Ezekiel 40

Ezekiel 40:1

He - The man whom he had seen upon the throne. Them - Those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city: perhaps angels. Every man - Every one; ’tis an Hebrew idiom. Each of these had a weapon proper for that kind of destruction which he was to effect; and so, some to slay with the sword, another with the pestilence, another with famine. In his hand - Denoting both expedition in, and strength for the work.

Ezekiel 40:2

He - The man whom he had seen upon the throne. Them - Those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city: perhaps angels. Every man - Every one; ’tis an Hebrew idiom. Each of these had a weapon proper for that kind of destruction which he was to effect; and so, some to slay with the sword, another with the pestilence, another with famine. In his hand - Denoting both expedition in, and strength for the work.

Ezekiel 40:3

One Cherub - One of the four. And took - As a servant that reaches what his master would have. Went out - Out of the temple.

Ezekiel 40:5

Looked - Attentively viewed. Beryl stone - Of sea - green.

Ezekiel 40:6

They - The wheels. This intimates the references of providence to each other, and their dependences on each other: and the joint tendency of all to one common end, while their motions appear to us intricate and perplexed, yea, seemingly contrary.

Ezekiel 40:7

When - The wheels moved by the cherubim, or that spirit of life, which moved the living creatures. They went - They were so framed, that they could move on all four sides without the difficulty and delay of turning. Head - Of the living creatures.

Ezekiel 40:8

And - Now he describes both the cherubim and wheels as full of wisdom, and as governed by an excellent wisdom. The wheels - Which the four cherubim had to move, govern, and direct.

Ezekiel 40:9

The wheels - As to their frame and motion. It was cried - Still there was one who guided, as by vocal direction. Unto them - To each of them.

Ezekiel 40:10

Every one - Of the living creatures, chap.1:6.

Ezekiel 40:13

For - There is a perfect harmony between second causes in their dependence on, and subjection to, the one infinite, wise, good, holy, and just God. The spirit of God directs all the creatures, upper and lower, so that they shall serve the divine purpose. Events are not determined by the wheel of fortune, which is blind, but by the wheels of providence, which are full of eyes.

Ezekiel 40:14

And stood - On the right side of the house, where the cherubim were in the inner court.

Ezekiel 40:15

And every one - The glory, the cherubim, the wheels, all stood, respiting execution, and giving opportunity of preventing the approaching misery. The east gate - The last court, the court of the people.

Ezekiel 40:16

I knew - Either by special assurance as a prophet, or by comparing them with those which he had often seen in the temple.

Ezekiel 40:20

Jaazaniah - Not him that is mentioned chap.8:11. Pelatiah - Named here for that dreadful sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others.

Ezekiel 40:21

He - The Lord sitting on the cherub.

Ezekiel 40:22

It - The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. The caldron - This is an impious scoff, yet mixt with some fear of the prophet, Jeremiah 1:13.

Ezekiel 40:25

Ye - Many murders have you committed yourselves, and you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded them, thus obstinately to stand out.

Ezekiel 40:26

Bring you forth - Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of Babylon.

Ezekiel 40:28

Deliver you - Defeating all your projects for escape.

Ezekiel 40:29

Will judge - My just judgments shall pursue you, whithersoever you fly.

Ezekiel 40:30

Your caldron - The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you in a strange land. Judge you - I will do more against you at Riblah, where the captive king had his children, and others with them, first murdered before his eyes, and then his own eyes put out; Riblah is called the border of Israel: for Syria was adjoining to Israel on the north, and Riblah was on the frontiers of Syria.

Ezekiel 40:32

Pelatiah - Mentioned ver.1, a principal man among the twenty - five princes, who made all the mischief in Jerusalem. It should seem this was done in vision now, (as the slaying of the ancient men, chap.9:6,) but it was an assurance, that when this prophecy was published, it would be done in fact. And the death of Pelatiah was an earnest of the compleat accomplishment of the prophecy. A full end - By slaying all, as this man is cut off.

Ezekiel 40:34

Thy brethren - Thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Jerusalem. Their degeneracy is more noted in the repetition of the word brethren. Gone far - Ye are gone far from the Lord; as much as the Heathens accused the Christians of atheism.

Ezekiel 40:35

Say - In vindication of them. Although - The obstinate Jews at Jerusalem will call them apostates; but I the Lord sent them thither, and will own them there. Scattered - Dispersed them in many countries which are under the king of Babylon: yet they are dear to me. A little sanctuary - A little one in opposition to that great temple at Jerusalem. To him they shall flee, and in him they shall be safe, as he was that took hold on the horns of the altar. And they shall have such communion with God in the land of their captivity, as it was thought could be had no where but in the temple.

Ezekiel 40:37

They - They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and then upon Darius’s proclamation, shall overcome all difficulties, dispatch the journey, and come safely to their own land. Take away - They shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple.

Ezekiel 40:38

One heart - Cyrus shall give them leave, and I will give them a heart to return; and on their way shall there be great utility; and, when come to Jerusalem, they shall own me, and my laws, and with one consent, build Jerusalem and the temple, and restore true religion. The stony - That hard, inflexible, undutiful, incorrigible disposition.

Ezekiel 40:40

Heart - Soul and affections. Walketh - Either secretly adhere to, or provide for the service of idols, called here detestable things.

Ezekiel 40:42

Went up - The glory of the Lord removes now out of the city, over which it had stood some time, waiting for their repentance. The mountain - Mount Olivet. He removed thither, to be as it were within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day, they would have understood the things that made for their peace.

Ezekiel 40:43

The spirit - The same spirit which carried him to Jerusalem, now brings him back to Chaldea. Went up - Was at an end.

Ezekiel 40:47

Eyes to see - They have capacity, if they would, to understand, but they will not understand, what thou speakest.

Ezekiel 40:48

Stuff - Vessels or instruments, wherein thou mayest put what is portable.

Ezekiel 40:49

In their sight - Before ’tis quite night, that they, who should learn by this sign, may see and consider it.