Ezekiel
39
Of the two main divisions of this chapter, the first (vs.
1-20) depicts the
greatness of the overthrow of Gog; the second (vs. 21-29) records
the
impression made by it upon both
promise to the former.
In the first main division (vs. 1-20) Ezekiel repeats the
substance of
what has already been advanced concerning the defeat of Gog (vs. 1-8),
after which he strives to represent its completeness (vs. 9-20),
by setting
forth:
(vs.
9-10).
land from defilement (vs. 11-16, and
symbolized by a vast sacrificial feast prepared by Jehovah for the
beasts
and birds (vs. 17-20).
1 “Therefore,
thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O
Gog, the chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal:”
that I have executed” – v. 21
house of
The chief prime of
Meshech and Tubal; or, prince of
Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal
(see on ch.38:2).
2 “And I
will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and
will cause thee to come up from the north
parts, and will bring thee
upon the mountains of
שְׁשֵּׁאתִיך is derived either from the numeral six, שֵׁשׁ,
or from the root שָׁשָׁא, the
Import of which is uncertain, although a cognate root in Ethiopic
suggests the idea
of
“going on” or “proceeding” — a meaning also found in the
Hebrew. The former derivation has been followed by the Authorized
Version, which renders in the margin, “I will strike thee
with six plagues,”
or
“draw thee back with a hook of six teeth,” and by Hengstenberg, With
whom Plumptre agrees, “1 will six thee,” i.e. “afflict thee with six
plagues,”
viz.
those mentioned in ch. 38:22. The latter derivation, presumably the more
correct, is adopted by the Septuagint (καθοδογήσω – kathodogaeso), the
Vulgate (educam), the Revised Version (“I will lead
thee on”), and by
modern expositors generally. Hitzig and Smend approve of Ewald’s
translation, “I entice thee astray, and lead thee with leading, strings.”
5/6ths
of Gog will be killed – that is 83% of the army that attacks
3 “And I
will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine
arrows to fall out of thy right hand.” Bows and arrows were
characteristic
weapons of the Scythians, whom Herodotus (4:46) styles ἱπποτοξόται
(compare Jeremiah 5:16; 6:23; and
see note on ch. 38:15).
4 “Thou
shalt fall upon the mountains of
bands, and the people that is with thee: I will
give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of
the field to be
devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have
spoken it,
saith the Lord GOD. 6 And I will
send a fire on Magog, and among them
that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall
know that I am the LORD.
7 So will
I make my holy name known in the midst of my people
the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the
Holy One in
wing. The language depicts an army on the march, followed by jackals,
vultures, and other birds of prey, ready to feast upon the corpses
of
slaughtered men (compare ch.33:27; I Samuel 17:46; and
Homer’s ‘Iliad,’ 1:4, 5). In addition to destroying Gog,
causing him to fall
upon the mountains of
the face of the field,
Jehovah engages to carry the fire of war and generally
of
devastation (ch.33:22; Amos 2:2, 5; Revelation 20:29) into Gog’s own land,
Magog (see on ch.38:2), and among them that dwell carelessly (better, securely)
in the isles; or, coast-lands (ch.
27:7); i.e. not merely the merchants of Tarshish or
the
“isles” of the trading nations
mentioned in ch.38:13 but all the distant
peoples of the coast-lands from whom Gog’s armies were drawn
(Ibid. vs.5-6), and in whom were many of Gog’s
sympathizers.
v. 4 – Jackals, vultures, and other birds of prey called to be ready to feast upon
the corpses of slaughtered men.
Connect with v. 17 – where God said He was preparing a “great
sacrifice”
Consider the teaching of Revelation 19:17-21
“And
I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven, Come
and gather yourselves together unto the supper
of the great God;
That
ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the
flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and
of them that sit on
them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond,
both small and
great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat
on the horse,
and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the
false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with
which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and
them that worshipped his
image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone. And
the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat
upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His
mouth: and all the
fowls were filled with their flesh.
Jesus said “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will
the eagles be
gathered together” – Matthew
24:28
8 “Behold,
it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the
day whereof I have spoken.” Behold! it
is come. The words which a
man
might speak on beholding his purpose accomplished are, with Ezekiel’s
bold anthropomorphism, from the mouth of
Jehovah.
God’s Purpose Accomplished (v. 8)
The prophet does not dream dreams of idle fancy, build
castles in the air,
or
terrify men with nightmares of unreal judgments. THE
WORD OF
GOD COMES TRUE! The predicted day
arrives, the promised action is
performed — “It is come, and it
is done.”
light; and light was” (Genesis 1:3). The creative word was with power.
Men plan great things, but they
are quite incompetent to carry the best of
them out. The greater the artist is the more he must feel that
his execution
falls lamentably short of his design. It is not so with God. When He carries
out His idea in His work it can be said of each stage of creation, “And
God
saw that it was good.” He is mighty to perform all His will. (Ibid. vs. 4, 10,
12, 18, 21, 25, “behold, it was very good.” – v. 31)
creation. No human agent could accomplish it, and GOD’S OWN ARM
BROUGHT
SALVATION! But though it involved the sacrifice of His Son,
He carried out His great design
of redeeming the lost world. The dying Jesus
exclaimed, “It is finished!” The application of this redemption is not yet
complete. The promise concerning this is, “He shall see of the travail of His
soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). But Peter looked
forward to the grand restitution of all things, when all shall be
brought in
subjection to Christ (Acts 3:21). We know that He who has begun a
good work in us is able to finish it (Philippians 1:6).
redemption, it cannot be supposed that He will fail to carry them out in
regard to judgment. Delay is no proof of failure, for the long-promised
Messiah was slow to appear, yet in
due time Christ was born. The mercy of
God is no sign of the failure of
judgment, for God was as merciful when
He threatened wrath as He will
be when the time comes for executing the
threat. The day of judgment, that
dreadful “day of the Lord,” as the
prophets called it, came to the nations and to
Assuredly it will
come, and its work will be done also
among all sinners.
patriarch did not live to reap their accomplishment. Yet God was
true to
His word. All the might of
designs. He has great
purposes for His people now. Satan may
oppose the
execution of them; sin, unbelief, and worldliness may rise up
against them.
Yet God will not
desert His own inheritance. Indeed, He
does now
accomplish His gracious providential designs in spite of all
opposition.
more slow to realize itself. That is the region of human will.
There man is
free to resist its demands for obedience. God’s kingdom has not
yet fully
come, his will is not yet done on earth as it is in heaven. But
we pray for
this glorious consummation. It is
our duty to labor to help it on. If God’s
design is accomplished in every other respect, it is monstrous for man’s
stubborn will to hold out against it. The spirit of the life of Christ — “Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God” (Psalm 40:8) is the
spirit which should animate
His people.
9 “And
they that dwell in the cities of
set on fire and burn the weapons, both the
shields and the bucklers,
the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves,
and the spears, and
they shall burn them with fire seven
years: 10 So
that they shall take
no wood out of the field, neither cut down
any out of the forests; for
they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they
shall spoil those that
spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,
saith the Lord GOD.”
Here is set forth as the first proof of the greatness of
Gog’s overthrow by
the
immense booty in the shape of weapons of war which should be
obtained by the inhabitants of the cities of
quantity of weapons left behind by the slain, that the Israelites
should burn
them with fire seven
years. For
so
completely lose their power to terrify that they might be looked upon
simply as so much firewood; as designed to annihilate the enemy
and remove
every trace of him. The
emphasis lies upon the length of time the burning
should continue; and that this was intended, by conveying an idea
of the
vastness of the spoil, to represent the thoroughness of Gog’s destruction
and
of
appears from the number of years the weapons are said to serve for
fuel,
viz.
seven, and from the character of the weapons themselves, which, if not
entirely wooden, were at least all combustible. Of the “armor” generally
(qv,n,, “something joined,” from a root signifying “to join”) the
pieces
mentioned — the shields and
the bucklers (see ch.38:4), the
bows and arrows (see v. 3), the
hand-staves, or, javelins (margin),
and the spears — were mostly
composed of timber. When all should have
been given to the flames, it would then appear that on their late owners
the
lex talionis (law of retaliation) had worked out its literal
avengement,
that they who had intended to despoil
and
they who hoped to plunder
Isaiah 17:14).
Vs. 11-16 contain a second proof of the completeness of
Gog’s destruction,
viz.
the length of time occupied in burying the slain and cleansing the land.
11 “And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a
place there of graves in
east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of
the passengers: and
there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude:
and they shall call
it The
of
acquiring the entire mastery of her land, would
obtain at Jehovah’s hands
only a place there of graves. Concerning
both the designation and
the
site of this divinely provided sepulcher controversy has arisen.
(II Kings 23:29), derives
support from these considerations, that the very
name of
as are here described, and that its modern designation Lejun
(Leqio), in all
probability contains a reminiscence of the present passage. It is,
however,
open to the obvious objections that the place of Gog’s burial
was not
contiguous to the field of his overthrow, and that the clause
locating it “on
the east of the sea,”
by which on this hypothesis must be understood the
spot therein. Some think the valley in the neighborhood of the
but interpreters are not unanimous as to the spot intended.
Ewald thinks
of “the horrible, unwholesome valley over against the sea, i.e.
(compare
ch. 47:8) the
ones (die
Zerreisenden), THE SODOMITES, who resemble these.”
(Whether this is so or not, it certainly is consistent with the way God
works when He “taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” -
I Corinthians 3:19 – Overbearing today is the promotion of the
gay agenda by
proponents. For the end to which it is heading see arkdiscovery.com
and on it
the section dealing with
to this day are suffering the “vengeance of eternal fire!” – Jude 1:7 –
CY – 2014).
(play
on words) is apparent; but whether threefold or only twofold is
uncertain. In the present
verse μyrib][Oh; may signify either:
Ø
such travelers as were
wont to pass through the valley, which is
the obvious and natural interpretation; or
Ø
the warriors of Gog,
who intended to pass through the
land, but whose invasion had only proved a passing storm; or
Ø
the commissioners who
should be appointed to pass through the
land in search of bones (ver. 15).
The notion of Ewald, who derives עֹבִרִים
from עֶבְרָה, and translates “haughty,”
“overbearing,” meaning the
Gogites, is countenanced by no ether expositor. If the
first sense be taken, then the verse will read, “The valley of
the passers through,
and
it (the valley, in consequence of having become the grave of Gog) stops
(the way of) the passers through;” i.e. it becomes
thereafter impassable for
travelers; or, it stops the noses, or breath, of such travelers by
reason of its
horrible stench. If the second meaning be selected, the valley must
be understood
to
have afterwards received its name from the fact that Gog’s warriors lay
entombed beneath its sod, and “the stopping of the passengers” to
signify that
whereas Gog purposed to overrun the land, his destructive career
was there
ignominiously arrested. If the
third rendering be preferred, then the valley
will be held to have derived its designation, after the event, from the
passing
through it or through the land of the searchers, in which case the
stopping of
the passengers can only have alluded to the fact that, as the “buriers”
proceeded with the work of interment, they were compelled to turn
away
their faces and stop their noses because of the noisome
effluvium which
arose from the corpses. The first interpretation is the best,
though the first
and
second might be combined by making the first “passengers” stand for
the
travelers and the second for the invaders, whose career should there be
stopped; and to this view a certain countenance is lent by the
statements
which follow, that there should Gog and all his multitude — literally, all
his noisy tumult — be buried,
and that the valley ever afterwards should
bear the name of Hamon-gog, or, Gog’ s multitude.
12 “And
seven months shall the house of
that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all
the people of the land shall
bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the
day that I shall be glorified,
saith the Lord GOD.” The time that should be occupied in Gog’s funeral should
be
seven months — so great should be the number of the dead — the
sacred number seven recalling the seven years consumed in the
burning of
the
weapons (v. 9), and reminding one of the “seven
times heated”
furnace into which the Hebrew children were cast, and of the “seven times”
of
Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation (Daniel 3:19; 4:23). The parties who
should conduct his obsequies should be the house of
people of the land, indicating the common joy occasioned by the barbaric
chieftain’s overthrow. The motive which should impel them in their
work
would be a desire to cleanse
the land from the defilement it had
contracted from the corpses of the slain (compare Numbers 19:11,22;
31:19; 35:33); and the end should be that the work should
be to them,
a renown, not because they should have helped to bury Gog, or
through
burying Gog should have proved themselves his conquerors, and in
virtue
of
Jehovah’s protection the possessors of his grave, but because in the day
when Jehovah glorified Himself through Gog’s destruction, He (Jehovah)
should also be glorified by
their (
people by sweeping all uncleanness away.
14 “And
they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing
through the land to bury with the passengers those
that remain
upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after
the end of seven
months shall they search.” When the work
of burying Gog should have
gone on for seven months, at the end of that time the Israelites should
sever out (compare Deuteronomy 10:8) men of continual employment;
literally, men of
continuance; i.e.
persons hired for a continuous work or
devoted to a constant occupation, whose business it should be passing
through the land to bury with the passengers
those that remain — or,
as
the Revised Version reads, to bury
them that pass through, that remain —
upon the face of the land.
Here, again, the old play upon the word
“passengers” recurs, and
with it two or three difficulties.
officers, “passers through,” or “searchers,”
who scoured the land in search
of unburied skeletons or bones, which, however, they did not
bury; and
“buriers” proper,
who, accompanying these searchers, conducted the
interment of such skeletons or bones as were found; or whether the
commissioners were only one body, who both searched and buried.
sign of the accusative, and the clause translated as in the
Revised Version,
in which case the “passengers” that should be buried
could only be the
“invaders” as above
(see v. 11); or as a preposition, in which case the
rendering of the Authorized Version must stand, and the “passengers”
be
regarded as the “searchers.”
of v. 15, “And the passengers shall search and pass
through in the land;”
or at least whether the first clause in v. 15 should not form
an independent
sentence, thus: “And they that pass through in the land
shall pass through,”
as in the Revised Version, in which case the sighting of
unburied bones
(v. 15) would not
necessarily be the work of “searchers,” but of any one,
the verb וְרָאָה
being impersonal. It is impossible to decide
dogmatically
in a question of so much difficulty; but the Revised Version
appears to
present the most exact rendering of the Hebrew, and upon the
whole the
most intelligible account of what was intended to take place,
viz. the
appointment of a special body of commissioners, who should be
designated
both “passengers,” in ironical allusion to Gog
who had meant to pass through
the land, and “buffers,” from the nature
of the task delegated to them, viz.
the interment of the “passengers,” i.e. the Gogites, and who should begin
their work after the main body of the slain had been removed, i.e. at the
end of the seven months of burying.
15
“And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a
man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,
till the buriers have
buried it in the
these “searchers” and “buriers,” should
follow. If these were distinct from
each other, the “searchers” — if they were the same, any others — on
discovering a man’s bone should set up
a sign by it; literally, build
near it a pillar;
erect a heap of stone (compare II Kings 23:17; Jeremiah 31:21) to
call the
attention of the butlers, who, on coming to the spot, should inter
it in the
valley of Hamon-gog.
16 “And
also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they
cleanse the land.”
As another mark to distinguish Gog’s tomb,
a city should
arise in its vicinity, bearing the name Hamonah, or “Multitude” (compare
Isaiah 19:18, “the
city of destruction”), though Schmieder thinks it
must have been “a city of graves,” since a city of houses could not exist in
such a valley of the dead, and indeed the Septuagint gives as the city’s
name
Πολυάνδριον
–
Poluandrion - by which later Greek writers were accustomed
to
call the common ground in a cemetery as distinguished from its paternal
sepulchers. If quite improbable that Bethshan or Scythopolis near
was
Ezekiel’s Hamonah, it is possible the actual city may have been named
after the ideal. When the work of the buriers should be
finished, the land
would be completely cleansed.
Vs. 17-20 exhibit in
a third way the severity of Gog’s overthrow by
setting forth the bloody carnage which should attend it.
17 “And,
thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field,
Assemble yourselves, and come;
gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice
that I do sacrifice for you, even
a great sacrifice upon the mountains of
blood.” Expanding the thought of v. 4, and borrowing the imagery of the older
prophets, Isaiah (Isaiah 34:6; 56:9) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 46:10;
50:29; 51:40),
Ezekiel represents Gog’s destruction as a great sacrifice — literally, slaying; hence
a
sacrificial feast or simply banquet (as in Genesis 31:54) — upon the mountains
of Israel, prepared by
Jehovah for the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field,
which He, therefore, invites to come from all quarters to eat
flesh and drink blood.
18 “Ye shall
eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of
goats, of bullocks,
all of them fatlings of
drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice
which I have sacrificed for
you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses
and chariots, with
mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.” V. 18 specifies
the victims whose flesh and blood
should form their banquet, viz. the mighty,
as
in ch.32:12, 27, and the princes of the earth, meaning the nobles
and other
dignitaries in Gog’s army, who, in accordance with the symbol of a feast,
are
spoken of as “rams,” “lambs,” “goats,” “bullocks,”
and “fatlings
of
(compare
Psalm 22:12). Revelation 19:17-18). In Zephaniah
1:7 the heathen
are
the guests, and his people the victims, at Jehovah’s
banquet.
Degradation and Reversal (vs. 17-20)
The scene before us is painful; it hardly befits
description; we cannot dwell
upon it without turning from it with repulsion. But we may so far realize it
in
our thought as to learn two lessons respecting the issue of evil,
the sad
and
painful consequences of sin. These are:
field eating the flesh and drinking the blood “of
the princes of the earth”!
To what a
miserable and shameful death has human greatness, human
dignity, fallen! For
those who had sat on the loftiest seats of honor, and
moved in the highest spheres of action, to lie unburied on the
enemy’s soil,
and to furnish a meal for carrion birds and for “four-footed
beasts”! Could
dishonor or degradation go further than this? And is not degradation the
constant end of persistent wrong, of willful and wanton disobedience
to the
Word of God? And shall we not
acknowledge, when we think of it, that
some of those things which seem to most men allowable, and some
which
seem even honorable and desirable, are, in the sight of God,
deplorable and
condemnable, because they are really A
DEGRADATOPM AND A
DESCENT! This is so when:
Ø
The powers of the
human soul are exhausted upon very small things;
when men seek their chief satisfaction, not in their
relationship to God,
in their service of Christ, but in the petty honors and
conventional
proprieties, and sensuous
gratifications of this passing world. (“Love
not the world, neither the things
that are in the world……..For all
that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world. And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof:” –
I John 2:15-17). To
allow
the things of utter unimportance to absorb the manifold and
noble
powers of heart and mind, leaving no room for the heavenly and the
Divine, is surely A
PITIFUL DEGRADATION! . Men do not know,
they cannot see, how they are lowering their life, how they are
dishonoring themselves. Similarly and more obviously when:
Ø
The lower passions tyrannize
over the soul; when covetousness, or the
craving for alcoholic (today recreational drugs – CY – 2014) or
for
social excitement, or the demon of lust, or jealousy, or
overweening
and maddening ambition, possesses
the soul and leads it astray;
any one of these passions wilt lead a man down into VERY
DARK DEPTHS, he has become the prey of the spoiler.
Ø
Human life is reduced
to a pursuit of mere amusement or passing
gratification (A Nintendo game – CY – 2014 - to quote a
modern hip-hopper – “Yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow will never
be here so live for today. Life comes and goes so fast that you sometime
wonder how long they are going to last. Sometimes you hardly notice you
are alive. Everyday is a beautiful day, so, slow down a bit and make plan
for the rest of your life. Don't waste your time doing things you would'nt
like to do. There will be no next time. ______ has said it all. Life is not
like a nintendo game. Waste your time and you'll see how you can loose
your precious life - so did to me, but I have learnt my own lesson.
I only hope it will be of any use again) (Sounds to me like David’s
last words – II Samuel 23:1-5 – CY – 2014)
o
The forces of a
country are employed, not in the enrichment and the
elevation of the people, but in fighting the armies and despoiling
the
strength and wealth of neighboring powers.
sacrifice for men. Here, however, the
case is reversed, and men provide a
sacrifice for them. Properly,
men sit down to the table on which bird and
beast are set forth for food; here, however, men are placed upon
the table,
and bird and beast are the partakers. What a strange and pitiful reversal!
But under the
dominion of sin, what do we look for but anomalies and
reversals?
Ø
Instead of man moving
constantly upward, we find him moving
steadily downward.
Ø
Instead of habit being
the faithful and valuable servant of man, it
becomes its tyrannous and unrelenting master.
Ø
Instead of asking how we
can serve men at every turn and in every
possible way, we ask how we can use them, how we can make them
serve us.
Ø
Instead of our
seeking God with the eagerness that will not be denied,
we hold aloof or wander away, and He is seeking us with
a patience
that does not fail and that follows us through many
rebellious years.
Ø
Instead of the
felt nearness of God being a heritage
and a joy, it
becomes an inconvenience
and an intrusion.
Ø
Instead of death being
regarded as the beginning of the larger and better
life, it is treated as
the melancholy end of the life
on earth. But Christ
comes to revolutionize and reverse the anomalies and the
reverses of sin;
and thus to bring again the
primeval blessedness. Happy they who
learn of Him and follow Him, for they will be restored to the
truth
and the life which they have lost!
Vs, 21-29 record the impression Gog’s overthrow should make
upon
both
21
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and
all the heathen
shall see my judgment that I have executed, and
my hand that I
have laid upon them. 22 So the
house of
the LORD their God from that day and
forward.” What
should convince
them of this would be their triumph and deliverance through Gog’s annihilation.
God’s Glory among the Heathen (v. 21)
It may be a light thing to us
that His Name is unknown or dishonored
among the heathen; but it is no light matter m the sight of God.
He does
not confine His gaze to the little spot of light where He is
recognized and
loved. He is the Creator
of the universe, and He is concerned
with what
happens everywhere throughout His dominion. Consider why He
desires
His glory to
be spread among the heathen.
Ø
For its own sake. God cares for His glory and desires to be glorified.
Such a conception applied to a
man would suggest selfishness. This
is not the case with God, because His glory resides in His
goodness.
The spread of His
glory is the vindication of righteousness. The eternal
claims of holiness demand assertion. To suppress them is to give
the
victory to sin; to spread the glory of God is to assert them.
Ø For the sake of the heathen. Ignorance of God’s glory is their loss. To
know God is life
eternal. It is for the supreme good of
men that they
should understand their heavenly Father. “Acquaint now thyself with
Him, and be at
peace” (Job 22:21).
HEATHEN.
Ø
In judgments. This seems to be the method suggested in the chapter
now under consideration. The restoration of
overthrow of her enemies will strike dismay into the host of the
enemy,
and so impress them with the might and majesty of the true
God. This is
a fearful process in the eyes of the heathen, and yet it is
educational, and
may help to lead them out of superstition and foolish
opposition to wiser
ways. God arrests the careless now by His judgments.
Ø
In the gospel. When the gospel is preached to the heathen God’s glory is
revealed among them — surely the happier method of making it known.
This was already foreshadowed in
Old Testament times (Isaiah 52:15).
It was in part accomplished by
the labors of Paul. Now, we must ever
bear in mind that this is God’s
work. Though human agents preach the
gospel, God Himself shows forth His glory in His truth. He too
awakens
the souls of the hearers by His Spirit. All perception of the glory of God
comes from HIS OWN REVELATION OF HIMSELF!
GLORY AMONG THE HEATHEN. We sometimes hear missionary
enterprises described as quixotic schemes of amiable fanatic, and
so-called
practical people tell us that we had much better spend our money and
our
energies in endeavoring to better the condition of the poor of our
own
cities. “These ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone”
(Matthew 23:23). It is Christ’s
command that His gospel should be
preached to all people, and whether our wisdom commend the command
or not, if we are true Christians it is our plain duty to
render unquestioning
obedience (Matthew 28:19). But the
heathen need the knowledge of
the truth of Christ.
Experience proves that the most ignorant and the most
cultivated can both receive it and profit by it. (“…it
shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” - Isaiah 35:8).
There is no more practical work
than that of wise labor in the missionary field.
It is the bounden
duty of all Christians to support it.
The Church that has no
missionary spirit is not Christian, for it has not the Spirit of
Christ.
23 “And
the heathen shall know that the house of
captivity for their iniquity: because they
trespassed against me,
therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them
into the hand of
their enemies: so fell they all by the
sword. 24
According to their
uncleanness and according to their transgressions have
I done unto them,
and hid my face from them.” And the heathen shall know. The special lesson
for them should be not so much teaching
concerning God’s supremacy over
them, or concerning their relation to
God’s dealings with
been abandoned to the sword and driven into exile, it was not because of
Jehovah’s inability to protect them, but because of their wickedness which
had caused
Him to hide His face from them — an
expression which in
Ezekiel occurs only here and in v. 29, though it is found
in the
Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 31:17-18) and in the older prophets
(Isaiah 8:17; 54:8; 57:17; 64:7; Jeremiah 33:5).
This section (vs. 25-29) is in substance a recapitulation
of God’s gracious promise
to bring
again the captivity of
reminded in v. 23, and to which accordingly he now in thought goes
back. It traces
the
whole course of the Divine dealings with the nation from the point of the exile
onwards.
Sin and Its Consequences (vs. 23-24)
mystery. We instinctively shrink from death as the last dread
enemy, but
death is not so great a foe as sin. We must go to the Bible for a revelation
of sin in its extent and its depth. The Greeks were acute
thinkers on most
subjects connected with human experience, but they were singularly
obtuse
to moral distinctions. (Same
for at least half of contemporary
CY – 2014) In the Bible we see a true mirror held
up to the
world’s sin. There we discover that events, which the secular
historians
would ascribe to political causes, have moral causes behind
them. Thus the
Captivity would seem to the eye
of ordinary observers to be a natural result
of the fanatical patriotism of a little mountain kingdom —
the
of antiquity — when opposed to the irresistible march of a
great
conquering empire. But more lay behind. The
corruption of the Jews made
them an easy prey to their enemy, and their sin deprived them of the
providential protection of God. This
sin is seen in four aspects.
Ø
In relation to righteousness. It is iniquity. It
is falling short of what is
right, an unjust treatment of life, a living lie. The sinner is unequal.
He does not truly balance his
life. His whole being is corrupted and
distorted.
Ø
In relation to God. It is a trespass against Him. The prodigal confesses
that he has sinned against Heaven, as well as in his father’s
sight (Luke
15:21). David even describes the
murder of Uriah as a sin against God
only, so utterly does the transgression of God’s Law swallow up
all other
considerations (Psalm 51:4). Whenever we
sin we
directly rebel against
our Father. Sin always has this ugly personal feature.
Ø
In relation to purity. Uncleanness.
Ø
In
relation to law. Transgression.
Ø
The loss of the vision of God. “Therefore hid I my face from
them.” This
is the first consequence of sin. It is reaped immediately the soul falls away
from God. Without holiness
it is impossible to see Him (Matthew 5:8;
Hebrews 12:14). To some it may seem a light penalty. Like
Adam and Eve,
they may even try to hide themselves from God. But the attempt
is vain,
because, though we may easily lose sight of God, He never ceases to behold
us. Moreover, though
we may not be aware of our loss, it is not the less great.
But to the sensitive soul this
spiritual consequence of sin is most bitter to
endure. Such a one will beseech God not to hide His countenance,
and will
cry, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me”
(Psalm 51:11). All joy and hope
vanish from the Christian life when the sweet vision of God is
darkened by
sin.
Ø
Fearful external ruin. “And gave them into
the hand of their enemies: so
fell they all by the sword.”
If men do not care for the present spiritual
consequences of sin, other more easily recognized consequences will
follow. The most blunt and hardened soul can be made to quake
under
the wrath of God.
In conclusion, observe that all this was to be known to the
heathen,
due to their prowess;
punishment of sin. But He also
points out a way of escape in Jesus Christ,
who came to save His people from their sins.
The Divine Reason for
that God has redeemed to Himself and appointed to everlasting life. In
every dispensation, in all God’s dealings with men, there has
been THE
MANIFESTATION OF WISDOM. Nothing that God has
done has been done
without a purpose or an intention. Faith convinces us of this. And
Scripture
sometimes, as in this passage, gives us an insight into the Divine
counsels,
and
points out to us the particular reasons by which the action of Eternal
Wisdom has been actuated in the treatment which we have
received,
especially in so far as we have sinned against God and done wickedly.
forth: “iniquity,” “trespass,” “uncleanness,”
“transgression.” By these
various terms the Lord, speaking by His prophet, denotes our
attitude in
respect to God, in respect to moral law, in respect to the ideal
of perfect
human conduct. Nationally and individually,
this by a remarkable idiom: “I hid my face from them.”
The metaphor is
simple. As favor is denoted by an open, radiant, smiling
countenance, so
the veiling or averting of the face which is clouded with a
frown denotes
censure and dissatisfaction. Making proper allowance for the
imperfections
of human speech, and the impossibility of using adequate
language when
referring to the Supreme, we may assuredly say that there is nothing
in this
representation derogatory to God. It is no infirmity, but a perfection of
our
Divine Ruler, that He is not
indifferent to the moral conduct of His subjects.
He is angry with
the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11). He
cannot look
upon sin. (Habakkuk 1:13)
RETRIBUTION. “I gave them into the hands of their
adversaries;”
“According to
their transgressions did I unto them.”
There were many
forms of chastisement from which
sorest. David entreated the Lord that, whatever might happen to
him, he
might not be delivered into the hands of his enemies. It was an
enfeebling
and an humiliating form of chastisement which God’s people
were called
upon to endure The attacks of the foe may not have been in
themselves
justifiable, but the Ruler of nations (as is shown nowhere more
effectively
than in this book) employs instruments to fulfill His purposes
that are
animated by no desire for justice and for the
surrounding nations were employed as the scourge by which the culprits
were chastised.
remarkable that the chosen people of Jehovah, whose nationality was
cradled (so to speak) in the bondage of
afterwards, to endure the bitter humiliation of exile and captivity
in the
East. They “went into captivity
for their iniquity.” Punishment is
thus
declared to be a characteristic of Divine government when dealing
with the
sinful and rebellious. There were certain ends answered by the
special form
which
when the people returned, they returned free from the taint of
idolatry and
from all temptation to return to the heathen practices into
which they had
been misled. Still, it was punishment which they endured —
punishment for
past offences, as well as correction with a view to future obedience
and
subjection. They learned by bitter
experience that “the way of transgressors
is hard.” (Proverbs 13:15)
25 “Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole
house of
and will be jealous for my holy name;” I will bring again the captivity
of Jacob.
(For the use of
“Jacob” as a designation of the people, see
ch.28:25; 37:25.) The
promise goes back to Deuteronomy 30:3; Jeremiah 29:14; 30:3;
31:23; 32:44;
and
other passages. That its fulfillment began with
the return
from
terminate with the final ingathering of
conversion to Christianity, and her consequent admission to the
Church.
That its first cause will be “mercy” to the whole house of
prevent that cause from being at the same time a jealous regard
for the
Divine holiness (ch.36:21-22).
26
“After that they have born their shame, and all their trespasses
whereby they have trespassed against me, when they
dwelt safely
in their land, and none made them
afraid. 27
When I have brought
them again from the people, and gathered them
out of their enemies’
lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of
many nations;
28 Then
shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused
them to be led into captivity among the
heathen: but I have
gathered them unto their own land, and have left
none of them any
more there.” After they have
borne their shame (ch.16:52, 54;
32:24, 30;
34:29; 36:6). The captivity of
had been thoroughly chastised for their iniquities, and that chastisement had
wrought in them a spirit of penitence and a disposition towards obedience.
Then should Jehovah interpose for their deliverance by gathering them out of
their enemies’ lands and leading them back to their own land; and these two
experiences, the
Captivity and the
Restoration, the driving out and the
bringing in,
should complete their conversion to Jehovah, and secure their
perpetual enjoyment
of
Jehovah’s favor.
29 “Neither
will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured
out my spirit upon the house of
my Spirit upon the
house of
in
His people (ch.36:27; 37:14); now the fact
that He has implemented that promise
by
a copious effusion of the same He
cites as a proof that
His favor because no more shall she forsake His ways (Isaiah
59:21). The same
promise had been previously given by Joel (Joel 2:28), and was
afterwards renewed
by
Zechariah (Zechariah 12:10). The citation of Joel’s words by Peter on the
Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17) shows that he regarded the
remarkable effusion of
THE HOLY GHOST on
that memorable occasion as a fulfillment of the premise
here recorded by Ezekiel. Yet the promise was not then exhausted. Rather it has
often since been implemented, and
will doubtless receive its consummation in
the New Jerusalem. No historical Church, Jewish or Gentile, has ever yet realized
the
picture here sketched by Ezekiel. We ask, as before — Will it ever be realized
on
earth? or must we look
for it only in the heavenly city whose Builder and
Maker is God?”
The restored vision of God is the great; we may say the supreme and final, result
of the Restoration of
farms and villages, with temporal prosperity, the prophet teaches them that, though
these advantages are to be received in the good time coming, a better
blessing wilt be the restored vision of God enjoyed by means of
the pouring
out of his Spirit upon the house of
most spiritual, result of CHRIST’S
REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD!
God’s Revelation of Himself a Fount of
Blessing (vs. 21-29)
Ignorance of God and strength of animal appetite are THE
TWO PRIMAL
FOUNTS OF UNGODLINESS!
Animal appetite is, in order of time, the
first source of vice; but as the understanding opens to receive knowledge, this
source of evil may be checked. To this end God deigns to make Himself known.
A clear vision of God is a strong antidote to EVIL
PROPENSITY! Faith in
God is the great regenerative principle. Therefore, through the procession of the
ages, God
has been revealing His qualities and excellences to our race. From this
passage we learn:
HUMAN AFFAIRS.
Such men in
attribute the prosperity of their kingdom and their success in war
to the
power of their deities. Others, and probably the larger portion,
would
conclude that military fortunes were matters of chance, and that
the gods
took little, if any, interest in the affairs of men. Human
industry, sagacity,
and courage, — these seemed then, as now, the main factors in
success.
The general impression was that
the gods lived in remote serenity,
sublimely indifferent to the needs and strifes of men. Unbelief,
violence,
and stoicism followed. Our
God took pains to dispel this mistake. The
living God takes a Fatherly interest in every man — in his personal,
domestic, and national concerns.
Not a hair of his head can be touched
without the cognizance of God. He administers joy and sorrow,
success
and disappointment, with judicious care. The God of heaven
manifests a
friendly activity in all human affairs, as great as if this globe
were the sole
object of His care. “In all our afflictions He is afflicted.” (Isaiah 63:9)
BLESSING. It
was God’s endeavor to make it clear to the world that
Jehovah’s
anger. When
was by the interposition of Jehovah. Their successful march
through the
desert was due to the leadership of God. Their triumphal march
through
as they loyally served Him He smiled upon their fields and
gave them prolific
harvests. As often as they forsook Him disaster befell them. If
they asked
His guidance He directed them in
the choice of a King. From His hand they
had personal liberty, just laws, beneficent government, agricultural
plenty,
national security, and the joys of ennobling religion. He taught
their “hands
to war, their fingers to fight” (Psalm 144:1). Unless the Hebrews
were as
blind as a doorpost, they must have perceived that every good they had
came from the liberal hand of Jehovah. To them he was the Fountain of
life.
(“Every good and perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning.” – James 1:17)
WORKER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. “The heathen shall know that the
house of
sight of the fact that God
had raised up
world the righteousness
of God. The Hebrews
were ordained to educate
the world in the truths and principles of righteousness. They
were
appointed to be par excellence a moral people, a nation in
whom
conscience was highly developed. The gods of paganism were renowned
for strength and for cunning. The idea of righteousness they
had not
deified. Hence Jehovah was
concerned to be known as essential purity. To
Him sin is intolerable — the root
of all discord and all misery. The
exile was
no haphazard. It was Divine punishment
for grievous sin. Defeat in war
was the rod of God’s righteous anger. Hence also the Jewish
subjugation
would not be permanent. The element of life was in the people
still; and, as
soon as repentance and moral renovation appeared, return to
independence
and to
PREPARATORY TO THE GREAT REVELATION OF HIS GRACE.
“Therefore thus
saith the Lord, Now will I… have mercy upon the whole
house of
His compassion —
pure, unstinted, self-sacrificing love. To Moses, who
craved to see God’s glory, the responding voice proclaimed, “The Lord
God, merciful and
gracious” (Exodus 34:6). Micah asked, in profound
surprise, “Who is a God like unto thee?” (Micah 7:18)
In what respect
did he mean? In the splendors of His kingly
state? In the might of His arm?
In the range
of His government? Nay. “Who is a God like unto thee, that
pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and sin?” (Ibid.) Herein lies the central
excellence of Jehovah, viz. that, providing
for the violated interests of justice
BY HIS OWN
SUFFERING, He freely forgives, renovates, and uplifts the
guilty sons of men. Men have not seen the full significance of his
Name,
nor conjectured the dazzling
radiance of His goodness, until they have
seen HIS MERCY — seen Him as the Healer
of the fallen. But His mercy
is a righteous mercy. Whom He pardons, He purifies. Righteousness is the
foundation on which He erects the magnificent structure of His grace.
So far as we know at present,
this is the climax of His self-revelations.
GUARANTEED BY THE GIFT OF HIS SPIRIT. “Neither will I
hide my
face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon
the house
of
outside a man depends upon the state of feeling and desire within
a man.
And a
right state of mind Godward is secured to the genuine Israelite by
THE INDWELLING OF
GOD’S MIGHTY SPIRIT! If men cannot
withstand temptation in their native and unaided state, God will not
leave
them to themselves. As the
supreme culmination of all blessing, God will
impart Himself to humble, suppliant men. He will weave His own Spirit
into our spirit. He will unite Himself with us by indissoluble bonds —
will pour His life into the empty channels of our nature. His
great salvation
is first internal, then external. We cannot miss our highest destiny if God,
by His Spirit, be within us.
Then, surely, we have the
highest guarantee of
safety, elevation, and noble
joy. We shall be renovated in the very
root-
principles of our nature, molded into a higher life by the silent workmanship
of His Spirit. (“We
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them.” - Ephesians 2:10). His mercy will
never forsake us.
The reader of this passage cannot but be impressed with the
conviction that
it
has reference, not only to
interest in it is not merely historical; it is personal and moral.
There is a
largeness, a fullness, in the promises given, which can scarcely be
exhausted by
the
immediate reference to the return from the Oriental captivity.
SAME POWER THAT DECREED CAPTIVITY. “He that
scattereth
He also who
heals. The righteous Ruler and Judge
who visits transgression
with penalties proves Himself to be the God to whom belong forgivenesses.
He is not indifferent to sin;
yet He delights in mercy. Men are wont to
picture to themselves a Deity all wrath or all benignity. But
revelation
shows us, in that Supreme Being who hates sin and who corrects
the
sinner, “the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe.” (I Timothy
4:10)
ASSURED TO THE RESTORED. To
they should, upon their return, dwell safely in their land, and
none should
make them afraid. We know that this promise was only partially
realized,
and that it must accordingly, so far as it refers to
comparative; the people enjoyed a measure of security and peace beyond
what they had experienced or could expect to experience. It is right to
regard prosperity and all external blessings as the gift of God s goodness.
And whether enjoyed now in this
Christian dispensation or in the period of
millennial happiness to which the Church looks forward, it must ever
be
considered as the gift of
Divine bounty and the expression of Divine love.
EXPRESSION OF GOD’S FAVOR TO THE RESTORED.
Ø
These blessings are
conveyed by the outpouring of the Spirit of God. It
is impossible to do other than refer this event to the Day of
Pentecost,
and to the dispensation of the Spirit which was then
inaugurated. Other
prophets concurred with Ezekiel in this prediction; and Peter
authoritatively recognized the fulfillment of such prophetic words in the
bestowal of the promise of the Father, and in that effusion which
commenced at Pentecost, BUT WHICH HAS NEVER CEASED!
Ø
These blessings are
equivalent to the manifestation of the Divine favor.
The Lord’s promise was no more
to hide His face from His restored
ones. We know that
to the restoration; and that, on account of the rejection of
the Messiah,
constrained to refer this promise to the accepted people of God, to
whom is no condetonation, and who walk in the light of
His countenance.
Ø
These blessings are
the occasion of the acknowledgment and of the
hallowing of the Lord’s Name. As is ever the case, God is
Himself
made the End of all. All things are of Him and to Him. (Romans 9:36)
NATIONS. In
former times
His Divine hand is recognized.
He is glorified both by the affliction and by
the elevation of His own. All
nations and all ages are summoned to behold
THE WORK OF THE
LORD, to
submit to His power and to adore
His wisdom. His treatment of His own people does not end
with them;
it is designed for THE INSTRUCTION AND
HIGHEST BENEFIT OF
MANKIND! There shall thus be made known by the Church
the manifold
wisdom of God. (Ephesians 3:10)
The Glorious Restoration (vs. 25-29)
Ø
The people of God. This is promised for the Jews, the ancient people
of God. God does not forget His people in their captivity any
more
than He forgot them in their Egyptian bondage. Now, we know
that
God regards the
whole human race as one family (Acts
17:26).
Though many reject Him and
many know Him not, He
cares for all.
As all belong by right to
their heavenly Father, so the perfect
restoration
in Christ is now offered to ALL MEN!
Ø
Sinners. This gracious promise is not only for the unfortunate —
like the
Hebrews in
account of their own wickedness. This fact shows:
o
the grace of God, who is willing to be reconciled to His worst
foes, to pardon His rebel subjects, to receive back His lost
and
disgraced children; and
o
the hope of the world.
The peculiarity of the mission of Christ
was that He came to seek
and to save that which was lost. The
most degraded may hope to share in the glorious restoration
of
Ø
God’s saving work. God brought back the captivity of
Nebuchadnezzar was his servant
for punishment, Cyrus was even his
“Messiah” for
restoration (Isaiah 45:1). The great restoration of souls
is GOD’S WORK! He does not wait for men to regenerate their
own
characters (“…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us.” - Romans
5:8), and then consent to give
them a welcome home. He Himself
effects the regeneration. It was God’s thought to send His Son to
be the
Savior of the
world. (Revelation 13:8) This Divine action springs:
o
from God’s mercy;
o
from his jealousy for His holy Name.
God is most glorified in saving
his people. Righteousness is most
Honored not by
the punishment of sin, but by the cure of it.
Ø
On condition of confession. “And they shall
take upon them their shame,
and all their trespass which they have committed against
me.” The
restored Jews will own the guilt of the sin that drove them into
captivity.
Thus the chastisement will
produce its bitter but wholesome fruit. God
only forgives sin on condition of man’s confession (1 John
1:9). When
the penitent takes the shame of his sin GOD REMOVES THE
GUILT OF IT!
Ø
Return to the old home and its privileges. The Jews came back
to
Human
inheritance which he has lost by sin. Science, art, literature,
social and domestic life, etc., will be enjoyed at their best
when men
are REGENERATED IN
HEART! The
earth will never yield her
choicest increase UNTIL THE PEOPLE
OF GOD INHERIT IT!
But with these secular
advantages, and far above them, is
restoration to the spiritual home — to the kingdom of heaven here,
to the glory of heaven hereafter.
Ø
Peace and security. “When they dwell safely in their land, and
none
make them afraid.” This
suggests a striking contrast to the former
position, when
the least being those of their own household in the long feud
between
the northern and the southern kingdoms. That feud was now
ended
forever. Still, the subsequent time was scarcely one of solid
security.
We must look to the spiritual
restoration for the perfect accomplishment
of the happy vision. The redeemed people of God enjoy peace
and safety.
Christ said, “My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27).
Ø
Closer communion with God. Then they shall
know God better than
before, with the knowledge of experience, and enjoy the never-failing
light of his countenance. This is the Christian’s highest privilege.
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