PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1
Edward Hayes Plumptre [1821-1891] · 364,205 words · 401 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 61
Mal. i. 1). And the Word of the Lord to the rebellious and the hardened (such as the Israelites were) is still a. stern word-a word of condemnation and woe, '1.'he true prophet cannot prophesy smooth things to stiff-necked sinners, To such ohare.oters he must proclaim "the severity of God." III. THE PROPHETIC MESSA…
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the de.rlcest hour of his ministry (xv. 16). Ezekiel'e name was at once nomen et omen. Tboy a.re reproduced yet moro closely by Harr! e.s Israel might be, he could be made St. John (Rev. x. 9), There is, after the harder, i.e. stronger, than they, and should first terror is over, o.n infinite sweetness in prevail agai…
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Luther, however, gives "a wind lifted me fitness. The hand of the Lord, eto. Tho word up." The pe.rallels of eh. viii. 3 (where, how- for" strong" is the same ae that whioh enters ever, we have the addition, "in the visions into Ezekiel's nu.me. Te.king this and ver. !) of God ") and eh. xi. 1 suggest the con- ir1to…
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developorl, meets us in Hab. ii. I. Its use in described in the same words as that of Cain Hos. ix. 8 is doubtful ns to meaning, and (Gen. ix. 5). Compare St. Paul's words in in Isa.. Iii. 8 and lvi. 10 it ma.y be, if we Acts xviii. 6 and xx. 26 as echoes of Eze- accept tho theory of a. Dcutero-Isaiab, a.n kiel's thoug…
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booome e. "stopping-stone to higher things." ministrations, There was a time to kcop If, through the prophet's 11egligence, he silenco, as well e.s e. time to speo.k (Eccles. oomes unwe.rned, and stumbles and falls, iii. 7), nnd fo1· the immediate futuro silonco 110, as in the case of the wicked, bears the wns the more…
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Divine truth needs to be treated thus. We must feed on the Bible to profit by it. I. There muBt be personal appropriation. We take a. thing to ourselves in the most. absolute kind of possession when we ea.tit. No book will profit much until it is thus appropriated. '.!.'he biblioma.niac is not a.lwa.ys a. student of l…
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which thrill the spectator with emotion. The work is English, commonple.ce, without much adventure. But it is only the superficial mind that should be discouraged by so childish an objection when real need presses. 2. Roughness of character. '!'ho back- woodsmen may not speak a rough dialect, but the freedom of thei…
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firmness are essential in the work of e. leader of men. The Christian minister who is afraid of his congregation has forfeited all right to be their teacher. 3. It is demanded by loyalty to God. The prophet is God's messenger, The Christian minister is Christ's servant. 'l'o his own Master he stands or falls. Obsequiou…
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ways. 1. In pushing forward. God thus keeps his servants to the front. While he is with them he will allow of no cowardice or indolence. 2. In support. This hand of God is a helping hand, a holding hand, a supporting hand. God sustains those whom he sends. 3. In ,·estraint. While pushing his servants on in the right wa…
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that which concerns the guilt and dangers of the people, which is also set forth in the passage before us-is worthy of grave consideration on its own account. Let us take that alone now. J. JUDGMENT 1B DETERMINED BY PERSONAL aurr,T. God is discriminating and fair. He does not deal out judgment in the gross; each cas13…
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of these. (1) Retfrementfrom society. The mournful crowd of Jews was by the river- ba.uk, and Ezekiel was to detach himself from them and retreat to the solitude of the plain. It is not good for man to live in a crowd. Depth of soul is to be cultivated in retirement. God does not often reveal himself in the din of the …
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his servant. This is no matter of wilful reticence or sullen silence on the part of the prophet. If God sends a message, he can also withhold one. Revelation is not extorted from heaven by cunning sorcery. It is freely vouchsafed by the will of God, and if he chooses to hide it, no skill or might of man can extract it.…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 4-7.-The :privileged and the unprivileged. It is impossible to read this hngungc without being reminded of the parallel language recorded to have been uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Prophet Ezekiel was assured that, whilst his messaae would be rejected by his fellow-country…
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why they should listen to him ; but he was well aware that there is no sin more awful thnn the refusal to listen to the Eternal himself, all whose words are true and just, wise and good, It was not a case for personal feeling, a case of offence given nnd taken. Such feeling would have been out of place. The serious asp…
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influence, to control, to impel, to restrain, to inspire. Now, the J.rophet is the man to whom the Lord, who is the eternal 'l'ruth and Wisdom and uthority, stands in such a relation. As is strikingly described in the text, God pours into the cars and the heart of the prophet the words which are the expression of hi…
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in spirit when thus encountered by prejudice, worldliness, and unbelief. 2. Ezekiel had been ma.de to feel the difficulties arising from the feebleness and insufficiency of the spiritual labourer. It iB hard to face a. powerful foe; but to do so becomes har,ler when the warrior is conscious of bis own weakness, And thi…
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of a foe. 3. Strong to direct, as the hand of the helmsman may steer tho ship upon her course. 4. Strong to c°Mei· and encourage, as the hand of the husband may grasp that of the wife, t-0 comfort and to animate with courage, in times of common difficulty, i;;orrow, and distress. 5. Strnng t-0 save, as the hand of a…
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vocation that, for a time o.nd for a purpose, he should be as one dumb. On the other hand, the abundance of his utterances is apparent from the length to which the book of his prophecies extends. There were reasons for :both his dumbness and his speech. I. 'l'rm TESTIMONY OF BILENOE. That God should enjoin one of his …
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II. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MESSAGE. "Speak with my words." 'l'he first task the prophet had to 11erform was with himself. It was a necessity that ho should repress an<l subject self. He must overbear his timidity. Ho must mortify his pride, He must forego personal tastes and predilections. This done, his task was simp…
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hi"h responsibility. To mo.ko this clear to his servant, God employed comparison o.n~logy, forcible illustro.tion. On the city watchman bung the fate of tbe city-th~ Jives of fellow-citizens. He was exempted from other duties tbat he might the better discharge this. For many reasons, some manifest, some bidden, God app…
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Vers. 4-7.-The awful consequences of neglecting the Word of the Lord. "And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel," etc. Here is a comparison between two possible spheres of prophetic service-between the Israelites and the heathen (ver. 5); between the one house of Israel and many heathen…
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Vars. 16-21.-The prophet a watchman. "And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel," etc. Let us notice- I. THE CHARACTER IN WRIOII THE PROPHET OF THE LORD IS HERE REPRESENTED. "Son of man, I have made the…
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And in the case which is not mentioned here, but is yet among the possible results of his work, viz. the.t the wicked should believe bis message, and turn unto the Lord. "Brethren, if e.ny of you do err from the truth, and one convert him," etc. (Jas. v. 19, 20). Who can estimate the blessedness of a result like this? …
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I. WAs C'1MMANDRD BY THE LORD. "Then the Spirit entered into me, and set mo 'Upon my freL, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house" (cf. eh. ii. 2). One would have been inclined to conclude that, when ho was revived by the Spirit, the prophet would havo been ordered to enter upon o.ct…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1.-The first sign in thls method of unspoken prophecy was to indicate to the Prior to any detailed exo.mino.tion of the exiles of Tel-Abib that which they were strange series of acts recorded in this and unwilling to believe. The day of uncertain the following chapter, we are met with th…
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Jer. lii. 4; eh. xvii. 17; xxi. 22; xxvi. 8), with the context. This shall be a sign, eto, or, perhaps, the wall of cfrcumvallation, (comp. like forms iu eh. xii. 6, 11 ; xxiv. whieh the besiegers erected that they might 24, 27). The exiles of Tel-Abib, who were carry on their operations in safety; (2) then the only sp…
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ment of Judah, in lilrn manner, dates from not of the punishment, but of the guilt of the destruction of Jerusalem in B.o. 586, and Israel and Judah respectively. That of the the forty yea.re bring us to B.O. 546, a date former is measured (as in the mar!!in of so near the other, that, in the round numbers the Authoriz…
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(here, and, though the Hebrew wrb is not ounces, besides other food. And this w11e the sanw, eh. x'iv. 8; xv. 7). The words to be taken, not RB huugor prornptod, but at •· prophesy against it" may imply some the appointed hour, once a day. The whole Bpoken utt.erauco of t.he natul'e of a "woe," scene of the people o…
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oh1micteriBtic of Ezekiel (eh. ix. 8; xi. 13; firBt commnnd, t~ough .even this was pro- xx. 40) and of hiB teacher and contempo- bably regarded as rnvolvrng some ceremonial rn.ry (Jer. i. 6; iv. 10; xiv. 13; xxxii. 17). uncleanness. It served, at any rate, to The Vulgate repreBentB it by A, a, a. His represent, in some…
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Vers. 4-6.-Sin-bearing. Ezekiel is to bear the sin of his people, doing it inileed syrubolically every night, by lying first on one side, with the idea that the siu of Israel is upon him so that he cannot move; and then for a shorter period on· the other side, with the idea of the sin of Judah resting on him and hol…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 2.-Siege. By the remarkable symbolism described in this chapter, Ezekiel was himself assured that the metropolis of his country was about to endure the horrors of a siege, and his action was intended for a sign to the house of Israel. Jerusalem, like many of the famous cities of antiq…
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to think of such incidents, to realize them by vivid imagination and confident antici- pation, witho,ut being griC"?'ou~ly affecte~. Who is there, with a heart to feel, w~o can picture to himself the m1scries, the disease, the want, the bereavements, which sin daily brings upon every populous city, without taking upon …
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Vers. I-8.-Vicarious suffering. Every true prophet is a forerunner of Jesus Christ. We do not detract from the work of the Saviour-we magnify it-when we discern that the same kind of work (though not equal in measure or effectiveness) had been done by the prophets. Ezekiel was called of God, not only to teach heavenl…
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God. For Ezekiel to _represent the Babylonian invaders, for him to invest the city with fire and sword, this must have been gall and wormwood. Yet, in vision, he had eaten the roll of God's behests, had digested and assimilated the knowledge of his will. 'rhercfore, in his vicarious character, he has to set his face ag…
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III. FAJiUNE rROVES TO us HOW EASY IT IS FOR Goo TO AFFLICT. Very obviou~ is it that frail man hangs on God by a thousand delicate threads. 'l'en thousand minute avenues nre open by v,hich an enemy can approach, chastisement como near. ,ve almost shudder as we think of the manifold forms, and of the majestic case, w…
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to us th11t it would have been out of harmony with the character of God to have used remarkable symbols to obscure his Word. 'l'hey were intended rather, we conceive, to arouse attontion, to stimulate inquiry, and impress upon the mind the truths shadowed forth by them. Fairbairn he.s well said, "As the meaning obvi…
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Indeed, extends into Europe, and subsists even in England." 1 The significance of !his syml)o! is stated: "Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread 11,mong the Gentiles, whither I will drive them." The reference is to the impurities of heathenism. Those who in their own land had disregarded the …
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need not expect numerical exactness) we.s to the noun translated ''tumult" in 1 Sam. iv. perish in the city of pestilence e.nd famine, 14; Pa. lxv. 7; Isa. xxxiii. 3, thou.!sh it is another to fall by the sword in their e.ttempts more commonly rendered "multitude." It to escape, yet another third we.a to be scat- is no…
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datfons of th.- tc-:s:t. I in<'linc- to l'('~t s~ioue reproduction of It. Tho scorn CLnd satisfied with the Authorized Yc-!'>'i,n1, nnd mockery of the heathen who rejoice,! in her to e:s:plsin it by <'h. x,;. 2i. The wor,.I im- humiliation were to ho the keenest pnng in plies not Clllly the d('('rense. but the entir…
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HOMILETJUS. Vera. 1-4.-" A barber's razor." The coming 11iegc and de11tniction of ,Jm.iPalem nre described under tho image of the prophet shaving bis head and then disposin 6 ,, 1 his hair in various ways, 'l'he razor stands for the Divine judgment, the hair for the people, the different treatment of the hair for the …
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I. A HIGH PRIVILEGE. Jerusalem was privileged in her position; so is England to-day. The products of all the world pour into our markets. The garnered experience of the ages and the wide wealth of thought that grows in many minds are at our disposal. Jerusalem in the days of the prophets had many faults, but narrow-…
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tom pest of trouble, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." 2. The cause of God's oppoBition lies in men alone. Ours is the change, not his. The Israelites in th, wilderness" provoked" him to wrath. As he is always graciously inclined, it al way~ lies wilh us to determine whether he shall be our Friend or our En…
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Ver. 11.-Dimini,shment. The wicked nation is to be punished by being diminished (i.e. ifwe accept the Authorized Version,confirmedas it is by the majority of the Revisers). I. PoPULATION IS DIMINISHED. After the exile Palestine was thrown back almost to the condition of a wilderness, and lions came up from the deser…
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Vers.14, 15.-Tlie shame of moral shipwreclc, and its lessons. All the nations round about were to be witnesses of the shipwreck of Israel. 'l'he eyes of the world are upon the Church. No single Christian man can fall without his ruin being observed by many neighbours. The city set on a hill cannot be hid in its prosper…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 5, 6,-Privileges abused. Himself an exile, and far from the city which was the glory of his nation &nd the seat of the worship of his God, Ezekiel nevertheless felt keenly and bitterly the reproach which was coming upon the metropolis, the ruin which the sins of her kings and her ci…
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Ver. 8.-Divine antagonism. That is a lawless state of society in which every man's hand is against his neighbour. Yet no observer of human life is insensible to th€1 prevalence of enmity, rivalry, opposition of various kinds, among all communities of men. "There are many adversaries" is a complaint which every man has …
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Vera. 1-4.-The prophetic ojfice involves self-sacrifi,ce. The prophet in every age has to be himself a sign. It is not so much what he says, not so much what he does, but what he is, that impresses others. In this enterprise character is everything. Ezekiel was a servant of God to the very core. He completely identi…
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Vers. 5-I0.-Abused privilege produces condign pztnishment. This doctrine is repeated and emphasized in myriad forms. It is written, not in sand, but on rock, and written with a pen of steel. If the men of England do not read this lesson, the reason is evident-they are wantonly blind. I. WE HAVE HERE AN INSTANCE OF EMI…
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3. Their guilt was extraordinary. It exceeded that of the nations round ahout them. "'hile they enjoyed special restraints, they not only went to tho same lenrrths of profane idolatry as other nations, they went beyond them I Although the fact'°'oC one spiritual Deity was clearly made known among them, yet thoy borr…
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honourable and faithful. He was known t.o be a devout man, a man of prayer. What other explanation, therefore, could men put upon his earnest, heart-stirring appeals than that God spake by him? If his reproof of sin was true, then God spake throuo-h l1im. If he made known the might and righteousness of Jehovah, Jehovah…
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C'..-od is good and kind; he is also just and terrible. We may see this in natul'o. We have the beautiful and the benelicent--Lhe warm and brilliant sun, genial airs lovely flowers, enchanting scenes, and bountiful harvests. We have also the dreal'y ~nd the destructive-wintry skies, dreadful tempests, devashiting fl…
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Exemplar, deeply participate. And if there bo painful retributions, which involve saint and sinner in one common outward doom, let us give due weight to the precious fact that such outward suffering comes to them with essentially different spiritual 8 j<Tnificance. And for the rest, we rejoice that though "clouds and d…
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worship of the Lord Jehovah. We have some account of these abominations in eh. viii. and 2 Kings xvi. 10-18; xxiii. 4-14. The favoured Israelites had corrupted their highest and holiest things. 3. Their exceeding even the heathen in wickedness, "She quarrelled with my jndgments more wickedly than the (heathen) natio…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER VI. Ezekiel a.re Identical with those of Lev, xxvi. 80. The Be.moth, or high places, of Vera. 2, 8.-Bet thy face toward the mo1lJl- Be.al, are mentioned in Numb. xxii. 41 and tains, etc. The formula. is eminently charac- Josh. xiii. 17, and a.re probably identical teristic of Ezekiel. We have had…
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them to the worship of Jehovah. So the earlier e~ages of their history, I.hey hC1d be- writer of 1 Kings iii. 2 records tho fact that come. high p!C1ces of Dool (Jer. xix. 5; "the people sa-0rificed in high places," be- xxxn. 35), and were assooiated with nbomi- cause RS yet, though the ark had been !1ations like th…
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tho Rovised Version," I have broken their 20; iii. G; Tea. !vii. 5. In Hos. iv. 13, o«ka whorish heart." So taken, thought and (or terehinthe), poplars, and elm, are specifi- words aro both connected with Pa. Ii. 17, and cally named (comp. Dent. xii. 2; 2 Kin"B the self-loathing that follows has its counter- xvi. 4). W…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-3.-The doom of tM mountains. After leaving the low flat shores of Egypt, the traveller is struck by a great contrast of scenery as he approaches the Holy Land, and sees the purple mountains rising one behind another from the sandhills of Jatfa in the foreground to the distant uplands of Judah fa…
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from the forests and prowled over the once safe and populous country; and it happenccl in another form in Europe when the hardy barbarians poured over the plains cf Italy, and destroyed, not only buildings, but also the whole fabric of ancient society, and so ushered in the gloom and disorder which took possession of t…
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destruct.ion by the merciful hand of God should consider themselves the redeemed of the Lord, who belong to the God who has delivered them. God does not spare that we may be negligent or indifferent. Every Christian is like a part of this remnant delivered by God from the doom of a guilty world; therefore every Christi…
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or the Bible show the working miml of God. The life of Christ confirms the presence of God in Messianic prophecy. Christian history verifies Christ's word about the leaven hidrlen in the meal. Moreover, the present fulfilment of ancient prophecy reveals tte existence among us of the same God who inspired the prediction…
891 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.