mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 17.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xviii" n="xviii" next="Ez.xix" prev="Ez.xvii" progress="56.23%" title="Chapter XVII">
<h2 id="Ez.xviii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xviii-p0.2">CHAP. XVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xviii-p1" shownumber="no">God was, in the foregoing chapter, reckoning with
the people of Judah, and bringing ruin upon them for their
treachery in breaking covenant with him; in this chapter he is
reckoning with the king of Judah for his treachery in breaking
covenant with the king of Babylon; for when God came to contend
with them he found many grounds of his controversy. The thing was
now in doing: Zedekiah was practising with the king of Egypt
underhand for assistance in a treacherous project he had formed to
shake off the yoke of the king of Babylon, and violate the homage
and fealty he had sworn to him. For this God by the prophet here,
I. Threatens the ruin of him and his kingdom, by a parable of two
eagles and a vine (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.1-Ezek.17.10" parsed="|Ezek|17|1|17|10" passage="Eze 17:1-10">ver.
1-10</scripRef>), and the explanation of that parable, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.11-Ezek.17.21" parsed="|Ezek|17|11|17|21" passage="Eze 17:11-21">ver. 11-21</scripRef>. But, in the close,
II. He promises hereafter to raise the royal family of Judah again,
the house of David, in the Messiah and his kingdom, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.22-Ezek.17.24" parsed="|Ezek|17|22|17|24" passage="Eze 17:22-24">ver. 22-24</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xviii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17" parsed="|Ezek|17|0|0|0" passage="Eze 17" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xviii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.1-Ezek.17.21" parsed="|Ezek|17|1|17|21" passage="Eze 17:1-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xviii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Ez.xviii-p1.7">The Parable of the Eagles; The Parable
Explained; Ruin of Zedekiah Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p1.8">b.
c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xviii-p2" shownumber="no">1 And the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.1">Lord</span> came unto me, saying,   2 Son of man,
put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
  3 And say, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.2">God</span>; A great eagle with great wings,
long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto
Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:   4 He
cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land
of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.   5 He took
also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field;
he placed <i>it</i> by great waters, <i>and</i> set it <i>as</i> a
willow tree.   6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of
low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots
thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth
branches, and shot forth sprigs.   7 There was also another
great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this
vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches
toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her
plantation.   8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters,
that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit,
that it might be a goodly vine.   9 Say thou, Thus saith the
Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.3">God</span>; Shall it prosper? shall he
not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that
it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even
without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots
thereof.   10 Yea, behold, <i>being</i> planted, shall it
prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth
it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.   11
Moreover the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.4">Lord</span> came
unto me, saying,   12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye
not what these <i>things mean?</i> tell <i>them,</i> Behold, the
king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king
thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
  13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant
with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the
mighty of the land:   14 That the kingdom might be base, that
it might not lift itself up, <i>but</i> that by keeping of his
covenant it might stand.   15 But he rebelled against him in
sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses
and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such
<i>things?</i> or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
  16 <i>As</i> I live, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.5">God</span>, surely in the place <i>where</i> the king
<i>dwelleth</i> that made him king, whose oath he despised, and
whose covenant he brake, <i>even</i> with him in the midst of
Babylon he shall die.   17 Neither shall Pharaoh with
<i>his</i> mighty army and great company make for him in the war,
by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
  18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant,
when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these
<i>things,</i> he shall not escape.   19 Therefore thus saith
the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.6">God</span>; <i>As</i> I live,
surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he
hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.   20
And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him
there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.  
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the
sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds:
and ye shall know that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p2.7">Lord</span>
have spoken <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p3" shownumber="no">We must take all these verses together,
that we may have the parable and the explanation of it at one view
before us, because they will illustrate one another. 1. The prophet
is appointed to <i>put forth a riddle</i> to the <i>house of
Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.2" parsed="|Ezek|17|2|0|0" passage="Eze 17:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>),
not to puzzle them, as Samson's riddle was put forth to the
Philistines, not to hide the mind of God from them in obscurity, or
to leave them in uncertainty about it, one advancing one conjecture
and another another, as is usual in expounding riddles; no, he is
immediately to tell them the meaning of it. <i>Let him that speaks
in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.14.13" parsed="|1Cor|14|13|0|0" passage="1Co 14:13">1 Cor. xiv. 13</scripRef>. But he must deliver
this message in a riddle or parable that they might take the more
notice of it, might be the more affected with it themselves, and
might the better remember it and tell it to others. For these
reasons God often used similitudes by his servants the prophets,
and Christ himself <i>opened his mouth in parables.</i> Riddles and
parables are used for an amusement to ourselves and an
entertainment to our friends. The prophet must make use of these to
see if in this dress the things of God might find acceptance, and
insinuate themselves into the minds of a careless people. Note,
Ministers should study to find out acceptable words, and try
various methods to do good; and, as far as they have reason to
think will be for edification, should both bring that which is
familiar into their preaching and their preaching too into their
familiar discourse, that there may not be so vast a dissimilitude
as with some there is between what they say in the pulpit and what
they say out. 2. He is appointed to expound this riddle to <i>the
rebellious house,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.12" parsed="|Ezek|17|12|0|0" passage="Eze 17:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. Though being <i>rebellious</i> they might justly
have been left in ignorance, to see and hear and not perceive, yet
the thing shall be explained to them: <i>Know you not what these
things mean?</i> Those that knew the story, and what was now in
agitation, might make a shrewd guess at the meaning of this riddle,
but, that they might be left without excuse, he is to give it to
them in plain terms, stripped of the metaphor. But the enigma was
first propounded for them to study on awhile, and to send to their
friends at Jerusalem, that they might enquire after and expect the
solution of it some time after.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p4" shownumber="no">Let us now see what the matter of this
message is.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p5" shownumber="no">I. Nebuchadnezzar had some time ago carried
off Jehoiachin, the same that was called <i>Jeconiah,</i> when he
was but eighteen years of age and had reigned in Jerusalem but
<i>three months,</i> him and his princes and great men, and had
brought them captives to Babylon, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.12" parsed="|2Kgs|24|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:12">2
Kings xxiv. 12</scripRef>. This in the parable is represented by an
eagle's cropping the top and tender branch of <i>a cedar,</i> and
carrying it into <i>a land of traffic,</i> a <i>city of
merchants</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.3-Ezek.17.4" parsed="|Ezek|17|3|17|4" passage="Eze 17:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3,
4</scripRef>), which is explained <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.12" parsed="|Ezek|17|12|0|0" passage="Eze 17:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. The <i>king of Babylon</i>
took the <i>king of Jerusalem,</i> who was no more able to resist
him than a young twig of a tree is to contend with the strongest
bird of prey, that easily crops it off, perhaps towards the making
of <i>her nest.</i> Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel's vision, is <i>a
lion,</i> the king of beasts (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.7.4" parsed="|Dan|7|4|0|0" passage="Da 7:4">Dan. vii.
4</scripRef>); there he has <i>eagle's wings,</i> so swift were his
motions, so speedy were his conquests. Here, in this parable, he is
<i>an eagle,</i> the king of birds, a <i>great eagle,</i> that
lives upon spoil and rapine, whose young ones <i>suck up blood,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.30" parsed="|Job|39|30|0|0" passage="Job 39:30">Job xxxix. 30</scripRef>. His
dominion extends itself far and wide, like the great and long wings
of an eagle; the people are numerous, for it is <i>full of
feathers;</i> the court is splendid, for it has <i>divers
colours,</i> which look like <i>embroidering,</i> as the word is.
Jerusalem is Lebanon, a forest of houses, and very pleasant. The
royal family is <i>the cedar;</i> Jehoiachin is the <i>top
branch,</i> the <i>top of the young twigs,</i> which he crops off.
Babylon is the <i>land of traffic</i> and <i>city of merchants</i>
where it is set. And the king of Judah, being of the house of
David, will think himself much degraded and disgraced to be lodged
among tradesmen; but he must make the best of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p6" shownumber="no">II. When he carried him to Babylon he made
his uncle Zedekiah king in his room, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.5-Ezek.17.6" parsed="|Ezek|17|5|17|6" passage="Eze 17:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. His name was
<i>Mattaniah—the gift of the Lord,</i> which Nebuchadnezzar
changed into <i>Zedekiah—the justice of the Lord,</i> to remind
him to be just like the God he called his, for fear of his justice.
This was <i>one of the seed of the land,</i> a native, not a
foreigner, not one of his Babylonian princes; he was <i>planted in
a fruitful field,</i> for so Jerusalem as yet was; he <i>placed it
by great waters,</i> where it would be likely to grow, like <i>a
willow-tree,</i> which grows quickly, and grows best in moist
ground, but is never designed nor expected to be a stately tree. He
<i>set it with</i> care and <i>circumspection</i> (so some read
it); he wisely provided that it might grow, but that it might not
grow too big. <i>He took of the king's seed</i> (so it is
explained, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.13" parsed="|Ezek|17|13|0|0" passage="Eze 17:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>)
and <i>made a covenant with him</i> that he should have the
kingdom, and enjoy the regal power and dignity, provided he held it
as his vassal, dependent on him and accountable to him. He <i>took
an oath of him,</i> made him swear allegiance to him, swear by his
own God, the God of Israel, that he would be a faithful tributary
to him, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.36.13" parsed="|2Chr|36|13|0|0" passage="2Ch 36:13">2 Chron. xxxvi.
13</scripRef>. He also <i>took away the mighty of the land,</i> the
chief of the men of war, partly as hostages for the performance of
the covenant, and partly that, the land being thereby weakened, the
king might be the less able, and therefore the less in temptation,
to break his league. What he designed we are told (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.14" parsed="|Ezek|17|14|0|0" passage="Eze 17:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>That the kingdom
might be base,</i> in respect both of honour and strength, might
neither be a rival with its powerful neighbours, nor a terror to
its feeble ones, as it had been, that <i>it might not left up
itself</i> to vie with the kingdom of Babylon, or to bear down any
of the petty states that were in subjection to it. But yet he
designed that by <i>the keeping of this covenant it might
stand,</i> and continue a kingdom. Hereby the pride and ambition of
that haughty potentate would be gratified, who aimed to be <i>like
the Most High</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.14.14" parsed="|Isa|14|14|0|0" passage="Isa 14:14">Isa. xiv.
14</scripRef>), to have all about him subject to him. Now see here,
1. How sad a change sin made with the royal family of Judah. Time
was when all the nations about were tributaries to that; now that
has not only lost its dominion over other nations, but has itself
become a tributary. <i>How has the gold become dim!</i> Nations by
sin sell their liberty, and princes their dignity, and <i>profane
their crowns by casting them to the ground.</i> 2. How wisely
Zedekiah did for himself in accepting these terms, though they were
dishonourable, when necessity brought him to it. A man may live
very comfortably and contentedly, though he cannot bear a part, and
make a figure, as formerly. A kingdom may stand firmly and safely,
though it do not stand so high as it has sometimes done; and so may
a family.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p7" shownumber="no">III. Zedekiah, while he continued faithful
to the king of Babylon, did very well, and, if he would but have
reformed his kingdom, and returned to God and his duty, he would
have done better, and by that means might soon have recovered his
former dignity, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.6" parsed="|Ezek|17|6|0|0" passage="Eze 17:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. This plant grew, and though it was <i>set as a
willow-tree,</i> and little account was made of it, yet it became
<i>a spreading vine of low stature,</i> a great blessing to his own
country, and his fruits <i>made glad their hearts;</i> and it is
better to be a spreading vine of low stature than a lofty cedar of
no use. Nebuchadnezzar was pleased, for <i>the branches turned
towards him,</i> and rested on him as the vine on the wall, and he
had his share of the fruits of this vine; <i>the roots thereof</i>
too were <i>under him,</i> and at his disposal. The Jews had reason
to be pleased, for they sat under their own vine, which <i>brought
forth branches, and shot forth sprigs,</i> and looked pleasant and
promising. See how gradually the judgments of God came upon this
provoking people, how God gave them respite and so gave them space
to repent. He made <i>their kingdom base,</i> to try if that would
humble them, before he made it no kingdom; yet left it easy for
them, to try if that would win upon them to return to him, that the
troubles threatened might be prevented.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p8" shownumber="no">IV. Zedekiah knew not when he was well off,
but grew impatient of the disgrace of being a tributary to the king
of Babylon, and, to get clear of it, entered into a private league
with the king of Egypt. He had no reason to complain that the king
of Babylon put any new hardships upon him or improved his
advantages against him, that he oppressed or impoverished his
country, for, as the prophet had said before (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.6" parsed="|Ezek|17|6|0|0" passage="Eze 17:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) to aggravate his treachery, he
shows again (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.8" parsed="|Ezek|17|8|0|0" passage="Eze 17:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>)
what a fair way he was in to be considerable: <i>He was planted in
a good soil by great waters;</i> his family was likely enough to be
built up, and his exchequer to be filled, in a little time, so
that, if he had dealt faithfully, he might have been <i>a goodly
vine.</i> But there was <i>another great eagle</i> that he had an
affection for, and put a confidence in, and that was the <i>king of
Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.7" parsed="|Ezek|17|7|0|0" passage="Eze 17:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>.
Those two great potentates, the kings of Babylon and Egypt, were
but two great eagles, <i>birds of prey.</i> This great eagle of
Egypt is said to have <i>great wings,</i> but not to be
<i>long-winged</i> as the king of Babylon, because, though the
kingdom of Egypt was strong, yet it was not of such a vast extent
as that of Babylon was. The great eagle is said to have <i>many
feathers,</i> much wealth and many soldiers, which he depended upon
as a substantial defence, but which really were no more than so
<i>may feathers.</i> Zedekiah, promising himself liberty, made
himself a vassal to the king of Egypt, foolishly expecting ease by
changing his master. Now <i>this vine</i> did secretly and
under-hand <i>bend her roots towards</i> the king of Egypt, that
great eagle, and after awhile did openly <i>shoot forth her
branches towards him,</i> give him an intimation how much she
coveted an alliance with him, <i>that he might water it by the
furrows of her plantation,</i> whereas it was <i>planted by great
waters,</i> and did not need any assistance from him. This is
expounded, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.15" parsed="|Ezek|17|15|0|0" passage="Eze 17:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon in <i>sending his
ambassadors into Egypt,</i> that they might <i>give him horses and
much people,</i> to enable him to contend with the king of Babylon.
See what a change sin had made with the people of God! God promised
that they should be a numerous people, as the sand of the sea; yet
now, if their king had occasion for <i>much people,</i> he must
send to Egypt for them, they being for sin <i>diminished and
brought low,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.39" parsed="|Ps|107|39|0|0" passage="Ps 107:39">Ps. cvii.
39</scripRef>. See also the folly of fretful discontented spirits,
that ruin themselves by striving to better themselves, whereas they
might be easy and happy enough if they would but <i>make the best
of that which is.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p9" shownumber="no">V. God here threatens Zedekiah with the
utter destruction of him and his kingdom, and, in displeasure
against him, passes that doom upon him for his treacherous revolt
from the king of Babylon. This is represented in the parable
(<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.9 Bible:Ezek.17.19" parsed="|Ezek|17|9|0|0;|Ezek|17|19|0|0" passage="Eze 17:9,19"><i>v.</i> 9, 19</scripRef>) by the
<i>plucking up of this vine by the roots, the cutting off of the
fruit,</i> and <i>the withering of the leaves,</i> the leaves <i>of
her spring,</i> when they are in their greenness (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.8.12" parsed="|Job|8|12|0|0" passage="Job 8:12">Job viii. 12</scripRef>), before they begin in
autumn to wither of themselves. The project shall be blasted; it
shall <i>utterly wither.</i> The affairs of this perfidious prince
shall be ruined past retrieve; as a vine when the east wind blasts
it, so that it shall be fit for nothing but the fire (as we had it
in that parable, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.4" parsed="|Ezek|15|4|0|0" passage="Eze 15:4"><i>ch.</i> xv.
4</scripRef>), it shall wither even <i>in the furrows where it
grew,</i> though they were ever so well watered. It shall be
destroyed <i>without great power or many people to pluck it up;</i>
for what need is there of raising the militia to pluck up a vine?
Note, God can bring great things to pass without much ado. He needs
not great power and many people to effect his purposes; a handful
will serve if he pleases. He can without any difficulty ruin a
sinful king and kingdom, and make no more of it than we do of
rooting up a tree that cumbers the ground. In the explanation of
the parable the sentence is very largely recorded: <i>Shall he
prosper?</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.15" parsed="|Ezek|17|15|0|0" passage="Eze 17:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
Can he expect to do ill and fare well? Nay, shall he that does such
wicked things <i>escape?</i> Shall he <i>break the covenant, and be
delivered</i> from that vengeance which is the just punishment of
his treachery? No; can he expect to do ill and not suffer ill? Let
him hear his doom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p10" shownumber="no">1. It is ratified by the oath of God
(<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.16" parsed="|Ezek|17|16|0|0" passage="Eze 17:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>As I
live, saith the Lord God, he shall die</i> for it. This intimates
how highly God resented the crime, and how sure and severe the
punishment of it would be. God <i>swears in his wrath,</i> as he
did <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.11" parsed="|Ps|95|11|0|0" passage="Ps 95:11">Ps. xcv. 11</scripRef>. Note, As
God's promises are confirmed with an oath, for comfort to the
saints, so are his threatenings, for terror to the wicked. As sure
as God lives and is happy (I may add, and as long), so sure, so
long, shall impenitent sinners die and be miserable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p11" shownumber="no">2. It is justified by the heinousness of
the crime he had been guilty of. (1.) He had been very ungrateful
to his benefactor, who had <i>made him king,</i> and undertook to
protect him, had made him a prince when he might as easily have
made him a prisoner. Note, It is a sin against God to be unkind to
our friends and to lift up the heel against those that have helped
to raise us. (2.) He had been very false to him whom he had
covenanted with. This is mostly insisted on: He <i>despised the
oath.</i> When his conscience or friends reminded him of it he made
a jest of it, put on a daring resolution, and <i>broke it,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.15-Ezek.17.16 Bible:Ezek.17.18 Bible:Ezek.17.19" parsed="|Ezek|17|15|17|16;|Ezek|17|18|0|0;|Ezek|17|19|0|0" passage="Eze 17:15,16,18,19"><i>v.</i> 15, 16, 18,
19</scripRef>. He broke through it, and took a pride in making
nothing of it, as a great tyrant in our own day, whose maxim (they
say) it is, <i>That princes ought not to be slaves to their word
any further than it is for their interest.</i> That which
aggravated Zedekiah's perfidiousness was that the oath by which he
had bound himself to the king of Babylon was, [1.] A solemn oath.
An emphasis is laid upon this (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.18" parsed="|Ezek|17|18|0|0" passage="Eze 17:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>When, lo, he had given his
hand,</i> as a confederate with the king of Babylon, not only as
his subject, but as his friend, the joining of hands being a token
of the joining of hearts. [2.] As sacred oath. God says (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.19" parsed="|Ezek|17|19|0|0" passage="Eze 17:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): It is <i>my oath</i>
that he has despised and <i>my covenant that he has broken.</i> In
every solemn oath God is appealed to as a witness of the sincerity
of him that swears, and invocated as a judge and revenger of his
treachery if he now swear falsely or at any time hereafter break
his oath. But the oath of allegiance to a prince is particularly
called <i>the oath of God</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.2" parsed="|Eccl|8|2|0|0" passage="Ec 8:2">Eccl.
viii. 2</scripRef>), as if that had something in it more sacred
than another oath; for princes are <i>ministers of God to us for
good,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.4" parsed="|Rom|13|4|0|0" passage="Ro 13:4">Rom. xiii. 4</scripRef>. Now
Zedekiah's breaking this oath and covenant is the sin which God
will <i>recompense upon his own head</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.19" parsed="|Ezek|17|19|0|0" passage="Eze 17:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), the <i>trespass which he has
trespassed against God,</i> for which God will <i>plead with
him,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.20" parsed="|Ezek|17|20|0|0" passage="Eze 17:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>.
Note, Perjury is a heinous sin and highly provoking to the God of
heaven. It would not serve for an excuse, <i>First,</i> That he who
took this oath was a king, a king of the house of David, whose
liberty and dignity might surely set him above the obligation of
oaths. No; though kings are gods to us, they are men to God, and
not exempt from his law and judgment. The prince is doubtless as
firmly bound before God to the people by his coronation-oath as the
people are to the princes by the oath of allegiance.
<i>Secondly,</i> Nor that this oath was sworn to the king of
Babylon, a heathen prince, worse than a heretic, with whom the
church of Rome says, <i>No faith is to be kept.</i> No; though
Nebuchadnezzar was a worshipper of false gods, yet the true God
will avenge this quarrel when one of his worshippers breaks his
league with him; for truth is a debt due to all men; and, if the
professors of the true religion deal perfidiously with those of a
false religion, their profession will be so far from excusing, much
less justifying them, that it aggravates their sin, and God will
the more surely and severely punish it, because by it they give
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme; as that Mahometan
prince, who, when the Christians broke their league with him, cried
out, <i>O Jesus! are these thy Christians? Thirdly,</i> Nor would
it justify him that the oath was extorted from him by a conqueror,
for the covenant was made upon a valuable consideration. He held
his life and crown upon this condition, that he should be faithful
and bear true allegiance to the king of Babylon; and, if he enjoy
the benefit of his bargain, it is very unjust if he do not observe
the terms. Let him know then that, having <i>despised the oath,</i>
and <i>broken the covenant,</i> he <i>shall not escape.</i> And if
the contempt and violation of such an oath, such a covenant as
this, would be so punished, of how much sorer punishment shall
those be thought worthy who break covenant with God (when, <i>lo,
they had given their hand</i> upon it that they would be faithful),
who <i>tread under foot the blood</i> of that <i>covenant</i> as an
unholy thing? Between the covenants there is no comparison.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p12" shownumber="no">3. It is particularized in divers
instances, wherein the punishment is made to answer the sin. (1.)
He had rebelled against the king of Babylon, and the king of
Babylon should be his effectual conqueror. In the place where that
king <i>dwells</i> whose <i>covenant he broke,</i> even <i>with him
in the midst of Babylon he shall die,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.16" parsed="|Ezek|17|16|0|0" passage="Eze 17:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. He thinks to get out of his
hands, but he shall fall, more than before, into his hands. God
himself will now take part with the king of Babylon against him:
<i>I will spread my net upon him,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.20" parsed="|Ezek|17|20|0|0" passage="Eze 17:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. God has a net for those who
deal perfidiously and think to escape his righteous judgments, in
which those shall be taken and held who would not be held by the
bond of an oath and covenant. Zedekiah dreaded Babylon: "Thither I
will bring him," says God, "and <i>plead with him there.</i>" Men
will justly be forced upon that calamity which they endeavour by
sin to flee from. (2.) He had <i>relied upon the king of Egypt,</i>
and the king of Egypt should be his ineffectual helper: <i>Pharaoh
with his mighty army shall not make for him in the war</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.17" parsed="|Ezek|17|17|0|0" passage="Eze 17:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), shall to
him no service, nor give any check to the progress of the Chaldean
forces; he shall not assist him in the <i>siege</i> by <i>casting
up mounts and building forts,</i> nor in battle by <i>cutting off
many person.</i> Note, Every creature is that to us which God makes
it to be; and he commonly weakens and withers that <i>arm of
flesh</i> which we trust in and stay ourselves upon. Now was again
fulfilled what was spoken on a former similar occasion (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.7" parsed="|Isa|30|7|0|0" passage="Isa 30:7">Isa. xxx. 7</scripRef>), <i>The Egyptians shall
help in vain.</i> They did so; for though, upon the approach of the
Egyptian army, the Chaldeans withdrew from the siege of Jerusalem,
upon their retreat they returned to it again and took it. It should
seem, the Egyptians were not hearty, had strength enough, but no
good-will, to help Zedekiah. Note, Those who deal treacherously
with those who put a confidence in them will justly be dealt
treacherously with by those they put a confidence in. Yet the
Egyptians were not the only states Zedekiah stayed himself upon; he
had bands of his own to stand by him, but those bands, though we
may suppose they were veteran troops and the best soldiers his
kingdom afforded, shall become <i>fugitives,</i> shall quit their
posts, and make the best of their way, and shall <i>fall by the
sword</i> of the enemy, and the <i>remains of them shall be
scattered,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.21" parsed="|Ezek|17|21|0|0" passage="Eze 17:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. This was fulfilled <i>when the city was broken up
and all the men of war fled,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.7" parsed="|Jer|52|7|0|0" passage="Jer 52:7">Jer.
lii. 7</scripRef>. Then <i>you shall know that I the Lord have
spoken it.</i> Note, Sooner or later God's word will prove itself;
and those who will not believe shall find by experience the reality
and weight of it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xviii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.22-Ezek.17.24" parsed="|Ezek|17|22|17|24" passage="Eze 17:22-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xviii-p12.8">
<h4 id="Ez.xviii-p12.9">Promises of Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p12.10">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xviii-p13" shownumber="no">22 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p13.1">God</span>; I will also take of the highest branch of
the high cedar, and will set <i>it;</i> I will crop off from the
top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant <i>it</i> upon
a high mountain and eminent:   23 In the mountain of the
height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs,
and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all
fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall
they dwell.   24 And all the trees of the field shall know
that I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p13.2">Lord</span> have brought down
the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green
tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xviii-p13.3">Lord</span> have spoken and have done <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p14" shownumber="no">When the royal family of Judah was brought
to desolation by the captivity of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah it might
be asked, "What has now become of the covenant of royalty made with
David, that <i>his children should sit upon his throne for
evermore?</i> Do the <i>sure mercies of David</i> prove thus
unsure?" To this it is sufficient for the silencing of the
objectors to answer that the promise was conditional. If <i>they
will keep my covenant,</i> then they shall continue, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.132.12" parsed="|Ps|132|12|0|0" passage="Ps 132:12">Ps. cxxxii. 12</scripRef>. But David's
posterity broke the condition, and so forfeited the promise. But
the unbelief of man shall not invalidate the promise of God. He
will find out another <i>seed of David</i> in which it shall be
accomplished; and that is promised in these verses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p15" shownumber="no">I. The house of David shall again be
magnified, and out of its ashes another phoenix shall arise. The
metaphor of a tree, which was made us of in the threatening, is
here presented in the promise, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.22-Ezek.17.23" parsed="|Ezek|17|22|17|23" passage="Eze 17:22,23"><i>v.</i> 22, 23</scripRef>. This promise had its
accomplishment in part when Zerubbabel, a branch of the house of
David, was raised up to head the Jews in their return out of
captivity, and to rebuild the city and temple and re-establish
their church and state; but it was to have its full accomplishment
in the kingdom of the Messiah, who was a root out of a dry ground,
and to whom God, according to promise, gave <i>the throne of his
father David,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.32" parsed="|Luke|1|32|0|0" passage="Lu 1:32">Luke i.
32</scripRef>. 1. God himself undertakes the reviving and restoring
of the house of David. Nebuchadnezzar was the <i>great eagle</i>
that had attempted the re-establishing of the house of David in a
dependence upon him, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.5" parsed="|Ezek|17|5|0|0" passage="Eze 17:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. But the attempt miscarried; his plantation withered
and was plucked up. "Well," says God, "the next shall be of my
planting: <i>I will also take of the highest branch of the high
cedar and I will set it.</i>" Note, As men have their designs, God
also has his designs; but his will prosper when theirs are blasted.
Nebuchadnezzar prided himself in setting up kingdoms at his
pleasure, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.19" parsed="|Dan|5|19|0|0" passage="Da 5:19">Dan. v. 19</scripRef>. But
those kingdoms soon had an end, whereas the <i>God of heaven sets
up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.2.44" parsed="|Dan|2|44|0|0" passage="Da 2:44">Dan. ii. 44</scripRef>. 2. The house of David is revived
in a <i>tender one cropped from the top of his young twigs.</i>
Zerubbabel was so; that which was hopeful in him was but the <i>day
of small things</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.4.10" parsed="|Zech|4|10|0|0" passage="Zec 4:10">Zech. iv.
10</scripRef>), yet before him <i>great mountains</i> were <i>made
plain.</i> Our Lord Jesus was <i>the highest branch of the high
cedar,</i> the furthest of all from <i>the root</i> (for soon after
he appeared the <i>house of David</i> was all cut off and
extinguished), but the nearest of all to heaven, for his kingdom
was not of this world. He was <i>taken from the top of the young
twigs,</i> for he is <i>the man, the branch, a tender</i> plant,
and a <i>root out of a dry ground</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.2" parsed="|Isa|53|2|0|0" passage="Isa 53:2">Isa. liii. 2</scripRef>), but a <i>branch of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be
glorified.</i> 3. This branch is planted <i>in a high mountain</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.22" parsed="|Ezek|17|22|0|0" passage="Eze 17:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), in the
<i>mountain of the height of Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.23" parsed="|Ezek|17|23|0|0" passage="Eze 17:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Thither he brought Zerubbabel
in triumph; there he raised up his son Jesus, sent him to gather
the <i>lost sheep of the house of Israel</i> that were <i>scattered
upon the mountains,</i> set him <i>his king</i> upon <i>his holy
hill of Zion,</i> sent forth the gospel from <i>Mount Zion, the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem;</i> there, in the <i>height of
Israel,</i> a nation which all its neighbours had an eye upon as
conspicuous and illustrious, was the Christian church first
planted. The churches of Judea were the most primitive churches.
The unbelieving Jews did what they could to prevent its being
planted there; but who can pluck up what God will plant? 4. Thence
it spreads far and wide. The Jewish state, though it began very low
in Zerubbabel's time, was set as a tender branch, which might
easily be plucked up, yet took root, spread strangely, and after
some time became very considerable; those of other nations, <i>fowl
of every wing,</i> put themselves under the protection of it. The
Christian church was at first like a grain of mustard-seed, but
became, like this tender branch, a great tree, its beginning small,
but its latter end increasing to admiration. When the Gentiles
flocked into the church then did the <i>fowl of every wing</i>
(even the birds of prey, which those preyed upon, as the <i>wolf
and the lamb</i> feeding together, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.6" parsed="|Isa|11|6|0|0" passage="Isa 11:6">Isa. xi. 6</scripRef>) come and <i>dwell under the
shadow of this goodly cedar.</i> See <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p15.11" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.21" parsed="|Dan|4|21|0|0" passage="Da 4:21">Dan. iv. 21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xviii-p16" shownumber="no">II. God himself will herein be glorified,
<scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.24" parsed="|Ezek|17|24|0|0" passage="Eze 17:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. The setting
up of the Messiah's kingdom in the world shall discover more
clearly than ever to the children of men that <i>God is the King of
all the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.47.7" parsed="|Ps|47|7|0|0" passage="Ps 47:7">Ps. xlvii.
7</scripRef>. Never was there a more full conviction given of this
truth, that all things are governed by an infinitely wise and
mighty Providence, than that which was given by the exaltation of
Christ and the establishment of his kingdom among men; for by that
it appeared that God has all hearts in his hand, and the sovereign
disposal of all affairs. <i>All the trees of the field shall
know,</i> 1. That the tree which God will have to be <i>brought
down,</i> and <i>dried up,</i> shall be so, though it be ever so
high and stately, ever so green and flourishing. Neither honour nor
wealth, neither external advancements nor internal endowments, will
secure men from humbling withering providence. 2. That the tree
which God will have to be exalted, and to flourish, shall so be,
shall so do, though ever so low, and ever so dry. The house of
Nebuchadnezzar, that now makes so great a figure, shall be
extirpated, and the house of David, that now makes so mean a
figure, shall become famous again; and the Jewish nation, that is
now despicable, shall be considerable. The kingdom of Satan, that
has borne so long, so large, a sway, shall be broken, and the
kingdom of Christ, that was looked upon with contempt, shall be
established. The Jews, who, in respect of church-privileges, had
been high and green, shall be thrown out, and the Gentiles, who had
been low and dry trees, shall be taken in their room, <scripRef id="Ez.xviii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.1" parsed="|Isa|54|1|0|0" passage="Isa 54:1">Isa. liv. 1</scripRef>. All the enemies of
Christ shall be abased and made his footstool, and his interests
shall be confirmed and advanced: <i>I the Lord have spoken</i> (it
is the decree, the declared decree, that Christ must be exalted,
must be the headstone of the corner), and <i>I have done it,</i>
that is, I will do it in due time, but it is as sure to be done as
if it were done already. With men <i>saying and doing are two
things,</i> but they are not so with God. What he has spoken we may
be sure that he will do, nor shall one iota or tittle of his word
fall to the ground, for <i>he is not a man, that he should lie, or
the son of man, that he should repent</i> either of his
threatenings or of his promises.</p>
</div></div2>