Ezekiel 33

AGain the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, speak The Prophet, after three years silence injoined him, now has his mouth opened by new Commission. to the children of thy To the Iews in General, to whom he had not spoke since what he spake in the 24th Chapter. people, and say Propound a parable unto them. unto them, when If at any time I bring the sword War, or any sore judgment. upon a land, if the people of the land take Choose out a man, who lives on the Borders, knows the Avenues, and the wayes, the Enemy will most likely come to assault them. a man of their coasts, and set Appoint him to watch the Coasts, that they may not be surprised. him for their watchman:

If when he seeth the sword Of the Enemy, or any other danger, which he may foresee, in any of the causes, or forerunners of it. come i. e. Coming, approaching to the Land. upon the land, he blow the trumpet Sound the alarm, the sound of the Trumpet is a warning, yet to this sometimes 'tis necessary to add a warning by word of mouth, and tell people, brought together by the Trumpet, what he seeth., and warn l the people;

Then whosoever Considers not, and minds not what he hears, who hears, and do's not consider, he turns a deaf ear to the meaning, tho' not to the sound of the Trumpet. the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not Apprehends not, nor will be made apprehensive of the danger, to provide for resisting, or flying the sword. warning; if the sword come and take Destroy him. him away, his blood The guilt and blame of his blood, of his death. shall be upon his own head Shall never be charged on any, but himself..

He heard He heard, as well as others who escap't, and he might have delivered himself, as they did, who took warning. the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood He is the only cause of his own death. shall be upon him: But he that taketh warning shall deliver Shall save his life. his soul Himself, preserve his own person..

But if the watchman see the sword come, and and blow Neglect his charge, which is to give the Alarm. not the trumpet, and the people be not But, unwarned, are surprized by the Enemy. warned: if the sword come and take away any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity Punisht by the Lord for his sins, and trespasses formerly done, and he is destroyed under the present fault of not watching, which is a fault in every one, that is so secure in time of War., but his blood The guilt of that blood. will I require Charge upon, and for it punish the Watchman, who sinn'd in not giving warning. at the watchmans hand.

So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man thou shalt surely die; if thou do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. These three verses are the same with the 17th, 18th, 19th verses of the third chap. where see them explained.

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak Declare to them from me. unto the house of Israel The residue of the Two Tribes, which are brought to Babylon, or else to those already there, and hear their Brethren are on the way thitherward, since Ierusalem was taken., thus ye speak Thus ye discourse among your selves, object against God, and his Prophet, and your own Duty, some of you out of infirmity, others out of perverseness., saying, if our transgression, and our sins be upon The unpardoned guilt, and the unsupportable punishment of our sins, who were warned, and took not warning, do thus, as in the wasting our Countrey, burning our City, abolishing the publick Worship of God, come upon us, we shall pine away, consume, 'tis too late to hope, 'twill be better with us now, we should have heard, and followed the Counsel earlier, if we would have delivered our own souls: if the Prophet spake true at first, there is no hope, say the weaker, if there be hope now after so peremptory Menaces, and so great Execution, the Prophet did not speak truth say the perverse, and so concluded they would, as they were, run the hazard. us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live How can it be better with us, if the threats be true, and sure, 'twill be worse, if not true, how are his promises to be rested on, that 'twill be better.?

Say unto them, As I live, Vid. chap. 5. ver. 11. and chap. 16. ver. 48. let. f, and 17. chap. 16. let. g. says the Lord GOD, I have See chap. 18. ver. 23. and v r. 32. l t. a. no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but Here an ellipsis, but I have pleasure in the seasonable return, the Sinner makes from Sin to Holiness, and from Death to L fe. that the wicked turn from his way, and live: turn O leave sin, cease to do evil, be persuaded to repent, it will please me to pardon your faults, and to throw away the r d, and to save your persons. ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will Death is your choice, not mine, so long as you go on in the way that is not Good; who o sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul, and love to n is interpretatively a love, and choosing of Death. 'Tis your culpable will, not my severe resolution, that you die. ye die, O house of Israel.

Therefore, thou Son of man, say unto the children of thy people; The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: See chap. 3. ver. 20. and chap. 18. ver. 24. tot. as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth Vid. chap. 18. ver. 21, 22. tot. from his wickedness: neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth See chap. 3. ver. 20. and 18. chap 24. where the same things are explained..

When I shall say to the righteous Who has in his life, for what is past, kept the Law, and forborn evil, has done what is right and good, and not done what is evil, both which parts of this Righteousness are described in chap. 18. ver. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. that he shall surely live Make him promise of doing him good, and giving him Life, Peace, every Blessing, and Happiness.; if he trust to his own righteousness If he conclude former Righteousness is sufficient, and therefore turn to ways of sin pleasing to an evil heart., and commit iniquity Give himself to doing evil, as 'twere his work., all his righteousness shall not be remembred No regard shall be had to what he had done, he does himself practically renounce it, and interpretatively recant his doing it.; but for his iniquity that he has committed In his Apostacy, and backs idden state. he shall die Shall be punished, his comforts shall be taken away, or die in his hand, he shall live, and die miserably. for it His iniquity, and punishment of it, and this is emphatically repeated, as chap. 18.26..

Again, when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin Chap. 18. ver. 21. let. f., and do that which is lawful Ibid. and right.

If the wicked restore Chap. 18. ver. 7. let. q. the pledge, give again that he had robbed Ibid. let. r., walk in the statutes of life without committing 'Tis not a sinless life here required, or supposed, but a Life in which a man does not habitually, and wilfully work iniquity. iniquity; he shall surely live Vid. chap 18. ver. 9. let. i., he shall not die.

None of his sins that he has committed. shall be mentioned See chap. 18. ver. 16. tot. unto him: he has done that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. As the threat against a Righteous man that proves a presumptuous Apostate, was stated in the former part of the 12th, and in the whole 13th verse, so in these three verses the case of a Repenting and Reforming sinner is stated, and determined to his encouragement, and comfort, and they are the same with chap. 18. ver. 21, 22, and with ver. 27, 28. which see.

Yet the children of thy people, say the way of the LORD is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal These Impious, obstinate quarrelers will accuse, and do condemn the just, and Holy God, that they may acquit themselves, see this verse explained, chap. 18. ver. 25, 29..

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful, and right, he shall live thereby In these two verses the cases are so clearly stated, that 'tis as clear as the Sun, the wayes of God are very just, and that none but ignorant Atheists, would think or surmise otherwise..

Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal: O ye house of Israel, I will judge Call you to account plead with you, and pass sentence. you every one This is added, to rouse every one up to repent of all sins, and of this particularly. after A terrible threat, and I know not how a greater could be denounced against sinners then this, God infinitely Holy, and perfectly just, will judge them according to their unequal, unrighteous, sinful wayes, and according to his inflexible justice. And if God enter thus into judgment, who can stand in sight? his ways. Still blinded prejudice quarrels.

¶ And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month That is one year, and five months after the thing was done, and Temple burnt, and the City sacked., that one that had escaped One whose own care, but Gods wonderful Providence had much more befriended him, perhaps it might be one of those, that yeilded to the Babylonians before, but was resolved to see the upshot of all. out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying Likely giving a particular account of the whole., the city Ierusalem. is smitten Taken and plundered the inhabitants, or slain, or Captives, and the City sackt razed, and burnt..

Now the hand The powerful influence of the Prophetick spirit, inspired me, and prepared me for what followed. of the LORD was upon me in the evening afore he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth Not that the prophet was dumb through impotence, and inability to speak, for he had prophesied against many Nations, but he was forbidden to say any thing of the Jews, to threaten, warn, counsel, or command, chap. 24.25 26, 27. and chap. 29.21. but now the spirit moved me to speak, and continued his motion, till the messenger came, and ever after, for God did not command him silence any more. until he came to me in the morning: and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, they Who were left behind, having either hid themselves but now come out of their holes, or returned from neighbour Countreys, whither they fled or permitted by the Conqueror to stay and plant Vineyards. that inhabit those wastes Places once very fruitful and abounding with people, but now by the spoil of the Souldiers, emptied of inhabitants, and made as a desolate Wilderness. of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited Our Father had hereditary right to all this land, when but one, and he multiplyed to a great Company, and so they possessed the Land, we Children of Abraham, though diminisht, are many, and the Divine goodness will surely appear then, and continue to us both right, and possession, and we shall fill the Land, and recover our former state and priviledges the land, but we are many; the land is given us 'Twas given by promise to us the Seed, as well as to our Progenitour, nay more 'tis given us in possession, we dwell in it, when Abraham had not one foot of it in his possession. for inheritance The perpetual inheritance is ours. Thus with vain fallacious arguments they cheat one another.. Thus think and speak, thus with vain reasonings they deceive themselves.

Wherefore Remove them from this dangerous carnal confidence, and show them what they do, by that, what they are, how far from Abrahams seed, his genuine Seed. say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD: ye eat with the blood What ever might be the reason why, tis most certain, this was forbidden, Gen. 9.4. Lev. 17.14. and 19.26. they sinned by violating this Law., and lift up your eyes Honouring, praying, depending on, and committing your selves to the protection, and guidance of those dumb Idols. Vid. c. 18.6. let. k. toward your idols, and shed blood Innocent blood, ye are murtherers.; and shall ye Polluted with such, and many other heinous sins, and what colour of hope can you have, that you shall possesse the Land? The question includes a peremptory denial. possesse the land?

Ye stand You trust to your Sword, and stand with it as 'twere drawn ready to kill and slay, you do all with violence, and force, not regarding what is right and equal and fear no restraints or punishments. upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbours wife, and shall ye possesse the land? Idolatry, or other wickedness not to be named. Adultery is so common among you, that 'tis no bold hyperbole to say, every one defiles his neighbours wife. And can such sinners flatter themselves, that they shall inherit the Land promised to a holy and good Father, and to the like Seed? Will not the Land spew Jewish sinners out, as it did spew out such Canaanit h sinners?

Say thou thus unto them, Thus says the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes The ruinous heaps of Cities, or Towns, in which some sorry habitations might possibly be found by them. shall fall The Chaldean Souldier ransacking all places, and either expecting, or by chance finding them there, shall kill in revenge of G da iahs death, and I mael, with others shall destroy some of them. by the sword, and him that is That wanders in the Fields shall be a prey to Lions, or other ravenous Beasts, that will multiply in that ruined Countrey. in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts Out of the reach of Men, and Beasts, my hand shall reach, I will send the Pestilence, that shall sweep them away., and in the caves shall dye of the pestilence.

¶ For I will lay I do purpose to destroy utterly all in this Land, and what can escape, when salvage Beasts, cruel men, and a pestilential Air all concur to ruine the Land? the land most desolate, and the pomp The stately, and pompous shows of her strength, and her former riches and power. of her strength shall cease: and the mountains On which were Vineyards and Oliveyards, where the joyful sounds of the Vintage, and Harvests did glad the heart, there shall be utter desolation. of Israel shall be desolate, that none No man daring to venture for fear of wild Beasts, or Pestilential Air, or Famine in those wasted Mountains. shall pass through.

Then shall they know that I am the LORD I would have had them acknowledged me to be the Lord by my blessings, which beautifyed the Land, by my holy precepts, which directed to piety, and justice, by my Mercy and kindness towards them, but they despised my mercy, broke my law, abused my bounty, and now by the punishment of their sins, as I threatned, and by laying the Land most waste, they shall be constrained to own, and submit to me, as the Lord., when I have laid the land most desolate, because of all their abominations wich they have committed.

Also, thou son of man, the children Captives in Babylon. of thy Thy, not my people, God does debase, degrade, and disown them. people still are talking against thee by the walls As men now do in Cities or Towns, so then they stood up to the Wall, when meeting in the Streets, they would talk together. and in the doors Others got into the porches or doors of their houses, this they did to tell each other what news of their Countrey. of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, come Come I pray let us go up to the Prophet, the true Prophet, and enquire what God has revealed to him, and what he may reveal unto us, whether any, or when will that end of our sorrows be., I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. And all ends in this at last.

And they come unto thee as the people Flocking to the School of some famous Doctor, or as Men and Women flock to hear some famous Preacher, or as they were wont to the Synagogues to hear their learned Scribes. cometh, and they sit So we find the Elders of Iudah, chap. 8.1. which see at let. f. so the Disciples of the great Rabbies sat at their feet, so is Saul said to be brought up at the feet of Gamal el. before thee as my By their outward deportments, you might judge them to be my people, and hear seemingly very attentive. people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do They do only hear what thou sayest, but they will not do it. them: for with their mouth All their love is but from teeth outward, either to me, my word, or my Prophet, says God, they show much love, but their heart Their desire, love and care is about their gain, how to make thriving bargains, how to place out and secure their money with excessive, and intolerable usury and increase. goeth after their covetousness.

And lo, thou art to them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. These Iews esteem, and regard thee, and what thou sayest, as men regard a skilful Musician, who to a well tuned instrument has sung the praises of virtue, or of vertuous men; it pleaseth their ear, but it does not frame their hearts and life to virtue. They loved him for his eloquent lamentation, and reproof of their Enemies, and for foretelling that they should fall, and saying nothing against them, and their sins for these three years past, but when he exhort, or disswades them to duty, or from sin, they'l hear, not do.

And when this cometh to pass (lo it will come) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them. When all thou hast prophesied against the Iews shall, as that thou prophesiedst against the Nations, come to pass to their ruin, they shall know thou wast no Musician but a Prophet sent of God, to forewarn you to fly from wrath, not imployed by Men, to please their wanton ear and fancy.