Ezekiel 6
1 “And the
word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy
face toward the mountains of
Ye mountains of
GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to
the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold,
I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and
I will destroy your high places.”
Set thy face
toward the mountains, etc. The formula is eminently characteristic
of Ezekiel. We have had it with a different verb in the
Hebrew, in ch.4:3. It will
meet us again in chps. 20:46;
21:2; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2. In this case it
probably implied an outward act, like that of Daniel, when
he, with a very
different purpose, looked towards
widespread plains of
the chief characteristic of the land which he had left. The
mountains
represent the whole country, including the rivers (Revised
Version, here
and throughout, renders the Hebrew “water courses,” to
distinguish it from
the “river” (nahar) of ch.1:1, 3, et al., and the “river” (nachal)
of
ch.
47:5. Its strict meaning is that of a “ravine” or “gorge,” the
wady of modern Arabic,
through which a stream rushes in the winter, but is
dried up in the summer). All the localities are named as having been
alike
polluted by the
worship of idols for mountains and
hills as the scenes of
such worship, see Deuteronomy 12:2; II Kings 17:10-11; Jeremiah 2:20;
3:6;
Hosea 4:13; for the ravines and valleys, II Kings 23:10 and
Jeremiah 7:31
(the
combination meets us in ch. 35:8;
36:5-6. In his address to the mountains,
Ezekiel follows in the footsteps of Micah 6:2. I will destroy your high places.
The words point to the most persistent, though not the
worst, of all the
idolatries by which the worship of Jehovah as the God of
overshadowed. The words
of Ezekiel are identical with those of Leviticus 26:30.
The Bamoth, or high places, of
Baal, are mentioned in Numbers 22:41 and Joshua
13:17, and are probably identical with the high places of Arnon in
Numbers 21:28. There they are named only incidentally, not
in the way
of prohibition or condemnation. So, in like manner, in
Deuteronomy 32:13
and 33:29, if the technical sense exists at all, it is
referred to only as
included in the triumph of the worship of Jehovah over the
hill fortresses as
the sanctuaries of other gods. The absence of the word from
the Book of
Judges is difficult to explain, as it was precisely in that
period of the history
of
people adopting the cultus of their
neighbors. A probable solution of the
problem is that, so long as the tabernacle and the ark were
at
was so pre-eminently the center of the worship of Jehovah,
that the people
were not tempted to forsake it, or to set up the worship
upon the high
places side by side with it. When, after the capture of the ark,
deserted sanctuary, we meet for the first time with the
worship of the high
places, not as a thing forbidden, but as sanctioned by the
presence of
Samuel, as the judge and prophet of the people (I Samuel
9:12-14;
10:5), the “high
place” in the last passage being, apparently, the same as
“the hill of God.” In II Samuel 1:19, possibly from the
Book of Jashar,
we have the elder, less technical sense of Deuteronomy
32:12 and
33:19. It would seem, accordingly, as if Samuel had acted
on a policy like
that of the counsel which Gregory I gave Augustine. He
found the worship
of the high places adopted by the Israelites from the
neighboring nations.
He sought to turn them to the worship of Jehovah. So the
writer of
I Kings 3:2 records the fact that “the people sacrificed in high places,”
because as yet, though the ark had been brought to
no house built
unto the Name of Jehovah until those days,”
and that
Solomon himself also “sacrificed
and burnt incense in the high places.” At
the chief of these, the great high place of
thousand burnt offerings, and had the memorable vision in
which he made
choice of wisdom rather than length of days, or riches and
honor,
returning from it, as though the cultus
of the two places stood nearly on an
equal footing, to offer other burnt offerings before the
ark of God at
things was, in some measure, altered, and the temple was
the one
legitimate sanctuary. When the ten tribes revolted under
Jeroboam, they
were, of course, cut off from the temple services, and the
king accordingly,
besides the calves at
the sons of Aaron, in the cities of
From that time forward the high places are always mentioned
by both
historians and prophets in a tone of condemnation, whether
they were in
in the reverence of the people that even the better kings
of
warred against open idolatry, like Asa
(I Kings 15:14), Jehoshaphat
(Ibid. ch. 22:43), Jehoash (II Kings 12:3), Amaziah
(Ibid. ch.14:4),
Azariah (Ibid. ch. 15:4), left them
undisturbed; while in the
history of the northern kingdom the cultus
of the Bamoth reigned
paramount (Ibid. ch. 17., passim).
It was not till Hezekiah, presumably
under Isaiah’s influence, removed the “high places” (Ibid. ch. 18:4) that
we find any serious attempt to put them down. They had been
tolerated,
apparently, because, as in Rabshakeh’s
taunt (Ibid. v. 22), they
were nominally connected with the worship of Jehovah. Under
the
confluent polytheism of Manasseh they naturally reappeared
(Ibid. ch.
21:3: II Chronicles 33:3). The reformation of Josiah was
more thorough
(II Kings 23., passim; II Chronicles 34:3), and was probably
stimulated
by Hilkiah and Huldah. The discovery of the book of the Law (probably
Deuteronomy), with its condemnations of mountain
sanctuaries, though, as
we have seen, the Bamoth were not
prohibited by name, roused the zeal of
the prophets, especially of the priest prophets Jeremiah
and Ezekiel, and
when the Bamoth-cultus revived,
after the death of Josiah, the former was
strong in his protests (Jeremiah 7:31, et al.), all
the more so because
now, as in the earlier stages of their history, they had
become high places
of Baal (Ibid. ch.19:5; 32:55), and were associated with
abominations
like those of the worship of Moloch in the
that Ezekiel, writing on the banks of the Chebar, is now led to place them
in the forefront of the
sins of his people.
The Doom of the Mountains (vs. 1-3)
After leaving the low flat shores of
contrast of scenery as he approaches the
mountains rising one behind another from the sand hills of
foreground to the distant uplands of
country. On landing he finds that traveling in
experience in mountaineering, for the
country. Though Ezekiel could not see his native land from
the plains of
great
— the more memorable from their contrast with his present
tame
surroundings — and picture to himself his mountain home,
with the
passion of a highlander banished to the plains. In
prophesying against
he then denounces a doom on the mountains.
day the leading features of the
not fall in obscure
corners. He is not confined to secret places. The most
public scenes
witness His work. He paints His warning pictures on a broad
canvas, and lifts
them up for all to see.
power of God. No position is so exalted as to be above the reach of the
Divine government. The waters of the Flood covered the mountains, and
drowned the people who vainly
expected safety by climbing (Genesis
7:20). Kings are called to God’s
bar of judgment. Exalted rank, high
intelligence, fame, power,
influence, all come under the great sweep of
God’s rule, and may suffer
punishment from His just anger. (“And
I
beheld when he had opened the sixth seal,
and, lo, there was
a great earthquake; and the sun became black
as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken
of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it
is rolled
together; and every mountain and island were
moved out of their places.
And the kings of the
earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman,
and every free man,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of
the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us,
and hide us from the
face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb: For the great
day of his wrath is come; and
who shall be able to
stand?” -
Revelation 6:12-17)
a glorious age. Moriah is sacred to the education of Abraham; the very
stones that now lie scattered on
the hills of
in Jacob’s dream as a
heaven-scaling stairway; Gilboa witnessed the death
of Saul; the hills of
The changeless, venerable
mountains enshrine the national story. The doom
of the mountains is a doom of
history. It declares failure and ruin after a
glorious past — a splendid day ending with a stormy sunset. Happily there
was a new sunrise when these
same mountains were trodden by the feet of
the Saviour,
and upon them the feet of the messengers of peace were seen.
(“How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad
tidings of good things!” - Romans 10:15)
against the Israelite invasion.
When
these mountains to be natural
fortresses. They were also hiding places.
Men in danger fled to the
mountains for safety. But now the mountains
themselves are doomed. THE
BEST EARTHLY REFUGE FAILS!
The curse of sin breaks the soul’s stoutest
shield.
which old altars have been
built. There Abraham sacrificed, there Elijah
invoked the attesting fire. But
the sacred associations were defiled by later
idolatrous rites, and the high places
became evil places. Then no sacredness
could protect
them. There is
no asylum at a defiled sanctuary. Religion
joined to sin does not save the
sinner; it only proclaims him a hypocrite, or
at best one who sins
against light.
were formerly converted into
vineyards, but now all round
ragged lines of stone tell the tale of neglected culture and long destroyed
productiveness. A blight has fallen
on the doomed mountains. The very
land has shared in the
sufferings of its people. All things external as well as
spiritual SUFFER
FROM THE CURSE OF SIN! No ancient
fruitfulness
will stay this curse. Under its
ban, the garden of Eden becomes a waste
howling wilderness, and the
fertile mountain side a desolation.
(Deuteronomy 32:10)
4 “And
your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken:
and I will cast down your slain men before
your idols.”
5 “And I
will lay the dead carcasses of the children of
their idols; and I will scatter your bones
round about your altars.”
6 “In all
your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the
high places shall be desolate; that your
altars may be laid waste and
made desolate, and your idols may be broken
and cease, and your
images may be cut down, and your works may
be abolished.”
7 “And the
slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I
am the LORD.” Your images, etc. The “sun images” of the Revised Version
shows why these are mentioned as distinct from the “idols.”
The
chammanim were pillars or
obelisks identified with the worship of Baal as
the sun god, standing on his altars (II Chronicles 34:4),
coupled with
the “groves,” or Asherim
(Isaiah 17:8; 27:9), and wijth the “high
places” in II Chronicles 14:5. I will cast down your slain men before
your idols. As in the prophecy against
Josiah’s action (II Kings 23:16), this was the ne plus ultra of desecration.
Where there had been the sweet savor of incense there
should be the
sickening odor of the carcasses of the slain. The word for “idols”
(gillulim), though
found elsewhere, notably in Ezekiel’s favorite
textbooks (Leviticus 26:30; Deuteronomy 29:17), is more
prominent in his writings (where it occurs thirty-six
times) then in any
other book of the Old Testament, and means, primarily, a
cairn or heap of
stones, which, like the “sun
images,” came to be associated with Baal.
Ezekiel repeats both words in v. 6, with all the emphasis
of scorn. He
predicts the coming of a time when the work of destruction
should be done
more thoroughly than even Josiah had done it. When that
time came, the
familiar formula, “Ye
shall know that I am the Lord,” should
receive yet
another fulfillment.
The inhabitants of
of national prosperity and self-indulgence. So has it been in the experience of many
nations. This may easily be explained. Man is a compound
being, body and
soul; he is connected both with the scenes, occupations,
and experiences of
earth, and with the great realities of eternity. There is
much in the world to
absorb and engross human attention, interest, and concern.
And it is quite
in harmony with all we know of human nature, that those whose minds are
engaged in the pursuits of time and sense should be
forgetful of the higher
truths and laws of the eternal prospects, in which they
may not deliberately
disbelieve. How
often has it happened that, when God has satisfied a
nation’s temporal cravings, He has sent leanness into their
souls! Their very
blessings, as they deem them, become the occasion of
their forgetfulness of
the Giver. It is
with nations as with individuals — the satisfaction of earthly
needs may silence the aspiration for heavenly good.
The knowledge of God may be acquired in times of
retribution and suffering.
How many have found that it was good for them to be
afflicted; since
before they were afflicted they went astray (Psalm 119:67,
71), whilst in
affliction they have learned to observe God’s Word! It may
be objected that
the highest and fullest knowledge of God is not thus to be
acquired. And this
is true; yet this knowledge may be indispensable as a stage
to a knowledge yet
more precious. It may be that the first lesson to be
acquired is a lesson of
submission to God’s will, of reverence for God’s
righteousness. Only after
the acquisition of this lesson, it may be, does that of the
Divine mercy and
compassion come within reach. When
men have forgotten that the universe
is ruled by a just, wise, almighty King, from whose
authority none can
escape, they must be
brought to acknowledge this fact, that they may lay
down the arms of rebellion, and may seek forgiveness and
find
reconciliation.
Such knowledge should, and often does, lead to sincere and acceptable
piety. Custom, tradition,
superstition, are a poor and unstable
foundation for
true religion. Men must know God, must know His character, His mind, His will,
in order that they may devoutly love Him and acceptably serve Him. Whilst there
is undoubtedly a kind of knowledge, merely speculative,
which is compatible
with hatred of God and of His Law, there is, on the other hand, a
knowledge
which leads men to appreciate and adore the Divine
attributes, and to seek
participation in the Divine nature and in Divine favor.
“Little
children, guard yourselves from idols.”
(I John 5:21) “Their
idols
are
silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they
speak
not: eyes have they, but they see
not: They have ears, but they hear
not: noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they
handle
not: feet have they, but they walk
not: neither speak they through
their
throat. They that make them are like
unto them; so is ever one
that trusteth in them” (Psalm
115:4-8). “Wooden
idols are easily avoided,
but take heed of the idols of gold. It is no difficult
matter to keep from dead
idols” in the form of statues or images, but guard yourselves against the
manifold forms of modern and CIVILIZED IDOALATRY! Yield not even
the least to anything or any person who would contend for the throne of your
heart.
“Thou shalt have no other gods
before me (Exodus 20:3); Hear,
O
God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
(Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
The Idolatry of the Land Avenged (vs. 1-6)
Turning from the city of
Ezekiel addresses himself to
who had rejected God. By a striking figure of speech, he delivers his
message to the mountains and hills, the water courses and
ravines of
been to the prophet, we can easily imagine; national and
religious
associations must, in the course of centuries, have
gathered round every
portion of the territory which Jehovah had given to the
descendants of
Abraham. The apostrophe to the country was at the same time
a word to
the nation; the people and the land were identified. The
artist, the poet,
may deal with scenery apart from the living inhabitants who
dwell amidst it.
But the patriot, the prophet, the preacher, love the land
for the people’s
sake who make it their home. To Ezekiel the
practices of the foulest and
cruelest kind. The commission
which the
children of
to purge the land
of its heathen abominations. Yet the
candid and faithful
record of Old Testament
Scripture informs us that from the first the
chosen
people were led
away by the example and influence of the ancient dwellers
in the land, and
learned to practice the abominations they were appointed
to repress. One great aim of the seers and prophets was to reproach the
nation because of prevailing
idolatry and superstition, and to summon them
to return to their allegiance,
ever due to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. It is evident that the
worship of the deities adored by the
surrounding nations was
prevalent even among those who were called to a
purer faith; and that some of
the kings, both of
sanctioned and encouraged
idolatrous observances and idolatrous
priesthoods. Thus the high places and the ravines of
by the rites of folly, cruelty, and lust. These heathen deities
were
embodiments in imagination of the lusts which corrupt the human heart.
token of Divine mercy and
forbearance that the apostate Israelites were not
left to the delusions and
errors, the defection and rebellion, into which they
had suffered themselves to be
led. The voice of the Lord’s prophets was
heard upon the mountains, and
throughout the valleys, which had been
abandoned to those who practiced
the fanatical, bloodthirsty, and polluted
observances distinctive of Canaanitish and Phoenician idolatry. (For a
synopsis of the Canaanite
religion and influence, see Halley’s
Bible
Handbook – the last
two pages on Joshua – CY – 2014).
Impressions
were produced upon individuals
which resulted in a return to the service of
Jehovah. There were temporary
reformations, distinguished by penitence
and by vows. But the reader of
the prophetic Scriptures cannot but admit
that there was no great national
movement in the right direction.
Notwithstanding faithful rebuke,
severe denunciation, compassionate
promise, the people returned again and again to their former
follies. It was
as though
to keep the nation faithful to
Him who had exalted, defended, and
prospered it, and who had borne
with the manners of the rebellious people,
not only in the wilderness, but
in the land of promise. It was as though
nothing short of captivity
and exile, conjoined with the destruction
and
desolation of the
capital, could teach the lesson which it
was
vocation first to acquire, and
then to communicate to the world around.
Ezekiel speaks here with
conviction and certainty. There rises before his
mind a vision which can only
fill his heart with grief and mourning. It is a
satisfaction, indeed, to his
righteous soul to foresee the high places
destroyed, the altars desolate,
the images broken, and the works of
idolaters abolished. But this is
not all. He sees the dead carcasses of the
children of
And the vision
of the depopulated land, the deserted and silent city, the
vanquished and
decimated nation, profoundly affects
his patriotic and
sensitive nature. It is a stern
lesson, this which he has to teach; it is a
terrible punishment, this which
he has to anticipate and to foretell. Yet
the
lesson and the punishment are
the Lord’s. It is the word of the Lord
which
the prophet has to declare, the
Lord of Israel who is at the same time the
King of
righteousness and of judgment. God
brings the sword upon His
own people; covers His own land with ruin and
desolation. For His authority
must not be
defied, His laws must not be broken; His name must not be
dishonored with
impunity. “The way of transgressors is
hard” (Proverbs
13:15). “The wages of sin
is death” (Romans 6:23). Until this lesson is
learned, there is no place for the publication of clemency, for the
proffer of
mercy. The Law comes before the gospel; and they who do not
honor the Law
will not appreciate the gospel.
It
is in the midst of wrath that GOD
REMEMBERS MERCY! (Habakkuk 3:2)
There is such a thing as national guilt and apostasy. In our own time,
individualism is carried to such an extreme that this fact is apt to be
overlooked. A nation sins by its collective acts, and a nation suffers
the just
punishment of its evil doing. History is ever teaching this
lesson, which
men — good and bad — in their absorption in personal
interests, are prone
to overlook.
The Church has responsibility for witnessing against national errors, for
warning the people of the inevitable consequences of apostasy
from God,
and for uttering clearly and boldly the mind and will of HIM WHO IS
ETERNAL RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE!
A Ruined Civilization (v. 6)
condition. But there is more behind. Houses broken down,
altars
overthrown, streets grass grown, inhabited places made
desolate, — these
are the outward and
visible signs of a decayed and broken civilization. The
destruction of the civilization is the real disaster. This
happened in
when wild beasts came out from the forests and prowled over
the once safe
and populous country; and it happened in another form in
hardy barbarians poured over the plains of
buildings, but also the whole fabric of ancient society,
and so ushered in the
gloom and disorder which took possession of the early part
of the Middle Ages.
physical existence. Cities may
be overthrown, and yet civilization may
outlive the shock.
splendor; the fire of
prepared for a nobler city; the
great conflagrations of
followed by the building of a
widespread desolation affects
the sources of intellectual life and the means
of social intercourse. Roads are
neglected, bridges are broken down, lonely
districts are infested with
robbers and rendered unsafe for travel; there is
neither time nor energy for
mental culture. Christian civilization has been
lost on the north coast of
were once shining lights; it has
almost vanished from the site of the seven
Churches of
civilization: the fellaheen of
today build mud hovels; their ancestors forty
centuries ago constructed the great
Hall of Columns at
the wonders of the world. The
ancient civilization of
vanished before the discovery of
Roman Catholic civilization.
Frightful physical sufferings
often accompany it, and gross moral outrages
are then rife and go unchecked
and unpunished. The refined and delicately
nurtured people are put to the
most exquisite torture of mind, if not of
body. The hideous experiences of
the Indian mutiny may give us some idea
as to what this means. When such
violent methods are not pursued, and a
slow decay takes the place of a
sudden destruction, the chronic and ever
deepening misery of the more
cultivated people must be heart-rending. But
apart from the question of
suffering, the very act of throwing back the car
of progress for some centuries
involves a disastrous loss to the world. The
Christian civilization that has
grown out of the experience of ages and
slowly ripened through
generations of culture is the most precious heritage
we have received from our
forefathers. Let us guard and treasure it as a
sacred
trust. (Yet the culture
in the
witness service at local fast foods; shootings in our city streets; abortion
on demand; illegality of the church’s public influence; entitlements;
ad nauseum – CY – 2014)
BECOME A MORAL NECESSITY.
While outwardly brilliant, society
may be inwardly corrupt. This
was the case with the old heathen nations
and to a frightful extent. Civilized wickedness
means elaborate and
inventive
wickedness, which bears fruits of evil
ten times worse than any
that grow on the wild tree of
untutored barbarism. This was evidently the
case in the histories of
splendid
civilization, and in spite of the high cultivation of art and
philosophy, THE HUMAN CHARACTER WAS ROTTING TO DEATH!
Something like this was
approached by
Then it was best that the altars
should be overthrown, the cities destroyed,
and the people scattered. There
is no more horrible wickedness in the present
day than that of those dwellers
in centers of culture who have abandoned
themselves to
vice. When civilization has become
effete, it is a hotbed of
moral disease, and it is best
for the health of society that it should be
broken up and destroyed utterly.
We cannot put new wine in old bottles.
The
Impotence of Idols (vs. 1-7)
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,
set thy face
toward the mountains of
to
the city of
whole of the
addresses “the mountains and the hills,” etc.
(v. 3). The
burden of this
chapter is a
proclamation of Divine judgment because of the idolatry of the
people. This, also, is a reason why certain geographical features
of the
country are mentioned. Mountains and hills, ravines and valleys,
were
chosen as localities for the worship of idols (compare
Deuteronomy 12:2;
II Kings 17:10-11; 23:10). The Israelites should have sternly opposed
and utterly abolished
the idolatry of the land. They were explicitly and
solemnly commanded to do so (Deuteronomy
12:1-3, 29-32; ch. 13.). But
instead of doing this, they had themselves become idolaters; and
they
persisted in idolatry. Therefore God
Himself will take the work into His own
hands, and will make an
utter end of their idols and images, their altars and
sacrifices. “Behold, I, even
l, will bring a sword upon you, and I will
destroy your high places,”
etc. (compare Leviticus 26:30-33). And by the
execution of His dreadful
judgment the
impotence and vanity of the idols
would be conspicuously exhibited. The text shows:
·
THE INABILITY OF IDOLS TO PROTECT THEIR WORSHIPPERS.
“I will cast down
your slain before your idols. And I will lay the dead
carcases of the children of
in the midst of you.” The
dead bodies of the idolaters, slain for their
idolatry, and cast down before the idols, constituted a striking
testimony to
the impotence of the idols to succor or defend their
worshippers. But
there are idols and idolaters in our age and in Christian lands.
A man may
he an idolater who never bows down to any image, or statue,
or anything
else. A man’s god is that which he loves supremely; and in this
sense he
may make an idol of his wife, or his child, or of riches,
power, popularity,
success in business, or even of himself. “And an idol in the heart is as bad
as one set up in the house.” And
these things, viewed as gods, are as
impotent as the idols of the Israelites. They cannot ennoble
human nature;
they rather crush its highest aspirations, degrade its best
affections, and
dwarf its noblest faculties. They
are altogether incapable of satisfying the
cravings of the soul. Its hunger is too great, its thirst too
intense, to be
satisfied with any of the gods of modern civilization, or with all
of them, or
with anything less than God Himself. “My soul thirsteth
for God, for the
living God.” (Psalm
42:2) Only in Him can the religious heart of man find
true rest. And these modern idols cannot protect their
votaries. There are
circumstances and conditions in life in
which neither riches nor rank, popularity
nor power, relatives nor
friends, can render man any aid. There are trials which
none of them can ward off; dangers which none of them can shield
us from;
and none of them can save us from death, or give us hope beyond
it.
·
THE INABILITY OF IDOLS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND
THEIR ALTARS,
Ø
They cannot protect themselves
and their altars from desecration.
“ I will cast down your slain before your idols. And I will
lay the dead
carcases of the children of
your bones round about your altars.” Thus were the idolatrous images
and altars polluted by dead bodies and
decaying bones (compare
1 Kings 13:2; II Kings 23:15-16).
Ø
They cannot protect themselves
and their altars from destruction.
“I will destroy
your high places. And your altars shall be desolate, and
your images shall be broken… And the high places shall be
desolate,
that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your
idols
may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and
your
works may be abolished.” And
these idols, which the Israelites
worshipped, were utterly powerless to avert their own
destruction.
How often does God in mercy destroy
our idols! The riches which
we are almost worshipping He makes to slip from our
tightening grasp.
Our worldly successes, which
were
drawing our hearts away from Him,
He turns into disastrous
failures. The man who has made fame his god,
and endeavored to satisfy his soul with the fickle breath of
popular
applause, has found his idol broken into fragments; he is no
longer
greeted with plaudits, but with execrations. And when
our love to
any one has been growing into idolatry, God has taken from
us the
desire of our eyes with a stroke. And in all these cases the Divine
intent
has been that we should discover the vanity of our idols, and
turn unreservedly to the one living and true God. And in all,
the idols
are powerless to save themselves, and we are powerless to save
them.
·
THE INABILITY OF IDOLS LEADING IDOLATERS TO KNOW
AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUE GOD. “And ye shall know that I am
the Lord.” When these
judgments had been executed, and the vanity of
their idols thus demonstrated, the Israelites would know by
experience that
Jehovah is the true God.
Ø That He is
the true God as distinguished from
the false gods — the
idols.
Ø That He is
the almighty God as contrasted with
the impotent idols.
Ø That He is
the living and eternal God as
contrasted with the dead idols
which had been demolished.
of peace and prosperity, though it had been. taught
them in many
forms, and
with the reiteration of infinite patience.
But they would
learn it, and, as a matter of fact, they did learn it,
when it was
impressed upon them by the stern
judgments of siege and famine,
sword and captivity. And still there are those who need
trial and
suffering to teach them the same lesson. They will not in heart and
life acknowledge the true God until they have been taught, by bitter
and painful experience, the vanity of the idols which they
had set up in their hearts. Blessed are they, if even thus
they learn
that only the Supreme Being is worthy of the soul’s supreme
love
and reverence.
·
CONCLUSION. “Little children, guard yourselves
from idols.” “Wooden
idols are easily avoided, but take heed of the idols of gold. It
is no difficult
matter to keep from dead idols” in the form of statues or images,
but guard
yourselves against the manifold forms of modern and civilized
idolatry.
Yield not even the least to
anything or any person who would contend for
the throne of your heart. “Thou shalt have
no other gods before me; Hear,
O
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might.”
(Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
8 “Yet
will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape
the sword among the nations, when ye shall
be scattered through
the countries.” Yet will I leave a remnant, etc. The thought, though not the
word, is that of Isaiah 1:9; 10:20; Zephaniah 2:7; 3:13;
Jeremiah 43:5. For
these, at least, the punishment would, in greater or less
measure, do its work;
and,
in remembering Jehovah, they would find the
beginning of conversion.
The
Remnant (v. 8)
The remnant that is to escape in the greatest destruction
appears repeatedly
in
Hebrew prophecy. Its existence is evidently regarded as of deep
significance, over and above the value of the individual lives spared,
as a
ray
of light in the otherwise universal gloom, a glimmer of hope amidst the
deepening despair.
·
THE REMNANT IS A SIGN OF GOD’S MERCY. He did not utterly
destroy His guilty people. Not loving the work of judgment, He
spared all
whom it was safe to spare. God is never given over to wholesale
and
indiscriminate wrath. In His darkest hours of anger He makes a way of
escape.
Perhaps few as yet can avail themselves of it — only a “remnant.”
Still it is provided by God,
since He loves to heal, and hates to destroy.
·
THE REMNANT IS BOUND TO SERVE GOD. All who are saved
out of great destruction by the merciful hand of God should
consider
themselves the redeemed of the Lord, who belong to the God who has
delivered them.
God does not spare that we may be negligent or
indifferent. Every Christian is like a part of this remnant, delivered
by God
from the doom of a guilty world; therefore every Christian
has reason to
acknowledge that his life belongs to God, and to spend
it in God’s service.
·
THE REMNANT IS A SECURITY FOR HISTORICAL
CONTINUITY.
This remnant treasures up the tradition of the fathers. If
all
development of Hebrew revelation, the Scriptures would have been lost,
the line of descent in which the Christ was to appear would
have been
stopped, and God’s great purposes for blessing the world through
would have been frustrated. But the thin thread of the “remnant”
carries
down the ancient tradition, and becomes the invaluable link of
connection
between the venerable glory of the past and the even greater glory
of the
future. It thus illustrates THE CONTINUITY OF REVELATION,
HISTORY AND RELIGION. This continuity is an essential condition of
progress. Had there been no remnant, the Divine education would
have needed
to begin again de novo (from the beginning anew). In the dark ages a remnant
of the better days before still lingered, and though it was
but as a smoldering
spark, it was sufficient to be fanned into a new flame by the
fresh winds of the
Renaissance
and the Reformation. It is plainly
according to God’s purpose that
future enterprises for the good of the world should be linked on
to the
attainments of the past. The danger of a democracy lies in being too blind
and self-satisfied to see this Divine method of continuity.
·
THE REMNANT IS A SEED OF A LARGER FUTURE. It is not to
be always only a remnant. The old stump will sprout and grow
into a tree
again. The remnant of
Cyrus. (And in 1948 it became a
nation again - CY - 2021) Thus like the
“elect,” first as a
nation and later as a Church, this “remnant” is not favored
exclusively for its own sake, as especially meritorious, or as
arbitrarily chosen
for a privileged position. Every Divine privilege is given that they
who
receive it may be the better able to convey the
blessing of God to their
fellow men.
The Church is chosen out of the world that she may
labor for
the good of the world, and, by bringing the gospel to all men, enlarge her
own borders and ultimately share her privileges with all mankind.
9 “And
they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations
whither they shall be carried captives,
because I am broken with
their whorish heart, which hath departed
from me, and with their
eyes, which go a whoring after their idols:
and they shall loathe
themselves for the evils which they have
committed in all their
abominations.” Because I am broken with their
whorish heart. The words
have been very differently rendered.
they shall remember… how I have been broken, etc. So taken, the words
are boldly anthropomorphic, and
ascribe to Jehovah the word which
implies the strongest form of
human distress. The “whorish heart” of the
people has made Jehovah
Himself “broken-hearted.”
(contrivi),
and take the verb, which is passive in form, as being like a
Greek verb in the middle voice,
transitive in form, with an implied reflex
force. So we get, as in the
margin of the Revised Version, “I have
broken
their whorish heart.”
So taken, thought and words are both connected
with Psalm 51:17, and the
self-loathing that follows has its counterpart in
Job 42:6. The thought is
eminently characteristic of Ezekiel (ch.20:43;
36:31), and, we may add also, of
Leviticus (Leviticus 26:39-43).
Self-Loathing (v. 9)
This very strong and very remarkable assertion concerning
the remnant of
overtake the nation and its metropolis, is a proof to every
thoughtful reader
that the mind of the prophet was occupied not so much with
the external
and political aspects of history as with THE MORAL! In his view supreme
importance is attached to the result of experience upon character.
So
regarded, calamity may be “a
blessing in disguise.” If the chastisement of
God awakens repentance and self-loathing, one purpose at
all events, and
that a most important purpose, has been answered.
SATISFACTION AND SELF-COMPLACENCY. It is not natural to men
to loathe themselves, however
they may be tempted to loathe their fellow
men, where there has been
infliction of injury or want of sympathy and
congeniality. It is too common
for men to look at their own character and
their own conduct in the most
favorable and flattering light; and to speak,
or at all events to think, of
themselves with approval and admiration. In
most cases a great change must
come over a man’s mind in order that he
may regard his character and his
life with dissatisfaction, in order that he
may hate himself.
Those who admire and approve
themselves are, in many instances, if not in
all, the victims of illusion. It
is a rude, and yet it may be a wholesome,
awakening, which sets a man
face to face with his true self. His fancied
excellences and virtues are seen
to be faults. The blemishes which he has
been accustomed to extenuate
appear in their real deformity. He wonders
how he could have misinterpreted
his actions and misunderstood his
character. He learns to know
himself, not as he has imagined himself to be
but as he really is.
ERRORS AND FOLLIES OF THE PAST. When a man sees himself, in
some measure, as God sees him to
be, then trivial faults — as they were
once deemed — become, in his
apprehension serious and culpable. Sin is
the abominable thing which God
hates; and it is an evidence of true
enlightenment when a man loathes his own offences against the laws of
God and the
dictates of his own conscience. The
unspiritual detest
deformities of body, defects of
manner or of speech; the spiritually minded
are more distressed at what is
morally evil than at anything of a more
external character.
SO TO FORGIVENESS AND ACCEPTANCE. To remain in a state of
mind in which repugnance to evil
absorbs the whole nature is to be
abandoned to despondency. Sin
is to be loathed in order that it may be
forsaken; and that it may be
forsaken IT MUST BE FORGIVEN. The
Scriptures abound
in denunciations of sin, but they abound
also in
invitations to
repentance and in promises of forgiveness. “Let the wicked
forsake his way,” etc. (Isaiah 55:7) Reconciliation and
purity are by the
gospel assured
to every PENITENT AND BELIEVING SINNER!
REMOVAL OF WHAT OCCASIONED IT, AND OF THE
SUBSTITUTION OF WHAT CAN BE REGARDED WITH
THANKFULNESS AND DELIGHT. It may be said thus to work its own
cure. Or, more properly, it may induce the repenting sinner to apply to the
GREAT
PHYSICIAN, by whose remedial treatment the unsoundness may
Be removed, and spiritual
health, vigor, and happiness may be restored.
10 “And
they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said
in vain that I would do this evil unto
them.” I have not said in
vain, etc.
The thought of that self-loathing and
repentance reconciles Ezekiel to his
work. To “labour in vain” is the great misery of all workers for God. A
time
will come when he shall see that God has not sent him to such a work
“in vain.”
What before was dark will be made clear unto him (compare ch. 14:23). Ezekiel’s
words, “not in vain,” are echoed frequently by Paul (I Corinthians 15:14, 58;
II Corinthians 6:1; Philippians 2:16, et al.). The
corresponding phrase, “I have
broken their eyes,”
sounds strange to us; but, after all, the heart is not literally
broken more than the
eyes, and figuratively the same
words may be applied to
either, so that there is no need for supposing, with some
critics, that a more
appropriate verb has been dropped out. Eyes and heart were alike involved
in the sin (ch. 20:7-8, 24; Numbers 15:39), and both came under
the same
chastisement that was to lead them to
repentance.
The Consciousness of God (v. 10)
To know that God is the Lord, i.e. Jehovah, is very
different from knowing
that Jehovah is God. In the latter case the true God is
distinguished from
false gods, as in Elijah’s great appeal (I Kings 18:21,
39). But in the
former case, though there is no question of what God shall
be worshipped,
the being and presence of the one true God need to be
believed and
realized. Jehovah means, “HE WHO
IS,” the
Eternal, the one true selfexistent
Being. When we know
that God is Jehovah we are assured of His
true, present, living existence.
THE LORD?
Ø
His invisibility.
“No man hath seen God at any time.” (I John
4:12).
We sweep the sky with the telescope, but it
reveals no God
sitting on the circle of
the heavens. His voice is not heard in the
crash of the winter storm,
or the whispering of the summer leaves.
We feel after Him in the
darkness and silence, but we cannot
touch Him. Can He be if no
one ever sees, hears, or
touches Him?
Ø The disorder
of the world.
o
Men seem to be free to
do as they will, lawless wickedness
triumphing over innocence,
vice victorious and virtue
confounded. If there is a
Judge of all the earth, why does
He permit such crime against
the highest law to go unchecked
and unpunished?
o
Nature is now known to
be a battleground of fierce contending
selfishness in animal life, the
vegetable world a wilderness in
which the strongest plant,
though the coarsest, kills the weakest
though it be the most beautiful.
Where is the God of nature?
o
The earthly mindedness of men. Here is the secret of
the lost
vision
of God. “He is not far from any one of us” (Acts
17:27). But “our eyes are holden.”
A constant traffic with
things
material darkens our sight of the super-sensual.
Sin completes the
fatal work, and turns the dim vision into
total SPIRITUAL
BLINDNESS!
THE LORD? Ezekiel
tells us that this knowledge was to be brought about
by the judgment of God on
Ø
The fulfillment of prophecy. God had threatened
punishment.
The Jews had doubted the
warning. When it was fulfilled, they
would discover the
genuineness of the message, and the real
existence of Him who sent
it. The accomplished prophecies of the
Bible show the working mind
of God. The life of Christ confirms
the presence of God in
Messianic prophecy. Christian history
verifies Christ’s word
about the leaven hidden in the meal.
Moreover, the present
fulfillment of ancient prophecy reveals
the existence among us of
the same God who inspired the
prediction.
Ø
The exercise of power. The foolish Jews were
self confident and
boastful. They thought that they
were free to choose their own religion.
The great invasions and the
consequent breakup of the nation humbled
them to the dust, and awoke in
their hearts an alarmed consciousness
of the higher power of God who
had sent this doom upon them. We
cannot see God, but we can see
His work, and in this discern the
energy which witnesses to His
being.
Ø
The vindication of righteousness. Sin does not
triumph eternally. Our
induction is too narrow, our
survey is too brief. A wider grasp and a
larger patience would teach us
that God is in history punishing guilty
nations and advancing what is
true and good and great, just as He is
in nature raising the type of
being through the very struggle for
existence which, to the
short-sighted gaze of the unthinking spectator,
looks as purposeless as it is
painful. The grand vindication of
righteousness and
the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in
the advent of the
Son of man are to us the greatest proofs that
GOD IS THE LORD!
Many Lost; Few Saved (vs. 8-10)
The prospects of God’s kingdom on the earth have never been
wholly
dark. A glint of light has always pierced the heavy clouds
of gloom.
Among the diseased grapes of the cluster, a solitary sound
one is found. A
thousand acorns are on the oak in autumn time; three or
four only take
root and flourish. The elect are still the few. But it
shall not always be so.
The turning point in their fortune is REPENTANCE! The internal change
must always precede the external.
affliction. Until disaster,
defeat, and exile came, no change of mind
appeared. The ploughshare of
calamity broke up the hard and stolid soil, so
that the sweet energies of grace
might find an entrance. Judgment alone
will not soften and subdue the
proud will of man; but judgment and mercy
combined have an almighty
efficacy. No teacher is so effective as
experience. The scattered few,
who had escaped the all-devouring sword,
pondered, reflected, mourned.
repentance which is only remorse
— i.e. regret that the sin has been
detected. But real repentance has RESPECT
TO GOD! The sorrow
does not so much respect self.
It is grief that God is pained — that His
heart is broken by our
perversity and folly. The old selfishness has
disappeared, and God has
obtained His proper place in the soul if so,
repentance is real.
self-condemnation. The things formerly loved are now hated.
More than this, the penitent
passes sentence on himself. He censures
himself more severely than
others censure him. His past deeds
are as
obnoxious to him
as a dunghill, and that dunghill is within
him. His own
former self is detestable. He
hates himself. No penalty seems for him too
heavy. His chief fear is lest
such sin as his should be beyond the possibility
of mercy.
acquaintance
with God — inward conviction of His
truth and faithfulness.
This knowledge of God is
knowledge gained by experience. Such
knowledge brings with it trust,
admiration, love, peace; yea, life itself.
“They that know
thy Name wilt put their trust in thee” (Psalm 9:10).
Formerly they were the dupes of FALSEHOOD; they wandered in
darkness
SELF-CREATED! Now they are
smitten by the charms of
truth, and loyally follow the Truth.
Stages in the Soul’s Progress from Sin
unto Salvation (vs. 8-10)
“Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that
shall escape the
sword among the nations,” etc. These verses exhibit the exercise of mercy
even in the execution of judgment; and they indicate
certain stages in the
restoration of a remnant of the people to the Lord Jehovah.
paragraphs we have already
spoken of the sin and of the punishment of the
Israelites. Their chief sin was
idolatry. It is spoken of in our text as
whoredom. The chosen people are looked upon as the wife of Jehovah
(compare Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea
2:19-20). And in turning from Him to worship
idols, they played the part of a
wife that is unfaithful to her husband
(compare Jeremiah 3:9, 20). And when they persisted in this infidelity,
despite exhortation, remonstrance,
and warning, the righteous judgment
of God came upon
them — siege, famine, pestilence, sword,
captivity.
Sin ever leads to SUFFERING! Sooner or later
penalty follows
transgression. “Be
sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers
32:23);
“Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” (Ecclesiastes
10:8)
of you shall
remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried
captives.” The goodness of
God is designed to lead men to repentance
(compare Romans 2:4); but
sometimes it fails to do so by reason of the
perversity of the heart of man.
Some men partake of the gifts of the Divine
goodness without any thought of
the bountiful Bestower. But affliction not
unfrequently accomplishes that which prosperity
failed to effect. It was in
the far country, in poverty,
degradation, and destitution, that the prodigal
son came to himself, and
remembered his father’s house (Luke 15:14-
17). And though
Even His judgments were an
evidence of this (compare Hosea 2:6-7). In
wrath He
remembers mercy. In His terrible visitation for their sins He spares
a remnant of
them. And in the miseries of captivity
that remnant remembers
Him. As a faithless wife who has
deserted a good husband will almost
certainly have occasion to
remember in bitterness of soul him whom she
has so basely and cruelly
wronged, so the remnant of the Israelites,
in the
sorrows of their
exile, would remember the Lord Jehovah, whom they had
rejected for vain
idols. Suffering should induce
recollection and reflection.
Trials should lead us to review
our life and consider our ways.
broken their
whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and their eyes,
which go a-whoring
after their idols; and they shall loathe themselves for
the evils which
they have committed in all their abominations.” Where this
rendering differs from that of
the Authorized Version it is supported by
Hengstenberg, Schroder, and the ‘Speaker’s
Commentary.’ Amongst the
remnant of the Israelites,
recollection prepared the way for repentance, of
which three aspects are here
indicated.
Ø
Repentance in its origin. “When I have
broken their whorish heart.”
Whatever may be the means by
which it is brought about, penitence is
the product of
DIVINE GRACE (compare Acts 5:31;
11:18). In this
Christian age, God brings gracious gospel influences to bear upon the
hearts of men by
the operation of His Holy Spirit, in order to quicken
them into
penitence for sin.
Ø
Repentance in its seat. “When I have broken their heart.” Repentance
Is not merely a change of
mind, but a change of feeling. It is godly
sorrow on account
of sin (compare II Corinthians
7:9-10). “The
sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
Ø
Repentance in its expression. “They
shall loathe themselves for the evils
they have
committed in all their abominations.”
The true penitent never
seeks to excuse himself on
account of his sins, or to explain them away,
or to extenuate the guilt of
them. He takes shame to himself on account of
them; and humbly confesses them
to God. He says, “I acknowledge my
transgression, and
my sin is ever before me,” etc. (Psalm
51:3-5); “O
my God, I am
ashamed and blush to lilt up my face to thee, my God:
for our
iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass
is grown up unto
the heavens.” etc. (Ezra 9:6); “God be merciful to
me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). It is well when recollection thus leads to
repentance unto life. It did so
in the case of the psalmist: “I thought on
my ways, and
turned my feet unto thy testimonies,”
etc. (Psalm 119:
59). And David prophesied that it should be so
throughout the
world: “All the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the
Lord,” etc. (Ibid. ch.22:27).
GOD. “And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have
not said in
vain that I would
do this evil unto them.” The Lord would have spoken in
vain, or to no purpose, if the
event had not corresponded with the
utterance. By the correspondence
of utterance and event, they know that
He who has spoken by the son of
man is Jehovah — is God in the fullest
sense. They shall know Him as
the living and true God in contrast to the
dead and vain idols (see on v.
7). And more than this, true
repentance leads to forgiveness
and reconciliation with God; and thus the
penitent soul comes to know Him
by devout sympathy and hallowed
communion with Him.
·
CONCLUSION. Learn that pain and trial are blessed when by Divine
grace they lead to earnest
reflection, and sincere repentance, and saving
knowledge of God (compare Psalm
119:67, 71; Hebrews 12:10-11).
11 “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine
hand, and stamp with
thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil
abominations of the house of
pestilence.” Smite with thine
hand, etc. The outward gestures were to
give a dramatic emphasis to the mingled indignation and
sorrow with which
the prophet was to utter his woe. A like action meets us in
ch.21:12. Instances
of its use for other feelings meet us in ch. 22:13; Numbers 24:10 (anger);
Jeremiah 31:19 (shame).
12 “He
that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall
fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die
by the famine: thus will I accomplish my
fury upon them.”
He that is far
off, etc.
The three forms of judgment named in
v. 11 have each their special victims. Pestilence comes chiefly on those
who are outside the city, exposed to the weather changes
and the taint of
unburied corpses (v. 5); the sword of
the Chaldeans on those who
venture on a sally, or try to escape from the city; famine presses
heaviest
on those who are besieged within it. None can escape the judgment. The
word besieged is
the same as in Isaiah 1:8; but it may have the sense,
as in Ibid. ch.49:6, of “kept,” or “preserved,” for the worst evil of the
three.
13 “Then shall
ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men
shall be among their idols round about
their altars, upon every high
hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and
under every green tree,
and under every thick oak, the place where
they did offer sweet
savor to all their idols.” The thought is
the same as in v. 6, but the localities
are given in greater detail. The “hills” and “mountains” were
naturally the
scenes of the worship of the “high
places,” and these were commonly associated
with groves of trees, as in Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6; Isaiah 57:5. In
Hosea 4:13, oaks
(or terebinths), poplars, and
elms are specifically named (compare
Deuteronomy 12:2; II Kings 16:4). Where they did offer sweet
savour, etc. The phrase is
eminently characteristic of Ezekiel as a priest
(ch. 16:19; 20:28, 41), and is
specially prominent in the books
which he must have studied. It meets us three times in
Exodus, seventeen
in Leviticus, seventeen in Numbers, and seldom elsewhere. The crowning
sin, from the prophet’s point of view, was that the incense which was due
to Jehovah had been
lavished on the false gods of the nations.
14 “So
will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land
desolate, yea, more desolate than the
wilderness toward Diblath, in
all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.”
More desolate than
the wilderness towards Diblath; better,
with the Authorized Version, from the wilderness. The
name does not
appear elsewhere, and has not been identified. Assuming the
Authorized
Version rendering, we must think of Ezekiel as naming, as
Dante names the
Valdichiana (‘Inferno.,’ 29:47), some specially horrible and desolate
region.
For such a region the name of Diblah
(a cake of figs) does not seem
appropriate. Taking the Revised Version translation (“from
the wilderness
toward Diblah”), we have a phrase
analogous to “from Dan to
as denoting the extent of the desolation. The “wilderness” is usually
applied to the nomad region south of
look for Diblah in the north, and
so to look elsewhere than to the two
places Beth-diblathaim (Jeremiah
48:22) and Almon-diblathaim
(Numbers 33:46), both of which are in
by Jerome by the conjectural emendation of Riblah, the two Hebrew letters
for d and r being often written by copyists
for each other. Riblah (it is a
suggestive fact that the two chief manuscripts of the
Septuagint, the Alexandrian
and the
was a fortified town on the north road from
the Babylonian kings used to take up their position during
their invasions
of the former. Within a short time after Ezekiel wrote this
chapter, it
became memorable in its connection with Zedekiah’s
sufferings (compare
II Kings 23:33; 25:6, 20-21; Jeremiah 39:5-6; 52:9-10, 26).
Its
probable site is fixed on the banks of the
whole, is, I think, in favor of this interpretation. An additional fact in its
favor is that Hamath, in the same
region, appears as an ideal northern
boundary in ch.47:16.
The Sorrow of the Servant of God on
Account of the Sins of His People
(v.11)
“Thus saith the Lord God; Smite
with thine hand, and stamp with thy
foot,” etc. Almost
everything contained in the paragraph of which this
verse forms a part (vs. 11-14) has already come under our
notice in
preceding portions of this book. But our text presents
matter for profitable
meditation. It teaches:
CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF SINNERS WITH DEEP
SORROW. “Alas for all the evil abominations of the
house of
Idolatry was the great sin on account of which the prophet grieved.
But our text suggests that idolatry is a multitudinous sin. It
comprises
many “abominations.” In the worship of Peor the
worshippers committed
fornication; and in the worship of Moloch they committed homicide. In
proportion as we participate in the spirit of Jesus Christ, we shall regard
sin neither with levity, “Fools make a
mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:9);
nor with indifference; nor with extenuation of its guilt; but with
deep
grief. To the holy, sin must ever cause
regret and pain of heart. Ezra
mourned over it bitterly (Ezra
9:3-6); so did the psalmist (Psalm 119:136, 158),
the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17), the Apostle Paul (Romans 9:1-3),
and our blessed Lord and Saviour (Mark
3:5; Luke 13:34; 19:41-42). And
in our text, grief for the sins
of the people is expressed first, and for the
miseries caused by their sins
afterwards. There are many who mourn the
losses and sufferings which
result from sin, but comparatively few who
mourn because of the sins
themselves; yet these should awaken our
sharpest sorrow. (I have long mourned of
God! – CY – 2014)
WHICH COME UPON SINNERS WITH DEEP SORROW. “Alas!…
For they shall
fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.” “The
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9);
and therefore His people should
at least heartily acquiesce in them. But
while consenting unto them, and
cordially approving their righteousness,
the godly will look with sorrow
upon the
woes which the wicked bring
upon themselves by
their sins. Nor is there anything
wrong or unbecoming
in this; for so our Lord
viewed the miseries which He saw gathering over
the guilty
contemplated the captivity of the Lord’s
flock (Jeremiah 13:17). One cannot
look upon calamity and
suffering without sorrow, even when we know that
these are the righteous
retributions of sin. And if we could do so, there
would not be anything either
commendable or desirable in so doing.
OTHERS WITH THE WICKEDNESS OF SIN AND THE DREAD
PENALTIES THEREOF. “Thus saith the Lord God; Smite
with thine
hand, and stamp
with thy foot.” These gestures
indicate strong emotion,
which may be of various kinds.
Thus Balak “smote his hands together” in
anger (Numbers 24:10); the
Ammonites are represented as clapping
their hands and stamping their
feet in derision of the
25:6); and in the text these
gestures are intended to express keen sorrow,
as we see from the words with
which they were accompanied: “Alas for all
the evil
abominations of the house of
denote his firm conviction of
the certainty of the judgments which he
announced, his earnest desire to
impress the people with the reality and
solemnity of these
judgments, and his grief by reason of
them. His entire
being was, as it were, engaged
in this expression of woe. “Words are
transient,” says Greenhill, “and leave little impression, but visible signs
work more strongly, affect more
deeply, and draw the spirits of beholders
into a sympathy.” And the
servants of God in our own times cannot feel
too deeply the wickedness of
sin, or express their abhorrence thereof too
strongly, if that abhorrence be
genuine, or manifest too great a concern
that sinners
should flee from the wrath to come. If
we realized:
Ø
the essential
heinousness of sin,
Ø
the unspeakable
value of the soul, and
Ø
THE AWFUL
SIGNIFICANCE OF ITS LOSS
we should deem no action
unworthy, and no effort too great, if they were
likely to lead sinners to turn
from sin to the Saviour. “I know not,” says
Richard Baxter, “what others
think of these concerns, but for my own part
I am ashamed of
my insensibility, and wonder at myself that I deal no more
with my own and
other men’s souls, as becomes one who
looks for the great
day of the Lord. I seldom come
out of the pulpit but my conscience smites me
that I have not been more
serious and fervent. It is no trifling
matter to stand
up in the face of
a congregation and deliver a message of SALVATION or
DAMNATION as FROM THE
LIVING GOD IN THE NAME OF THE
REDEEMER: it is no easy thing to speak so plainly that the most
ignorant may understand; so
seriously that the deadest may feel; and so
concerningly that contradictory cavilers may be silenced and awakened.”
The Outstretched Hand (v. 14)
We usually picture to ourselves God’s hand stretched out to
help and heal.
Here, however, we see a prediction of the same exertion of
Divine energy
for a contrary purpose — to smite and make desolate.
The prediction
suggests certain features of Divine chastisement.
definite act, not to a perpetual
treatment. “He will not always chide”
(Psalm 103:9). “The mercy of the Lord endureth forever” (Ibid. ch.
136:1). But His anger and punishing are limited
to occasion and necessity.
The very fact that men refuse to
believe in the wrath of God bears testimony
to His long suffering. In life-giving energy
God works unceasingly, so that
“in him we live,
and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
It is an
eternal truth, not representing a sudden interposition, but the normal order
of providence, that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy
33:27). Nevertheless, there are occasions when another mode
of
action is necessary, and the
hand of God must smite in anger.
hand. It is not yet done. Future punishment will be far worse than any
present sufferings of sin. It is impossible for us to measure that punishment
by what we now experience,
because sentence is not yet executed. But if
the punishment is future, there
is a possibility of its being averted, or of the
sinner finding some means of
escape. The warnings of Scripture are not
written in order to
fix our doom, but for the very
opposite purpose, to
drive us to the
refuge of REPENTANCE and PARDON!
action at a distance. Though
locally close to all, He is spiritually far off from
those who have forgotten
His presence, forsaken His way, and wandered
into remote tracks
of sin. Yet God can reach the most
distant sinner. He
met Jonah on the ocean. It is impossible to flee from God. Our utter
neglect of God does not cause
His utter neglect of us. The godless will be
judged by God. This is a most
merciful fact. To be abandoned by God
would be worse than to be
punished by Him. Left alone to our self chosen
fate, we should perish in the outer
darkness. The outstretched
hand of God,
which extends to the most remote, is their one ground of hope, even
though at first it only reaches them to smite.
touch a distant people, but that
His hand will be outstretched. There is
breadth and comprehensiveness in
the image. It suggests a large sweep of
Divine energy. There is to be a national judgment. The greatness of the
number of guilty persons will be
no safeguard in the day when God comes
to judgment. (In other
words, there will not be safety in numbers because
“everybody is doing it.” - CY – 2014).
There is, indeed, a sense of security
in the consciousness of companionship.
But if
the many sin, the many
must suffer. On the other hand, the wide
grasp will reach those who seek to
elude it by
subtlety, singularity, and subterfuge. There is no possibility of
escaping general
punishment by a secret withdrawal from the scenes of
ordinary evil to a
peculiar region of our own wickedness.
about to exert some mighty
energy. He is awake and active in our midst.
Then the fertile land may become
a desert. This fearful manifestation of
God will assuredly prove His
present power. Woe to
them who wait for
such a proof before
giving heed to God!
The Earnestness of the Minister (vs. 11-14)
Earnestness is simply a fitting
sense of duty. Earnestness is the outcome of
reality. If a man has real
conviction of his duty, and real compassion for
others, he must be in earnest.
Genuine earnestness is not equivalent to
noise, display, hysterical
excitement. It is wise and appropriate expression
of feeling, and suitable to the occasion.
AS IN SPEECH. The man
who has a due sense of his momentous office
will adopt every device
that will gain a hearing or leave due impression
upon his hearers.
Earnestness is contagious. If the speaker is in earnest, the
hearer will feel the glow.
There is eloquence in a look, in a tone, in a
movement of the hand, in a
gesture of the body. Tears are impressive
appeals. God commands this whole-souled
earnestness. To get an entrance
for God’s message into
human hearts, every door must be tried, every
avenue explored. To the extent
that we can reach and move the obdurate
souls of men, we are responsible
for the result.
GOD’S MESSAGE. It
may be an irksome task to the prophet to repeat
often the same facts and
counsels; but he is not to think of himself, nor of
his own tastes. He is a servant,
not a master. To repeat the
same things is
proof of their
real and vital importance. We cannot
substitute other
messages, because other messages
have not the same importance. The
constant dropping of water wears
out even granite rocks; and, to conquer
the callous natures of men there
is required “line upon line; precept upon
precept; here a
little, and there a little.” (Isaiah 28:10)
MAN’S NATURE. Some men
are moved by fear, some by shame, some by
the prospect of public dishonor.
Many principles of human character are
common to all men, yet do not
dwell in men in equal proportions. In some,
the moral sense is paramount. In
some, feeling is predominant. In some,
judgment and the logical faculty
are supreme. The earnest prophet will
appeal to each principle in
turn. The approaching overthrow of the idols
would impress some minds, The
slaughter of their brethren and children
beside the idolatrous altars
would affect others. Exile and plague and
premature death would touch the
hearts of many. And the prospect of
desolation in their own loved
land ought to have moved the souls of all
true Israelites. Every face of
the rebellious citadel must be assailed.
HONOUR OF GOD. Over
and over again is the statement repeated, as if
on this the prophet delighted to
dwell, “They shall know that I am the
Lord.” (I think this phrase is used 62 times in Ezekiel. See Ezekiel –
God’s Use of the Word Know – this web site – CY – 2014)
Not for a moment did the man of
God forget that he was standing
in the stead of God, and spake as the “Spirit gave him
utterance.” He was
identified with God’s cause
indissolubly. God and he were one. And
although the interval of
disorder and disloyalty might be long, the final
outcome was glorious to
contemplate — an object pleasing to every
devout eye — GOD SHALL BE
KNOWN AND HONORED! The certainty
of ultimate success fosters
present courage, and inspires true earnestness.
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HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
Ver. 7. —
Conviction.
It seems at first hearing most extraordinary and
unaccountable to be told
that the end and issue of such a series of national
disasters and judgments
as those described in the verses preceding this is that
the end be regarded as corresponding to the means? Is not
such a result
one to be secured by lessons less severe and calamitous?
But in order to
answer such questions we must consider the object of
knowledge, which is
not by any means of an ordinary kind. The “judgments” were the
work of
God’s providence; and the purpose was to produce a
conviction in the
mind of the nation,
government, and will not endure the disobedience and
rebellion of those
who are of right his subjects. This lesson must be taught,
however
distressing the discipline which leads to its acquisition.
“Ye shall know that
I am the Lord.”
I. SUCH
KNOWLEDGE IS OF THE HIGHEST SPIRITUAL
IMPORTANCE. Knowledge of every kind is to an intellectual
being
desirable, precious, and valuable. Knowledge of great,
venerable, noble, or
interesting persons, is of all knowledge the most precious;
for personality
exceeds in interest all that is material. But there is no
knowledge which can
compare in dignity and value with the knowledge of him “in
whom we live,
and move, and have our being.” The phenomena and laws of
nature are of
interest to the inquiring intelligence; but their chief
interest, to the
thoughtful mind, lies in their being a revelation of him
who is the Source,
the Creator, the Upholder, of all. If God is to be found in
nature, how
much more manifestly, and less incompletely, in man — the
noblest work
of the Eternal and Supreme! To know God is to satisfy the
intellect, and is
to find a centre for the emotions,
and a law for the will. No knowledge can
compensate the absence of this; all knowledge is completed
by it.
II. THE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS LOST SIGHT OF IN TIMES OF
NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND SELF-INDULGENCE. So it was with
the inhabitants of
nations. This may easily be explained. Man is a compound
being, body and
soul; he is connected both with the scenes, occupations,
and experiences of
earth, and with the great realities of eternity. There is much
in the world to
absorb and engross human attention, interest, and concern.
And it is quite
in harmony with all we know of human nature, that those
whose minds are
engaged in the pursuits of time and sense should be
forgetful of the higher
truths and laws of the eternal prospects, in which they may
not deliberately
disbelieve. How often has it happened that, when God has
satisfied a
nation’s temporal cravings, he has sent leanness into their
souls! Their very
blessings, as they deem them, become the occasion of their
forgetfulness of
the Giver. It is with nations as with individuals — the
satisfaction of earthly
needs may silence the aspiration for heavenly good.
III. THE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD MAY BE ACQUIRED IN THE
TIME OF RETRIBUTION AND SUFFERING. If there is purpose in
Divine providence, what so reasonable as to believe that
the corrections
administered to individuals and to nations are designed to
awaited juster
and higher thoughts — thoughts of God’s wisdom and righteousness?
How many have found that it was good for them to be
afflicted; since
before they were afflicted they went astray, whilst in
affliction they have
learned to observe God’s Word! It may be objected that the
highest and
fullest knowledge of God is not thus to be acquired. And
this is true; yet
this knowledge may be indispensable as a stage to a
knowledge yet more
precious. It may be that the first lesson to be acquired is
a lesson of
submission to God’s will, of reverence for God’s
righteousness. Only after
the acquisition of this lesson, it may be, does that of the
Divine mercy and
compassion come within reach. When men have forgotten that
the universe
is ruled by a just, wise, almighty King, from whose
authority none can
escape, they must be brought to acknowledge this fact, that
they may lay
down the arms of rebellion, and may seek forgiveness and
find
reconciliation.
IV. SUCH
KNOWLEDGE SHOULD, AND OFTEN DOES, LEAD TO
SINCERE AND ACCEPTABLE PIETY. Custom, tradition,
superstition,
are a poor and unstable foundation for true religion. Men
must know God,
must know his character, his mind, his wilt, in order that
they may devoutly
love him and acceptably serve him. Whilst there is
undoubtedly a kind of
knowledge, merely speculative, which is compatible with
hatred of God
and of his Law, there is, on the other hand, a knowledge
which leads men
to appreciate and adore the Divine attributes, and to seek
participation in
the Divine nature and in Divine favour.
— T.
Ver. 8. —
“A remnant.”
When the corn is threshed by the flail, or by the teeth of
the threshingimplement,
as in the literal “tribulation,” its bulk is reduced; for
the grain is
separated from the straw and the husk. It is so with a
nation visited by the
calamities which came upon the Hebrew people. Pestilence,
famine, and
sword are the means by which multitudes may perish; yet
some may be left,
and these are “a remnant.”
I. THE
CALAMITIES AND JUDGMENTS WHICH LEFT THE FEW
AS A REMNANT. These were they who escaped. When the horrors
that
came upon the land are considered, the wonder is that there
were
survivors. As he who is saved from a fire looks back upon
the sudden and
furious conflagration, surveys the smoking ruins from which
he has been
rescued; as he who is the sole survivor from a shipwreck
remembers with
shuddering the violence of the tempest by which his
comrades were
engulfed in the ocean; — so may those who have been spared
in time of
national calamity profit as they recall the circumstances
of peril and terror
by which they, with others, were encompassed, from which
they, as
distinguished from other’s, have been delivered. Who is
there who, looking
back upon the past scenes of even an uneventful life,
cannot call to mind
many of his early companions who have been the victims of
disease, of
misfortune, of accident, of temptation, whose earthly
probation has been
brought to a sudden close, whilst he himself, and a few
others with him,
are, as it were, “a remnant,” and that through no personal
merit?
II. THE
MERCY THAT SPARES THEM AS A REMNANT. The same
inscrutable wisdom which suffers some to be overtaken and
overwhelmed,
provides that others shall be spared and saved. As Noah and
his family
were spared, whilst a vast population was engulfed in the
Flood; as Lot and
his household were spared, whilst the inhabitants of the
guilty city were
consumed by fire from heaven; — so again and again has the
forbearance
of God been revealed in providing for the escape of “a
remnant,” who have
remained to witness to Divine justice, and to use aright
the opportunity
afforded by Divine mercy towards themselves.
III. THE
PURPOSE FOR WHICH A REMNANT IS PERMITTED TO
SURVIVE. This is only very partially explained in the
context. The mind of
the prophet was so absorbed with the consideration of the
guilt of his
idolatrous and rebellious fellow countrymen, and with their
impending fate,
that for the time he was not able to reflect upon the
ultimate ends for which
some were spared amidst the awful catastrophe. Yet this was
present to his
mind as one immediate result of the mingled judgments and
mercies of
God; those spared from the calamities of the nation should
know and
acknowledge that Jehovah was the Lord. As a matter of fact,
the lesson
was learnt; and the remnant who returned to
henceforth from all inclination to idolatry. And if they
did not cease to sin,
at all events they were henceforth free from sin of this
form. They lived to
remember for themselves, and to witness to their children,
that the nations
are ruled by a God of righteousness, and that in subjection
to his authority
and in obedience to his Law man’s true welfare must ever
lie. Their song
was of mercy and of judgment. If they were few in numbers
they were
purified and strengthened, and fitted to fulfil the peculiar vocation of the
sons of Abraham among the nations of the earth.
APPLICATION. Who is
there who has not experienced the sparing mercy
and long suffering kindness of the Lord? Who has not been delivered
from
danger, from calamity, from destruction? Let all who
acknowledge
themselves to be, as it were, “a remnants” indebted to
God’s compassion,
acknowledge the peculiar obligation under which they have
been laid, to
witness to the mercy of their heavenly Father, and by their
practical loyalty
to him to prove that they have not been spared in vain. —
T.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES
Vers. 1-7. —
The land involved in man’s punishment.
We have here a dramatic appeal to the stony hills of
emphatically a mountainous country; and Ezekiel, speaking
as the
mouthpiece of God, addresses himself to the high places of
scenes of flagrant idolatry. From his residence by the
banks of Chebar he
could not see with his bodily eye these renowned, but now
desecrated,
hills; yet he sees them with the clear eye of imagination.
His fervid appeal
to these loved hills would naturally produce a new and
wholesome
impression on the minds of his hearers. The very mountains
and rivers of
the sacred land were stained with the people’s sin and
cursed with their
curse. This dramatic address —
I. INDICATES
MAN’S VAST RESPONSIBILITIES. Constituted as man
is, the sovereign lord of this material globe, the fortunes
of the land are
indissolubly linked with the fortunes of its ruler. If man
prospers, the fields
smile with beauty and plentifulness;
in man’s curse, the hills and valleys
participate. Guilty man cannot circumscribe the limits
within which his
misdeeds shall fall. Obedience makes oar earth a paradise;
transgression
blasts it with barrenness and desolation.
II. THIS
APPEAL IS A HUMILIATION TO THE PEOPLE. It implies
that appeal to the stony ears of men is useless; appeal to
the unconscious
hills is more likely to succeed. When trees shall
intelligently listen, and
granite rocks shed tears of penitence, then may the
expectation arise that
the stolid hearts of the Hebrews will respond. When God
speaks to the
material elements, they do respond in their own proper way;
but the
corrupt nature of men resists all Divine appeals. “The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but
1:3). If God shed his sunshine on grass and flowers,
fragrant incense
spontaneously flows forth; yet, though Divinest
love shines on every part
of man, no effect is seen.
III. THIS
APPEAL IS A MEASURE OF GOD’S DISPLEASURE.
Wherever, in God’s universe, there is a mark of sin, there
shall be a mark
of Divine displeasure. If the stones which God’s hand has
fashioned be
employed in the service of idolatry, they shall be
desecrated; they shall be
stained with human blood; they shall bear a lasting mark of
dishonour. The
hill tops and forest groves, which have been forced by man
into this unholy
alliance with idols, shall be marked by the symbols of
death — shall be
devoted to oblivion and to lizards. Becoming a scene of
dead men’s bones,
they shall be associated, in the minds of the living, with
slaughter, defeat,
and ruin. Nothing shall last that does not bear the seal of
God’s favour.
“The idols shall cease.” And ceased they have! Where
now is Moloch, and
Dagon, and Baal, and Jupiter?
IV. THIS
APPEAL DEMONSTRATES THE VANITY OF IDOLS. It
was clear as the sun in the heavens that
protected them from famine and invasion. So long as the
idols were
preferred to Jehovah, there was safety nowhere. The temples
and the altars
of the gods had always been regarded as a sanctuary,
fleeing to which
human life was secure. But this custom was to cease. So
fierce and
destructive were God’s avengers, that they would not
respect the vicinity
of altars, nor groves devoted to idol gods. Even in the act
of idolatrous
sacrifice these delinquents should be slain, and it should
be manifest that
not the slightest modicum of power appertained to dumb
idols.
V. This
APPEAL EXHIBITS THE INGENUITY OF GOD’S LOVE. This
dramatic appeal to the hills of
find some entrance into the hearts of the people. As the
skilful leader of a
besieged city will go round it on every side, if haply he
may find some gate
or point by which access may be gained, so does God try
every method
which his eternal love can invent to gain admission to the
hostile heart of
the sinner. By speaking to the stolid mountains, does he
not impress us
with the callousness of our guilty nature? The devices of
his compassion
are inexhaustible. He will not give us over to destruction
so long as a single
ray of hope remains. Every threat of coming woe is a tear
of Divine pity.
God would not forewarn with such variety of argument if he
did not deeply
love. This is