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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. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Ezekiel was now among the captives in Babylon, but they there had
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Jerusalem still upon their hearts; the pious captives looked towards it
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with an eye of faith (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:10">Daniel vi. 10</A>),
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the presumptuous ones looked towards it with an eye of pride, and
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flattered themselves with a conceit that they should shortly return
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thither again; those that remained corresponded with the captives, and,
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it is likely, bouyed them up with hopes that all would be well yet, as
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long as Jerusalem was standing in its strength, and perhaps upbraided
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those with their folly who had surrendered at first; therefore, to take
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down this presumption, God gives the prophet, in this chapter, a very
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clear and affecting foresight of the besieging of Jerusalem by the
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Chaldean army and the calamities which would attend that siege. Two
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things are here represented to him in vision:--
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I. The fortifications that should be raised against the city; this is
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signified by the prophet's laying siege to the portraiture of Jerusalem
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>)
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and laying first on one side and then on the other side before it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:4-8">ver. 4-8</A>.
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II. The famine that should rage within the city; this is signified by
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his eating very coarse fare, and confining himself to a little of it,
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so long as this typical representation lasted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:9-17">ver. 9-17</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Representation of a Siege.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 595.</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 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before
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thee, and portray upon it the city, <I>even</I> Jerusalem:
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2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and
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cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set
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<I>battering</I> rams against it round about.
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3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it <I>for</I> a
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wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against
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it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against
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it. This <I>shall be</I> a sign to the house of Israel.
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4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the
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house of Israel upon it: <I>according</I> to the number of the days
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that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
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5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity,
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according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety
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days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
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6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right
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side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah
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forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
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7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of
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Jerusalem, and thine arm <I>shall be</I> uncovered, and thou shalt
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prophesy against it.
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8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not
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turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days
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of thy siege.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet is here ordered to represent to himself and others by signs
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which would be proper and powerful to strike the fancy and to affect
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the mind, <I>the siege of Jerusalem;</I> and this amounted to a
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prediction.</P>
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<P>
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I. He was ordered to engrave a draught of Jerusalem upon a tile,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It was Jerusalem's honour that while she kept her integrity God had
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<I>graven her upon the palms of his hands</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+49:16">Isa. xlix. 16</A>),
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and the names of the tribes were engraven in precious stones on the
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breast-plate of the high priest; but, now that <I>the faithful city has
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become a harlot,</I> a worthless brittle tile or brick is thought good
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enough to <I>portray it upon.</I> This the prophet must lay before him,
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that the eye may affect the heart.</P>
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<P>
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II. He was ordered to build little forts against this portraiture of
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the city, resembling the batteries raised by the besiegers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Between the city that was besieged and himself that was the besieger he
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was to set up an <I>iron pan,</I> as an <I>iron wall,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This represented the inflexible resolution of both sides; the Chaldeans
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resolved, whatever it cost them, that they would make themselves
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masters of the city and would never quit it till they had conquered it;
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on the other side, the Jews resolved never to capitulate, but to hold
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out to the last extremity.</P>
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<P>
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III. He was ordered to lie upon his side before it, as it were to
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surround it, representing the Chaldean army lying before it to block it
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up, to keep the meat from going in and the mouths from going out. He
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was to lie on his left side 390 <I>days</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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about thirteen months; the siege of Jerusalem is computed to last
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eighteen months
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+52:4-6">Jer. lii. 4-6</A>),
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but if we deduct from that five months' interval, when the besiegers
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withdrew upon the approach of Pharaoh's army
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+37:5-8">Jer. xxxvii. 5-8</A>),
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the number of the days of the close siege will be 390. Yet that also
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had another signification. The 390 days, according to the prophetic
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dialect, signified 390 years; and, when the prophet lies so many days
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on his side, he bears the guilt of that iniquity which <I>the house of
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Israel,</I> the ten tribes, had borne 390 years, reckoning from their
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first apostasy under Jeroboam to the destruction of Jerusalem, which
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completed the ruin of those small remains of them that had incorporated
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with Judah. He is then to lie forty days <I>upon his right side,</I>
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and so long to bear <I>the iniquity of the house of Judah,</I> the
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kingdom of the two tribes, because the measure-filling sins of that
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people were those which they were guilty of during the last forty years
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before their captivity, since the thirteenth year of Josiah, when
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Jeremiah began to prophesy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+1:1,2">Jer. i. 1, 2</A>),
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or, as some reckon it, since the eighteenth, when the book of the law
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was found and the people renewed their covenant with God. When they
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persisted in their impieties and idolatries, notwithstanding they had
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such a prophet and such a prince, and were brought into the bond of
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such a covenant, what could be expected but ruin without remedy? Judah,
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that had such helps and advantages for reformation, fills the measure
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of its iniquity in less time than Israel does. Now we are not to think
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that the prophet lay constantly night and day upon his side, but every
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day, for so many days together, at a certain time of the day, when he
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received visits, and company came in, he was found lying 390 <I>days on
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his left side</I> and <I>forty days on his right side</I> before his
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portraiture of Jerusalem, which all that saw might easily understand to
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mean the close besieging of that city, and people would be flocking in
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daily, some for curiosity and some for conscience, at the hour
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appointed, to see it and to take their different remarks upon it. His
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being found constantly on the same side, as if <I>bands were laid upon
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him</I> (as indeed they were by the divine command), so that he could
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not <I>turn himself from one side to another till he had ended the days
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of the siege,</I> did plainly represent the close and constant
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continuance of the besiegers about the city during that number of days,
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till they had gained their point.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He was ordered to prosecute the siege with vigour
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Thou shalt set thy face towards the siege of Jerusalem,</I> as
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wholly intent upon it and resolved to carry it; so the Chaldeans would
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be, and neither bribed nor forced to withdraw from it. Nebuchadnezzar's
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indignation at Zedekiah's treachery in breaking his league with him
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made him very furious in pushing on this siege, that he might chastise
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the insolence of that faithless prince and people; and his army
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promised themselves a rich booty of that pompous city; so that both set
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their faces against it, for they were very resolute. Nor were they less
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active and industrious, exerting themselves to the utmost in all the
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operations of the siege, which the prophet was to represent by the
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<I>uncovering of his arm,</I> or, as some read it, the <I>stretching
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out</I> of his arm, as it were to deal blows about without mercy. When
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God is about to do some great work he is said to <I>make bare his
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arm,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:10">Isa. lii. 10</A>.
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In short, The Chaldeans will go about their business, and go on in it,
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as men in earnest, who resolve to go through with it. Now,
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1. This is intended to be a <I>sign to the house of Israel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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both to those in Babylon, who were eye-witnesses of what the prophet
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did, and to those also who remained in their own land, who would hear
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the report of it. The prophet was <I>dumb</I> and <I>could not
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speak</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:26"><I>ch.</I> iii. 26</A>);
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but as his silence had a voice, and upbraided the people with their
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deafness, so even then God <I>left not himself without witness,</I> but
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ordered him to make signs, as dumb men are accustomed to do, and as
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Zacharias did when he was dumb, and by them to <I>make known his
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mind</I> (that is, the mind of God) to the people. And thus likewise
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the people were upbraided with their stupidity and dulness, that they
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were not capable of being taught as men of sense are, by words, but
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must be taught as children are, by pictures, or as deaf men are, by
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signs. Or, perhaps, they are hereby upbraided with their malice against
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the prophet. Had he spoken in words at length what was signified by
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these figures, they would have entangled him in his talk, would have
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indicted him for treasonable expressions, for they knew how to <I>make
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a man an offender for a word</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:21">Isa. xxix. 21</A>),
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to avoid which he is ordered to make use of signs. Or the prophet made
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use of signs for the same reason that Christ made use of parables, that
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<I>hearing they might hear and not understand,</I> and <I>seeing they
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might see and not perceive,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:14,15">Matt. xiii. 14, 15</A>.
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They would not understand what was plain, and therefore shall be taught
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by that which is difficult; and herein the Lord was righteous.
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2. Thus the prophet <I>prophesies against Jerusalem</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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and there were those who not only understood it so, but were the more
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affected with it by its being so represented, for images to the eye
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commonly make deeper impressions upon the mind than words can, and for
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this reason sacraments are instituted to represent divine things, that
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we might see and believe, might see and be affected with those things;
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and we may expect this benefit by them, and a blessing to go along with
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them, while (as the prophet here) we make use only of such signs as God
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himself has expressly appointed, which, we must conclude, are the
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fittest. Note, The power of imagination, if it be rightly used, and
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kept under the direction and correction of reason and faith, may be of
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good use to kindle and excite pious and devout affections, as it was
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here to Ezekiel and his attendants. "<I>Methinks I see</I> so and so,
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myself dying, time expiring, the world on fire, the dead rising, the
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great tribunal set, and the like, may have an exceedingly good
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influence upon us: for fancy is like fire, a <I>good servant, but a bad
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master.</I>"
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3. This whole transaction has that in it which the prophet might, with
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a good colour of reason, have hesitated at and excepted against, and
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yet, in obedience to God's command, and in execution of his office, he
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did it according to order.
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(1.) It seemed childish and ludicrous, and beneath his gravity, and
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there were those that would ridicule him for it; but he knew the divine
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appointment put honour enough upon that which otherwise seemed mean to
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save his reputation in the doing of it.
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(2.) It was toilsome and tiresome to do as he did; but our ease as well
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as our credit must be sacrificed to our duty, and we must never call
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God's service in any instance of it a hard service.
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(3.) It could not but be very much against the grain with him to appear
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thus against Jerusalem, the city of God, the holy city, to act as an
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enemy against a place to which he was so good a friend; but he is a
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prophet, and must follow his instructions, not his affections, and must
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plainly preach the ruin of a sinful place, though its welfare is what
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he passionately desires and earnestly prays for.
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4. All this that the prophet sets before the children of his people
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concerning the destruction of Jerusalem is designed to bring them to
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repentance, by showing them sin, the provoking cause of this
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destruction, sin the ruin of that once flourishing city, than which
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surely nothing could be more effectual to make them hate sin and turn
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from it; while he thus in lively colours describes the calamity with a
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great deal of pain and uneasiness to himself, he is <I>bearing the
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iniquity of Israel and Judah.</I> "Look here" (says he) "and see what
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work sin makes, what an <I>evil and bitter thing it is to depart form
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God;</I> this comes of sin, your sins and the sin of your fathers; let
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that therefore be the daily matter of your sorrow and shame now in your
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captivity, that you may make your peace with God and he may return in
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mercy to you." But observe, It is a day of punishment for a year of
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sin: <I>I have appointed thee each day for a year.</I> The siege is a
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calamity of 390 days, in which God reckons for the iniquity of 390
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years; justly therefore d they acknowledge that God had <I>punished
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them less than their iniquity deserved,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+9:13">Ezra ix. 13</A>.
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But let impenitent sinners know that, though now God is long-suffering
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towards them, in the other world there is an everlasting punishment.
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When God <I>laid bands</I> upon the prophet, it was to show them how
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they were <I>bound with the cords of their own transgression</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:14">Lam. i. 14</A>),
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and therefore they were now <I>holden in the cords of affliction.</I>
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But we may well think of the prophet's case with compassion, when God
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laid upon him the bands of duty, as he does on all his ministers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:16">1 Cor. ix. 16</A>,
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<I>Necessity is laid upon me, and woe unto me if I preach not the
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gospel</I>); and yet men laid upon him bonds of restraint
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:25"><I>ch.</I> iii. 25</A>);
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but under both it is satisfaction enough that they are serving the
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interests of God's kingdom among men.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze4_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Representation of a Famine.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 595.</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>9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and
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lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel,
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and make thee bread thereof, <I>according</I> to the number of the
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days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety
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days shalt thou eat thereof.
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10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat <I>shall be</I> by weight,
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twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
|
|
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an
|
|
hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
|
|
12 And thou shalt eat it <I>as</I> barley cakes, and thou shalt bake
|
|
it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
|
|
13 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, Even thus shall the children of Israel
|
|
eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive
|
|
them.
|
|
14 Then said I, Ah Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>! behold, my soul hath not been
|
|
polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of
|
|
that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came
|
|
there abominable flesh into my mouth.
|
|
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for
|
|
man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
|
|
16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break
|
|
the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by
|
|
weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and
|
|
with astonishment:
|
|
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with
|
|
another, and consume away for their iniquity.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The best exposition of this part of Ezekiel's prediction of Jerusalem's
|
|
desolation is Jeremiah's lamentation of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:3,4,5:10">Lam. iv. 3, 4, &c.,
|
|
and v. 10</A>,
|
|
|
|
where he pathetically describes the terrible famine that was in
|
|
Jerusalem during the siege and the sad effects of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet here, to affect the people with the foresight of it,
|
|
must confine himself for 390 days to coarse fare and short commons, and
|
|
that ill-dressed, for they should want both food and fuel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. His meat, for the quality of it, was to be of the worst bread, made
|
|
of but little wheat and barley, and the rest of beans, and lentiles,
|
|
and millet, and fitches, such as we feed horses or fatted hogs with,
|
|
and this mixed, as mill corn, or as that in the beggar's bag, that has
|
|
a dish full of one sort of corn at one house and of another at another
|
|
house; of such corn as this must the prophet's bread be made while he
|
|
underwent the fatigue of lying on his side, and needed something better
|
|
to support him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, It is our wisdom not to be too fond of dainties and pleasant
|
|
bread, because we know not what hard meat we may be tied to, nay, and
|
|
may be glad of, before we die. The meanest sort of food is better than
|
|
we deserve, and therefore must not be despised nor wasted, nor must
|
|
those that use it be looked upon with disdain, because we know not what
|
|
may be our own lot.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. For the quantity of it, it was to be of the least that a man could
|
|
be kept alive with, to signify that the besieged should be reduced to
|
|
short allowance and should hold out till all <I>the bread in the city
|
|
was spent,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+37:21">Jer. xxxvii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
The prophet must eat but twenty <I>shekels'</I> weight of bread a day
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
that was about ten ounces; and he must drink but the <I>sixth part of a
|
|
hin of water,</I> that was half a pint, about eight ounces,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The stint of the Lessian diet is fourteen ounces of meat and sixteen of
|
|
drink. The prophet in Babylon had bread enough and to spare, and was by
|
|
the river side, where there was plenty of water; and yet, that he might
|
|
confirm his own prediction and be a sign to the children of Israel, God
|
|
obliges him to live thus sparingly, and he submits to it. Note, God's
|
|
servants must learn to endure hardness, and to deny themselves the use
|
|
of lawful delights, when they may thereby serve the glory of God,
|
|
evidence the sincerity of their faith, and express their sympathy with
|
|
their brethren in affliction. The body must be <I>kept under and
|
|
brought into subjection.</I> Nature is content with a little, grace
|
|
with less, but lust with nothing. It is good to stint ourselves of
|
|
choice, that we may the better bear it if ever we should come to be
|
|
stinted by necessity. And in times of public distress and calamity it
|
|
ill becomes us to make much of ourselves, as those that <I>drank wine
|
|
in bowls</I> and <I>were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+6:4-6">Amos vi. 4-6</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. For the dressing of it, he must <I>bake it with a man's dung</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
that must be dried, and serve for fuel to heat his oven with. The
|
|
thought of it would almost turn one's stomach; yet the coarse bread,
|
|
thus baked, he must <I>eat as barley-cakes,</I> as freely as if it were
|
|
the same bread he had been used to. This nauseous piece of cookery he
|
|
must exercise publicly <I>in their sight,</I> that they might be the
|
|
more affected with the calamity approaching, which was signified by it,
|
|
that in the extremity of the famine they should not only have nothing
|
|
that was dainty, but nothing that was cleanly, about them; they must
|
|
take up with what they could get. <I>To the hungry soul every bitter
|
|
thing is sweet.</I> This circumstance of the sign, the baking of his
|
|
bread with man's dung, the prophet with submission humbly desired might
|
|
be dispensed with
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
it seemed to have in it something of a ceremonial pollution, for there
|
|
was a law that man's dung should <I>be covered with earth,</I> that God
|
|
might <I>see no unclean thing in their camp,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+23:13,14">Deut. xxiii. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
And must he go and gather a thing so offensive, and use it in the
|
|
dressing of his meat in the sight of the people? "<I>Ah! Lord God,</I>"
|
|
says he, "<I>behold, my soul has not been polluted,</I> and I am afraid
|
|
lest by this it be polluted." Note, The pollution of the soul by sin is
|
|
what good people dread more than any thing; and yet sometimes tender
|
|
consciences fear it without cause, and perplex themselves with scruples
|
|
about lawful things, as the prophet here, who had not yet learned that
|
|
it is not that which <I>goes into the mouth that defiles the man,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:11">Matt. xv. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
But observe he does not plead, "Lord, from my youth I have been brought
|
|
up delicately and have never been used to any thing but what was clean
|
|
and nice" (and there were those who were so brought up, who in the
|
|
siege of Jerusalem did <I>embrace dunghills,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:5">Lam. iv. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
but that he had been brought up conscientiously, and had never eaten
|
|
any thing that was forbidden by the law, that <I>died of itself</I> or
|
|
was <I>torn in pieces;</I> and therefore, "Lord, do not put this upon
|
|
me now." Thus Peter pleaded
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+10:14">Acts x. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Lord, I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.</I>
|
|
Note, it will be comfortable to us, when we are reduced to hardships,
|
|
if our hearts can witness for us that we have always been careful to
|
|
abstain from sin, even from little sins, and the <I>appearances of
|
|
evil.</I> Whatever God commands us, we may be sure, is good; but, if we
|
|
be put upon any thing that we apprehend to be evil, we should argue
|
|
against it, from this consideration, that hitherto we have preserved
|
|
our purity--and shall we lose it now? Now, because Ezekiel with a
|
|
manifest tenderness of conscience made this scruple, God dispensed with
|
|
him in this matter. Note, Those who have power in their hands should
|
|
not be rigorous in pressing their commands upon those that are
|
|
dissatisfied concerning them, yea, though their dissatisfactions be
|
|
groundless or arising from education and long usage, but should recede
|
|
from them rather than grieve or offend the weak, or put a
|
|
stumbling-block before them, in conformity to the example of God's
|
|
condescension to Ezekiel, though we are sure his authority is
|
|
incontestable and all his commands are wise and good. God allowed
|
|
Ezekiel to use <I>cow's dung</I> instead of <I>man's dung,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is a tacit reflection upon man, as intimating that he being
|
|
polluted with sin his filthiness is more nauseous and odious than that
|
|
of any other creature. <I>How much more abominable and filthy is
|
|
man!</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:16">Job xv. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Now this sign is particularly explained here; it signified,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That those who remained in Jerusalem should be brought to extreme
|
|
misery for want of necessary food. All supplies being cut off by the
|
|
besiegers, the city would soon find the want of the country, for <I>the
|
|
king himself is served of the field;</I> and thus <I>the staff of
|
|
bread</I> would be <I>broken in Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
God would not only take away from the bread its power to nourish, so
|
|
that <I>they should eat and not be satisfied</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:26">Lev. xxvi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
but would take away the bread itself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:1">Isa. iii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that what little remained should be <I>eaten by weight,</I> so much
|
|
a day, so much a head, that they might have an equal share and might
|
|
make it last as long as possible. But to what purpose, when they could
|
|
not make it last always, and the besieged must be tired out before the
|
|
besiegers? They should eat and drink <I>with care,</I> to make it go as
|
|
far as might be, and with <I>astonishment,</I> when they saw it almost
|
|
spent and knew not which way to look for a recruit. They should <I>be
|
|
astonished one with another;</I> whereas it is ordinarily some
|
|
alleviation of a calamity to have others share with us in it
|
|
(<I>Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris</I>), and some ease to the
|
|
spirit to complain of the burden, it should be an aggravation of the
|
|
misery that it was universal, and their complaining to one another
|
|
should but make them all the more uneasy and increase the
|
|
<I>astonishment.</I> And the event shall be as bad as their fears; they
|
|
cannot make it worse than it is, for <I>they shall consume away for
|
|
their iniquity;</I> multitudes of them shall die of famine, a lingering
|
|
death, worse than that by <I>the sword</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:9">Lam. iv. 9</A>);
|
|
|
|
they shall dies so as to <I>feel themselves die.</I> And it is sin that
|
|
brings all this misery upon them: <I>They shall consume away in their
|
|
iniquity</I> (so it may be read); they shall continue hardened and
|
|
impenitent, and shall die in their sins, which is more miserable than
|
|
to die on a dunghill. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let us see here what woeful work sin makes with a people, and
|
|
acknowledge the righteousness of God herein. Time was when <I>Jerusalem
|
|
was filled with the finest of the wheat</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:14">Ps. cxlvii. 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
but now it would be glad of the coarsest, and cannot have it.
|
|
<I>Fulness of bread,</I> as it was one of Jerusalem's mercies, so it
|
|
had become one of her sins,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+16:49">Ezek. xvi. 49</A>.
|
|
|
|
The plenty was abused to luxury and excess, which were therefore thus
|
|
justly punished with famine. It is a righteous thing with God to
|
|
deprive us of those enjoyments which we have made the food and fuel of
|
|
our lusts.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let us see what reason we have to bless God for plenty, not only
|
|
for the fruits of the earth, but for the freedom of commerce, that the
|
|
husbandman can have money for his bread and the tradesman bread for his
|
|
money, that there is abundance not only in the field, but in the
|
|
market, that those who live in cities and great towns, though they
|
|
<I>sow not,</I> neither do they <I>reap,</I> are yet fed from day to
|
|
day with food convenient.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It signified that those who were carried into captivity should be
|
|
forced to <I>eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+4:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
to eat meat made up by Gentile hands otherwise than according to the
|
|
law of the Jewish church, which they were always taught to call
|
|
<I>defiled,</I> and which they would have as great an aversion to as a
|
|
man would have to bread prepared with dung, that is (as perhaps it may
|
|
be understood) kneaded and moulded with dung. Daniel and his fellows
|
|
confined themselves to <I>pulse and water,</I> rather than they would
|
|
<I>eat the portion of the king's meat</I> assigned them, because they
|
|
apprehended it would defile them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:8">Dan. i. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or they should be forced to eat putrid meat, such as their oppressors
|
|
would allow them in their slavery, and such as formerly they would have
|
|
scorned to touch. Because they <I>served not God</I> with cheerfulness
|
|
in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies
|
|
in the want of all things.</P>
|
|
|
|
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