The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 111

C'..-od is good and kind; he is also just and terrible. We may see this in natul'o. We have the beautiful and the benelicent--Lhe warm and brilliant sun, genial airs lovely flowers, enchanting scenes, and bountiful harvests. We have also the dreal'y ~nd the destructive-wintry skies, dreadful tempests, devashiting floods, enaulfing earth- quakes, and depopulating famines. If we turn to the providenco of God~ hero also we <liscover evidences not only of his goodness, but also of his severity. 'l'ho sword of Divine justice has sharply smitten corrupt nations. Inveterate moral depra.vitv has been quickly succeeded by national ruin. History abounds in exumples of the· stern exercise of the judgment of God. And his judgments are awful and irresistible. Ho executes them with a sharp sword. "Thou, even thou, art to be feared; and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?" " Who can stand before bis indignation?" etc. (Nab. i. 6; Rom. ii. 2-11). II. THE sunJECTS OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT. Tbo judgments of the text were to be inflicted upon the house of Israel The head of the prophet which was to be shaved probably repr°:'ents_ Jerus~lem; and the hair certainly represents those of the people who yet remamed m their own land. Upon them the avenging hand of God was about to descend. If the people of God become obstinate in rebellion aaainst 0 him he will not fail to send against them the sword of punishment. "If his ch ildren for;ake my Law, and walk not in my judgruents; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes'.' (Ps. ~xxxi;K. 30-32). ~hen th~se who have been exalted in privileges bec~me persistent m w1~keduess, their exaltation, so far from protecting them from pumshment, renders their fall the greater and the doom the more terrible ( cf. Matt. xi. 20-24-). Religious privileges should prove an incentive and aid to holiness of character and usefulness of life, and not an encouragement to presumption and sin. III. THE EQU!TABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT. "Then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou sbalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city," etc. The balances to weigh symbolize the righteousness with which the punishment is allotted (cf. Isa. xxviii. 17). And as to the three portions into which the hair was divided, the third part which was to be burnt in the midst of the city represents those who perished in Jerusalem during the siege. In those days famine and pestilence claimed many for their prey (ver. 12). 'fbe second thil'd part, which was to be smitten about by the prophet with the sword, represents those who were slain in fight during the siege, or in the endeavour to escape when the city was taken (Jer. lii. 5-11). And the last third part, which was to be scattered to the wind, represents those who, after Jerusalem was taken, were dispersed in foreign lands; some of them fled and escaped, and many others were taken as captives by the Cbaldeans. Of this part some are represented by a fow hairs bound in the skirts of the prophet's garment. These are they who were left in the land by their conquerors. " N ebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land for vine-dressers and for husbandmen" (Jer. Iii. 16). Over these the King of Babylon made Gedaliah governor. Bot even of this poor remnant some were to be" Ca.lit into the midst of the tire;" i.e. they had yet to pass through severe trials; they had not yet done with the judgment of the Lord. The fulfilment of this is recorded in Jer. xl.-xliii,; and is tbcs briefly stated by Dr. Milman: "The miserable remnant of the people were placed under the command of Gedaliah, as a pasha of the great Assyrian monarch; the seat of government was fixed at Mizpeb. Yet ambition could look with envy even on this eminence. Gedaliah was assassinated by Ishmael, a man of royal blood. Johanan attempted to avenge bis death. Ishmael, discomfited, took refuge with the Ammon- ites; but J ohanan and the rest of the Jews, apprehensive lest they should be called in question for the mw·der of Gedaliah, fled to Egypt, and carried Jeremfo.h with them." Aud even they were doomed to sufferings and shame and death (Jer. xliv. 11-14), Now, in this distribution of punishment the Lord acted righteously. The hair was weighed; the triple division was accurately made; and the appropriate retribution asRigued to each portion. We cannot always discover the equitableness of the Divine judgrneuts in individual cases. But let us remember that there is much of suffering in this world which is not of the character of judgment or punishment; and in this the good often ~hare as largely, or even more largely, than the wicked. Thero is also a rnffcring with others v,nd for others; aod iu this Uhristiane, like their great Lord and r,]1, v. 1-17.] ·rrrF. BOOK OF 'J'HE PilOPllET EZEKIEL. 99