The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 247

powers (cf. Jer. xiv.13; xxviii.1-4). And when tho peoplo ondoa.vourod to strcngthen themselves by the coalition with Egypt, they encouraged them in that course• for as we understa.nd it, that is the meaning of the prophetic figuro: "When ono bui\deth up a wall, behold, they daub it with untempered morta.r." The figuro itself is thus explained by Dr. Kitto: "It is a wall ma.de of bea.ten earth rammed into moulds or l1oxcs, to gi,e the parts the requisite shape and consistence, aud so deposited, by the withdrawal of the mould, layor by layer, upon the wall, each layer drymg in its place as the work proceeds. 1.'he blocks are usually of considerable size, and are of various quality and strength, as well a.s cost, according to the materials employed, and the time expended upon them. 'l'he simplest are merely of earth, or of earth compacted with straw. This is the kind which the prophet had in view, and which is used in Dernn and iu Morocco, as well as in the East. It cannot stand against heavy rains. and tbcrerore, unless the climate be very dry, it requires to be faced or coated with a tempered mortar of lime or sand, as a fence against the weather. Without this the body of the wall is liable to the contingencies described by the prophet" (' Daily Bible Illustratious '). The people built their slight and flimsy wall of political alliance aS'ainst the Cbaldcans, and the false prophets coated it with their untempered mortar of rnin assurances of safety; and the people believed them to their own dread dis- comfiture. 3. They daimed Divine authority for their lying prophecies. They said, "The Lord saith,'' although he had not spoken unto them. Great was their presump- tion and impious daring in making this high claim. "They counterfeit," as M. Henry says, "the broad seal of heaven, than wpich they cannot do a greater indignity to mankind, for hereby they -put a reproach upon Divine revelation, lessen its credit, and weaken its credibilily. When these pretenders are found to be deceivers, atheists and infidels will thence infer, They are all so." 4. Their influence was destructive. It was so in two ways. (1) Negatively. They made no attempt to save the people from the ruin which was coming upon them. "Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the fence for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord." ,vhen a city is besieged and a brea.ch is made in its walls, the leaders of the derence take prompt measures for stopping the breach. The Lord had come against his people as a besieger by reason of their sins, but these false prophets, who aspired to be leaders of the people, made no effort to save them (cf. eh. xxii. 30). 'fhey did not call for that repentance and reformation which might have averted the approaching ruin, as it did in the case of Nineveh (Jonah iii. 5-10). 1.'hey did not call upon God in prayer to b-pare the sinful people, as Moses did on several occasions (Exod. xxxii. 11-14, 31-34; Numb. xiv. 13-24; Ps. cvi. 23). False prophets are not likely to be famous intercessors. (2) Positively. They actively promoted the ruin of the people by assuring them of peace and safety when there was no peace, and peril was imminent and sure. They were "like foxes in the waste places" for destructiveness, Nowhere in the sacred Sciiptures are foxes mentioned because of their cunning, but because of their injuriousness (cf. Song of Sol. ii. 15). '' The foxes here correspond to the ravening wolves in lliatt. vii. 15, and the grievous wolves in Acts xx. 29, repre- senting false teachers." Terrible is the injury which is wrought by corrupt religious teachers (cf. faa. iL 16; Jer. xii. 10; 1. 6; Acts xx. 29; 2 Pet. ii. 1-3). II. 'l'liE JUDGMENT OF GoD UPON THE FALSE PBOPIIETB. This judgment is expressed generally in ver. 8, and in a way that should have awakened serious concern. "Behold, 1 am against you, saith the Lord God." When God is against any one, nothing can be really well with him. "If God is for us, who is against us?" If God is against us, who is for us in any true sense? But the judgment is set forth with something of detail in vers. 9-16. It has two chief features. 1. 'l.'lieir exclusion from the rommunity of Israel. (Ver. 9.) They had sought prominence and dis- tinction among the people, and ha.d attained their object; but a complete reversal of their position awaited them. They should not have won a place among the chosen 1ieople; their names should be erased or omitted from the authorized register of the Israelites; and when the exiles returned unto their own land, they should not return with them. As Fairbairn says, "Inheriting the curse of the cove::iant, 'they should bo cut off from among their people.'" '!'here is, perhaps, in this a hint of a darker doom, even the omission of their names from a much more important register (Luke x. 20; Phil. iv. 3; P.ev. u.i.._27), and their non-recognition by the Lord Jcsuo Christ (Matt, vil. on. xm. 1--23.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE'l' EZEKIEL. 243