Ezekiel 12
1 “The
word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,” This
formula, so familiar
in
Isaiah and Jeremiah, appears for the first time in Ezekiel, but
occurs repeatedly
afterwards, especially in this chapter (vs. 8, 17, 21, 26. and again ch.13:1;
14:2, et al.).
The teaching by “the visions of
God” ceases, and that of direct
message or symbolic
acts is resumed. In each case the point aimed at was the same. The people
who heard
the
one or saw the other were to be taught how utterly groundless was the hope that
was probably a short one, and the new teaching, we may
conjecture, had its
starting point in the prophecies of a speedy deliverance
which were current
both at
2 “Son of
man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious
house, which
have eyes to see, and see not; they have
ears to hear, and hear not:
for they are a rebellious house.” Which have eyes to see, etc. We note the
words in their
relation both to like utterances in the past
(Isaiah 6:9; 42:20),
and by Ezekiel’s contemporary (Jeremiah 5:21), and in the future
by our Lord
(Matthew 13:13), by John (John 12:40), and lastly by Paul
(Acts 28:27). The
thought and phrase were naturally as ever-recurring as the
fact.
Blind Eyes and Deaf Ears (v. 2)
TRUTH. These blind
Jews have eyes and the deaf have ears. Neither class
is deformed or mutilated in
respect of their organs of sense. Here is the
paradox, the surprising
situation. It is men with eyes and ears who are blind
and deaf. It is no wonder that the lower animals should live without
man’s
religion in a life of brutish
appetite. But it is surprising that beings endowed
with higher faculties should
degrade themselves to such a life. That this is
the case with the most hardened
and ignorant may be proved by the
experience of life.
Ø
The most brutalized
sinner was once a child. Then he had the child’s
wondering, open-eyed vision
of truth.
Ø
The most
degraded have been restored. Then the
faculty of spiritual
perception has been reawakened.
This proves that it was only
dormant, not absent.
Ø
Even in a condition of
indifference a degraded, deadened soul may be
aroused. The bow drawn at a
venture may send an arrow into a joint
of the armor of worldly thought
and find the natural sensitiveness
beneath. (I Kings 22:34)
SPIRITUAL TRUTH.
Their eyes are blind and their ears deaf. This does
not mean merely that they have
not the gifts Joel referred to (Joel 2:28).
It means that they do not
perceive the truth which is declared to
them by the messengers of God.
Ø
The words spoken are
not heeded. They are mere sound.
Immediately they are spoken
in the ear a rush of unsympathetic
thoughts sweeps them away. It is like sowing by the wayside.
The seed is trampled underfoot. (Matthew 13:19)
Ø
If the words are
attended to, the personal significance of them is not
grasped. They are mere ideas
unrealized. They are not felt to have any
relation to life. Thus a
biblical scholar may be blind to the truth of God.
CAUSED BY SIN. The
people are “a rebellious house,” and therefore they
cannot perceive the Divine
message. We have come upon one of the worst
consequences of sin.
It deadens the soul against its own guilt and against
the messages
from God to the sinner. This is very
different from intellectual
dullness. The will of God is so
revealed that “the wayfaring man, though a
fool, may not err therein” (Isaiah 35:8).
Indeed, mere intellectual acumen
does very little in helping us
to perceive spiritual and moral truth. God has
hidden from the “wise
and prudent” what He has revealed to “babes
and
sucklings” (Matthew 11:25). The preaching of the cross of Christ is
foolishness to many of the
world’s wise men (I Corinthians 1:18-19),
because they have not spiritual
sympathy with it (Ibid. ch.2:14). Note the
blinding and deafening which are
sometimes ascribed to God (e.g. Isaiah
6:9-10) — because it is the abuse of God’s action that leads to such a
condition, and because IT IS A CONDITION OF DIVINE JUDGMENT —
are here brought back to man’s
guilt.
is one of guilt —
for they brought it on themselves — and
also one of
danger. But they are not left alone in it. Ezekiel is to proceed
to more
simple and striking action, in
order to extort attention from the indifferent.
We must shake the sleeper when
his house is on fire. We want more
rousing preaching. God has pity
on the blind and deaf, and it is according
to his mercy that
every effort should be made to reach them. Christ gives
new sight and
hearing (Luke 4:18).
3 “Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee
stuff for removing, and
remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place
to another place in their sight: it may be
they will consider, though
they be a rebellious house. 4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by
day in their sight, as stuff for removing:
and thou shalt go forth at even
in their sight, as they that go forth into
captivity. 5
Dig thou through the
wall in their sight, and carry out
thereby. 6
In their sight shalt thou bear
it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth
in the twilight: thou shalt cover
thy face, that thou see not the ground: for
I have set thee for a sign unto
the house of
my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity,
and in the even I digged through the
wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in
the twilight, and I bare it upon
my shoulder in their sight.” Prepare thee stuff for removing, etc.; better,
equipment for a journey, with the implied
thought that it is the journey of one
going into exile. “Bag
and baggage,” all the household goods
which an exile
could take with him (Exodus 12:11, 34 may supply an
illustration), were to
be brought out in broad daylight and piled up opposite his
door. Then in
the twilight (Revised
Version, in the dark, and so in vs. 7, 12) he was to
go forth, not by the door of his house, but by breaking
through the wall
(with such walls as those of ch.
13:11 the process would not be difficult),
as a man might do who was escaping secretly from a city
through
the gates of which he dared not pass (v. 5), and was to
start with his
traveling chattels upon his shoulder. Lastly (v. 6), as the
strangest
feature of all, he was to go forth with his face covered,
as one who
wished to avoid recognition, as one also who could not see
one step of the
way before him.
This, it is intimated, would startle even the most careless,
and in this way he would become, as he had been before in
like symbolic
acts (Ezekiel 4., 5.), as Isaiah (Isaiah 20:2) and Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 27:2)
had
been before him, a sign unto the house
of
Hope Mingled
with Fear (v. 3)
If we bear in mind that this language was employed by the Lord
in
directing Ezekiel how to deal with the house of
light it casts upon human liberty and responsibility. The
prophet was to
make use of certain symbolical means with the view of wakening his
countrymen to a sense of their danger, and of inducing them to repent
and
to
turn unto the Lord. Now, believing in the Divine omniscience and
foreknowledge, we cannot but be assured that the Eternal foresaw what
would be the result of the appeal which was to be made. Yet lie
spoke to
the
prophet as if that result was uncertain. “It may be they will consider,
though they be a rebellious house.” Ezekiel did not and could not
know
what would be the issue of this ministry with which he was entrusted; and
he
was to do his work in a perfectly natural and human way, to act as
believing in the liberty of those to whom he was sent, and as
leaving the
responsibility entirely with them. He experienced in his mind a conflict
of
emotions; hope was mingled with fear.
·
A NATURAL EXPECTATION FOUNDED UPON EXPERIENCE.
Ezekiel knew that he was sent to
“a
rebellious house,” to “a stiffnecked
people;” he could not
possibly be blind to the character and disposition of
those whom he knew so well. Every herald and messenger of God is
sometimes sent to the unbelieving, the hard-hearted, the apparently
unimpressible.
Such characters have often been brought into contact with
the Divine Word, and have as often spurned it. Judging by
experience only,
how can any servant of God go to such, taking with him a new
message, or
the old message with new arguments and persuasions to enforce
it, without
something of discouragement, something of foreboding? It is not
possible.
Habits are confirmed as days and
years pass on; the hard heart is likely to
grow harder instead of softer. Only
the hammer can break, only the fire can
melt it.
·
A CONTRARY HOPE SPRINGING FROM BENEVOLENCE.
Divine kindness addresses the
rebellious and impenitent yet once again. “It
may be they will consider.” If this view is possible to God, surely it is
possible to God’s human messenger. He knows, perhaps, that his own
ignorance has been instructed, his own obduracy has been melted; and
he
hopes that in this the experience of others may resemble his own. If men
will but consider, consideration may lead to repentance. And why should
they not consider? Is not the message from God a message that deserves
serious and patient attention? The good will which the Lord’s servant has
towards his fellow men forbids him to despair of their salvation,
to
abandon labor on their behalf.
·
THE APPOINTED MEANS HAVING BEEN USED BY GOD’S
MESSENGER, THE
RESPONSIBILITY MUST BE LEFT WITH
THOSE ADDRESSED IN GOD’S NAME. The herald of God delivers his
message, presents the offers and the requirements of Divine
authority; he
does this with mingled fear and hope; and he can do no more.
The record
has always been a record resembling that of Paul’s ministry at
“Some believed, and some believed
not.” (Acts 28:24) The minister
of Christ
preaches the gospel, whether men will hear or forbear. He delivers
his soul.
He cannot command results. He
can simply repeat the admonition of his
Master, “Take
heed how ye hear!” And it is
well that he should not
discharge his ministry in a spirit of dejection and despondency. He
must
indeed face the possibility that those whose welfare he seeks may
refuse to
consider; they are free agents, and the
competing voices of the world are
powerful, attractive. Yet he
should not forget that they may consider; and
if they will only yield so far, he may reasonably hope that
consideration
may lead to
repentance and to life eternal.
8 “And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
9 Son of
man, hath not the house of
unto thee, What doest thou?” The commands
were obeyed, and the prophet
waited fur the
next inspiration, the next word of the Lord. It would seem as
if
he had himself done what he was told to do without knowing what it
meant. It
was not till night had passed to morning that he was able
to answer the question
which the exiles asked him, What doest thou! At last the answer came.
10 “Say
thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden
concerneth the prince in
are among them. 11 Say, I am
your sign: like as I have done, so shall it
be done unto them: they shall remove and go
into captivity.”
Literally, the prince is this burden in
sense of “prophecy,” so common in Isaiah and Jeremiah and
other
prophets, as Hosea (Hosea 8:10) and Nahum (Nahum 1:1), is
used
by Ezekiel here only. Possibly he on the whole avoided it,
as having fallen
into discredit through its constant use by the false
prophets (Jeremiah
23:33-38), and preferred the formula of “the
word of Jehovah.” As
interpreted by Jeremiah 39:4 and II Kings 25:4, the “prince”
is
Zedekiah. Possibly Ezekiel avoided the title “king,” as seeing in him one
who was a ruler de facto, but not a king de jure. The facts related in
Jeremiah 39:4 exactly correspond with the symbolic act.
Zedekiah and
his men of war escape from the city by night, “by
the way of the king’s
garden, by the gate between the two walls,” probably enough with faces
covered, as David’s was in his flight (II Samuel 15:30), to
avoid
detection, or as a sign of mourning, and through some
freshly made exit
from the palace. The further significance of the covered
face is found in the
fact that Zedekiah was blinded at Riblah
by Nebuchadnezzar’s orders, and
from that time could not see the ground on which he trod.
Those who see
in every Old Testament prediction nothing but a prophecy ex
eventu infer
from this that this section of Ezekiel was written after
the destruction of
preceding chapters. We note in v. 11 the peculiar phrase, “I am your
sign.” Ezekiel,
in what he does in the presence of the exiles, is figuring that
which, before long, will come to pass in
into captivity as he had gone. For they shall remove, the Revised. Version
gives, they shall go into exile.
Teaching by Example (v. 11)
The Jews had neglected the words of Ezekiel; the prophet is now to
attempt to rouse them by a fresh method, by an illustrative
action. They
would not attend when he told them that the trouble was
coining; he is
now to perform before their eyes an action illustrative of
that trouble. The
inhabitants of
captivity, and it would seem that their friends in
captivity were in sympathy
with them in this respect, and could communicate with them.
So Ezekiel
packs up his goods and removes his house, as a sign of the
approaching
removal of the Jews into captivity. This is the most
effective method of
teaching.
Ø
It is transparent. Deeds are more visible than words. Men of
various languages can
understand the same facts. The bold
outlines of an event are more
readily grasped than the floating
sounds of speech.
Ø
It is impressive. We are struck by what
we see with our own eyes far
more than by what is reported to
us by others. The greatest deeds
recorded in history do not
produce so much impression on us as the
much smaller things with which
we have had personal contact
(I imagine that is why God has
ordained for us to witness one on
One – CY – 2014); but those
historic deeds are far more interesting
than abstract philosophical
principles.
Ø
It is suggestive.
Deeds are more eloquent than words. They
are
many-sided, and every face;
is capable of reflecting some truth.
Thus the same illustration
may convey various aspects of truth to
different persons.
Ø
It is enduring.
The memory of events remains when that of
words
has faded. Nothing dies so
rapidly as the influence of an orator.
Facts live forever, while
words of preaching vanish almost as soon
as they are spoken.
Ø
That which is human. We may take
illustrations from nature, and
read “sermons in stones,
books in the running brooks, and good in
everything;” but human life
is more full of instruction — more
intelligible, impressive,
suggestive, and enduring in its lessons.
Hence the inestimable value
of honest biography.
Ø
That which is personal to the teacher. It is good to be able
to point to
great examples in history. But
when the preacher himself does some
striking deed, his influence is
far greater. Ezekiel was himself to
remove in illustration of the
Captivity. We can teach best by our lives.
Ø
That which involves self-sacrifice. Ezekiel’s action was
one of trouble
and vexation. If our message
costs us little, it may be lightly esteemed.
Nothing is so impressive as the
evidence of pain and cost in the effort to
enlighten others. Self-denial is
the most eloquent of persuasive influences.
He who thus puts himself to
trouble proves his sincerity, and impresses
his neighbours
with his own earnestness, and with the corresponding
weightiness of his message.
Here we are taught by the facts of the life, death, and
resurrection of
Christ. Those facts are seen in the personal history of our great Teacher,
and pre-eminently in His sacrifice of Himself to the truth and
for the benefit
of the world.
12 “And
the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in
the twilight, and shall go forth: they
shall dig through the wall to
carry out thereby: he shall cover his face,
that he see not the ground
with his eyes.” For that he see not, read, with the Revised Version, because
be shall not see.
13 “My net
also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my
snare: and I will bring him to
yet shall he not see it, though he shall
die there.” My net also will I
spread, etc.
Compare the same image in Lamentations 1:13. The prediction of v.
12 is
reiterated with
emphasis. Zedekiah shall be in
Josephus (‘
that he should not see
hardened himself in his unbelief. (Like people today who ignorantly
look
for discrepancies in the Bible. (“…..some things are hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” II
Peter 3:16 – CY - 20-14).
There is no reason, however, for supposing that Josephus had
access to any
other records than the books of the two prophets,
and his narrative looks
rather like an imagined history of what might have
been.
God’s Net (v. 13)
Ø
God will not leave guilty men free. They have a time of
liberty, but
there will be a
limit to this. Though they have a long tether, some
day its end will be
reached. Freedom is given to allow
scope for
choice. If the power of choice is abused, the freedom will
be
withdrawn.
Ø
God employs means for restraining
the liberty of bad men. He does
not lay hold of them with
His hand; He uses a net. In the present
instance the net was Nebuchadnezzar. That heathen monarch did
not know that he was a
mere instrument in the hand of God; yet did
God so completely hold him
in this respect that he called the man
“my servant Nebuchadnezzar” (Jeremiah 25:9). Thus God overrules
the movements of kings.
Ø
These means may not be perceived by the unhappy victims. The net
is a snare, and “in
vain is a snare spread in the sight of any bird”
(Proverbs 1:17). We must not suppose that God really deceives
His children. The Jews had
been warned. But their eyes were
blind and their
ears deaf (v. 2). The danger is not
the
less because men do not perceive
it. Just when a man boasts of his
greatest triumph the meshes of a Divine judgment may be drawing
together about his doomed
life.
Ø
He designs the net for particular persons. In the verse before
us it is
spread for one man. There is no
element of chance in the judgments
of Heaven. God considers the
case of each soul, and acts accordingly.
Ø
All the men caught in God’s net are sinners. He has no terrors for the
good. He is not like the
tempter, who ensnares men into evil. Every
man who is caught in God’s net
of judgment has been first ensnared
in the devil’s net
of sin.
Ø
The greatest are not beyond the
reach of this net. In the present
instance the net is spread
expressly to catch no less a person than
Zedekiah, the King of
ranks of a mighty army
cannot keep off the invisible entanglement
of the net of judgment.
NET. Its threads may be
fine as gossamer, but they are strong as steel.
Zedekiah was to be taken in the
snare, and brought to
helpless a state that he would not
even see the place, for, as the event
proved, his eyes were to be put
out. The king fled by night from
but was caught by the Chaldeans near
courses fought
against Sisera” (Judges 5:20), the course of armies and
nations turned against the
guilty Jews and their wicked king. There is NO
HOPE FOR THE
IMPENITENT!
apostles that they should be
fishers of men (Matthew 4:19), and He
compared the kingdom of heaven
to a dragnet (Ibid.ch.13:47). The
only way of escaping from the
awful net of judgment is to permit one’s
self to be taken in the saving
net of the gospel.
14 “And I
will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help
him, and all his bands; and I will draw out
the sword after them.
15 And
they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them
among the nations, and disperse them in the
countries.
16 But I
will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the
famine, and from the pestilence; that they
may declare all their
abominations among the heathen whither they
come; and they shall
know that I am the LORD.” And I will scatter. The capture of the king would
naturally be followed by the dispersion of his adherents,
some of whom
would fall by the sword, while a few (Hebrew, men of
number, i.e. easily
counted) would escape to some neighboring country, where
they might
hope to find a refuge. There
they would have to tell their tale of shame,
and to let the heathen know that Jehovah was thus punishing
their
abominations (compare
ch.14:22-23). The prophecy ends with the
familiar formula, They
shall know that I am the Lord.
The Dramatic Form of Prophecy (vs.
1-16)
It is of the first moment that men should have right and
adequate
impressions of the truth. A man’s life is properly molded through his
intelligence. His intelligence molds his tastes, feeds his emotions,
inspires
his
purposes, directs his life. Clear convictions of truth and duty possess
unspeakable value.
·
MORAL OBTUSENESS (SLOW
TO UNDERSTAND) IN MEN IS A
GRIEF TO GOD.
Eyes have been conferred for the sole reason that men
may see; and ears, that they may hear. Yet men often misuse and neglect
them. By indulgence in vicious likings
they willfully blind the inner eye
and make deaf the inner ear. “None are so blind as those who will not see.”
“If the eye be
evil, the whole body is full of darkness.” (Matthew 6:23)
If the sole channel of truth be
choked, the man is the victim of falsehood.
This is a grief to God, and he
adopts a thousand methods to illumine the
dark understanding. He sometimes blinds the eye of
sense that the eye of
the mind may open. He finds His way into the heart of
men through some
other avenue hitherto untried; for He who made man will
find some method
of access to his soul.
·
A NOVEL FORM OF PROPHECY — A DRAMA IN ACTUAL
LIFE.
Instruction, as a rule, is addressed to the ear; but for the deaf and for
infants it is often addressed to the eye. So, in olden times, God
often gave
to men an object lesson. We have the narrative of such an
event in the
fourth chapter, where Ezekiel was required to lie on free side of
his body
during three hundred and ninety days. When Zedekiah the prophet
was
summoned to the court of Ahab, to give counsel respecting the
projected
war, Zedekiah entered the king’s presence furnished with horns
of iron.
The appearance of these was to
add impressiveness to the prophet’s words.
So when Paul was journeying for
the last time to
prophet, came to him at
hands and feet, then added, “So shall the Jews bind the man that owneth
this girdle.” (Acts
21:11) This appeal to the eye by living action strengthens
conviction in the minds of spectators of the truth and importance of
the
message. By every possible method God accommodated Himself to the
necessities of the people for whom He still designed
kindness.
·
MEDIATORAL SERVICE BY MAN FOR MEN. The labor of a
true prophet is no sinecure (easy job). It is the hardest of
toil. He must have no
care for himself in his solicitude for others. To be a true
prophet he must be
like-minded with God. The self-forgetful, self sacrificing love of God must
flow in his veins. He
must be completely devoted to the good of those to
whom he is sent. No labor must
be accounted arduous, no pain severe, in
order to success in his undertaking. Now Ezekiel is
required to array
himself in an emigrant’s attire; provide himself with the usual
baggage for
foreign travel; take his staff in his hand; carry his equipment on
his
shoulder; leave his home in the sight of men, yet with face veiled;
and dig a
hole through the city wall, to secure exit from the city. To do
all this in the
town of Tel-Abib would excite public
attention, surprise, and wonder. The
people would consider the prophet mad. Yet this was the
very end God
had in view, viz. to arrest
attention and to produce reflection.
This strange
action would indicate the strength of Ezekiel’s faith, and strong
faith
awakens faith in others. He was willing, like Paul, “to
become all things, so
that by any means he might save some.” (I
Corinthians 9:22)
·
INQUIRY LEANS TO CLEARER REVELATION OF TRUTH. The
knowledge which man gets in response to inquiry is more appreciated
and
more pondered than that which is given unasked. A great
triumph is gained
over the sluggishness of our nature when a spirit of inquiry is
stirred
within. If a man desires knowledge, it is an omen for good; it is
the dawn
of blessing. Clearer
and fuller information can come through the gateway
of the ear than through the gateway of the eye. The people to
whom
Ezekiel addressed himself were
those of the Captivity at Tel-Abib. They
were fostering a false hope (aided by vain counsels sent from
brethren in
combinations would result in speedy restoration to
minds would be disturbed; their simple trust was diverted from
God, and
they were losing the spiritual benefit which the exile was
intended to bring.
Inquiry after the truth would
lead the way to mental tranquillity and
submission. The clear fulfillment of prophecy would strengthen faith
in
God.
·
FOLLY OF ALL EFFORT TO EVADE GOD. In the fourteenth verse
we read, “I will scatter toward every wind all that
are about to help him,
and all his bands.”
This announcement would embrace the Egyptian host
which came to help Zedekiah, as well as his own people. To
resist Jehovah
is to resist the granite rock. A
single word from God ought to suffice in
order to obtain our readiest obedience. Patriotism is an
excellent virtue in
its place, but very often it is only a poor admixture of
vanity and selfish
ambition. Pious trust and pious obedience are far superior. To be wise we
must always be on the side of God. God’s will is supreme, and,
in the end,
is irresistible. Oneness with that will is life and peace.
·
TO KNOW GOD — THIS IS THE FINAL ISSUE. It is instructive to
observe how that this is the frequent refrain: “They
shall know that I am
the Lord.” (I have
counted 62 times from a concordance that this phrase
is used in this context in Ezekiel - see Ezekiel – Study of God’s Use of the Word Know -
# 223 - this website - Y - 2021) This was a lesson which the Hebrews
would not learn in days of prosperity; therefore they were led into
the deep
shades of adversity to acquire it. The discipline, though severe, was
successful. Experience is an excellent school, though a costly one. It cured
them of their foolish belief in idols, and
wrought in them the conviction
that the unseen Jehovah alone was God. Yet in many persons this
knowledge was only
intellectual. It
did not command their affection,
nor draw after it spontaneous service. The knowledge of God which
becomes to us salvation, is an experimental knowledge.
It is knowledge of
God as our God — our reconciled Father. We know Him with
personal
intimacy. We admit Hhim to the inmost chamber of
our hearts. He becomes
Emmanuel, i.e. God with us — God in us. We grow up
into His likeness,
We imitate His qualities. We
yield to Him our will and
heart and life.
A Parabolic Appeal to a Rebellious People (vs.
1-16)
“The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, Son of
man, thou dwellest in the
midst of a rebellious house,” etc. “Now begin the amplifications,” says Hengstenberg,
“the marginal notes, so to speak,
on
the great text in ch. 8-11., which extend to ch. 19,
and
these terminate in a song, corresponding to the song in the first group in ch. 7.
The approaching catastrophe of
The prophet is inexhaustible in the announcement of this,
as the false
patriotism was inexhaustible in its announcements of salvation.” We
are
not
certain whether this parable of Ezekiel’s removing was really acted by
him
or only visional. But we incline to the opinion that it was internal and
visional, for the following reasons:
1. This communication
(vs. 1-16) refers chiefly to the king and the
people in
the
people principally interested in it are concerned, it would be as
impressive to them if it took place in the region of the prophet’s
soul as if it
were outwardly enacted in a country far away from them.
2. The prophet is
represented as dwelling in the midst of the people to
whom this communication chiefly applies, and as doing these things in their
sight; but seeing that he actually dwelt at Tel-Abib on the Chebar, we think
that his dwelling and acting spoken of in this chapter must have been
visional.
3. If it had been an
actual and external occurrence it would not, at least in
one
respect, have well answered the end designed. That
end was to set
forth
the truth that the king and the people in
into
captivity. But inasmuch as Ezekiel was already
in exile, if he actually
went forth thus from his Babylonian residence, the action would more fitly
symbolize the return of the exiles to their own land than the
carrying of
others into exile. Such a return many of the exiles were hoping
for and
expecting speedily; and the prophet was not likely to be told to do
anything
that would encourage the vain expectation. Jeremiah had already written to
them, exhorting them to build houses and settle peacefully in the land of
their captivity, because they should not return to their own land until
seventy years of exile
were accomplished. For these reasons we
incline to
the
opinion that the doings of vs. 3-7 were not external and actual, but
internal and visional; but, as we have said above, we are not
certain of this.
Of this we feel assured, that, if they were visional, they
were impressed
upon the mind of Ezekiel with all the vividness of actual transactions. But,
happily, this question does not affect the permanent and universal
teachings
of
the incident. Notice:
·
THE DEPLORABLE MORAL CONDITION OF REBELLIOUS
SINNERS. “Son of man, thou dwellest
in the midst of a rebellious house,”
etc.
Ø
A condition of sad moral obtuseness. “Which have eyes to see, and see
not; they have ears to hear, and hear not” (compare Deuteronomy 29:4;
Isaiah 6:9-10). The will of God
was made known unto them, and they
had the mental and moral faculties which are necessary for
its
apprehension, yet they did not apprehend it; they misapprehended
or
disregarded it. “When men see, hear,
and do not profit by their seeing or
hearing, then they neither see nor hear in Scripture sense.” In
this respect
how great is the moral insensibility, not only of the openly
profane, but of
many who attend the public means of grace! They unite in forms of
public
worship without any spiritual improvement; they hear the ministry of
redemptive truth without
any saving impression. They “have
eyes to see,
and see not; they have cars to hear, and hear not.”
Ø
Moral obtuseness arising from
persistent wickedness. “For they are a
rebellious house.” Their
moral insensibility was a consequence of their
habitual sin. “The cause is all from themselves; the darkness of the
understanding is owing to the stubbornness of the will.”
o
The practice of sin blunts
the spiritual
susceptibilities,
o
tends to
destroy the capacity
for receiving religious impressions
or perceiving spiritual truth;
and when fully developed
IT ENDS
IN MORAL INSENSIBILITY,
and makes a man “past feeling.” (Ephesians 2:19)
·
THE PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE OF THE DIVINE EFFORTS
FOR THE CONVERSION OF
THE WICKED. “Therefore, thou son of
man, prepare thee stuff for removing,” etc. (v. 3). Many means had been
tried to lead them to repentance, but without a satisfactory
result. Still,
God does not yet abandon them,
but directs that other means shall be tried,
saying, “It may be they will consider, though they be
a rebellious house.”
The truth must “be set before
their eyes,” says Hengstenberg, “in rough,
palpable, overpowering reality, if it is to find entrance to their
minds, and
succeed in emancipating them from
those dreams of the future which are
preventing their repentance....The
greater the weakness of their eyes, the
more conspicuous must he the exhibition of the truth.” God is
unwilling to
abandon the wicked to their sin and doom. He has
long patience with them,
sends to them messenger after messenger, and
employs means after means,
both various and oft-repeated, in order to lead them to turn
from sin to
Himself. (“And
the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by His
messengers,
rising up betimes, and sending; because He had
compassion
on His people, and on His dwelling place:
But they mocked
the messengers of God, and despised His
words, and misused His prophets,
until the wrath oI
the Lord arose against His people, till there was no
remedy.
(II Chronicles 36:15-16) In illustration and confirmation of this,
see here ch. 33:11; Jeremiah 44:4; Hosea 11:8-9; Nehemiah 9:26-31;
Matthew 21:33-44. And in the incident before us, he not only
addresses to
them this stirring
parable to arrest their attention and awaken their consideration,
but he also instructs the prophet to make known to them the
interpretation of
it, that even the most indifferent and the most insensible might
be made
acquainted with the truths communicated.
·
THE EXTRAORDINARY DIVINE APPEAL TO THE
INCONSIDERATE AND REBELLIOUS PEOPLE. This parable
(vs. 3-
7) was the Lord’s appeal to the insensible and rebellions people. It
does not require any exposition from us, as the inspired
interpretation is
here given (vs. 8-16), and this also is interpreted by its remarkable
fulfillment
in history. But we may
mark the several stages of the mournful history here
predicted, the fulfillment of which is recorded in II Kings 25.; Jeremiah
39:1-10; 52:1-30.
Ø Here is a picture of the king and people of
captivity. (vs. 3-4, 10-11.) “The
stuff for removing,” or “baggage of the
emigrant” (vs. 3-4), “is the equipment made by one who enters on
a
journey never to
return.” And “as they that go forth into
captivity,” or
“like the removals of the emigrant” (v. 4), signifies, according to
Hengstenberg, “in the costume and with the maimer
of emigrants; ‘with a
bag on the shoulder and a staff in the hand;’ ‘sad and with
drooping
head.’” Thus Ezekiel was
to typify the departure of prince and people into
exile.
Ø Here is a picture of going into captivity by sorrowful and stealthy
flight. (vs. 5-7, 12.) He is to go forth
in the twilight so as to elude the
vigilance of the enemies, and with his face covered so as not to see the
beloved land which he is leaving. And all the accounts of the flight agree
that it was made in fright and furtively under cover of night.
(Just imagine what they were
going through, all so unnecessary because
they could have and should have obeyed! CY - 2021)
Ø Here is a veiled announcement of the king’s deprivation of sight and an
explicit declaration of his destination as an exile. (v.
13.) According to
Josephus (‘
personally considerably disposed to heed the counsel of that
prophet. But
the king compared the announcements of the two prophets, and
finding
that while Jeremiah said he should be carried in bonds to
said he should not see it, he disbelieved both of them. And yet the
event
showed that both of them were true. The king was carried as a prisoner to
Riblah
in the
Ø Here is a declaration that the king should be left without defense or
helper. “I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to
help him,
and all his bands” (v.
14). And the sacred historian tells us that when the
army of the Chaldeans overtook the
fleeing king “in the plains of
all his army were scattered from him.” *****
Ø Here is the intention expressed to spare a small remnant for the
acknowledgment of the supremacy of Jehovah and the confession of
their sins. (vs. 15-16.) Only “a
few men,” or “men of number,” should be
left, i.e. so few that they
might be easily counted; and they should be spared
in order that they might acknowledge the many aggravated and
persistent sins of the people,
which had led to these stern judgments,
and so vindicate the
justice of God in the infliction of them. And by these
judgments they would become convinced that Jehovah is the living and the
true God. “They shall know that I am the
Lord.” These words, which
“recur
as a refrain” in these prophecies, we
have already considered
(in Ezekiel
6:7, 10). (A wasted life - so useless to
have happened -
how do we miss the mark - why so anti-God? I do not have the words
to convey my feelings!
CY - 2021)
·
CONCLUSION. Learn:
1. The peril of disregarding the Word of the Lord. Such conduct,
persisted
in, leads to
spiritual blindness and deafness.
2. The obligation of the good to put forth persistent
efforts for the
conversion of the
wicked.
3. The importance of
employing various means for the conversion of the
wicked.
17
“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,”
The opening words, The
worn of the Lord came to me,
imply an interval of passivity and silence. One conscious
burst of
inspiration came to an end, and was followed, after a time,
by another.
18 “Son of
man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with
trembling and with carefulness; 19 And say unto
the people of the land,
Thus saith the
Lord GOD of the inhabitants of
of
with astonishment, that her land may be
desolate from all that is therein,
because of the violence of all them that
dwell therein. 20
And the cities that
are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the
land shall be desolate; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.” Eat thy bread with quaking, etc. No special stress
is to be laid on the fact that only bread and water are named. The
prophet is not
dwelling now on the scarcity of food in the besieged city,
as he had done in
ch.
4:9-17, but on the fear and terror
which should haunt the lives of the
besieged. Here again
we can scarcely doubt that, as in v. 11, Ezekiel was a
sign to those among whom he lived. Outwardly and visibly
he was seen after his strange flitting, cowering in a
corner, as one hunted
down and dreading pursuit, with every look and gesture of extremest
terror. This was to
be the portion of those who escaped and whose life was
“given them for a prey” (Jeremiah
45:5). The strange act was to be
explained
to “the people of the land,” i.e. the exiles among
whom Ezekiel lived. The short
prediction ends with the usual formula. There is another
interval, and then
another inspiration.
Fear (v. 18)
Ezekiel, in conformity with his new, desperate method of
rousing the
heedless Jews, is now to dramatize Fear in his own person
and action, as a
sign of the terror that will seize upon the inhabitants of
days of its overthrow.
healthy circumstances should not
know fear. Observe some of the causes
of fear.
Ø
Ignorance. “Fear always springs from ignorance,” says Emerson.
There is a sense of the
mysterious and uncertainty about it. When we
perceive an approaching
calamity, we may shrink from it and feel the
keenest distress; but the
peculiar agony of fear lies in the darkness of
futurity. This, of course,
implies nothing morally defective, for we
are necessarily
limited. Childish fears naturally haunt
childish
ignorance. But though not
morally wrong, except in the careless
and wilful,
ignorance is an evil circumstance to be conquered.
Ø
Weakness. There is a weakness of nerve which belongs to one’s
bodily condition, and so
some are constitutionally timorous. But
the worst fear
springs from cowardice, i.e. from
a culpable laxity
of moral fiber.
Ø
Guilt. Fear followed the Fall. “The wicked flee when no man
pursueth.” (Proverbs 28:1) We
know that we deserve ill; therefore
we cannot be surprised if
we are to receive it. This is an intellectual
conception; but the moral
effect of sin is stronger. The man who is
conscious of his
sin feels ashamed, smitten with
helplessness; and
the heavens gather
up black thunderclouds over his head.
Ø
It is one of the
most painful elements of
punishment. The murderer
suffers infinitely more agony in
the condemned cell than he can ever
feel on the gallows. “There is
but one thing of which I am afraid,”
says Montaigne,
“and that is fear.” (“For
God hath not given us
the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7)
Ø
Fear is a cause of disaster. “The direst foe of courage,” says George
Macdonald, “is the fear itself,
not the object of it; and the man who can
overcome his own terror is a
hero and more.” We are paralyzed by fear.
As in dreams the limbs are
heavy, like lead, when a terror is approaching,
so in waking life we find that
the terror which threatens fascinates us
into helplessness.
Ø
Worse than all this, fear is morally degrading. “Fear
is cruel and mean,”
says Emerson. It is a selfish
passion, and it lowers our whole tone and
character.
will exclude the possibility of
fear. “Fear!” exclaimed the hero Nelson,
when only a boy, to his
grandmother, who had asked if he had not met fear
when he had lost his way, “what is
it like? I have never seen it.” Such
incapacity for fear is a
splendid natural endowment, but it has not the moral
character of victory over fear
in those who are capable of its pangs. The
true antidote to
fear is FAITH! We cannot know everything, and so dispel
the ignorance out of which fear
springs; nor can we create in ourselves the
strength of a hero by a sheer
act of will; nor can we deny or repudiate our
guilt. But we may:
Ø
trust God’s
protection in the darkness,
Ø
lean upon His
strength in the hour of need,
Ø
rely upon His
pardon when we repent of sin and
Ø
turn to the grace of Christ.
So the feeblest can say with the
Apostle Paul, “When I am weak, then am
I strong” (II
Corinthians 12:10); “I will go in the strength of the Lord God”
(Psalm 71:16). Moreover, the work of faith will be completed
by love,
for “perfect love casteth out fear.” (I John 4:18)
Trembling
Anticipations (v. 18)
Frequently was the ministry of Ezekiel a ministry of
symbolism as well as
of
language. Very pictorial and effective must some of the prescribed
actions of the prophet have appeared to those who witnessed them.
On the
occasion referred to in this passage he ate his bread and drank his
water
with trembling, carefulness, and astonishment. Now, in ordinary cases, the
daily meals are partaken by good men with cheerfulness and
gratitude. The
change from Ezekiel’s usual demeanor to that evident upon this
occasion
must certainly have awakened on the part of his companions not a little
curiosity and inquiry. There was a typical signification in it,
which he
himself was ready to explain. There are times when anticipation of
evil is
justified, when its absence is unreasonable. The terrors,
privations, and
sufferings of the
approaching siege of
by the figurative,
symbolical actiom of the prophet.
·
THE OCCASION OF THESE TREMBLING FOREBODINGS. It was
the inhabitants of
suffer. And their sufferings
were the just reward of their unfaithfulness
and
rebelliousness. Threats and
warnings had not been spared. The prophet at
least believed that these threats were not empty and vain, that
the day was
approaching when they should be fulfilled. The siege of the rebellious
city
was at hand.
·
THE SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER OF THESE TREMBLING
FOREBODINGS. lake a true minister of God, Ezekiel thought and felt less
for himself than for his people.
He had personally no special reason for
alarm. So far as his own safety was concerned, there was no
reason why he
should cherish anticipations of evil. But in his own mind he identified
himself with
himself from those to whom he was bound by ties of kindred and of
common indebtedness to the God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob.
If his people suffered, he would
suffer with them. Even if they showed a
sinful indifference to their state and prospects, he would
cherish a just
sensitiveness. If disaster were approaching, he would not be content to
secure his own safety and to regard their fate with heartless
unconcern.
·
THE INTENTION OF THESE TREMBLING FOREBODINGS.
Ezekiel was no mere prophet of
evil. He did not conceive himself to have
accomplished his mission in predicting the coming evil, and then
abandoning the people to the consequences of their sin. He warned them
in
the hope that they would profit by his warning, turn from
their evil ways,
and seek that national disaster might be averted, or, at all events, in
the
hope that individuals might repent and flee from the wrath to
come. His
mission was one of benevolence.
·
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR THESE TREMBLING
FOREBODINGS. The siege which Ezekiel foretold came to pass; the
people, in the famine which ensued, ate their bread with
carefulness, and
drank their water with astonishment; the cities were laid waste, and the
land became a desolation. All the predictions of the Lord’s prophet were
verified. The false security of the people was proved to be false
and
baseless; their hope of immunity from judgment was frustrated. The
righteous judgment of God was vindicated, and that in
a most awful
manner.
·
THE ULTIMATE ISSUE OF THESE TREMBLING
FOREBODINGS. The
fear of the prophet, the calamity and terror which
overtook the people, had a moral, a religious end, which in large
measure
was secured. The authority of the God of
rebellion against Him was demonstrative. The attention of all concerned was
directed to THE
PRINCIPLES OF TRUE RELIGION AS THE
FOUNDATION ALIKE
OF NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL WELL BEING!
“Ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
Deprivations Caused by Sin (vs. 17-20)
“Moreover the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, eat thy
bread with
quaking,” etc. This paragraph was
addressed to Ezekiel’s fellow
exiles. “Say unto the people of the land;” i.e.
of
to discourage the false expectations of the captives, who
were looking
forward to an early season of prosperity for their native
land, in which they
hoped to share. To this end the prophet shows to them that,
in respect to
their fellow countrymen in
physical comforts of life, great anxiety and distress of
mind, and sad
devastation of both cities and country, and all these things because of the
sins of the people, or “for the violence of all who dwell in it.” Several
things call for attention.
LIFE. “Son
of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with
trembling and with
carefulness; and say unto the people of the land, Thus
saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of
[or, ‘in the
drink their water
with astonishment.” These words point
to the cutting off
of the comforts of life, and the
possession of the mere necessaries thereof.
But not always does sin produce
consequences such as this. Sin and secular
prosperity have often gone hand
in hand (compare Genesis 13:10, 13;
Psalm 73:3-12; Luke 12:16-20;
16:19-26). But in these cases the prosperity
was precedent to the Divine
judgment or to the full
development
of sin (Genesis
15:16). When
that development had taken place, and that
judgment was being exercised,
there was a striking reversal of circumstances
in each case. In the siege of
comforts and
luxuries disappeared, and long before
its close men deemed
themselves fortunate if they
could secure bread and water. And in our age
the wicked may prosper in the
world and increase in riches; but in the time of
retribution, whenever it arrives, sin
will be found injurious to all THE TRUE
INTERESTS OF
MEN! Sin often strips the sinner of physical comforts,
and even of the bare necessaries
of life. Drunkenness, gluttony, indolence,
wastefulness, bring many a
person and many a family to abject poverty and
want (compare Proverbs 6:9-11;
19:15; 23:21; 24:30-34).
SPIRIT. “Son
of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water
with trembling and
with carefulness.… They shall eat their bread with
carefulness, and
drink their water with astonishment.”
They would eat
even the necessaries of life,
not in peace and comfort, but in anxiety and
alarm. Their distress may have arisen from fear lest
their scanty supplies of
food should fail them, and so
they ate “their bread with carefulness.” And
to this was joined terror of
their enemies who surrounded them, causing
them to take of the sustenance
of life “with quaking, trembling, and
astonishment.” It
is of the nature of sin, when it is developed, to destroy
peace and calmness of mind, and to
produce terror and distress. “The wicked
are like the
troubled sea,” etc. (Isaiah 57:20-21).
Without doubt we may often
find the wicked in their sad
career untroubled either by guilt or fear; but
for everyone the time of awakening
comes, and with it security departs and
terror arrives. “When the
pleasure has been tasted and is gone,” says Mr.
Froude, “and nothing is left of the crime but the ruin which it
has wrought,
then the furies take their seats
upon the midnight pillow.” “The wicked flee
when no man pursueth”
(Proverbs 28:1). “The sound of a shaken leaf
shall chase them; and they shall flee as
fleeing from a sword; and they
shall fall when none pursueth.” (Leviticus 26:36)
COMMITTED. “That
her land may be desolate from all that is therein,
because of the
violence of all them that dwell therein. And the cities that
are inhabited
shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate.” Instead of
“That her land may be desolate
from all that is therein,” the margin reads,
“from the fulness
thereof.” The meaning seems to be that the land
would be
“stripped of all its
inhabitants and of all its wealth.”
The
once fair and fertile — “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and
depths that spring out of valleys and hills,” etc.
(Deuteronomy 8:7-9). In the time
of Solomon the Tyrians received
large quantities of corn and
wine and oil from this fruitful land (I Kings
5:11; II Chronicles 2:10). But
what is its condition now? And what has
been its condition for ages
past? “He turneth a
fruitful land into barrenness,
for the
wickedness of them that dwell therein.”
“The plain of Jordan, well
watered
everywhere, and as the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10) is
not the only example of fertility, being changed
into barrenness because of
the sins of the
people. Other lands have had a similar
fate, but by a different
process. There are sins by which
lands are still laid waste. Indolence,
effeminacy, self-indulgence,
delight in war, and social oppression, in every
age produce impoverishment and
desolation in any country where they
prevail.
KNOW THAT JEHOVAH IS THE ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD.
“And ye shall
know that I am the Lord” (see our
notes on these words in
ch. 6:7, 10; 11:10).
21 “And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
22 Son of
man, what is that proverb that ye have in the
saying, The days are prolonged, and every
vision faileth?”
What is that proverb, etc.?
The words indicate how the previous messages
had been received. Like the
men of
that the judgment was so near. They said, in words that had become proverbial:
that they had so passed since
Ezekiel began his work), “and yet the end
comes not.” Such throughout the
world’s history has been the cry of
those of little, or of no, faith
(Amos 6:3; Isaiah 5:19; Jeremiah 17:15;
Matthew 24:48; II Peter 3:4).
heard of many such visions, yet
still all things continue as they were.”
(Ibid.)
The most dangerous proverbial expressions are those that
flatter ourselves. With the
Jews the favorite proverb was one that postponed the prospect
of the evil day and
threw doubt on the Divine
message. Cynical unbelief is full of
sell-assurance. But
it is not safe to trust to it simply because it may be clever or
prevalent. Every idea
that denies the Divine word is sure to prove delusive.
This sinful misinterpretation of the Divine dealings is not
confined to that
generation or to that people.
23 “Tell
them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make
this
proverb to cease, and they shall no more
use it as a proverb in
Israel; but say unto them, The days are at
hand, and the effect of
every vision.” The prophet
meets the current proverb with a counter proverb
of his own: “The days are not far off, but have come near.” Compare the
language of the Baptist (Matthew 3:2), of our Lord (Ibid.
ch.4:17), of Paul
(Romans 13:11). For the true prophet there is always a near
fulfillment, though
there may be also an ultimate and more complete reality of
which that is the
pledge and earnest. The “vision” shall not fail;
every word (so in the Hebrew)
shall become a reality.
A Worthless
Proverb (vs. 22-23)
Ezekiel quotes a proverb with
which the Jews are comforting themselves,
and
tells them that it cannot be relied on.
·
A PROVERB IS READILY ACCEPTED.
Ø
Its aptness of expression attracts us. We are taken by neatness of
phrase. A lie may be ably expressed, and a great fallacy may
strike us as
particularly well put. Thus the form disguises
the substance.
Ø
Its wide use throws us off our guard. We regard it as an
embodiment of
“the
wisdom of the many.” What “everybody” says is taken for granted as
true. Passing freely in conversational commerce, the question
of a familiar
proverb’s soundness is scarcely raised.
Ø
Its antiquity makes it acclaimed. Proverbs are supposed to contain “the
wisdom of the ancients.”
·
A PROVERB MAY BE FALSE.
Ø
Aptness of expression is no guarantee of truth. This is only a matter
of
form. Surely Descartes made a mistake in asserting that seeing
a thought
clearly was equivalent to an assurance of the truth of it. Clarity of
expression may cover falsity of idea.
Ø
The mass of men may be in error. The voice of the
people is by no
means always the voice of God. When
one common prejudice seizes many
minds, they are all likely to be deluded into a common error.
Ø
The venerableness of a proverb
does not guarantee its truth. It is
forgotten that, as Bacon tells us, we are the ancients, and
those who lived
in the early days belong to the childhood of the race. Other things being
equal, the latest saying should be the truest.
Certainly no premium is to be
set on the knowledge of antiquity.
·
A PROVERB MAY BE MISAPPLIED. This was the case with the
Jews to whom
Ezekiel referred. They quoted a proverb
revealing a startling
insight into one remarkable feature of Hebrew prophecy which until
lately
had been almost lost sight of. The prophet sees the future as
though it were
present, and he describes it in such a way as to suggest to many
that it is
nearer than it proves to be. There is little perspective in
prophecy. Its
horizon often appears to move before us as its predictions are
translated
into facts of history. But this is not always the case, nor does the
postponement of fulfillment mean its never coming. In the present case the
proverb of postponement was misapplied, for fulfillment was
close at hand.
Here is the danger of general
phrases. True in one set of circumstances,
they may be utterly false in another application.
·
A PROVERB SHOULD BE TESTED. We should treat our proverbs
as uncertain coins, and ring them before using them. Then we
shall find
that not a few are of as base metal as Hanoverian sovereigns.
There is a
sort of proverbial orthodoxy constructed out of set theological
phrases
which has no other stamp upon it than that of preachers’ usage. Loyalty to
truth compels us to submit this religion’s
coinage to the test of Scripture,
conscience, and experience. The most dangerous proverbial expressions
are those that flatter ourselves. With the Jews the favorite
proverb was
one that postponed the prospect of the evil day and threw
doubt on the
Divine
message. Cynical unbelief is full of
sell-assurance. But it is not safe
to trust to it simply because it may be clever or prevalent.
Every idea that
denies the Divine word is sure to prove delusive.
24 “For
there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination
within the house of
the “smooth things” of Isaiah 30:10, the “flattering lips” of Psalm 12:2-3.
The “divinations” (the Hebrew word is found only here and in ch.
13:7,
though cognate
words are found elsewhere) are so described, not
without a
touch of scorn
in the use of a word which is not applied to the
utterance of
the true prophets, because they promised a speedy deliverance, even
within
“two full years” (Jeremiah 28:3).
The End of Delusions (v. 24)
The Jews had beer deluding themselves with a false proverb
— or at all
events, with a proverb falsely applied (see v. 22). Ezekiel
tells them that
such errors and those of flattering divination will both
cease. There is to be
an end to error.
has his day of success.
Flattering errors easily win their way into
popularity. The history of thought is largely made up of the story of
errors
—
their:
Ø
genesis,
Ø
growth,
Ø
prevalence,
Ø
triumph, and
Ø
decay.
This fact should guard us against
accepting any motive just because it
happens to be triumphant. There
are fashions in philosophy and theology.
But truth
is ETERNAL and ABIDING and it is therefore simply foolish
to accept the ideas which chance
to be in vogue at our own time without
further inquiry.
Ø
THE TRIUMPH OF DELUSIONS IS FRUITLESS. Error is always
barren of any solid results. It
is darkness, death, negation. Even when at
the acme of prosperity it is but
as a bubble; it has no substance in it. There
came a time when the vain
vision and the flattering divination of the Jews
were to be put to the test in
the siege of
they were found to be utterly
useless. This is the fatal defect of a false idea.
We may cherish it for so long
until we need to use it. But directly we put it
into practice it crumbles away.
Ø
TROUBLE EXPOSES DELUSIONS. So long as
prospered the vain visions
continued, and the flattering divination was
practiced without intermission.
It was the touch of real trouble that
broke
the bubble. Many a comfortable soul is living in a fool’s paradise or
direful
error without fear or pain until
some real adversity comes. Then the utter
delusiveness of the admired
notions is suddenly revealed with appalling
amazement. If we are able to
hold to fatal notions till the end of life, we
shall find at last that they are
but rotten planks, which will break up when
we try to float on them over the
chill waters of death.
Ø
THE EXPOSURE OF DELUSIONS IS A BLESSING. Naturally
enough, it first strikes the
helpless dupes with dismay as a pure calamity.
Why should they not be permitted
to dream their lives away on a bed of
roses although the
volcano should be slumbering beneath?
Because even
apart from consequences truth is
supremely desirable, and error is an evil
thing. We ought to be thankful for a painful process which
leads us out of
darkness INTO
LIGHT! But it is not
necessary for us to wait for the
alarming awakening. The
revelation of God in Christ and the truths of
inspiration are with us to spare
us the terrible method of deliverance from
error, and to lead us out of DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRIST!
25 “For I
am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak
shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged:
for in your days,
O rebellious house, will I say the word,
and will perform it, saith
the Lord GOD.” The thought of ver. 23 is reiterated with emphasis. The
rebellious house, whether at Tel-Abib or in
is used with special reference to the former), should see
the word of
Jehovah fulfilled in their own days. One notes how the
prophet dwells on
the word prolonged, as though that had specially stirred
his indignation. So
again —
26 “Again
the word of the LORD came to me, saying.
27 Son of
man, behold, they of the house of
he seeth is for
many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times
that are far off. 28 Therefore
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
There shall none of my words be prolonged
any more, but the word
which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.”
The words imply another interval of silence, meditation,
and then a fresh utterance to the same effect as before. In
this case (v. 27)
we trace a slight modification in the language of the
gainsayers. They
recognize Ezekiel both as a seer and a prophet. They do not
say that his
vision “faileth.” They content themselves with throwing the
fulfillment into
the distant future. Their thought is that of the proverb which has been
ascribed to more than one king or statesman, Apres moi le deluge. To
these his answer is nearly in the same terms as before.
Still harping on the
offensive word, he tells them that nothing that he has
spoken shall be
“prolonged.” The destruction of the temple and the holy city, the
departure
of the Divine Presence from the sanctuary, these were already
within
MEASURABLE DISTANCE!
The Snare of Unbelief (vs. 21-28)
Faith has the power to make the distant near. It obliterates
distance of time
and space. But unbelief reverses the effect. It
looks in at the wrong end of
the telescope, and reduces realities to a mere speck. Unbelief corrupts all
blessing; it
makes sour the very cream of God’s kindness. “Because
judgment is not speedily executed,” incorrigible rebellion makes a mock of
retribution.
(Ecclesiastes 8:11)
KINDNESS. The
ancient Greeks had an adage: “The gods have feet of
wool.” But this does not describe
the character of the living God. Instead
of overtaking men hastily, “He
is slow to anger.” He does not willingly
afflict. “The axe is often laid at the
root of the tree,” and that for a long
spell; and if repentance and fruitfulness appear, THE SENTENCE IS
GLADLY
REVOKED! The aim and purpose of our God are not
destruction, but restoration.
If it is within the range of possibility to
awake the slumbering conscience,
and save the man, God will do it.
To announce beforehand ordained
judgments is KINDNESS
INFINITE!
CONFIDENCE. The best
blessings, when corrupted, become our direst
curses. Neither the bitter
experience of sin, though long continued, nor the
royal clemency of God, produces
any beneficial effect on some men. They
seem deaf to
every appeal of prudence, insensible to every overture of
kindness. All tender feeling appears to have vanished; they have
reached
already a state of hopeless reprobation. If the severity of justice for a
moment should relax, they put it
down to cowardice, or weakness, or
irresolution. They say, “We
shall have peace, though we walk after the
imagination of our
own hearts” (Jeremiah 18:12). “Give a loose
rein to
lust,” say they; “God doth not regard us.”
shallow line of reasoning is
this: “No punishment has fallen upon us as yet.
Today will be as yesterday, and
tomorrow as today. Probably,” say they,
“punishment will not come at all;
or if it should, it is so far away that for all
practical purposes we may
disregard it” There is a strong
force of inertia in
every man’s nature. What has been, he thinks, will continue to be. “Where
is the promise
of His coming?” (II Peter 3:4) The wish becomes father to
the thought, that punishment is
dubious, problematic — a mere ghost of
probability. All the evidence of Divine rule and Divine interposition
UNBELIEF REJECTS as hypothetical craze. What cannot be seen
and handled and touched unbelief
despises as unreal.
To men it often seems a
sudden event; not so to God. He has seen the
Elements preparing stage by
stage, and “suddenness” forms no part of
His experience. So it has
been with all the great calamities that have
overtaken men. In the
period of Noah’s deluge, men saw no prognostication
of coming danger. “They
bought, they sold, they married, they were given
in marriage, until the very day that Noah
entered into the ark. And knew
not until the
flood came, and took them all away” – Matthew
24:38-39).
On the day of
his usual splendor and
tranquility (Genesis 19:23); yet before noon the
smoke of the devastation rose
and
smothered in silence the cries of its
dying population. “So shall the coming of the Son of man be”
(Luke 17:28-30). (I recommend www.arkdiscovery.com and browse
the section on
men least expect it the storm
shall break
upon their heads. Whenever
the long suffering kindness of
God is made
an occasion of fresh license,
be quite sure that retribution
is not far away.
“In such an hour as ye
think not, the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:44)
The Human Proverb and the Divine (vs. 22-28)
National proverbs embody national thinking, national
sentiments, national
habits. They sometimes convey counsels of wisdom. But they
are
sometimes superficial and all but valueless. As in the case
here recorded,
such frivolous and misleading sayings need to be replaced
and substituted
by the dictates of inspiration, of infallible wisdom, and
undying truth.
Ø
Its import. This was twofold
— it asserted the postponement
indefinitely of righteous
judgment, and the failure of authorized
prophecy. No doubt
retribution was deferred; but this, which was
a sign of Divine
forbearance, was interpreted as a proof that
judgment there was none, on
earth or in heaven. No doubt the
warnings were uttered long
before the calamity overtook the
people; and, in
consequence, the threatened, the unbelievers,
instead of using the
opportunity to repent and reform, abused
it to THEIR
OWN CONDEMNATION.
Ø
Its plausibility. It is described as a “flattering divination;” for it was
intended to fall in with and to
encourage:
o
the carelessness,
o
the impenitence,
and
o
the unspirituality of men.
Ø
Its illusiveness. The
opponents of the inspired prophet had but a
“vain vision” to boast of. Time unmasks all false, deceitful
appearances; in a short
time it was seen that the proverbial
wisdom of the impenitent
was utterly baseless, was indeed
nothing but folly.
Ø
The proverb
dishonoring to God is exposed and refuted. “I will
make this proverb
to cease.” Events should make its
currency
impossible. There is a destructive
power in truth — it shatters
illusions to pieces. Great
swelling words of vanity collapse when
they encounter the simple
but authoritative utterances of
DIVINE TRUTH!
Ø
The truthfulness of
the Lord’s prophets is established. Every word is
fulfilled. Most unlikely events
come to pass in accordance with
prophetic utterance. God speaks,
and the pride of the haughty is
humbled, and things that are not
vanquish things that are. The
faithful admonitions of the
Lord’s servants are proved to be just
and wise.
Ø
A new proverb is
created by the action of Divine providence. “There
shall none of my
words be deferred any more.” The time
came, and
came speedily, when this could
not be questioned. And what happened
in the days of Ezekiel has
happened wherever God has spoken. For us
it is chiefly of practical concern to notice
that He who came from God
and went to God, our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Word of God, uttered forth
the Divine mind and will with a
unique completeness; and that though
heaven and earth shall pass
away, His words shall not pass away.
(Matthew 24:35; II Peter 3:10-13)
The Word of the Lord
Discredited and Vindicated
(vs. 21-22)
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,
what is that
proverb that ye have in the
·
THE WORD OF THE LORD DISCREDITED.
Ø It was discredited
in various degrees.
o
By some it was entirely disbelieved. “Son of man, what is that proverb
that ye have in the
every vision faileth?”
The reference in this
proverb is to the predictions
of the Divine
judgments against
had been made
by Jeremiah long ago. And the proverb is a jeering
expression, indicating
the opinion that these predictions had totally
failed.
These
skeptics argued within themselves and amongst themselves,
that
because the fulfillment of the threatened judgment was delayed,
the
threatening itself was untrue. “The experience of God’s
forbearance had destroyed their
apprehension of his truthfulness.”
This sinful misinterpretation
of the Divine dealings is not
confined to
that
generation or to that people. We discover
the same presumptuous
unbelief in Psalm 50:21, “These things hast thou done; and I kept
silence,” etc.; in Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because sentence against an
evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
the heart of the sons of
men is fully set in them to do evil.” and in II Peter
3:3-5, “There shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after
their own lusts, And
saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the
fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of
the creation.
For this they are willingly ignorant....” . What an
abuse is
this of the patience of the Lord God! What a base perversion
of His
forbearance and grace (compare Romans 2:4-11; II Peter 3:9)!
o
By others the word of the Lord was
discredited by indefinitely
postponing
its fulfillment. “Son
of man, behold, the house of
say, The vision that
he seeth is for many days, and he prophesieth
of the times that are far off.” These persons argued that, because the
fulfillment
of the threatenings of Jeremiah had been
delayed so long,
that
fulfillment was yet far off. They concluded that the prophetic
visions
would not be realized in their time, and therefore they need
not be
troubled by them.
Ø
It was discredited in open expression. “Behold, the house of
The vision that he
sooth is for many days,” etc. (v. 27). In the case of
those who entirely discredited the word of the Lord by the prophet,
the
terms in which they expressed their disbelief had become
proverbial.
“What is that
proverb that ye have in the land of
This sentiment, common among
the people, “had been expressed in
a pointed sentence,… and straightway became
popular as a watchword,
which was taken up on every occasion against
the true prophet.” Their
disbelief of the message of the Lord by His prophet,
and their derision
of that prophet, were not veiled, but openly paraded
by the people.
As Greenhill
says, “This wicked speech was become a proverb; it
passed through the mouths of all sorts, young, old, great small,
learned, ignorant; it was in
the city and country, a proverb in
the
DEFIANT!
Ø
This discredit was plausibly encouraged. False prophets, by
means of
vain visions and flattering divinations, had fostered disbelief
of the stern
announcements of Jeremiah, the true prophet of Jehovah (v. 24). These
men had prophesied smooth things to the credulous house of
credulous, that is, of such announcements as
harmonized with their
inclinations. So
Ahab believed the smooth-speaking false prophets to his
own death, while he hated and imprisoned the faithful Micaiah, the
prophet of the Lord Jehovah (1 Kings 22.). (Any who are incredulous
of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will like Zedekiah the
son of
Chenaanah, know the truth “...in that day when thou shalt go into an
inner chamber to hide thyself” a la the example of Revelation 6:12-17 -
CY - 2021) And the false prophets of Jeremiah’s
age encouraged the
presumptuous security of the people until that security was shattered
by disaster and ruin.
The Word
of the Lord Vindicated by Himself (vs. 23-28)
Probably thought by their
disbelief and derision to put to silence the word
of the Lord by Jeremiah his
prophet. But God still speaks by him, and by
Ezekiel also. “Tell
them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God,”
etc. (v. 23).
“I am the Lord: I
will speak,” etc. (v. 25). “Therefore
say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord God,
etc. (v. 28). In this way God speaks again
and again to
this unbelieving and rebellious people. He will not leave Himself without
faithful witnesses, who will speak
His word even to the most sceptical and
stubborn of men (ch. 2:3-7; 3:4-11).
that:
Ø
His word should be fulfilled speedily. “Say
unto them, The days are at
hand, and the
effect of every vision .... I will speak, and. the word that I
shall speak shall
come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your
days, O rebellious
house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith
the
Lord God....There shall
none of my words be prolonged any more, but the
word which I have
spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.” The
announcement of the prophet
has passed into fulfillment in a terrible manner.
Scarcely five years
elapsed when
and those who had filled
their belly with the east wind of their proud hopes
of the future were either
lost or envied the dead.
Ø
His word should be fulfilled completely. “The days are at hand, and the
effect of every vision.”
The full “contents of every prediction” would be
brought to pass. The unbelieving
and rebellious people probably thought
that even if things came to the
worst, they could not be so bad as in the
prophetic representations, that
Jeremiah had exaggerated the troubles that
were coming upon the nation. But
“the
word of every vision” WAS AT
HAND! No partial
fulfillment was about to take place. Every
word of
prophetic
prediction was to be realized.
Ø
By putting to silence the also prophets who
had discredited it. “There
shall no more be any
vain vision nor flattering divination within the house
of
prophesiers of smooth things.
The complete fulfillment of the visions of the
true prophet would effectually
stop the mouths of the false ones.
Let us realize that God’s
promises are true and. reliable. The
hopes which it inspires
are not delusive. For how many soever
be the promises of God, in Him is the
Yea:
wherefore also through Him is the Amen, unto the glory of
God through us.
(II Corinthians 1:20)
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