mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 22.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxiii" n="xxiii" next="Ez.xxiv" prev="Ez.xxii" progress="58.51%" title="Chapter XXII">
<h2 id="Ez.xxiii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxiii-p1" shownumber="no">Here are three separate messages which God
entrusts the prophet to deliver concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and
all to the same purport, to show them their sins and the judgments
that were coming upon them for those sins. I. Here is a catalogue
of their sins, by which they had exposed themselves to shame and
for which God would bring them to ruin, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.1-Ezek.22.16" parsed="|Ezek|22|1|22|16" passage="Eze 22:1-16">ver. 1-16</scripRef>. II. They are here compared to
dross, and are condemned as dross to the fire, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.17-Ezek.22.22" parsed="|Ezek|22|17|22|22" passage="Eze 22:17-22">ver. 17-22</scripRef>. III. All orders and degrees
of men among them are here found guilty of the neglect of the duty
of their place and of having contributed to the national guilt,
which therefore, since none appeared as intercessors, they must all
expect to share in the punishment of, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.23-Ezek.22.31" parsed="|Ezek|22|23|22|31" passage="Eze 22:23-31">ver. 23-31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22" parsed="|Ezek|22|0|0|0" passage="Eze 22" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.1-Ezek.22.16" parsed="|Ezek|22|1|22|16" passage="Eze 22:1-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiii-p1.7">The Sins of Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   2 Now, thou
son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea,
thou shalt shew her all her abominations.   3 Then say thou,
Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p2.2">God</span>, The city
sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and
maketh idols against herself to defile herself.   4 Thou art
become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled
thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused
thy days to draw near, and art come <i>even</i> unto thy years:
therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a
mocking to all countries.   5 <i>Those that be</i> near, and
<i>those that be</i> far from thee, shall mock thee, <i>which
art</i> infamous <i>and</i> much vexed.   6 Behold, the
princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed
blood.   7 In thee have they set light by father and mother:
in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the
stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
  8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my
sabbaths.   9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood:
and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they
commit lewdness.   10 In thee have they discovered their
fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set
apart for pollution.   11 And one hath committed abomination
with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his
daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his
father's daughter.   12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed
blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily
gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith
the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p2.3">God</span>.   13 Behold,
therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou
hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
  14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in
the days that I shall deal with thee? I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p2.4">Lord</span> have spoken <i>it,</i> and will do
<i>it.</i>   15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and
disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out
of thee.   16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself
in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I <i>am</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p2.5">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p3" shownumber="no">In these verses the prophet by a commission
from Heaven sits as a judge upon the bench, and Jerusalem is made
to hold up her hand as a prisoner at the bar; and, if prophets were
set over other nations, much more over God's nation, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.1.10" parsed="|Jer|1|10|0|0" passage="Jer 1:10">Jer. i. 10</scripRef>. This prophet is
authorized to <i>judge the bloody city,</i> the <i>city of
bloods.</i> Jerusalem is so called, not only because she had been
guilty of the particular sin of blood-shed, but because her crimes
in general were bloody crimes (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.23" parsed="|Ezek|7|23|0|0" passage="Eze 7:23"><i>ch.</i> vii. 23</scripRef>), such as polluted her in
her blood, and for which she deserved to have blood given her to
drink. Now the business of a judge with a malefactor is to convict
him of his crimes, and then to pass sentence upon him for them.
These two things Ezekiel is to do here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p4" shownumber="no">I. He is to find Jerusalem guilty of many
heinous crimes here enumerated in a long bill of indictment, and it
is <i>billa vera—a true bill;</i> so he writes upon it whose
judgment we are sure is according to truth. He must <i>show her all
her abominations</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.2" parsed="|Ezek|22|2|0|0" passage="Eze 22:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), that God may be justified in all the desolations
brought upon her. Let us take a view of all the particular sins
which Jerusalem here stands charged with; and they are all
exceedingly sinful.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p5" shownumber="no">1. Murder: <i>The city sheds blood,</i> not
only in the suburbs, where the strangers dwell, but <i>in the midst
of it,</i> where, one would think, the magistrates would, if any
where, be vigilant. Even there people were murdered either in duels
or by secret assassinations and poisonings, or in the courts of
justice under colour of law, and there was no care taken to
discover and punish the murderers according to the law (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.6" parsed="|Gen|9|6|0|0" passage="Ge 9:6">Gen. ix. 6</scripRef>), no, nor so much as the
ceremony used to expiate an uncertain murder (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.1" parsed="|Deut|21|1|0|0" passage="De 21:1">Deut. xxi. 1</scripRef>), and so the guilt and pollution
remains upon the city. Thus <i>thou hast become guilty in thy blood
that thou hast shed,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.4" parsed="|Ezek|22|4|0|0" passage="Eze 22:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. This crime is insisted most upon, for it was
Jerusalem's measure-filling sin more than any; it is said to be
that <i>which the Lord would not pardon,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.4" parsed="|2Kgs|24|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:4">2 Kings xxiv. 4</scripRef>. (1.) The <i>princes of
Israel,</i> who should have been the protectors of injured
innocence, <i>every one were to their power to shed blood,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.6" parsed="|Ezek|22|6|0|0" passage="Eze 22:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. They thirsted
for it, and delighted in it, and whoever came within their power
were sure to feel it; whoever lay at their mercy were sure to find
none. (2.) There were those who <i>carried tales to shed blood,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.9" parsed="|Ezek|22|9|0|0" passage="Eze 22:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. They told lies
of men to the princes, to whom they knew it would be pleasing, to
incense them against them; or they betrayed what passed in private
conversation, to make mischief among neighbours, and set them
together by the ears, to bite, and devour, and worry one another,
even to death. Note, Those who, by giving invidious characters and
telling ill-natured stories of their neighbours, sow discord among
brethren, will be accountable for all the mischief that follows
upon it; as he that kindles a fire will be accountable for all the
hurt it does. (3.) There were those who <i>took gifts to shed
blood</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.12" parsed="|Ezek|22|12|0|0" passage="Eze 22:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>),
who would be hired with money to swear a man out of his life, or,
if they were upon a jury, would be bribed to find an innocent man
guilty. When so much barbarous bloody work of this kind was done in
Jerusalem we may well conclude, [1.] That men's consciences had
become wretchedly profligate and seared and their hearts hardened;
for those would stick at no wickedness who would not stick at this.
[2.] That abundance of quiet, harmless, good people were made away
with, whereby, as the guilt of the city was increased, so the
number of those that should have stood in the gap to turn away the
wrath of God was diminished.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p6" shownumber="no">2. Idolatry: <i>She makes idols against
herself to destroy herself,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.3" parsed="|Ezek|22|3|0|0" passage="Eze 22:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. And again (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.4" parsed="|Ezek|22|4|0|0" passage="Eze 22:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>Thou hast defiled thyself in
thy idols which thou hast made.</i> Note, Those who make idols for
themselves will be found to have made them against themselves, for
idolaters put a cheat upon themselves and prepare destruction for
themselves; besides that thereby they pollute themselves, they
render themselves odious in the eyes of the just and jealous God,
and even <i>their mind and conscience are defiled,</i> so that to
them <i>nothing is pure.</i> Those who did not make idols
themselves were yet found guilty of <i>eating upon the
mountains,</i> or high places (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.9" parsed="|Ezek|22|9|0|0" passage="Eze 22:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), in honour of the idols and in
communion with idolaters.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p7" shownumber="no">3. Disobedience to parents (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.7" parsed="|Ezek|22|7|0|0" passage="Eze 22:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>In thee have</i> the
children <i>set light by their father and mother,</i> mocked them,
cursed them, and despised to obey them, which was a sign of a more
than ordinary corruption of nature as well as manners, and a
disposition to all manner of disorder, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.5" parsed="|Isa|3|5|0|0" passage="Isa 3:5">Isa. iii. 5</scripRef>. Those that set light by their
parents are in the highway to all wickedness. God had made many
wholesome laws for the support of the paternal authority, but no
care was taken to put them in execution; nay, the Pharisees in
their day taught children, under pretence of respect to the Corban,
to set light by their parents and refuse to maintain them,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.5" parsed="|Matt|15|5|0|0" passage="Mt 15:5">Matt. xv. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p8" shownumber="no">4. Oppression and extortion. To enrich
themselves they wronged the poor (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.7" parsed="|Ezek|22|7|0|0" passage="Eze 22:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>They dealt by oppression</i>
and <i>deceit with the stranger,</i> taking advantage of his
necessities, and his ignorance of the laws and customs of the
country. In Jerusalem, that should have been a sanctuary to the
oppressed, <i>they vexed the fatherless and widows</i> by
unreasonable demands and inquisitions, or troublesome law-suits, in
which might prevails against right. "<i>Thou hast taken usury and
increase</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.12" parsed="|Ezek|22|12|0|0" passage="Eze 22:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>); not only there are those in thee that do it, but
thou hast done it." It was an act of the city or community; the
public money, which should have been employed in public charity,
was put out to usury, with extortion. <i>Thou hast greedily gained
of thy neighbours</i> by <i>violence</i> and <i>wrong.</i> For
neighbours to gain by one another in a way of fair trading is well,
but those who are <i>greedy of gain</i> will not be held within the
rules of equity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p9" shownumber="no">5. Profanation of the sabbath and other
holy things. This commonly goes along with the other sins for which
they here stand indicted (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.8" parsed="|Ezek|22|8|0|0" passage="Eze 22:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>Thou hast despised my holy things,</i> holy
oracles, holy ordinances. The rites which God appointed were
thought too plain, too ordinary; they despised them, and therefore
were fond of the customs of the heathen. Note, Immorality and
dishonesty are commonly attended with a contempt of religion and
the worship of God. <i>Thou hast profaned my sabbaths.</i> There
was not in Jerusalem that face of sabbath-sanctification that one
would have expected in the <i>holy city.</i> Sabbath-breaking is an
iniquity that is an inlet to all iniquity. Many have owned it to
contribute as much to their ruin as any thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p10" shownumber="no">6. Uncleanness and all manner of
seventh-commandment sins, fruits of those vile affections to which
God in a way of righteous judgment gives men up, to punish them for
their idolatry and profanation of holy things. Jerusalem had been
famous for its purity, but now <i>in the midst of thee they commit
lewdness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.9" parsed="|Ezek|22|9|0|0" passage="Eze 22:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>);
lewdness goes bare-faced, though in the most scandalous instances,
as that of a man's having his father's wife, which is the
<i>discovery of the father's nakedness</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.10" parsed="|Ezek|22|10|0|0" passage="Eze 22:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) and is a sin not <i>to be
named among Christians</i> without the utmost detestation
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.5.1" parsed="|1Cor|5|1|0|0" passage="1Co 5:1">1 Cor. v. 1</scripRef>), and was made
a capital crime by the law of Moses, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.20.11" parsed="|Lev|20|11|0|0" passage="Le 20:11">Lev. xx. 11</scripRef>. The time <i>to refrain from
embracing</i> has not been observed (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.6" parsed="|Eccl|3|6|0|0" passage="Ec 3:6">Eccles. iii. 6</scripRef>), for <i>they have humbled her
that was set apart for her pollution.</i> They made nothing of
committing lewdness with a <i>neighbour's wife,</i> with a
<i>daughter-in-law,</i> or a sister, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.11" parsed="|Ezek|22|11|0|0" passage="Eze 22:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. And <i>shall not God visit for
these things?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p11" shownumber="no">7. Unmindfulness of God was at the bottom
of all this wickedness (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.12" parsed="|Ezek|22|12|0|0" passage="Eze 22:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): "<i>Thou hast forgotten me,</i> else thou wouldst
not have done thus." Note, Sinners do that which provokes God
because they forget him; they forget their descent from him,
dependence on him, and obligations to him; they forget how valuable
his favour is, which they make themselves unfit for, and how
formidable his wrath, which they make themselves obnoxious to.
Those that <i>pervert their ways forget the Lord their God,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.21" parsed="|Jer|3|21|0|0" passage="Jer 3:21">Jer. iii. 21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p12" shownumber="no">II. He is to pass sentence upon Jerusalem
for these crimes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p13" shownumber="no">1. Let her know that she has filled up the
measure of her iniquity, and that her sins are such as forbid
delays and call for speedy vengeance. She has made <i>her time to
come</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.3" parsed="|Ezek|22|3|0|0" passage="Eze 22:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
<i>her days to draw near;</i> and she <i>has come to her years</i>
of maturity for punishment (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.4" parsed="|Ezek|22|4|0|0" passage="Eze 22:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), as an heir that has <i>come to age</i> and is ready
for his inheritance. God would have borne longer with them, but
they had arrived at such a pitch of impudence in sin that God could
not in honour give them a further day. Note, Abused patience will
at last be weary of forbearing. And, when sinners (as Solomon
speaks) grow <i>overmuch wicked,</i> they <i>die before their
time</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.17" parsed="|Eccl|7|17|0|0" passage="Ec 7:17">Eccl. vii. 17</scripRef>) and
shorten their reprieves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p14" shownumber="no">2. Let her know that she has exposed
herself, and therefore God has justly exposed her, to the contempt
and scorn of all her neighbours (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.4" parsed="|Ezek|22|4|0|0" passage="Eze 22:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>I have made thee a reproach
to the heathen,</i> both <i>those who are near,</i> who are
eye-witnesses of Jerusalem's apostasy and degeneracy, and <i>those
afar off,</i> who, though at a distance, will think it worth taking
notice of (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.5" parsed="|Ezek|22|5|0|0" passage="Eze 22:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>);
they shall all <i>mock thee.</i> While they were reproached by
their neighbours for their adherence to God it was their honour,
and they might be sure that God would roll away their reproach.
But, now that they are laughed at for their revolt from God, they
must lie down in their shame, and must say, <i>The Lord is
righteous.</i> They make a mock at Jerusalem, both because her sins
had been very <i>scandalous</i> (she is <i>infamous, polluted in
name,</i> and has quite lost her credit), and because her
punishment is very <i>grievous</i>—she is <i>much vexed</i> and
frets without measure at her troubles. Note, Those who fret most at
their troubles have commonly those about them who will be so much
the more apt to make a jest of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p15" shownumber="no">3. Let her know that God is displeased,
highly displeased, at her wickedness, and does and will witness
against it (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.13" parsed="|Ezek|22|13|0|0" passage="Eze 22:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>):
<i>I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain.</i> God, both by
his prophets and by his providence, revealed his wrath from heaven
against their <i>ungodliness</i> and <i>unrighteousness,</i> the
oppressions they were guilty of, though they got by them, and
<i>their murders</i> (the <i>blood which has been in the midst of
thee</i>), and all their other sins. Note, God has sufficiently
discovered how angry he is at the wicked courses of his people;
and, that they may not say that they have not had fair warning, he
<i>smites his hand</i> against the sin before he <i>lays his
hand</i> upon the sinner. And this is a good reason why we should
despise dishonest gain, even the <i>gain of oppressions,</i> and
<i>shake our hands from holding bribes,</i> because these are sins
against which God <i>shakes his hands,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.15" parsed="|Isa|33|15|0|0" passage="Isa 33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p16" shownumber="no">4. Let her know that, proud and secure as
she is, she is no match for God's judgments, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.14" parsed="|Ezek|22|14|0|0" passage="Eze 22:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. (1.) She is assured that the
destruction she has deserved will come: <i>I the Lord have spoken
it, and will do it.</i> He that is true to his promises will be
true to his threatenings too, for he is not a man that he should
repent. (2.) It is supposed that she thinks herself able to contend
with God, and so stand a siege against his judgments. She bade
defiance to the day of the Lord, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.19" parsed="|Isa|5|19|0|0" passage="Isa 5:19">Isa.
v. 19</scripRef>. But, (3.) She is convinced of her utter inability
to make her part good with him: "<i>Can thy heart endure, or can
thy hand be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?</i>
Thou thinkest thou hast to do only with men like thyself, but shalt
be made to know that thou fallest into the hands of a living God."
Observe here, [1.] There is a day coming when God will <i>deal with
sinners,</i> a day of visitation. He deals with some to bring them
to repentance, and there is no resisting the force of convictions
when he sets them on; he deals with others to bring them to ruin.
He deals with sinners in this life, when he brings upon them his
sore judgments; but the days of eternity are especially the days in
which God will deal with them, when the full vials of God's wrath
will be poured out without mixture. [2.] The wrath of God against
sinners, when he comes to deal with them, will be found both
intolerable and irresistible. There is no heart stout enough to
endure it; it is none of the infirmities which <i>the spirit of a
man will sustain.</i> Damned sinners can neither forget nor despise
their torments, nor have they any thing wherewith to support
themselves under their torments. There are no hands strong enough
either to ward off the strokes of God's wrath or to break the
chains with which sinners are bound over to the day of wrath.
<i>Who knows the power of God's anger?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p17" shownumber="no">5. Let her know that, since she has walked
in the way of the heathen, and learned their works, she shall have
enough of them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.15" parsed="|Ezek|22|15|0|0" passage="Eze 22:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): "<i>I will</i> not only send thee <i>among the
heathen,</i> out of thy own land, but <i>I will scatter thee</i>
among them and <i>disperse thee in the countries,</i> to be abused
and insulted over by strangers." And since her <i>filthiness</i>
and <i>filthy ones</i> continued in her, notwithstanding all the
methods God had taken to <i>refine</i> her (she <i>would not be
made clean,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.13.27" parsed="|Jer|13|27|0|0" passage="Jer 13:27">Jer. xiii.
27</scripRef>), he will be his judgments <i>consume her filthiness
out of her;</i> he will destroy those that are incurably bad and
reform those that are inclined to be good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p18" shownumber="no">6. Let her know that God has disowned her
and cast her off. He had been her heritage and portion; but now
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.16" parsed="|Ezek|22|16|0|0" passage="Eze 22:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), "<i>Thou
shalt take thy inheritance in thyself,</i> shift for thyself, make
the best hand thou canst for thyself, for God will no longer
undertake for thee." Note, Those that give up themselves to be
ruled by their lusts will justly be given up to be portioned by
them. Those that resolve to be their own masters, let them expect
no other comfort and happiness than what their own hands can
furnish them with, and a miserable portion it will prove.
<i>Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward. Thou in thy
life-time receivedst thy good things.</i> These are the same with
this, "<i>Thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself,</i> and then,
when it is too late, shalt own <i>in the sight of the heathen that
I am the Lord,</i> who alone am a portion sufficient for my
people." Note, Those that have lost their interest in God will know
how to value it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxiii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.17-Ezek.22.22" parsed="|Ezek|22|17|22|22" passage="Eze 22:17-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiii-p18.3">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiii-p18.4">The Sins of Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p18.5">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiii-p19" shownumber="no">17 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p19.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   18 Son of man,
the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they <i>are</i>
brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace;
they are <i>even</i> the dross of silver.   19 Therefore thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p19.2">God</span>; Because ye are
all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the
midst of Jerusalem.   20 <i>As</i> they gather silver, and
brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace,
to blow the fire upon it, to melt <i>it;</i> so will I gather
<i>you</i> in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave <i>you
there,</i> and melt you.   21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow
upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the
midst thereof.   22 As silver is melted in the midst of the
furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall
know that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p19.3">Lord</span> have poured out
my fury upon you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p20" shownumber="no">The same melancholy string is still harped
upon, and various turns are given it, to make it affecting, that it
may be influencing. The prophet must here show, or at least it is
here shown him, that the whole house of Israel has become as dross
and that as dross they shall be consumed. What David has said
concerning the wicked ones of the world is here said concerning the
wicked ones of the church, now that it is corrupt and degenerate
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.119" parsed="|Ps|119|119|0|0" passage="Ps 119:119">Ps. cxix. 119</scripRef>): <i>Thou
puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p21" shownumber="no">I. See here how the wretched degeneracy of
the house of Israel is described. That state, in David's and
Solomon's time, had been <i>a head of gold;</i> when the kingdoms
were divided it was as the <i>arms of silver.</i> But now, 1. It
has degenerated into baser metal, of no value in comparison with
what it formerly was: <i>They are all brass, and tin, and iron, and
lead,</i> which some make to signify divers sorts of sinners among
them. Their being brass denotes the impudence of some in their
wickedness; they are <i>brazen-faced,</i> and cannot blush; their
<i>shoes</i> had been <i>iron and brass</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.25" parsed="|Deut|33|25|0|0" passage="De 33:25">Deut. xxxiii. 25</scripRef>), but now their brow is so,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.4" parsed="|Isa|48|4|0|0" passage="Isa 48:4">Isa. xlviii. 4</scripRef>. Their being
tin denotes the hypocritical profession of piety with which many of
them cover their iniquity; they have a specious show, but no
intrinsic worth. Their being iron denotes the cruel disposition of
some, and their delight in war, according to the character of the
<i>iron age.</i> Their being lead denotes their dulness,
sottishness, and stupidity: though soft and pliable to evil, yet
heavy and not movable to good. <i>How has the gold become dross!
How has the most fine gold changed!</i> So is Jerusalem's
degeneracy bewailed, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.1" parsed="|Lam|4|1|0|0" passage="La 4:1">Lam. iv.
1</scripRef>. Yet this is not the worst; these metals, though of
less value, are yet of good use. But, 2. The <i>house of Israel has
become dross to me.</i> So she is in God's account, whatever she is
in her own and her neighbours' account. They were silver, but now
they are <i>even the dross of silver;</i> the word signifies all
the dirt, and rubbish, and worthless stuff, that are separated from
the silver in the washing, melting, and refining of it. Note,
Sinners, and especially degenerate professors, are in God's account
as dross, vile, and contemptible, and of no account, as the <i>evil
figs</i> which <i>could not be eaten, they were so evil.</i> They
are useless and fit for nothing; of no consistency with themselves
and no service to man.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p22" shownumber="no">II. How the woeful destruction of this
degenerate house of Israel is foretold. They are all gathered
together in Jerusalem; thither people fled from all parts of the
country as to a city of refuge, not only because it was a strong
city, but because it was the holy city. Now God tells them that
their flocking into Jerusalem, which they intended for their
security, should be as the gathering of various sorts of metal into
the furnace or crucible, to be melted down, and to have the dross
separated from them. They are <i>in the midst of Jerusalem,</i>
surrounded by the forces of the enemy; and, being thus enclosed, 1.
The <i>fire of God's wrath</i> shall be kindled upon this furnace,
and it shall be <i>blown,</i> to make it burn fiercely and
strongly, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.20-Ezek.22.21" parsed="|Ezek|22|20|22|21" passage="Eze 22:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20,
21</scripRef>. God will <i>gather them in his anger and fury.</i>
The blowing of the fire makes a great noise, so will the judgments
of God upon Jerusalem. When God stirs up himself to execute
judgments upon a provoking people, from the consideration of his
own glory and the necessity of making some examples, then he may be
said to <i>blow the fire of his wrath</i> against sin and sinners,
to <i>heat the furnace seven times hotter.</i> 2. The several sorts
of metal gathered in it shall be melted; by a complication of
judgments, as by a raging fire, their constitution shall be
dissolved, they shall lose all their former shape and strength, and
shall be utterly unable to stand before the wrath of God. The
various sorts of sinners shall be melted down together, and united
in a common overthrow, as <i>brass</i> and <i>lead</i> in the same
furnace, as trees are <i>bound in bundles for the fire.</i> They
came together into Jerusalem as a place of defence, but God brought
them together there as unto a place of execution. 3. God will leave
them in the furnace (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.20" parsed="|Ezek|22|20|0|0" passage="Eze 22:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>): I will <i>gather you into the furnace</i> and will
<i>leave you there.</i> When God brings his own people into the
furnace he sits by them, as the refiner by his gold, to see that
they be not continued there any longer than is fitting and needful;
but he will bring these people into the furnace, as men throw dross
into it, which they design shall be consumed, and therefore are in
no care about it, but <i>leave it there.</i> Compare with this
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.14" parsed="|Hos|5|14|0|0" passage="Ho 5:14">Hos. v. 14</scripRef>, <i>I will tear
and go away.</i> 4. Hereby the dross shall be wholly separated and
the good metal purified, the impenitent shall be destroyed and the
penitent reformed and fitted for deliverance. <i>Take away the
dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the
finer,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.25.4" parsed="|Prov|25|4|0|0" passage="Pr 25:4">Prov. xxv. 4</scripRef>.
This judgment shall do that in the house of Israel for the doing of
which other methods had been tried in vain, and <i>reprobate silver
shall they no more be called,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.30" parsed="|Jer|6|30|0|0" passage="Jer 6:30">Jer.
vi. 30</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxiii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.23-Ezek.22.31" parsed="|Ezek|22|23|22|31" passage="Eze 22:23-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxiii-p22.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xxiii-p22.8">Charge against Prophets and
Priests. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p22.9">b. c.</span> 591.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxiii-p23" shownumber="no">23 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p23.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   24 Son of man,
say unto her, Thou <i>art</i> the land that is not cleansed, nor
rained upon in the day of indignation.   25 <i>There is</i> a
conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring
lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken
the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in
the midst thereof.   26 Her priests have violated my law, and
have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between
the holy and profane, neither have they shewed <i>difference</i>
between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my
sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.   27 Her princes in
the midst thereof <i>are</i> like wolves ravening the prey, to shed
blood, <i>and</i> to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.  
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered <i>mortar,</i>
seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p23.2">God</span>, when the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p23.3">Lord</span> hath not spoken.   29 The people of
the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have
vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger
wrongfully.   30 And I sought for a man among them, that
should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the
land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.   31
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have
consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I
recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxiii-p23.4">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p24" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A general idea given of the
land of Israel, how well it deserved the judgments coming to
destroy it and how much it needed these judgments to refine it. Let
the prophet tell her plainly, "<i>Thou art the land that is not
cleansed,</i> not refined as metal is, and therefore needest to be
again put into the furnace. Means and methods of reformation have
been ineffectual; thou art <i>not rained upon in the day of
indignation.</i>" This was one of the judgments which God brought
upon them in the day of his wrath, he <i>withheld the rain</i> from
them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.4" parsed="|Jer|14|4|0|0" passage="Jer 14:4">Jer. xiv. 4</scripRef>. Or,
"When thou art under the tokens of God's displeasure, even in the
day of indignation thou art <i>not rained upon;</i> thou hast not
received instruction by the prophets, whose doctrine is said to
<i>descend as the rain.</i>" Or, "When thou art corrected thou art
not cleansed; thy filth is not carried away as that in the streets
is by a sweeping rain. Nay, though it be a <i>day of
indignation</i> with thee, yet thy filthiness, which should be done
away, has become more <i>offensive,</i> as that of a city is in dry
weather, when it is not rained upon." Or, "Thou hast nothing to
refresh and comfort thyself with <i>in the day of indignation;</i>
thou art not rained upon by divine consolations." So the rich man
in torment had not a <i>drop of water,</i> or rain, <i>to cool his
tongue.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p25" shownumber="no">II. A particular charge drawn up against
the several orders and degrees of men among them, which shows that
they had all helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt, but
none had done any thing towards the emptying of it; they are
therefore all alike.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p26" shownumber="no">1. They have every one <i>corrupted his
way,</i> and those who should have been the brightest examples of
virtue were ringleaders in iniquity and patterns of vice.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p27" shownumber="no">(1.) The <i>prophets,</i> who pretended to
make known the mind of God to them, were not only <i>deceivers,</i>
but <i>devourers</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.25" parsed="|Ezek|22|25|0|0" passage="Eze 22:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>), and hardened them in their wickedness both by their
preaching, wherein they promised them impunity and prosperity, and
by their conversation, in which they were as profligate as any.
<i>There is a conspiracy of her prophets</i> against God and
religion, against the true prophets and all good men; they
conspired together to be all in one song, as Ahab's prophets were,
to assure them of peace in their sinful ways. Note, The unity which
is found among pretenders to infallibility, and which they so much
boast of, is only the result of a secret <i>conspiracy</i> against
the truth. Satan is not <i>divided against himself.</i> The
prophets are <i>in conspiracy</i> with the murderers and
oppressors, to patronise and protect them in their wickedness, and
justify what they did with their false prophecies, provided they
may come in sharers with them in the profits of it. They are like
<i>a roaring lion ravening the prey;</i> they thunder out threats
against those whose ruin is aimed at, terrify them, or make them
odious to the people, and so make themselves masters, [1.] Of their
lives: They <i>have devoured souls,</i> have been accessory to the
shedding of the blood of many an innocent person, and so have made
many to become sorrowful widows who were comfortable wives. They
have persecuted those to death who witnessed against their
pretensions to prophecy and would not be imposed upon by their
counterfeit commission. Or, They devoured souls by flattering
sinners into a false peace and a vain hope, and seducing them into
the paths of sin, which would be their eternal ruin. Note, Those
who draw men to wickedness, and encourage them in it, are the
devourers and murderers of their souls. [2.] Of their estates. When
Naboth is slain they take possession of his vineyard; <i>They have
seized the treasure and precious things,</i> as forfeited; some way
or other they had of <i>devouring the widows' houses,</i> as the
Pharisees, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.14" parsed="|Matt|23|14|0|0" passage="Mt 23:14">Matt. xxiii. 14</scripRef>.
Or, They got this <i>treasure,</i> and all these <i>precious
things,</i> as fees for false and flattering prophecies; for <i>he
that puts not into their mouths, they even prepare war against
him,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.5" parsed="|Mic|3|5|0|0" passage="Mic 3:5">Mic. iii. 5</scripRef>. It was
sad with Jerusalem when such men as these passed for prophets.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p28" shownumber="no">(2.) The priests, who were teachers by
office, and had the custody of the sacred things, and should have
called the false prophets to account, were as bad as they,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.26" parsed="|Ezek|22|26|0|0" passage="Eze 22:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. [1.] They
violated the law of God, which they should have observed and taught
others to observe. They made no conscience of the law of the
priesthood, but openly broke it, and with contempt, as Hophni and
Phinehas. They did what they had a mind, with an express <i>non
obstante—notwithstanding</i> to the word of God. And how should
those teach the people their duty who lived in contradiction to
their own? [2.] They <i>profaned God's holy things,</i> about which
they were to minister, and which they ought to have restrained
others from the profanation of. They suffered those to eat of the
holy things who were unqualified by the law. The table of the Lord
was contemptible with them. By dealing in holy things with such
unhallowed hands they did themselves profane them. [3.] They did
not themselves put a difference, nor did they show the people how
to <i>put a difference, between the holy and profane, the clean and
the unclean,</i> according to the directions and distinctions of
the law. They did not exclude those from God's courts who were
excluded by the law, nor teach the people to observe the difference
the law had made between food clean and unclean, between times and
places holy and common; but they lived at large themselves and
encouraged the people to do so too. [4.] They <i>hid their eyes
from God's sabbaths;</i> they took no care about them; it was all
one to them whether God's sabbaths were kept holy or no; they
neither gave countenance to those who observed them nor check to
those who profaned them, nor did they themselves show any regard to
them or veneration for them. They winked at those who did servile
works on that day, and looked another way when they should have
inspected the behaviour of the people on sabbath days. God's
sabbaths have such a beauty and glory put upon them by the divine
institution as may command respect; but they <i>hid their eyes</i>
from them and would not see that excellency in them. [5.] By all
this God himself was <i>profaned among them;</i> his authority was
slighted, his goodness made light of, and the highest affront and
contempt imaginable were put upon his holiness. Note, The
profanation of the honour of the scriptures, of sabbaths and sacred
things, is a profanation of the honour of God himself, who is
interested in them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p29" shownumber="no">(3.) The princes, who should have
interposed with their authority to redress these grievances, were
as daring transgressors of the law as any (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.27" parsed="|Ezek|22|27|0|0" passage="Eze 22:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): <i>They are like wolves
ravening the prey;</i> for such is power without justice and
goodness to direct it. All their business was to gratify, [1.]
Their own pride and ambition, by making themselves arbitrary and
formidable. [2.] Their own malice and revenge, by <i>shedding
blood</i> and <i>destroying souls,</i> sacrificing to their cruelty
all those that stood in their way or had in any thing disobliged
them. [3.] Their own avarice; all they aim at is to <i>get
dishonest gain,</i> by crushing and oppressing their subject.
<i>Lucri bonus est odor ex re qualibet. Rem, rem, quocunque modo
rem—Sweet is the odour of gain, from whatever substance it
ascends. Money, money, by fairness or by fraud, get money.</i> But,
though they had power sufficient to carry them on in their
oppressive courses, yet how could they answer it both to their
credit and to their consciences? We are told how (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.28" parsed="|Ezek|22|28|0|0" passage="Eze 22:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): The prophets
<i>daubed them with untempered mortar,</i> told them in God's name
(horrid wickedness!) that there was no harm in what they did, that
they might dispose of the lives and estates of their subjects as
they pleased, and could do no wrong, nay, that in prosecuting such
and such whom they had marked out they did God service; and thus
they stopped the mouth of their consciences. They also justified
what they did, to the people, nay, and <i>magnified</i> it as if it
were all for the public good, and so saved their reputation, and
kept their oppressed subjects from murmuring. Note, Daubing
prophets are the great supporters of ravening princes, but will
prove at last their great deceivers, for they daub with untempered
mortar which will not hold, nor will the wall stand long that is
built up with it. They pretend to be seers, but they <i>see
vanity;</i> they pretend to be diviners, but they <i>divine
lies;</i> they pretend a warrant from Heaven for what they say, and
that it is all as true as gospel; they say, <i>Thus saith the Lord
God,</i> but it is all a sham, for <i>the Lord has not spoken any
such thing.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p30" shownumber="no">(4.) The people that had any power in their
hands learned of their princes to abuse it, <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.29" parsed="|Ezek|22|29|0|0" passage="Eze 22:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Those that should have
complained of the oppression of the subject, and have put in a
<i>claim of rights</i> on behalf of the injured, that should have
stood up for liberty and property, were themselves invaders of
them: <i>The people of the land have used oppression and exercised
robbery.</i> The rich oppress the poor, masters their servants,
landlords their tenants, and even parents their own children; nay,
the buyers and sellers will find some way to oppress one another.
This is such a sin as, when it is national, is indeed a national
judgment, and is threatened as such. <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.5" parsed="|Isa|3|5|0|0" passage="Isa 3:5">Isa. iii. 5</scripRef>, <i>The people shall be oppressed
every one by his neighbour.</i> It is an aggravation of the sin
that they have <i>vexed the poor and needy,</i> whom they should
have relieved, and have <i>oppressed the stranger</i> and deprived
him of <i>his right,</i> to whom they ought to have been not only
just, but kind. Thus was the apostasy universal and the disease
epidemical.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxiii-p31" shownumber="no">2. There is none that appears as an
intercessor for them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.30" parsed="|Ezek|22|30|0|0" passage="Eze 22:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>): <i>I sought for a man among them that should stand
in the gap, but I found none.</i> Note, (1.) Sin makes a gap in the
hedge of protection that is about a people at which good things run
out from them and evil things pour in upon them, a gap by which God
enters to destroy them. (2.) There is a way of standing in the gap,
and making up the breach against the judgments of God, by
repentance, and prayer, and reformation. Moses stood in the gap
when he made intercession for Israel to <i>turn away the wrath of
God,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.23" parsed="|Ps|106|23|0|0" passage="Ps 106:23">Ps. cvi. 23</scripRef>. (3.)
When God is coming forth against a sinful people to destroy them he
expects some to intercede for them, and enquires if there be but
one that does; so much is it his desire and delight to show mercy.
If there be but a man that stands in the gap, as Abraham for Sodom,
he will discover him and be well pleased with him. (4.) It bodes
ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the
spirit of prayer is restrained, so that <i>not one is found</i>
that will either give them a good word or speak a good word for
them. (5.) When it is so, what can be expected but utter ruin?
<i>Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxiii-p31.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.22.31" parsed="|Ezek|22|31|0|0" passage="Eze 22:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>), have given
it full scope, that it may come upon them in a full stream; yet,
whatever God's wrath inflicts upon a people, it is <i>their own
way</i> that is therein <i>recompensed upon their heads,</i> and
God deals with them no worse, but even much better, than their
iniquity deserves.</p>
</div></div2>