Ezekiel 11

MOreover, the The Spirit of God, as chap. 2. ver. 2. spirit As at first so still it supports him, and removes him from place to place. lift me up, and brought me to the Either of the East Gates, whether that which leads into the first Court, or into the second Court, or into the House of the Lord, may be here understood, though probably this last. For this number you find there chap. 8.16. if you will suppose the Prophet was brought to the East gate where the Glory of the Lord now departing was gone up from the Temple, it is much at one. East gate of the LORDS house, which looketh A pleonasm or redundance of expression. East-ward: and behold at the door of the gate Some enquire whether these were the same with those 25. chap. 8.16. To me 'tis most like they were, for in that same place we find them and likely about the same work, worshipping East-ward nor are the two arguments urged by some conclusive against it, nay one of the two is plain for it, viz. that quoted from chap. v. 16. five and twenty men; As forward Ringleaders and Chief among them. among whom I saw This man by his Fathers name added appears to be another, not he that is mentioned chap. 8. ver. 11. Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Named here for no good quality, but for that dreadful sudden death whereby he became a warning to others. Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, Either as publick Officers, or as heads of their Families. princes of the people.

So soon as the Prophet had seen and observed how many, and who they were. Then said The Lord sitting on the cherub, chap. 10. verse 4. he unto me, Son of man, these are the Not the only men but indeed the most notorious. men that Frame and contrive with craft and false reasonings. devise Vanity, so the thing was, and mischief the fruit of it. They persuade the people that the City shall not be burnt, but that they may safely build, and long dwell in their Houses; this vain hope exhausts that money with which they might have provided for themselves, and this proves a mischief. mischief, and This may be explication of that he last spake. Or, possibly it may note their activity and diligence going about the City and counselling their acquaintance to put off the evil day. Or, perhaps they treat a compliance and coalition with the Chaldean superstitions to save themselves, 'tis not impossible they might give counsel to unhappy Zedekiah. The Chaldee Paraphrast here useth a word whose first notation is to Reign or be a King, the second sense to give Counsel, whose Counsellors so ever they were, their counsel tended to shame and losse. give wicked counsel in the city.

Which What Counsel was by these men given appears by their words. say, it is not Either the threatned danger and ruine by the Chaldeans. Or, else build, but not in the Suburbs not near, but in the City that your houses may not shelter the Enemy. near, let us build houses: This City is the This is an impious scoffe, yet mixt with some fear, of the Prophets, Ier. 1.13. and Ezekiel 24.6. They deride the Prophets, yet secretly dread the thing, Ierusalem is the pot, we the flesh that are to be boiled therein, but this will take up sometime however, we were better be so destroyed then to fall by the hands of the Chaldeans, who perhap may roast what is not boiled here. Caldron, and we be the flesh.

For this their Atheistical temper and words. Therefore Tell them before hand what they shall suffer. prophesie against them, The charge and command is doubled both to engage the Prophet and to intimate a doubled misery coming upon them, a misery they shall not have courage to laugh under, though they now dare contemptuously laugh at. prophesie, O Son of man.

And the The spirit of Prophesie again moved him. spirit of the Which is here called the Spirit of the Lord Or, the spirit the Lord as the Heb. will bear. LORD Descended, by its own act powerfully, sweetly, and prevailingly entred the man. fell upon me, and Inclined me that I could not but speak. said unto me, Speak, Thus As thou goest by my appointment so be sure to use any name and authority. says the LORD. Prophanely with scoffs as has been reported, ver. 3. Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: Ye may be assured all that ariseth up in your mind is known to me, I see each one of the imaginations of your mind so soon as ever they peep up in your heart. Your thoughts I know afar off, Psal. 139.2. for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

Ye have Many murthers, and great ones (for the Heb. includeth both) have you committed, either with frauds, or violence, and sometime with colour and pretence of Law. multiplied So called because they were such as God had not commanded to be cut off but the Jews did it without warrant from God. your slain in this city, and ye have Either left them murthered in the streets. Or, rather by an Hyberbole. The streets are full, every where some or other in every street, you have condemned and killed. 'Tis an expression the Scripture much useth to set forth the bloody effects of the Jewish rage, and of others. filled the streets thereof with the slain.

Your murthers are the cause of my severity, and such sins first or last are surely punisht. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See verse 6. Or your slain because when they might, and would have saved their Life by a seasonable submission, you persuaded them to an obstinate opposition against the Chaldeans to their destruction. your slain, whom ye have Or placed (as the word bears) 'tis not unlike that they who persuaded all to stay, did provide or at least help, as many as did stay, to habitations, and placed them in Houses or Lodgings. laid in the midst of it, they are the The pieces which are to be cast into the Cauldron, and here be punished. flesh, and this city is the cauldron: but That is the mighty, eternal, and just God. I will Not in mercy but in wrath by the conquering hand of Babylon, I will draw you out to greater torment. bring you forth out of the midst of it.

Ye have feared the sword Sinfully and forgetting God, you would have escaped the Sword of the Babylonians and attempted it by an Idolatrous compliance., and I will bring a sword For this very cause will I send that Sword upon you, and it shall slay your Wives, Children, and Fellow Citizens. upon you, says the Lord GOD.

And Though the Chaldeans are the means, or instruments by which tis done, yet I will so appear against you that it shall be confessed that I did it rather then the Chaldeans. I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and Defeating all your projects for escape; so was Zedekiah when he secretly fled and his Company with him delivered unto Enemies and Strangers. deliver you into the It denoteth a full power over them. hands of Babylonians and others who assisted in this war. strangers, and Strangers will use you hardly but the most severe part of the judgment will be from a provoked God, who would have pardoned, but impenitence refused the pardon. will execute judgements among you.

Ye shall The Enemies Sword shall slay you. fall by the sword, I will My just Judgments shall pursue you whither soever you fly, and overtake some of you. judge you in the border of Israel, and Zedekiah and others who were judged at Riblath, 2 Kings 25.20. ye shall know that I am the LORD.

This Ierusalem though it suffered unparallel'd hardships. city shall Shall not be the place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you, you shall be tortured in a strange Land. not be your cauldron, neither shall you be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will Do more against you at Riblath whereas 2 King. 25.6, 7. the Captive King had his Children and others with them first murthered before his Eyes, and then his own Eyes put out, and Riblath is called here the Border of Israel, for that Syria was adjoyning to Israel on the North, and Riblath or Antioch was a pleasant City towards the frontiers of Syria, upon the River Or ntes, which arising in Antilibanus runs through part of Syria, and for the delicacy of the seats it had many Cities built on it. And here Nebuchadnezzar in his Royal state, and amidst the pleasures of the place expects the issue of the siege. judge you in the border of Israel.

And Tho you would not believe my threats nor fear them, you shall feel them and then you shall know, thus the wicked learn. ye shall know that I am the Whom you should have obeyed, feared and returned to, and who now convinceth you of his and his Prophets Truth in all that was foretold you. LORD: for ye have not A Scripture phrase expressive of the course of mans Life. walked in my The rules for Religious observances. statutes, neither executed my Refer to the Political and Civil state where equity and justice should have been ministred. judgments, but have done after the In matters of Religion you have turn'd down right Idolaters, and with the greatest contempt of your God, the only true God, you have changed him for Gods of the Heathen round about, and taken in their Modes and Abominations. And as to Civils you have been as unjust, oppressive, and perfidious, as these Nations that know not my Law. manners of the heathen that are round about you.

And it Either this refers to some particular prediction of the Death of this man; as Ieremiah did of Hananiah's death, Ier. 28.17. though I do not remember that Ezekiel had spoke of it before, and therefore I take the words for a usual transition. came to pass that If you suppose the first, ghess at the meaning of, It came to pass, then this will be best interpreted by, According to, or, Even as; if you adhere to the latter, then this When is Whilest, or, As I was prophesying. when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah And so was a pledge, or presage of the following Death of the other Twenty four. dyed, Immediately, in most humble manner, as that people were used to do Iosh. 7.10. 2 Chron. 20.18. He fell down upon his face, in order to pray. then fell I down upon my face, and With intense and earnest mind he prayed, as well as with a loud voice. See chap. 9. ver. 8. Much like phrase is that in Esther 4.1. cryed with a loud voice, and said, An expression of his tender compassions for them. Ah Lord GOD, A very usual way of interceding, and so common in Scripture, that 'tis a wonder any should find fault with it, who know the Scripture. wilt thou make a By slaying all as this man is cut off. full end of the This man's name implyeth one that escaped, or delivered by God's good hand; and perhaps; the Prophet alludes to it, however, is very solicitous, as others were for the remnant, which was ever least. 2 King. 19.30, 31. Isa. 10.21, 22. Ier. 23.3. and 31.7. and in this manner do'es Ezek. chap. 9. ver. 8. intercede for the Iews. remnant of Israel.

It was a seasonable word to stop the mouths of the Insulting Ierusalemites, and to encourage the Captives at Babylon. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

See chap. 2. ver. 1. Son of man, thy Thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Ierusalem, and were grown as bad as the rest, though theirs were of a Priestly Lineage. Their degeneracy and unjust censure is more noted in the repetition of the word Brethren. brethren, even thy Thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Ierusalem, and were grown as bad as the rest, though theirs were of a Priestly Lineage. Their degeneracy and unjust censure is more noted in the repetition of the word Brethren. brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the All that are now in Captivity, be they more or less, of whatsoever condition and rank, these are the men of whom the Ierusalemites speak. house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the Inhabitants of Jerusalem have That is, censure, and condemn as greatest sinners, and unworthy longer to dwell in the Holy Land, and tacitely infer that they were better, and should be safer now they were rid of them. said, Ye, or they, are gone far from the Lord; you are Apostates, or irreligious, a company of back-sliders; much as the Heathens accus'd the Christians of Atheism. Get ye far from the LORD: unto Who keep to the Temple and Holy City, and have not yielded to the Babylonish Tyranny, who stand for our Ancient Priviledges, are not as you Betrayers of our Countrey; thus you may suppose they boast. us is this Promised, Holy, Blest Land, Canaan, where our Fathers dwelt. This Land is ours. land given in We shall never be put out of possession, but still it shall be our Inheritance. possession.

In Apology and vindication of them backt with excellent promises in the following verses. Therefore Say to them, and of them in Babylon. say, thus says the Lord GOD, Although The obstinate Iews at Ierusalem will call them Apostates and Renegadoes; but let such false accusers know that they were sent thither, and that I the Lord sent them thither, and will own them there too. Not from my self, but from you, your polluted Land, and dreadful approaching Judgments. I have cast them far off The Chaldaeans, or such as the Chaldaeans placed them among. among the heathen, and although I have Dispersed and separated them from one another in many Countreys which were under the King of Babylon: Yet they are dear to me, and my purposes are for them more gracious than yours are for them, or then mine are for you. scattered them among the countreys, yet will I be to them as a For a little while; i. e. during the Seventy years Captivity; or for a few of them, the remnant was ever little: Or, as it refers to the Sanctuary, a little one in opposition to that great, rich, splendid and admired Temple at Ierusalem, which when they need most, shall help least; but I, says God, will be really to my Captives what the proud self-deceiving Iews promise their Temple shall be to them; both for Glory, Defence, and for Worship, which shall with heart and love be given by these I have sent away, and wherever they are, their Prayers, Synagogue-Worship, and Obedience shall be to me as well-pleasing as they shall desire. They at distance weep on Chebar Banks: You O Rebellious! Pollute the Temple by your Idolatries, I will comfort the Mourners, I will punish you Polluters of my Temple and Worship. little Sanctuary in the countreys whether they shall come.

Therefore Add to the former Apology this Promise. say, Thus says the Lord GOD; The Faithful and Eternal God, the Supream and Soveraign Lord. I will even By my advise and hand they were scattered, and by my hand they shall be gather'd. gather you from the people, and And to confirm them, 'tis added in different words, and the promise is repeated, and thus it was punctually performed. Ezra. 1.1, 2, 3, 4. with chap. 8. ver. 15. assemble you out of the countreys where ye have been scattered, and I will Though your Brethren do say you are not to dwell at Ierusalem, nor inherit the Land, yet my purpose is otherwise, and I do promise you, that you who followed my counsel, and now are in Babylon, you, or your seed shall return, and inherit Canaan. All this was so worded, that some have thought it no groundless enquiry whether any of those that went with Zedekiah into Captivity, or only such as went with Ieconiah, did return out of Captivity, and though 'tis most probable some did, yet of the returners, the far greater part whereof those, that with Ieconiah were gone into Captivity. give you the land of Israel.

And The gathered, who assembled upon Cyrus's Proclamation first, and then again upon Darius's Proclamation; of which Ezra chap. 1. and chap. 8. they met together somewhere in the Land of their Captivity, and had a long Journey to Ierusalem. they shall They shall overcome all difficulties, and escape dangers, and dispatch the long Journey, and come safely to their own Land. come thither, and they shall Abolish Superstition and Idolatry from the Temple, Ierusalem, and from the Priests. take away all the See chap. 11.18. detestable things thereof, and all the abominations Of the Land and City; and who reads Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Prophets Zechariah, and Haggai, will see this Reformation carried on with success. thereof from thence.

This may be understood causally, and so gives an account how the Reformation, mentioned ver. 18. should be effected. And The Lord himself, and he assumeth it to himself thrice in this ver. I will Of free Grace 'tis that this renewed heart is in any one, length, soreness, and multiplicity of troubles will not, cannot work it, unless God frame and renew it. give them They were scattered abroad through the Babylonish Kingdoms, were under various Circumstances which might divide them, and keep them from each other, and from centering in a return, but I will stir up their heart, and with one heart they shall gather together, when the return shall be proclaimed, Cyrus shall first give them leave, and I will next give them a heart to return; and on their way shall there be great unity; and when come to Ierusalem, they shall own me, and my Laws, &c. they shall with one consent build Ierusalem, the Temple, and restore true Religion; as Ier. 32.39. and Ezek. 36.26. one That is Judgment, and understanding, Mind, and Will, Affections and Conscience; all fixed only on God, and their Obedience to him, as ver. 20. This one heart is called a New Spirit. heart, and I will put a An Excellent, Regenerate, Holy, and Sincere Soul; they were of a base, corrupt, and hypocritical Spirit, dividing between God and Idols; but when God brings them back, they shall be of another frame, quite changed, and made new. new spirit within you, and I will take the That hard, inflexible, undutiful, incorrigible disposition which was in their Fathers, who refus'd to be amended; I'le take that away. stony heart out of their Flesh in Scripture sometimes speaks an unrenewed, carnal, sinful state, as Rom. 7.18. sometimes for the Body, as Psal. 38.3. sometimes for the whole man; so Luk. 3.6. Rom. 3.20. and thus in this place speaks the persons, and whole man. flesh, and will give them an heart of not like the old, hard, and stony, but counsellable, tractable, that will hear, consider, obey, do commanded Good, and forbear forbidden Evils, submit to my Law, and reform on Admonitions. All which in part, and so far as concern'd those times, was fulfil'd in the Iewes that did return from Babylon, and fullier is made good to us in these Gospel days. flesh.

This is the end Grace aimeth at, converting us to God, that we may walk with God. That they may See ver. 12. walk in my The Rule of Religious Worship. statutes, and keep mine Standard in Civil Affairs and matters of Right and Wrong with Men. ordinances, and do them; and they shall be They shall give themselves up to me for to be my people, to Love me, Trust me, and to Worship and obey me, and I will take them to be mine, I will approve, encourage, blesse, guide and protect them that it shall be seen they are my peculiar people. This contains all duty and priviledg as including both, and is again inculcated in the other part of the promise. my people, and I will be their To pardon Sin give Grace, su ply wants, guide their ways, accept their duties, defend their persons, and lead them to Glory. See Ezek. 36.25, 26, 27 28. and Ier. 31.33. where Ieremiah contemporary to Ezekiel proposeth the same promise to this people. God.

For all those promises and in best times some there will be who will refuse to own God and obey him, whose state shall as much differ as their practices did from the people of God. But as for Who ere they be. them whose Soul and Affections, whose choice and love heart Either secretly adhereth to, or provideth for the service of Idols called here detestable things, as ver. 18. chap. 5.11. and to expresse the obstinacy of this Idolatry 'tis called a heart walking after a heart, Idolatry is a bewitching sin and steals away the heart, and the promoters of Idolatry propose the plausiblest arguments, as if Idols had hearts and affections toward their worshippers to do them good, the expression in the Heb. is somewhat unusual and harsh to our ear, but this I take to be the meaning. walketh after the heart of their detestable things, and their Their Idols, and Idol worship and dependences. abominations, I will Pay them in their own coin, they forsake me, I will forsake them, they profane my name and Temple, I will give them up as common to be profaned by the Chaldea s. recompense their Their way tends to this, and shall end in this, and nothing more just. way upon their i. e. On each man, and in such manner as shall destroy the contumacious. Or, on those that are as heads of the people and Ringleaders i ob inacy of such as the 25. ver. 1. and who shall be examples of my speedy and irresistable vengean e, as Pelatia was. heads, says the Lord GOD.

¶ The whole 22 verse is in the same w rds almost you have in chap. 10.19. which see. Then did the cherubims li t up their wings, and the wheels besides them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

And the See chap. 3.23. and 8.4. and 9.3. and 10.18, 19. glory of the LORD went up from the The glory of the Lord remov now out of the City, over which it had stood some spa e of time waiting for their Repentance, but no fruits of this and God now departed from them. midst of the city, and stood Above it. upon the It was mount Olivet as the description of it in this place and elsewhere does clearly show. mountain, which is on the east side of the city.

¶ After all this. Afterwards the The same spirit of God which carried him to Ierusalem, and to the Temple, now brings him back in like manner to his Captive brethren in Chaldea. spirit took me up, and brought me in Not corporally but in an Extasie or rapture of his spirit by the power of the spirit of God. vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity: so the vision that I had seen It was a vision from Heaven, all that was represented to the Prophet was as 'twere let down from Heaven, and he having fully viewed it, 'tis taken up again to Heaven. went up from me.

When the extasie was past. Then I spake unto Either the Elders who came to him, chap. 8.1. Or, to the body of the people. them of the Who were in those parts where Ezekiel was, for many were scattered into other parts of Chaldea. captivity, all the things that the LORD had showed me. Here is his faithfulness both to God and the people who were concerned to know, for God had showed them to the Prophet, that he might show them to the people, and, that this might surely be done, God has commanded him to speak to them plainly and fully.