Ezekiel 12

To these he was sent with promises, not only of return, but of a new heart and a new spirit, when effectually cured of their attachment to idolatry. From the circumstance that the glory of the Lord rested on the Mount of Olives after it had left the temple, the Jews formed an expectation that the Messiah would frequent this Mount, as in fact he did, and there predicted the last destruction of the city and temple. ((Luke 19:42), &c.) Chap. XII. Ver. 1—28. Ezekiel again typically predicts the captivity of Zedekiah and the people.—In this and the following chapters, the Prophet endeavours, by a variety of types and parables, to convince those of the captivity, who are here called ‘a rebellious house,’

because of their unbelief, that their brethren, who were left behind to sustain the miseries of a siege and the insults of a conqueror, would be in a much worse condition than themselves, who were already settled in a foreign land. In the beginning of this chapter he signifies the approaching captivity of Judah, by removing his “stuff,” as it is called; intimating the removal of the people into captivity, and particularly of Zedekiah and his adherents. He is commanded to eat his food with trembling and signs of terror, as an emblem of the consternation of the Jews when surrounded by their enemies. He then reproves the objections and byewords of scoffers and infidels, who either disbelieved his threatenings, or supposed the accomplishment of them very distant.

Josephus (Antiq. xi. 10.) tells us that Zedekiah thought this prophecy of Ezekiel (ver. 13.) inconsistent with that of (Jeremiah 24:3), and therefore resolved to believe neither. Both, however, in the issue, were literally fulfilled. See notes. Thus, blinded by infidelity, sinners often “kick against the pricks,” and rush on to that destruction against which they have repeatedly been warned.

Notes on the verses

Chap. XII. Ver. 3. Prepare thee stuff—See margin.—Or utensils.—{By stuff our translators meant furniture or goods, as the word frequently denotes in our early writers: but the original Hebrew has not only this sense (as in ver. 4.) but is also used for any kind of utensils or instruments whatever; and here probably denotes carriages, or other means for removing goods. This was intended to signify that the captivity was at hand.}—Bagster. Sir J. Chardin explains this in reference to the eastern caravans. Those who were to start in the evening, brought out their goods in open day, for packing; those who started in the middle of the night, brought out theirs in the evening. Michaelis thinks that the former refers to the removal of the greater part of the people, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah; the latter to the subsequent captivity of the king and his adherents, who at first fled, but were overtaken by the Chaldeans.

(Jeremiah 52:7-8). See Newcome, and Orient. Cust. Ver. 5. Dig thou.—All the principal houses in Jerusalem were built square, and surrounded with a wall; this digging through the wall in the evening, may therefore intimate Zedekiah’s attempt to — clandestinely, probably as Newcome suggests, through a breach in the wall. Ver. 6. Cover thy face.—| This intimated, that Zedekiah should steal out of the city in the twilight, carrying on his shoulders some of his property, with his head covered, not only as in distress, but to escape detection. These prophecies, which were accurately fulfilled, are presumed to have been delivered in the sixth year of Zedekiah, five years before the taking of Jerusalem. )|—B.

Ver. 11. I am your sign—That is, my person is the emblem of yours, and my actions are signs of that you shall do. P. Ad Bishop Chandler, “a pattern of what shall befall you,” as is here explained. — Ver. 12. He shall not see the ground.—This is a typical intimation (though obscure) that he should never see the land to which he went, as in ver. 18. This prefigures Zedekiah’s future loss of his eyes. Ver. 13. My net also will I spread.—That is, he shall be taken, as in the snare of a hunter. [This was to intimate, that though he escaped out of the city, the Chaldeans should overtake him, and carry him to Babylon. Jeremiah had predicted, that his “eyes should see the eyes of the king of Babylon,”

and here Ezekiel foretold, that he should not see Babylon, though he should die there; and Josephus says, that he thought the two prophecies so inconsistent with each other, that he believed neither: yet both were exactly fulfilled, and the enigma of Ezekiel explained, when Zedekiah was prone to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where he had his eyes put out, and was then carried to Babylon, and there died. }—Bagster. Ver. 16. A few men.—“Men of number;" i.e. easily numbered. See The days are prolonged.—See (Ezekiel 11:3), &c. and compare ver. Ver. 27. He seeth, &c.—Abp. Newcome remarks, “In ver. 21—25, there is a reference to the visions of all prophets; but ver. 26—28 refer particularly to Ezekiel’s prophecy.”