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 301
Sodom possessed not. The people of Judah had greater privileges than Samaria also, in having the temple of God in their midst, and in having kings of the line of Duvid to reign over them, some of whom were eminent for their piety. Because of their grievous sins, notmthstanding their superior privileges, they are acc…
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blessings, Two ra.cts seem to us to afford conclusive proof of this. (1) That this new covenant is more fully described by Jeremiah (xx.xi, 31-34); and (2) that this passage from Jeremiah is directly applied to the Christian covenant in the Epistle to the Hebrews (viii, 8-12), The renewed favour of God to his people is…
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bles~ing of the c?ven~nt. "I will ~e their God, and they_ shall be my people 11 (Jer. xxxi. 33). Having him for our Portion, we have all good m him. 2. These blessings are universal. "Thon shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger." By these ii.isters probably Samaria and Sodom are meant (cf. ver. 46). …
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ln its meo.ning, as in eh. xvi. 29), i.e. to the Revised Version, fresh-springing leaves; Bnbylon, 11s pre-eminently the merchant- or, the leaves of her sprouling. Tho Autho- city of the time. Thie, ol' course, refers to rized Version and the Revised Version of the Nebuchadnezzo.r's deportation of Jeconiah last clause …
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rebelled; this was to be the outcome of the The latter had carried oft' the branch to the alliance with Egypt. The prophecy we.a "land oft-raffl.ok "-so. had brought Jecouiah Jl:°hably wri~ten when the hopes of Zed~- to Bn.bylon. Jehovah would plant his bmnch k111h and Ins counsellors were at thell' upon the "mounta…
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we ncell also to take hold of H. An easy c0mprehension of it does not satisfy all its dcmanrls, and we should not only think about it, but think our way into it, using our own minds. Truth that is thns held is most truly our own possession. 3. To endure. The riddle will be easily remembered and readily transmitted. Tru…
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Ver. 10.-" Shall it prosper,.. I. PROSPERITY IS NATURALLY BOUGHT AFTEn. Fal~e ideas of prosperity may blind us as to its true nature. There is a prosperity which none need covet, a swollen worldly success that leaves the soul starved, barren, an,i sapless. It may be more blessed to suffer from the stimulating shocks…
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Uriah tho Hittite, The penitent prodigal chargee himself with having sinned against heaven ae well as before hie father (Luke xv. 18). God enters into all earthly arrange- ments. The oath is a direct call upon God to do this; but without any such solemn appeal God cannot but tBke note of all we say and do, and as th…
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fruitful as the tender plants of the vineyard. Christ is not only great and exalted, and ever growing in the power of his kingdom. He gives out grace. His fruit is for the healing of the nations. He is the Bread of life, and his people feed upon him. Christianity is not merely a big success, like Mohammedanism. It i…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 4.-" A city of merchants." An apt designation this of Babylon the great, the very centre and emporium of commerce in the East. The deportation of the chief men among the Jews from their own land to Mesopotamia. is pictorially described under the similitude of the highest branch of …
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Vers. 5, 6.-Prosperity in ativersity. In figurative languge Ezekiel describes the position of the remnant permitted by the monarch of Babylon to remain in the land of their fathers, and to pursue their industries in peace under their own rulers, enjoying the protection of the Eastern power. The lowly vine is suffere…
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king~, ho upbraids them for deliberate infraction of a covenant which they wer3 br,und tu observe, He shows them that political action may be sinfnl, and that, when such is the caRe, the Divine Ruler will not suffer it to go unpupi~hed. J. THE JUSTICE OF Goo IS DISCERNIBLE IN NATIONAL CAT,AMITIES. This was mo~t eviden…
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present e.fforded, the more did the captives e.nd the conquered strain their eyes looking into the dim future. There were those who, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, were inspired to raise the courage e.nd hopes of their countrymen by predicting the coming of a Divine Deliverer who should be re.ised up e.s a horn of se.lvation…
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MAY DE TAKEN FROM MAN AND MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO GoD HIMSELF. He will be glorified by the work of his own hands ; and will not give his honour to another. Universal history, when complete, shall be a full and manifest witness to the wisdom and to the benevolence of God.-T. Vere. 1-21.-The parable of the vine. Sin of eve…
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anarchy, war, and misery, Mere might would always reign, and violence would be the only ~ceptre. YI. Drvn."'E Th'DIGNATION. God himself appears upon the scene, and arms himsolf R1(Rinst the offender. Since the King of Israel had sworn, in God's name, to observe the covenant, the honour of God was involved. Therefor…
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influence into every department and province of human life. It is symmetrical in its proportions, graceful in outline, replete with beauty-" a goodly cedar." IV. ITs FRUITFULNESS. It shall" bear fruit." It is said of the tree of life, seen in the Apoco.Iyptic vision, that it bore twelve manner of" fruits, and yielded …
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Babylon. By "the seed of the land" (ver. 5) is meant Zedckiah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, whom the Chaldean monarch set upon the throne at Jerusalem, and who was to be, not as a great and stately cedar, but as a vine needing support, yet flourishing and fruitful. But another eagle, great, yet inferior to the former on…
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he comple.ins, • it ie not the king that can do e.nything'" (Dr. Smith's 'Bible Dictione.ry,' e.rt. "Zedekie.h "). So he violated his oath of allegiance to N ebuchadaezzar, and entered into league with Egypt. And the dread consequences of such conduct announced in our text were terribly accomplished (cf. 2 Kings xxv…
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tion e.llotted by God? H&S he appointed the station and place even of the obscure and feeble? We argue that such is the c&Se, because : l. The providence of God is universal, including in its vast operations the great and the small, the high aud the low., Every person and every event is comprehended in the great pla…
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ia fit for a greo.ter position who makes the best use of his present position. "A mnn proves himself fit to go higher who shows that he is faithful where he is. A man that will not do well in his present place, because he longs to be hic,her, 0 is fit neither to be where he is nor yet above it; he is iLlready too high…
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the destruction of the enfeebled and subject kingdom of Zedekiah to the establishment of the mighty and majestic kingdom of the Messiah. I. THE PLU,'TTh"G oir THE :i;:INGDOM OF CHRIST, "Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it," etc. (ver. 22). Notice: 1. Th…
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eloqncnco (cf. P~. lxxii. 8-17; Isa. Ix. 1-14). And the New Testame1,t s11p1,lies most abundant and convincing evidence that the blesHings of Uhristianity are f.,r all. peoples. 'l.'hoy are adequate for all, suited to all, ojfered to all, and free for all. Jesus Christ is the Saviour and King of the entire human rac…
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God w011ld not ultimnooly punish the iu- "a paternal affection towards the whole nocPnt for the guilty. Ho had to work out, human race whioh he oreated and formed." according to the light givE>n him, his vindi- Ezekiel antioipates here, and yet more fully CRtion of the wavs of God to mRn, to sketch in ver. 32, the t…
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downw11rde (Jer. xxii. 13). As conlrnstcd the Ilebrew, but is legitimately intri,daced with tho sin, thero was the virtue of a~ expressing Ezekiel's meaning, where the generous almegiving (Isa. !viii. 5-7). mere pronoun hy itself would have been Ver. 8.-He thnt hath not given forth hie ambiguous. In English we might s…
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(Ezekiel"s languRge is necessarily that of e. Ver. 25.-Are not my we.ys equal t The hold anthropopathy), and his transgressions primary meaniug of the Hebrew ndjoctive shell not be mentioned unto him (comp. oh. is that of something ordered, symmetrically xxxiii. 16; Isa. xliii. 25; !xiv. 9; Jer. xxxi. arranged. Men …
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world. The vices of the father and mother bring poverty, disgrace, and disease on the children, When tho thief is sent to prison his childre □ are left without brel\d. Frnrful diseases appear in the constitution of innocent children following their parents' pro- fligacy. 2. Children inherit the appetites and habits …
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Ver. 14.-.The breach of heredity. It is possible for the son of the sinner not to tread in his father's evil footsteps. Here we have the door of escape from the odious proverb of the sour grapes (ver. 2). I. A FATHER'S SIN IS A SHAMEFUL SIGHT FOB HIS SON. The verse before us presents a distressing picture, though one …
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Ver. 25.-God accused of man's injustice. The Jews were asserting that the ways of God were not equal, when the fa.et was that their ways, not his, were unequal. I. GoD IS AOOUBEO OF INJUSTIOE. "Ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal." It is felt that the rule of the supreme God should be very different from that of …
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long-continued hypocrisy; but there may be no hypocrisy in the case. The fallen man may have been sincere in hie earlier life of goodness. But he has turned aside from it. Here is a terrible warning. No character is crystalline; all characters are more or lees mobile. The best man may fall. Then all bis former goodness…
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complacency. But instead of doing so, he manifests !he utmost concern, urgently expostulating with the self-willed sinners, and entreating them to save themseb·es. Nay, has he not gone further, in sending his Son to save the world before his guilty children began to repent and to call for deliverance? In like manner…
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to e. very ~arge extent hereditary. The environment is largely the effect of birth, and the early mfluences involved in it. Those who adopt the "naturalistic" system of morals, to whom man appears the effect of definite causes-the "determinists," as they are called in philosophy---consider that circumstances, and such …
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Ve_rs. 19:-22.-Perso~l responsibility. ~~ can _onl_Y, acc~unt. for _the Prophet Ezekiel lay1 □ g such special stress upon the prmc1ple ofmd1v1dualtty m reliofon by sup- posing that, in his time and among those with whom he associated, there w~ a prevalent disposition and habit leading to the denial of what seems to …
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human race, o.nd accordingly attributes morally reprehensible as well as n.ttributcs morally commendable have been assigned to the deities whom men have worshipped. Indeed, worship has to no small extent consisted in methods supposed efficacious to appease the wmth of the cruel and malicious powers from whose ill will …
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II. WHY WILL YE DIE, WHEN LIFE IS THE <lREATEST OF IILESSINGB? The life of the body, if accompanied by health and favourable circumstances, is desirable and delight- ful. No wonder that in Scripture the highest blessings of which the nature of man is capable are designated by the suggestive and comprehensive term "l…
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Vers. 5-24.-God's remonstrance with man's reason. It is an act of singular kind- ness that God should stoop to reason with the perverted mind of man. It bad been a pleasure to instruct the uncorrupted mind; but new that the instrument is injured, it requires infinitely more patience and skill to deal with it. Yet God d…
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Vers. 1-4.-.The misapplied proverb of sowr grapes. "The word of the Lord cams unto me again, saying, Wbat mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel?" etc. In the' Speaker's Commentary' a connection between this and the pre- ceding chapter is pointed out. "The last verse of the preceding chapter de…
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a manner that the whole world shall perceive you to suffer the punishment you your- Belv,'s deserve, and you shall not be able, as you have been hitherto endeavourinµ:, to cast the burden on }Our fathers." 2. Because of the relationship which God bears to all souls in common. " Bf'hold, all souls are mine; as the so…
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the just man payR no deference: he neither seeks their favour nor dreads their displea- sure; but he worships God alone. Our idols to-day are pursuits, possessions, pen;rms, to whom we are inordinately attached. Anything which we allow as a rival to God for the affection of our heart or the devotion of our life is an i…
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trP\nmiiUed, The son of a good man may repudiate his father's God, nnd refuse to trrad in bis father's footsteps. Eli was a good man, but his sons were" sons of Belia!," Da'l"id was a great-souled and godly man, but he begat an Absalom, And Solomon begat a Rehoboam. "Grace does not run in the blood, nor always atten…
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Vers. 21-29.-Moral transformations and their consequences. "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he bath committed, aod keep all my statutes," etc. In this paragraph the vindication of the moral government of Goll is advanced another stage. Already it has been shown that the son does not die for his fathe…
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the soul that penitently turns from sin unto God. (Forndditional S\ltTtTCstions concern- ing this life, see our notes on ver. 9.) 3. Its gi·eat encouragement~ "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord God: and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?" God delights in the convers…
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Ver. 31.-.A solemn and startling inquiry. "Why will ye die?" The prophet has just exhorted the house of Israel to repent, to turn away from all sin, to turn unto God, so that iniquity should not provo their ruin. And now he addresses to them the hrief and &wakening interrogation, "Why will ye die?" This inquiry, interp…
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men by the infinite cost at which he provided salvation for them. "He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." 2. Man does not die because of any deficiency in the Divine provisions/or hi8 salvation. 'l'he purposes and provisions of Divine grnco for human salvation a.re inexhaustible and infinite. S…
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10-30). U is noticeo.ble tha.t the princes "pala~es" differ in a single letter only, an,! oro clcscribed o.s being of Israel. The there may have been an error in transcri p- LXX. gives the singulo.r, "the prince," tion. On the whole, I adhere to the Autho- and Hitzig o.nd Ewo.ltl ndopt this reading, rized Version and R…
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psalms. That religion which is satisfied with the cold statements of intellectual pro- positions lrn.s not yet touched the he£1rt, and is no living experience. There is a fire of passion in trne devotion, On the other hmd, when religion has been neglected or outraged, a new range of emotions is called into play, and th…
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Vers. 10--14.-77ie parable of the drstruction of the vine. The Jews have often been compared to a vine well cared for by God, and the same comparison, on our Lord's authority, may be applied to Christians. In the present case we have a description first of the prosperity of the vine, and then of the devastating ruin of…
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character. The fate of the kings-if so they may be called-Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, is certainly instructive. But it would not be just to separate between the rulers and the ruled, both of whom alike "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." I. THE ROYAL ORIGIN AND DIGNITY OF THE l'RINCES, 'l'hey are compar…
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Vers. 1-9.-KingZy power abused. Without doubt, the main cause or Israel's fall was the waywardness and vice of her kings. With few exceptions, they gave them- selves up to evil ways. Corruption at the fountain-head became corruption in all the streams of national and domestic life. Idolatry was the root ; and tyranny, …
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,ers. 10-14.-A ,i_ation's ris~ and fall. _If the emblem chosen to represent the Hebrew kmgs was a hon, "the lion of the tribe of Judah," the emblem of the nation was a vine. The vine was indigenous in the land ; the whole territory was a vineyard, As the vine is chief among trees for fruitfulness, so Israel, on acco…
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understand by the pronoun "thy"? "What was thy mother?" ",Jehoiachin ie addressed," says the 'Speo.ker's Commentary.' Rengstenberg says, "The address is to the man Judah, the people of the present." And Schroder," The addreRs i~ directed to the people.'' But, as we shall see, the people are probably represented by t…
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11ccording_ to e.1~ the.~ his ~athers had done~• (2 _Kings xxiii. 32). And,_nccording to our text, durmg his brief reign he abused his kmgly power by oppressrng his subjects. 'l'hen we have the abuse of kingly power in another sovereign (vers. 6-7), If we mke this as referring to Jehoiakim, it is difficult to see how i…
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11nd exalted position ancl power 11re grievously ahused, and princes oppress their people, the wise and good do mourn. National sins and calamities should awaken the sorrow of nil lovers of their God and country.-W. J. Vers. 10-14.-National prosperity and national ruin. "Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted…
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:11" pll\nted in tl1e wilderness, in 11 <lry and thirsty ll\n<l." The expression is fignrntive, settin_g forth their C'Xile n.~ a condition oppose4 to their growth and prosperity. "Such :i wil<lerness may even be in the midst of a cultivatc>d land." ln some respects, "Babylon was as a wilderness to those of the peop…
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Vere. 5, 6.-In the day thnt I lifted np result or their tea.ching, Neh. x. 31-33; mine hand. Tbe o.ttitnde was that of one xiii. 15-22.) Then I said. The hi..tory of who takes 11.n oath (Exod. vi. 8), and implies Numb. xiv. 26 nnd xxvi. 65 we.a probably in tho confirmation of the covenant made with Ezekiel's thought…
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was nr,t in his thoughts at all. For liirn (comp. Exod. xvi. 15 for n. pcmi.llcl deriva- the Law was" holv and just and good," Rnd tion of the word mai·ones). Taking the a its stRtutes such ·that man who should words in their ordinn.ry sense, t.hcy scom keep them should ernn live in them (\'ers. to express only e. …
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horclcrcrl by many no.tions. This may pro- Lev. vii. 14, et al.) and other oblations. The bo.bly point to tho great Syro-Aro.bio.n desert fact that Israel itself is said to be the lyi11g between Babylon o.nt! Po.Jestine. 'l'his "sweet savour" (Revised Version) which wns to ho to them who.t the wilclemess of Jehovah …
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used sp~ie.llyof prophetic utternnces(cb. xxi. Luke xxiii. 31 we may probobly find ou 2; Amos vii. 6; Mice.h ii. 6, 11), e.nd stands, echo of Ezekiel's imagery. therefore. in the Hebrew without au object. Ver. 47.-All faoes from the south to the Toward the south. Three distinct words e.re north, etc. The phrase seem…
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tbo voice of conscience and the Di vino call to repentance. Yet there is a pathetic side to this subject. 'l'hose who reject God still feel driven to liim for refoge in trouble. II. Goo WILL GIVE NO ANSWER TO '£HE NEW QUESTIONS OF THOSE WIIO P.EFU8E TO GIVE HEED TO HIS WORD ALREADY RECEIVED. We cannot be surprise,\ th…
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cleave to tlrnm the election will be rendered null and void. 'l'he great mercy of God in choosing souls before the souls have turned to him should be eufficient ground to induce all who accept the privileges of the gospel to live up to the standard it sets forth. After God has chosen us to be his people the least we ca…
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which therefore takes e. place with us corresponding to the sabbath in the Law and circumcision among the patriarchs. Nevertheless, the grounds on which the sabbath was selected as the symbol of the covenant of the Law are wider than the dominion of Israel, and deserve to be inquired into with a view to ascertaining th…
1,181 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.