> Their Riches, the Ornament of a Nation, their Silver, Gold,&c. Or rather, the Temple and Ark,and all that pertained to it, which was the Beauty and Glory of that Nation, and they accounted it ſo. q God commanded it ſhould be ſtately, beautiful and rich, very magnificent, faid Solomon, great, 2 Chron. 2. 5. and God gave the Riches with which 'rwas builr, 1 Chon. 29. 11—16. r Either ſet up their Idols, which God ſo much abhorred, in his Temple, and provoked him with ſpiritual Adulteries to his Face, as if a Wife ſhould commir Adultery before the Eye of her Husband : Or, made their Idols, thoſe abomina- ble Images, thoſe deteſtable things, of the Silver and Gold which I adorned. them with. 5 T have parted between them, ſent them from the Temple, and their Gold and Silver from them.
21 And I will give it * into the hands « of the ſtrangers
* for a prey, and to the wicked y of the earth for a ſpoil, and they ſhall pollute it z.
: My Temple. « Power and Poſſeſſion. x Foreigners who, by di- rection of my Law, were excluded coming to it, they now ſhall enter into 1t,and rake the Riches of ir as lawfulPrey. y This Deſcription of theſe Men, Strangers by their diſtance of place, and the worſt of Men on Earth by their proud, cruel, and fierce Diſpoſition, z Enter, ſpoil, tear down, and uſe the Temple as a vile place, and make no difference between this and other places. This I think the proper ſenſe; ſome iay, the Text ſpeaks of the rich Idols which the Idolaters accounted molt holy, and on which they laid our their Treaſure, and which now the CEaldeans ſhould plunder and pollute.
22 My face will I turn @ alſo from them, and they
q In this multiplied Perplexicy they will enquire, it's likely, of their tilſe Prophets, hating the true ; whom, if they conſulc, they wi!l nor like their Anſwer: Or, rather there ſhall be no Prophet, as Pf. 74.9. no Revelation from Heaven for them. r 4nd, Heb. rather than Bur. When they conſult the Prieſt, their ordinary Dire&or by the Law, alas! if any remain, they are 1gnorant of the Law ; nor have they Sacrifices to bring to them to offer unto God. Rcligious Men can _ them no Comfort. s Nor ſhall their Senators know what co adviſe.
27 The king ſhall « mourn, and the prince ſhall be
ey s —- " > _— 44 287 25S "xx
Ol” | OPER >. PAROLE = rn ONES EI ae WT
. tn ts ear er —— PR mou _— . Sm by " FR -» Ayo
clothed with delolation, and the hands of the people y oi oi 5.6 the land ſhall be z troubled : I will do 2 unto them after Mp; their way, and -| according to their deſerts will I judge # Hzb ff OMY them, and they thall know chat I a2 the LORD. with thoiy 0%; t Zedekiah. u Droop and deſpair. x Every Magiſtrate ſhall de. j#937%-3-. | he ſpond. » See verſe 17. x Hang down, and melt away. 21 will no Wt:
more forbear what they have deſerved ; I will repay,
and they ſhall know my Vengeance. TION
CHAP. VIIL
God bringeth the Prophet into the temple, I—4. ſheweth him the image of 31 jeal d th beminable i | G me. jealouſje, and the Jews abominable idolatry therewith, 5—6. and many THY*8} other creeping things, and abominaile beaſts in the chamber of imagery,” 3 [} f 7—12. The women mourning for Tammuz, 13—14. The worſhippers of F (7 the Sun, 15—-16. They make light of all theſe abominations, 17, But "4 4 08 God will puniſh them without mercy, 18, \ 0} EE:
I A ND it came to paſs in the # ſixth year, in the 5 ſixth -onth, in the c filth day of the month, s
I 4 ſat in my houſe, and the e elders of Judah *f fat before me, that ? the g hand of the Lord GOD fell there up-*Ch.3. 22. on me.
a Of Jeconiah's Captivity. b They had been almoſt ſeven Years in Captivity ; 'twas Elul, or our Auguſt. c The Sabbath-day, as ch. 1.2, | 4 Abode in my Houſe, probably he Jay on his Side, the 39o Days Me. not yer expired. e The Chief of thoſe that were now in Captivity. f They were come either to ſpend the Sabbath 1n religious Exerci- ſes, ſuch as the preſent ſtate of Afffairs permitced, to hear ſomewhat from the Propher's Mouth, expounding the Law, or declaring their Duty, or to enquire what would become of their Brethren in Feruſa- lem, whether they ſhould be ſubdued and captivated, or whether any good News for them from Heaven,and how they ſhould behave them- ſelves in theſe ſad times. g The Spirir of Prophecy exerted it felf with a mighty Divine Power, which enlighrned me at thar very Time, and in that very Place. See ch. 1.3. |
2 Then I beheld, and lo, a + likeneſs as the ap- pearance of 7 fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward,
40
Chap. VIL
S
a
3
Chap.1.
Chap. r,
as the appearance of & brightneſs, * as the colour ol
amber.
þ Of a Man; that Man whom he had ſeen upon the Throne, * e. of Chriſt. 7 See Chap. 1. 26, 27, 28. This Fire denotes the Wrath of God againſt Jeryſa/cw; and it is obſerved 'twas Fire downward, wrath already coming down upon the Jews. &4 To ſignify the Majeſty and Glory of Chriſt. See more, Chap. r. 27.
3 And/ he m put forth the form of an * » hand, and took me by a lock of mine head, and the ſpirit 9 litt me up p between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the q viſions of God to Jeruſalem, to the door of the 7 inner gate, that looketh 5 towards the north, where
as the ſeat of the : image of # jealouſie, which provoketh
to jealoulie.
] Chriſt. » Viſionally this was a&ed, not corporally or aftually, and ſo all that is hereſpoken of to the end of the 16:4 ver
EIZEKIE L.
19 So I went » in, and faw, and behold, every x form of creeping things, and abominable y beaſts, and all & the idols of the houſe of Iſrael 2 pourtayed upon the
wall 5 round about,
« According to the Viſion. » Of ſuch Creatures as the Egyprians, or any others with whom the Jews had Acquaintance, did worſhip, » The Beaſts are here called abominable, becauſe Idolaters had abuſ-g them to unlawfull uſes, making Idols of them. z The Jews had mu]. t!plied to themſelves Idols of their own, beſides thoſe borrowed from their Neighbours; or they are called the Idols of the Houſe of 1/7 act, becovſ- they had adopted them, and becauſe 1/rael's Idolatry was {© much mote brutjſh and provoking than that of the other nations, who had not the Law of God given to them, as to the Jews. # Pofli- bly they dil thus piQure their Idols on the wall, vainly thinking this was not a Breach of the Law which forbad graven Images, and mo].
ten Images ; but every Likeneſs of any thing made for to worſhip