The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 13

they exercised barbarously and bloodily. And there were those who were guilty of bloodshedding by reason of their false witness. "Slanderous men have been in thee tn shed blood." They were malignant slanderers of the innocent, who because of their afanders were adjudged to death. Moreover, mercenary and unjust judges condemned meu to death for bribes. "In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood" (ver. 12). And it is probable that Schroder is correct in his opinion that both the false witnesses and the unrighteous judges were thus wickedly employed by the violent and murderous princes. 'l'hus in Jerusalem, "the holy city," human life was no longer regarded as a socred thing. It was ruthlessly slaughtered in defiance of law, in defiance of the feelings of our common humanity, and in defiance of the Creator and Father of men. (3) Idolatry. "A city . . . that maketh idols against herself to defile her. Thou art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made. . . . And in thee they have ea.ten upon the mountains." (On the extent of their idolatry and the pollutions thereof, see eh. viii. 5-16, and our notes thereon.) The eating upon the mountains, the seats of idol-worship, refers to the eating of things sacrificed unto idols (cf. eh. xviii. 6, 11). (4) Disregard of the tenderest and most sacred obligations towards their fellow-men. "In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger : in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow." Loving respect to parents is co=anded and encouraged in the Law of the Lord (Exod. xx. 12; Lev. xix. 3; Deut. v. 16). The New Testament enforces the same obligation (Matt. xv. 4; xix. 19; Eph. vi. 1-3); and the best feelings of the human heart plead for its observance. But in Jerusalem there were those who set at naught this obligation. God had made the canse of the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless in a special manner his own, and repeatedly enjoined righteousness and kindness in the treatment of them (Exod. xxii. 21-24; Dent. L 18, 19 ; xxvii. 1!J; Ps. x. 14, 18; lxviii. 5; cxlvi. 9; Jer. vii. 6; Zeeb. vii. 9, 10). Yet there were those in Jerusalem who opposed and wronged them. (5) Profanation of Divine institutions . .. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and bast profaned my sa.bba.ths." The holy things comprise "all that the Holy One has instituted, consecrated, and commanded"- the priests, the temple, the sacred vessels, the sacrifices and sacraments, and all other religious ordinances of his appointment. 'fhese they had despised. And the sabba.th they had profaned (cf. eh. xx. 12,t24). "He profanes the sa.bbath who does not celebrate it, who celebrates it ill, or who consecrates it to the service of sin" (Schroder). (6) Uncha.stity in its most revolting forms (vers. 10, 11). On the first clause of ver. 10, cf. Lev. xviii. 8; xx. 11; 1 Cor. v. 1; on the second, cf. Lev. xviii. 19; xx. 18; on the first clause of ver.11, cf. Lev. xviii. 20; xx.10; on the second, cf. Lev. xv iii. 15; xx. 12; and on the third, cf. Lev. xviii. 9; x.x. 17. (7) Covetousness in its worst manifestations. "In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression" (ver. 12). Covetousness in their judges was so extreme that they accepted bribes to condemn the innocent to death. "Usury is the pro.fit exacted for the loan of money, increase that which is taken for goods; both are alike forbidden (Lev. x.xv. 36; Deut. xxiii. 19)." Yet in Jerusalem they had taken both. And taking advantage of their neighbours' distress and need, they had oppressed them by exacting exorbitant interest on any loan granted for their help. Such were the sins charged against the people of Judah at this time. 2. The scene of these sins. Jerusalem. In this para- graph we have the words, "in thee," or "in the midst of thee," not less than twelve times. This was a grievous aggravation of their sins that they were committed in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was spoken of as "the holy city;" it was the seat of the worship of the true and holy God; it was celebrated in sacred song as the dwelling- place of the Most High (Ps. lxxvi. 2); and it was favoured religiously above any other city in the world. But now it had become" the bloody city," the "de.filed" city, the home of the foullest crimes. "A Jerusalem may become a Sodom, a holy city a den of murderers." And if it do so, its former privileges aggravate its guilt and augment its doom (cf. Matt. xi. 20-24; Luke xii. 47, 48). 3. Ths maturity of these sins. "Thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and a.rt come even unto thy years" (ver. 4; cf. eh. xxi. 25, 29). By reason of its sins Jerusalem had grown ripe for the sickle of the Divine judgment. By the extent and enormity of its transgressions it had hastened the tim~ of its dooIP- Io the history of persisteot wickedness there comes a crisi~  H THE DOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [011, xxu, 1-31,