The judgments of God B. C. 593. EZEKIEL. A. M. 3411. tempered mortar, that it shall fall : 1 there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith|| ye have daubed it? 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof and ye shall know that I am the LORD. m against false prophets. B. C. 593. the wall, and upon them that have A. M. 3411. daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy || thou against them, 18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Wo to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye a hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, 1 Chapter xxxviii. 22. Verses 9, 21, 23; Chapter xiv. 8. " Jer. vi. 14; xxviii. 9.0 Chap. xx. 46; xxi. 2. that repentance and reformation into which the other prophets were endeavouring to bring them. And, observe, reader, those are the most dangerous seducers who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their dread of sin, or their fear of God. These are compared to men who build a slight tottering wall, which others daub with untempered mortar; sorry stuff which will not bind nor hold the bricks together; doctrines not grounded on, nor according with, the word of God. Say unto them that it shall fall-When they have the greatest need of defence, and when they least apprehend such an event. There shall be an overflowing shower, &c.-Terrible judgments from God, often compared in Scripture to storms and tempests, the artillery of heaven, especially when he executes his judgments by a victorious army. Shall it not be said, Where is the daubing? &c.-Then it will be asked, by way of taunt and reproach, where are the remedies you had provided, and in which you persuaded all to put confidence? I will even rent it with a stormy wind in my fury-Rather, in my indignation. Under these metaphors is foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Jewish state by the Chaldean army. Thus the Chaldee paraphrase expounds it: "I will bring a mighty king with the force of a whirlwind, and a destroying people, as it were an overflowing storm, and powerful princes like great hailstones." So will I break down the wall, &c. Thus will I overthrow all your false confidences, and all the remedies which ye have provided against the ruin of the state; and ye yourselves that were so confident of safety shall be consumed. The Chaldee paraphrase reads, I will destroy the city wherein ye have uttered these false prophecies, which exposition ac cords with the next words, And ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof; that is, shall be destroye in the same common calamity. And ye shall know, &c.-Those that deceived others will in the end be found to have deceived themselves. And no doom will be more fearful than that of unfaithful ministers. Thus will I accomplish my wrath, &c.—Fulfil what my prophets foretold; and will say unto you—Will show by the awful event; The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it-The city is no more, nor the false prophets. Verses 17-19. Likewise, set thy face against the daughters of thy people-Direct thy discourse against the female pretenders to prophecy. God sometimes bestowed the gift of prophecy upon women, Exod. xv. 20; Judg. iv. 4; 2 Kings xxii. 14. This encouraged others of that sex to pretend to the same gift: compare Rev. ii. 20. Wo to the women that sew pillows, &c.-As the prophet compares the deceitful practices of the false prophets to the daubing of a wall, so he represents the artifices of these female seducers by sewing pillows under the hearers' arms, that they might rest securely in their evil ways. "The eastern mode of sitting," says Harmer, chap. vi. observ. 35, "supported by pillows, explains this representation of Ezekiel. Dr. Russel has given m a print representing a fine eastern lady reposing herself on one of these bolsters, or pillows, by leaning with one of her arms on one of them, while she is smoking." In Barbary and the Levant they “always cover the floors of their houses with carpets; and along the sides of the wall, or floor, a range of narrow beds, or mattresses, is often placed upon these carpets; and, for their further ease and convenience, several velvet or damask bolsters are The judgments of God B. C. 593. B. C. 593. A. M. 3411. to slay the souls that should not die, || souls go, even the souls that ye hunt A. M. 3411. and save the souls alive that should to make them fly. not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the 9 9 Or, into gardens. 21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made S Verse 9. esses are represented as doing: Come down and sit in the dust, &c."-Harmer, chap. vi., observ. 35. placed upon these carpets or mattresses: indulgences that seem to be alluded to by the stretching of themselves upon couches, and by the sewing of To hunt souls-To allure, draw, or drive men pillows to arm-holes."-Shaw's Travels, p. 209, into those nets and snares that they have laid for second edition. Sir John Chardin also mentions "a them, and thereby to make them their prey. Or to mattress, with large cushions, placed at the back and destroy men, to expose them to the divine vengeance, sides" of the person who uses it as a bed, Harm., by lulling them into security, and enticing them to vol. ii., chap. vi. observ. 46. See also, to the same commit sin in following their directions. Will ye purpose, Lady M. W. Montague's description of a hunt the souls of my people?-Will ye make a prey Turkish lady's apartment, let. 32, vol. ii. p. 55. And of men's souls by deluding them with fair promises make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature- || and vain hopes? Will ye draw my people into deRather, Upon every head, w, of every stature, struction, by promising them safety and happiness, the false prophetess doing this without distinction while they continue in sin? "This verse," says of stature or age. "This," says Bishop Newcome, Secker, "should seem to mean, that these women "may be a strong, eastern manner of expressing made every body easy to their ruin, for their own that these women hoodwinked their votaries, and profit." Will ye pollute me among my people ?— kept them in spiritual darkness." In the same light || Will ye profane my name, by making use of it to the passage is considered by Lowth and many others. give credit to your own dreams and lies? Or, Will "Or the covering of the head may have been of the ye dishonour it by employing it to the vilest use, ornamental kind, to denote prosperity or victory, the encouraging of wickedness, and the discouragas pillows denoted tranquillity and plenty; and both ing of piety and virtue? For handfuls of barley, may have been significantly applied to the heads and &c.-For the sake of gain to yourselves, even for arms of those who consulted the prophetesses." the meanest presents? It is well known how cusThus we are told by Dr. Shaw, p. 221, and Lady M.|| tomary gifts were, and still are, in the East. These W. Montague, vol. ii. p. 30, that the eastern women false prophets and prophetesses being chiefly, if not bind on their other ornaments for the head with a solely, consulted by the corrupt and wicked part of handkerchief, which the latter calls "a rich embroi- the Jews, who made them presents for their andered handkerchief." These prophetesses, there- swers; and those presents being generally the larger fore, Harmer thinks, "did the same thing by their the more agreeable the answers were, therefore these flattering words, as would have been best expressed, prophets and prophetesses always uttered what was if they had thought fit to signify the same thing by pleasing, and gave encouragement to the wicked, actions only, (as the prophets sometimes did,) by and what tended to disgrace and discourage the making bolsters for the arms, and presenting them truly good. To slay the souls that should not dieto the Israelitish women, whom they wanted to as- To denounce or prophesy death and destruction to sure of the continuance of their prosperity; and those that shall be preserved. Thus they denounced embroidering handkerchiefs, proper to bind over death to those who yielded themselves to the Chalthe ornaments of females in a state of honour, and deans in Jeconiah's captivity, whom God had deterafterward putting them on their heads. Whereas, mined to preserve alive, Jer. xxix. 5, 6. And they the true prophets of God gave them to understand, encouraged those who remained at Jerusalem, with in direct contradiction to all this, that if the Jews promises of peace and safety, who, God had forewould not yield up themselves to the Chaldeans, told, should perish: see chap. v. 12. Or the words great numbers of their men should perish, and their may be understood, in a more general sense, of diswomen should be brought down from those elevated couraging the godly, and confirming the wicked in places in which they sat supported by rich bolsters, their evil ways: see verse 22; and Jer. xxiii. 14, 17. and should be forced to sit on the ground; and, in- || To slay, and make alive, signify here, to promise stead of a rich attire for their heads, should have men life, or threaten them with death. So the protheir hair miserably dishevelled, strongly marking phet says he came to destroy the city, (chap. xliii. out grief in a despairing neglect of their persons. 3,) when he came to pronounce the sentence of deSuch is the description Isaiah gives of the state struction upon it.—Lowth. of captives, (chap. xlvii. 1, 2,) which every one must see is just the reverse of what these prophet || Verses 20-23. Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye hunt the souls, &c.-To make them run into those snares and seductions that you have laid for them, verse 18. The metaphor is continued from the manner of hunting and pursuing living creatures, thereby to drive them into the toils prepared for them. I will tear them from your arms -"I will make your cheats and impostures appear so evidently that nobody shall be in danger of being seduced by you any more:" see verse 23. Your kerchiefs also will I tear-I will lay quite open and render useless all your arts; they shall no longer serve your purpose. Because with lies you have with punishment. 23 Therefore " ye shall see no more A. M. 3411. B. C. 593. vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: * and ye shall know that I am the LORD. "Verse 6, &c.; Chapter xii. 24; Micah iii. 6.- Verse 9; Chap. xiv. 8; xv. 7. made the heart of the righteous sad—As you have deluded and comforted the wicked with vain hopes, so you have disheartened the righteous with groundless fears, or made them sad with the lies and calumnies you have invented against them. Therefore ye shall see no more vanity nor divine divinations, &c.—An entire end shall be put to all your false predictions and divinations; for ye shall all perish, namely, in the siege of Jerusalem, either by the famine, disease, or the weapons of the Chaldeans. CHAPTER XIV. Here, (1,) The Jewish elders at Babylon, having come to inquire of the prophet, meet with a rebuke, instead of acceptance, 1-5. (2,) They are called upon to repent of their sins and reform, otherwise it would be at their peril to inquire of God, 6–11. (3,) God assures his prophet, that when a land had exposed itself to his judgments by trespassing grievously, no intercessions, not even those of Noah, Daniel, and Job, should prevail to save it from the destruction it had merited: much less should any intercessions be available to preserve Jerusalem from the judg. ments which its aggravated sins had deserved, and which God had determined to bring upon it, 12–21. And yet, (4,) It is promised that a remnant should escape, 22, 23. B. C. 593. a B. C. 592. A. M. 3411. THEN came certain of the elders | block of their iniquity before their A. M. 3411. of Israel unto me, and sat before face: should I be inquired of at all by them? me. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling a Chap. viii. 1; xx. 1; xxxiii. 31. NOTES ON CHAPTER XIV. Verse 1. Then came certain of the elders of Israel-Men of note, that were in office and power among the Jews. "The prophet neither tells us the name nor the intention of these elders of Israel, nor the time when they came to him. But the manner wherein God speaks, gives us to understand that they came only to tempt him, as the Pharisees came to Christ, and with no design to profit by what they heard, or to correct their faults:" see Calmet. And sat before me-As was the usual posture of those that came to hear the instructions of any prophet or teacher: see chap. viii. 1. In after times the teachers sat in a chair or eminent seat, and the hearers on lower forms at the feet of their masters: see Luke x. 39; Acts xxii. 3. Verses 2, 3. And the word of the Lord came unto me-To acquaint me with the real character of these men, and what I should say to them. These men 4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block b Chap. vii. 19; Verse 4, 7.- 2 Kings iii. 13. hove set up their idols in their hearts-They are not only inclined to idolatry in their hearts, but they have actually set up idols and worshipped them. It seems, however, that their idolatry consisted, not in entirely deserting, but in corrupting and poiluting the service of the true God, intermixing it with foreign worship and superstitions, learned from the heathen. And have set up the stumbling-block, &c. -Their idols, which were both the object of their sin, and the occasion of their ruin. Should I be inquired of at all by them?—Shall I give any counsel, or any answer concerning that of which they inquire of me, to such hypocrites as these? Verses 4, 5. Say unto them-Declare my will clearly and faithfully; Every man of the house of Israel-Whoever he be, rich or poor, mighty or mean; that setteth up his idols in his heart-That is attached in his heart to any species of idolatry; and cometh to the prophet-As if he were desirous Israel is exhorted CHAPTER XIV. to repentance. A. M. 3411. of his iniquity before his face, and || to a prophet to inquire of him con- A. M. 3411. cometh to the prophet; I the LORD cerning me; I the LORD will answer will answer him that cometh according to the|| him by myself: B. C. 593. multitude of his idols; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn 1 yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. e B. C. 593. 8 And I will set my face against that man, ||and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; fand ye shall know that I am the LORD. 9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh || seeketh unto him ; to know what is best to be done, that he might do it; or what is the will of God, that he might comply with it: and what will be the issue of these times and affairs; I the Lord will answer him that cometh —And that in a way but little to his satisfaction; according to the multitude of his idols-According to his real iniquity, not according to his pretended piety: I will declare the greatness of his sin by the greatness of his punishment; he has multiplied his idols, and I will multiply his sorrows. That I may || take the house of Israel in their own heart-That I may lay open what is in their hearts, and discover || their hypocrisy and impiety; or, that I may reprove and convince them, from their own words and behaviour, what a base part they act, and that their inward and secret wickedness is perfectly known to Because they are estranged from me through their idols-It is always through some idol or other that the hearts of men are estranged from God. Some creature has gained that place in the heart which belongs to none but God. me. || refrain from idolatry, or from worshipping any God but Jehovah. Which separateth himself from me -Who leaves me to worship idols. God considered them as separating themselves from him, not only if they wholly left off to worship him, but also if they worshipped as gods any other beings, real or imaginary, along with him. For he, being the only true God, could not, of course, admit of any other to be worshipped together with him, as no other being whatsoever had the least pretence to be worshipped as God. I the Lord will answer him by myself-I who am Jehovah, the only Creator, Preserver, and Lord of all things, will answer him according to my own inherent power, not by words, but by executing my judgments upon him. And he shall find by the answer, that it was not the prophet, but God that answered, so dreadful, searching, and astonishing shall my answer be. And I will set my face against that man—I will make him a mark for my indignation; and will make him a sign and a proverb-A signal and remarkable instance of my vengeance; and will cut him off, &c.—By sudden death, Verses 6-8. Therefore say, Repent-Be truly sorry for your past sins, and give proof of your sor-attended with extraordinary circumstances. row by forsaking them, &c.; and turn from your Verses 9-12. And if the prophet be deceivedidols Separate yourselves from them, that they Or, seduced. This is to be understood of the false may not finally and eternally separate you from prophets, whose practices are reproved throughout God. And turn away your faces-Your heart and the whole foregoing chapter. I the Lord have deways; from all your abominations-Not only from ceived that prophet-I Jehovah have suffered him to all your idolatries, but from all sinful practices. be deceived; I have given him up to strong deluTurn your faces from them, abhor the very sight|sions, as a just judgment upon him for going after of them; not only forsake them, but do it with loathing and detestation. For every one of the house of Israel-Every Jew of the seed of Abraham, whom this warning first and principally concerns; or of the stranger that sojourneth, &c.-Every proselyte: or the expression may include the foreigners who lived in Judea, termed, in the fourth commandment, the stranger within their gates. For these, although they were neither circumcised nor subject to the ceremonial laws, yet were under ar obligation to idols, and setting up false pretences to inspiration, 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. Or the words may signify, I will disappoint the expectations of those prophets who seduce my people, by speaking peace to them. For I will bring upon them those evils which they, with great assurance, have declared shall never come to pass. Thus Bishop Newcome, "When any false prophet is deceived, the probable event proving contrary to his prophecy, I Jehovah have so superin tended the course of things as to deceive that pro The intercession of Noah, Daniel, A. M. 3411. B. C. 593. EZEKIEL. 11 That the house of Israel may h go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD. 12 ¶ The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: 14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel,|| and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls m by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. 15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they 2 spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through 16 Though these three men were A M. 3411. 3 in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. 17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that cut off man and beast from it: I Heb. in the midst of it.— -P Lev. xxvi. 25; Chapter v. 12; Jer. xv. 1 ; || xxi. 3, 4; xxix. 8; xxxviii. 21.-4 Chap. xxv. 13; Zeph. i. 3. Proverbs r Verse 14.2 Sam. xxiv. 15; Chap. xxxviii. 22. Chap. Or, bereave. vii. 8.- u Verse 14. Or, Also when. Chapter v. 17; xxxiii. 27. phet." And I will, &c.-Or, Yea, I will stretch out my hand upon him—Remarkably punish his falsehood, and in severity destroy him. And they-Both the deceiver and the deceived; shall bearthe punishment of their iniquity-There is so great a parity in | the folly and impiety of both the seducing prophets and the seduced people, that it is hard to say, whose sin is greatest. The punishment of the prophet shall be, &c.-Their punishments shall be as similar as they made their sins: both shall be cut off and destroyed. That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me-The judgments I will inflict upon the false prophets, and those that consult them, shall be an instruction to my people to continue steady to me and my worship, and not hanker after the idolatrous practices of the neighbouring nations. Verses 13, 14. When the land, or, when a land sinneth, &c.-The meaning of this and the following verses is, that when the inhabitants of a land have filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God ariseth to execute judgment upon them, the few righteous that are left among them shall not be able, by their prayers and intercessions, to deliver the nation from the judgments decreed against it. They || shall but deliver their own souls; as we see in the case of Sodom, where there were none righteous but Lot and his family: those just persons saved them|| selves, but no intercession could avail to save the city. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it-All of them persons eminent for piety. Noah, as a reward of his piety, saved eight 4 persons out of the universal deluge, and obtained a promise from God that he would never destroy the world so again, Gen. viii. 21. Daniel interceded with God for the whole nation of the Jews, and obtained a promise of their restoration, and of the coming of the Messiah, Dan. ix. Job was appointed by God to make intercession for his three friends, and obtained pardon for them, Job xlii. 8. But when God's irreversible decree is gone out against a nation which hath filled up the measure of its iniquity, even the prayers of such men will be ineffectual toward their deliverance. For it is only for those that are not arrived to that height of wickedness, that the prayers of the righteous avail: compare Jer. xv. 1. We may observe here how early the fame of Daniel's piety was spread over Chaldea, who at this time was probably not above thirty years of age; he having been carried to Babylon only fourteen years before, when he was very young. For he was taken captive in the third year of Jehoiakim, (Dan. i. 1,) who, after this, reigned eight years, 2 Kings xxiii. 36. And this prophecy, as appears from chap. viii. 1, was uttered in the sixth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, who succeeded Jehoiakim, and only reigned three months. Verses 15-21. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land-We find it was one punishment of the inhabitants of Judea, to be infested by lions and other wild beasts. To this their neighbourhood to the deserts of Arabia exposed them; and God, at certain times, to punish them for their sins, either by |