Ezekiel 11
1 “Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the
east gate
of the LORD’s house, which looketh
eastward: and behold at the
door of the gate five
and twenty men; among whom I saw
Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes
of the people. 2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men
that devise mischief,
and give wicked counsel in this city:”
Moreover the
Spirit lifted me up, etc. It is noticeable that the
position to which Ezekiel was thus transported in his vision from
his place
in
the inner court (ch. 8:14), was identical with that
which he had
just seen occupied by the cherub chariot before its departure (ch.10:19).
What he is about to see will throw light on the
significance of their
departure. The gate is probably, here as there, that of the court of
the
temple. Five
and twenty men. The number at first reminds us of the
worshippers of the sun, in ch. 8:16; but
that, as we saw, was
probably a company of priests. On the other hand, the two who are
named
are
styled princes of the people, which
suggests a lay rather than a priestly
status, and they are seen in a different locality. Conjectures as
to the
significance of the number vary.
twenty-four thousand men (I
Chronicles 27:1-15).
council, with their president.
Possibly, after all, the number was used more or less
vaguely — a “round”
number, as we say. It is probably safe, however, to think
of them as
representing the lay element of authority. (Perhaps the
general citizenry’s
role in
5:31 – CY – 2014).
Nothing is known further as to the persons named.
Jaazaniah is distinguished by his parentage from his namesake of ch. 8:11 and
Jeremiah 35:3. Both were probably familiar to those for
whom Ezekiel
wrote, as leaders of the party that was “always devising mischief,” in
opposition, i.e., to Jeremiah and the true prophets.
Possibly the meanings
of the names Jaazaniah (equivalent to “God hearkens”) the son
of Azur
(equivalent to “The Helper”), Pelatiah (equivalent to
“God rescues”) the
son of Benaiah (equivalent
to “God builds”), are chosen as with a grim
irony. The name of Azur meets us
in Jeremiah 28:1 as that of the father
of the false prophet Hananiah. The death of Pelatiah was probably
an
historical event to which the prophet pointed as a
warning to those who,
either at
Evil
Counselors (v. 2)
Ezekiel was a true patriot; and it was accordingly to him
matter of great
distress that his countrymen were misled by ungodly and
self-seeking
counsellors and princes. By whatever name they are called, and to
whatever gifts
or acquirements they owe their influence, there will
always, in every state and in every
Church, be men who lead, who guide the thoughts and control
and inspire the actions
of their fellows and inferiors. It was
the prophet’s sorrow to see posts of power at
them in their rebellion against God. His experience and reflections lead us
to think of great men who are at the same time counsellors of evil in the
community.
WHEN THEY SEEK TO DIRECT PUBLIC POLICY SO AS TO
SECURE PERSONAL AND PRIVATE ENDS. That this is often done
no student of political
philosophy and history, no observer of contemporary
politics in any nation, can
doubt. Men profess zeal for the public good, and
upon such profession are
exalted, by the favor of a prince or of the public,
to positions of eminence and
power. No sooner are they securely in office
than they make
use of their newly acquired power to gain some ends dear
to their own
interests, passions, or prejudices.
Some by oppression or
peculation amass great wealth;
some find means to revenge themselves
upon their enemies and rivals;
some seek to get into their own hands the
reins of supreme power; some
regard office as the opportunity for
advancing their family or their
friends to posts of consideration and
emolument. In public such
persons speak of patriotism, of popular rights,
of disinterested devotion to the
public good. But in reality they are always
scheming to secure
some advantage to themselves.
Politicians are sometimes in the
pay of their country’s enemies; they are
sometimes the instruments of a
despot who seeks to rob the people of their
rights, and to establish a
tyranny; they are sometimes indifferent to their
fellow countrymen’s sufferings, if only they themselves may profit by their
nation’s fall. Self is their
rule, their impulse, their one
consideration. What
they do they do not as unto the
Lord, but unto men.
AND RUIN. The
multitude ever follows the guidance of the few. The
uninstructed and ill-informed
are at the mercy of their superiors. Old
Testament history
abounds with instances of misleading by unprincipled
rulers. It is mentioned to the condemnation of one and another of
the kings
that they “caused
is true of every people; at some
epoch or other the pride, the vanity, the
ambition, the meanness, or the
selfish sloth of those in authority has led the
nations into some course of infatuated
folly, and the people have suffered
for the offences of
their leaders.
WICKED COUNSEL LEAD THE PEOPLE ASTRAY. The time must
come when the secret purposes of
wicked rulers will be BROUGHT TO
LIGHT AND EXPOSED (Luke 12:2-3). Some are hurled by
the indignation
of the people from the lofty
position to which they have been allowed to climb.
Some retain their position
whilst they live, but their memory is accursed. But
of all we are assured upon the highest
authority that they shall be brought
into judgment, and
that their deeds shall not be unpunished.
3 “Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city
is the caldron, and
we be the
flesh.” It is not near, etc.
The words take their place among the
popular, half-proverbial sayings of which we have other
examples in ch. 8:12; 9:9;
and 18:2. As in most proverbs of this kind, the thought is
condensed to the very
verge of obscurity, and the words have received very different
interpretations.
the true prophets spoke) is
not near.” Let us build houses,
not, as Jeremiah
bids, in the land of exile, but
here in
(Jeremiah 29:5). Are we threatened with the imagery of the ‘seething pot’
(Jeremiah 1:13)? Let us remember
that the caldron protects the meat in
it from the fire. The walls of
the city will protect us from the army of the
Chaldeans.” The temper which clothed itself in this language was
that of
the self-confident boastful
security of Ibid. ch.28:3; and the death of
Hananiah, the son of Azur, in that
history presents a parallel to that of
Pelatiah in this.
preferable: The time is not
near for building houses; probably, as before,
with a reference to Jeremiah’s
advice. “We,” they seem to say, “are not
come to that point yet. We will
trust, as in the previous explanation, in our
interpretation of the
caldron.”
to interpret the words as the defiant utterance of despair: “It is no time
for building houses, here or
elsewhere. We are doomed. We are destined
(I borrow the nearest analogue
of modern proverbial
speech) ‘to stew in
our own juice.’ Well, let us
meet it as we best may.”
I find what suggests this view:
been received as a message of
safety (compare ch. 24:3, 6); and
(ch.18:2; 37:11). Probably
there were, as in other like crises in the
history of nations (say, e.g.,
in those of the Franco-German War) rapid
alternations between the two
moods of boastful security and defiant despair
— the galgenhumor,
the courage of the gallows, as Smend calls it;
and the
same words might be uttered now
in this temper, and now in that. In either
case, there was the root element
of the absence of repentance and
submission.
The False Confidence of Unbelief (v. 3)
Jeremiah told the captives to settle in the land of exile
and build houses
there, because the Captivity was to last for generations
(Jeremiah 29:5).
But the frivolous people have rejected that wise counsel,
and they declare
that such provision for exile is not necessary. “It
is not time to build these
houses the prophet spoke of,” they say; “we will stay in the city, like the
flesh in the cauldron.”
expected, just as we see, on the
other hand, that a deep sense of guilt
brings with it a
fear of judgment to come. When we feel
and own our sin,
we must admit that we deserve
punishment, and we must see that the
ground of assurance is cut from
beneath our feet. What right have we to
believe that God will shield us
from harm, while we are bidding defiance to
his Law? But while a soul is impenitent the ill desert and
threatening doom
are not perceived. It does not
own that it should be punished. It defends
itself and shelters itself
behind innumerable excuses. Moreover, the moral
sense is now
blunt, and the faculty of spiritual insight
blind. The messenger
of God, too, is regarded as an
enemy, and therefore little attention is given
to his word. Thus arises a
meretricious faith, the opposite of
true faith,
THE CONFIDENCE OF
UNBELIEF!
PROSPECT OF CALAMITY.
Ø
It postpones. Possibly the evil day may lie in the future. This much is
tacitly admitted, But it is so far away that we need not give any
consideration to it. While the prophet declares
that it is at the door, the
reckless unbeliever relegates
it to a region of dim futurity beyond the
horizon of practical
considerations.
Ø
It minimizes.
Even if it is admitted that the dreadful
day is near, the
evil of it is made little
of. “There
is no need to build houses,” these
“
quickly pass. Thus men make
the least of the prospect of future
punishment. False
confidence first postpones the consideration of it,
and then softens its
terrors. To the impenitent sinner hell is first a far
off possibility; then,
though it is a, nearer future, it is not thought to
be so unendurable as
the preachers declare.
were simply deceiving
themselves. Their very language should have
revealed their folly to them.
They described the city as a cauldron in which
they were as the flesh. Their
only application of this metaphor was to
represent themselves as well
inside the city, and therefore as not needing to
build other houses. But the
prophet did not have to go far afield to find
another very obvious application
of the same metaphor. The cauldron is to
be set on a fire, and the flesh
is only placed in it to be seethed. The
cauldron, therefore, symbolizes a
very dreadful fate (v. 7). The danger
is
not the less because we close
our eyes to it. Meanwhile a false confidence
hinders the impenitent from
fleeing from the impending calamity and
seeking a place of refuge. Light views of sin and judgment to come
LULL THE
CARELESS INTO A FATAL SLEEP!
Judgment Deferred (v. 3)
The evil counselors of
the message which the Lord’s prophets were commissioned to
communicate.
Thus it came to pass that the inhabitants of the city were
encouraged to neglect
the obvious duties of repentance and supplication; and, when
the time of
judgment came, WERE
FOUND UNPREPARED! The means
by which the devisers of mischief brought about this result
are described in
this passage. They induced the citizens to believe that, if
the threatened
judgment were ever to come, it would not be yet, not
probably in their
time; and encouraged the
citizens to build houses, and to live as if no
catastrophe were about to befall them. If the ruin of
appointed, at all events that ruin was “not near.”
GOD’S AUTHORIZED MINISTERS.
Ø
It is often the
bounden duty of faithful messengers of God to foretell
the approach of
chastisement and judgment. A painful duty it always is;
and it is to be feared that
on this account many shrink from discharging
it. Even the tender and gracious Jesus denounced
the sins of the
self-righteous and
hypocritical, and warned such that condemnation
awaited them. No one can
carry out the office of a minister of
righteousness who does not
remind the unbelieving and impenitent
that “the wages of sin is death.”
Ø
It is observable that
such admonitions are often treated with neglect
and contempt. It has been
thus from the time of Noah, whose warnings
were unheeded and ridiculed
by his contemporaries. The admonitions
of Christ Himself in some
instances only embittered the hostility of those
whom He reproached. Every
servant of God has had occasion to exclaim,
“Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1)
GOD’S MESSAGE.
Ø
Many who hear the
warnings and threats addressed to them give no
credit to what they hear, and do
not expect the predictions to be fulfilled.
They have more
confidence in their own judgment and in their own
good fortune than in the Word of
the Lord. They do not wish to believe,
and they will not believe.
Ø
Many who do not
absolutely disbelieve and reject the message,
nevertheless persuade themselves
that its fulfillment will be indefinitely
deferred, and indeed is
altogether uncertain. Such seems to have been
the case with the evil
counselors, whose guidance was accepted in
“It is not near!” It is with the same
excuse that the Word of God is
so constantly encountered in our
own days; and there are those who
may not make this excuse in
words, who yet cherish it in their hearts
and act upon it
in their conduct. “Because sentence against an evil
work is not
executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men
is fully set in
them to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11)
GOD’S MESSAGE. What
shall be said of the attitude of those whose one
reply is this: “It
is not near”?
Ø
They must be reminded
that time, after all, is of comparatively little
importance. The main question
for us is this — Is God angry with the
wicked? “God is angry with the wicked
every day” (Psalm 7:11).
Is His wrath to be revealed
against the ungodly? “For the wrath
of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness”
(Romans 1:18). If it is so, then how can we attach great
importance
to the question — Will His wrath be made
manifest this year or next
year; now or at some
future time?
Ø
They must be reminded
that the judgment foretold may be actually
nearer than is supposed or
believed. It was so in the case of
the time of Ezekiel. It has
often been so. Men have been eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, when sudden destruction
has come upon them. (Matthew 24:38-39; Romans 13:11-14)
Ø
They must be reminded
that, near or far, the judgment of the Supreme
Ruler is inevitable. “Who may abide the day of His coming? and who
shall stand when He appeareth?” (Malachi 3:2)
4 “Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me,
Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of
for I know the
things that come into your mind, every one of them.”
You cannot hide
anything from Him (compare Job
34:21-22; Psalm 139:1-6;
Hebrews 4:13). And He who knows us WILL
ALSO JUDGE US!
The rememdy is “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin.”
(I John 1:7)
purposes, motives. He never
misunderstands you. If, like Job, you are
misjudged by man, you may say
with him, “But he knoweth the way that I
take.” (Job 23:10). Like Hagar, you can say with her, “Thou
God seest me”
(Genesis 16:13). Therefore be
encouraged
6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have
filled the
streets thereof
with the slain.” The prophet still, we must remember, in his
vision, is bidden to
do his work as a true prophet, and to rebuke the defiant speech
which he had
heard. As in ch. 2:2, the Spirit of Jehovah comes upon him,
and throws him into the prophetic ecstasy. It is noticeable
that here, as in
(Ibid. v.3, his message is not to
as ever, was one of the notes of a true prophet, that he
shared, as was
needed for his work, in the knowledge of Him from whom no
secrets are
hid (John 2:24-25; Matthew 9:4; I Corinthians 14:25). Thoughts, as well as
words, were laid bare before Him, as they were to his Lord
(Hebrews 4:12-13).
God’s Knowledge of Man’s Thought (v. 5)
or remote, or secretive as to
hide from Him. We know the exterior life; God
knows the life
within —
every thought, and wish, and dream, and fancy.
We know in part and with many
obscurities, having to piece together
scattered hints, and possibly
falling into great blunders in our estimation of
our neighbors. God knows completely and without possibility of error,
searching into
the deep secrets of the heart, not
setting down aught in
malice, but also not blinded to
sad truths by the partiality of an imperfect
love.
Ø
God knows our ideas. He sees when we are
in error, observes the
crooked course of our
ill-trained thinking, and notes the narrowness
of our notions. He also knows
the true thought which is not
understood by our fellow men.
Ø
He knows our desires. If He does not grant them, it is not because He is
ignorant of them. Before a
prayer is out of our lips the wish of it has
reached the mind of God. When we
cannot find words to express the
longing of our souls, those
vague, dumb desires are exactly measured
and fully comprehended by God
(Romans 8:26-27). God knows our
evil desires, the
wicked wishes that have not yet found vent in wicked
deeds.
Ø
He knows our sorrows. Though the heart only
knoweth its own
bitterness among men, the
sympathetic knowledge of God has gauged
it to the bottom. No one can say,
“My grief is quite beyond
comprehension.” No one can be utterly misunderstood.
Misjudged
by man, the martyr is known to
God.
Ø
God knows our sin. There is no secret
place where a deed of wrong
can be done without the eye
of God seeing it. Abel is murdered in
the field, but still his
blood cries to God for vengeance.
(Genesis
4:10)
Ø
Hypocrisy is a mistake. It only hides our
shame from the less important
spectators, while the all-seeing
eye of God regards it as an addition to
the guilt which lurks beneath.
Ø
Postponement of punishment is no guarantee for escape. The criminal
who is not caught red-handed
hopes that he will now elude the vigilance
of the ministers of justice, and
the longer he remains undetected the
more confident does he grow in
the assurance that he will never be
caught, until long years of
immunity almost beget a feeling of
innocence. But if God knows
all, there is no escape from His anger
behind the obscuring growth of
years.
Ø
God’s long suffering
is manifest. The heathen might say,
“My God
does not strike me, because
He has not discovered my offence.”
But when the omniscience of
God is admitted, His forbearance is
seen to be a wonder of
patience and love. He knows all, and
yet He
is still ready to
pardon, still waiting to be gracious,
nay, even still
heaping upon His
sinful children many favors!
Ø
There is hope of salvation. If our escape lay
only in our concealment
of guilt, there would
always be a danger of ruin through discovery.
The criminal who has no
better hope than this is standing on thin ice.
But now we see
that God knows
the worst of us, and yet offers
pardon and
reconciliation through THE GIFT OF HIS SON,
we have the
greatest encouragement TO ACCEPT HIS GRACE!
Moreover, since He knows our troubles, hopes, fears,
aspirations,
and difficulties, He can
send the exact help we need.
Divine Omniscience (v. 5)
Among the many elements of that superiority which is
distinctive of
monotheism over polytheism must be noted the perfect
knowledge which
the one God possesses of all the creatures whom He has
made. Men who
believe in the “gods many” of the heathen have not, and
cannot have, that
constant sense of the Divine omniscience which must
exercise so signal an
influence for good over the worshipper of the Supreme.
Deity infinite perfection; and
this is not consistent with the limitation of His
knowledge. It is absurd to suppose
that He who has made the mind of man
has lost the power of
recognizing the thoughts and intents of the heart
which He fashioned by His power
and wisdom. There is no part of His
universe in which
God is not present. Much more evidence
is it that the
Father of the spirits of all
flesh is in possession of every secret of the
intellectual and spiritual
nature of man.
inhabitants of
counselors in the city, lost
sight of this great truth. God was not in all their
thoughts (Psalm 10:4). It
may not have occurred to them, as they pursued
their selfish plans and lived
their irreligious life, that every purpose and hope
was known to the Divine Lord and
Judge. “All things are naked and opened
to the eyes of Him with whom we haw to
do.” (Hebrews 4:13)
EVIL DOERS WHO ARE REMINDED OF IT. God knows the wicked
things that come into men’s
minds and are encouraged to abide there —
the injustice, the covetousness,
the falsehood, the impurity, the cruelty, the
hatred, the malevolence, which
are distinctive of those who depart from
God. Such qualities, even before
they find expression in word and act, are
repugnant to the nature of the
just and holy God. And He is not simply an
observer; He is a Judge. He
disapproves and condemns thoughts,
sentiments, and purposes which
are in opposition to His own laws, to His
own character. He has revealed
His intention to bring men into judgment
for all their conduct, and for
every secret thing, good or bad (Ecclesiastes
12:14). From this reckoning with
the Judge of all there is no escape. The
prospect may well strike the
impenitent sinner with dismay.
EXERCISE OVER THOSE WHO ARE HESITATING WHETHER OR
NOT TO YIELD TO TEMPTATION. In order to resist temptation to sin,
it is not enough to guard our
actions, to order aright our circumstances and
associations. It is in the mind
that the real battle must be fought. And upon
this battlefield, what auxiliary
is so potent and effectual as the remembrance
of the Lord’s
omniscience? He is with us to assist
us in the regulation of
our thoughts and desires (“There
hath no temptation taken you but such
as is common to
man: but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be
tempted above that
ye are able; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.” - I Corinthians 11:13);
for He knows alike the force of
temptation, and the sincerity of our
endeavor to check and to
overcome it.
DOCTRINE. The same
truth is a joy and consolation to the Christian,
which the ungodly man finds an occasion
of distress and dread. Why is
this? It is because God has in Christ made Himself known to his heart as his
Friend and
Father. Thus openness and confidence and holy intimacy prevail
between the Christian and his
God. The faithful servant of God knows his
infirmities and his faults, and
he is grateful to be assured that those are
known to his Father in heaven,
who will deal leniently and compassionately
with them, and will assist him
in overcoming them. God knows the
aspirations and endeavors of his
own children (“For He knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are dust.” -
Psalm 103:14), is interested in every
effort to attain to a fuller
knowledge of Himself, and a more constant and
practical subjection to His
will. In Psalm 139, the feelings of the good man,
conscious of the Divine
omniscience, find a full and most poetical and
fervent expression, There is
nothing which such a man would wish to hide
from such a Friend.
7 “Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid
in the midst of
it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but
I will bring you
forth out of the midst of it. 8 Ye have feared the
sword;
and I will bring
a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.” They
are the flesh, etc.
The prophet is led to retort their derisive or defiant words. Not they, but the
carcasses of their victims, were as the “flesh” in the “caldron.” For themselves,
there was another fate in reserve. Neither to be protected by the caldron nor to
meet their doom in it,
but to be brought out of it. Death, by famine, sword, or
pestilence (ch. 5:12), might be the doom of some, but for others,
perhaps
specially for those whom the prophet addresses, there would
be captivity
first, and death from the sword which they feared,
afterwards.
9 “And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and
deliver you into
the hands of
strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border
of
and ye shall know
that I am the LORD. 11 This city shall not be
your
caldron, neither
shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge
you in the border
of
for ye have not
walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments,
but have done
after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.”
The strangers are, of course, the Chaldean
invaders, and the
prediction finds its fulfillment in the massacre of the princes of
Ritdah (Jeremiah 52:9-10), which was in Hamath,
the northern border
of
their defiant speech as to the “caldron” and “the flesh”
would be of no
avail. Thus they should know
that the prophet had spoken in the name of
Jehovah, and
that their punishment by the heathen was the
righteous
retribution for their having walked
in the ways of the heathen.
13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of
Benaiah died. Then fell
I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice,
and said, Ah Lord
GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of
Pelatiah the son of Benaiah. We must remember that this a as part of the vision,
but it may be assumed, in the nature of the case, that it
represented what then or
afterwards was a fact in history. Had Pelatiah
died suddenly during a council
meeting? Compare the death of Hananiah
in Jeremiah 28:17. As it was, even
in the vision, the death so startled and horrified the
prophet, that he burst out
again into a prayer like that of ch.
9:8. Was the “residue,” the “remnant” of
The
Presumptuous Security of Sinners Exhibited and Condemned (vs. 1-13)
“Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the
east gate of the
Lord’s house,”
EXHIBITED. (vs.
1-3.) The twenty-five men here mentioned are not the
same as those mentioned in
ch.8:16; for already they have been
slain in vision. In both places
the number is a round one. And in this place
it is clear that they were
leaders of the people; for they gave counsel
unto
them, and two princes of the
people were in the midst of them. Their
conduct shows to us:
Ø Sinners boasting
their security in defiance of the declarations of the
Lord by His prophets. Some of the exiles in
forward to a speedy return to
their own land. Jeremiah the prophet sent
to them a letter to correct this
error, saying, “Build ye houses, and
dwell in them;” and assuring them that not until they had accomplished
seventy years of exile
would they be permitted to return to the land of
their fathers (Jeremiah
29:1-14). In the same letter he threatened those
that were left at
pestilence” (Ibid. ch. 14:12). And these
five and twenty men, in
mockery of the words of the
prophet, said, “It is not near: let us
build houses.” They encouraged
themselves and others in the opinion
that, however it might be with
the captives in
enough in
houses. Moreover, Jeremiah had seen in vision a
seething pot, or
cauldron, with its face toward the
north, which symbolized the coming
of the kingdoms of the
north against
Prophecy these twenty-five men
said, “This is the cauldron, and we are
the flesh” (v.
3). As the flesh within the cauldron is
safe from the
surrounding fire, so they
regarded themselves as safe within their city
wails, whatever forces may rage
outside them. They deemed their position
a secure one, and would trust to
their city walls and defensive
arrangements, rather than heed
the words of the Prophets Jeremiah and
Ezekiel. In most ages there have
been presumptuous and profane scoffers
at the threatenings
of Divine judgments (compare II Peter 3:3-4). And
in our own age there
are many who persist in sin, notwithstanding the
warnings
addressed to them in the sacred Scriptures. And if their own
conscience also remonstrates
with and warns them, they make light of
its admonitions. They seem to think
that they can sin on with impunity,
that somehow they will escape
the natural consequences
of their
trangressions (compare Jeremiah 5:12).
Ø Sinners in
influential positions forming wicked plans and proffering
wicked counsel, and so misleading others. “These are the men that
devise mischief, and
give wicked counsel in this city.” They
entered into
political intrigues, and formed plans of resistance against the enemy
in
direct opposition to the will of God expressed by Jeremiah
(Jeremiah
21:8-10; 27:8-18; 38:17-23). By following this course, these five and
twenty men had
brought calamity and slaughter upon many whom they
had misled (v.6). Sin, mischievous in any one, is especially mischievous
in those who, by reason of their position and influence, lead
others astray.
When leaders in society by evil and perilous examples, or
politicians or
statesmen by unwise or unrighteous speeches or measures, or
authors by
injurious books, mislead or corrupt others, it is unspeakably pernicious.
Great is the responsibility attached to great influence, and great is
the
guilt when that influence is exerted for evil. (“To whom much is
given, MUCH IS
REQUIRED!” (Luke 12:48)
CONDEMNED. (vs. 4-13.)
Notice:
Ø
The Divine knowledge of their evil designs. “Thus saith the Lord; Thus
have ye said, O house of
mind, every one of them.” To the Omniscient all their thoughts and
purposes were fully known
(compare Deuteronomy 31:21; Psalm 139:1-6;
John 2:24-25; Acts 1:24)
Ø
The disastrous consequences of their evil designs. “Ye have multiplied
your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets
thereof with the slain.”
At this time bloodshed and
murder were terribly prevalent in
and were amongst the chief
crimes mentioned by Ezekiel as calling for
the Divine judgment upon the
city and its guilty inhabitants (compare
ch.8:17; 9:9). And in addition, “the
slain” includes those who would
be killed by the Chaldeans, already slain from the standpoint taken up
in the discourse of God. And
they are said to be the slain of “the men
that devise
mischief,” because their deaths were a
consequence of their
evil counsels. Who can gauge the miseries THAT ARISE IN EVERY
AGE from THE EVIL
COUNSELS of”
o
incompetent,
o
unprincipled, or
o
wicked leaders of
men?
Ø
The fatal issue of their evil designs. (vs. 8-13.) Here are
several
points which call for brief
notice.
o
The utter failure of
their boasted security in the city.
“I will bring you
out of the midst thereof, and deliver
you into the hands
of strangers, and will execute
judgments among
you.”
o
Their slaughter in the
execution of the just judgment of God.
“Ye have feared the sword; and I
will bring a sword upon you,
saith the Lord God .... Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge
you in the border
of
with remarkable fidelity. After they had taken
Chaldean army made prisoners of many of the chief men;
they also captured King Zedekiah
as he was endeavoring to
escape by flight; and they
carried them “to Nebuchadnezzar
King of
northern border of
the princes and nobles of
Zedekiah, and bound him in
chains, to carry him to
(II Kings 25:18-21; Jeremiah
39:4-7; 52:8-11).
o
Their recognition of
Jehovah as the true and supreme God when
it was TOO LATE! “And ye shall know that I am the Lord”
(we
have noticed these words in ch. 6:7, 10). It is
lamentable
if we must gain the
knowledge of God BY OUR OWN
DESTRUCTION, if He in whom we live, and move, and are,
is first recognized
by THE STROKES WHICH BREAK OUR
OWN HEAD! The
knowledge has here, moreover, no moral
import. It is a
mere passive knowledge, forced upon the
ungodly, UNCONNECTED
WITH REPENTANCE!
o
The awful earnest of
the fulfillment of the words of the prophet.
“And it came to
pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son
of Benaiah died.” In
vision Ezekiel beheld the death of Pelatiah;
and it seems to us that he
died, in fact when this prophecy was
made known unto him. This
incident, whose awful character is
attested to us by the
impression upon Ezekiel, symbolizes
prophetically the certainty
in actual fact of the judgment of
death on the others also
(compare Jeremiah 28:17). And so the
issue of their
presumptuous security and wicked counsel was to
be THEIR VIOLENT AND IGNOMINIOUS
DEATH! We
]have in this an illustration of
the
issue of persistent
wickedness.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (ch. 18:20). “The wages
of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “Sin,
when it is full grown,
bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)
JUDGMENTS UPON THE WICKED, “Then fell I down
upon my face,
and cried with a
loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full
end of the
remnant of
awful pledge of the death of all
the others against whom he had
prophesied; and it so deeply
affected his spirit as to cause him to cry out
thus to God (we have noticed
these words on ch. 9:8). Sudden or
great judgments do put the
saints and servants of God upon humble,
earnest, and argumentative
prayer.
Ø
Humble, ‘Then fell! down upon my face;
Ø
Earnest, ‘and cried with a
loud voice;’
Ø
argumentative, ‘Ah, Lord God! wilt
thou make a full end
of the remnant of
Ø
Learn the peril of presumption in any course which
is
opposed to the will of God.
Ø
Note the great worth to a people of wise and
upright leaders.
Remonstrance
and Intercession (v. 13)
It is remarkable that whilst Ezekiel was commissioned to
censure and to
denounce the political action of the evil counselors of
no
pleasure in the awful practical expression which the righteous Judge saw
fit
to give to this censure and denunciation. It was the prophet’s business to
expose the wicked policy of Pelatiah;
but this man’s death was to Ezekiel a
severe shock and sorrow, calling forth from his sympathetic and
patriotic
heart the words in which he deprecated with all reverence and
submission
the
displeasure of the Lord.
·
THE OCCASION OF REMONSTRANCE AND INTERCESSION. In
this passage the occasion was twofold.
Ø
The pressure of
present affliction, in the death of one of the leaders and
rulers in the metropolis.
Ø
The apprehension of
future calamity and disaster such as the present
affliction foreboded. What had happened to one would, in all
likelihood,
happen to others. Similarly,
every well wisher to his country and his
Church is, in times of trial,
driven to the throne of grace for merciful
forbearance and interposition.
·
THE PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCE AND
INTERCESSION.
Ø
There is an
identification on the part of the suppliant of himself with his
people. After all, whatever might be the errors of any class of his
countrymen, Ezekiel was a Hebrew, and he could not but suffer in the
sufferings of his country; its misfortunes could not but afflict him;
its ruin
could not but humiliate and distress him.
Ø
There is an implicit
admission of the justice of the Divine action; the
prophet does not complain of what had been wrought by the hand of
Divine and
judicial authority. No affliction was
undeserved.
Ø
There is supplication
that ills apparently impending may be averted. As
Abraham pleaded for
but a remnant: of that remnant shall a full end be made? As if
he added,
in the language of the patriarch, “That be far from thee, Lord!”
·
APPLICATION. The Christian cannot fail to be reminded, by this
passage, of THE INTERCESSORY
OFFICE OF CHRIST! We have an
Advocate with the Father,
appointed and accepted by that Father’s love.
Here is our refuge and our hope
in the time of calamity and under the fear
of judgment. Our High Priest is a powerful and successful
Intercessor.
Our sins have deserved that “a
full end” should be made of humanity.
But THROUGH CHRIST:
Ø
mercy is extended,
Ø
clemency exercised, and
Ø
salvation assured
to those who place themselves under the patronage and
protection of
the great Mediator and
Advocate.
14 “Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,”
The answer to that question comes as by a new inspiration
from the word of the Lord.
15 “Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of
thy
kindred, and all
the house of
inhabitants of
unto us is this
land given in possession.” The
men of thy kindred, etc. The
full
force of the phrase can
hardly be understood without remembering that the
word for “kindred” implies the function and office of
a goel, the redeemer and
avenger of those among his relations who had
suffered wrong (Leviticus 25:25, 48;
Numbers 5:8), and the point of the revelation is that
Ezekiel is to find
those who have this claim on him, his true “brethren,” not only or chiefly in
his natural relations in the priesthood, but in the
companions of his exile
(the Septuagint, following a different reading, gives, “the men of the
Captivity”), and the whole house of
who were condemned by those who had been left in
Jeremiah’s vision (Jeremiah 24:1-2), they were the “good figs;” those in
the city, the vile and worthless. They were the remnant, the residue, for
whom there was a hope of better things. They were despised as far off
from the Lord. They were
really nearer to His presence than those who
worshipped in the temple from which Jehovah had departed.
16 “Therefore say, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Although I have cast
them far off
among the heathen, and although I have scattered
them among the countries,
yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary
in the countries
where they shall come.” Yet
will I be unto them as a little
sanctuary; better, with the Revised
Version, a little while, as marking that the
state described was transient
and provisional. For a time, Ezekiel and the exiles
were to find the presence
of Jehovah manifested as in the vision of Chebar
(ch.1:4-28), or felt spiritually, and this would make the spot where they found
themselves as fully
would have a “house of God.” But this was not to be their permanent lot.
There was to be a
restoration to “the
visible sanctuary, to a second temple no longer desecrated
by
the pollutions that had defiled the first. As with all such
prophecies, the
words had “springing and germinant accomplishments.” In
chapters 40-48,
we have Ezekiel’s ideal vision of their fulfillment. A
literal but incomplete
fulfilment is formed in the work of restoration achieved by Zerubbabel,
Ezra, and Nehemiah, and the hopes then cherished by Haggai
and
Zechariah. A more complete but less literal fulfillment
appears in the Church
of Christ as the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), and
in the
vision of that heavenly city there is no temple, but the
presence of “the
Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” Revelation 21:22), we find the
crowning development of Ezekiel’s thought. Intermediate
expansions are
found:
religious life of
Woman, believe
me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet
at
know not what: we
know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such
to worship
Him. God is a Spirit: and they that
worship Him must
worship Him in
spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24);
and
Name, there He would be in the
midst of them (Matthew 18:20).
The thought that it is THE
PRESENCE OF JEHOVAH THAT MAKES
THE SANCTUARY, not the sanctuary that secures the presence,
Ezekiel may
have learned from the fate of
God the
Sanctuary of His People (v. 16)
“Yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the
countries where they shall
come.” Instead of “as a
little Sanctuary,” it is better to translate, “a
Sanctuary for a little.” The assurance
given in the text seems strange at
first. The Lord Jehovah will be a Sanctuary to His people. He is
the grand
Object of worship: how, then, can He be the place of
worship? The exiles in
from their temple, with all its precious and sacred associations, they had
been ruthlessly sundered. They had long forsaken God, and at length they
became a prey to their enemies. And in this idolatrous country,
while the
inhabitants of
security, Jehovah promises the captives that he himself will
be to them a
Sanctuary, and in himself he would compensate them for the
loss of their
religious privileges. All those blessings which they had been
accustomed to
associate with the sanctuary he would bestow upon them.
·
THE SANCTUARY WAS
Through centuries men had been
accustomed to take refuge in sanctuaries
from the enemies or persecutors by whom they were pursued, and
there
every life was held to he inviolably secure. The most implacable
foe was
compelled to recognize the security afforded by the holy place
(compare
I Kings 1:50-53). So Jehovah
promises to
inviolate asylum from all dangers in the land of their captivity
(compare Isaiah
8:14; 32:2; Psalm 9:9; 46:1, 7,
11). The Lord was a Sanctuary for his
scattered people — a Sanctuary from the storm of persecution, from
the
oppressions of their conquerors, and from the rage of their enemies.
He
still sustains this relation to his people. He is still “a
Refuge for us.” How
blessed that in a life so stormy as man’s often is, God is a
Sanctuary unto
him! Let us hide ourselves in him.
·
THE SANCTUARY WAS
GOD. There God manifested Himself to His people, and made
communications of his will to them (compare Exodus 25:22; Numbers
7:89). So that the promise to be
a Sanctuary unto his people was a promise
of communion with himself; that, though they were driven from
the temple
of their fatherland, yet in their exile God would still
commune with them.
This assurance involves more than
we sometimes recognize. If we
commune with God we mast receive his thoughts. “How
precious are thy
thoughts unto me, O God!” etc. Communion with God involves the
realization of his gracious presence. In fellowship there is always
friendliness. “Henceforth I call you not servants,” etc. (John 15:15).
How inspiring and blessed it is
to feel the friendly presence of God with us!
We may always have this
sanctuary of communion with the Highest. In all
the rush and roar and turmoil of a busy and troubled life we
may realize the
safety and comfort of the sanctuary of the Divine presence. We
may have a
Gerizim or a
have a holy of holies in our poor hearts, which we may carry
with us into
the
·
Let us take hold of
the principle involved in the text, which we take to
be THAT THE LOSS OF EVEN THE MOST PRECIOUS
POSSESSIONS IS MADE UP TO US BY GOD OUT OF THE
FULNESS WHICH DWELLETH IN HIM, IF HE IS OUR PORTION.
The promise of the text involved
as much to the exiles in
Lord is our Portion, He will
afford us blessed compensations for any
privations we may be called to
sustain. Let us take illustrations of this.
There are times when some of the
people of God are subjected to loss of
property; their natural comforts are much diminished; many of the
enjoyments of life, which they
had regarded as essential to their happiness
and almost to their life, are
taken away; and they have painful misgivings as
to how they shall bear these
privations in the future. We dread to meet the
shock of reduced position and
straitened circumstances. But
when the
shock comes, WE FIND FULL COMPENSATION IN GOD! His grace
sustains us. His peace grows within
us. His comforts delight our soul. He is
“the Strength of
our heart, and our Portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26). We are
enabled to say, with Paul, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith
to be content,” etc. (Philippians 4:11-13). The Divine compensations are also
given in painful bereavements. In
your home there was a beautiful and beloved
child; you held that child as a
most precious gift of God; your very worship
of God became more impassioned
and devout as you thought of that living
and dear revelation of His
goodness to you. Your child was to you “a
little
sanctuary;” through
his beloved life you drew nearer to God. Yet God
took your child away from you;
and oh, the anguish of your desolate heart!
Perhaps you were in danger of
thinking more of the child than of God, of
loving the gift more than the
Giver, of prizing the sanctuary more than the
God of the
sanctuary. And so God took away the
child whom you almost
idolized. At first you were
sorely afflicted, but God said, “I WILL BE TO
THEE A SANCTUARY”
and gradually the troubled heart
became still, and was
calmed and comforted. And now by His own love God makes up to you for
your great loss. And in coming years, when you imagine you will lack the
tender filial ministries you had
anticipated from your child, He will more
than supply the
deficiencies by the arrangements of HIS OWN INFINITE
TENDERNESS AND
CARE! God also compensates His people for the loss of
religious privileges. In His providence He sometimes removes us by
sickness from the services of
the sanctuary, and we have a season of weary
waiting for His restoring hand.
We anticipate with sadness the Lord’s day,
when His people will be
worshipping in the courts of His house, and we
suffering through the lonely
hours at home. But the day arrives, and with it
a joyous disappointment. GOD HIMSELF BECOMES TO
SANCTUARY! He compensates us for the loss of psalmody by
inspiring
diviner music in our heart, for
the loss of “common worship” by giving us
deeper spiritual communion with
Himself and with all holy souls, and for the
loss of sacred ministrations by the immediate and blessed ministry of His
Holy Spirit to
our spirit. And so the day we dreaded
was rich in present
blessing, and bright with GLEAMS OF THE GLORY WHICH AWAITS
US IN THE
FUTURE! Or in His providence
God removes us to a district
where we are separated from the
influence of a generous and godly friend, or
from the ministry of a valued
teacher or pastor. Our regret is very keen, our
misgivings as to our future
progress are serious, and perhaps our dissatisfaction
with providential arrangements
is in danger of becoming great. But in this also
THE LORD BECOMES
TO US A SANCTUARY! To our increased need He
gives more of His infinite
fullness. And we find that by blessing us with another
teacher or pastor, or by
means of the devout and earnest study of His
holy Word,
or by the
ministry of good literature, or by the immediate action of His Holy
Spirit upon our
spirit, He compensates us for all our losses. Herein is one of
the great blessednesses
of the portion of the godly. As our need grows,
God reveals unto us His own
infinite sufficiency more and more fully, and
out of that sufficiency He giveth more grace. (“Our
sufficiency is of God!”
(II Corinthians 3:5). The more
loud and fierce the storm, the more closely
does He enfold us in His
inviolate protection. The more numerous and urgent
our requirements, the more abundant and prompt are His supplies. MAKE
HIM YOUR PORTION and infinite resources
are yours
(compare Psalm
84:11; Lamentations 3:24;
Matthew 6:33; I Timothy 4:8).
The Sanctuary of the Exile (v. 16)
The Jews of Jerusalem boasted themselves in their temple,
but with a false
confidence, for that splendid edifice was to be razed. On
the other hand,
the poor exiles of
prayed with his window open towards
to be sought in the sacred city (Daniel 6:10). But Ezekiel gives the
captives the assurance that God
will be their Sanctuary during the short
time of exile in the distant land of their captivity.
banks of the Chebar
to build a new temple. The splendor of
the skill of Hiram, together
with the wealth and devotion of the Jewish
nation at the height of its
glory, produced a wonder of the world, which a
feeble band of heartbroken
captives could never dream of equaling. Yet
the sorrow-stricken remnant of
pious
than gilded walls and cedar
pillars. They were to have
SANCTUARY!
Ø
God vouchsafes His presence to His people. He does not only give
a
house of worship; He comes Himself.
Ø
God’s presence
sanctifies. It is a sanctuary. The place where Moses
stood before the burning bush
was “holy ground,” for God was there
(Exodus 3:5). Chaldea was far from the “
there He would make light in the
center of heathen darkness. Wherever
God visits us He
makes a sanctuary. The workshop is a
holy place when
God is in it.
Ø
God’s presence
saves. The temple was regarded with a false confidence
and a foolish superstition as a
charmed asylum, but the event proved the
delusiveness of such an
assumption. When God is with us anywhere,
however, we are safe; for He is “a Sun and a Shield.”
Ø
In exile from the native land. The colonist far
removed from the home
and Church of his fathers, may
find God in the bush or on the prairie.
Though no “place of worship” may be
within his reach, he need not
feel banished from gracious
influences. If his heart turn to God,
God will be with
him as his Sanctuary.
Ø
In exile from the old delights. When trouble comes, a
man is, as it were,
driven from the land flowing
with milk and honey out into a waste
howling wilderness. But One is
with him, and the God who met the
poor fugitive Jacob will make a
Ø
In exile from heaven. We seek another
country. Here we are pilgrims
and strangers; our citizenship
is in heaven (Hebrews 11:13-16).
Nevertheless, God is with us
here and now to train and guard and
cheer us with THE SANCTUARY OF HIS PRESENCE!
Ø
For a short season. God would be the
Sanctuary in exile “for a little
time,” not because He would soon desert the banished, but because
He
would bring them home again. If God is with us in trouble, He will
bring us out of
trouble. He is with us here for a
season, that He may
lead us TO BE WITH
US IN HEAVEN FOR EVER! Christ came
into exile from heaven to be
with us here on earth that He might bring
us back to God. He “tabernacled with us,” was our Sanctuary in exile
during His earthly ministry. Now
He has gone to prepare a place for us
in the eternal home. (John 14:3)
17 “Therefore say, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; I will even gather you
from the people,
and assemble you out of the countries where ye
have been
scattered, and I will give you the
Restoration and Reunion (v. 17)
promise that God will be with
His children in exile “as a Sanctuary” (v.16)
is immediately followed by the assurance
that He will bring them back
to their land. It is not for
nothing, then, that the poor exiles have the
Sanctuary that is better than
Solomon’s splendid temple — GOD’S VERY
PRESENCE! If
God is with us, the future is ours. God is not only a Stay
and a Comfort today, He holds the key of tomorrow. Therefore God
only
needs to be a
Sanctuary for “a little while.” Our light affliction “endureth
but for a moment” (II Corinthians 4:17).
The presence of God makes the
hardship of the moment doubly endurable,
first because of its own immediate
help, and. secondly on account of the
cheering prospects it opens up. The light
of such a future should throw
back rays of comfort into the darkest experience.
God will bring the exiles home
again. This implies two things.
Ø
Deliverance from evil. The Jews were
scattered among heathen peoples
whose alien temper and
domineering spirit were sources of trouble; e.g.
Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Sin plunges
us into
hurtful conditions. For
wholesome discipline God’s true people may be
thrown into circumstances of
persecution and peril. but this will not be
forever. If the Son of God is
with the three in the furnace, He will
deliver them from it.
Ø
Restoration to the old home. The exiles are to
return to Canaan. Souls
exiled from the kingdom of
heaven by sin will, when pardoned and
renewed (see v. 19), be restored
to the privileges which were the
birthright of all — for all have
been children, and “of such is the
kingdom of
heaven.” Further, those who have been thus far
restored
may well feel the need of a more
perfect recovery to the home of God,
since this earth is not heaven,
and here the people of God are “pilgrims
and strangers” seeking “another country,
that is, a heavenly”
(Hebrews 11:13,16).
God’s perfect restoration includes the
bringing of His children home to
heaven.
The nation was scattered; the
promise is that it shall be reunited. Sin
divides; redemption unites. ALL
EVIL has a disintegrating influence on
national and family
life. Its
root is SELFISHNESS and selfishness implies
severance. But love is the source of the better life, and love is the
closest
bond of union. Through Christ, there will be a:
Ø
reunion of mankind.
Ø
reunion of individuals.
Ø
reunion of families. This begins on earth
in pure home love. But it
will be completed in the great restoration of families when all can
meet in the home
beyond the grave.
18 “And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all
the
detestable things
thereof and all the abominations thereof from
thence.” I will give you the
the Authorized Version show how entirely Ezekiel was following
in the
footsteps of his master Jeremiah, as he had done in those
of Isaiah, in their
prophecies of restoration. Here also the law of” springing
and germinant
accomplishments” finds its application. Ezekiel (chapters
47:13-48:35) has
his ideal of a new geographical
which idolatrous shrines and high places have disappeared. Paul (Romans
chapters 9-11) clings to the thought of a restoration of
the literal
while he strips it of Ezekiel’s geographical limitations.
19 “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new
spirit within
you; and I will
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give
them an heart of
flesh:” I will give them one heart. The
Septuagint, following a
different reading,
gives “another heart” (as in I Samuel 10:9); but the Hebrew,
represented by the Authorized and Revised Versions, is,
without any
doubt, right. As in the symbolic action of the joining of
the two sticks in
ch.
37:15-22, so here, the hope of the prophet, like that of Isaiah
and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32:37-39), looked forward to the
unity of the
restored people.
(Isaiah 11:13). The long standing line of cleavage should
disappear.
Oneness of purpose and of action would characterize the
new
God. So, in our
Lord’s prayer for His Church, there is the prayer that “they
may be one” —
made perfect in one (John 17:21-23). Left to itself,
subdividing individualism, fruitful in sects and parties
and schisms. Even
the highest of those aspirations has remained as yet
without any adequate
fulfillment. The ideal unity of the Christian Church is as
far distant as that of
the
fulfillments as pledges and earnests of the future unity of the true
God in the heavenly
be brought about by the Divine gift of a “new Spirit,” loyal, obedient,
unselfish. We note how
distinctly, whether consciously or unconsciously,
Ezekiel reproduces the thought, almost the very words, of
Jeremiah
31:31-33 (Dear God, May I and we “hide
thine word in my/our heart/
hearts
– Psalm 119:11 – CY – 2014); 32:37-39; how
His words are in
their turn reproduced in Revelation 21:3-5. The eternal
hope asserts itself
again and again in spite of all partial failures and
disappointments. I will take
the stony heart out of their
flesh. The thought is, as we have seen, identical
with that of Jeremiah 31:31-33, but the form in this
instance is eminently
characteristic of Ezekiel, and meets us again in ch. 36:26. The
“stony heart” is
that which is “hardened” (ch.3:7) against all
impressions of repentance, to all natural or spiritual
aspirations of the good.
So Zechariah 7:12-14 speaks of those who had made their
hearts “harder
than an adamant stone.” So we may remember that the
sin of impurity
hardens within and it PETRIFIES
THE FEELING! . Ezekiel had seen
enough of that stoniness in others, perhaps had, at times,
felt it in himself.
20 “That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine
ordinances, and
do them: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
That they may walk
in my statutes, etc. OUT OF THE NEW
SPIRIT
there was to grow the new life — a life of righteousness
and
obedience, as in worship, so also in the acts of man’s
daily life and his
dealings with his neighbors. So, and not otherwise, could the actual
relation of Jehovah correspond to the ideal, AS IT HAD BEEN
DECLARED OF OLD! (Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; I Samuel 12:22;
II Samuel 7:23). This, for Ezekiel, was the crowning
blessedness of all,
as it had been that of earlier and contemporary prophets
(Hosea 2:23;
Jeremiah 24:7). To that thought he returns again and again,
as to the
anchor of his hope (ch. 14:11; 36:28; 37:23, 27-28). (We also
have that hope - “We might have a strong consolation, who
have fled
for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have
as an ANCHOR OF THE SOUL!” - Hebrews 6:18-19 – CY – 2014)
Spiritual Transformation (v. 19)
This promise is one of the most precious to be found in the
Old Testament
Scripture. Relating as it evidently does in this passage to
the nation of
applicability to all who yield themselves to God, to be
dealt with by His
renewing and transforming grace.
characterized by hardness. It is “the
stony heart” which Divine grace
undertakes to soften and renew. The hard or stony heart is that which is
insensible to
spiritual realities, upon which neither Law nor gospel makes
any impression,
which resists every appeal whether of righteousness or of
mercy.
powerlessness of all human
agency and endeavor is apparent. Man’s
influence can do much; but here
is the most difficult of all problems to be
solved; here is the necessity
for something more than reformation — for
actual renewal. Hence God, the
Almighty, undertakes the work Himself.
He
speaks here with authority, as
the Being who needs no counselor, no
helper, who has infinite
resources at His disposal, who exercises His own
prerogative. It is not here
explicitly stated what are the means He employs;
but we know that they are means
in harmony with the moral nature of man,
that His appeal to us is an
appeal of truth and love. In the Christian
dispensation, the agent of
transformation is the Holy Spirit given at
Pentecost, and perpetually
abiding in the Church, and the instrumentality
employed is the gospel of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, appropriated by the
faith of the believing hearer of
the Word.
Ø
Newness of
spirit supersedes the old disposition
to disobey and rebel.
Every reader of the New
Testament knows what stress is laid upon the new
covenant, the new birth, the new
life, newness of the spirit, etc. In fact, this
verse from Ezekiel is peculiarly
in harmony with the Christian dispensation
and all that belongs to it.
Ø
Unity of heart is one form of newness; for it comes to supersede the
division and opposition which
prevail where God’s authority is rejected
and where God’s Word is
despised. It is our Lord’s prayer concerning the
members of His Church, that they
“all may be one” — one in Him and in
the Father, and so one each with
the other. (John 17:21)
Ø
Sensitiveness is what
is intended by the heart of flesh. The nature which
God by His grace renews is a nature which responds to the love of God by
gratitude,
faith, and consecration. A heart
delighting in what pleases God,
dreading what offends Him; a
heart loving all whom God loves, and
inspiring a life of scrupulous
and hearty obedience; — such is the new
heart, the heart of flesh, which
is the best gift of God to His children.
“A heart
resigned, submissive, meek,
My dear
Redeemer’s throne;
Where only
Christ is heard to speak,
Where
Jesus reigns alone.”
A United Heart the Gift
of God (v. 19)
“I will give them one heart.” The exiles in
addressed, had long wandered from God into idolatry. Their heart had
not
been fixed or united. The promise was fulfilled in their case in this sense
—
that since their return from captivity they have
never lapsed into idolatry.
·
THIS PROMISE IS APPLICABLE TO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
Oneness of interest and heart in
the welfare of a Church on the part of its
members is essential to its prosperity.
Ø Oneness of heart in brotherly unity is necessary. “Behold,
how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity!”
etc. (Psalm
133.). To secure this we must exercise mutual forbearance and
charity, and
cultivate
an affectionate regard for each other.
Ø
Oneness of desire for the prosperity of
the work of God is necessary.
There is reason
to fear that this desire is not very deep on the part of some
Church-members,
who very often grumble at
what others are doing, and do
nothing themselves. If we have this desire, we shall take it
to God in
prayer. We shall “keep
not silence, and give him no rest,” etc. (Isaiah
62:6-7). If we
have this desire, it will lead us to personal efforts to attain
its
fulfillment. To retain this unity of desire we must be prepared to waive
personal
opinions as to minor methods, keeping the eye steadily fixed upon
the grand
objects which we are aiming at. Mutual concessions are
necessary
to abiding unity. In seeking unity in the Church let us trust the
promise
of the text, and use appropriate means to secure it.
·
THE TEXT IS APPLICABLE TO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF
PERSONAL CHARACTER. Examples of hearts divided and purposes
unsettled are to be found in every province of life — in business,
in mental
culture, in religion. Yet everywhere the thing is evil. Division is weakness.
“The roiling stone gathers no
moss.” “A double-minded man is unstable in
all his ways.” (James
1:8) One-heartedness is essential to
progress in anything.
The men who have attained marked
success in any pursuit have followed it
steadily and persistently. Concentration is power. “Unity is
strength”
everywhere and in everything. Let us specify certain characters to
whom the
text is applicable.
Ø To the insincere. There are
persons who are not true, whose thoughts
and words
do not agree, whose appearance and reality are not harmonious.
Our text is a
promise for them if they will receive it. The man of renewed
heart is
honest, true. The mere form of godliness, or profession of
discipleship to Christ, will avail us nothing. Unless we have the life and
power of
Christ, the name of Christian will be worse than worthless to us.
The
genuine Christian is sincere and upright.
Ø To those who
are endeavoring to “serve God and
mammon.” It is
impossible
to be at once devoted to worldly ends and to God. A worldly
spirit is
incompatible with real religion. The spirit of the world is opposed
to the spirit
of Christ. One or other must be supreme in us. We cannot yield
ourselves
to the pursuit of the pleasures, honors, or riches of this world,
and to
the service of the Lord Jesus at the same time. It is impossible to
combine
the two things. God promises to give us one heart — a heart
undivided
and thoroughly fixed upon Himself. Are we willing to receive the
blessing, and
to
receive it now?
Ø To those who
“halt between two opinions.” (I Kings 18:21) Many are
wavering and
undecided as to personal religion. They have not resolved to try
to
combine the service of “God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24), but
they have
not
elected whom they will serve. They have often been religiously impressed,
but never
decided. They have often felt the supreme importance of religion, but
have not
yielded to its claims. They are wavering and undecided. They feel
without
wisely acting. They have religious emotion, but not religious
resolution. They procrastinate the great
choice till “a more convenient
season.” (Acts 24:25) They will not take the decisive step. They are
not one-
hearted. Now, they may obtain a united heart from God.
The hesitation which is
so
injurious and perilous to them would be banished if they would accept
God’s promise
in the text, and decide by His help to serve Him. He would
“give them one heart,” and sufficient strength to perform their resolution.
And then they
could sing, with David, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart
is fixed: I will sing and give praise.”
(Psalm 57:7) Thus the text promises
to us
unity and thoroughness of heart. Our own weakness we know; and how
prone to
unsteadiness, change, and division our hearts are. But “God
is
greater
than our heart,” and He
proffers to us the unity and stability which
we need.
In the
strength of His promise let us pray, “Unite my heart to fear
thy Name” (Psalm 86:11) and let us consecrate ourselves unreservedly unto Him.
The Heart of Flesh (vs. 19-20)
Two mistakes are commonly made by well meaning social
reformers:
o
Too much faith
is placed in external improvement, and
o
too much power
is credited to man.
It is not perceived that the greatest evil is in the heart,
and that the only cure can be
found in the help of God. but both of these deeper truths
are recognized in the
passage before us.
external restoration; now we
have the assurance of an internal
transformation. It is the heart
that is to be changed. The very center of
the
being must be
renewed. For this David prayed (Psalm
51:10). The need
of it was pointed out to
Nicodemus by Christ (John 3:3). Note the
characteristics of the new
heart.
Ø
Unity. “One heart.” The
internal discord will cease. A man with
divided affections is like
a two-hearted monster and “is unstable
in all his
ways” (James 1:8). . But
doubtless the unity here referred
to is social. Sin having
brought quarrels among men, the new state
will be one of harmony.
Ø
Life. The old heart was of stone, and therefore dead. The new
heart is
of flesh, and living. Sin
deadens the soul. The death of sin is the
resurrection of the better
nature. (Romans 6:11-13)
Ø
Susceptibility.
The stony heart cannot feel. This is the dangerous result
of sin. The conscience is
seared. The guilt of sin and its danger
are not
felt. The appeals of Divine grace are unheeded. Tears are wasted
on a
marble statue. Rain and sunshine
cannot fertilize a granite rock. But the
new heart is tender. As when Moses
strikes the rock the streams flow,
so when God’s
Word reaches the stony heart with the power of His
Spirit a new feeling is awakened.
Ø
Naturalness. The new heart is of flesh, not of some rare ethereal
substance. The Christian is not
to have the heart of an angel, but just a
man’s true natural heart. The Christian
is the true man. Christianity
is
in harmony with
nature. Inhumanity is unnatural.
The lack of natural
affections is a sign of unspirituality. Cold
saintliness is not an effect of
God’s grace, but a product of man’s perversity. God puts a heart of
flesh in the flesh. Thus there
is harmony, and all is natural.
this wonderful transformation.
Only He can do it. We can change our
clothes, our habitation, our
outward manners, but not our hearts. The
depth of the change renders it
too much for man. So does the previous
condition of those on whom it
has to be wrought. As the heart is of stone,
it is too cold to feel its
need, and too dead to strive after a better condition.
In this hardness and indifference
the hapless condition of the sinner is
completed. Even the penitent
cannot create in himself a clean heart. But left
to himself, man is not likely to
become penitent.
Find a
thing which has created itself? If you
had no existence, how could
you
create yourself? Nothing cannot produce
anything! How can a man
recreate
himself? A man cannot create himself
into a new condition when
he,
himself, has no being in that condition! Charles Haddon
Spurgeon
Now, God promises to do what
man can never accomplish for himself. He will
take away the old evil —
remove the heart of stone. He will give a
new nature
— the heart of flesh.
He will also inspire power into this new nature by putting
“a new spirit” in His children. This is done by the gift of His Holy Spirit.
place in the heart; it is
inward, and therefore secret. But its consequences
cannot be hidden, for out of the heart are “the issues of life” (Proverbs
4:23). No one can have the heart of flesh and behave
like a being of stone —
cold, unsympathetic, inactive.
Two consequences are noticed.
Ø
Obedience. The heart of flesh is given that God’s people may walk in
His statutes and keep His
ordinances and do them. We cannot truly
obey God UNTIL WE LOVE HIM!
When the heart is right with
God the most natural result
is that the conduct should be right also.
Yet, be it observed, this
is not to be regarded as a merely necessary
result of God’s action
within us, for v. 20 describes a purpose rather
than a certain result. God
gives a heart of flesh “that” His people
“may walk,” etc. It is still left with them to exert themselves in the
way of obedience.
Ø
Adoption. “Thy seed shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
God owns His renewed people
as His children; they own Him as
their Father. The right heart is AT
ONE WITH GOD!
Mutual Possession (v.20)
This language is of frequent occurrence in Scripture, and
applies to the
relation between Jehovah and His chosen and covenant people
ideal, for, as a matter of fact, the descendants of Abraham
and of Jacob
were constantly in rebellion against God, and alienated
from Him by their
wicked works. Yet it was actually true of an election
within the nation.
And it remains forever applicable, in strict and literal
truth, to all those who
receive Divine grace, acknowledge Divine authority, and
rejoice in Divine
communion.
PEOPLE. “They shall be my people,” says the Eternal. They are His:
Ø
To possess. They are His property, and they bear upon them His mark.
Ø
To control. They are His servants, yielding themselves to Him, and
their powers as instruments
in His service.
Ø
To love. God loves His own people, as a father loves his own
children, as
a husband loves his own
wife.
Ø
To bless. The Lord is mindful of His own. There is nothing that is
for
their good which he
withholds from them. (“No
good thing will He
withhold from them that walk uprightly.” - Psalm 84:11)
GOD. On this
account:
Ø
They reverence
Him. Let others offer their adoration
where they will,
the Lord, say they, is our God, and
Him only will we serve.
Ø
They trust Him. His ways may sometimes be unkonwn,
and His counsels
perplexing; but He is theirs,
and therefore they will not withdraw their
confidence from Him.
Ø
They glorify him
with all their powers. To them there
is no limit to their
Lord’s claims and authority; He
has but to say, Go, and they go; Come,
and they come; Do this, and it
is done.
Ø
They hope in his
promises. He has given them His word
that they shall be
brought to everlasting
salvation; and the assurance, coming from their own
covenant God, inspires them with
a bright and consolatory hope. “This
God is our God
forever and ever; He will beour Guide, even unto
death.”
(Psalm 48:14)
21 “But as for them whose heart walketh
after the heart of their
detestable things
and their abominations, I will recompense their
way upon their
own heads, saith the Lord GOD.” But as for them, etc.
We note the peculiar phraseology. The heart of the people walks not simply
after their
detestable things, but after
the heart of those things. There is, as it
were, a central unity in the evil to which they unite
themselves, just as the
heart of man turns to the heart of God when the two are
in their IDEAL
RELATION TO EACH OTHER.
For those who did this, whether
in
The words close the message which Ezekiel heard in the
courts of the temple
in his visions, but which he was to deliver (v. 25) to them
of the Captivity.
22 “Then did the cherubims lift up
their wings, and the wheels beside
them; and the
glory of the God of
23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the
city, and
stood upon the
mountain which is on the east side of the city.”
Another stage of the departure of the Divine glory closes
the vision. It had
rested over the middle of the city. It now halts over the
mountain on the east
side of the city, i.e. on the
Currey mentions, but without a reference, a Jewish tradition that
the Shechinah,
or glory cloud, remained
there for three years, calling the people to repentance.
What is here recorded may have suggested the thought of Zechariah 14:4.
We may remember that it was from this
spot that Christ “beheld the city, and
wept over it” (Luke 19:41); that from it HE, TRUE SHECHINAH,
ascended
into heaven. Here, perhaps,
the dominant thought was that HE remained for
a time to direct THE WORK OF JUDGMENT! And so the
vision was over,
and the prophet was borne back in vision to
exiles of Tel-Abib the wonderful and terrible things that he had see.
The Withdrawal of the Presence of God from a
Guilty People
(ch. 10:4, 18-19; here, vs. 22-23)
“Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and
stood over tile
threshold of the house,” etc. These verses, which are all essentially related
to one subject, suggest the following observations.
FROM A PERSON OR A NATION UNTIL
THEY HAVE QUITE
FORSAKEN HIM. The chosen
people had despised His laws; they had
turned aside from His worship for the most debasing idolatries; they had
filled the land with their
violence; they had denied His observation of their
lives, and His interest therein;
and they had persecuted His prophets who
called them to repentance. They
had abandoned Him provokingly and
persistently; and now He is about to take from them His
gracious presence.
That presence He never withdraws
from any individual or from any
community until He has been
rejected — driven away, as it were, by
heinous and continued sin. In
proof of this we may refer to the following
and other portions of the sacred
Scriptures: I Samuel 15:23, 26; 28:15-18;
I Chronicles 28:9; II Chronicles
15:2; Psalm 78:56-64; Jeremiah 7:8-16.
PERSON OR A NATION VERY GRADUALLY. We have an intimation
of His leaving the temple in
ch.9:3, where the glory of God departs
from the holy of holies to the
threshold of the house, by which is meant
the outermost point, where the
exit was from the court of the people into the
city.” In v. 4 the prophet
beholds the same movement repeated. Then in vs.
18-19 the Lord’s complete abandonment of the temple is symbolically
exhibited.
And in ch.11:22-23 the symbol of
the gracious presence departs from the city,
and makes a temporary sojourn
on the
land. Thus step by step the symbol of the glory of the Lord goes
away from
them. It is as though He forsook them with great
reluctance. By His servant
Hosea He expresses the same
truth: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
how shall I
deliver thee, Israel?” etc. (Hosea
11:8). It seemed, too, as though
He would be entreated by them not to depart from their midst,
and moved
away so gradually in order that
they might so entreat Him. And if God
withdraws Himself, or withholds
His gracious influences from any one, He
does so, as it were, with
measured steps and slow. Men are not left to
themselves and their own devices
hastily. God waits long to be gracious
unto man. He does not depart from any one until He has received
great and
protracted provocation. He is “the God of patience” (Romans 15:5); and
“He delighteth in mercy.” (Micah 7:18)
FROM A PERSON OR NATION THEY ARE BEREFT OF HIS
PROTECTION. Shortly after Ezekiel had seen the glory of God pass away
from the holy of holies to the
threshold of the house (ch.
9:3), the
destroying angels
began their work of slaughter in the temple. And before
the complete destruction of the
city, the glory of God departed from it to
the
presence they were at the mercy of
their enemies, and troubles came upon
them fast and
furiously. “When the sun is in apogee,
says Greenhill, “gone
from us, we have short days and
long nights, little light but much darkness;
and when God departs, you have
much night, and little day left, your
comforts fade suddenly, and
miseries come upon you swiftly.” What a
tragical example of this we have in the case of King Saul!
When God had
departed from him, and answered
him no more, neither by prophets nor by
dreams, he was sore distressed,
and the terrible end was close at hand
(I Samuel 28:15-20; 31.). This is to be forsaken indeed, when God
prepares to forsake
us. Lo! then more than ever darkness
comes over all
the powers of man’s spirit and
over his life, and even trusted, loved
countenances of friends go into
shadow. Good thoughts grow ever fewer,
impulses to prayer ever more
rare; admonitions of conscience cease; the
holy of holies in the man
becomes empty down to the four walls and the
usual pious furniture.
Let us “Take
heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil
heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another
day by day, so long as it is called Today; lest any one of you be hardened by
THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN!”
(Hebrews 3:12-13) And let us pray,
“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy
Holy Spirit from me.”
(Psalm 51:11)
24 “Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a
vision by the
Spirit of God
into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision
that I had seen
went up from me. 25 Then I spake unto them of the
captivity all the
things that the LORD had shewed me.” (I
wonder
what they thought! What do you or I think about this today? – CY – 2014)
Reaching to the Captives (v. 25)
TO HIMSELF. The
prophets were seers. The apostles were eyewitnesses
of the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ. No preacher can go forth
with
God’s Word unless he has first received THAT WORD! For it is not his
business to gather congregations
merely to hear his “guesses at truth,” nor
is he called to set before men
his most profound speculations, if those
speculations are only wrought
out of his own ideas. He is a messenger
—
therefore he must
bear a message; a herald — therefore he must have a
gospel to
proclaim. Where shall the modern
preacher find his Divine word?
He cannot pretend to be an
Ezekiel at home among the cherubim, to whom
the inmost wheels of the Divine
mysteries seemed to be revealed.
Nevertheless, he has his
revelations:
Ø
In the Bible. Of all men the preacher is called to be a diligent student
of this rich storehouse of revelation. The modern preacher does not see
Ezekiel’s cherubim, but he can
read the New Testament, of which
Ezekiel knew nothing; and the gospel story of Jesus of
greater
revelation than the visions of an Old
Testament prophet.
Ø
In experience. Every
preacher must have his own vision of Scripture
truth. We can only speak what we
have seen and heard. The truth
must be interpreted by
experience.
Ø
By the Holy
Spirit. “He will guide you unto all
truth.” (John 16:13)
“Holy men of God
spake as they were moved by THE HOLY
GHOST!” (II Peter 1:21)
PUBLIC DECLARATION.
Ezekiel might have thought himself a rarely
privileged soul, and have
considered his visions as choice mysteries to be
kept secret, and not to be waisted on unsympathetic ears, like pearls cast
before swine, if he had not
understood his duty as a prophet of
well to make such a mistake. Freely he had received, freely he must give.
(Matthew 10:8) All who know God’s truth are under sacred
obligations
to do what in them
lies TO DECLARE THAT TRUTH! It is not possible
for every one to be a preacher
by word
of mouth. Still, in some way
missionary enterprise should
follow the reception
of Divine truth. We who
have the gospel are
bound to give it to those to whom it is yet an undreamed
secret.
Ø
This declaration is to
be unreserved. Ezekiel spoke all the
things.
Some were obscure; some
might cause offence; some might be
abused. Yet he was not at
liberty to hold back anything. The
preacher must not shun to “declare the
whole counsel of God.”
(Acts 20:27)
Ø
This declaration
is FOR ALL! It was
given to Ezekiel’s neighbors,
the captives, without
distinction. As there are no esoteric truths in
God’s revelation, so there
is no spiritual aristocracy of the initiated.
The only limit is our
capacity to receive. “He that hath ears
to hear,
let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; Revelation 2:7)
NEEDED BY THOSE WHO ARE IN TROUBLE. Ezekiel “spake unto
them of the
Captivity.”
Ø
It is a peculiarly
Christian duty to bring the consolation of God to the
troubled. This is suited to the sorrowful. Lighter thoughts may amuse
in
hours of ease. But
when darkness gathers about the soul, nothing
short
of THE DEEP VERITIES OF GOD will
satisfy! Those verities may
not be always pleasant.
Much that Ezekiel saw filled him with distress.
Still God’s truth is all wholesome and healing, and His last
words are
His best, as Ezekiel’s hearers must have found when the
prophet
concluded with the wonderful promise
of the “A NEW SPIRIT!”
(v. 19)
Ø The gospel is peculiarly appropriate for those who are spiritually
captives, i.e. in bondage to
Ø
superstition,
Ø
doubt,
Ø
fear, or
Ø
sin.
CHRIST CAME to proclaim liberty to such captives (Luke 4:15).
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Exile and Restoration (vs. 16-17)
There is a change in the tone of the prophet. A full end
shall not be made of
the remnant. The metropolis shall fall, the king shall be
led captive. The
enemy shall prevail. But the children of the Captivity
shall not be forgotten;
they shall experience the protection and fellowship of
their covenant God;
and they shall be brought back to the land of Israel, when
Divine purposes
are
fulfilled, and when the time is ripe.
·
GOD A SANCTUARY FOR A SEASON IN A FOREIGN LAND. This
must have been a precious and encouraging assurance to the
captives in
their banishment. They loved
Jerusalem, and they loved the temple. Far
from the scene of their national
privileges, they were yet not forsaken by
the God of their fathers.
Ø Every holy place has its true meaning and
value from the residence in it
of the
Eternal. It is not the costly material of which a
sanctuary is built,
the labor
and art with which it is decorated, the robed priesthoods who
minister,
or the lavish offerings and sacrifices that are presented; it is not
these
things that make a temple. It is the presence of God himself to
receive
and bless the worshippers, that endears the building to the
enlightened
and pious.
Ø God may manifest his presence and favour in p!aces where no sacred
edifices
exist. So Jacob understood, when he awoke from his slumber and
his
dream, and exclaimed, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it
not!”
“Where’er they seek thee, thou art found,
And every
place is hallowed ground.”
Those upon the
stormy deep, those in the primeval forests, those in the
waterless
deserts, those in the caverns of the earth, have met with God in
the
exercises of devotion. And he was a Sanctuary to his banished ones in
their
captivity in the East, as near to them as he was to those still permitted
to resort
to the courts of the temple at
is with
men.”
Ø Thus God’s spiritual presence may be
realized and enjoyed even in a
world of
sin. Earth is in a sense the scene of exile and of banishment. But
for all
that, God will be to his people a Sanctuary in the place and during
the
period of their captivity. His Church is his temple, and from it he never
departs.
·
GOD THE RESTORER OF HIS BANISHED ONES.
Ø The dispersion and banishment are
appointed for a time and for a
purpose.
There were reasons why the sons of Abraham should be exiled
from the
land promised to their progenitor, the father of the faithful. It was
apparent
to the wisdom of God that only thus could they be preserved and
delivered
from the temptations, especially to idolatry, to which they had so
often
yielded. The discipline was severe, but it was effectual. The period of
exile was
not prolonged vindictively.
Ø The restoration is as providential as the
Captivity. The language of the
text is
very emphatic upon this Feint: “I will even gather you from the
people,”
etc. “He deviseth means whereby his banished ones may
return.”
It was this
prospect which sustained and cheered the Hebrew people amidst
disasters
at home and exile abroad. The land of their fathers was their land;
and in
due time they were to enter and possess it.
Ø The restoration of the Israelites
prefigured the final salvation of all
God’s people. Their exile shall not last forever. There is a better country,
even a
heavenly, a
and the
eternal abode of the blessed gathered from every land.
The
Prophetic Office (v. 25)
In these few and simple words we have a declaration of the
office and
function of the inspired prophet, and in a certain sense of
every true
religions teacher whom God commissions to be the vehicle
and conscious
agent in communicating his truth, counsels, admonitions,
and
encouragements to men.
·
RECEPTION. The prophet
and every religious teacher must come
mediately or
immediately into spiritual communication with the Divine
Mind.
Ø The Source from which the
communication proceeds is none other than
God Himself.
Ø The matter which is received is
what is commonly called revelation; the
thoughts
and commands and purposes of the Supreme are made known to
a human
spirit.
Ø The vision, the hearing, of
the prophetic soul are made ready by Divine
grace to appreciate
the communication.
·
IMPARTATION.
Ø
Thus the prophet, the
religious teacher, is a mediator, capable on the one
side, of fellowship with God, and on the other of
correspondence and
communion with his fellow men.
Ø
There are special
qualifications, by reason of which he can fulfil the
commission received; he should be a man of quick intelligence, of
tender
sympathy, of dauntless courage, of manifest authority.
Ø
Yet his chief
credentials are simple and moral — truthfulness,
conscientiousness, and simplicity of nature and habit.
The Summary Punishment of Official
Guilt (vs. 1-13)
As a rule, God is extremely patient towards human
rebellion. He reproves
and remonstrates and warns long before the executioner
appears. Yet
sometimes he departs from this course, by a summary act of
vengeance.
The penalty that follows some crimes is swift and sudden.
The Chaldean
nobles who laid an impious snare for Daniel were soon
overtaken with
judgment. When Herod accepted the profane flattery of his
courtiers, he
was soon consumed with inward disease. Ananias
and Sapphira had
scarcely completed their falsehood when the sword of the
executioner fell
upon them. At times God starts out of his secret place, and
suddenly
vindicates his outraged majesty.
·
MARK THE FLAGRANCY OF SIN IN PRIESTS AND PEOPLE. In
all probability these twenty-five men were the heads, or
princes, over the
twenty-four courses of the
priests, while Jaazaniah and Pelatiah
may have
held a yet higher rank in the
temple. It may be that Pelatiah was high priest
or ruler of the temple. Certain
it is that they were “princes of the people.”
Ø Their position was one of vast influence. Their opinions would be
accepted
as the opinions of the people. Their example would be widely
imitated.
To a large extent, they would influence the life and conduct of the
population.
As they had the privilege of access to God, and possessed the
means of
knowing his will, the people would, as a matter of course, look to
them for
guidance. Profanity or infidelity among the chief priests would
speedily
infect the Hebrew flock. Hence, for others’ sakes, it behoved them
to be
prudent, devout, and circumspect.
Ø Thy had turned Divine warning
into ridicule. This
seems the only
satisfactory way of explaining their boast, “We dwell securely.” “This city
is the
cauldron, and we are the flesh.” Jeremiah, who still dwelt in
was
towards the north.” The heads of the priestly order had parodied this,
had
treated it as an image of self- security, instead of as an omen of danger.
As if they had
said, “Be it so! This city, with its bastions and gates,
impregnable
as brass or iron, is a cauldron, and as the flesh is safe in the
cauldrons,
equally so are we!” They laughed at every intimation
of danger.
In the teeth of
a hundred warnings, in the teeth of a score of defeats and
overthrows,
they persisted in a conviction of safety. Like fools of other
nations,
they “made a mock at sin.”
Ø This senseless hardihood led to aggravated crime. One sin soon breeds
a
thousand others. They, who had the administration of justice, abused
their
office, and ruled with a sword of terror. Either by excessive lenity, in
not
repressing crime; or else by excessive tyranny, human life was held
cheaply
in the city. Death was a common occurrence, and excited no
horror.
Civic strifes abounded. The number of the slain
increased, and
these
princes were responsible for the foul deed. They were the persons
who “had
filled the streets with the slain.” The stains of human blood were
upon
their skirts.
Ø The exact measure of their sin was known. Not an item in their evil
deeds was
unknown nor unregistered. They had tried to conceal their
misdeeds,
had endeavoured to minimize their offences, were
attempting to
persuade
themselves that Jehovah did not trouble about such matters. But
imagine
their surprise and confusion when every iota of offence, ay, and
every
secret evil thought, was fully laid out in the bill of attainder. The
amount and
degree of each man’s guilt is allotted with scrupulous
exactness.
·
OBSERVE THE PROPHET’S COMMISSION. Ezekiel was employed
by God to convey the last remonstrance to these princes.
Ø Elevation of mind is needed to fit men for
reproving sin. “The Spirit
lifted me
up.” We live, for the most part, on such a low level of spiritual
feeling,
that we must be “lifted up” in order to see the real wickedness of
sin, in
order successfully to remonstrate with sinners. Nothing can really
“lift us up” to a nobler life but the power of the Holy
Ghost.
Ø Knowledge is given to men for use. No sooner was it revealed to the
prophet
who were the ringleaders in the nation’s sin, than at once the Spirit
said to
him, “Prophesy against them, O son of man.” Here is work for man
which the
cherubim cannot do. It is the prerogative of man that he can gain
access to
the understanding, the judgment, the reason, the feeling, of his
fellow
man. Therefore God uses men to convey his messages of grace and
admonition
to guilty men. All the knowledge of Divine things which we
have is
given us for the advantage of all. “No man liveth unto himself.”
Ø
Divine command
and Divine strength are given at one and the same
time. When the voice said to
Ezekiel, “Speak!” “the Spirit of the Lord fell
upon him.”
Duty and ability
always go
together. God has Never given to man a command which
he was
unable to
obey. When God said to Moses, “Go forward!” God knew
that
the sea
would divide at the fitting time. When Jesus said to the man with a
withered band,
“Stretch it forth!” he knew that along with the effort would
be
imparted new strength. Some duties may appear formidable to a man
who
forgets the promised cooperation of Divine grace. But whenever a
spirit of
faith possesses a man, he can say, like Paul, “I can do all things
through
Christ who strengthens me.” In a very terse prayer did an ancient
Father in the
Church express this truth, “Give: and then commuted
what
thou
wilt.”
Ø The plainest reproof is the greatest kindness to
men. Every accusation
of God is
laid by the prophet before these guilty men. It is a false friendship
that
conceals any part of the truth from our fellows, especially from
relatives
and kindred. Smooth words are not always the coin of affection.
We read of one
“whose words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn
swords.”
Very wisely did David say, “Let the righteous reprove me; it shall
be a
kindness.” It needs an abundance of wisdom, and a deep well spring of
love, to
speak the whole truth to an erring friend, if we would win him
back to
paths of virtue and piety. The centrifugal force of duty is often
greater
than the centripetal force of kindness. Had Eli been more firm and
faithful
with his sons, he might have saved the ark of God — ay, the whole
nation —
from disaster. We must “speak the whole truth in love.”
·
SEE THE ATTENDANT ENERGY OF GOD. “It came to pass when
I prophesied, that Pelatiah died.”
Ø How foolish is carnal security. Walls that seem made of brass or granite
are weaker
than paste-board, unless they have God behind them.
Foundations
built by men are built on nothingness. Belshazzar
conceived
himself
secure because the enormous walls of
“in the selfsame night was Belshazzar
slain.” God’s weapons of offence can
penetrate
easily all the poor defences of men.
Ø
Man’s
opportunity is brief. It is an act of mercy that God allows any
opportunity
for escape. Such favour is seldom ever shown by an
earthly
king. Yet
sin so blinds men that they imagine the reprieve wilt last
forever.]t does not accord with God’s wise and gracious plans to
announce
when the
reprieve shall absolutely close. Often it closes when least
expected.
The day of salvation is the passing moment — the fleeting now.
3. The retribution of God is sometimes
summary. Men often
persuade
themselves
that some change of circumstance, some lengthened illness, will
precede
the final stroke. They lean upon a broken reed, an empty shadow.
“God seeth not as man seeth.” He had
seen that Pelatiah had reached a
climax of
sin, had received this special messenger with haughty scorn, was
hardening
his heart under this new reproof of Ezekiel. Hence to lengthen
out his
day of grace was waste of mercy, was to encourage others in sin.
Therefore it
was better that the scene of trial should suddenly close. The
Lord smote him
that he died. “He, that being often reproved hardeneth
his
neck,
shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
·
MARK THE BENEVOLENT SOLICITUDE OF GOD’S
SERVANT. The sudden
death of Pelatiah corroborated the truth (,f
Ezekiel’s message, and
vindicated his claim to be Jehovah’s servant;
nevertheless, in this Ezekiel
rejoiced not. He was more concerned for his
Master’s glory than for his own,
more anxious about Israel’s well being
than his own advantage. He could
consent to be set aside, exiled, slain, so
long as Israel’s rower and fame
could be restored. Such generosity of
nature is the best qualification
for a true servant of God. They who are
most like God are the most
fitted to do God’s work. Moses and Paul were
eminent examples of this
self-disinterestedness; best of all, Jesus the Son of
God.
Privilege:
Apparent or Real (vs. 14-21)
Every good thing is liable to abuse, and even religion is
in danger of
degenerating into pernicious superstition. The outward
forms often remain
— even swell into exaggeration — after the inner reality
has departed. So
the Hebrews in olden time deemed themselves secure against
evil, because
they had still among them the visible temple of Jehovah.
They were callous
to the fact that the only value of the temple arose from
its Divine
Occupant. As well might one cling to a beautiful corpse
when the
indwelling spirit had tied.
channel which may convey either good or evil, fresh water or foul.
It is like
a rampart, which is very useful
in time of battle, if only it be filled with
brave soldiers; if left
untenanted, it becomes of use to the enemy. The
existence of the temple in Jerusalem
became a snare to the Jews; it made
them haughty, self-confident,
boastful. In an earlier day the Jewish army
deemed itself impregnable on the
battlefield, because the ark of God was
with them. So now the
inhabitants of Jerusalem were over-confident of
security, because the temple of
God was there. Towards their brethren in
exile they cherished an unlovely
temper, a repulsive front. They imagined
that because they had
been left in the city, while others had been banished,
they were the favorites of God, and that those removed to
Babylon were
removed from the favour and wing of Jehovah. Again and again had this
remnant in Jerusalem been
assured that they also would be removed from
the city, and would die in the
border of Israel; but they persistently refused
to believe such distasteful
warnings. Their continuance in the sacred city
was an injury to their
character. They were fostering the worst forms of
self-conceit and
self-righteousness and self-exclusiveness. They wanted to
shut themselves in, and
to shut their less-favoured brethren out. So
they
said, “Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in
possession.”
·
THE LOSS OF EXTERNAL PRIVILEGE IS NOT NECESSARILY
THE LOSS OF GOD’S PRESENCE. When men desert us, God even
comes all the nearer on that
account. As God had endeavoured to teach the
Jews (though with little
success) that his personal presence was their only
security, so now he assures the
dispersed of Israel that, if they desired his
presence, he would be to them
still a “Sanctuary.” All that he had been to
them aforetime in Jerusalem he
could be to them in Babylon. Alter all, their
case need not be so deplorable.
Better to be in Chaldea along with God,
than in Jerusalem without him.
They had supposed that God had identified
himself with that gorgeous
temple in Jerusalem — that he was there in a
sense in which he could not be
elsewhere. This error must be unlearnt.
Having God with us, we may have
all real good.
·
SEVEREST DISASTER IS OFTEN THE CRADLE OF BLESSING.
Already it began to appear that
the defeat and captivity of
needful, yea, were working good
in the banished ones. Already the exiles
had lost faith in idols, and
were ashamed of their past folly. Already they
found that if they returned in
spirit and prayer to the true God, he would
still be their substantial
Friend. The faith and courage of Daniel and other
young men in Babylon indicate
the improvement in religious life which was
budding. The presence of Ezekiel
as a teacher among them was an omen
for good. We have seen how (ch. 8.) the elders of Judah had sought his
presence, and this, doubtless,
that they might hear some word from the
Lord. The sights of idolatry in
that idolatrous land had probably sickened
their minds and filled them with
disgust. Now they sorrowed over lost
privileges and lost
opportunities. By the side of Chebar they “hung their
harps in the willows,” and wept.
The sunshine of prosperity had spoilt their
simple faith and loyalty; but in
the shades of adversity they began to learn
wholesome lessons. Here their
character shall be re-created, their piety
shall be revitalized. Earthly
misfortune is heavenly discipline.
within than a fortune outside
us. This wealth is durable, abiding,
inalienable. No amount of money
can purchase honesty, or courage, or
tender sensibility, or heart-purity.
Ø Regeneration is promised. “I will put, a new spirit within you.”
The
stony heart
shall be changed into a heart of flesh. Men are often too blind
to
appreciate the best possessions; but when our judgment is enlightened,
we
perceive that this is the richest boon God can give or man receive. This
is an
inner fountain of blessing — “a well of water springing up into
everlasting
life.”
Ø There follows a spirit of filial loyalty. Possessing this new nature, God’s
Law will become
a delight. The sentiment of David is reproduced in them:
“Oh, how I love
thy Law!” Better still; they learn to say, like Jesus, “I
delight
to do thy will, O God!” The path of obedience now becomes a
fascination
— a flowery mead or a fragrant grove. As the stars of heaven
observe
their proper orbits, so the new-born man spontaneously runs in the
statutes
of God. Obedience is no longer irksome; it is as natural as
breathing,
as natural as fruit-bearing.
Ø Covenant relationship. “They shall be my people, and I will be
their
God.”
This covenant secures for the chosen ones the inalienable favour
and
protection
of God. God obtains, by mutual treaty, a new proprietorship in
these
people; they, on their part, obtain a proprietorship in God. They have
a claim
yielded to them by Divine condescension — a claim upon God they
did not
possess before.
Ø National unity. “I will give them one heart.” Division had
been one
source of
weakness in the former time. Civic rivalry had been the
forerunner
of national disaster. Now a better feeling shall prevail. “
shall not
vex Ephraim, Ephraim shall not envy
shall be
strength.
Ø On this shall follow demolition of
idolatry. “They shall
take away all the
detestable
things.” The more we know God — his Fatherhood, love, and
mercy —
the more we see the folly and vanity of idols. The baubles that
pleased a
child are despised when we become men. Our growing love to
God will make
us intolerant of every rival. As the burnt child dreads the
fire, so
the restored Hebrews abhorred idols. The man who has a clean
heart
desires also a clean home. Real reformation begins within — at the
centre, and works outward.
Such is the series of precious
donations God engaged to bestow upon his
afflicted people in exile; yet
their repentance and submission was the pivot
on which all good depended. If one
here and there still clung to the old
idolatry, that one should
be excluded from all share in the nation’s
regeneration. His sin shall bear
its proper fruit. The new covenant was to
be personal as well as national;
for God will not overlook the individual in
the crowd. “Each one shall give
account of himself unto God.” The one
among the guests destitute of
the wedding garment was in a moment
espied by the King. Not a
solitary culprit shall escape the scrutiny of God’s
eye, nor the operation of God’s
Law. As the light of day penetrates every
chink and corner of our globe,
so the light of God’s righteousness will
disclose every sin of man. .
.
God’s Knowledge of Our
Thoughts (v. 5)
“I know the things that come into your mind, every one of
them.”
Hengstenberg translates, “And that which riseth
up in your mind I know.”
The fact thus stated is —
·
MOST REASONABLE.
Ø
From the nature of God. Grant that God is
infinite, and the statement of
our text must be true. Nothing can be so great as to overmatch
his
comprehension; nothing so small
as to escape his notice. Our Lord
declared the Divine interest in
the smallest and lowliest things
(Matthew 6:26-30; 10:29-30). It
is unphilosophical to think that even
the smallest thing is in any way
unknown to him. It is limiting his
knowledge.
Ø From the
nature of the human mind.
o
It is
the most wonderful creation of God. Man can reflect, reason,
anticipate,
imagine. “God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him.”
We have reason, conscience, affection, adoration.
The greatness
of the human mind appears very clearly when we consider
its
achievements. Mention some of them. Its capacity and impulse for
progress
also indicate its greatness. “It never rests, it has never attained,
it is
never perfect. Its law is progress. A point which yesterday was
invisible
is its goal today, and will be its starting post tomorrow.”
o
It is
the sphere of the most wonderful operations. We see much of God
in his
operations in matter; e.g. power, wisdom, constancy. We see more
of
him in
his operations in mind; e.g. more marvellous
power, profounder
wisdom,
richer goodness. In the government of mind the righteousness,
truth,
and love of God are manifested. We see most of God in his
dealings
with sinful, disordered minds. The sin of man occasioned the
most
glorious display of the Divine mind and will. We see the wisdom
and love
of God in his method of reconciling, saving, lost men as they
were
never manifested before. I do not wonder, then, that God knows
everything
that arises in our mind, for our mind is his most wonderful
creation,
and his most wonderful creation disorganized, ruined; and
he is
engaged in saving it. How deep must be his interest in it!
·
MOST WONDERFUL. Not because
of anything in God as a difficulty or
hindrance to this vast and minute knowledge; but:
Ø Because of the intellectual quality of “the things that come into our
mind.” How insignificant,
trifling, vain, many of them are! How few
really great thoughts ever rise in our mind! We know how trying
it is to
be compelled to listen to the trivial talk of an
ill-furnished mind; to hear
all the paltry details of matters in which we have no interest
or concern.
Yet God knows all our petty,
trifling, vain thoughts. Not one of them
escapes Him. How wonderful!
Ø Because of the moral quality of
“the things that come into our mind.”
Not only are many of our
thoughts insignificant and trifling, many are
also mean, corrupt, and sinful. It is painful to become
acquainted with the
ungenerous or base thoughts and feelings of another’s mind and heart.
We shrink with loathing from the
contemplation of the malicious or cruel
designs of any one. In our own
selves there is much that we would not
that any one should gaze upon, or any mind know, so deeply are
we
ashamed of it. Yet God knows every dark thought and guilty memory;
we can hide nothing from him. He regards all sinful thoughts
and
feelings with unutterable hatred; yet he knows them every one. But
while hating our sin with unappeasable hatred, he loves us with
unspeakable love. He looks at our thoughts and weighs them, because
they are ours, and he would save us from the vain and sinful
ones, and
inspire and strengthen within us the wise and good ones. His love
for
us is as great as His knowledge of us, and leads Him to
interest Himself
in all that concerns us.
·
MOST ADMONITORY.
Ø
No thoughts are unimportant. Since the Lord takes
knowledge of, and is
so deeply interested in, all that arises in our mind, nothing
there can be
trivial. You think that your
foolish or vain thoughts are of no importance;
that they are not like words or
actions which affect others: that thoughts
influence no one so long as they
remain unexpressed. But your thoughts
give tone and colour to your mind and character. To a great extent they
arise out of your character, and
they react upon your character according
to your treatment of them. If
you foster the impure thought, it will make
you more impure; if you
entertain the trivial thought, it will increase your
triviality. Your mind is God’s
temple. Should you not take heed how you
treat it?
Ø
All our thoughts should be such as He approves. They should be:
o
True. He exhorts us to “buy the truth, and sell it not;” to
“prove all
things;
hold fast that which is good.” He is himself the “God of truth.”
Jesus Christ is
“the Truth.” We should cultivate the true in thought in
every
department of knowledge and of life. Endeavour to
think only
those
thoughts which accord with the reality of things. Be true.
o
Pure. Shun with loathing the unchaste desire or impure feeling.
You
cannot
prevent the low or foul suggestion; but you are free to welcome
such
suggestion, or to shrink from it with repugnance. Welcome it, and
it will
corrupt you. Resist it, and it cannot contaminate you. If you would
be free
from impure thoughts, you will gain your end most swiftly and
surely by
cultivating pure and beautiful ones. If your thoughts be true
and pure,
God will smile approval, etc. Be pure.
o
Earnest. Let not your true and holy
thoughts be dreamy, visionary,
impractical.
We are in a world of toil and trial, sin and sorrow, sickness
and
death, a world that cries for help; and God demands earnest thought
with a
view to noble life and work.
·
CONCLUSION.
Ø
Here is warning to the wicked. God knows all your
life and thought.
You cannot hide anything from
Him (compare Job 34:21-22; Psalm
139:1-6; Hebrews 4:13). And he
who knows us will also judge us.
“Cleanse thou me
from secret faults.” “The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin.”
Ø Here is
encouragement to the good. God knows your thoughts, devices,
purposes, motives. lie never misunderstands you. If, like Job, you
are
misjudged by man, you may say with him, “But he knoweth
the way
that I take.” Therefore be encouraged.
—
A Suffering People Scorned by Man
and Comforted by God.
(vs. 14-20)
“Again
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, thy
brethren,” etc.
·
A SUFFERING PEOPLE SCORNED BY THEIR BRETHREN WHO
THOUGHT THEMSELVES SECURE. (v. 15.) A considerable number
of the fellow countrymen of
Ezekiel were, like him, suffering the privations
and sorrows of exile; and the
people that still remained in Jerusalem,
instead of pitying the exiles,
despised and insulted them. They spake of
them:
Ø As rejected of God. “Unto whom the inhabitants of
said, Get
you far from the Lord;” or, “Be ye far from Jehovah.” These
proud
dwellers in
was
confined to the temple in that city, that the captives in
cut off
from his presence, and rejected by him. They judged from outward
appearances,
and concluded that, because they were still in their own land
and in
the sacred city, while their brethren were in exile, they were the
favoured people of God, and their brethren were
cast off by him. And they
came to
this conclusion not sorrowfully because of the privations of their
brethren,
but with Pharisaic self-complacency and cruel disdain.
Ø As having no portion in the
assumed
that they who had gone into captivity had forfeited their estates,
and that
those estates should become the property of those who remained
in the
country. They said, “Unto us is this land given in possession.” That
which
they unjustly denied to their exiled brethren they claimed for
themselves.
They arrogated to themselves an exclusive position as a people
near unto
the Lord, and exclusive possession of the land which he had
given
unto the whole of the Israelites. By their spirit and conduct these
inhabitants
of
and call
themselves Christians,” and who claim that only in their
community
can salvation be found, that only as administered amongst them
are the
sacraments valid, and that the Church of which they are members is
the only
true one. They could heartily join with the self righteous people of
temple of
the Lord, are these.” But not they who think themselves holiest
and
nearest to God, or who have the greatest reputation for religion
amongst
men, are most highly esteemed by him, but rather “the poor in
spirit,”
the “lowly in heart.” “The high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity,
whose name is Holy, dwells with him that is of a contrite and
humble
spirit.” It was not the proud Pharisee, but the penitent publican,
that” went
down to his house justified:… forevery one that exalteth himself
shall be
humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.”
·
A SUFFERING PEOPLE VINDICATED AND COMFORTED BY
THE LORD GOD.
(vs. 16-20.) The despised captives are vindicated and
consoled by several gracious and
encouraging assurances, which we will
briefly notice.
Ø That they were the true people of God. “Son of man, thy brethren, thy
brethren,
the men of thy kindred, and all the house of
Prophet Jeremiah
had already declared that the Israelites who were in exile
were
better in the sight of God than those who remained in
(Jeremiah 24.). And now Ezekiel is told that his true brethren, brethren in
spirit as
well as according to the flesh, are to be found, not in
but among
the exiles by the river Chebar. To them, as Hengstenberg points
out, the
future of the
remained
in
doomed to
destruction.” “All the house of
with “the
inhabitants of
statement,
since there was in
amongst
the exiles there were some who were not faithful to the
Lord Jehovah (ch. 14:1-5). But, in the main, the true
be looked
For, not in
different
in this respect was the Divine estimate from that of the Pharisaic
dwellers in
the sacred city I And may it not be in our day that to him who
“seeth not as man seeth,”
not they who boast their privileges and piety, but
the
despised and- lowly, are the genuine Israel of God?
Ø
That they
should find in the Lord God ample compensation for their
lost privileges. “Therefore
say, Thus saith the Lord
God; Although I have
cast them
far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them
among the
countries, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the
countries
where they shall come.” It is more correct to translate, “I will be
to them a
Sanctuary for a little” time or season, referring to the
comparatively short period of their captivity. Though they were far
removed
from their “holy and beautiful house,” yet they should have
communion
with God; for he himself would be present with. them,
and the
realization
of his presence transforms any place into a hallowed temple.
The people of
confined
to the temple at
this
impression, the Prophet “Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish
from the
presence
of the Lord.” The Lord God, in assuring them that he would be to
them as a
sanctuary during their exile, corrects this error, and gives the
germ of
the precious truth that the devout and humble spirit may offer
acceptable
worship and hold blessed communion with him anywhere. And
in this
assurance we have an anticipation of the inspiring declaration of our
Lord, “The hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship
the Father in spirit and in truth,” etc. (John 4:23-24). In the
presence
of God with them as a Sanctuary the exiles would findcompensation
for their
enforced absence from their homes and from the
temple and
its ordinances. We have here a test of godly character. When
the heart
is truly and thoroughly right with God it finds compensation in
him forevery privation and loss. The assurance that we have him
for our
Portion will
sustain and satisfy us in time of sorest need, and enable us to
sing-
“Jesus, to
whom I fly,
Doth all
my wishes fill,
What
though created streams are dry,
I have the
Fountain still
Stripped
of mine earthly friends,
I find
them all in One;
And peace
and joy that never ends,
And heaven
in Christ begun.”
(C.
Wesley.)
Ø
That they
should be restored to their country and privileges by the Lord
God. “Therefore say, Thus saith
the Lord God; I will even gather you from
the
people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been
scattered,
and I will give you the
thereto
the Lord says to the exiles, “I will give you the
the
promise was fulfilled when “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King
of
to
rebuild the temple of the Lord Jehovah — a permission of which more
than
forty thousand availed themselves. “It is well for us,” says Matthew
Henry, “that men’s severe censures cannot cut us off from God’s
gracious
promises.
There are many that will be found to have a place in the holy
land whom
uncharitable men, by their monopolies of it to themselves, have
secluded
from it.”
Ø
That they
should receive from the Lord the highest spiritual favors.
(vs. 18-20.) Here is the assurance unto them of four
spiritual blessings.
o
Unity of heart towards God. “I will give them one heart, and I will
put
a new
spirit within you.” Their heart had long been divided between the
true God
and idols, but it should be fixed upon him. By means of the
discipline
of the Captivity, their hearts were united to fear his Name.
Such, in fact,
has been the case; for since their return from
have not
bowed down to idols.
o
Tenderness of heart towards God. “And I will take the stony heart out
of their
flesh, and give them an heart of flesh.” By resisting his will and
Word and by
persisting in sin they had hardened their hearts; and he
promised
to give them a heart “soft and susceptible of the impressions of
Divine grace. The promise is essentially Messianic, although a beginning
of its
fulfillment is already to be recognized in the period immediately
after the
return from the exile” (Hengstenberg). Resistance of
Divine
influence
and rebellion against Divine commands still harden human
hearts.
“Take heed… lest any one of you be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin.”
their
heart as to be “past feeling” (Ephesians 4:18, 19). It is only God
by His
grace that can change the stone to flesh, and make the hard heart
tender in
penitence and piety.
o
Conformity of conduct to the will of
God. This follows as a
consequence
of the change of heart. The renewed heart leads to a
reformed
life. Their reformation had two chief aspects — the
renunciation of their sins, particularly the complete severance of
themselves
from idolatry (v. 18), and their positive compliance
with the
holy will of God. This was the end aimed at in putting the
new
spirit within them: “That they may walk in my statutes, and keep
mine
ordinances.” The piety of the heart must and will be seen in the
practice
of the life. If the fountain be purified, the stream will be pure.
o
Confirmation in the most exalted and
blessed relationship.
“And they
shall be
my people, and I will be their God.” This follows in natural
order
what has gone before. By the renewal of their hearts he restores
them to
Himself as His chosen people; and by the obedience of their
lives to
Him they testify that He is their God. This relationship is the
richest
of all blessings; it comprises all needful good, and crowns every
other
blessing. If “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall want nothing.”
“If God be for us, who can be against us?” “Whom have I in
heaven
but thee?
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside
thee. My
flesh and
my heart faileth: but God is the Strength of my
heart, and
my
Portion forever.”