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 181
practised in Jerusalem, and by which the Lord Jehovah was provoked were set forth• and now Ezekiel beholds in vision the treatment which God was abou't to deal out t~ the people by reason of their provocations. We observe- I. THAT THE AGE:l\'TS OF Gon's JUDGMENTS ARE EVER READY TO EXE0UTE IIIS COM• MA:!-."DS. "He c…
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Indicated the oppression of their souls. " It argues strength of grace," says Greenhill, "to mourn for others' sins. Censuring and reproaching of others for their sins argues strength of corruption; and mourning for them argues strength of grace, a sound spiritual constitution. Such a one was in Christ; he prayed beca…
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Vers. S-IO.-The intercession of the prophet and the answer of tlie Lord. "And it •came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left," etc. This intercession helps us to understand why the Lord showed to Ezekiel the secret abominations of the people, and called upon him to consider them (eh. viii. 7-12). In …
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CHAPTER X. Vere. 5, 6.-And the sound of the cheru- bim. The use of God Almighty (El Shad- Vers. 1, 2.-Then I looked, eto. There dai; comp. Exod. vi. 3), the name of God as follows on the work of judgment another ruling over nature, while Jehovah ex- theophany, like that of eh. i. 15-28. In the pressed his covenant re…
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in the visions of God. The fact is stated given the "coals of fire" in ver. 7. Each as explaining lbe mention of the "hand " in form, we must remember, had the four fo.ces, ver. 7. That, as in oh. i. 8, was one of their but the prophet names the faoe which 0110h members (see notes on eh. i. 15-17). All presented to …
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of fill things, 'l'hns the Hebrew symbol of the Divine is a glory above a heavenly throne, and with the Jew the most significant Divine thing is the throne. Each thought iii true, o.nd our later Christian theology combines them both. But there is an awful sublimity in the Old Testament religion springing from the moral…
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Ver. 4-.-The moving glory. It is difficult to follow the enraptured prophet through all the mystic mazes of his vision, and catch the meaning of the many gorgeous symbols that he discovers on every hand. But now and again certain points ste.nd out with an individual significance even when their relation to the whole…
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Ver. 8.-" The form of a, m(JITl,'s hand." Those strange composite creatures, the eherubim of Ezekiel's vision, have been described earlier as of human aspect (eh. i. 5), ond in particular as having" the hands of a man" (eh. i. 8). This appearance of the hand is again referred to in the verse before us, so that we are …
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Ver. 22.-He.avenly changelessness. There is great resemblance between eh. i. and eh. x. Ezekiel is transported in spirit from the banks of the Babylonian river Chebar to the temple at Jerusalem. Yet the cherubim which he sees in the one place are exactly the same as those he has seen in the other. This fact of identi…
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Ver. 4.-77ie brightness of the Divine glory. The Shecbinnh-cloud in the holiest place was the visible representation and symbol of the presence of the Eternul in the place set apart for special communion between God and man. Appealing prim8.rily to the sense of sight, it did in reality appeal to the intelligence and th…
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tells us, "there ie no speech nor language, and their voice cannot be heard." But his nrticulate speech comes through the medium of human minds-the minds of prophet3 and apostles, and (above all) the mind of Christ Jesue. The Word speaks with thC1 Divine voice; in him alone that voice reaches us with all the faultless …
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III. GoD's ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IS AN ELABORATE AND COMPLEX SYSTEM. Human agency is intimately allied with the dynamic forces of nature on the one side. and with the active powers of angels on the other. The ,vheels (with the numerical symbol, four), impressive from their magnitude and their rotatory speed, ind…
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Vere. 1, 2, 6, 7,-T/ie vision of judgment by fore. "Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim," etc. The vision recorded in this chapter is substantially a repetition of that which is described in the first chapter, 11s the prophet himself intimates (vers. 20, 22). The only di…
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which he sets us in this respect I Let us imitate him, endeavouring to obey tlie holy will even RS he did. III. THE 111.1!:ANS oF TIIIS JUDGMENT. " Fill thine hand with coals of fire, . . , and scatter them over the city." The fire denoted was elemental fire; for it was taken from between the wheels, and the wheels…
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EXPOSITION. ie distinguished by his parentage from his CHAPTER XI. namesake of eh. viii. 11 and Jer. x:uv. 3. r· Ver. !,-Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, Both were probably familiar to thoso for etc. It is noticeable that the position to whom Ezekiel wrote, as leaders of the party which Ezekiel was thus transporte…
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thnt the Mldron prntccts the meat in it from ected by the ca.ldron nor to meet their the fire. The walls of the city will protect doom in it, b!lt to be brought out of it. us from the armv of the Chaldeans." The Death, by famme, sword, or pestilence (eh. temper which clothed it.self in this language v. 12), might be…
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<lopcuted. Ewa.Id e.ncl Smend take the words The LXX., following adifferentreading,gives as iudico.tive: "Ye a.re far," etc. "another heart" (as in 1 Sam. x. 9): but the Ver. 16.-Yet will I be unto them as e. Hebrew, represented by the Authorized and little sanctuary; better, with the Revised Revised Versions, is, wit…
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1 Sam. xii. 22 ; 2 Sam. vii. 23). '.rhis, for Vers. 22, 23 ..-;-Anothor at.ago of the dopnr- Ezekiel, was the crowning blessedness of ture of the D1vme glory closes the vision. all, as it had been thflt of earlier and con- It had rested over the middle of the city temporary prophets (Hos. ii. 23; Jer. xxiv. It now h…
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11ymbolizes a very dreadful fate (ver. 7). Tho danger is not the less because we close our eyes to it. Meanwhile a false confidence hinders the impenitent from fl~eing from the impending calamity and seeking a place of refuge. Light views of sin and judgment to come lull the careless into a fatal sleep. Ver. 5.-Goa}a …
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Ver. 17.-Restoration and reunion. L THE DIVINE PRESENCE SECURES FUTURE SALv ATION. The promise that God will be with his children in exile "as a Sanctuary" (ver. 16) is immediately followed by the assurance that he will bring them back to their land. It is not for nothing, then, that the poor exiles have the Sanctuary …
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manlcind. War ie a vast and hideous fruit of selfish sinful passions and narrow hard- hcartedness. Christianity, if triumphant, would kill war by uniting the nations in brotherhood, thus bringiog "peace on earth." 3. The reuni(j'II, of individ11,als. In restora- tion to God we learn patience, sympathy, and charity in r…
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LATION MADE TO HIMSELF. The prophets were seers. The apostles were eye-witnesses of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. No preacher can go forth with God's Word unless he has first received that v.r ord. For it is not his business to gather congre- gations merely to hear his" guesses at truth," nor is he calle…
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J. THE OOUNBELLOBB OF' A NATION OWE THEIR POSITION AND mFLUENOE TO GIFTS AND ACQUIREMENTS F'OR WHIOH THEY ARE INDEBTED TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE. II. Suen POSITION AND INFLUENCE ARE NEOEBBARILY ACCOMPANIED BY GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY, HI. THE COUNSELLORS OF' A NATION ABUSE THEIR TRUST WHEN THEY SEEK TO DIRECT PUDLIO POLIOY BO…
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often treated with neglect and contempt. It has been thus from the time of Noah, who~e warnings ~-ere unheeded and ridiculed hy his contemporaries. The admonitions of Christ himself in some instRnces only embittered the hostility of those whom he reproached. Every servant of God has had occasion to exclaim, "Who bat…
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purpos!f.3 which o.re in opposition to his own laws, to his own character. He bas revealed his intention to bring men into judgment for all their conduct, and for every secret thing, good or bad. :From this reckoning with the Judge of all there is no escape. The prospect may well strike the impenitent sinner with disma…
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Vers, 16, l'l.-Exile and '/'estomtion. There is a change in the tone of the pro- phet. A full end she.11 not be made of the remnant. The metropolis shall fall, the king shall be led captive. The enemy shall prevail. But the children of the Captivity shall not be forgotten; they shall experience the protection and fe…
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the work himself. He speaks here with authority, as the Being who needs no coun- sellor, no helper, who has infinite resources at his disposal, who exercises his own prerogative. It is not here explicitly stated what are the means he employs; but we know that they are means in harmony with the moral nature of man, that…
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Vers. 1-13,-The summary punishment of official guilt. As a rule, God is extremely patient towards human rebellion. He reproves and remonstrates and warns long before the executioner appears. Yet sometimes he departs from this course, by a sum- mary act of vengeance. The penalty that follows some crimes is swift and su…
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'T'eproving sin. "The Spirit lifted me up." We live, for the most part, on such a low fovel of spiritual feeling, that wo must be "lifted up" in order to see the real wicked- ness of sin, in order successfully to remonstrate with sinners. Nothing can really "lift us up" to a nobler life but the power of the Holy Ghost…
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Vers. 14.-21.-Privilege: apparent or real. Every good thing Is liable to abuse, and even religion is in danger of degenerating into pernicious superstition. The outward forms often remain-even swell into exaggeration-after the inner reality has departed. So the Hebrews in olden time deemed themselves secure against …
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but when our judgment is enlightened, we perceive that this is the richest boon God can give or man receive. This is an inner fountain of blessing-" a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 2. There follows a spirit of filial loyaUy. Possess- ing this new nature, God's Law will become a. delight. The sentim…
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is ~afe from the surrounding fire, so they regarded themselves as safe within their city walls, whatever forces me.y rage outside them. 'l'hey deemed their position a secure one, and would trust to their city walls and defensive an-angements, rather than heed tho words of the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In most a…
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vision Ezekiel beheld the death of Pclatiab; and it seems to us that be died, in fact when this prophecy was made known unto him. "This incident, whose awful character is attested to us by the impression upon Ezekiel, symbolizes prophetically the certainty in actual fact of the judgment of death on the others also (…
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Yet God knows <>very dark thought and guilty memory; we can hide nothing from him. He regards all sinful thoughts ~nd feeli~gs ~vith unutterable hatred; yet he knows them every one. But while hatrng our sm with unappeasable hatred, he loves us with unspeakable love. He looks at our thoughts and weighs them, because …
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position as a people near unto the Lord, and exclusive possession of the land which he had given unto the whole of the Israelites. By their spirit and conduct these inhabit- ants of Jerusalem remind us of some in our own age who "profess and call themselves Christians," and who claim that only in their community can sa…
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Stripped of mino earthly friends, 1 find them nll in Ono; And pcnco nnd joy that never ends, And hoaven in Christ bogun." (C. Wesley.) 3. Tl,at they should be 1·estornd to thefr country and pi·ivileges by the Lord God. "Therefore say, Thus saith th~ Lord God; I will even gather you from ~ho people, and assemble y…
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Ver. 16.-God the Sanctun,ry of his people. "Yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries where they shall come." Instead of" as a little Sanctuary," it is better to translate,·" a Sanctuary for a little." The assurance given in the text seems strange at first. The Lord Jehovah will bea Sanctnary to his …
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tenoerness e.nd co.re. God also compensates his people for the l~ss of religious privileges, In his providence he sometimes removes us by sickD<lss from the services of the sanctuary, and we have a season of weary waiting for his restoring hand. We anticipate with sadness the Lord's day, when his people will be worship…
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to ue, The genuine Christian is sincere and upright. 2. To those who Oil'e endeavouring to "serve God and mammon." It ie impossible to be at once devoted to worldly ends and to Gou, A worldly spirit is incompatible with real religion. The spirit of th6 world is opposed to the spirit of Christ. One or other must be supr…
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utterances in the past (lea. vi. 9; xiii. 20), ! wo.y ho would become, o.s he ho.d been before and by Ezckiel's contemporary (Jer. v. 21), in like symbolic Rcts (eh. iv., v.), as Isaiah and in the future by our Lord (Matt. xiii. 13), (xx. 2) and Jeremiah (xxvii. 2) had been by St. John (John xii. 40), ancl lastly by…
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near." Compo re the hmguage of the Ba,ptist reference to the former), should eee the word (Mo.tt. iii. 2), of our Lord (Matt. iv. 17), of of Jehovah fulfilled in their own clays. One t:,;t. Po.ul (Rom. xiii. 11). For the true notes how the prophet dwells on the word prophet there is always e. neo.r fulfilment, prolonge…
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Ver. 11.-Tear.hing by example. The Jews had neglected the words of Ezekiel; the prophet is now to attempt to rouse them by a fresh method, by an illustrative action. They would not attend when he told them that the trouble was coming ; he is now to perform before their eyes an action illustrative of that trouble. Th…
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Ver. 18.-Fear. Ezekiel, in conformity with his new, desperate method of rousing the heedless Jews, is now to dramatize Fear in his own person and action, as a sign of the terror that will seize upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the days of its overthrow. I. FEAR ARISES FROM EVIL CAUSES. The sound and innocent soul …
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folse proverb-or at all events, with a proverb falsely applied (see ver. 22). Ezekiel tells them that such errors and those of flattering divination will both cease. There is to be an end to error. I. DELUSIONS WIN A TEMPORARY TRIUMPH. The false prophet has his day of success. Flattering errors easily win their way in…
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Ver. 18.-T'l'embling anticipations. Frequently was the ministry of Ezekiel a ministry of symbolism as well as of language. Very pictorial and effective must some of the prescribed actions of the prophet have appeared to those who witnessed them. On the occasion referred to in this passage he ate his bread and drank his…
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Vers. 22-28.-Tlie human proverb and the Divine. National proverbs embody national thinking, national sentiments, national habits. They sometimes convey counsels of wisdom. But they are sometimes superficial and all but valueless. As in the case here recorded, such frivolous and misleading sayings need to be replaced an…
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neglect them. . By indulgence in vicious likings thry wilfully. blind the inner eyo and ma.kc deaf the mner ear. "None are so blind as those who will not see." "If the oye be evil, the whole body is full of darkness." If the sole channel of truth be choked the man is the victim of falsehood. This is a grief to God, …
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VI. •ro nNow GoD-TIIIS IS TITE FINAL JBSUE, It is instructive to observe how that this is the frequent refrain: "They shall know that I am the Lord." This was a lesson which the Hebrews would not learn in days of prosperity; therefore they were led into tho deep shades of adversity to acquire it. The discipline, though…
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Vers. 1-16.-.A parabolic appeal to a rebellious people. "The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house," etc. "Now begin the amplifications," says Hengstcuberg, "the marginal notes, so to speak, on the great text in eh. viii.-xi., which extend to eh. xix…
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house." The truth must" be set before their eyes," says Hengstenberg, "in rough ralpable, overpowering reality, if His to find entrance to their minds, and succeed i~ emancipating them from those dreams of the future which are preventing their repent- ance. . .. The greater the weakness of their eyes, the more consp…
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to me, saying, Son of me.n, ee.t thy bread with quaking," etc. This paracrraph we.s addressed to Ezekiel's fellow-exiles. "Say unto the people of the land; " i.e. of Chaldea. 'l'be design was to discourage the false expectations of the captives, who were looking forward to an early season of prosperity for their nat…
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fertility, being changed into barrenness because of the sins of the people. Other lands have had a similar fate, but by a different process. There are sins by which lands are still laid waste. Indolence, effeminacy, self-indulgence, delight in war, and social oppression, in every age produce impoverishment and desolati…
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thie unbelieving and rebellious people. He will not leave himself without faithful witnesses, who will speak hie word even to the most sceptical and stubborn of men (cf. eh. ii. 3-7; iii. 4-11). 2. By its full and speedy fulfilment. The Lord here declares that: (1) His word should be fulfilled speedily. "Say unto th…
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o.nalogue, In Matt. vii. 15 and Acts n:. retnm from the Captivity. One notes the 29 wolves appear as the types of the false contrast between the "my people" which prophet. recognizes Israel as still the heritage of Ver. 5.-The verse contains two distinct Jehovah, and the "thy people" used in images. '!'here were breac…
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x. 11 ; Ill!\. xxx. SO; nviii. 2, I 7). And may mean either knuckles, wrists, or (as in when the diSOBter c--0mes men will tnrn to the Revised Version) elbows. Possibly these those who professed to be master-bnilders may !in rn been, like the phylacteries of Matt. and repairers of the branch, with derision, xxiii. 5, c…
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Ver. 19.-Will ye pollute me, etc.? rather, that the amulets on the arms of the prophet- with the Revised Version, ye have profaned, esses, and the veil cast over the hearls of tho interrogative form not being continued the votaries, were like the snare ot' the fow !er. in tho Hebrew. 'l'he prophet dwells with So the th…
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Ver. 4.-Foxes. Ezekiel here likens the false prophets to foxes in waste places. This cutting comparison shows the daring of the true prophet, the extremity of the e,il of false prophecy, and the crying need of exposure of this evil. 'rhere is a limit to the reserve of politeness when truth is dishonoured and God ins…
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Of unsucceeeful or successful we.r, Might never reach me more I " II. THERl!l ABE FALSE PROMISES OF PEA.OE. Ezekiel's contemporary prophets pro-- miscd peace, though Jerusalem was threatened with destruction by the true prophets of God. 1. The peace of unbelief. The threatenings of judgment are discredited. Future …
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visits eYery soul at some time, for "man is born to trouble," etc. If our bark is ouly made for fair weather, it is doomed to shipwreck, because the storm will break at last on every life. If it does not come during our e.'\rthly course, it will visit us at the close. Death will then come as a howling tempest. 2. The f…
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are spared the sorrows which they need to drive them from their evil ways, and are thus confirmed in their wickedness. I. FALSE IDEAS IN RELIGION BRING NEEDLESS BORROW TO GOOD PEOPLE. One par- ticular aspect of this mischief is here brought before us-that of the triumph of sin and the prospect of its immunity, togethe…
787 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.