E
Z E K I E L
CHAP. XXIV.
Here
are two sermons in this chapter, preached on a particular occasion, and they
are both from Mount Sinai, the mount of terror, both from
Mount
Ebal, the mount of curses; both speak the approaching fate of Jerusalem. The occasion of them was the king of
Babylon's laying siege to Jerusalem, and the design of them is to show that in
the issue of that siege he should be not only master of the place, but
destroyer of it. I. By the sign of flesh boiling in a pot over the fire are
shown the miseries that Jerusalem
should suffer during the siege, and justly,
for her filthiness, ver. 1-14. II. By the sign of Ezekiel's not mourning for
the death of his wife is shown that the calamities coming upon Jerusalem were
too great to be lamented, so great that they should sink down under them into
a silent despair, ver. 15-27.
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The
Parable of the Boiling Pot; The Explanation of the Parable.
B. C. 590.
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1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month,
in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, write thee the name of the
day, even of this same day: the king of
Babylon
set himself against
Jerusalem
this same day. 3 And utter a
parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: 4
Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh,
and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. 5 Take the
choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil
well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein. 6 Wherefore
thus saith the Lord GOD;
Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose
scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon
it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the
top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood
upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. 9 Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD;
Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and
let the bones be burned. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals
thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the
filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be
consumed. 12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her
great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the
fire. 13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have
purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy
filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
14 I the LORD
have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will
not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy
ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
We have here,
I. The notice God gives to Ezekiel in Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege
to Jerusalem, just at the time when he was doing it (v. 2): "Son
of man, take notice, the king of Babylon, who is now abroad with
his army, thou knowest not where, set himself against Jerusalem this same
day." It was many miles, it was many days' journey, from Jerusalem to
Babylon. Perhaps the last intelligence they had from the army was that the
design was upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon and that the campaign was to
be opened with the siege of that city. But God knew, and could tell the
prophet, "This day, at this time, Jerusalem is invested, and the
Chaldean army has sat down before it." Note, As all times, so all places,
even the most remote, are present with God and under his view. He tells the
prophet, that the prophet might tell the people, that so when it proved to be
punctually true, as they would find by the public intelligence in a little
time, it might be a confirmation of the prophet's mission, and they might
infer that, since he was right in his news, he was so in his predictions, for
he owed both to the same correspondence he had with Heaven.
II. The notice which he orders him to take of it. He must enter it in his
book, memorandum, that in the ninth year of Jehoiachin's
captivity (for thence Ezekiel dated, ch. i. 2, which was also the ninth
year of Zedekiah's reign, for he began to reign when Jehoiachin was carried
off), in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the king of Babylon
laid siege to Jerusalem; and the date here agrees exactly with the date in the
history, 2 Kings xxv. 1. See how God reveals things to his servants the
prophets, especially those things which serve to confirm their word, and so to
confirm their own faith. Note, It is good to keep an exact account of the date
of remarkable occurrences, which may sometimes contribute to the manifesting
of God's glory so much the more in them, and the explaining and confirming of
scripture prophecies. Known unto God are all his works.
III. The notice which he orders him to give to the people thereupon, the
purport of which is that this siege of Jerusalem, now begun, will infallibly
end in the ruin of it. This he must say to the rebellious house, to
those of them that were in Babylon, to be by them communicated to those that
were yet in their own land. A rebellious house will soon be a ruinous house.
1. He must show them this by a sign; for that stupid people needed to be
taught as children are. The comparison made use of is that of a boiling
pot. This agrees with Jeremiah's vision many years before, when he first
began to be a prophet, and probably was designed to put them in mind of that
(Jer. i. 13, I see a seething pot, with the face towards the north; and
the explanation of it, v. 15, makes it to signify the besieging of
Jerusalem by the northern nations); and, as this comparison is intended
to confirm Jeremiah's vision, so also to confront the vain confidence of the
princes of Jerusalem, who had said (ch. xi. 3), This city is the
caldron and we are the flesh, meaning, "We are as safe here as if we
were surrounded with walls of brass." "Well," says God,
"it shall be so; you shall be boiled in Jerusalem, as the flesh in the
caldron, boiled to pieces; let the pot be set on with water in it (v.
4); let it be filled with the flesh of the choice of the flock (v.
5), with the choice pieces (v. 4), and the marrow-bones, and let the
other bones serve for fuel, that, one way or other, either in the pot or under
it, the whole beast may be made use of." A fire of bones, though it be a
slow fire (for the siege was to be long), is yet a sure and lasting fire; such
was God's wrath against them, and not like the crackling of thorns under a
pot, which has noise and blaze, but no intense heat. Those that from all
parts of the country fled into Jerusalem for safety would be sadly
disappointed when the siege laid to it would soon make the place too hot for
them; and yet there was not getting out of it, but they must be forced to
abide by it, as the flesh in a boiling pot.
2. He must give them a comment upon this sign. It is to be construed as a woe
to the bloody city, v. 6. And again (v. 9), being bloody,
let it go to pot, to be boiled; that is the fittest place for it. Let
us here see,
(1.) What is the course God takes with it. Jerusalem, during the siege, is
like a pot boiling over the fire, all in a heat, all in a hurry. [1.] Care is
taken to keep a good fire under the pot, which signifies the closeness of the
siege, and the many vigorous attacks made upon the city by the besiegers, and
especially the continued wrath of God burning against them (v. 9): I
will make the pile for fire great. Commission is given to the Chaldeans (v.
10) to heap on wood, and kindle the fire, to make Jerusalem more and
more hot to the inhabitants. Note, The fire which God kindles for the
consuming of impenitent sinners shall never abate, much less go out, for want
of fuel. Tophet has fire and much wood, Isa. xxx. 33. [2.] The meat, as
it is boiled, is taken out, and given to the Chaldeans for them to feast upon.
"Consume the flesh; let it be thoroughly boiled, boiled to rags. Spice
it well, and make it savoury, for those that will fees sweetly upon it. Let
the bones be burnt." either the bones under the pot ("let
them be consumed with the other fuel") or, as some think, the bones in
the pot--"let it boil so furiously that not only the flesh may be sodden,
but even the bones softened; let all the inhabitants of Jerusalem be by
sickness, sword, and famine, reduced to the extremity of misery." And
then (v. 6), "Bring it out piece by piece; let every man be
delivered into the enemy's hand, to be either put to the sword or made a
prisoner. Let them be an easy prey to them, and let the Chaldeans fall upon
them as eagerly as a hungry man does upon a good dish of meat when it is set
before him. Let no lot fall upon it; every piece in the pot shall be
fetched out and devoured, first or last, and therefore it is no matter for
casting lots which shall be fetched out first." It was a very severe
military execution when David measured Joab with two lines to put to death
and one full line to keep alive, 2 Sam. viii. 2. But here is no line, no
lot of mercy, made use of; all goes one way, and that is to destruction. [3.]
When all the broth is boiled away the pot is set empty upon the coals, that it
may burn too, which signifies the setting of the city on fire, v. 11.
The scum of the meat, or (as some translate it) the rust of the meat,
has so got into the pot that there is no making it clean by washing or
scouring it, and therefore it must be done by fire; so let the filthiness be
burnt out of it, or, rather, melted in it and burnt with it. Let the
vipers and their nest be consumed together.
(2.) What is the quarrel God has with it. He would not take these severe
methods with Jerusalem but that he is provoked to it; she deserves to be thus
dealt with, for, [1.] It is a bloody city (v. 7, 8): Her blood is in
the midst of her. Many a barbarous murder has been committed in the very
heart of the city; nay, and they have a disposition to cruelty in their
hearts; they inwardly delight in blood-shed, and so it is in the midst of
them. Nay, they commit their murders in the face of the sun, and openly
and impudently avow them, in defiance of the justice both of God and man. She
did not pour out the blood she shed upon the ground, to cover it
with dust, as being ashamed of the sin or afraid of the punishment. She
did not look upon it as a filthy thing, proper to be concealed (Deut. xxiii.
13), much less dangerous. Nay, she poured out the innocent blood she shed upon
a rock, where it would not soak in, upon the top of a rock, in despite
of divine views and vengeance. They shed innocent blood under colour of
justice; so that they gloried in it, as if they had done God and the country
good service, so put it, as it were, on the top of a rock. Or it may
refer to the sacrificing of their children on their high places, perhaps on
the top of rocks. Now thus they caused fury to come up and take vengeance,
v. 8. It could not be avoided but that God must in anger visit
for these things; his soul must be avenged on such a nation as this. It is
absolutely necessary that such a bloody city as this should have blood given
her to drink, for she is worthy, for the vindicating of the honour of divine
justice. And, the crime having been public and notorious, it is fit that the
punishment should be so too: I have set her blood on the top of a rock.
Jerusalem was to be made an example, and therefore was made a spectacle, to
the world; God dealt with her according to the law of retaliation. It is fit
that those who sin before all should be rebuked before all; and
that the reputation of those should not be consulted by the concealment of
their punishment who were so impudent as not to desire the concealment of
their sin. [2.] It is a filthy city. Great notice is taken, in this
explanation of the comparison, of the scum of this pot, which signifies
the sin of Jerusalem, working up and appearing when the judgments of God were
upon her. It is the pot whose scum is therein and has not gone out
of it, v. 6. The great scum that went not forth out of
her (v. 12), that stuck to the pot when all was boiled away, and
was molten in it (v. 11), some of this runs over into the
fire (v. 12), inflames that, and makes it burn the more furiously,
but it shall all be consumed at last, v. 11. When the hand of
God had gone out against them, instead of humbling themselves under it,
repenting and reforming, and accepting the punishment of their iniquity, they
grew more impudent and outrageous in sin, quarrelled with God, persecuted his
prophets, were fierce to one another, enraged to the last degree against the
Chaldeans, snarled at the stone, gnawed their chain, and were like a wild bull
in a net. This as their scum; in their distress they trespassed yet
more against the Lord, like that king Ahaz, 2 Chron. xxviii. 22.
There is little hope of those who are made worse by that which should make
them better, whose corruptions are excited an exasperated by those rebukes
both of the word and of the providence of God which were designed for the
suppressing and subduing of them, or of those whose scum boiled up once in
convictions, and confessions of sin, as if it would be taken off by
reformation, but afterwards returned again, in a revolt from their good
overtures; and the heart that seemed softened is hardened again. This was
Jerusalem's case: She has wearied with lies, wearied her God with
purposes and promises of amendment, which she never stood to, wearied herself
with her carnal confidences, which have all deceived her, v. 12. Note,
Those that follow after lying vanities weary themselves with the pursuit. Now
see her doom, v. 13, 14. Because she is incurably wicked she is
abandoned to ruin, without remedy. First, Methods and means of
reformation had been tried in vain (v. 13): "In thy filthiness
is lewdness; thou hast become obstinate and impudent in it; thou hast got
a habit of it, which is confirmed by frequent acts. In thy filthiness
thee is a rooted lewdness; as appears by this, I have purged thee and thou
wast not purged. I have given thee medicine, but it has done thee no good.
I have used the means of cleansing thee, but they have been ineffectual; the
intention of them has not been answered." Note, It is sad to think how
many there are on whom ordinances and providences are all lost. Secondly,
It is therefore resolved that no more such methods shall be sued: Thou
shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more. The fire shall no longer
be a refining fire, but a consuming fire, and therefore shall not be mitigated
and shortened, as it has been, but shall be continued in extremity, till it
has done its destroying work. Note, Those that will not be healed are justly
given up and their case adjudged desperate. There is a day coming when it will
be said, He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Thirdly, Nothing
remains then but to bring them to utter ruin: I will cause my fury to rest
upon thee. This is the same with what is said of the later Jews, that wrath
has come upon them to the uttermost, 1 Thess. ii. 16. They deserve it: According
to thy doings they shall judge thee, v. 14. And God will do it. The
sentence is bound on with repeated ratifications, that they might be awakened
to see how certain their ruin was: "I the Lord have spoken it, who
am able to make good what I have spoken; it shall come to pass, nothing
shall prevent it, for I will do it myself, I will not go back
upon any entreaties; the decree has gone forth, and I will not spare in
compassion to them, neither will I repent." He will neither change
his mind nor his way. Hereby the prophet was forbidden to interceded for them,
and they were forbidden to flatter themselves with hopes of an escape. God
hath said it, and he will do it. Note, The declarations of God's wrath against
sinners are as inviolable as the assurances he has given of favour to his
people; and the case of such is sad indeed, who have brought it to this issue,
that either God must be false or they must be damned.
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The
Death of the Prophet's Wife; A Sign of Jerusalem's Ruin.
B. C. 590.
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15 Also the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying, 16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee
the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep,
neither shall thy tears run down. 17 Forbear to cry, make no
mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy
shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of
men. 18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my
wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. 19 And the
people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us,
that thou doest so? 20 Then I answered them, The word of
the LORD
came unto me, saying, 21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength,
the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and
your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. 22 And
ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the
bread of men. 23 And your tires shall be upon your heads,
and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine
away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. 24 Thus
Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do:
and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25 Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take
from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes,
and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee
to hear it with thine ears? 27 In that day shall thy
mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more
dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
These verses conclude what we have been upon all along from the beginning of
this book, to wit, Ezekiel's prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem; for
after this, though he prophesied much concerning other nations, he said no
more concerning Jerusalem, till he heard of the destruction of it, almost
three years after, ch. xxxiii. 21. He had assured them, in the former
part of this chapter, that there was no hope at all of the preventing of the
trouble; here he assures them that they should not have the ease of weeping
for it. Observe here,
I. The sign by which this was represented to them, and it was a sign that cost
the prophet very dear; the more shame for them that when he, by a divine
appointment, was at such an expense to affect them with what he had to
deliver, yet they were not affected by it.
1. He must lose a good wife, that should suddenly be taken from him by death.
God gave him notice of it before, that it might be the less surprise to him (v.
16): Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke.
Note, (1.) A married state may very well agree with the prophetical office; it
is honourable in all, and therefore not sinful in ministers. (2.) Much
of the comfort of human life lies in agreeable relations. No doubt Ezekiel
found a prudent tender yoke-fellow, that shared with him in his griefs and
cares, to be a happy companion in his captivity. (3.) Those in the conjugal
relation must be to each other not only a covering of the eyes (Gen. xx.
16), to restrain wandering looks after others; but a desire of the eyes,
to engage pleasing looks on one another. A beloved wife is the desire of
the eyes, which find not any object more grateful. (4.) That is least safe
which is most dear; we know not how soon the desire of our eyes may be removed
from us and may become the sorrow of our hearts, which is a good reason why
those that have wives should be as though they had none, and
those who rejoice in them as though they rejoiced not, 1 Cor.
vii. 29, 30. Death is a stroke which the most pious, the most useful, the most
amiable, are not exempted from. (5.) When the desire of our eyes is taken away
with a stroke we must see and own the hand of God in it: I take away the
desire of thy eyes. He takes our creature-comforts from us when and how he
pleases; he gave them to us, but reserved to himself a property in them; and may
he not do what he will with his own? (6.) Under afflictions of this kind
it is good for us to remember that we are sons of men; for so God calls
the prophet here. If thou art a son of Adam, thy wife is a daughter of Eve,
and therefore a dying creature. It is an affliction which the children of men
are liable to; and shall the earth be forsaken for us? According to
this prediction, he tells us (v. 18), I spoke unto the people in the
morning; for God sent his prophets, rising up early and sending
them; then he thought, if ever, they would be disposed to hearken to him.
Observe, [1.] Though God had given Ezekiel a certain prospect of this
affliction coming upon him, yet it did not take him off from his work, but he
resolved to go on in that. [2.] We may the more easily bear an affliction if
it find us in the way of our duty; for nothing can hurt us, nothing come amiss
to us, while we keep ourselves in the love of God.
2. He must deny himself the satisfaction of mourning for his wife, which would
have been both an honour to her and an ease to the oppression of his own
spirit. He must not use the natural expressions of sorrow, v. 16. He
must not give vent to his passion by weeping, or letting his tears
run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead, and, when the body
is sown, it is fit that it should thus be watered. But Ezekiel is not allowed
to do this, though he thought he had as much reason to do it as any man and
would perhaps be ill thought of by the people if he did it not. Much less
might he use the customary formalities of mourners. He must dress himself in
his usual attire, must bind his turban on him, here called the tire of his
head, must put on his shoes, and not go barefoot, as was usual in
such cases; he must not cover his lips, not throw a veil over his face
(as mourners were wont to do, Lev. xiii. 45), must not be of a sorrowful
countenance, appearing unto men to fast, Matt. vi. 18. He must not eat
the bread of men, nor expect that his neighbours and friends should send
him in provisions, as usually they did in such cases, presuming the mourners
had no heart to provide meat for themselves; but, if it were sent, he must not
eat of it, but go on in his business as at other times. It could not but be
greatly against the grain to flesh and blood not to lament the death of one he
loved so dearly, but so God commands; and I did in the morning as I was
commanded. He appeared in public, in his usual habit, and looked as he
used to do, without any signs of mourning. (1.) Here there was something
peculiar, and Ezekiel, to make himself a sign to the people, must put a force
upon himself and exercise an extraordinary piece of self-denial. Note, Our
dispositions must always submit to God's directions, and his command must be
obeyed even in that which is most difficult and displeasing to us. (2.) Though
mourning for the dead be a duty, yet it must always be kept under the
government of religion and right reason, and we must not sorrow as those
that have no hope, nor lament the loss of any creature, even the most
valuable, and that which we could worst spare, as if we had lost our God, or
as if all our happiness were gone with it; and, of this moderation in
mourning, ministers, when it is their case, ought to be examples. We must at
such a time study to improve the affliction, to accommodate ourselves to it,
and to get our acquaintance with the other world increased, by the removal of
our dear relations, and learn with holy Job to bless the name of the Lord
even when he takes as well as when he gives.
II. The explication and application of this sign. The people enquired the
meaning of it (v. 19): Wilt thou not tell us what these things are
to us that thou doest so? They knew that Ezekiel was an affectionate
husband, that the death of his wife was a great affliction to him, and that he
would not appear so unconcerned at it but for some good reason and for
instruction to them; and perhaps they were in hopes that it had a favourable
signification, and gave them an intimation that God would now comfort them
again according to the time he had afflicted them, and make them look pleasant
again. Note, When we are enquiring concerning the things of God our enquiry
must be, "What are those thing to us? What are we concerned in
them? What conviction, what counsel, what comfort, do they speak to us?
Wherein do they reach our case?" Ezekiel gives them an answer verbatim--word
for word as he had received it from the Lord, who had told him what he
must speak to the house of Israel.
1. Let them know that as Ezekiel's wife was taken from him by a stroke so
would God take from them all that which was dearest to them, v. 21. If
this was done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry? If a
faithful servant of God was thus afflicted only for his trial, shall such a
generation of rebels against God go unpunished? By this awakening providence
God showed that he was in earnest in his threatenings, and inexorable. We may
suppose that Ezekiel prayed that, if it were the will of God, his wife might
be spared to him, but God would not hear him; and should he be heard then in
his intercessions for this provoking people? No, it is determined: God will
take away the desire of your eyes. Note, The removal of the comforts of
others should awaken us to think of parting with ours too; for are we
better than they? We know not how soon the same cup, or a more bitter one,
may be put into our hands, and should therefore weep with those that weep, as
being ourselves also in the body. God will take away that which their soul
pities, that is, of which they say, What a pity is it that it should be
cut off and destroyed! That for which your souls are afraid (so some
read it); you shall lose that which you most dread the loss of. And what is
that? (1.) That which was their public pride, the temple: "I will
profane my sanctuary, by giving that into the enemy's hand, to be
plundered and burnt." This was signified by the death of a wife, a dear
wife, to teach us that God's sanctuary should be dearer to us, and more the
desire of our eyes, than any creature-comfort whatsoever. Christ's church,
that is his spouse, should be ours too. Though this people were very corrupt,
and had themselves profaned the sanctuary, yet it is called the desire of
their eyes. Note, Many that are destitute of the power of godliness
are yet very fond of the form of it; and it is just with God to punish
them for their hypocrisy by depriving them of that too. The sanctuary is here
called the excellency of their strength; they had many strong-holds and
places of defence, but the temple excelled them all. It was the pride of
their strength; they prided in it as their strength that they were the
temple of the Lord, Jer. vii. 4. Note, The church-privileges that men are
proud of are profaned by their sins, and it is just with God to profane them
by his judgments. And with these God will take away, (2.) That which was their
family-pleasure, which they looked upon with delight: "Your sons and
your daughters (which are the dearer to you because they are but few left
of many, the rest having perished by famine and pestilence) shall fall by
the sword of the Chaldeans." What a dreadful spectacle would it be to
see their own children, pieces, pictures, of themselves, whom they had taken
such care and pains to bring up, and whom they loved as their own souls,
sacrificed to the rage of the merciless conquerors! This, this, was the
punishment of sin.
2. Let them know that as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction so neither should
they weep for theirs. He must say, You shall do as I have done, v.
22. You shall not mourn nor weep, v. 23. Jeremiah had told them
the same, that men shall not lament for the dead nor cut themselves
(Jer. xvi. 6); not that there shall be any such merciful circumstance without,
or any such degrees of wisdom and grace within, as shall mitigate and moderate
the sorrow; but they shall not mourn, for, (1.) Their grief shall be so
great that they shall be quite overwhelmed with it; their passions shall
stifle them, and they shall have no power to ease themselves by giving vent to
it. (2.) Their calamities shall come so fast upon them, one upon the neck of
another, that by long custom they shall be hardened in their sorrows
(Job vi. 10) and perfectly stupefied, and moped (as we say), with them. (3.)
They shall not dare to express their grief, for fear of being deemed
disaffected to the conquerors, who would take their lamentations as an affront
and disturbance to their triumphs. (4.) They shall not have hearts, nor time,
nor money, wherewith to put themselves in mourning, and accommodate themselves
with the ceremonies of grief: "You will be so entirely taken up with
solid substantial grief that you will have no room for the shadow of it."
(5.) Particular mourners shall not need to distinguish themselves by covering
their lips, and laying aside their ornaments, and going barefoot;
for it is well known that every body is a mourner. (6.) There shall be none of
that sense of their affliction and sorrow for it which would help to bring
them to repentance, but that only which shall drive them to despair; so it
follows: "You shall pine away for your iniquities, with seared
consciences and reprobate minds, and you shall mourn, not to God in
prayer and confession of sin, but one towards another," murmuring,
and fretting, and complaining of God, thus making their burden heavier and
their wound more grievous, as impatient people do under their afflictions by
mingling their own passions with them.
III. An appeal to the event, for the confirmation of all this (v. 24):
"When this comes, as it is foretold, when Jerusalem, which is this
day besieged, is quite destroyed and laid waste, which now you cannot believe
will ever be, then you shall know that I am the Lord God, who have
given you this fair warning of it. Then you will remember that Ezekiel was to
you a sign." Note, Those who regard not the threatenings of the word when
they are preached will be made to remember them when they are executed.
Observe,
1. The great desolation which the siege of Jerusalem should end in (v.
25): In that day, that terrible day, when the city shall be broken up, I
will take from them, (1.) That which they depended on--their strength,
their walls, their treasures, their fortifications, their men of war; none
shall stand them in stead. (2.) That which they boasted of--the joy of
their glory, that which they looked upon as most their glory, and which
they most rejoiced in, the temple of their God and the palaces of their
princes. (3.) That which they delighted in, which was the desire of their
eyes, and on which they set their minds. Note, Carnal people set
their minds upon that on which they can set their eyes; they look at, and dote
upon, the things that are seen; and it is their folly to set their
minds upon that which they have no assurance of and which may be taken
from them in a moment, Prov. xxiii. 5. Their sons and their daughters
were all this--their strength, and joy, and glory; and these shall go
into captivity.
2. The notice that should be brought to the prophet, not be revelation, as the
notice of the siege was brought to him (v. 2), but in an ordinary way (v.
26): "He that escapes in that day shall, by a special direction of
Providence, come to thee, to bring thee intelligence of it," which
we find was done, ch. xxxiii. 21. The ill-news came slowly, and yet to
Ezekiel and his fellow-captives it came too soon.
3. The divine impression which he should be under upon receiving that notice, v.
27. Whereas, from this time to that, Ezekiel was thus far dumb that he
prophesied no more against the land of Israel, but against the neighbouring
nations, as we shall find in the following chapters, then he shall have orders
given him to speak again to the children of his people (ch.
xxxiii. 2, 22); then his mouth shall be opened. He was suspended from
prophesying against them in the mean time, because, Jerusalem being besieged,
his prophecies could not be sent into the city,--because, when God was
speaking so loudly by the rod, there was the less need of speaking by the
word,--and because then the accomplishment of his prophecies would be the full
confirmation of his mission, and would the more effectually clear the way for
him to begin again. It being referred to that issue, that issue must be waited
for. Thus Christ forbade his disciples to preach openly that he was Christ
till after his resurrection, because that was to be the full proof of it.
"But then thou shalt speak with the greater assurance, and the
more effectually, either to their conviction or to their confusion."
Note, God's prophets are never silenced but for wise and holy ends. And when
God gives them the opening of the mouth again (as he will in due time, for
even the witnesses that are slain shall arise) it shall appear
to have been for his glory that they were for a while silent, that people may
the more certainly and fully know that God is the Lord.
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