Ezekiel 21

Ezekiel 21:1-7

In this chapter we have, 1. An explication of the prophecy in the style of the foregoing, which the people complained they could not understand, ver. 1—2. with directions to the prophet to draw himself deeply effected with it, ver. 6, 7. 2. A prediction of the sword that was coming upon the land, by which all should be laid unfit, ver. 8—17. 3. The king of Babylon’s approach to Jerusalem determined by decoration, ver. 18—24. 4. Sentence passed upon Zeekiel’s king of Judah, ver. 25, 26, 37. 5. The definition of the dominances by the sword foretold, ver. 28—32.

1. AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2. ‘Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and ‘drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus faith the LORD, Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and ‘will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4. Seeing them that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: 5. That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. 6. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. 7. And it shall be when they lay unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings, because it cometh: and every heart shall melt and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, faith the Lord GOD.

That the people might be left without excuse, we have here a clear exposition of the parable foregoing.

1. Against Jerusalem is the prophetic word shrouded, the forest, where the fire of wrath is about to handle, and the holy places, the temple and its courts, the profanations of which God will especially avenge. He is against them, and avoiding them can protect them from ruin; he threatens to draw the sword of judgment, and cut off the righteous and the wicked, who share often together in national calamities, though God will abundantly make up to his faithful in inward confidations, whatever outwardly they suffer in common with others. From death to north universal ruin is spread by the Chaldean army; and the sword once drawn, is no more sheathed till it hath made an utter end of them, agreeable to the foregoing parable, chap. xx. 47, 48.

2. To affect them with a sense of the terriberness of the threatened ruin, the prophet must himself appear deeply affected with it. He must sigh with such depth and bitterness before them, as if his heart was ready to break; and as the expression of such vast anguish would make them inquisitive into the cause, he must tell them, it is for the chiefed tidings he is free to deliver, the certain accomplishment of which approached, when every heart would melt, but their courage had; and so disfarred would they be, as neither to be able to fight or fly. God hath spoken it, and not one jot or little shall fall, v. 7. Note, (1.) A minister who would affect others with what he speaks, must

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be affected himself, and a tear drope over a perfishing foul is the most moving admonition. (2.) They who are never so flour-hearted against God’s warnings now, will be overwhelmed with terror in the day of their calamity.

8. ¶ Again, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9. Son of man, prophesy and thy, Thus faith the LORD, Say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furhised. 10. It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, it is furhised that it may glitter: Should we then make mirth? ’ It contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. 11. And he hath given it to be furhised, that it may be handled: the sword is sharpened, and it is furhised to give into the hand of the slayer. 12. Cry and howl, son of man, for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: ‘I errors, by reason of the sword, shall be upon my people: ‘I smite therefore upon thy thigh. 13. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, faith the Lord GOD. 14. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and ‘smite thine’ hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain, it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entreth into their privy chambers. 15. I have set the S point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah, it is made bright, it is ‘warp up for the slaughter. 16. Go there one way or other, either on the right hand or on the left, whitherfever thy face is set. 17. I will also ‘smite mine hands together, and I will caule my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.

9. 8—17. The sword drawn in the foregoing verifies, is here sharpened to do terrible execution; glittering and bright, bearing down all before it. The scepter of Israel’s king is as unable to refill its fury, as a rotten flock, 9. 10. or the words may be rendered, it is the rod of my Son, the rod of Christ, executing judgment; It defoils every tree, resistance is vain when he shakes; for when God contemneth, he will overcome.

10. It is put into the slayer’s hand, 9. 11. into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and directed against the princes and people of Israel; against all their gates, that their ruins may be multiplied, the city utterly demolished, and they, without power of resistance, faint and disheartened, 9. 15. Whichever way the sword moves, to the right or left, it spreads havoc around, 9. 16. and the great men who fly in terrors to their secret chambers, find no protection from it, even there slain in their lurking-places, 9. 14. And a severe trial it will prove to God’s people, when they shall see it; to the government of David’s royal line. It shall be no more, faith the Lord God, none of David’s family shall again wield the scepter till the Messiah comes, 9. 13. Note, (1.) No eminence of fashion can secure from God’s judgment; may, rather they who have by their ill examples contributed to the reduction of others, shall be most severely punished. (2.) Termes will seize the guilty in the day of vengeance, from which they cannot flee. (3.) The strongest fortress hath no defence, when God is the assailant. (4.) The sword of judgment turns every way, let no finner hope to escape from it.

11. The prophet is commanded to testify his bitter grief at their despotations, and to call on the people to gain his lamentations. He must cry and howl, ver. 12. for the ravages he foretells; I smiting his hands, ver. 4. in the greatest agony, whilst the third time he redoubles the warning, a plural, a sword, ver. 8. and again, 9. 14. which some refer to the three capitolites of Jehovahim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah; others to the coming of the Chaldeans: first, when they took Jerusalem; secondly, when Nebuzar-adan burnt it: and lastly, when in the twenty-third year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar carried away the remnant of the people, Jer. lii. 5—30. Thus God will cause his fury to rest, when he hath executed vengeance on the devoted land, according to his faithful word, 9. 17. and seeing this must shortly come to pass, the prophet exultates with them on the unseasonableness of their present polity: Should we then make mirth? when a drawn sword hangs over our heads: rather in the dull of deepest humiliation, with bitter cries and tears Should they seek to avert the impending blow. Note, (1.) They who declare the terrors of the Lord, must urge them schematically, and redesside their warnings. (2.) It is a heart-skin grief to God’s ministers, to see sinners unconcerned about their approaching and endless miseries. (3.) God’s word will have its accomplishment, however now men slight and defoils it.

12. ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, 19. Also thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land, and choose Vol. II.

thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. 20. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defences. 21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made her arrow bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem to appoint a captain, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. 23. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, so them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity that they may be taken. 24. Therefore thou saith the Lord GOD, Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear: because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. 25. ¶ And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, who she day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26. Thus saith the Lord GOD, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same, ’exalt him that is low, and ‘abide him that is high. 27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until he come whoever right it is, and I will give it him.

9. 18—27. The same subject is here farther pursued, and the sword brought to their walls.

10. He is commanded to describe on a style, or a table, two ways, leading from Babylon: the one to Rabbath, the capital of the Ammonites; the other to Jerusalem, the fortress and un-tropolis of Judah, 9. 19, 20. Here, at the head of the turn, he must represent Nebuchadnezzar halting, and through relished to attack both places, uncertain with which to begin, using divination to determine his way; brightening the means on which it is supposed the names of the cities were engraved, and that the first that was drawn was to be first attacked, confining the images, and looking into the slayer, the methods used by the brothers to obtain direction, and enquire into the success of their enterprises. And all his divinations directed him to take the right-hand road which led to Jerusalem, to encamp around it, appoint the officers to direct the siege, raise up the hostile mounts, and barter the gates, till at the breach they might enter into the city. Note, (1.) The wild men are often at a hand, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (2.) Though many events appear to us merely fortuitous, yet even the lot comes forth according to God’s disposal, and by his desire. (3.) Many are doing God’s work, who are not at all sensible of him by whose hand they are guided.

11. Both prince and people draw their ruin upon their own heads.

[1.] The people, who defoils the prophetic warning, shall be seized and led captives. The Jews divided the divination as vain, and not to be regarded; and the mention of it by the prophet disturbed not their security; though the men they had sworn and broken might justly alarm them with fears of an avenging God. Or perhaps they depended on the league made with Egypt, and confirmed by mutual oaths for assistance. But he will call to remembrance the iniquity, the treachery and perjury of Zedekiah and the people, that they may be taken as birds to an evil net. Therefore thou saith the Lord, who is able to accomplish his purposes, and true to his word, because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered by these transgressions, adding to their past some in that your transgressions are discovered, their perfidious conduct exposed openly to the nations around, and to the king of Babylon; so that in all your doings, your sins do appear visible to every eye; because, I say, that they are come to remembrance before God and the king of Babylon, ye shall be taken with the hand, seized as a helpless bird in a net, and led captives for their iniquities. Note, (1.) Sinners flatter themselves often that the warnings of God are false divinations, but they will be found dreadful realities. (2.) The transgressions of the wicked will be discovered and punished; if not before, at farthest at the great day of recompense.

[2.] The prince of Judah hath a peculiar burden laid on him, as the chief author of the nation’s ruin. He is charged as profane and wicked, ver. 25. and what can be more so than the ingratitude, perjury, treachery, and rebellion of which he was guilty? and kings are not too high to be plainly told their sin and danger. His day it came to be destroyed, sides iniquity shall have an end, when the measure shall be filled, and the punishment due to it is indicted. They saith the Lord God, remove the diadem, and take off the crown, degrade him from his dignity, and depose him from the throne of Judah; this shall not be the same, his kingdom shall not continue: such him that is low, Jehoiachin now a captive, Jer. lii. 31, 32. and abide him that is high, Zedekiah, the reigning monarch; or it may signify the

3. 1. changes Before Chall 234.

changes which the conqueror at his pleasure would make. I will certainly, in certain, everyone is, certainly and utterly, and if shall be no more a kingdom under the rule of David’s royal posterity, until he come wholly right, the Meifah, railed up to fit on the throne of David his father, Luke i. 31. and I will give it him, even a throne enduring as the days of eternity, and universal from pole to pole. Note, (1.) Protonerels and wickedness in a prince are doubly criminal, as the evil of his example is more extensively infectious. (2.) The day will come when all who do iniquity shall receive their righteous doom. (3.) Crowns are precarious possessions; the only untailing diadem will be fought in a better world. (4.) Pride will have a fall, whilst humility is the way to honour. (5.) The Lord Jesus is the rightful king and heir of all things; whatever enemies oppose his advancement, must finally be overthrown, and all his foes be made his foothold.

28. ¶ And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus faith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonians, and concerning their reproach: even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the daughter it is furbithed, to consume because of the glittering: 29. Whiles: they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. 30. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 31. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of a brutish men, and skilful to destroy. 32. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire: thy blood shall be in the midst of the land, thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 21:28-32

Though Judah be first visited, let not Ammon think to escape.

1. They had provoked God by their reproach, inflicting over his Israel, as if he could not save them, chap. xxx. Zoph. xi. 8—10. Whilst they flattered themselves now the king of Babylon was returned thither, that their gods would protect them, and their diviners and soothsayers condemned them in their delusion. Note, (1.) God is jealous for his people, and will suffer no inflict therein them to go unpunished. (2.) Sinners usually flatter themselves into their ruin.

2. God threatens to pour out his wrath upon them, v. 31. The sword that was drawn against Judah is still undisturbed, furbithed for the daughter, and whetted to consume them, to bring them in the necks of the same, of the wicked; they must perish by the same arm that flew the wicked Jews when their day was come, and their iniquities ripe for destruction, v. 29. Not will the sword return to its scabbard, till it hath executed God’s vengeance upon them in the land of their nativity, the place where they were settled ever since they were formed into a people, v. 30. Fierce are the flames of wrath kindled against them; their appointed executioners (savage in their tempers, and faithful to destroy, v. 31. As fuel they must be consumed by the devouring fire of their enemies, and their blood be shed in the midst of the land whether the Chaldeans would penetrate, and the ruin they would make should never be repaired; thou shalt be remembered to more, faith the Lord God, all the traces of their nation being quite obliterated. Note, (1.) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of that God who is a consuming fire. (2.) Sinners are fuel for the flames of hell. (3.) They who provoke themselves, because they have long been secure, they shall be always safe, will be dreadfully surprised when their unexpected ruin comes.