Ezek. xiii. 10 — 12. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace ; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered
mortar: say unto them which daub it with untempered mor- tar, that it shall fall: there shall be an over-flowing shower ; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall ; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it ?
SO deeply is unbelief rooted in the heart of man, that scarcely any testimony from God is ever re- ceived with the confidence it deserves. This appears throughout all the sacred history : and our own lives are one continued exemplification of it. To his people of old God was pleased to give many repeated warnings of the judgments that were coming upon them : but the assertions of false prophets were always credited, in opposition to the declarations of God himself. By the Prophet Ezekiel God forewarned the people of the captivity to which they would soon be reduced by their Chaldean invaders. He directed the prophet to set before their eyes symbolic representations of the calamities that awaited them ; to dig through the wall of his house, and carry forth his goods by night, and to eat bread, and drink water, with quaking and trembling3. But false prophets persuaded the people that they had no cause for alarm ; for that these signs related to distant times ; and that there would soon be an end of the impending dangers. It seems that some, women, as well as men, conspired thus to counteract the influence of God's word upon the people ; and that they sewed pillows to the arm- holes, or elbows, of persons, and covered their heads with kerchiefs, in order to intimate to them, that they might repose themselves in perfect ease and safety. To reprove these persons, and to confirm his former assertions, is the prophet's object in the chapter before us. He compares the men to persons building an ill-constructed wall, and daubing it with untempered mortar, which would be washed away by the first shower ; and to the women he declares, that God would soon tear from the arms of their deluded followers the emblems of their delusion,
a See the whole preceding chapter.