continued in Jerusalem, it would have been spared
|
|
for his sake, as the magicians in Babylon were. "No," says God, "though
|
|
you had him, who was as eminently good in bad times and places as Noah
|
|
in the old world and Job in the land of Uz, yet a reprieve should not
|
|
be obtained." In the places that are most corrupt, and in the ages that
|
|
are most degenerate, <I>there is a remnant</I> which God reserves to
|
|
himself, and which <I>still hold fast their integrity</I> and stand
|
|
fair for the honour of <I>delivering the land,</I> as <I>the
|
|
innocent</I> are said to do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:30">Job xxii. 30</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. That God often spares very wicked places for the sake of a few godly
|
|
people in them. This is implied here as the expectation of Jerusalem's
|
|
friends in the day of its distress: "Surely God will stay his
|
|
controversy with us; for are there not some among us that are emptying
|
|
the measure of national guilt by their prayers, as others are filling
|
|
it by their sins? And, rather than God will <I>destroy the righteous
|
|
with the wicked,</I> he will preserve <I>the wicked with the
|
|
righteous.</I> If Sodom might have been spared for the sake of ten good
|
|
men, surely Jerusalem may."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. That such men as Noah, Daniel, and Job, will prevail, if any can,
|
|
to turn away the wrath of God from a sinful people. Noah was a perfect
|
|
man, and kept his integrity when all flesh had corrupted their way;
|
|
and, for his sake, his family, though one of them was wicked (Ham), was
|
|
saved in the ark. Job was a great example of piety, and mighty in
|
|
prayer for his children, for his friends; and God turned his captivity
|
|
when he prayed. Those were very ancient examples, before Moses, that
|
|
great intercessor; and therefore God mentions them, to intimate that he
|
|
had some very peculiar favourites long before the Jewish nation was
|
|
formed or founded, and would have such when it was ruined, for which
|
|
reason, it should seem, those names were made use of, rather than
|
|
Moses, Aaron, or Samuel; and yet, lest any should think that God was
|
|
partial in his respects to the ancient days, here is a modern instance,
|
|
a living one, placed between those two that were the glories of
|
|
antiquity, and he now a captive, and that is Daniel, to teach us not to
|
|
lessen the useful good men of our own day by over-magnifying the
|
|
ancients. Let the children of the captivity know that Daniel, their
|
|
neighbour, and <I>companion in tribulation,</I> being a man of great
|
|
humility, piety, and zeal for God, and instant and constant in prayer,
|
|
had as good an interest in heaven as Noah or Job had. Why may not God
|
|
raise up as great and good men now as he did formerly, and do as much
|
|
for them?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. That when the sin of a people has come to its height, and the
|
|
decree has gone forth for their ruin, the piety and prayers of the best
|
|
men shall not prevail to finish the controversy. This is here asserted
|
|
again and again, that, <I>though these three men were in</I> Jerusalem
|
|
at this time, yet they should <I>deliver neither son nor daughter;</I>
|
|
not so much as the little ones should be spared for their sakes, as the
|
|
little ones of Israel were upon the prayer of Moses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:31">Num. xiv. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
No; <I>the land shall be desolate,</I> and God would not hear their
|
|
prayers for it, though <I>Moses and Samuel stood before him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:1">Jer. xv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Abused patience will turn at last into inexorable wrath; and it
|
|
should seem as if God would be more inexorable in Jerusalem's case than
|
|
in another
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
because, besides the divine patience, they had enjoyed greater
|
|
privileges than any other people, which were the aggravations of their
|
|
sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. That, though pious praying men may not prevail to deliver others,
|
|
yet <I>they shall deliver their own souls by their righteousness,</I>
|
|
so that, though they may suffer in the common calamity, yet to them the
|
|
property of it is altered; it is not to them what it is to the wicked;
|
|
it is unstrung, and does them no hurt; it is sanctified, and does them
|
|
good. Sometimes <I>their souls</I> (their lives) are remarkably
|
|
<I>delivered,</I> and <I>given them for a prey;</I> at least <I>their
|
|
souls</I> (their spiritual interests) are secured. If their bodies be
|
|
not <I>delivered,</I> yet <I>their souls</I> are. <I>Riches</I> indeed
|
|
<I>profit not in the day of wrath,</I> but <I>righteousness delivers
|
|
from death,</I> from so great a death, so many deaths as are here
|
|
threatened. This should encourage us to keep our integrity in times of
|
|
common apostasy, that, if we do so, we shall be <I>hidden in the day of
|
|
the Lord's anger.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IX. That, even when God makes the greatest desolations by his
|
|
judgments, he reserves some to be the monuments of his mercy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
In Jerusalem itself, though marked for utter ruin, yet <I>there shall
|
|
be left a remnant,</I> who shall not be cut off by any of those <I>sore
|
|
judgments</I> before mentioned, but shall be carried into captivity,
|
|
both <I>sons and daughters,</I> who shall be the seed of a new
|
|
generation. The young ones, who had not grown up to such an obstinacy
|
|
in sin as their fathers had who were therefore cut off as incurable,
|
|
these <I>shall be brought forth</I> out of the ruins of Jerusalem by
|
|
the victorious enemy, and <I>behold they shall come forth to you</I>
|
|
that are in captivity, they shall make a virtue of a necessity, and
|
|
shall come the more willingly to Babylon because so many of their
|
|
friends have gone thither before them and are there ready to receive
|
|
them; and, when they come, <I>you shall see their ways and their
|
|
doing;</I> you shall hear them make a free and ingenuous confession of
|
|
the sins they had formerly been guilty of, and a humble profession of
|
|
repentance for them, with promises of reformation; and you shall see
|
|
instances of their reformation, shall see what good their affliction
|
|
has done them, and how prudently and patiently they conduct themselves
|
|
under it. Their narrow escape shall have a good effect upon them; it
|
|
shall change their temper and conversation, and make them new men. And
|
|
this will redound,
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1. To the satisfaction of their brethren: <I>They shall comfort you
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when you see their ways.</I> Note, It is a very comfortable sight to
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see people, when they are under the rod, repenting and humbling
|
|
themselves, justifying God and accepting the punishment of their
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iniquity. When we sorrow (as we ought to do) for the afflictions of
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others, it is a great comfort to us in our sorrow to see them improving
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their afflictions and making a good use of them. When those captives
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|
told their friends how bad they had been, and how righteous God was in
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bringing these judgments upon them, it made them very easy, and helped
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|
to reconcile them to the calamities of Jerusalem, to the justice of God
|
|
in punishing his own people so, and to the goodness of God, which now
|
|
appeared to have had kind intentions in all; and thus "<I>You shall be
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|
comforted concerning all the evil that I have brought upon
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Jerusalem,</I> and, when you better understand the thing, shall not
|
|
have such direful apprehensions concerning it as you have had." Note,
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|
It is a debt we owe to our brethren, if we have got good by our
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|
afflictions, to comfort them by letting them know it.
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2. It will redound to the honour of God: "<I>You shall know that I have
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|
not done without cause,</I> not without a just provocation, and yet not
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|
without a gracious design, <I>all that I have done in it.</I>" Note,
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|
When afflictions have done their work, and have accomplished that for
|
|
which they were sent, then will appear the wisdom and goodness of God
|
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in sending them, and God will be not only justified, but glorified in
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them.</P>
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