Ezekiel · Chapter 20

ver. 1-3. Gives them a history of God’s dealings with their fathers, and their treacherous dealings with God in Egypt, ver. 4-9. In the wilderness, ver. 10-26. In Canaan, ver. 27-32. Judgments denounced against them, ver. 33-36. Mercy promised to a remnant, ver. 37-44. A word dropt toward Jerusalem, ver. 45-49. V. 1. The seventh year-Of Zedekiah’s reign, two years and five months before Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Came-Yet resolved before-hand what they would do.

Verse 1. In the seventh year] Of the captivity of Jeconiah, (see Ezekiel 8:1,) and the seventh of the reign of Zedekiah. The fifth month, the tenth day] That is, according to Abp. Usher, Monday, August 27, A.M. 3411.

Certain of the elders of Israel] What these came to inquire about is not known. They were doubtless hypocrites and deceivers, from the manner in which God commands the prophet to treat them. It seems to have been such a deputation of elders as those mentioned Ezekiel 8:1; 14:1.

Verses 1-3. It came to pass in the seventh year, &c. — Namely, of Jehoiakim’s captivity. All the prophecies recorded from the eighth chapter to this, probably belong to the sixth year of that captivity. Certain of the elders came to inquire, &c. — Came to me, as the prophet of God, to inquire what would be the event of their affairs; when they might expect deliverance from their calamities, and by what means. I will not be inquired of by you — I will give you no information concerning the things about which you come to inquire: or, you shall not receive such an answer as you expect, but such as your hypocrisy deserves.

Verse 1. The elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me. They still respected the divine karismata, or holy anointing of the Spirit; but they sought it for a reverse of their calamities, and with their idols in their heart, as stated in Ezekiel 8:1.

THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL AGAIN INQUIRE IN VAIN OF JEHOVAH, 1-4. (Compare 14:1-5.)

1. The date given shows that the inquiry from the elders came some four years before Jerusalem fell — August, 590 B.C.

Verses 1-3. It came to pass in the seventh year, &c. — Namely, of Jehoiakim’s captivity. All the prophecies recorded from the eighth chapter to this, probably belong to the sixth year of that captivity. Certain of the elders came to inquire, &c. — Came to me, as the prophet of God, to inquire what would be the event of their affairs; when they might expect deliverance from their calamities, and by what means. I will not be inquired of by you — I will give you no information concerning the things about which you come to inquire: or, you shall not receive such an answer as you expect, but such as your hypocrisy deserves.

THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL AGAIN INQUIRE IN VAIN OF JEHOVAH, 1-4. (Compare 14:1-5.)

1. The date given shows that the inquiry from the elders came some four years before Jerusalem fell — August, 590 B.C.

V. 3. Are ye come-Are ye in good earnest?

Verse 3. I will not be inquired of by you.] I will not hear you. I will have nothing to do with you.

Verses 1-3. It came to pass in the seventh year, &c. — Namely, of Jehoiakim’s captivity. All the prophecies recorded from the eighth chapter to this, probably belong to the sixth year of that captivity. Certain of the elders came to inquire, &c. — Came to me, as the prophet of God, to inquire what would be the event of their affairs; when they might expect deliverance from their calamities, and by what means. I will not be inquired of by you — I will give you no information concerning the things about which you come to inquire: or, you shall not receive such an answer as you expect, but such as your hypocrisy deserves.

THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL AGAIN INQUIRE IN VAIN OF JEHOVAH, 1-4. (Compare 14:1-5.)

1. The date given shows that the inquiry from the elders came some four years before Jerusalem fell — August, 590 B.C.

V. 4. Wilt thou-Wilt thou not convince and reprove them? And denounce my judgments against them? The abominations-What their fathers have done, they approve, and have outdone; by that let them know what to expect.

Verse 4. Wilt thou judge them] If thou wilt enter into any discussion with them, show them the abomination of their fathers. The whole chapter is a consecutive history of the unfaithfulness ingratitude, rebellion, and idolatry of the Jews, from the earliest times to that day; and vindicates the sentence which God had pronounced against them, and which he was about to execute more fully in delivering them and the city into the hands of the Chaldeans.

Verse 4. Wilt thou judge them — Or, rather, Wilt thou not judge them? Wilt thou not reprove, or condemn them? Wilt thou not denounce my judgments against them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers — The abominable crimes of which their fathers have been guilty, and which they themselves, and the present generation of Jews, have also committed with fresh aggravations: and hereby let them know what they have to expect. This whole chapter is a kind of decree, in which the prophet, after having set forth the crimes of the Jews, pronounces against them their reprobation, and foretels what blessings God would bestow on a faithful people who should serve him truly on his holy mountain.

4. Wilt thou judge — “The interrogation seems to have the sense of an impatient imperative, and the repetition gives stronger impression to the imperative (compare Ezekiel 22:2; 23:36); ‘judge’ is explained by ‘cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.’ To rehearse the history of their fathers is to hold the mirror up to themselves.” — Davidson.

THE PROPHET RECITES BEFORE THE ELDERS THE IDOLATROUS HISTORY OF

V. 5. When I chose-When I shewed that I had chosen them. The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel, begins as early, as their beginning. So does the history of man’s apostasy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation, but we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here, it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in God’s dealing with them. Lifted up my hand-Or stretched out and made bare my arm; that is, magnified my power for their deliverance. When I lifted up mine hand-Shewed my power in performing my oath, and assuring them of doing what was farther promised.

Verse 5. I chose Israel] They did not choose me for their God, till I had chosen them to be my people.

I lifted up mine hand] I bound myself In a covenant to them to continue to be their God, if they should be faithful, and continue to be my people. Among the Jews the juror lifted up his right hand to heaven; which explains Psalm 144:8: “Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” This is a form used in England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Verse 5. In the day when I chose Israel — When I entered into a solemn covenant. And lifted up my hand, &c. — That is, sware unto them, this being a gesture used in swearing: see the margin, and notes on Genesis 14:22, and Psalm 144:8. “Among the Jews the juror held up his right hand toward heaven; which explains Psalm 144:8, Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. The same form is retained in Scotland still.” — Paley’s Moral and Political Philosophy, p. 159. This manner of taking an oath is mentioned by Homer, Euceto ceirav anascwn, which shows it to have been of great antiquity, even among the heathen. It was a solemn appeal to God, as the author of truth, and the defender thereof, and also the judge of the heart; implying a wish in the person swearing, that God would take vengeance if the truth was either violated or concealed. Some think, however, that lifting up the hand in this place means giving them help and deliverance: but the 15th and 23d verses evidently confirm the former explication. And made myself known unto them — By appearing unto Moses, and showing myself present among them, by the wonders I wrought for their deliverance. Saying, I am the Lord your God — I am the God whom you ought to serve, and none else.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

V. 6. I had espied-God speaks after the manner of men. Milk and honey-Literally milk and honey in abundance were in the land of Canaan. Proverbially it speaks the plenty and abundance of all the blessings of life.

Verse 6. To bring them forth of the land of Egypt] When they had been long in a very disgraceful and oppressive bondage. A land that I had espied for them] God represents himself as having gone over different countries in order to find a comfortable residence for these people, whom he considered as his children. Flowing with milk and honey] These were the characteristics of a happy and fruitful country, producing without intense labour all the necessaries and comforts of life. Of the happiest state and happiest place, a fine poet gives the following description:—

Ver erat æternum, placidique tepentibus auris Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine semine flores. Mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat: Nec renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis. Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant: Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. OVID’S Metam. lib. i., 107.

On flowers unsown soft Zephyr spreads his wing, And time itself was one eternal spring; Ensuing years the yellow harvest crowned, The bearded blade sprang from the untilled ground, And laden, unrenewed, the fields were found. Floods were with milk, and floods with nectar filled, And honey from the sweating oaks distilled. In the flourishing state of Judea every mountain was cultivated as well as the valleys. Among the very rocks the vines grew luxuriantly.

Verse 6. To bring them into a land that I had espied for them — Which I chose out of all others to bestow it upon them. So God is said to go before them, to search out a place to pitch their tents in, Deuteronomy 1:33. The expressions import, that every step the people took, till their settlement in the land of Canaan, was under the immediate care and conduct of providence. Flowing with milk and honey — Judea is often called a land flowing with milk and honey, both on account of its own fruitfulness, and also from God’s peculiar blessing upon it: see Deuteronomy 11:12. The great number of inhabitants which it nourished is an evident proof of its fertility. Bochart observes, that this phrase occurs about twenty times in the Scriptures; and that it is an image frequently used in the classics: as Rei de galakti pedon, rei d’ oinw, rei de melisswn nektari. The land flows with milk, flows with wine, flows with nectar of bees. Eurip. Bacch. 142. Which is the glory of all lands — The Hebrew, twxrah lkl ayh ybx, may either mean, that this circumstance of flowing with milk and honey is a glory to all lands, namely, in which it is found; or, that Judea was the glory of all lands. The Vulgate takes it in the latter sense, rendering the clause, Quæ est egregia inter omnes tetras, which is excellent among all lands. Judea might justly be called the glory of all lands, because it was the place where the temple of the true God was fixed, Psalm 48:2, 3; Daniel 11:16, 41, 45.

6. The glory of all lands — This was a favorite phrase of the Hebrews to describe Palestine (verse 15; Psalm 48:2; Daniel 8:9; 11:41; Jeremiah 3:19).

V. 7. Of his eyes-To which you have looked for help.

Verse 7. Cast ye away—the abominations] Put away all your idols; those incentives to idolatry that ye have looked on with delight.

Verses 7-9. Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes — The idols to which your eyes are lifted up. One of the chief allurements to the worship of images is, that by way of indulgence to men’s imagination, they exhibit a visible object of adoration. This was what the Israelites were so fond of, when they said to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us, Exodus 32:1. And defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt — It is generally supposed that the Israelites, while they dwelt in Egypt, learned the idolatry of that country: the fact indeed is not recorded in the books of Moses; but it may be collected from their proneness to that sin in the wilderness. But they rebelled against me — The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel begins as early as their beginning. So does the history of man’s apostacy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation than we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in God’s dealings with them. Then I said, I threatened, I will pour out my fury upon them — Such a threatening as this is nowhere recorded in the Scriptures no more than that which follows verse 23 of this chapter. Without question God might have justly cut them off in Egypt for their idolatries and other sins which they had committed, and never exerted his power for their deliverance. But I wrought for my name’s sake — For the glory of my mercy and faithfulness. That it should not be polluted before the heathen — Reproached and blasphemed. This is elsewhere assigned as the reason why God did not punish the Israelites according to their deserts, namely, because it would have turned to God’s dishonour in the judgment of the heathen world, as if he had not been able to make good those promises which he had given them. This was a proper consideration to check the vain presumption of the Jews, who imagined that God’s gracious dealings with them were owing to their own merits.

7. Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt — The animal worship of Egypt, with its unexampled multitude of “graven images,” ought to have been a most offensive abomination to the eyes of the Hebrews, but, instead of this, the people who had been especially chosen by Jehovah to champion the cause of monotheism on the earth fell headlong into Egyptian idolatry (Ezekiel 23:3; Leviticus 18:3; Joshua 24:14). It is a significant fact, illustrating the meaning of the “golden calf” in the wilderness (Exodus 32) that there has recently been discovered a hieroglyphic inscription stating that at Pithom (the frontier city built by the Israelites, Exodus 1:11, and probably the last city to be seen by them as they fled from Egypt) it was the custom to dedicate annually to the god of the city a silver statue of six hundred pounds’ weight (Brugsch, Steininschrift und Bibelwort).

V. 8. To accomplish-To make an end of them.

Verse 8. They did not—cast away] They continued attached to the idolatry of Egypt; so that, had I consulted my justice only, I should have consumed them even in Egypt itself. This is a circumstance that Moses has not mentioned, namely, their provoking God by their idolatry, after he had sent Moses and Aaron to them in Egypt.

Verses 7-9. Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes — The idols to which your eyes are lifted up. One of the chief allurements to the worship of images is, that by way of indulgence to men’s imagination, they exhibit a visible object of adoration. This was what the Israelites were so fond of, when they said to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us, Exodus 32:1. And defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt — It is generally supposed that the Israelites, while they dwelt in Egypt, learned the idolatry of that country: the fact indeed is not recorded in the books of Moses; but it may be collected from their proneness to that sin in the wilderness. But they rebelled against me — The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel begins as early as their beginning. So does the history of man’s apostacy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation than we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in God’s dealings with them. Then I said, I threatened, I will pour out my fury upon them — Such a threatening as this is nowhere recorded in the Scriptures no more than that which follows verse 23 of this chapter. Without question God might have justly cut them off in Egypt for their idolatries and other sins which they had committed, and never exerted his power for their deliverance. But I wrought for my name’s sake — For the glory of my mercy and faithfulness. That it should not be polluted before the heathen — Reproached and blasphemed. This is elsewhere assigned as the reason why God did not punish the Israelites according to their deserts, namely, because it would have turned to God’s dishonour in the judgment of the heathen world, as if he had not been able to make good those promises which he had given them. This was a proper consideration to check the vain presumption of the Jews, who imagined that God’s gracious dealings with them were owing to their own merits.

8. Idols — Literally, as constantly in Ezekiel, idol blocks, or doll images. The Hebrew, like every oriental, was intensely fond of plays on words, and showed his scorn of idols by a slight play upon the name. (See note verse 29.)

V. 9. For my name’s sake-For the glory of my mercy and faithfulness. Polluted-Reproached and blasphemed.

Verse 9. But I wrought for my name’s sake] I bare with them and did not punish them, lest the heathen, who had known my promises made to them, might suppose that I had either broken them through some caprice, or was not able to fulfil them.

Verses 7-9. Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes — The idols to which your eyes are lifted up. One of the chief allurements to the worship of images is, that by way of indulgence to men’s imagination, they exhibit a visible object of adoration. This was what the Israelites were so fond of, when they said to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us, Exodus 32:1. And defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt — It is generally supposed that the Israelites, while they dwelt in Egypt, learned the idolatry of that country: the fact indeed is not recorded in the books of Moses; but it may be collected from their proneness to that sin in the wilderness. But they rebelled against me — The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel begins as early as their beginning. So does the history of man’s apostacy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation than we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in God’s dealings with them. Then I said, I threatened, I will pour out my fury upon them — Such a threatening as this is nowhere recorded in the Scriptures no more than that which follows verse 23 of this chapter. Without question God might have justly cut them off in Egypt for their idolatries and other sins which they had committed, and never exerted his power for their deliverance. But I wrought for my name’s sake — For the glory of my mercy and faithfulness. That it should not be polluted before the heathen — Reproached and blasphemed. This is elsewhere assigned as the reason why God did not punish the Israelites according to their deserts, namely, because it would have turned to God’s dishonour in the judgment of the heathen world, as if he had not been able to make good those promises which he had given them. This was a proper consideration to check the vain presumption of the Jews, who imagined that God’s gracious dealings with them were owing to their own merits.

9. I wrought for my name’s sake — The destruction of the Jewish state came from the same motive as its origination — Jehovah’s regard to his own name. His “name” stands for all he had been revealed to be: “merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, yet; by no means clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:5-7). Not to punish sin would pollute (literally, profane) and stain the reputation of Jehovah for justice and holiness among the nations. Besides this, the people of Israel were so identified with Jehovah in the thought of the nations that no doubt the evil acts and unholy rites of the Jerusalem worship were thought of as having Jehovah’s sanction.

Verse 10. I caused them to go forth] Though greatly oppressed and degraded, they were not willing to leave their house of bondage. I was obliged to force them away.

Verses 10, 11. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of Egypt — Removed all obstacles, furnished them with all necessaries, went before them, and showed them the way they should go, Exodus 13:17; And brought them into the wilderness — It was not Moses’s error, though Pharaoh thought so, Exodus 14:3, 4, but the peculiar conduct of God that brought them thither. And I gave them my statutes — A favour not afforded to other nations: see Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 147:20. This was a treasure which David declared he prized above thousands of gold and silver, Psalm 119:72. Which if a man do, he shall even live in them — That is, in keeping God’s commandments there is abundance of comfort, and a great reward. “By life is generally meant, in the Old Testament, all that happiness which is contained in the literal sense of the promises belonging to that covenant. Under these were mystically comprehended the promises of a better life, wherein God will bestow upon his servants the peculiar marks of his favour, Psalm 16:11. These promises were made to the Jews upon condition of their punctual obedience to the whole law, Leviticus 18:5, and 26:3, &c.; Deuteronomy 27:26. And several persons under that dispensation are styled blameless, by reason of the sincerity of their obedience, though it was not perfect, or unsinning: see Luke 1:6; Philippians 3:6. But if we understand the forementioned condition in its rigorous sense, as implying a perfectly exact and unsinning obedience; and as the word life contains the promise of eternal life under it; (a promise which the pious Jews expected, and hoped to obtain, Matthew 19:16, 17; Acts 26:6, 7;) as it was impossible to be performed, so no person could lay claim to eternal life by virtue of any promise therein contained; from whence St. Paul infers the necessity of seeking to Christ, and laying hold on the promises in the gospel, for the obtaining of justification and eternal life.” — Lowth. It must always be remembered, that the promises of spiritual blessings that we find in the Old Testament, such as pardon, acceptance with God, the Holy Spirit, sanctification, &c., belong to the gospel, or covenant of grace, as much as those in the New Testament: see 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:17, 18; 8:10-12; 11:13.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verse 11. I gave them my statutes] I showed them what they should do in order to be safe, comfortable, wise, and happy; and what they should avoid in order to be uninjured in body, mind, and possessions. Had they attended to these things, they should have lived by them. They would have been holy, healthy, and happy.

Verses 10, 11. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of Egypt — Removed all obstacles, furnished them with all necessaries, went before them, and showed them the way they should go, Exodus 13:17; And brought them into the wilderness — It was not Moses’s error, though Pharaoh thought so, Exodus 14:3, 4, but the peculiar conduct of God that brought them thither. And I gave them my statutes — A favour not afforded to other nations: see Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 147:20. This was a treasure which David declared he prized above thousands of gold and silver, Psalm 119:72. Which if a man do, he shall even live in them — That is, in keeping God’s commandments there is abundance of comfort, and a great reward. “By life is generally meant, in the Old Testament, all that happiness which is contained in the literal sense of the promises belonging to that covenant. Under these were mystically comprehended the promises of a better life, wherein God will bestow upon his servants the peculiar marks of his favour, Psalm 16:11. These promises were made to the Jews upon condition of their punctual obedience to the whole law, Leviticus 18:5, and 26:3, &c.; Deuteronomy 27:26. And several persons under that dispensation are styled blameless, by reason of the sincerity of their obedience, though it was not perfect, or unsinning: see Luke 1:6; Philippians 3:6. But if we understand the forementioned condition in its rigorous sense, as implying a perfectly exact and unsinning obedience; and as the word life contains the promise of eternal life under it; (a promise which the pious Jews expected, and hoped to obtain, Matthew 19:16, 17; Acts 26:6, 7;) as it was impossible to be performed, so no person could lay claim to eternal life by virtue of any promise therein contained; from whence St. Paul infers the necessity of seeking to Christ, and laying hold on the promises in the gospel, for the obtaining of justification and eternal life.” — Lowth. It must always be remembered, that the promises of spiritual blessings that we find in the Old Testament, such as pardon, acceptance with God, the Holy Spirit, sanctification, &c., belong to the gospel, or covenant of grace, as much as those in the New Testament: see 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:17, 18; 8:10-12; 11:13.

11. Shall even live in them — Or, shall live through them (Leviticus 18:5). Obedience to the Sinaitic law would have saved them from punishment and death (Deuteronomy 13:16-20). Obedience prolongs both the individual and national life (Deuteronomy 4:40; 5:16; Amos 5:14, 15; Micah 6:8; Hosea 8:3). Do the “judgments” refer to the Levitical ordinances or to the laws of justice such as are given in 18:5, etc.? Probably to the latter. (See verses 11, 21.) The ancient Chaldee paraphrase expands the last clause: “He shall live in them with eternal life” (Cowles).

V. 12. A sign-Of their being peculiarly my people.

Verse 12. I gave them my Sabbaths] The religious observance of the Sabbath was the first statute or command of God to men. This institution was a sign between God and them, to keep them in remembrance of the creation of the world, of the rest that he designed them in Canaan, and of the eternal inheritance among the saints in light. Of these things the Sabbath was a type and pledge.

Verse 12. Moreover, I gave them my sabbaths — Including the weekly sabbaths, the sabbatical years, and all the solemn days of divine worship, in which no servile work was to be done: to be a sign between me and them — A sign of their being peculiarly my people, and to distinguish them from all other people, as the worshippers of me, Jehovah, who in six days made heaven and earth, and all things therein, and rested the seventh day; and also of my delivering them out of their state of bondage in Egypt. That they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them — That by their resting on those days from their usual employments, and their coming together to wait upon me in the ordinances of my worship, they might become more acquainted with me, and with my will concerning them, and might receive a larger measure of my sanctifying grace. Observe, reader, 1st, Sabbaths are privileges, and are to be considered and improved as such. 2d, They are signs: it is a sign men have a sense of religion, and that there is some correspondence between them and God, while they make conscience of keeping holy the sabbath day. 3d, Sabbaths, if duly sanctified, are the means of our sanctification: if we do the duty of the day, we shall find to our comfort; it is the Lord that sanctifies us; makes us holy, that is, truly happy, here; and prepares us to be happy, that is, perfectly holy, hereafter.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

12. My sabbaths — The giving of a stated portion of the week, like the giving of a stated portion of cattle and fruit to the Lord, was an acknowledgment of their acceptance of the covenant of sanctification by which they were pledged to uttermost obedience, as the Lord’s possession, while he was pledged to them in all his fullness of protecting and sanctifying power. The Sabbath was the visible sign to the Hebrews and to the world that they were his, and that he was theirs (verse 20). It was the sign of a covenant in which God separated himself to the people and the people separated themselves to God. The Hebrew Sabbath was not derived from the Babylonian. Indeed, there is no proof, notwithstanding the guesses of Assyriologists, that the Babylonians observed a weekly rest day. Even the existence of the seven-day week among them is not demonstrated (Muss-Arnoldt, Journal Biblical Literature, 1892, part 1).

V. 13. In the wilderness-Where they most needed my care and favour; where the preserving their life from destruction by the noxious creatures, and from famine by the barrenness of the wilderness, was a continued miracle.

Verse 13. But the house of Israel rebelled] They acted in the wilderness just as they had done in Egypt; and he spared them there for the same reason. See Ezekiel 20:9.

Verses 13-17. But the house of Israel — Not a few, but the generality of the people; rebelled against me — Were undutiful, disobedient, contumacious, and even openly and repeatedly rebellious; in the wilderness — Where they were receiving daily and great mercies from me; where they were on their way to Canaan, and were peculiarly dependant upon me for direction in the way, protection from their enemies, and the supply of all their wants; where they most needed my care and favour, and where the preserving their lives from being destroyed by noxious creatures and by famine, in that barren, desolate, and howling desert, required and was a continued miracle. They walked not in my statutes — Given them as the rule of their conduct toward me and one another. And they despised my judgments — Slighted them first as of little excellence, and then refused and cast them off. They who disobey God’s statutes despise them; they show by their disobedience that they have a mean opinion of them, and of him whose statutes they are. And my sabbaths they greatly polluted — That is, profaned, neglecting the duties enjoined to be done on those holy days, and employing them in worldly business, in pursuing sensual gratifications, or in practising secret idolatry and other wickedness. But I wrought, &c. — See on verse 9. Yet I lifted up my hand, &c. — I solemnly swore (see verse 5) they should not enter into that rest I had designed for them. So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in. Because they despised, &c. — See on verse 13. For their heart went after their idols — They were still inclined to the idolatries which they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in the countries through which they travelled, namely, the idols of the Midianites, Amorites, &c.: see the margin. Nevertheless, mine eye spared them — Though they did highly provoke me, and deserved to be all cut off, I had great patience with them, often reprieved them after sentence of condemnation was passed, and bore with their untoward manners, till a new and better disposed generation arose, to whom I could, consistently with my holiness, fulfil my promises made to their fathers.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verses 13-17. But the house of Israel — Not a few, but the generality of the people; rebelled against me — Were undutiful, disobedient, contumacious, and even openly and repeatedly rebellious; in the wilderness — Where they were receiving daily and great mercies from me; where they were on their way to Canaan, and were peculiarly dependant upon me for direction in the way, protection from their enemies, and the supply of all their wants; where they most needed my care and favour, and where the preserving their lives from being destroyed by noxious creatures and by famine, in that barren, desolate, and howling desert, required and was a continued miracle. They walked not in my statutes — Given them as the rule of their conduct toward me and one another. And they despised my judgments — Slighted them first as of little excellence, and then refused and cast them off. They who disobey God’s statutes despise them; they show by their disobedience that they have a mean opinion of them, and of him whose statutes they are. And my sabbaths they greatly polluted — That is, profaned, neglecting the duties enjoined to be done on those holy days, and employing them in worldly business, in pursuing sensual gratifications, or in practising secret idolatry and other wickedness. But I wrought, &c. — See on verse 9. Yet I lifted up my hand, &c. — I solemnly swore (see verse 5) they should not enter into that rest I had designed for them. So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in. Because they despised, &c. — See on verse 13. For their heart went after their idols — They were still inclined to the idolatries which they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in the countries through which they travelled, namely, the idols of the Midianites, Amorites, &c.: see the margin. Nevertheless, mine eye spared them — Though they did highly provoke me, and deserved to be all cut off, I had great patience with them, often reprieved them after sentence of condemnation was passed, and bore with their untoward manners, till a new and better disposed generation arose, to whom I could, consistently with my holiness, fulfil my promises made to their fathers.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

V. 15. I lifted up my hand-I sware. Them-So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in.

Verse 15. I lifted up my hand] Their provocations in the wilderness were so great, that I vowed never to bring them into the promised land. I did not consume them, but I disinherited them. See Clarke’s note on “Ezekiel 20:5”.

Verses 13-17. But the house of Israel — Not a few, but the generality of the people; rebelled against me — Were undutiful, disobedient, contumacious, and even openly and repeatedly rebellious; in the wilderness — Where they were receiving daily and great mercies from me; where they were on their way to Canaan, and were peculiarly dependant upon me for direction in the way, protection from their enemies, and the supply of all their wants; where they most needed my care and favour, and where the preserving their lives from being destroyed by noxious creatures and by famine, in that barren, desolate, and howling desert, required and was a continued miracle. They walked not in my statutes — Given them as the rule of their conduct toward me and one another. And they despised my judgments — Slighted them first as of little excellence, and then refused and cast them off. They who disobey God’s statutes despise them; they show by their disobedience that they have a mean opinion of them, and of him whose statutes they are. And my sabbaths they greatly polluted — That is, profaned, neglecting the duties enjoined to be done on those holy days, and employing them in worldly business, in pursuing sensual gratifications, or in practising secret idolatry and other wickedness. But I wrought, &c. — See on verse 9. Yet I lifted up my hand, &c. — I solemnly swore (see verse 5) they should not enter into that rest I had designed for them. So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in. Because they despised, &c. — See on verse 13. For their heart went after their idols — They were still inclined to the idolatries which they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in the countries through which they travelled, namely, the idols of the Midianites, Amorites, &c.: see the margin. Nevertheless, mine eye spared them — Though they did highly provoke me, and deserved to be all cut off, I had great patience with them, often reprieved them after sentence of condemnation was passed, and bore with their untoward manners, till a new and better disposed generation arose, to whom I could, consistently with my holiness, fulfil my promises made to their fathers.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verses 13-17. But the house of Israel — Not a few, but the generality of the people; rebelled against me — Were undutiful, disobedient, contumacious, and even openly and repeatedly rebellious; in the wilderness — Where they were receiving daily and great mercies from me; where they were on their way to Canaan, and were peculiarly dependant upon me for direction in the way, protection from their enemies, and the supply of all their wants; where they most needed my care and favour, and where the preserving their lives from being destroyed by noxious creatures and by famine, in that barren, desolate, and howling desert, required and was a continued miracle. They walked not in my statutes — Given them as the rule of their conduct toward me and one another. And they despised my judgments — Slighted them first as of little excellence, and then refused and cast them off. They who disobey God’s statutes despise them; they show by their disobedience that they have a mean opinion of them, and of him whose statutes they are. And my sabbaths they greatly polluted — That is, profaned, neglecting the duties enjoined to be done on those holy days, and employing them in worldly business, in pursuing sensual gratifications, or in practising secret idolatry and other wickedness. But I wrought, &c. — See on verse 9. Yet I lifted up my hand, &c. — I solemnly swore (see verse 5) they should not enter into that rest I had designed for them. So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in. Because they despised, &c. — See on verse 13. For their heart went after their idols — They were still inclined to the idolatries which they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in the countries through which they travelled, namely, the idols of the Midianites, Amorites, &c.: see the margin. Nevertheless, mine eye spared them — Though they did highly provoke me, and deserved to be all cut off, I had great patience with them, often reprieved them after sentence of condemnation was passed, and bore with their untoward manners, till a new and better disposed generation arose, to whom I could, consistently with my holiness, fulfil my promises made to their fathers.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verses 13-17. But the house of Israel — Not a few, but the generality of the people; rebelled against me — Were undutiful, disobedient, contumacious, and even openly and repeatedly rebellious; in the wilderness — Where they were receiving daily and great mercies from me; where they were on their way to Canaan, and were peculiarly dependant upon me for direction in the way, protection from their enemies, and the supply of all their wants; where they most needed my care and favour, and where the preserving their lives from being destroyed by noxious creatures and by famine, in that barren, desolate, and howling desert, required and was a continued miracle. They walked not in my statutes — Given them as the rule of their conduct toward me and one another. And they despised my judgments — Slighted them first as of little excellence, and then refused and cast them off. They who disobey God’s statutes despise them; they show by their disobedience that they have a mean opinion of them, and of him whose statutes they are. And my sabbaths they greatly polluted — That is, profaned, neglecting the duties enjoined to be done on those holy days, and employing them in worldly business, in pursuing sensual gratifications, or in practising secret idolatry and other wickedness. But I wrought, &c. — See on verse 9. Yet I lifted up my hand, &c. — I solemnly swore (see verse 5) they should not enter into that rest I had designed for them. So all the murmuring, disobedient, unbelieving generation was excluded, and their children were brought in. Because they despised, &c. — See on verse 13. For their heart went after their idols — They were still inclined to the idolatries which they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in the countries through which they travelled, namely, the idols of the Midianites, Amorites, &c.: see the margin. Nevertheless, mine eye spared them — Though they did highly provoke me, and deserved to be all cut off, I had great patience with them, often reprieved them after sentence of condemnation was passed, and bore with their untoward manners, till a new and better disposed generation arose, to whom I could, consistently with my holiness, fulfil my promises made to their fathers.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

17. Nevertheless mine eye spared them — So identified were Israel and Jehovah in the eyes of the nations that he could not have utterly annihilated the nation, as justice seemed to demand, without bringing dishonor upon his own name (Deuteronomy 9:28, 29). Therefore, and because of his own special love and pity for them (Numbers 14:20; Psalm 78:38), he did not wholly cut them off, root and branch, in the wilderness; but, while he executed judgment upon that generation (verse 15; Numbers 14:28), he spared the children and exhorted them to do better than their fathers (verse 18). It is worthy of notice that Ezekiel knew the Hebrew history well and gave the same interpretation of it that orthodoxy has always given.

V. 18. Walk ye not-Live not as your fathers did.

Verse 18. But I said unto their children] These I chose in their fathers’ stead; and to them I purposed to give the inheritance which their fathers by disobedience lost.

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

V. 20. Hallow-Remember to keep them holy.

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

Ver. 12, 20. I gave them my sabbaths. That holy day, though sanctified from the creation, had been almost lost in Egypt. It was restored by Moses as a sign of the covenant, in the encrease of corn on the year preseding the sabbatic year, and the year preseding the jubilee. And it is thought, from Deuteronomy 5., that the sabbath was anticipated one day on leaving Egypt, the Egyptians having been drowned in the morning watch of the fifteenth day. If otherwise, they must have marched on the sabbathday. In that view our Saviour has restored the sabbath by his resurrection to the very day of rest after the creation.—The sabbath is a day of humanity, giving repose to servants, and beasts of labour. By consequence, the poor are not only wicked, but unwise to work on that day. They have always been at what they could do to earn their bread; and if the sabbath should be lost, they would have to work seven days in the week as hard as they now work six. The sabbath is holy, and we are required to worship God, and enjoy angelic delights in his house. It is connected also with covenant blessings, Isaiah 58:13; and is guarded by judgments, as in the seventy years captivity of the jews, for the idolaters had robbed the Lord of seventy sabbatic years. It is therefore blasphemy to say that the sabbath is a jewish ceremony, and not binding on us. Christ taught his followers to pray that their flight from the Roman armies, coming to besiege the rebel city of Jerusalem, might not be in the winter, neither on the sabbathday. By consequence, feasting, and journeys of pleasure are forbidden altogether on that day.

Above all, when the Lord says, I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign, he separated the precept of the sabbath from the ten commandments, and placed it at the head of all the divine code. Exodus 31:13. “See that ye keep my sabbath, because it is a sign between me and you, in all your generations.” It associates with their circumcision, the seal of righteousness by faith, or the faith which Abraham swore to God. Christian sacraments therefore must not be desecrated.

Let us hear the most conclusive words of St. Paul, as in the version of the Mons testament, published with the highest sanction of Rome. “Let no man condemn you for eating and drinking, or the observance of festivals, new moons, and of sabbath days, seeing all those things are the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ is the body.” Colossians 2:16, 17. It follows that the jews, by violating this seal of their covenant, forfeited all its blessings, and lost the promised land. So it shall be with the profane christian; he desecrates this holy day, and forfeits all claims of admission into the rest which remains for the people of God.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

21. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — These sinned even as their fathers (Numbers 25:1, 2; Deuteronomy 9:23, 24; 31:27).

V. 22. I withdrew-God seems to take the posture of one that was just going to smite, yet draws back that he might spare.

Verse 22. I withdrew mine hand] I had just lifted it up to crush them as in a moment; for they also were idolatrous, and walked in the steps of their fathers.

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

22. I withdrew mine hand — The hand which had been outstretched to execute judgment (verse 12) was drawn back because of the misunderstanding which the heathen would have of such an action. They would see in it not a proof of God’s holiness, but of his powerlessness to protect his people.

V. 23. I lifted-I sware.

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

23. I would scatter them among the heathen — Jehovah changes the punishment from annihilation to captivity. This decision was announced with solemn warnings, even while they were yet wandering in the wilderness (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). This bondage, of which the companions of Ezekiel complain as an inexplicable providence, and which almost drives them to a distrust of Jehovah’s power and goodness, is itself a proof of the fulfillment of prophecy. It has fallen upon the people solely because of their iniquity and their failure to repent.

Verses 18-24. But I said unto their children in the wilderness — In the plains of Moab; Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers — Imitate not their superstitious usages, nor retain their foolish and wicked customs, but walk in the statutes of your God. This refers to the many pathetical exhortations contained in the book of Deuteronomy, particularly those in chapters twenty-ninth to the thirty-second, which were uttered after that rebellious generation were all consumed, according as God had threatened them. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me — Even that generation which I afterward permitted to enter Canaan, and which I rendered victorious over all the inhabitants of that land, was guilty of many instances of disobedience and rebellion. The chief instance of that generation’s contumacy and inclination to idolatry, was the iniquity of Peor, (Numbers 25:3,) as that of their fathers was the golden calf. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel: then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned in Joshua’s time that they were not cleansed from that iniquity unto that day, Joshua 22:17. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them, verse 21; that he lifted up his hand, &c., in the wilderness — When they were a second time just ready to enter into Canaan; that he would scatter them among the heathen — This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, (Deuteronomy 32:20, 26, 27,) which explains this passage.

THEIR FATHERS, 5-29.

5. In the day when I chose Israel — That is, at the Exodus — drawing the attention of the whole world to Israel “as a holy people unto the Lord” (Deuteronomy 7:6; see also Jeremiah 33:24; Isaiah 40, 66). Lifted up mine hand — The solemn attitude assumed in taking an official oath (Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; note Daniel 12:7). Made myself known — That is, as Jehovah (Exodus 3:6; 6:3; Psalm 103:7).

V. 25. Wherefore-Because they rejected my good laws and judgments. I gave them-Not by enjoining, but by permitting them to make such for themselves. Not good-That were pernicious to the users.

Verse 25. I gave them also statutes that were not good] What a foolish noise has been made about this verse by critics, believers and infidels! How is it that God can be said “to give a people statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they could not live?” I answer, in their sense of the words, God never gave any such, at any time, to any people. Let any man produce an example of this kind if he can; or show even the fragment of such a law, sanctioned by the Most High! The simple meaning of this place and all such places is, that when they had rebelled against the Lord, despised his statutes, and polluted his Sabbaths—in effect cast him off, and given themselves wholly to their idols, then he abandoned them, and they abandoned themselves to the customs and ordinances of the heathen. That this is the meaning of the words, requires no proof to them who are the least acquainted with the genius and idioms of the Hebrew language, in which God is a thousand times said to do, what in the course of his providence or justice he only permits to be done.

Verses 25, 26. Wherefore I gave them statutes that were not good, &c. — This some understand of the ceremonial law, as if it were given purely to be a check and restraint to that perverse people, consisting of numerous rites and observances, many of which had no intrinsic good in them. “But I conceive,” says Lowth, “the statutes here spoken of to be of a different nature from those mentioned verse 11, because they have a quite contrary character given of them; and therefore I take the words to import, that God, in a just judgment for their disobedience to his own laws, gave them up to a reprobate mind, and suffered them to walk after the idolatrous and impious customs of the heathen around them. And whereas, by obeying the laws and ordinances which he had given them, they might have lived happily, (verse 11,) they became slaves to the vile and cruel practices of the heathen idolatries, so as to offer up their very children in sacrifice to idols, to the utter destruction of themselves and their posterity, verse 26. This will appear to be the sense of the text, if we compare it with verse 39, and with Deuteronomy 4:28; 28:36; Jeremiah 16:13; in which texts God threatens them, as a punishment for their neglect of his worship, to disperse them into the heathen countries, and thereby deprive them of an opportunity of serving him in public, and expose them to the peril of being seduced to idols. Just as David complains to Saul of the hardship of his exile, that it laid him open to the temptation of serving the heathen gods, 1 Samuel 26:19.” In the same light Bishop Newcome views the passage, interpreting the sense to be, “I permitted them to observe statutes, or idolatrous rites, of an evil and execrable nature.” And I polluted them in their own gifts — I suffered them to pollute themselves in offering abominable sacrifices. In that they caused to pass through the fire, &c. — In offering their firstborn sons in sacrifice to Moloch. That I might make them desolate — Which occasioned the destruction of great numbers of them, and made a desolation in the land. That they might know that I am the Lord — This I permitted, that they might be made sensible that I am the living and true God, and a being infinitely more excellent than any or all of the idols, to the worship of which they had foolishly addicted themselves: or, that they might be compelled to acknowledge, that I am a mighty king in punishing those that would not have me for a gracious king in governing them.

Ver. 25. I gave them also statutes that were not good. This text has many glosses among the critics.

(1) The ceremonial law is said by some, not to be good, because it was but a shadow; because it was expensive, and was not a ritual of choice, but imposed on the nation by a divine sanction.

(2) Not good, may imply not pleasant. This law was a yoke, and circumcision was a bloody ritual.

(3) But the true sense appears to be, that God turned against his people, and bade them in anger worship the hosts of heaven. He delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and ultimately gave them up to their own hearts’ lusts, as when he said, ver. 30, “Go ye, serve ye every one his idols.”

25. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good — Does this refer to certain Mosaic regulations which were “permitted because of the hardness of their hearts?” (Matthew 19:8.) Or does it express the common Scripture truth that Jehovah is so fully the supreme ruler of Israel that when the people attempt to escape from his rule the edicts of evil kings (such as the “statutes of Omri” (Micah 6:16) and Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-33), the utterances of false prophets (Ezekiel 14:9), and even the cruel statutes and ordinances of the heathen worship which they chose to obey, become really divine chastisements which Jehovah gives to them? (Ezekiel 5:8, 10; 7:4, 9, 22, 26, 27; see especially, note 14:9.) Or does it only mean that Jehovah has given up these willful transgressors to the unclean law which has been written by persistent sin upon the tablets of their hearts? (Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:11.) In either case the ethical principles justifying Jehovah’s action are nearly the same. Laws for the disobedient and criminal cannot be the same as for the obedient and pure. Such laws are not “good,” but they are the best possible under the circumstances. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4), is just as truly a divine law as that which offers life through obedience (verse 11). It is God’s law that the man who willfully follows the false will finally lose the power to follow or even to know the true. Since God is the author of this law the New Testament rightly declares that it is God who blinds the eyes and hardens the heart of the impenitent. This does not mean that God desires any man to lose his spiritual eyesight. It simply means that, by refusing to obey God’s laws of mercy — obedience to which might have saved him his sight — he has necessarily become subject to God’s law of judgment under which he must inevitably, if unrepentant, suffer the penalty of blindness. (See notes Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Romans 1:21-28; 11:9.) Because of willful rejection of the truth he has become unable to see and therefore unable to obey the truth. The very agencies which were intended to be to him a savor of life unto life have become a savor of death unto death (2 Corinthians 2:16; Exodus 14:4). He has brought himself under the dominion of the divine statutes which were ordained for the government of incorrigibles, and he finds them to be hard and painful.

V. 26. Polluted-I permitted them to pollute themselves. Might know-Be forced to own, that the Lord is a mighty king in punishing those that would not have him a gracious king in governing them.

Verse 26. I polluted them in their own gifts] I permitted them to pollute themselves by the offerings which they made to their idols. Causing their children to pass through the fire was one of those pollutions; but, did God ever give them a statute or judgment of this kind? No. He ever inveighs against such things, and they incur his heaviest displeasure and curse. See on Ezekiel 20:31.

Verses 25, 26. Wherefore I gave them statutes that were not good, &c. — This some understand of the ceremonial law, as if it were given purely to be a check and restraint to that perverse people, consisting of numerous rites and observances, many of which had no intrinsic good in them. “But I conceive,” says Lowth, “the statutes here spoken of to be of a different nature from those mentioned verse 11, because they have a quite contrary character given of them; and therefore I take the words to import, that God, in a just judgment for their disobedience to his own laws, gave them up to a reprobate mind, and suffered them to walk after the idolatrous and impious customs of the heathen around them. And whereas, by obeying the laws and ordinances which he had given them, they might have lived happily, (verse 11,) they became slaves to the vile and cruel practices of the heathen idolatries, so as to offer up their very children in sacrifice to idols, to the utter destruction of themselves and their posterity, verse 26. This will appear to be the sense of the text, if we compare it with verse 39, and with Deuteronomy 4:28; 28:36; Jeremiah 16:13; in which texts God threatens them, as a punishment for their neglect of his worship, to disperse them into the heathen countries, and thereby deprive them of an opportunity of serving him in public, and expose them to the peril of being seduced to idols. Just as David complains to Saul of the hardship of his exile, that it laid him open to the temptation of serving the heathen gods, 1 Samuel 26:19.” In the same light Bishop Newcome views the passage, interpreting the sense to be, “I permitted them to observe statutes, or idolatrous rites, of an evil and execrable nature.” And I polluted them in their own gifts — I suffered them to pollute themselves in offering abominable sacrifices. In that they caused to pass through the fire, &c. — In offering their firstborn sons in sacrifice to Moloch. That I might make them desolate — Which occasioned the destruction of great numbers of them, and made a desolation in the land. That they might know that I am the Lord — This I permitted, that they might be made sensible that I am the living and true God, and a being infinitely more excellent than any or all of the idols, to the worship of which they had foolishly addicted themselves: or, that they might be compelled to acknowledge, that I am a mighty king in punishing those that would not have me for a gracious king in governing them.

26. I polluted them in their own gifts — From these words certain expositors (Kuenen, Wellhausen, Smend, Toy, etc.) have drawn the conclusion that one of the statutes which were “not good,” and which Jehovah gave in the early days to Israel, was that of child sacrifice. Renan plainly says that Jehovah commanded this evil thing, “in order to avenge himself and punish the nation by prescribing detestable rites” (History, iii, p. 260). This suggestion is a horrible one, and is opposed not only to God’s righteousness and to all that we know of the Mosaic legislation, but is in direct contradiction to the explicit declaration of Jehovah himself (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; see also arguments of A. von Hoonacker and Kamphausen). Bertholet, with his customary confidence that Smend and Duhm are far greater authorities than Jeremiah or Ezekiel as to the moral conditions of their times and as to Hebrew history in general, bluntly affirms that these were human sacrifices to Jehovah; adding “and the fact that Jeremiah is of a different opinion is of no importance to the decision!” But the fact is that Jehovah never asked this heathenish gift of human blood (Numbers 18:15). The so-called sacrifice of Isaac was to teach the great truth that, unlike some heathen deities, Jehovah wanted only the devotion of the heart and preferred their living rather than their dead children. It is, indeed, somewhat doubtful whether this verse refers at all to human sacrifice. Dr. Konig believes that it has sole reference to the sin of the people in failing to obey the Levitical distinctions between clean and unclean animals in sacrifice (Religious History, 1885, p. 137, etc.). But granting that human sacrifice is referred to, which seems on the whole probable, there is no proof whatever that this was an original commandment of the God who said, “Thou shalt not kill,” and who was by nature “merciful and gracious.” Rather, in harmony with our interpretation of verse 25, we conceive the meaning to be that, having given up the service of Jehovah for the service of idols, the people found (in accordance with God’s eternal decree) that with such service came self-degradation and doubled hardship. The man who chose lustful idol worship instead of the pure worship of a holy God became brutal as the gods he worshiped — and the idols required at his hands more awful sacrifices than Jehovah had ever asked. It was God’s ordainment that sin should be the punishment of sin, and that he who refused obedience to the good statutes of a good God should be controlled by the statutes of his own deities, which were “not good.” He who gave up faith in Jehovah and put Molech in his stead was soon called upon to offer his son as a burnt offering. This gift was never asked of him by Jehovah; rather, because of this gift did Jehovah count him “polluted,” literally, profane. (See Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10; compare also Orelli, in loco.) Openeth — Or, first openeth. That I might make them desolate — Or, amazed, or horrified (Ezekiel 32:10). Jehovah’s purpose in permitting the people to go into these depths of bestiality was that they might be shocked into an appreciation of their own folly and sin and thus be led to repentance.

Verses 27-29. Therefore, son of man, speak, &c. — Here the prophet proceeds with the story of their rebellions for their further humiliation, and shows that they persisted in them after they were settled in the land of Canaan. Thus saith the Lord, Yet in this, &c. — Or, Moreover in this, your fathers have blasphemed me — Have dishonoured me in acting contrary to my commandments. For when I had brought them into the land, &c. — As soon as they were settled in the land promised to Abraham and his seed; then they saw every high hill, &c. — When they saw the high hills and shady groves, they made choice of them as proper places whereon to erect altars for the worship of idols. The Jews were wont to offer sacrifices upon mountains or high places to the true God before the temple was built, 1 Kings 3:2, 5. And this custom was afterward, permitted by godly kings, who were zealous in putting down all sorts of idolatry, 1 Kings 15:14; and 22:43; 2 Chronicles 33:17. But by degrees those places became appropriated to idolatrous worship, and upon that score are severely condemned. There they presented the provocation of their offering — There they presented the offerings whereby they provoked me. This, being distinguished from their sacrifices already mentioned, is to be understood of their meat-offerings, of which see the note on Leviticus 2:1. These were especially styled offerings of a sweet savour. Then I said, What is the high place whereunto ye go? — What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave my altar, where I require your attendance, to frequent such places as I have forbidden you to worship in, and which I will avenge? And the name thereof is called Bamah — That is, the high place; unto this day — “Notwithstanding my reproof, the name continues, and the practice, unto this day.” So Bishop Newcome, who adds, “It may be doubted whether the last six (Hebrew words) of this verse have not been taken into the text from the margin, where they anciently stood as a note.” “All the old versions have this verse, which yet seems out of its place here. If the verse should stand, it relates to something not to be explained now.” — Secker.

27. A trespass — Rather, unfaithfulness. The most awful blasphemy is seen, not in word, but, as here, in indifference and irreverence (Numbers 15:30).

Verses 27-29. Therefore, son of man, speak, &c. — Here the prophet proceeds with the story of their rebellions for their further humiliation, and shows that they persisted in them after they were settled in the land of Canaan. Thus saith the Lord, Yet in this, &c. — Or, Moreover in this, your fathers have blasphemed me — Have dishonoured me in acting contrary to my commandments. For when I had brought them into the land, &c. — As soon as they were settled in the land promised to Abraham and his seed; then they saw every high hill, &c. — When they saw the high hills and shady groves, they made choice of them as proper places whereon to erect altars for the worship of idols. The Jews were wont to offer sacrifices upon mountains or high places to the true God before the temple was built, 1 Kings 3:2, 5. And this custom was afterward, permitted by godly kings, who were zealous in putting down all sorts of idolatry, 1 Kings 15:14; and 22:43; 2 Chronicles 33:17. But by degrees those places became appropriated to idolatrous worship, and upon that score are severely condemned. There they presented the provocation of their offering — There they presented the offerings whereby they provoked me. This, being distinguished from their sacrifices already mentioned, is to be understood of their meat-offerings, of which see the note on Leviticus 2:1. These were especially styled offerings of a sweet savour. Then I said, What is the high place whereunto ye go? — What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave my altar, where I require your attendance, to frequent such places as I have forbidden you to worship in, and which I will avenge? And the name thereof is called Bamah — That is, the high place; unto this day — “Notwithstanding my reproof, the name continues, and the practice, unto this day.” So Bishop Newcome, who adds, “It may be doubted whether the last six (Hebrew words) of this verse have not been taken into the text from the margin, where they anciently stood as a note.” “All the old versions have this verse, which yet seems out of its place here. If the verse should stand, it relates to something not to be explained now.” — Secker.

28. They offered there their sacrifices — They were enticed into the evil Canaanitish worship against which they were ever being warned (Hosea 8:11, 13; 9:1; Amos 4:4; 5:21; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6). It is now seen from the Baal sacrifice tablets (600-500 B.C.) recently discovered, that in many details the form of the ritual closely resembled that of the Hebrews. (See MacDonald’s Massera-Carthago, 1897.) This made it easier for unspiritual and sensually inclined Israelites to forget the essential differences between these sacrificial cults. (See also notes Ezekiel 6:13; 8:14, 15.) The provocation of their offering — Disobedient or heathenish offerings were an insult to the one true God.

V. 29. What-What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave God’s altar, where he requires your attendance, to frequent such places as he has forbidden you to worship in? Bamah-That is, the high place.

Verse 29. What is the high place] hmbh hm mah habbamah, “what is the high place?” What is it good for? Its being a high place shows it to be a place of idolatry. I called it hmb bamah, to mark it with infamy; but ye continue to frequent it, even while it is called hmb bamah, to the present day!

Verses 27-29. Therefore, son of man, speak, &c. — Here the prophet proceeds with the story of their rebellions for their further humiliation, and shows that they persisted in them after they were settled in the land of Canaan. Thus saith the Lord, Yet in this, &c. — Or, Moreover in this, your fathers have blasphemed me — Have dishonoured me in acting contrary to my commandments. For when I had brought them into the land, &c. — As soon as they were settled in the land promised to Abraham and his seed; then they saw every high hill, &c. — When they saw the high hills and shady groves, they made choice of them as proper places whereon to erect altars for the worship of idols. The Jews were wont to offer sacrifices upon mountains or high places to the true God before the temple was built, 1 Kings 3:2, 5. And this custom was afterward, permitted by godly kings, who were zealous in putting down all sorts of idolatry, 1 Kings 15:14; and 22:43; 2 Chronicles 33:17. But by degrees those places became appropriated to idolatrous worship, and upon that score are severely condemned. There they presented the provocation of their offering — There they presented the offerings whereby they provoked me. This, being distinguished from their sacrifices already mentioned, is to be understood of their meat-offerings, of which see the note on Leviticus 2:1. These were especially styled offerings of a sweet savour. Then I said, What is the high place whereunto ye go? — What mean you that you go to the high place? What do you find so inviting there, that you will leave my altar, where I require your attendance, to frequent such places as I have forbidden you to worship in, and which I will avenge? And the name thereof is called Bamah — That is, the high place; unto this day — “Notwithstanding my reproof, the name continues, and the practice, unto this day.” So Bishop Newcome, who adds, “It may be doubted whether the last six (Hebrew words) of this verse have not been taken into the text from the margin, where they anciently stood as a note.” “All the old versions have this verse, which yet seems out of its place here. If the verse should stand, it relates to something not to be explained now.” — Secker.

Ver. 29. What is the high place whereunto ye go? The name thereof is Bamah. This name, by Professor Cocceius is divided, hm ab Bo mah, he comes; alluding perhaps to the promise in Exodus 20:23. “In all places where I record my name, I will come to thee, and I will bless thee.” Oh, no; you may cry in all the extremity of anguish, as on mount Carmel, oh Baal, hear us; but Baal will not come. “There was no voice, nor any that answered.”

29. Bamah — Hebrews, “high place.” That there is intended here some contemptuous turn upon the word cannot be doubted. “What (mah) is the high place (bamah) whereunto ye go (ba)?” Such puns upon names — often given as serious explanations of their origin — are not uncommon in the contemporaneous literature of Babylonia and Egypt. (See, e.g., p. 9, author’s Egypt According to the Monuments.) If we had a better knowledge of the Canaanitish dictionary we would probably see a sharp point here which is now hidden from our dull eyes. The name Bamah must, as Adam Clarke saw, be a veiled name of infamy. So the Church of Rome made fun of Calvin, who was bald, by calling him “Calvinus Calcus,” meaning either Calvin the bald or Calvin the schismatic. Ewald and Smend see in the word “go,” or “go into,” a reference to the literal as well as the spiritual prostitution indulged in by the Baal worshipers (as used also in Genesis 16:2; 19:31, etc.).

THE SONS HAVE FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLES OF THEIR FATHERS; YET JEHOVAH STILL RULES, AND THE FUTURE, AS THE PAST, SHALL DISPLAY HIS POWER AND GOODNESS AND HIS NAME SHALL BE GLORIFIED, 30-44.

Verses 30-32. Say unto the house of Israel — To the elders now sitting before thee, and through them to the rest of their brethren; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers — After all that God hath said to and against you by a succession of prophets, and done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no warning? Will you still be as wicked as your fathers were, and commit the same abominations that they committed? Some prefer rendering the words, Are ye not polluted, and do ye not commit whoredom, &c.? Do ye not walk in your fathers’ sins and idolatries, notwithstanding all the warnings I have given you, and the severe instances of my displeasure against their practices, which ought to have terrified you from following their bad example? For when ye offer your gifts, &c., ye pollute yourselves — You render yourselves filthy and abominable in my sight. And shall I be inquired of by you — Are you fit to come and ask counsel of me, whom you have so shamefully and so obstinately forsaken and reproached? I will not be inquired of by you — I will answer you as little as you regard me. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all — Shall be quite frustrated. God, to convince them, here tells them what was in their thoughts, and what they had purposed. We find by the Scripture history, that the Jews had all along a fond desire of worshipping the gods of their neighbours, and could not bear that imputation of singularity, which their peculiar way of worship exposed them to. They thought also by this means to live more quietly among the heathen whither they were led captive. God tells them here that he would prevent this purpose of theirs from taking effect. And we find, from the very time of their return from the Babylonish captivity, they have been very cautious of committing idolatry, and scrupulous of making the least approaches to it. — Lowth.

V. 31. Shall I be enquired of-Are you fit to ask counsel of me, whom you have so obstinately forsaken and reproached?

Verse 31. Ye pollute yourselves] This shows the sense in which God says, Ezekiel 20:26, “I polluted them in their own gifts.” They chose to pollute themselves, and I permitted them to do so. See on Ezekiel 20:25, 26.

Verses 30-32. Say unto the house of Israel — To the elders now sitting before thee, and through them to the rest of their brethren; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers — After all that God hath said to and against you by a succession of prophets, and done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no warning? Will you still be as wicked as your fathers were, and commit the same abominations that they committed? Some prefer rendering the words, Are ye not polluted, and do ye not commit whoredom, &c.? Do ye not walk in your fathers’ sins and idolatries, notwithstanding all the warnings I have given you, and the severe instances of my displeasure against their practices, which ought to have terrified you from following their bad example? For when ye offer your gifts, &c., ye pollute yourselves — You render yourselves filthy and abominable in my sight. And shall I be inquired of by you — Are you fit to come and ask counsel of me, whom you have so shamefully and so obstinately forsaken and reproached? I will not be inquired of by you — I will answer you as little as you regard me. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all — Shall be quite frustrated. God, to convince them, here tells them what was in their thoughts, and what they had purposed. We find by the Scripture history, that the Jews had all along a fond desire of worshipping the gods of their neighbours, and could not bear that imputation of singularity, which their peculiar way of worship exposed them to. They thought also by this means to live more quietly among the heathen whither they were led captive. God tells them here that he would prevent this purpose of theirs from taking effect. And we find, from the very time of their return from the Babylonish captivity, they have been very cautious of committing idolatry, and scrupulous of making the least approaches to it. — Lowth.

31. Shall I be inquired of by you — These who have so polluted themselves (verse 30) have no claim upon Jehovah’s wisdom. He will not reveal to them what they wish to know of the future, but he will rehearse to them their national iniquities in the past and show that the same principles of divine government which sentenced the nation to chastisement then explains their present calamity.

V. 32. And that-God to convince them, tells them what they think and have purposed. Shall not be-Shall be quite frustrated. We will be-Will unite with them in marriages, commerce, and religion too; and then we shall be safe among them.

Verse 32. And that which cometh into your mind] Ye wish to be naturalized among idolaters, and make a part of such nations. But this shall not be at all; you shall be preserved as a distinct people. Ye shall not be permitted to mingle yourselves with the people of those countries: even they, idolaters as they are, will despise and reject you. Besides, I will change your place, restore your captivity; yet not in mercy, but in fury poured out; and reserve you for sorer evils, Ezekiel 20:34.

Verses 30-32. Say unto the house of Israel — To the elders now sitting before thee, and through them to the rest of their brethren; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers — After all that God hath said to and against you by a succession of prophets, and done against you by a series of judgments, yet will you take no warning? Will you still be as wicked as your fathers were, and commit the same abominations that they committed? Some prefer rendering the words, Are ye not polluted, and do ye not commit whoredom, &c.? Do ye not walk in your fathers’ sins and idolatries, notwithstanding all the warnings I have given you, and the severe instances of my displeasure against their practices, which ought to have terrified you from following their bad example? For when ye offer your gifts, &c., ye pollute yourselves — You render yourselves filthy and abominable in my sight. And shall I be inquired of by you — Are you fit to come and ask counsel of me, whom you have so shamefully and so obstinately forsaken and reproached? I will not be inquired of by you — I will answer you as little as you regard me. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all — Shall be quite frustrated. God, to convince them, here tells them what was in their thoughts, and what they had purposed. We find by the Scripture history, that the Jews had all along a fond desire of worshipping the gods of their neighbours, and could not bear that imputation of singularity, which their peculiar way of worship exposed them to. They thought also by this means to live more quietly among the heathen whither they were led captive. God tells them here that he would prevent this purpose of theirs from taking effect. And we find, from the very time of their return from the Babylonish captivity, they have been very cautious of committing idolatry, and scrupulous of making the least approaches to it. — Lowth.

32. We will be as the heathen — Even while claiming Jehovah as their national God and expecting him to preserve them as a nation they had practically apostatized by also giving honor to other deities (Jeremiah 2:25; 44:15-19), and now perhaps they felt that if the temple were snatched away nothing was left for them but to accept the worship of their conquerors. But Ezekiel declares that they cannot be as the heathen. Their sin and punishment had been peculiar and their deliverance should be equally and startlingly peculiar. On the wood and stone idols of the heathen see Deuteronomy 4:28; 28:36; Isaiah 37:19.

Verses 33-36. Surely with a mighty hand, &c. — I will no longer try to reclaim you by the gentle methods of patience and forbearance, but will govern you, as masters do bad servants, by stripes and corrections; and by this means cure you of your inclinations to the heathen customs and idolatries. And I will bring you out from the people — With whom you now live mixed, and whose manners and customs you follow. The Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbouring nations, seem to be intended, into whose countries many of the Jews were carried captive, or went as voluntary exiles, before the general captivity by the Chaldeans. God here declares he will bring them thence, and carry them to Babylon. And I will bring you into the wilderness — Between Judea and Babylon, through which ye shall pass into captivity. Or, as some think, the barren lands in which the Babylonians planted these captives are meant. “The wilderness of the people,” says Michaelis, “is the desert in the neighbourhood of the Chaldeans, and of other nations. And there will I plead with you face to face — Convince you of your sins, execute judgments on you, and thereby most plainly manifest my justice to you. “I will punish you in the face of the world, and fill you with conviction that my punishments are just.” — Bishop Newcome. Like as I pleaded with your fathers — Punished them for their sins; in the wilderness of the land of Egypt — That is, the wilderness bordering upon Egypt. As I there set the crimes of your fathers before their eyes, so that they were not able to deny their guilt, nor to say any thing against the justice of the punishment inflicted on them, so will I deal with you.

33. With a mighty hand… will I rule over you — Or, be king over you. The thought had come into their minds to forsake the worship of Jehovah; but this they could not do. Jehovah was king and would not let the idols usurp his place. He would show his sovereignty by regal punishment and an equally regal deliverance of his people.

V. 34. The people-Sidonians, Ammonites, Moabites, or whoever they were, to whom the apostate Jews betook themselves, where they thought to lurk, God will bring them thence into Babylonish captivity.

Verses 33-36. Surely with a mighty hand, &c. — I will no longer try to reclaim you by the gentle methods of patience and forbearance, but will govern you, as masters do bad servants, by stripes and corrections; and by this means cure you of your inclinations to the heathen customs and idolatries. And I will bring you out from the people — With whom you now live mixed, and whose manners and customs you follow. The Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbouring nations, seem to be intended, into whose countries many of the Jews were carried captive, or went as voluntary exiles, before the general captivity by the Chaldeans. God here declares he will bring them thence, and carry them to Babylon. And I will bring you into the wilderness — Between Judea and Babylon, through which ye shall pass into captivity. Or, as some think, the barren lands in which the Babylonians planted these captives are meant. “The wilderness of the people,” says Michaelis, “is the desert in the neighbourhood of the Chaldeans, and of other nations. And there will I plead with you face to face — Convince you of your sins, execute judgments on you, and thereby most plainly manifest my justice to you. “I will punish you in the face of the world, and fill you with conviction that my punishments are just.” — Bishop Newcome. Like as I pleaded with your fathers — Punished them for their sins; in the wilderness of the land of Egypt — That is, the wilderness bordering upon Egypt. As I there set the crimes of your fathers before their eyes, so that they were not able to deny their guilt, nor to say any thing against the justice of the punishment inflicted on them, so will I deal with you.

V. 35. Bring you-Drive you. The wilderness-Into the most horrid parts of the world; into the mountainous parts of Media, Hyrcania, Iberia, Caspia, Albania, and Scythia. Plead with you-Pass sentence, and execute it on you.

Verse 35. I will bring you into the wilderness of the people] I will bring you out of your captivity, and bring you into your own land, which you will find to be a wilderness, the consequence of your crimes. There will I plead with you] There I will be your king, and rule you with a sovereign rule; and the dispensations of my justice and mercy shall either end you or mend you.

Verses 33-36. Surely with a mighty hand, &c. — I will no longer try to reclaim you by the gentle methods of patience and forbearance, but will govern you, as masters do bad servants, by stripes and corrections; and by this means cure you of your inclinations to the heathen customs and idolatries. And I will bring you out from the people — With whom you now live mixed, and whose manners and customs you follow. The Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbouring nations, seem to be intended, into whose countries many of the Jews were carried captive, or went as voluntary exiles, before the general captivity by the Chaldeans. God here declares he will bring them thence, and carry them to Babylon. And I will bring you into the wilderness — Between Judea and Babylon, through which ye shall pass into captivity. Or, as some think, the barren lands in which the Babylonians planted these captives are meant. “The wilderness of the people,” says Michaelis, “is the desert in the neighbourhood of the Chaldeans, and of other nations. And there will I plead with you face to face — Convince you of your sins, execute judgments on you, and thereby most plainly manifest my justice to you. “I will punish you in the face of the world, and fill you with conviction that my punishments are just.” — Bishop Newcome. Like as I pleaded with your fathers — Punished them for their sins; in the wilderness of the land of Egypt — That is, the wilderness bordering upon Egypt. As I there set the crimes of your fathers before their eyes, so that they were not able to deny their guilt, nor to say any thing against the justice of the punishment inflicted on them, so will I deal with you.

Ver. 35. I will bring you into the wilderness—there will I plead with you face to face. During the slow march of the jews from Babylon which lasted four months, the Lord spake to them by his prophets, and greatly consoled them on their return. Ezra did not ask a guard, because he trusted in the Lord.

35. The wilderness of the people — The Israelites are now wandering among the nations as formerly their forefathers, because of their sins, wandered in the wilderness after leaving Egypt; but they shall yet heed the pleading of Jehovah, as did their fathers, and be brought to their own land (Isaiah 40:1-11; Hosea 2:14, 15; Jeremiah 31:24).

V. 36. Your fathers-Who died there, and never entered Canaan.

Verses 33-36. Surely with a mighty hand, &c. — I will no longer try to reclaim you by the gentle methods of patience and forbearance, but will govern you, as masters do bad servants, by stripes and corrections; and by this means cure you of your inclinations to the heathen customs and idolatries. And I will bring you out from the people — With whom you now live mixed, and whose manners and customs you follow. The Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbouring nations, seem to be intended, into whose countries many of the Jews were carried captive, or went as voluntary exiles, before the general captivity by the Chaldeans. God here declares he will bring them thence, and carry them to Babylon. And I will bring you into the wilderness — Between Judea and Babylon, through which ye shall pass into captivity. Or, as some think, the barren lands in which the Babylonians planted these captives are meant. “The wilderness of the people,” says Michaelis, “is the desert in the neighbourhood of the Chaldeans, and of other nations. And there will I plead with you face to face — Convince you of your sins, execute judgments on you, and thereby most plainly manifest my justice to you. “I will punish you in the face of the world, and fill you with conviction that my punishments are just.” — Bishop Newcome. Like as I pleaded with your fathers — Punished them for their sins; in the wilderness of the land of Egypt — That is, the wilderness bordering upon Egypt. As I there set the crimes of your fathers before their eyes, so that they were not able to deny their guilt, nor to say any thing against the justice of the punishment inflicted on them, so will I deal with you.

V. 37. I will cause-I will bring you out by number, so that you shall either own my scepter, or by a conquered subjection, yield to my sword and power. Under the rod-Referring to the manner of shepherds in that country, who did tell their sheep in, and out of the fold. Bring you-The voluntary and obedient into covenant with myself.

Verse 37. I will cause you to pass under the rod] This alludes to the custom of tithing the sheep. I take it from the rabbins. The sheep were all penned; and the shepherd stood at the door of the fold, where only one sheep could come out at once. He had in his hand a rod dipped in vermillion; and as they came out, he counted one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine; and as the tenth came out, he marked it with the rod, and said, “This is the tenth;” and that was set apart for the Lord. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant] You shall be placed under the same obligations as before, and acknowledge your selves bound; ye shall feel your obligation, and live according to its nature.

Verses 37, 38. I will cause you to pass under the rod — Of punishment. I will bring you under the chastisement due to you for breaking my covenant. Or there may be an allusion to the custom of numbering flocks and herds, by striking them with a rod: and so the sense will be, “I will take an exact account of you, as a shepherd does of his flock, and will sever between the good and the bad, between the sheep and the goats.” And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant — By these methods I will reduce you to that obedience to which, by my covenant, you are obliged. And I will purge out from among you the rebels — I will separate the righteous from the wicked, in order to destroy the latter, as I did the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness. I will bring them forth out of the country, &c. — I will bring them (namely, the rebels, or wicked ones) forth out of the land of Judea, where they now sojourn, and where they boast that they shall always continue; and they shall not enter into the land of Israel — They shall never return into it again. Bishop Newcome thinks “those are here referred to, who, after the murder of Gedaliah, went into Egypt, called here the land of their sojourning. Some of these were to be carried into Chaldea with the captive Egyptians, Jeremiah 43:11, though the greater part were to be consumed, Jeremiah 44:12. Some of the obstinately rebellious Jews might also sojourn in other neighbouring countries subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, as Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, &c., and might thence be taken into captivity. The small number who returned from Egypt into Judea were righteous men, and not such as are here called rebels and transgressors.”

Ver. 37. I will cause you to pass under the rod. The allusion is to a shepherd who counts his flock, and separates those which are for slaughter. Thus the men who revolted at God’s paternal rod, should be disposed of by the rod of their enemies.

37. I will cause you to pass under the rod — Not an Israelite shall be forgotten. As the shepherd with his rod checks the flock at night at the entrance to the sheepfold, and numbers his sheep, and separates them from other flocks and from the goats (Ezekiel 34:17-20; Leviticus 27:32; Jeremiah 33:13; compare Matthew 25), so will Jehovah count his people and separate his own true followers unto himself. Adam Clarke takes from the rabbins the statement that in giving tithes the shepherd stood at the door of the fold with a rod, dipped in vermilion, with which he marked every tenth sheep as it sprang past him. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant — The Syriac version has it, “I will bring you into the correction of the covenant;” but probably the best reading is that preserved by the LXX., “I will bring you into the land by number” (Isaiah 40:26; 1 Chronicles 9:28; Ezra 8:34).

V. 38. The rebels-The stubborn sinners.

Verse 38. I will purge out from among you the rebels] The incorrigibly wicked I will destroy; those who will not receive him whom I have appointed for this purpose as the Saviour of Israel. And I will gather you who believe out of all the countries where you sojourn, and bring you into your own land; but those of you who will not believe—will not receive the Son of David to reign over you, shall never enter into the land of Israel, but die in your dispersions. This is what the contradicting and blaspheming Jews of the present day have to expect. And thus, both of you shall know that he is Jehovah, fulfilling his threatenings against the one, and his promises to the other.

Verses 37, 38. I will cause you to pass under the rod — Of punishment. I will bring you under the chastisement due to you for breaking my covenant. Or there may be an allusion to the custom of numbering flocks and herds, by striking them with a rod: and so the sense will be, “I will take an exact account of you, as a shepherd does of his flock, and will sever between the good and the bad, between the sheep and the goats.” And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant — By these methods I will reduce you to that obedience to which, by my covenant, you are obliged. And I will purge out from among you the rebels — I will separate the righteous from the wicked, in order to destroy the latter, as I did the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness. I will bring them forth out of the country, &c. — I will bring them (namely, the rebels, or wicked ones) forth out of the land of Judea, where they now sojourn, and where they boast that they shall always continue; and they shall not enter into the land of Israel — They shall never return into it again. Bishop Newcome thinks “those are here referred to, who, after the murder of Gedaliah, went into Egypt, called here the land of their sojourning. Some of these were to be carried into Chaldea with the captive Egyptians, Jeremiah 43:11, though the greater part were to be consumed, Jeremiah 44:12. Some of the obstinately rebellious Jews might also sojourn in other neighbouring countries subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, as Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, &c., and might thence be taken into captivity. The small number who returned from Egypt into Judea were righteous men, and not such as are here called rebels and transgressors.”

38. I will bring them forth — These rebellious Hebrews, who think to settle down in Egypt or Babylon and adopt the religion of the country and make their home there, shall find it to be no pleasant home for them. They shall be forced to leave — as the true Israelite will — but they shall not find the same glad end to their journey. They shall remain outcasts from their native land, the scorn both of the heathen and of their own people.

V. 39. But pollute-But while ye are such idolaters, forbear to take my name into your lips.

Verse 39. Go ye, serve ye every one his idols] Thus, God gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they could not live, by thus permitting them to take their own way, serve their gods, and follow the maxims and rites of that abominable worship.

Verse 39. As for you, O house of Israel, go ye, serve, &c. — Go at present, and serve your idols; persist in your idolatries, agreeably to the stubbornness of your hearts. An indignant concession. And hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me — And continue to do so if you are resolved not to do according to my commandments, or to worship me as I have appointed. But pollute ye my holy name no more, &c. — While you are such idolaters, forbear to take my name into your lips. In other words, While you offer your gifts, and immolate your children to idols, do not call yourselves any longer my servants, nor pretend to pay your devotions in my temple, and thereby bring a reproach upon my name and worship.

39. And hereafter, etc. — Rather, but hereafter you shall surely hearken unto me, and pollute my holy name no more with your gifts. Dr. Skinner prefers the Syriac, “but as for you, O house of Israel, if ye will not hearken unto me, go serve every man his idols. Yet hereafter ye shall no more profane my holy name,” etc. If they persist in mixing Jehovah with idol worship (verse 32), they shall be left to perish in the wilderness as their fathers did (verse 38); but the remnant of the nation, which shall include all the true house of Israel (verse 40), shall return to their own land and worship Jehovah, and him only, on the holy mountain. The one God cannot accept gifts from any who at the same time are hiding idols in their homes or hearts. My holy name — Ezekiel often used the word “holy.” Duhm thinks Bible holiness is ceremonial or aesthetic, meaning merely to be separated from something; but Alexander Duff has well shown that it means rather to be separated to something; namely, to “Jehovah’s holiness, his devoted love, his guiding, healing, and ever-forgiving grace.”

V. 40. Mine holy mountain-Sion, God’s holy hill, Psalm 2:6. Holy by designation, and God’s own appointing it for his temple and presence. Of the height-Sion, tho’ lower than many other hills, yet was above them all for God’s peculiar presence. In the land-Their own land. Your offerings-When I have brought you into the land, then I will require your offerings as formerly: you shall see my temple built, Jerusalem filled with inhabitants, and my worship restored.

Verse 40. For in mine holy mountain] The days shall come in which all true ISRAELITES shall receive HIM whom I have sent to be the true sacrifice for the life of the world; and shall bring to Jerusalem—the pure Christian Church, their offerings, which I will there accept, for they will give me thanks for my unspeakable gift.

Verses 40-42. For in my holy mountain, &c. — The holy hill of Zion, holy through God’s appointing it for the place of his temple. The mountain of the height of Israel — See Ezekiel 17:23; Micah 4:1. Though mount Zion was not one of the highest mountains of Israel, yet God manifesting his presence there in his temple, it was more honoured than any of their other mountains. Lowth, and several other commentators, think the Christian Church is here meant, and termed God’s holy mountain in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem, built upon mount Moriah, a part of mount Zion; (see notes on Ezekiel 17:23, and Isaiah 2:2;) and that the prophet here foretels the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and their union with the converted Gentiles in the church of God. At the same time, however, they suppose that, upon their conversion and return to their own country, certain privileges shall belong to the earthly Jerusalem, as the metropolis of that nation. There shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me — That is, all the house of Israel that are restored, shall serve me in Jerusalem. There shall be no more any such separation as when the ten tribes forsook the worship of God at Jerusalem. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, &c. — Requiring signifies the same with accepting, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect; just as seeking is sometimes used for finding: see Isaiah 65:1. In the same sense, God is said not to require such instances of worship as he takes no delight in, Isaiah 1:11. Offerings signify in general every thing devoted to God’s service. Those who suppose that the prophet is here foretelling the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, consider him as “expressing the Christian worship by those religions oblations which were proper to his own time; as the other prophets frequently describe the state of the Christian Church, by representations taken from the Jewish temple and service.” — See Lowth. I will accept you with your sweet savour — This is mentioned in opposition to the sweet savour of their offerings to idols. The words may be rendered, I will be pleased with you, as with a sweet savour; or, as with the savour of an offering of atonement. When I bring you out — Or, as it may be better rendered, When I have brought you out from the people; that is, either, 1st, When I have brought you back out of captivity to your own land; or, 2d, When I have converted you to Christ, and united you to the Christian Church. And I will be sanctified in you before the heathen — I shall procure honour to my name by the wonderful works, whether of justice or mercy, which I will show toward you; and the nations shall consider me as a great and holy God, when they shall observe my deliverance of you, and your obedience to me. And ye shall know that I am the Lord — Or, Jehovah; that is, He who causeth that TO BE which he hath said SHALL BE, and who fulfilleth his promises. When I shall bring you into the country, &c. — Into the land which I sware to give to your fathers and their posterity: see verse 5.

40. The first fruits of your oblations — The best; the chief offerings they can give.

V. 41. Sanctified-Magnified and praised for the good I do to my people.

Verses 40-42. For in my holy mountain, &c. — The holy hill of Zion, holy through God’s appointing it for the place of his temple. The mountain of the height of Israel — See Ezekiel 17:23; Micah 4:1. Though mount Zion was not one of the highest mountains of Israel, yet God manifesting his presence there in his temple, it was more honoured than any of their other mountains. Lowth, and several other commentators, think the Christian Church is here meant, and termed God’s holy mountain in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem, built upon mount Moriah, a part of mount Zion; (see notes on Ezekiel 17:23, and Isaiah 2:2;) and that the prophet here foretels the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and their union with the converted Gentiles in the church of God. At the same time, however, they suppose that, upon their conversion and return to their own country, certain privileges shall belong to the earthly Jerusalem, as the metropolis of that nation. There shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me — That is, all the house of Israel that are restored, shall serve me in Jerusalem. There shall be no more any such separation as when the ten tribes forsook the worship of God at Jerusalem. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, &c. — Requiring signifies the same with accepting, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect; just as seeking is sometimes used for finding: see Isaiah 65:1. In the same sense, God is said not to require such instances of worship as he takes no delight in, Isaiah 1:11. Offerings signify in general every thing devoted to God’s service. Those who suppose that the prophet is here foretelling the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, consider him as “expressing the Christian worship by those religions oblations which were proper to his own time; as the other prophets frequently describe the state of the Christian Church, by representations taken from the Jewish temple and service.” — See Lowth. I will accept you with your sweet savour — This is mentioned in opposition to the sweet savour of their offerings to idols. The words may be rendered, I will be pleased with you, as with a sweet savour; or, as with the savour of an offering of atonement. When I bring you out — Or, as it may be better rendered, When I have brought you out from the people; that is, either, 1st, When I have brought you back out of captivity to your own land; or, 2d, When I have converted you to Christ, and united you to the Christian Church. And I will be sanctified in you before the heathen — I shall procure honour to my name by the wonderful works, whether of justice or mercy, which I will show toward you; and the nations shall consider me as a great and holy God, when they shall observe my deliverance of you, and your obedience to me. And ye shall know that I am the Lord — Or, Jehovah; that is, He who causeth that TO BE which he hath said SHALL BE, and who fulfilleth his promises. When I shall bring you into the country, &c. — Into the land which I sware to give to your fathers and their posterity: see verse 5.

41. With your sweet savor — Possibly, as a sweet savor (Keil, R.V.), but more probably, amidst your sweet savor. They will be accepted when they come offering the legitimate sacrifices, which they will bring then gladly. I will be sanctified — Or, shew myself holy in you (Leviticus 10:3). That is to say, the heathen, when they saw the Hebrews brought back from captivity, would recognize that the calamities which had fallen upon the chosen people were true punishments of sin and not due to Jehovah’s powerlessness to protect them (Ezekiel 36:20; 39:23).

Verse 42. And ye shall know] Shall acknowledge that I am Jehovah.

Verses 40-42. For in my holy mountain, &c. — The holy hill of Zion, holy through God’s appointing it for the place of his temple. The mountain of the height of Israel — See Ezekiel 17:23; Micah 4:1. Though mount Zion was not one of the highest mountains of Israel, yet God manifesting his presence there in his temple, it was more honoured than any of their other mountains. Lowth, and several other commentators, think the Christian Church is here meant, and termed God’s holy mountain in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem, built upon mount Moriah, a part of mount Zion; (see notes on Ezekiel 17:23, and Isaiah 2:2;) and that the prophet here foretels the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and their union with the converted Gentiles in the church of God. At the same time, however, they suppose that, upon their conversion and return to their own country, certain privileges shall belong to the earthly Jerusalem, as the metropolis of that nation. There shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me — That is, all the house of Israel that are restored, shall serve me in Jerusalem. There shall be no more any such separation as when the ten tribes forsook the worship of God at Jerusalem. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, &c. — Requiring signifies the same with accepting, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect; just as seeking is sometimes used for finding: see Isaiah 65:1. In the same sense, God is said not to require such instances of worship as he takes no delight in, Isaiah 1:11. Offerings signify in general every thing devoted to God’s service. Those who suppose that the prophet is here foretelling the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, consider him as “expressing the Christian worship by those religions oblations which were proper to his own time; as the other prophets frequently describe the state of the Christian Church, by representations taken from the Jewish temple and service.” — See Lowth. I will accept you with your sweet savour — This is mentioned in opposition to the sweet savour of their offerings to idols. The words may be rendered, I will be pleased with you, as with a sweet savour; or, as with the savour of an offering of atonement. When I bring you out — Or, as it may be better rendered, When I have brought you out from the people; that is, either, 1st, When I have brought you back out of captivity to your own land; or, 2d, When I have converted you to Christ, and united you to the Christian Church. And I will be sanctified in you before the heathen — I shall procure honour to my name by the wonderful works, whether of justice or mercy, which I will show toward you; and the nations shall consider me as a great and holy God, when they shall observe my deliverance of you, and your obedience to me. And ye shall know that I am the Lord — Or, Jehovah; that is, He who causeth that TO BE which he hath said SHALL BE, and who fulfilleth his promises. When I shall bring you into the country, &c. — Into the land which I sware to give to your fathers and their posterity: see verse 5.

V. 43. Remember-Review your former ways with sorrow: remember, and grieve.

Verse 43. And there shall ye remember your ways] Ye shall be ashamed of your past conduct, and of your long opposition to the Gospel of your salvation.

These promises may, in a certain limited sense, be applied to the restoration from the Babylonish captivity; but they must have their proper fulfilment when the Jews shall accept Jesus as their Saviour, and in consequence be brought back from all their dispersions to their own land.

Verses 43, 44. And there shall ye remember your ways — There, in my holy mountain, in Zion, when you are restored to your own land; and more especially in the Christian Church, when, in consequence of your conversion, you enter into it, and enjoy the privileges of it, ye shall remember and be humbled on account of your doings, whereby you have been defiled. When you find how gracious I am to you, notwithstanding your long-continued disobedience and repeated rebellions, you will be overcome with my kindness, and blush to think of your refractory conduct toward so good a God. And ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight — See notes on Ezekiel 6:9, and 16:63. Thus the prophet fore-tels that the restoration of the Jews to their own land would be accompanied with a general repentance, and a deep remorse for their former mis-doings. And we find, from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, that this was in fact the case with multitudes of them: they fasted and made public confessions of their sins upon their returning to Judea, and entered into a general and solemn engagement to be obedient to God, and observe his laws for the future. And, undoubtedly, this humiliation, godly sorrow, and true repentance, will more especially take place, and be more abundantly manifested in and among that people, when they shall be converted to Christianity in the latter days.

Verses 43, 44. And there shall ye remember your ways — There, in my holy mountain, in Zion, when you are restored to your own land; and more especially in the Christian Church, when, in consequence of your conversion, you enter into it, and enjoy the privileges of it, ye shall remember and be humbled on account of your doings, whereby you have been defiled. When you find how gracious I am to you, notwithstanding your long-continued disobedience and repeated rebellions, you will be overcome with my kindness, and blush to think of your refractory conduct toward so good a God. And ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight — See notes on Ezekiel 6:9, and 16:63. Thus the prophet fore-tels that the restoration of the Jews to their own land would be accompanied with a general repentance, and a deep remorse for their former mis-doings. And we find, from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, that this was in fact the case with multitudes of them: they fasted and made public confessions of their sins upon their returning to Judea, and entered into a general and solemn engagement to be obedient to God, and observe his laws for the future. And, undoubtedly, this humiliation, godly sorrow, and true repentance, will more especially take place, and be more abundantly manifested in and among that people, when they shall be converted to Christianity in the latter days.

44. Ye shall know that I am the Lord — When the Hebrews are able to look back and see that every calamity was for their good they will loathe themselves for their sins (verse 43) and know that their God is indeed Jehovah, “long-suffering, and abundant in kindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18).

BY VIVID SYMBOL AND WITH STRONG CRIES EZEKIEL PROPHESIES THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM WITH FIRE AND SWORD, 20:45-49; 21:1-27. The last five verses of chap. 20 should be regarded as belonging to the opening of chap. 21. A conflagration is prophesied in the forest of the “south field” (that is, Palestine, 20:45-48). This is the Lord’s chastisement. The destruction shall be great and men shall know that it is the Lord’s sword which is made bare (Ezekiel 21:l-5). The prophet heaves bitter sighs and the hearts of all men melt before the sight of this drawn sword of the Lord (Ezekiel 21:6-17) which is held in the hand of the king of Babylon (verses 18-27).

Verses 45-49. Moreover, the word of the Lord, &c. — Here we have a new prophecy, with which Houbigant, following many learned commentators, begins the xxist chapter, and that very properly; for what is contained in that chapter is only an explanation of what is contained in the remainder of this. Son of man, set thy face toward the south — The prophets were generally commanded to turn themselves toward the places concerning which they were going to prophesy; and Ezekiel being now in Chaldea, near the river of Chebar, Judea lay to the south of him. And drop thy word, &c. — That is, prophesy. The gift of prophecy seems to be here compared to rain, or dew, distilling from heaven upon the earth, and refreshing and rendering it fruitful: see Deuteronomy 32:2. Such is the benefit of sound doctrine wherever it is received. And prophesy against the forest of the south field — By this is meant Jerusalem, the word forest being taken metaphorically for a city; either because its stately buildings resembled tall cedars standing in their several ranks, or, as Archbishop Secker supposes, from the number of its inhabitants. And say, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee — By fire here is meant, not only the burning of literal fire, but every thing which destroys or consumes, as in Ezekiel 19:12. Indeed, fire is often taken, in a general sense, for God’s severe judgments, which, it is here said, shall devour both the green tree and the dry, that is, the righteous as well as the wicked; the righteous being here, as elsewhere, compared to green and flourishing trees, and the wicked to dry and withered ones, such as are only fit for the fire. The flaming flame shall not be quenched — The evils I will send upon them shall not cease, till what I will has been accomplished. And all faces from the south to the north shall be burned — The destruction shall reach from one end of the land to the other: see Ezekiel 21:44. Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? — They make this an argument for disregarding what I say, that I use so many similitudes and metaphorical expressions, that they cannot understand my meaning. To take away all ground for this objection, God commands him, in the next chapter, to speak the same thing in plain words.

V. 46. The south-Look toward Jerusalem, and the land of Canaan. Drop thy word-Let thy word distil, begin with softer words, before thou shower down with the vehemency of a storm. The forest-Jerusalem, which was become like a forest.

Verse 46. Set thy face toward the south] Towards Judea, which lay south from Babylon, or Mesopotamia, where the prophet then dwelt. The forest of the south field] The city of Jerusalem, as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees.

Verses 45-49. Moreover, the word of the Lord, &c. — Here we have a new prophecy, with which Houbigant, following many learned commentators, begins the xxist chapter, and that very properly; for what is contained in that chapter is only an explanation of what is contained in the remainder of this. Son of man, set thy face toward the south — The prophets were generally commanded to turn themselves toward the places concerning which they were going to prophesy; and Ezekiel being now in Chaldea, near the river of Chebar, Judea lay to the south of him. And drop thy word, &c. — That is, prophesy. The gift of prophecy seems to be here compared to rain, or dew, distilling from heaven upon the earth, and refreshing and rendering it fruitful: see Deuteronomy 32:2. Such is the benefit of sound doctrine wherever it is received. And prophesy against the forest of the south field — By this is meant Jerusalem, the word forest being taken metaphorically for a city; either because its stately buildings resembled tall cedars standing in their several ranks, or, as Archbishop Secker supposes, from the number of its inhabitants. And say, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee — By fire here is meant, not only the burning of literal fire, but every thing which destroys or consumes, as in Ezekiel 19:12. Indeed, fire is often taken, in a general sense, for God’s severe judgments, which, it is here said, shall devour both the green tree and the dry, that is, the righteous as well as the wicked; the righteous being here, as elsewhere, compared to green and flourishing trees, and the wicked to dry and withered ones, such as are only fit for the fire. The flaming flame shall not be quenched — The evils I will send upon them shall not cease, till what I will has been accomplished. And all faces from the south to the north shall be burned — The destruction shall reach from one end of the land to the other: see Ezekiel 21:44. Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? — They make this an argument for disregarding what I say, that I use so many similitudes and metaphorical expressions, that they cannot understand my meaning. To take away all ground for this objection, God commands him, in the next chapter, to speak the same thing in plain words.

46. The south — Or, the south country. The land of Israel.

V. 47. Every green tree-All that flourish, and all that are poor. All faces-All persons and orders of men, from one end of the land to the other.

Verse 47. I will kindle a fire] I will send war, “and it shall devour every green tree,” the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, the lowest and meanest also.

The flaming flame shall not be quenched] The fierce ravages of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans shall not be stopped till the whole land is ruined.

All faces from the south to the north shalt be burned] From the one end of the land to the other there shall be nothing but fear, dismay, terror, and confusion, occasioned by the wide-wasting violence of the Chaldeans. Judea lay in length from north to south.

Verses 45-49. Moreover, the word of the Lord, &c. — Here we have a new prophecy, with which Houbigant, following many learned commentators, begins the xxist chapter, and that very properly; for what is contained in that chapter is only an explanation of what is contained in the remainder of this. Son of man, set thy face toward the south — The prophets were generally commanded to turn themselves toward the places concerning which they were going to prophesy; and Ezekiel being now in Chaldea, near the river of Chebar, Judea lay to the south of him. And drop thy word, &c. — That is, prophesy. The gift of prophecy seems to be here compared to rain, or dew, distilling from heaven upon the earth, and refreshing and rendering it fruitful: see Deuteronomy 32:2. Such is the benefit of sound doctrine wherever it is received. And prophesy against the forest of the south field — By this is meant Jerusalem, the word forest being taken metaphorically for a city; either because its stately buildings resembled tall cedars standing in their several ranks, or, as Archbishop Secker supposes, from the number of its inhabitants. And say, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee — By fire here is meant, not only the burning of literal fire, but every thing which destroys or consumes, as in Ezekiel 19:12. Indeed, fire is often taken, in a general sense, for God’s severe judgments, which, it is here said, shall devour both the green tree and the dry, that is, the righteous as well as the wicked; the righteous being here, as elsewhere, compared to green and flourishing trees, and the wicked to dry and withered ones, such as are only fit for the fire. The flaming flame shall not be quenched — The evils I will send upon them shall not cease, till what I will has been accomplished. And all faces from the south to the north shall be burned — The destruction shall reach from one end of the land to the other: see Ezekiel 21:44. Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? — They make this an argument for disregarding what I say, that I use so many similitudes and metaphorical expressions, that they cannot understand my meaning. To take away all ground for this objection, God commands him, in the next chapter, to speak the same thing in plain words.

47. All faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein — The heat of the flames that devour Israel is so great that all the surrounding nations are scorched by them. (See chaps. 25-32.)

Verse 48. All flesh] All the people shall see that this war is a judgment of the Lord.

It shall not be quenched.] Till the whole land shall be utterly ruined.

Verses 45-49. Moreover, the word of the Lord, &c. — Here we have a new prophecy, with which Houbigant, following many learned commentators, begins the xxist chapter, and that very properly; for what is contained in that chapter is only an explanation of what is contained in the remainder of this. Son of man, set thy face toward the south — The prophets were generally commanded to turn themselves toward the places concerning which they were going to prophesy; and Ezekiel being now in Chaldea, near the river of Chebar, Judea lay to the south of him. And drop thy word, &c. — That is, prophesy. The gift of prophecy seems to be here compared to rain, or dew, distilling from heaven upon the earth, and refreshing and rendering it fruitful: see Deuteronomy 32:2. Such is the benefit of sound doctrine wherever it is received. And prophesy against the forest of the south field — By this is meant Jerusalem, the word forest being taken metaphorically for a city; either because its stately buildings resembled tall cedars standing in their several ranks, or, as Archbishop Secker supposes, from the number of its inhabitants. And say, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee — By fire here is meant, not only the burning of literal fire, but every thing which destroys or consumes, as in Ezekiel 19:12. Indeed, fire is often taken, in a general sense, for God’s severe judgments, which, it is here said, shall devour both the green tree and the dry, that is, the righteous as well as the wicked; the righteous being here, as elsewhere, compared to green and flourishing trees, and the wicked to dry and withered ones, such as are only fit for the fire. The flaming flame shall not be quenched — The evils I will send upon them shall not cease, till what I will has been accomplished. And all faces from the south to the north shall be burned — The destruction shall reach from one end of the land to the other: see Ezekiel 21:44. Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? — They make this an argument for disregarding what I say, that I use so many similitudes and metaphorical expressions, that they cannot understand my meaning. To take away all ground for this objection, God commands him, in the next chapter, to speak the same thing in plain words.

48. I the Lord have kindled it — These internal wars are controlled and directed and overruled by the King of the world.

V. 49. Parables-So absolutely, that we cannot understand him.

Verse 49. Ah Lord God] O my God, consider my situation; who will believe what I shall say? They put the evil day far from them. Doth he not speak parables?] הוא משלים lvmm הלא halo

memashshel meshalim hu, “Is not he a maker of parables?” Is it not his custom to deal in enigmas? His figures are not to be understood; we should not trouble ourselves with them. We are not obliged to fathom his meaning; and perhaps after all it does not refer to us, or will not be accomplished in our time, if it even respect the land. Thus they turned aside what might have done them good, and rejected the counsel of God against themselves.

By dividing the word with our neighbour we often lose the benefit both of threatenings and promises. They voluntarily shut their own eyes; and then God, in judgment, sealed them up in darkness.

EZEKIEL

Verses 45-49. Moreover, the word of the Lord, &c. — Here we have a new prophecy, with which Houbigant, following many learned commentators, begins the xxist chapter, and that very properly; for what is contained in that chapter is only an explanation of what is contained in the remainder of this. Son of man, set thy face toward the south — The prophets were generally commanded to turn themselves toward the places concerning which they were going to prophesy; and Ezekiel being now in Chaldea, near the river of Chebar, Judea lay to the south of him. And drop thy word, &c. — That is, prophesy. The gift of prophecy seems to be here compared to rain, or dew, distilling from heaven upon the earth, and refreshing and rendering it fruitful: see Deuteronomy 32:2. Such is the benefit of sound doctrine wherever it is received. And prophesy against the forest of the south field — By this is meant Jerusalem, the word forest being taken metaphorically for a city; either because its stately buildings resembled tall cedars standing in their several ranks, or, as Archbishop Secker supposes, from the number of its inhabitants. And say, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee — By fire here is meant, not only the burning of literal fire, but every thing which destroys or consumes, as in Ezekiel 19:12. Indeed, fire is often taken, in a general sense, for God’s severe judgments, which, it is here said, shall devour both the green tree and the dry, that is, the righteous as well as the wicked; the righteous being here, as elsewhere, compared to green and flourishing trees, and the wicked to dry and withered ones, such as are only fit for the fire. The flaming flame shall not be quenched — The evils I will send upon them shall not cease, till what I will has been accomplished. And all faces from the south to the north shall be burned — The destruction shall reach from one end of the land to the other: see Ezekiel 21:44. Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? — They make this an argument for disregarding what I say, that I use so many similitudes and metaphorical expressions, that they cannot understand my meaning. To take away all ground for this objection, God commands him, in the next chapter, to speak the same thing in plain words.

49. Doth he not speak parables — Declaim poems (Kautzsch). The interest of the people has been excited, but they profess not to be able to understand the meaning of this story of the forest fire without explanation. “Do these words have any meaning? Is the prophet not drawing largely upon his imagination?” There may be a touch of scorn in their question. Ezekiel proceeds immediately to explain his meaning by giving another vivid picture.