c he that ſendeth thee, is whom thou ſaweſt on the Throne advanced jeſs Angels who dire&s them in their courſe of Miniſtry ſubſerving _ Will of God, and who will give them charge of rhee in thy way. Hb. Sons; God gives them fill the Name of Sons and Children, he 535 not hafty to abdicare, to diſinherit and caſt off, e Now in the low eſtate of Captives, the leſſening Name of Facob had been too great one might think; but God tells the Prophet they were the Children of !ſrael, that Prince who wreſtled with God, and prevailed, Hof. 12. 3 4 5 Iris very likely they had ſome that feared, and ſought the God of Jacob, and aid wreſtle as he had done before them ;-it infi- nuateth ſome hope however that God would redeem them, P/al. 25. 22. would be good unto them, P/al. 73. 1. His Dominion was over
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repeated, leſt Ezekiel! ſhould forget, or we in like caſe ſhould ſail of our Duty, it is four times given in ayes |
7 And thou ſhalt ſpeak my words 4 unto them, whether e they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they «re f moſt f rebellious.
4 Declaring what I ſhall ſhew thee, and in Words which I will pie 0s
into thy Mourh. eVid. wer. 5. f Heb. Rebellion in the Abſtra&, by which the Heb. (as ſome other Lauguages do) exprefleth the ſuperla+ tive Degree, as we have it rightly tranſlated.
8 Butthou, ſon of man, hear g what I ſay unto þ thee: Be not thou rebellious 7 like that rebellious houſe : open & thy mouth, and eat * that I give thee.
deſt declining the Office of a Prophet, wed not thine own Reſolution
"2. and they were a peculiar People, Pſal. 135. 4. 12. boy < xs Jo are hrs; Fray _ diſobedient ; as Rebellion 15 the higheſt Crime againſt the ſupream Magiſtrate, So were Ilſrasl's Sins againſt God : Hence ſome will have Ezekicl to be commiſſioned a Pro- phet to denounce God's Judgments againſt the Heathen, who are in Scripture called by the Word here uſed. Bur though Ezekiel did pro- phelſy againſt the Nations, as againſt Egypt, Babylon, Gog, and Mazog 3 yet here cheſe Nations in this third werſe are the Jews, who were like *he Nations in their Idolatry and Manners, they had degenerated from their Father 1/-ae!, and rebelled againſt 1/-ae!'s God : if the Title 1/rael be Comfort to the beſt, the Appellation given to the reſt, they were a rebe[lious Nation, is Terror and Menace, as well as Rebuke, to the worſt; and God intimates they were what they accounted the Gentiles to be, polluted, prophane and hated of God. g This was implied in the former-Word, but thus exprefly added to aſcertain the Charge, and to aggravate the Crime of this People, who were from theic Fa-
herein, i Houſe of Rebellion, as verſe 7. & Some take this fioura- tively, as if here the Propher had been called to open the Powers of bis Soul and Mind, to receive, retain all that God ſpeaks; bur I rathes ; think that the Prophet is required ro open his Mouth to eat what wzs ; put into his Hand, 7. e. the Book, infinuating his divine Call and In. | ſpiration, and the Bitterneſs of the Jews Calamity. A viſionary Book, and a viſionary Eating, here is ſpoken of.
9 And when I looked /, behold, an hand »z ws ſent » unto me, and lo, a roll o of a book was therein. 1 The Prophet newly come out of hat aſtoniſhing Trance wherein
' _ the Evil and Wicked. +Jer.1.8.
= *not afraid cof their words, nor be diſmayed at their looks, though they be arcbellious houſe.
+ fo prote& thee. x Caſt away diſcouraging Fear, be not diſmayed at their Perſons; Rulers, Prieſts, znd pretended Prophets will oppoſe,
| It expreſſeth Contumacy, as Exod. 7. 14. of Pharaoh refuſing to let
' Briars and Thorns when God ſhall ſend his Judgments like Fire a-
thers Days to this very Day — againſt God. Ir was the Glory of | St. Paul. he ſerved God with pure Conſcience; it 15 the ſhame of this | Nation they have rebelled from their Fathers. +5 Their Fathers before | them, and they with their Fathers, and all ſucceſſively, God was pro- voked at once with two Generations of Rebels ; Fathers who gave ex- | ample, and Children which took 1t. :
4 For they are -+ impudent # children, and ſtiffhearted | A: 1 1do m ſend thee unto them, and thou ſhalt ſay unto! them », Thus ſaith the Lord GOD.
; Shameleſs, who cannot bluſh, elſe they could never have tranſ- greſſed ſo highly, conſtantly, and obſtinately. Sodom in her day did not hide her Sin, nor bluſh, ſo did the Jews in 1/aiah sTime, fo they didto the Days of their Captivity, and under rhe Caytivity. & Hard hearted, reſolute and ſtrongly bent to. do whatever liked them. Of Diſpoſition that relenterh nor, but rather more confidently goiag onan | Evil. 1 Who appeared in ſo much Glory, and on the Throne. m2 Give | thee Authority that thou mayeſt, and I give thee charge that thou muſt go to them, and ſay unto them, what I ſhall fay unto thee. '
he lay, and gotten upon his Feet, hearing what was ſpoken, and po: ſibly looking if he might ſee who ſpake, he diſcovers an Hand. , Either of one of thoſe Angels which miniſtred before the Lord, or the Hand of God, or of Chriſt : this might fortify the Prophet when | he ſaw a Hand fo foon with him, as he was ready to hear and obey, Power and Skill ro defend and guide him will ever be as ready. nAn Eaſtern Idiom of Speech. o Their Books were not of that Faſhion and Make as ours now are, bur written in Parchment, and in che length of it, and ſo one piece faſtened to other, till the whole would con- tain what was to be written, and then was it wrapt or rolled about a round piece of Wood, faſhioned for that purpole : hence Books are Volumes. |
10 And p he ſpread 9 it before me, and it w4s writters within » and without, and 7bere was written therein /lamen- cations, and mourning, and wo.
p Yr 9. *'twas the hand, here "tis the Perſon, he who held out his Hand. q Unrolled it within that Diſtance the Prophet might read what was written therein. » On both ſides, on that fide which was inward when rolled upon its Roundle, and on thar 1i:le alſo that was outward, and as 'twere the back fide. A long Roll, and full on both Sides, ſo would the Sorrows of the Jews be. {Such things as would m:ke the ſtouteſt Heart lament, inwardly grieve and mourn, expreſy
it in viſible Tokens and Wo, ſad Thoughts and Gueſles at worſe to