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