Ezekiel 7 commentary

The abruptness of this prophecy, and the many repetitions, show that the prophet was deeply affected by the prospect of these calamities. Such will the destruction of sinners be; for none can avoid it. Oh that the wickedness of the wicked might end before it bring them to an end! Trouble is to the impenitent only an evil, it hardens their hearts, and stirs up their corruptions; but there are those to whom it is sanctified by the grace of God, and made a means of much good. The day of real trouble is near, not a mere echo or rumour of troubles. Whatever are the fruits of God's judgments, our sin is the root of them. These judgments shall be universal. And God will be glorified in all. Now is the day of the Lord's patience and mercy, but the time of the sinner's trouble is at hand.

Sooner or later, sin will cause sorrow; and those who will not repent of their sin, may justly be left to pine away in it. There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin; and the gaining the world is the losing of their souls. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. God's temple shall stand them in no stead. Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness, who will not be governed by its power.

Whoever break the bands of God's law, will find themselves bound and held by the chains of his judgments. Since they encouraged one another to sin, God would dishearten them. All must needs be in trouble, when God comes to judge them according to their deserts. May the Lord enable us to seek that good part which shall not be taken away.

Ezekiel seems here too verbose; for he repeats the same sentiments almost in the same words. But the reason which I have brought forward must be marked, if God had only uttered his commands shortly, when the people were not only slow to believe but of a perverse disposition, his message had proved cold and ineffectual. With this design he uses, as we have seen, many words, and now repeats the same: he now changes his expression, because he ought by all means to stimulate that sloth, or rather sluggishness, under which the people labored. Another thing to be noted is, that he came not once only by God’s command to preach to the people, but. that he was often sent to stir up their minds. For if he had included in one context what God had enjoined, the Israelites might for the time have thought of God’s judgment, but a prophecy once uttered would have easily escaped them. Besides, when Ezekiel testifies that he was sent by God, and afterwards returns and affirms that he brings new commands, this was more effectual to influence their minds. Now we see the meaning of the phrase, the word was given by Jehovah For this prophecy is distinguished from the former, and yet the matter is the same, without any difference, as it seems to weave in with the same discourse: this, indeed, is true, but he ought to be sent twice, that the people may understand that not once only, but twice and perpetually, what he heard from God’s mouth was to be repeated: since it was sufficiently clear, that God was anxious for their safety, since he never ceased to exhort them. Thus, therefore, says the Lord Jehovah concerning the land of Israel: an end is coming, an end upon the four corners of the land Here God seems to regard the moderate punishments which he had already inflicted on the kingdom of Israel. For we know that they often felt God’s hand, but when some relaxation was afforded them, they thought themselves escaped, so they forgot their wickedness and went on in it so carelessly that it was very clear that they despised God, unless when he oppressed them with his dreadful power. This seems the meaning of the word end, and it is emphatically repeated: an end is coming, an end upon the four corners of the land He puts, indeed, wings, but intends it metaphorically for four different regions. God, therefore, reproves the Israelites for their obstinacy, because though often chastised they did not cease to transgress, through not supposing that any thing more grievous could happen. He puts therefore the word end, as if he said, hitherto I have treated you moderately. And surely God had displayed a remarkable specimen of clemency in punishing the Israelites so lightly when he might utterly have cut them off. Since, therefore, he had so refrained himself in punishing, the sluggishness of the people was on that account the less tolerable, since they thought all was over as soon as God had withdrawn his hand. An end, says he, an end is come, that is, after this you must not hope for any moderation. I see there is no hope of repentance in you, and so I shall utterly consume you; and he adds, on the four corners of the land, as he had just said, in all your dwellings. Again, therefore, he teaches, that no part of the earth should be free from the slaughter which he predicts. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:3

3. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.

3. Nune finis super to: et mittam indignationem meam in to, et judicabo to secundum vias tuas: et ponam super to cunctas abominationes tuas.

He puts the word end a third time, and repeats it even a fourth and a fifth time. Whence we collect, that those miserable ones, although admonished more than enough both by teaching and experience, were yet like brute animals, so that they always promised themselves something to fly to, and were not impressed with the fear with which the Prophet would strike them. They did not think that an end was really coming, but said, Oh! something will remain, some will escape; and this therefore was their pride. Hence the Prophet does not inculcate the same word in vain: now, says he, the end is come When he says the end has come, he signifies that the Israelites vainly and foolishly trusted in the future, because they had not yet experienced extreme rigor. God, as he had said, had been lenient with them as to punishment. What then did they do? When they perceived such forbearance in God they thought, that it would always be so. Hence the Prophet marks the difference between the past and future, as if he should say, that God’s vengeance as they had formerly known it, was moderate, but now nothing else remained but that God should utterly tear them up and consume them. Now, therefore, there is an end concerning thee He had spoken in the third person, but he was directing his discourse to the whole land of Israel, and he had said upon the four corners of the land, now, says he, the end cometh upon thee Then, I will send my indignation upon thee God indeed had given signs of his anger, but he had not been so severe that the Israelites ceased from flattering themselves. When, therefore, he speaks of his own indignation, he doubtless signifies that he was so offended that he would not restrain himself as he had formerly done. This too is the sense of what follows, I will judge thee according to thy ways. They had been judged formerly, but only in part; for God had given them time for repentance had they been curable: but now, when he compares their judgment with their sins, he means, that nothing was wanting to extreme severity. And he explains that more clearly at the end of the verse, I will put upon thee all thine abominations, that is, I will cast thine own burden upon thee. For although God had begun to exact just punishment. for their superstitions, yet they had not suffered a greater burden than they deserved. Hence God now pronounces that all their abominations should come upon their own heads, so that they should be utterly buried. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:4

4. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

4. Et non parcet oculus meus super to, et non miserebor: quia vias tuas super to ponam, et abominationes tuae in medio tui erunt: et cognoscetis quod ego Iehovah.

In other words he confines his own sentence, that God will not spare them, nor will he be entreated. For when hypocrites hear the praises of God which are assigned to him in scripture, namely, that he is merciful and long-suffering, (Numbers 14:18; Psalm 103:8,) they seize upon them and fabricate for themselves the material of foolish and perverse confidence. God here pronounces that his pity would not be accessible to the wicked, who do not cease to repel it far from them. And this is worthy of notice, because nothing is more natural than to be intoxicated with false hope when we hear that God is merciful, unless we know for what purpose he testifies this concerning himself, namely, that sinners may betake themselves to him, and may fearlessly call upon him, and implore his mercy, of which they have such remarkable testimony. But hypocrites always become worse, meanwhile they wish God to be propitious to them. Hence when he says, his eye will not spare, neither would he pity them, his intention must be observed, that. wicked and ungodly men should not think his clemency prepared for them against which they have previously shut the door. Because I will put thy ways upon thee — that is, I will cast thy wickedness against thee. We see then that the people’s sins were placed before them, and as it were lay there as long as God spared them. Now, therefore, he first signifies that they should have no cause of quarrel or complaint, because he will cast against them the iniquities which they had heaped upon him. Then also he silently accuses them of too much security, because they never could be brought to repentance, while God sustained and tolerated their sins. And thy abominations, he says, shall be in the midst of thee They were so from the first as far as their guilt was concerned, but God had not yet poured forth his anger. He says, therefore, thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee, because it should really appear that they were not obstinate against God without punishment. Again he repeats, ye shall know that I am Jehovah It is quite clear, that by their obstinacy they compelled God to speak thus, since they despised Ezekiel. But although they pretended to some piety, it cannot be doubted that they would despise God himself.

Therefore he reproves their impiety so sharply, because they denied that God was God as often as they withdrew their confidence from the teaching of the holy man. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:5

5. Thus saith the Lord GOD, An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.

5. Sic dicit Dominator Iehovah: Malum, unum Some understand אחר, acher, and one evil more. — Calvin. malum ecce veniet.

If we read אחת, acheth, or אחר, acher, the sense seems to me the same, an evil, another evil is come: that is, one evil is come from another, or one evil is come and an evil: that is, when one evil is come another will soon follow. Some explain it in way which seems to me harsh and unsatisfactory: one evil is come; this is so severe that at its first impulse it suffices for complete slaughter, so subtilely do they explain it. But it seems to me that the sense of the Prophet flows best thus, one evil shall come upon another — that is, there will be no cessation in God’s heaping evils upon evils until the very name of the whole people shall become extinct. And this appears to me to be said, that the Israelites should not after their manner suppose themselves safe, if God gives them a short respite. For when a slight intermission happens, the impious erect their crests, and keep up their spirits, and think that God is at peace with them. Since, therefore, any intermission is taken by hypocrites, as if they had made their peace with God, therefore the Prophet says, one evil shall come upon another It follow —

Ezekiel 7:6

6. An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.

6. Finis venit, venit finis: evigilavit super to, ecce venit.

The whole context has the same meaning, namely, that although the Israelites are deaf, yet they are compelled to attend to God’s continued threats. The Prophet therefore strikes their ears, because he was not immediately attended to, and again he speaks of the end: an end is come, says he, an end is come Here Ezekiel does not affect to use graceful figures of speech, but was rather compelled by necessity to use the repetitions which we see. For the end concerning which he speaks could with difficulty penetrate their minds, for they were always supposing that God could be appeased by various means. Since, therefore, they promised themselves something remaining behind, and put away from them what the Prophet taught about the end, he could not do otherwise than threaten often though he could scarcely persuade them. Hence an end is come, an end is come: it has been watchful against thee: behold it is come When he says it has watched, he signifies haste, not that God had suddenly revenged the wickedness of the ten tribes, but that he regards the torpor of those who indulged in a vain confidence and dream that God’s judgment is far distant. That diabolic proverb — “Le terme vaut l’argent,” Meaning — the duration of the sinful pleasure is worth the price paid for it. is still common in the mouths of many, and such impiety has been rife in all ages. When therefore God suspends his judgments, the reprobate intemperately boast themselves as if they could continue in sin with impunity. For this reason the Prophet says, the end is watching — that is, hastening — because although God had delayed he would no longer refrain from destroying the Israelites. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:7

7. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.

7. Venit mane super to, habitator terrae: venit tempus, propinquus est dies tumultus, Or sound; some translate “of cutting off,” I know not why — Calvin. et non clamor Some translate “glory,” as if it had been הד, hed. — Calvin. montium.

Now he uses another word. He says, the morning is come, though some translate kingdom, but erroneously. For although צפירה, tzephireh, is a turban sometimes, or a royal diadem, yet the Prophet’s language is distorted when they say that the kingdom was transferred, or taken over to the Babylonians. But the sentence flows best — the morning cometh By “the morning” he implies what he had said before, namely, the hastening of God’s vengeance. As, therefore, he said the end was watching, since God was hastening to take vengeance, so also he says, the morning is come to them, and then rouses them from that drowsiness in which they had grown torpid. We know that hypocrites commit all their sins as if no eye were upon them; as long as God is silent and at rest they revel without shame or fear. But the chosen remain faithful even in secret; but God’s word always shines before them, as Peter says — ye do well when ye attend to the Prophetic word, as a lamp shining in darkness. (2 Peter 1:19.) Although the faithful may be surrounded by darkness, yet they direct their eye to the light of celestial doctrine, so that they are watchful, and are not children of the night and of darkness, as Paul says. (1 Thessalonians 5:4,5.) But the impious are, as it were, immersed in darkness, and think they shall enjoy perpetual night. As the rising morning dispels the darkness of night, so also God’s judgment, on its sudden appearance, strikes the reprobate with unexpected terror, but too late.

For this reason, then, the Prophet says, that morning is come to the Israelites, because they had promised themselves perpetual night, as if they were never to be called upon to render an account of their conduct. We see, therefore, that he alludes suitably to that torpor which was the cause of their obstinacy, when they thought themselves safe in their hiding-places. Hence he laughs at their perverse confidence, who promise themselves impunity because they are in night. For the morning, he says, will immediately seize upon you; hence morning is coming upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; afterwards, the time is come: עת, gneth, properly signifies all appointed or determined time. Hence the Prophet meant that the time had come which God had fixed beforehand for his judgment, and thus he takes away from the impious the material for pride, for they always suppose that God is as it were asleep when he does not attack them at the very first moment. He speaks, therefore, of an appointed time, as in other places the Prophets usually do, and frequently of the year of visitation. He signifies the same thing when he says, the day of tumult, or noise, is at hand. This member of the sentence answers to the former. He had said the end was watching; he had said that the judgment was hastening on: now simply and without figure he says, the day is at hand, קרוב, krob, a day, I say, of noise, and not the echo of the mountains, says he; that is, it shall not be an empty resounding, as when a. sound is produced among the mountains a concussion arises, and since the sounds which are uttered there, when taken up by the neighboring mountains, return to their own place, and thus a greater resounding occurs, called echo. The Prophet therefore says, that the clamor of which he speaks should not be an echo, that is, an empty resounding, because all should seriously cry out. Some think הד, hed, means “acclamations,” which is properly הידד, hided; it is, indeed, from the same root, but הר, her, is used in the same sense. But if this explanation seems better, the Prophet will allude to mountains, not lofty, but vine-bearing, as many were in the land of Israel. But the other explanation is preferable, namely, there shall be the sound of a tumult, not on account of the reverberation, as they say, but because every one should cry out, until sorrow and crying should abound on every side. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:8

8. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.

8. Nunc e propinquo effundam indignationem meam super to, et complebo iram meam in to, et judicabo to secundum vias tuas: et ponam super to cunctas abominationes tuas.

He repeats here almost the same words. We have explained the intention, namely, that the Israelites should be positively assured that God threatened not for the sake of frightening them, but because the execution of his wrath was prepared. Now, says he, I will shortly pour out my indignation He had said the day was at hand. This refers to the time; for it would be foolish to place together I will shortly pour out my indignation, against thee, and I will fulfill my indignation against thee; this fulfilling explains what he had formerly said concerning the end. For God had formerly executed his vengeance against the Israelites, but not completely. This completion, then, of God’s wrath prevails even as far as their ultimate destruction. Now I have explained those words — I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will put upon thee all thine abominations

PRAYER.

Grant, Almighty God, that we being admonished by such remarkable proofs of thy wrath, may learn to walk anxiously in thy sight, and so to bring ourselves into voluntary obedience to thyself, that the certain testimony to our gratuitous adoption may appear in our life; and grant that we may so prove ourselves to be sons, that we may truly invoke thee the Father, until we arrive at that blessed inheritance which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only-begotten Son. — Amen.

Lecture Nineteenth.

Ezekiel 7:9

9. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.

9. Et oculus meus non parcet, neque miserebor: secundum vias tuas super to ponam, et abominationes tuae in medio tui erunt: et cognoscetis quod ego Iehovah percutiens.

This verse contains nothing besides a repetition, unless that at last the Prophet more clearly points out what that knowledge was which he formerly mentioned, namely, that they should unwillingly feel God’s power, because they had withdrawn their confidence from the Prophet’s teaching. For he had said two or three times, ye shall know that I am Jehovah: now he adds the participle, and that it is I who smite you This then is the knowledge by which God makes himself known to the reprobate, while they are compelled, whether they will or not, to feel that there is a judge of the world. The faithful indeed profit under God’s chastisements, and they are at times humbled under his hand, because they do not willingly obey his word: but we said that the Prophet here triumphs over the people’s pride who dared to deride all threats as if God were sleeping in heaven. He says therefore at length, that when God strikes them they should feel what they did not believe. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:10

10. Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

10. Ecce dies ecce venit: egressum est Or, “has arisen ” — Calvin. mane, floruit baculus, germinavit superbia.

Now Ezekiel uses another figure, but to the same purpose. He repeats what he had said before: the day is come, and he adds another part, that the morning had advanced But we said that the impious, when God connives at their sins, exult as it were in darkness without shame or fear. Since therefore they were as wanton as if they had obtained the license of night, the Prophet denounces that morning is at hand, because God would suddenly bring to light what they thought would be always hidden. Since therefore, when God retired, they supposed themselves in complete darkness, the Prophet recalls them to the consideration of the daily order of things: for light emerges immediately from the dawn. Thus he laughs at their folly, because they thought that God had his eyes shut, when for the time he dissembles. This therefore is the reason, as was fully explained yesterday, why the Prophet calls the sudden change morning Therefore the morning has arisen, afterwards, the rod has blossomed, pride has flourished It is not doubtful that he means Nebuchadnezzar by the rod, but interpreters vary on the context; for many refer the following verse to the king of Babylon: but others, in my judgment rightly, take it of the Israelites themselves. As to his saying the rod has blossomed, it refers to God’s forbearance. For when the Israelites had sinned a long while with impunity, they thought, as I said yesterday, that their peace with God would be perpetual. But here Ezekiel pronounces in opposition to this, that God had as it were a hidden root; as he who plants a tree waits for the time, till it rises to a just magnitude. Hence he compares Nebuchadnezzar to a rod which was growing. God could indeed without man’s assistance destroy the Israelites, and could also compel others to obey him: for all creatures are at hand to fulfill his commands; but here Ezekiel commends God’s forbearance, though he had planted the tree, from which the rod was to spring up with which he would smite the Israelites. So he reproves their sloth, because they did not reflect upon the time of their visitation, which God had determined in his secret counsel.

On the whole, in saying the rod has flourished, he refers to those steps which God takes in executing his judgments. For he does not act hastily after the manner of men, but just as a husbandman in sowing and planting. Hence God provides for his own use ministers of vengeance, and permits them to increase and to arrive at maturity. If therefore God does not hasten as we wish, we may know that he still has rods prepared, and if they are not yet grown to maturity, it is because the time which the Almighty has previously fixed is not yet arrived. Now it follows, that pride has budded I have just said that some referred this to the Babylonians, but I rather understand it of the Israelites. Hence God shows how the staff grew in Chaldea by which the Israelites were to be struck, and yet the root was among themselves. For here the noun “pride” is to be taken as usual in a bad sense: it does not denote simply haughtiness or arrogance, but that licentiousness which springs from a contempt of God. But this does not suit the Babylonians as far as God governed them with his hand, when he wished to take vengeance on the Israelites. But in this sense there is nothing forced, that the staff with which the Israelites were to be struck had increased, and yet it had no other origin than their sins, and hence that no other root need be sought for than this. Hence it flourished, but whence did it spring? from pride The seed therefore of this staff was the pride of the Israelites. But this pride is akin to impiety, and we know that they were blinded by their confidence when they despised God, and treated all his threats as vain. Hence the Prophet points out pride as the fountain of all evils. A clearer explanation follows —

Ezekiel 7:11

11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.

11. Violentia surrexit in baeulum impietatis, non ex ipsis, et non ex opulentia ipsorum, et non ex strepitu ipsorum, et non luctus inter ipsos.

This is an explanation of the words, that pride had budded: now he adds violence to pride, which is its fruit: for contempt of God always begets cruelty and savagery, and rapine, and all injustice. But he speaks, as I have said, concerning the Israelites. He says that violence had risen up into a rod of wickedness Thus he confirms what he had touched upon, that the rod of God’s vengeance was not to be sought elsewhere than among the Israelites. God indeed had stirred up the king of Babylon to punish them: but the rod had grown up from the root of their wickedness by which the Israelites had provoked God’s anger: and so he adds, that nothing should be left of them: nothing, says he, should remain safe, either of themselves or of their opulence: for so I interpret המון, hemon: then, of their noise or multitude; either will do moderately well; and there shall not be wailing for them Jerome reads, נה, neh, and hence translates — there shall not be rest among them: but the Prophet means that there shall be neither sorrow nor lament, because the slaughter of all would be promiscuous. And we saw the same in Jeremiah: when one family has perished, friends and acquaintances assemble, and celebrate the funeral of the deceased; but when a pestilence pervades the whole city, and no house is free from death: nay when fathers are mingled with sons, so that their carcases can scarcely be drawn out for multitude, all sorrow ceases. With this intention then the Prophet says, there shall be no grief nor lamentation. For נהה, neheh, means lamentation. But we have already explained its meaning, namely, that all the Israelites were so destined to destruction that there should be, no survivors to lament the dead, and even should there be any, they should be so astonished amidst the multitude of the dead, that every duty of humanity towards them would perish. Now it follows —

Ezekiel 7:12

12. The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

12. Venit tempus statutum, appropinquavit dies, quo emens non lætabitur, et qui vendit non afficietur tristitia; quia indignatio super omnem multitudinem ejus.

The Prophet now uses another kind of speech. Meanwhile he teaches that there should be such a change that all things should be so mixed as if there were no difference between the rich and the poor. Yet such a change does not happen unless God were grievously offended, and so did not exact ordinary vengeance as he had formerly denounced. Paul indeed exhorts all the pious to pass through this world as if they were pilgrims in it, (1 Corinthians 7:29, 30, 31,) and thus he says is our faith proved, as with the buyer so with the seller, as with the married so with the single. This general doctrine is prescribed to all the children of God, since the fashion of this world passes away, that they may pass through it, without having their minds fixed on these perishing things. But the meaning of our Prophet is different, because God will so disturb all things among the Israelites, that there shall be no difference between buyer and seller. He who acquires rejoices, and he who is compelled to sell suffers some degree of sorrow; and sometimes the man who is deprived of his lands and possessions tears out as it were his own entrails. It is natural therefore for the buyer to rejoice, and for the seller to lament. Now God shows that the confusion in the kingdom of Israel was so great, that neither poverty nor riches afford the material for sorrow or grief. Now we understand the Prophet’s meaning. He says, the time has come, the day has approached, in which the buyer will not rejoice, and the seller will not lament: because, says he, indignation is upon all this multitude Here that reason of Paul is not brought forward, that the fashion of this world passes away, but a concussion, or rather ruin of that land is pointed out, so that nothing remains safe. For although, whilst we travel through the world, we ought always to erect our minds and senses towards heaven, yet the political faculty remains and flourishes even among the faithful. For the sons of God, though they are poor in spirit, yet possess what God has conferred upon them: they exist, as Paul exhorts them, as it were not possessing but yet enjoying their goods. But the Prophet here signifies, that when the kingdom of Israel shall have been overturned, there will be no use for either money or lands, because all being cast out of their country shall be reduced to want. And he follows up the same sentiment —

Ezekiel 7:13

13. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

13. Quia vendens ad venditionem Or, “to the thing sold.” — Calvin. non revertetur: et adhuc inter vivos vita ipsorum: That is, “although they are yet alive.” — Calvin. quia visio super omnem multitudinem ejus: non revertetur, et vir in sua iniquitate animam suam non roborabit. Or, “shall not strengthen his life.” — Calvin.

This verse is interpreted variously, but the Prophet’s meaning is by no means obscure: at the beginning he says, that those who sold had no cause of sorrow on account of their not returning to their lands. But this does not seem suitable. But, under one member, the Prophet comprehends what I have lately said — that the disturbance of all things would be so great, that the lands would be deprived of their masters, and those who formerly possessed them would be outcasts and exiles; they would be in want of all things, and be unable to plant their foot on their own soil. Nor is this opinion contrary to Jeremiah’s prophecy. (Jeremiah 32:7, 8, 9.) When Jeremiah was in prison, he was commanded to buy land from a relation: but that was done that the faithful might hope for their promised restitution with quiet minds. But the discourse is now directed to the reprobate, who were excluded from all hope of freedom. Our Prophet, therefore, only fulminates here in God’s name, and breathes nothing but terrors; there is no mention of favor in the meantime, because they had cast themselves into despair. And this is the reason why he speaks of perpetual slaughter. He says, therefore, they shall not return to the things sold, although their life is among the living This clause is variously explained, but I do not willingly consume time in repeating the errors of others: I shall follow what appears to me to be right. First, this clause must be read adversatively: he says, indeed, and as yet their life is among the living: but the copula ought thus to be resolved — although their life is among the living. The Prophet seems to allude to a custom then common. For there was not a sale of lands in perpetuity among the sons of Abraham; for that was forbidden by the law, because they were only strangers in the land. (Leviticus 25:13, 14, 15.) God, therefore, in claiming the dominion of the land, did not permit them to sell their land except for a time — for every fiftieth year they returned to their own possessions. If they sold in the twentieth year, they were restored after thirty years; if in the fortieth, the sale was only for ten years, through the occurrence of the Jubilee. Now therefore the Prophet says, although they remain survivors, yet they shall not return Why? for the captivity will hinder them. Now, therefore, we understand the Prophet’s meaning: those who sold, says he, shall suffer no loss For if they had remained at home, they would have been deprived of their possessions; but this shall not happen, for they shall be dragged to a distant region, and there they shall live and die exiles. But if they should protract their life even to the hundredth year, yet their possession will remain deserted, because the conquerors will not allow them to return to their country. Hence the miserable condition of the exiles is denoted, since, if God were to prolong their life, they would still be compelled to consume it in poverty and want, since they had been driven away from their lands and were unable to return to them.

He adds, because the vision shall not return upon all the multitude of them Here also interpreters differ. For some distinguish this part into two clauses, because the vision was for the whole people, nor had any one been converted or repented. This opinion is plausible, because it contains a useful and fruitful doctrine, which is everywhere met with among the Prophets. For we know that nothing is less tolerable to God, than when men, admonished by Prophets, do not return to a sound mind, but go on in their wickedness. Since, therefore, such obstinacy exceedingly provokes God’s anger, this sense seems to suit well enough — that the vision was for the whole multitude, and yet none repented; that is, that God exhorted all, from the least to the greatest, to repentance; for all were deaf, and, as it were, desperate in their vices. Although, therefore, this exposition seems probable, I do not adopt it: for I doubt not the Prophet’s meaning to be that the vision concerning the whole multitude should not return; that is, be in vain. And thus also Isaiah speaks when he says, thy word shall not return to me void, (Isaiah 55:11,) for he means that prophecies are always joined with their effects. Some turn this to the fruit of the doctrine, because God will always have some disciples who will embrace the prophetic word. But this is foreign to the purpose. The Prophet rather means that hypocrites will be greatly deceived, while they think God’s word to be an empty sound, by which the air only is struck. Hence he says that God’s word will not want its effect., because God will fulfill whatever he pronounces — whether he promise safety to the faithful, or denounce destruction on the reprobate. As therefore Isaiah says God’s word shall not return to him fruitless, since he will prosper it, so our Prophet denies that God’s word should return after it had been promulgated against the whole multitude. The vision, therefore, is taken here for the prophetic doctrine; but there is no doubt that he restricts the vision to God’s judgment. The vision, therefore, was towards the whole multitude, nor shall it return; that is, it shall be certainly executed. Afterwards he adds, and a man shall not strengthen his soul in his iniquity Others term it — in the iniquity of his soul: but since the relative is double, this opinion cannot stand; but others take it otherwise. But I am unwilling to hold you in suspense here, and it seems to me that nothing is more useful than to investigate the genuine sense of the Prophet. I have no doubt the Prophet here confirms what we have now explained — that it is vain for the despisers of God to hope to escape, because when God executes his vengeance, he will hold them in his grasp. For as to what others say, that they have not fortified their soul on account of iniquity; that is, that they were so bound down to their sinfulness, that they did not lift up their minds and desires to the hope of safety, that sense is too forced. Therefore the Prophet confirms what we now see, namely, that his threats should not return empty, because God would take away all material for confidence from the hypocrites and despisers of his teaching. For the impious wrestle against God, and oppose their own obstinacy and hardness, as if by violence they could break and destroy his word. Since, therefore, the wicked precipitate themselves so boldly, says the Prophet, they shall not fortify themselves by iniquity unto life; that is, they shall strive in vain to obtain life by their iniquity, which is not sufficient for resistance. I do not understand — on account of their iniquity; because he simply denounces that obstinacy should be in vain, which profane men use as a shield against God, and its force be reduced to nothing. They shall not fortify themselves, therefore, in life, or by iniquity, unto life; that is, by that obstinate wickedness by which they think themselves superior. Let us, therefore, from this place learn to tremble at God’s threats, and always to have their effect before our eyes, as the Apostle says — Noah saw by faith the deluge which was hidden, (Hebrews 11:7,) because, whilst others indulged themselves, he was always reflecting during one hundred and twenty years how horrible that vengeance would be. So, therefore, when God has spoken, may we immediately apprehend his judgment, as if it were clear before our eyes; and let us especially beware of that obstinacy which will assuredly be in vain, because we hear what the Prophet here denounces. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:14

14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

14. Clanxerunt tuba, pararunt omnia; Or, “Blow ye the trumpet, and make ready, as others translate, in the imperative mood, but I prefer the perfect tense — they have blown and prepared all things.” — Calvin. nemo autem egressus ad proelium: quia indignatio mea super totam multitudinem ejus.

Here the Prophet adds, although the Israelites provide themselves with every aid, and prepare all things for carrying on the war, nay, while they omit nothing for the best fortification, yet when it came to the point, their hopes would be vain, and all the supplies which they prepared for themselves of no avail. However, therefore, they may blow the trumpet, and prepare all things, he says, yet no one goes out to battle The reason must be marked, since God’s indignation was upon the whole multitude of them, that is, because God determined to destroy them all. Now it follows —

Ezekiel 7:15

15. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

15. Gladius foris, pestis et fames e domo: qui in agro erit, gladio morietur: qui autem in urbe, eum fames et pestis in urbe, eum fames et pestis consumet.

He inculcates what we have seen before, although this sentence agrees with the last verse. He had said that God’s anger should be on all the people; now he shows that none were safe when God stretched forth his hand for avenging their sins. Now he says, he had in his hand a sword, and pestilence, and famine. If they went out into the field, says he, a sword shall meet them; if they remain at home in the city, pestilence and famine shall consume them there; as if he said, God could fetch various kinds of destruction from different quarters, because he will arm foreign enemies, who shall devastate the whole land; and if these enemies were at rest, yet there were others, famine and pestilence Here he signifies, that although the Israelites closed their houses, and desired and endeavored to expel every thing injurious, yet God’s wrath could penetrate all hiding-places. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:16

16. But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

16. Et evadent evasores ipsorum, That is, “those who are to escape of them shall escape.” — Calvin. et erunt super montes quasi columbae vallium, omnes fremendo, Or, “murmuring or shouting ” — Calvin. vir That is, “each one ” — Calvin. in sua iniquitate.

The Prophet seems here to be at variance with himself, because he formerly pronounced them all devoted to destruction. How, then, does he now say that some should come hither and thither, to seek hiding-places in the mountains? But what seem at, variance easily agree, because by these words he means that the life of those who escaped should be more miserable than if they had perished by the sword, or had been consumed by pestilence and famine. And why so? They shall be, says he, in the mountains. By mountains he doubtless understands dry and desert places. But he who seeks hiding-places in the mountains is only anxious about preserving his life, since he expects not to live. So, therefore, the Prophet means, nothing can be more miserable than the exile of those who had escaped, because they would be in dry and desert places, like doves of the valleys, there they will not dare to cry out. He means, also, that they would be so timorous, that even in anxiety, want, and squalidness, and despair of all things, finally, in the heap of their miseries, they would groan as doves, and as doves of the valleys, that is, which hide themselves through fear, and dare not show themselves; unless, perhaps, the contrast increases the evil, as if he had said that they should be much more astonished, because the unaccustomed aspect of the place should strike them with greater fear. Now, therefore, we understand the Prophet’s meaning — if any should escape from the people, yet nothing else would happen through their flight, than that they should miserably protract their life in the greatest anxiety. For we know that this is the last solace in evils, when men complain freely, and unburden themselves by weeping and groaning. But when the wretched one dares not complain, he becomes as it were twice dead among the living. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:17

17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

17. Omnes manus solventur, et omnia genua ibunt aquae. A mark of similitude must be understood — shall flow like water; for here ‘to go’ is taken for ‘to flow.’

He confirms the last sentence, that such should be the trembling, that those who were oppressed with all kinds of evil, dare not utter their complaints freely. He says, all hands should be loosened, and all knees should be unstable as water We know that this doctrine frequently occurs with the Prophets, by which God shows that men’s hearts were in his hands. But since profane men are fierce against God, through trusting in their own wealth or fortitude, hence, on the contrary, God pronounces that they should be timorous and anxious, nay, almost vanishing away, and as it were lifeless, as if their knees were flowing away amidst water, and their hands were relaxed. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:18

18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

18. Et accingent se saccis, et operiet ipsos formido, et super omnes facies, Or, “countenance.” — Calvin. probrum, Or, “shame.” — Calvin. et in omnibus capitibus calvitium.

He continues the same sentiment. He says, such was the slaughter of the people that they should all gird themselves with sackcloth. But it seems little in accordance with this, that those who should be astonished should gird themselves with sackcloth, so as not to bewail the dead. But the prophets so vary their discourse because they cannot otherwise affect obstinate minds. Although therefore these things do not seem at first sight to agree, that they should bind themselves in sackcloth, and upon all their heads should be baldness: then that all should perish without grief or sorrow: yet these things suit well enough, because the Prophet does not express what they should do, but what the event should be. Since, therefore, slaughter shall occur on every side, at length God shall consume some by pestilence, others by famine: therefore he adds, there should be material for grief, although in consequence of the multitude of evils they should be lifeless, and torpid, and omit all signs of sorrow. Therefore they shall gird themselves with sackcloth We know that this was a remarkable symbol of penitence, but it is often transferred to common sorrow, and even profane men clothe themselves in sackcloth, although they do not acknowledge God the author of evils. Hence when the Prophet says, all should take sackcloth in which to clothe themselves, he does not mean that they should feel punishments divinely inflicted that they should repent; but he only expresses the common ceremony of grief in distress which is also common to the wicked and to despisers of God, Now he adds, fear shall cover them, and disgrace, or shame, shall be on all faces: then upon all heads shall be baldness This was forbidden by the law, (Deuteronomy 14:1;) since we know that God restrained too much intemperance in sorrow, when he forbids the people to fall upon their face, or to make themselves bald; for that was preposterous affectation. And we know that men are ambitious in grief. Hence that God may impose restraint upon sorrow, he forbids his people to cut the skin, or to produce baldness. Hence we see that the Prophet does not speak of the true sign of repentance, but only marks, as I have said, that God’s vengeance should be so horrible, that dread should cover them, and then that shame and confusion of face should come upon them: then, that they should cut the skin like the Gentiles, and put on sackcloth like men abandoned to destruction,

PRAYER.

Grant, Almighty God, since thou hast recalled us to thyself, that we may not grow torpid in our sins, nor yet become hardened by thy chastisements, but prevent in time thy final judgments, and so humble ourselves under thy powerful hand, that we may seriously testify and really prove our repentance, and so study to obey thee, that we may advance in newness of life more and more, until at length we put off all the defilements of the flesh, and arrive at the enjoyment of that eternal rest which thine only-begotten Son has acquired for us by his own blood, — Amen.

Lecture Twentieth.

Ezekiel 7:19

19. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

19. Et argentum suum per compita projicient, et aurum ipsorum in disjectionem Some translate, “as an unclean thing.” — Calvin. erit: argentum eorum et aurum eorum non poterit ad liber andum ipsos in die excandescentiæ Iehovae: animam suam non satiaunt et viscera sua non replebunt, quia offendiculum iniquitatis ipsorum fuit.

Now the Prophet threatens that the desperation of the people would be so great that they would forget both gold and silver: for we know that men are more anxious about those possessions than about life itself. But gold, unless it be prepared for use, has no value in itself: yet we see that the majority are so inflamed with the desire of gold, that they cast themselves into the certain danger of death. For how many neglect their own life to acquire wealth: hence when men despise gold, they are assuredly astonished by fear and anxiety so as to lose their natural senses. The Prophet means this when he says, they shall cast their gold into the streets, because if they thought they should survive, and if there were any hope of life left, doubtless they would hide their gold and silver. But when gold is cast away, it is certain, as I have said, that all things are full of despair. Their gold, says he, shall be cast away I prefer this interpretation to an unclean thing. נדה, nedeh, signifies pollution, defilement, and separation. If any prefer-the translation “separation,” I do not object, only let us understand that the Jews would treat their gold as valueless, and so willingly separated from it. For we know that men are so attached to their gold and silver that it grieves them to be torn from what they so much love: no less than if you tore away their entrails. But the word “a casting away” is clearer, and will answer to the former member of the sentence better. He adds, their gold and silver will be unable to preserve them in the day of Jehovah’s anger Here the Prophet derides the perverse confidence of those who thought themselves safe, because fortified with great wealth. For when men see themselves protected by guards they fear nothing, and such security is not easily wrested from them. For this cause also, Ezekiel pronounces that gold and silver would be useless to the Jews when God was fierce against them. And at the same time he obliquely reproves their sloth, because they despised God’s judgments since they were spared at the time. Hence he declares — the day of God’s burning wrath shall come: then he says, they shall not satisfy their souls, and they shall not fill their bellies Here he means that the richest even should be famished. When any famine presses upon the people, yet those who have money at home do not suffer; besides, the rich have all kinds of produce in their barns and granaries. But the Prophet says, that the penury shall be such as to involve the rich, so that they should not have food to refresh themselves. Thus the reason is added, because it was the stumblingblock of their iniquity Some take this clause generally, that the Jews should stumble on account of their iniquity, that is, then shall be the time of receiving their reward. For God had seemed to pardon them, and not to notice so many iniquities with which they provoked him. He says therefore, in that day shall be a stumblingblock, if that sense pleases you, but I would rather restrict it to money itself, since silver and gold shall profit nothing, inasmuch as it shall be a stumblingblock of iniquity, that is, it shall be the material or occasion of sinning: and the next verse confirms this sense when it says —

Ezekiel 7:20

20. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.

20. Et decus ornamenti sui in superbiam posuit ipsum, et imagines abominationum suarum, et spurcitiarum suarum fecerunt ex illo: propterea posui illis Or, “I have appointed to them ” — Calvin. in projectionem.

I doubt not that Ezekiel strengthens what he had just taught by other words, namely, that the people’s silver should be cast away, because it had been unworthily abused for luxury, vain pomps and superstitions. Some explain צבי עדיו, tzebi-gnediu, of the temple; and certainly I confess that the temple was the chief glory of the Jews, so that they might boast of it, if they had rightly and properly worshipped God there. Hence God conveyed great glory to the Jews when he desired a temple to be erected among them to himself, which should be as it were his earthly dwelling-place. But I do not see why we should take these words of the temple, because the Prophet explains his own discourse: for he mentions gold and silver: he said, there should be no use for gold and silver, because every one should cast it into the mud, since they should cast away all hope of life and safety. He now continues the same sentiment; he shows the lawful use of gold and silver: it was, says he, the glory of his ornament For whatever God has given to men is a testimony of his paternal favor: therefore God’s liberality is refulgent in us when he enriches us with his gifts. If therefore riches are a glory and ornament, so also are bodily health, and honors, and things of this kind. Since therefore God wishes his favor to be conspicuous in all his gifts, by which he adorns and marks men out, the Prophet properly says that the Jews were adorned with gold and silver. But he accuses them of ingratitude because they turned such glory to pride. For גאון, gaon, I here take in a bad sense, as in many other places: it sometimes signifies excellence, but I have no doubt that the Prophet here blames the Jews, because they were proud of their wealth, which they took as a testimony of God’s favor. Therefore, says he, he turned the beauty of their ornament, he turned it to pride It follows, and the images of their abominations and of their detestable things, or of their idols, for the Hebrews thus speak sometimes of idols, they made therewith Here ב, is used as if it were מ, as often in other places, and thus it points out the material; for he says, that the Jews made their images, which were so many abominations before God, out of gold and silver This was a second profanation of God’s gifts: the former was in pride, when the Jews through wantonness and abundance began to be insolent against God, thus they profaned the glory with which they had been adorned. But another pollution is also added, namely, that they made their idols of gold and silver, and offered to them gifts and sacrifices: as God complains in Hosea, (Hosea 2:8,) that they converted whatever he had conferred upon them into impious worship. I had given, said he, my corn, and wine, and oil: but they adorned their idols: this was forsooth their thanksgiving, that blind to my liberality, they offered sacrifices to their idols of my corn and oil and wine. Of which matter Ezekiel discourses more fully in Ezekiel 16. But he now says: that they made images of their abominations out of that glory by which he had distinguished them And at the end of the verse he confirms what we have lately seen: wherefore, says he, I will appoint it, namely, that beauty, to them for a castaway We see the same sentiment repeated which he had used before: but he here relates the reasons why the Jews should disregard their gold and silver in the day of God’s wrath, since they had unworthily defiled these gifts of God in which his grace and paternal favor shone forth. I will make, therefore says he, their gold or beauty as a castaway: he had said the same thing before, but had not yet expressed the reason of God’s wrath. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:21

21. And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

21. Et ponam Or, “I will deliver.” — Calvin. ipsum in manum alienorum ad direptionem, et impiorum terrae ad spoliationem, et profanabunt ipsum.

I have said that I do not approve of twisting these words to the sanctuary, as some interpreters do. Hence I do not doubt that the Prophet still speaks of the people. He changed indeed the number in the former verse, for at the beginning he had used the singular number: now he returns again to the singular number, and designates the people. I will deliver it, says he, into the hand of strangers. This was more severe than if they had been oppressed by any domestic tyranny: nor do I doubt that by strangers the Prophet signifies remote and barbarous nations, as we know that those with whom we have no communication are more savage against us. First, therefore, he says, they shall be the slaves of strangers; he adds, the impious of the earth: he means that their enemies should be so cruel and wicked, that no pity or equity was to be expected from them. The sum is, that God’s wrath would be terrible since he had borne the iniquities of the people so long. Hence we gather that wicked and abandoned men are God’s scourges, and are governed by his will and hand. Since it is so, we gather that God so works by them that he is pure from all alliance with their faults, because he so exercises his judgments by means of them, that he appears without blame with regard to them; but they are condemned deservedly, because either their own avarice or ambition, or other lusts destroy them. I shall give them therefore into the hands of strangers to destroy them: then, to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall profane them By this word interpreters have been induced to take this verse with reference to the sanctuary. But we know that חלל, chelel, is taken in another sense — to slay. This word therefore may be explained, that there shall be a general slaughter of the people: because the enemies not content with the booty and spoil, shall also slay the captives when they have obtained the victory. But I willingly retain the sense “profane,” which means the same as “render vile,” because the Prophet seems to me to allude to all kinds of abuse, as when we do not consider for what purpose things are intended, but rashly and thoughtlessly, contemptuously, and even insultingly dissipate them. It means therefore that such should be the insolence of their enemies, that they should waste and lay in ruins not only the people’s substance, but also their persons: although this may be here referred to the substance itself: for a robber is said to prey upon a man when he takes away whatever he has and leaves him naked: in this sense we may conveniently explain what the Prophet now says. But that simple explanation satisfies me, namely, that the enemy shall so disperse the people generally, that there shall be no difference. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:22

22. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

22. Et avertam faciem meam ab ipsis, et profanabunt absconditum meum: et ingredientur in illud perruptores, Or, “devastators.” — Calvin. et profanabunt illud.

As to the beginning of the verse there is no ambiguity, for God pronounces that the Jews would be miserable, because he would avert his face from them For in this was situated their happiness, that God, as he had promised, would regard their safety. As long, therefore, as God deigned to look upon them, their safety was certain, so that there was no fear of danger. But when he no longer cared for them, these wretched ones were exposed to all calamities; hence they are said to be deprived of all protection, when alienated from God. This, then, is one clause. As to what follows, expositors interpret it of the sanctuary; and I do not greatly object to this, if any one approves of this sense, but I take it in a wider sense. For God in my view calls the land his hidden place, which was safe under his protection. For he says, that he had extended wings, under which he could hide the people, (Exodus 19:4;) and David prays that God would receive him within the hidden place of his tabernacle. (Psalm 27:5.) Since, therefore, the people was protected by the power of God, the land is deservedly called God’s hidden place, as an asylum, and it will be proper so to translate it. Devastators, therefore, shall profane my asylum, because they shall enter in there, and shall profane it. He repeats the same word. Those who take it for the sanctuary restrict it to the holy of holies, for so they call the shrine or oracle whence the answers were given; and they call it an oracle, not from praying, but because they enquired there of secret things. But as I have said, that seems to be forced, though I will not quarrel with it, but show what I like better. The meaning is, however God had spared the Jews for a long time, nay, had them hidden, as it were, under his wings, and the land was as it were a sacred asylum, since they were so hidden that they felt no injury from foreign enemies: yet this should profit them nothing, because God would throw down all bulwarks, and give easy access to their enemies, so that they might break through, and then profane and confuse all things. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:23

23. Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

23. Fac cathenam: quia terra repleta est judicio sanguinum, et urbs repleta est violentia.

Interpreters refer the Prophet’s being ordered to make a chain to the captivity; for we know that captives are accustomed to be bound with chains and fetters, or manacles. Hence they explain it that God threatens the people with exile. But the Spirit seems rather to allude to criminals, who plead their cause in chains. For the Jews had long reveled in their vices, and the absence of punishment had rendered them very audacious. Now the Prophet says, the time had come in which they were to be brought to the tribunal of God, and there to be dealt with most justly as criminals. Since, therefore, they bound criminals with chains, that they might plead their cause ignominiously — criminals, I say, who were already, as it were, half condemned; hence the Prophet is ordered to make a chain, so that not only the people should be called upon to render all account of their wickedness, but should also be drawn, whether they wished it or not, to God’s judgment-seat. And he explains himself when he says, since the land is full of the judgment of bloods The Hebrews call judgment of bloods the material of death, when the cause is capital, and the criminal is so convicted that he cannot escape final punishment; so any capital conviction is called a judgment of blood. He says, therefore, the earth is full of a judgment of bloods, that is, is guilty of so many crimes, that it cannot escape the final vengeance. And afterwards he adds the city, which, in the general corruption of the land, ought to retain something of its purity; but he says, the city also is so full of violence, under which word are doubtless embraced all unjust oppressions — rapines, pillage, unlawful gains, robberies, and whatever opposes justice and equity. The result is, that the people’s impiety and wickedness had come to such a pitch, that they were no longer endurable by God; and hence God ascends his tribunal to exact punishment from them; and this is the chain of which he speaks. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:24

24. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.

24. Et venire faciam improbos gentium, That is, “the wicked and perverse among the Gentiles.” — Calvin. et possidebunt domos eorum: et cessare faciam superbiam fortium, et polluentur sanctuaria ipsorum.

He repeats what he had said, that enemies would come who should be ministers of God’s vengeance. And again we learn from this place, that even the impious are impelled by the hand and secret direction of God, so that they cannot move a finger but by his will. He had formerly said that he would give the Jews into the hands of strangers; but what now? I will cause them to come, says he, as if he would stretch out his hand to them, and induce them. We see, therefore, that God holds the impious under his guidance, as it were, for executing his judgments; but we must consider the difference which I have lately laid down; for God so works by them, as still to have nothing in common with them. For they are carried on by a depraved impulse; but God has a method, wonderful and incomprehensible by us, which impels them hither and thither, so that he does not involve himself in any alliance with their fault. For he calls them the perverse nation, that the Jews might know that the last slaughter was approaching, since they should have to do with the most cruel enemies. He says, shall possess their homes, and because the pride of the people might seem an obstacle to God’s exacting the deserved penalty, therefore he adds, I will make the pride of the powerful to cease, says he; for as long as the Jews were swollen with haughtiness and self-confidence, the Prophet could not profit them at all. Therefore he says, that God would make their haughtiness to cease, by which they were vainly puffed up as long as God sustained or bore with them. At length he adds, their sanctuaries shall be polluted This passage confirms the opinion which I formerly approved. For Ezekiel speaks of the pollution of the sanctuary as of a new thing. For he here draws away from them the vain hope by which they deceived themselves, when they boasted that they dwelt under God’s guardianship, since the temple protected themselves and the city. Jeremiah reproves them for trusting in lying words, while they declare that they have the Lord’s temple —

“The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:4.)

Our Prophet does not speak openly, but he doubtless shows that their security was false, while they oppose the temple to God, as if the temple were a shield to repel his vengeance. God, indeed, dwelt in the temple, but this condition was added, that he was to be purely worshipped there. But when the temple was polluted, God departed from it, as we shall afterwards see. For this reason the Prophet says, the enemies should come who should pollute and contaminate the holy places of the people Hitherto he had not spoken of the temple, but he now adds, the temple, that the Jews should not rashly boast in the name of God, as if they held him fixed to themselves. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:25

25. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

25. Excidium venit, et quaerent pacem et non. That is, “there shall be no peace.” — Calvin.

He confirms the same doctrine. He says therefore, destruction is come He now adds, there shall be no peace This confirmation was not in vain. For men always hope they shall obtain some advantage by turning their backs; hence they seize on hiding-places whence God draws them into light. Then they form for themselves many hopes of safety when God holds them bound down. Since, therefore, men are so slippery, and, by catching at refuges, think to elude God and his judgments, the Prophet says, though they seek peace they shall find none, that they may not doubt about that destruction and cutting off which he mentions. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:26

26. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

26. Calamitas super calamitatem veniet, et rumor super rumorem erit: et quærent visionem a propheta, Or, “since there is no prophet.” — Calvin. et lex transibit That is, “shall vanish away.” — Calvin. sacerdote, et concilium a senibus.

The Prophet here explains more at length the nature of that slaughter of which he was a herald. And again he deprives the Jews of all ground for hope, and shows that they should look around on all sides in vain, because God would deprive them of all help. This is the meaning of the passage. Hence he says, calamities shall come, and that some shall follow one portion, and others another. In this way he advises the Jews that they should catch at security in vain, as if, at the passing away of one evil, they were already free. For the wicked as soon as God with-draws his hand, think themselves escaped from all trouble, and so despise God more carelessly: for they fancy that God has done with them just like a debtor who has paid a small sum to his creditor, and thus has obtained a relaxation, is careless; so the reprobate harden themselves when God grants them some respite: for they think that they have an agreement with him that he should not trouble them more. But the Prophet denounces that there would be such a heap of evils that one calamity should have many companions, because God would not cease to add evils to evils. He adds, rumor upon rumor This is referred to the object of fear, because rumors of wars and of the cruelty of enemies would be spread abroad. Since, therefore, the Jews are deaf and stupid, the Prophet announces that God would continue exercising his vengeance, so that one calamity should be only the forerunner of another, until they should perish a hundred times rather than that God would suffer them to escape with impunity.

Afterwards he adds, they shall seek a vision Here the Prophet again shows that the Jews should be stripped bare of every help. For although they boldly despised God, yet we know that they wickedly abused his name. For they so threw aside all modesty that. they did not hesitate to ridicule God and all his gifts. Hence their last refuge in their calamities was to seek a vision, that is, to enquire what God was about to do. Hence he says, they shall seek a vision from the Prophet. It seems to me that the expression is too abrupt, that they shall seek a vision from a Prophet, because nothing is added except concerning the priest and elders. מ is sometimes taken negatively when words are united: I know not whether the language will properly bear our saying, they shall seek a vision, but there shall be no Prophet And yet the sense would flow better, if Ezekiel denied there should be any Prophets: for this is a sign of desertion, when no consolation occurs which assists us in our wars. Thus the Church complains in the Psalms, (Psalm 76:9,) that it was reduced to the greatest straits, and that no Prophet appeared: we do not see our signs, nor is there a Prophet among us. And, in truth, Ezekiel meant that the Jews would seek a Prophet in vain, because God would take away that gift from them. As far then as the sense is concerned there is no ambiguity, though the diction is, as I have said, rather obscure. The meaning is, when they think God so bound to them that he will never deprive them of visions which are prepared for their comfort, yet they are already deprived of this good, and since they are destitute nothing remains except that utter destruction which he has mentioned. We must leave the rest for to-morrow.

PRAYER.

Grant, Almighty God, since thou hast hitherto deigned to guard us safely by thy power, and hast driven away so many violent assaults from us, and turned away so many perverse counsels of our enemies, and snatched us from numberless evils, — grant that we may so value thy benefits towards us that we may be grateful in return, and so devote ourselves obediently to thee, that thy holy name may be glorified through our whole life in thy only-begotten Son our Lord. — Amen.

Lecture twenty first.

We yesterday began to expound the Prophet’s language when he denounced what the Jews little feared, that a time would come when God would deprive them of their Prophets. Since therefore God was accustomed to rule his people by counselors, and priests, and prophets, hence he says, counsel should perish from the elders, and the law from the priests. As to the Prophets, he says, the Jews would enquire of them in vain the will of God. The result is, since God always governed his people, there would be miserable dispersion, because no more teaching should shine forth, but they would be immersed in the darkness of ignorance. But this was the most grievous threat, because in extreme evils it is no common consolation to have God shining upon us by his word. For by this we are stirred up to patience, then our sorrows are mitigated when we taste some hope of pardon, and God bears witness that he will be propitious to us. But when this comfort is withdrawn, we are easily overwhelmed by even the smallest evils. Yet God sustains us by his word in the deepest afflictions as upon a vast sea, and as long as his teaching remains to us we have as it were a chart of guidance which will bring us safely into harbor. But when God nowhere appears, the lightest trial buries us in the deepest abyss. So this was the sign of God’s fearful vengeance when the gift of prophecy was extinct among the Jews, and the priests and elders had no counsel. For we know how mightily they boasted that were powerful in wisdom. For while Jeremiah blames them, (Jeremiah 18:18,) we see that they rose up against him, relying on this confidence, that the law could not pass away from the priests, nor prudence from the wise men and counselors, nor yet a vision or utterance from the prophets. “Come ye, let us take counsel against Jeremiah, and let us strike him with the tongue; for counsel shall not perish,” etc. Being excited by this diabolical fury they dared to raise their crests against God, and boldly claimed for themselves what God here denounces that he would take from them: for the vision they asserted must remain with the prophets and the teaching of the law with the priests. But we see that God averts that perverse boasting when he denounces that there should be no counsel to the old men, no teaching with the priests, and no vision among the prophets. And hence also we gather that we can this day refute the Papists by the same argument. For in the strength of what weapons do they so proudly rage against the clear and certain doctrine of the law and the gospel? Namely, that they are the representative Church, as if they openly declared to God that his doctrine could not possibly perish from their priests. I omit to notice that this priesthood is not from God, since priests are created for sacrificing Christ, and that without any command. But suppose we grant them to be ordinary pastors of the Church, of what advantage is that title when God deprived of all light of doctrine the Levitical priests, who were created by him and not by human suffrages?

Let us learn therefore from this passage, that the gift of prophecy and all teaching is God’s peculiar gift: let us learn that this gift is withdrawn when God wishes to exact punishment for man’s ingratitude. For if the doctrine is received less reverently than becomes us, and God himself is despised, as is often the case, he throws men into darkness, and causes them to err through blindness, and deprives them of the least spark of light. when the priests themselves forget their office God infatuates them, as we see has happened in the Papacy. Nothing is more to be despised than those beasts, and yet they claim to themselves the spirit of revelation. But God repays them the just reward of their madness, because they have ruled tyrannically, and so have utterly abused the sacred name of pastors: then because they have mingled their fictions with the law and the gospel, and so have corrupted all purity of doctrine by their comments. God therefore has revenged their pride, as we see; but when God shows us the way of life by his servants, and shines upon us with heavenly doctrine, let us not blindly wander in darkness, let us know that this inestimable treasure is not to be despised, lest we should be deprived of it. It follows —

Ezekiel 7:27

27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

27. Rex lugebit, et princeps induetur desolatione: Or, “laying waste.” — Calvin. et manus populi terrae turbabuntur: secundum vias ipsorum faciam iis, et pro judiciis ipsorum judicabo ipsos, et cognoscent quod ego Iehovah.

In this verse the Prophet affirms that God’s vengeance should be so common that it should alight equally upon the highest and the lowest. He begins with the king, then he descends to his counselors, then he comprehends the whole people. The king shall lament, he says. But it is his duty to give life to others, and then to devise a remedy for all evils; but when the king has nothing left but grief and sorrow, it is a sign of despair. He metaphorically clothes the elders in a garment of desolation. We know that a garment has two uses; since it fortifies us as a defense against the cold, and then it hides whatever is dishonorable in us. In the opposite sense the Prophet says, shame shall be as a garment to the elders, and then he goes down to the common people. At the same time, he assigns the reason, I, says he, will do to them according to their ways מ is here taken causally, according to their ways, therefore, will I do unto them: and in the same sense he adds, in their judgment will I judge you The word “judgment” is used peculiarly here, and contrary to its ordinary sense. For judgment means the same as righteousness; but it is often transferred to transgressions, as if he had said, they shall feel me a just judge though I avenge their sins. Hence their judgments mean perverse abuses, and comprehend not only superstitions but all kinds of iniquities. By these words God intimates that though he should punish the Jews severely, yet it would not be cruelty, because they deserved such treatment. A confirmation follows in the next vision. The vision is, indeed, separate, but as the Prophet had just asserted in God’s name that the punishment was just under which the Jews would suffer, he confirms this doctrine by the vision which follows, when he was seized by the Spirit of God and transferred to Jerusalem, where he saw the temple filled with various abominations; because there was no corner which they had not defiled and violated with their idols. But let us come to the words.

Chapter 8

Ezekiel 8:1

1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

1. Et fuit anno sexto, mense sexto, die quinto mensis, ego sedebam Verbally, “sitting.” — Calvin domi meae, et Seniores Jehudah sedentes coram facie mea, et cecidit super me illic manus Dominatoris Iehovae.

CHAPTER 7

Eze 7:1-27. Lamentation over the Coming Ruin of Israel; the Penitent Reformation of a Remnant; the Chain Symbolizing the Captivity.

2. An end, the end--The indefinite "an" expresses the general fact of God bringing His long-suffering towards the whole of Judea to an end; "the," following, marks it as more definitely fixed (Am 8:2).

4. thine abominations--the punishment of thine abominations.

shall be in the midst of thee--shall be manifest to all. They and thou shall recognize the fact of thine abominations by thy punishment which shall everywhere befall thee, and that manifestly.

5. An evil, an only evil--a peculiar calamity such as was never before; unparalleled. The abruptness of the style and the repetitions express the agitation of the prophet's mind in foreseeing these calamities.

6. watcheth for thee--rather, "waketh for thee." It awakes up from its past slumber against thee (Psa 78:65, 66).

7. The morning--so Chaldean and Syriac versions (compare Joe 2:2). Ezekiel wishes to awaken them from their lethargy, whereby they were promising to themselves an uninterrupted night (1Th 5:5-7), as if they were never to be called to account [Calvin]. The expression, "morning," refers to the fact that this was the usual time for magistrates giving sentence against offenders (compare Eze 7:10, below; Psa 101:8; Jr 21:12). Gesenius, less probably, translates, "the order of fate"; thy turn to be punished.

not the sounding again--not an empty echo, such as is produced by the reverberation of sounds in "the mountains," but a real cry of tumult is coming [Calvin]. Perhaps it alludes to the joyous cries of the grape-gatherers at vintage on the hills [Grotius], or of the idolaters in their dances on their festivals in honor of their false gods [Tirinus]. Havernick translates, "no brightness."

8-9. Repetition of Eze 7:3, 4; sadly expressive of accumulated woes by the monotonous sameness.

10. rod ... blossomed, pride ... budded--The "rod" is the Chaldean Nebuchadnezzar, the instrument of God's vengeance (Is 10:5; Jr 51:20). The rod sprouting (as the word ought to be translated), &c., implies that God does not move precipitately, but in successive steps. He as it were has planted the ministers of His vengeance, and leaves them to grow till all is ripe for executing His purpose. "Pride" refers to the insolence of the Babylonian conqueror (Jr 50:31, 32). The parallelism ("pride" answering to "rod") opposes Jerome's view, that "pride" refers to the Jews who despised God's threats; (also Calvin's, "though the rod grew in Chaldea, the root was with the Jews"). The "rod" cannot refer, as Grotius thought, to the tribe of Judah, for it evidently refers to the "smiteth" (Eze 7:9) as the instrument of smiting.

11. Violence (that is, the violent foe) is risen up as a rod of (that is, to punish the Jews') wickedness (Zec 5:8).

theirs--their possessions, or all that belongs to them, whether children or goods. Grotius translates from a different Hebrew root, "their nobles," literally, "their tumultuous trains" (Margin) which usually escorted the nobles. Thus "nobles" will form a contrast to the general "multitude."

neither ... wailing--(Jr 16:4-7; 25:33). Gesenius translates, "nor shall there be left any beauty among them." English Version is supported by the old Jewish interpreters. So general shall be the slaughter, none shall be left to mourn the dead.

12. let not ... buyer rejoice--because he has bought an estate at a bargain price.

nor ... seller mourn--because he has had to sell his land at a sacrifice through poverty. The Chaldeans will be masters of the land, so that neither shall the buyer have any good of his purchase, nor the seller any loss; nor shall the latter (Eze 7:13) return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see Le 25:13). Spiritually this holds good now, seeing that "the time is short"; "they that rejoice should be as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not": Paul (1Co 7:30) seems to allude to Ezekiel here. Jr 32:15, 37, 43, seems to contradict Ezekiel here. But Ezekiel is speaking of the parents, and of the present; Jeremiah, of the children, and of the future. Jeremiah is addressing believers, that they should hope for a restoration; Ezekiel, the reprobate, who were excluded from hope of deliverance.

13. although they were yet alive--although they should live to the year of jubilee.

multitude thereof--namely, of the Jews.

which shall not return--answering to "the seller shall not return"; not only he, but the whole multitude, shall not return. Calvin omits "is" and "which": "the vision touching the whole multitude shall not return" void (Is 55:11).

neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life--No hardening of one's self in iniquity will avail against God's threat of punishment. Fairbairn translates, "no one by his iniquity shall invigorate his life"; referring to the jubilee, which was regarded as a revivification of the whole commonwealth, when, its disorders being rectified, the body politic sprang up again into renewed life. That for which God thus provided by the institution of the jubilee and which is now to cease through the nation's iniquity, let none think to bring about by his iniquity.

14. They have blown the trumpet--rather, "Blow the trumpet," or, "Let them blow the trumpet" to collect soldiers as they will, "to make all ready" for encountering the foe, it will be of no avail; none will have the courage to go to the battle (compare Jr 6:1), [Calvin].

15. No security should anywhere be found (De 32:25). Fulfilled (La 1:20); also at the Roman invasion (Mt 24:16-18).

16. (Eze 6:6).

like doves--which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher (Psa 11:1). So Israel, once dwelling in its peaceful valleys, shall flee from the foe to the mountains, which, as being the scene of its idolatries, were justly to be made the scene of its flight and shame. The plaintive note of the dove (Is 59:11) represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter (Zec 12:10-12).

17. shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14; Is 13:7).

18. cover them--as a garment.

baldness--a sign of mourning (Is 3:24; Jr 48:37; Mi 1:16).

19. cast ... silver in ... streets--just retribution; they had abused their silver and gold by converting them into idols, "the stumbling-block of their iniquity" (Eze 14:3, 4, that is, an occasion of sinning); so these silver and gold idols, so far from "being able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath" (see Pr 11:4), shall, in despair, be cast by them into the streets as a prey to the foe, by whom they shall be "removed" (Grotius translates as the Margin, "shall be despised as an unclean thing"); or rather, as suits the parallelism, "shall be put away from them" by the Jews [Calvin]. "They (the silver and gold) shall not satisfy their souls," that is, their cravings of appetite and other needs.

20. beauty of his ornament--the temple of Jehovah, the especial glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery used by God as to the temple, Eze 16:10, 11). Compare Eze 24:21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."

images ... therein--namely, in the temple (Eze 8:3-17).

set it far from them--God had "set" the temple (their "beauty of ornament") "for His majesty"; but they had set up "abominations therein"; therefore God, in just retribution, "set it far from them," (that is, removed them far from it, or took it away from them [Vatablus]). The Margin translates, "Made it unto them an unclean thing" (compare Margin on Eze 7:19, "removed"); what I designed for their glory they turned to their shame, therefore I will make it turn to their ignominy and ruin.

21. strangers--barbarous and savage nations.

22. pollute my secret place--just retribution for the Jews' pollution of the temple. "Robbers shall enter and defile" the holy of holies, the place of God's manifested presence, entrance into which was denied even to the Levites and priests and was permitted to the high priest only once a year on the great day of atonement.

23. chain--symbol of the captivity (compare Jr 27:2). As they enchained the land with violence, so shall they be chained themselves. It was customary to lead away captives in a row with a chain passed from the neck of one to the other. Therefore translate as the Hebrew requires, "the chain," namely, that usually employed on such occasions. Calvin explains it, that the Jews should be dragged, whether they would or no, before God's tribunal to be tried as culprits in chains. The next words favor this: "bloody crimes," rather, "judgment of bloods," that is, with blood sheddings deserving the extreme judicial penalty. Compare Jr 51:9: "Her judgment reacheth unto heaven."

24. worst of the heathen--literally, "wicked of the nations"; the giving up of Israel to their power will convince the Jews that this is a final overthrow.

pomp of ... strong--the pride wherewith men "stiff of forehead" despise the prophet.

holy places--the sacred compartments of the temple (Psa 68:35; Jr 51:51) [Calvin]. God calls it "their holy places," because they had so defiled it that He regarded it no longer as His. However, as the defilement of the temple has already been mentioned (Eze 7:20, 22), and "their sacred places" are introduced as a new subject, it seems better to understand this of the places dedicated to their idols. As they defiled God's sanctuary, He will defile their self-constituted "sacred places."

25. peace, and ... none--(1Th 5:3).

26. Mischief ... upon ... mischief--(De 32:23; Jr 4:20). This is said because the Jews were apt to fancy, at every abatement of suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will accumulate woe on woe.

rumour--of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty (Mt 24:6).

seek a vision--to find some way of escape from their difficulties (Is 26:9). So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah (Jr 37:17; 38:14).

law shall perish--fulfilled (Eze 20:1, 3; Psa 74:9; La 2:9; compare Am 8:11); God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from the priest" (Jr 18:18).

ancients--the ecclesiastical rulers of the people.

27. people of the land--the general multitude, as distinguished from the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks. The king, whose duty it was to animate others and find a remedy for existing evils, shall himself be in the utmost anxiety; a mark of the desperate state of affairs.

clothed with desolation--Clothing is designed to keep off shame; but in this case shame shall be the clothing.

after their way--because of their wicked ways.

deserts--literally, "judgments," that is, what just judgment awards to them; used to imply the exact correspondence of God's judgment with the judicial penalties they had incurred: they oppressed the poor and deprived them of liberty; therefore they shall be oppressed and lose their own liberty.

An end, the end is come - Instead of קץ בא הקץ kets ba hakkets, one MS. of Kennicott's, one of De Rossi's, and one of my own, read קץ בא בא הקץ kets ba, ba hakkets,"The end cometh, come is the end." This reading is supported by all the ancient Versions, and is undoubtedly genuine. The end Cometh: the termination of the Jewish state is coming, and while I am speaking, it is come. The destruction is at the door. The later hand, who put the vowel points to the ancient MS. that has the above reading, did not put the points to the first בא ba, but struck his pen gently across it, and by a mark in the margin intimated that it should be blotted out. All my ancient MSS. were without the points originally; but they have been added by modern hands, with a different ink; and they have in multitudes of instances corrected, or rather changed, important readings, to make them quadrate with the masora. But the original reading, in almost every case, is discernible.

The end is come upon the four corners of the land - This is not a partial calamity; it shall cover and sweep the whole land. The cup of your iniquity is full, and my forbearing is at an end. This whole chapter is poetical.

Thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee - They shall ever stare thee in the face, upbraid thee with thy ingratitude and disobedience, and be witnesses against thee.

An evil, an only evil - The great, the sovereign, the last exterminating evil, is come: the sword, the pestilence, the famine, and the captivity. Many MSS. read אחר achar, after. So evil cometh after evil; one instantly succeeds another.

An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee - This is similar to the second verse; but there is a paronomasia, or play upon letters and words, which is worthy of note. קץ בא בא הקץ הקץ אליך kets ba, ba hakkets, hekits elayich. קצה katsah signifies to make an end or extremity, by cutting off something, and יקץ yakats signifies to awake from sleep: hence קיץ kits, the summer, as the earth and its productions seem then to awake from the sleep of winter. The end or final destruction is here personified; and represented as an executioner who has arisen early from his sleep, and is waiting for his orders to execute judgment upon these offenders. Hence it is said: -

The morning is come unto thee - Every note of time is used in order to show the certainty of the thing. The morning that the executioner has watched for is come; the time of that morning, in which it should take place, and the day to which that time, precise hour of that morning, belongs in which judgment shall be executed. All, all is come.

And not the sounding again of the mountains - The hostile troops are advancing! Ye hear a sound, a tumultuous noise; do not suppose that this proceeds from festivals upon the mountains; from the joy of harvestmen, or the treaders of the wine-press. It is the noise of those by whom ye and your country are to fall. ולא הד הרים veto hed harim, and not the reverberation of sound, or reflected sound, or reechoing from the mountains. "Now will I shortly pour out," Eze 7:8. Here they come!

Behold the day - The same words are repeated, sometimes varied, and pressed on the attention with new figures and new circumstances, in order to alarm this infatuated people. Look at the day! It is come!

The morning is gone forth - It will wait no longer. The rod that is to chastise you hath blossomed; it is quite ready.

Pride hath budded - Your insolence, obstinacy, and daring opposition to God have brought forth their proper fruits.

Violence is risen, up into a rod of wickedness - The prophet continues his metaphor: "Pride has budded." - And what has it brought forth? Violence and iniquity. To meet these, the rod of God cometh. There is such a vast rapidity of succession in the ideas of the prophet that he cannot wait to find language to clothe each. Hence we have broken sentences; and, consequently, obscurity. Something must be supplied to get the sense, and most critics alter words in the text. Houbigant, who rarely acknowledges himself to be puzzled, appears here completely nonplussed. He has given a meaning; it is this: "Violence hath burst forth from the rod; salvation shall not proceed from them, nor from their riches, nor from their turbulence: there shall be no respite for them." Calmet has given no less than five interpretations to this verse. The simple meaning seems to be, that such and so great is their wickedness that it must be punished; and from this punishment, neither their multitude nor struggles shall set them free. They may strive to evade the threatened stroke; but they shall not succeed, nor shall they have any respite. Our Version is to be understood as saying, - None of the people shall be left; all shall be slain, or carried into captivity: nor shall any of theirs, their princes, priests, wives, or children, escape. And so deserved shall their desolation appear, that none shall lament them. This may be as good a sense as any, and it is nearest to the letter.

Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn - Such is now the state of public affairs, that he who through want has been obliged to sell his inheritance, need not mourn on the account; as of this the enemy would soon have deprived him. And he who has bought it need not rejoice in his bargain, as he shall soon be stripped of his purchase, and either fall by the sword, or be glad to flee for his life.

For the seller shall not return - In the sale of all heritages among the Jews, it was always understood that the heritage must return to the family on the year of jubilee, which was every fiftieth year; but in this case the seller should not return to possess it, as it was not likely that he should be alive when the next jubilee should come, and if he were even to live till that time, he could not possess it, as he would then be in captivity. And the reason is particularly given; for the vision - the prophetic declaration of a seventy years' captivity, regards the whole multitude of the people; and it shall not return, i.e., it will be found to be strictly true, without any abatement.

They have blown the trumpet - Vain are all the efforts you make to collect and arm the peoples and stand on your own defense; for all shall be dispirited, and none go to the battle.

The sword is without - War through all the country, and pestilence and famine within the city, shall destroy the whole, except a small remnant. He who endeavors to flee from the one shall fall by the other.

They - shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys - Rather, like mourning doves הגאיות haggeayoth, chased from their dove-cotes, and separated from their mates.

All knees shall be weak as water - Calmet understands this curiously: La frayeur dont on sera saisi, fera qu'on ne pourra retenir son urine. D'autres l'expliquent d'une autre souillure plus honteuse. I believe him to be nearly about right. St. Jerome is exactly the same: Pavoris magnitudine, urina polluet genua, nec valebit profluentes aquas vesica prohibere. This and other malretentions are often the natural effect of extreme fear or terror.

They shall cast their silver in the streets - Their riches can be of no use; as in a time of famine there is no necessary of life to be purchased, and gold and silver cannot fill their bowels.

It is the stumbling-block of their iniquity - They loved riches, and placed in the possession of them their supreme happiness. Now they find a pound of gold not worth an ounce of bread.

As for the beauty of his ornament - Their beautiful temple was their highest ornament, and God made it majestic by his presence. But they have even taken its riches to make their idols, which they have brought into the very courts of the Lord's house; and therefore God hath set it - the temple, from him - given it up to pillage. Some say it means, "They took their ornaments, which were their pride, and made them into images to worship."

The robbers shall enter into it - The Chaldeans shall not only destroy the city; but they shall enter the temple, deface it, plunder it, and burn it to the ground.

Make a chain - Point out the captivity; show them that it shall come, and show them the reason: "Because the land is full of bloody crimes," etc.

The worst of the heathen - The Chaldeans; the most cruel and idolatrous of all nations.

They shall seek peace - They see now that their ceasing to pay the tribute to the king of Babylon has brought the Chaldeans against them; and now they sue for peace in vain. He will not hear: he is resolved on their destruction.

Then shall they seek a vision - Vision shall perish from the prophet, the law from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. Previously to great national judgments, God restrains the influences of his Spirit. His word is not accompanied with the usual unction; and the wise men of the land, the senators and celebrated statesmen, devise foolish schemes; and thus, in endeavoring to avert it, they hasten on the national ruin. How true is the saying, Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. "Those whom God designs to destroy, he first infatuates."

An end - An end of God's patience, and of the peace and welfare of the people.

Recompense - The punishment of them.

An evil - An evil and sore affliction, a singular, uncommon one.

An end - When the end is come upon the wicked world, then an only evil comes upon it. The sorest of temporal judgments have their allays; but the torments of the damned are an evil, an only evil.

The morning - The fatal morning, the day of destruction. Sounding - Not a mere echo, not a fancy, but a real thing.

Is come - Of your wickedness; pride and violence in particular.

None - They shall be utterly wasted for their sins. Wailing - The living shall not bewail their dead friends, because they shall judge the dead in a better case than the living.

Mourn - Men usually part with their estates grieving that they must transmit their right to others; but let them now think how little a while they could have kept them, and how little time they shall keep them who have bought them.

Yet alive - For if any should survive the captivity, yet the conqueror wasting and destroying all, would confound all ancient boundaries. Touching - The evils threatened are designed against all the multitude of Israel. Strengthen - Nor shall any one man of them all he able to secure himself, by any sinful contrivance.

They - The house of Israel have summoned in all fit for arms. None - There is not a man going to the war. Wrath - That displeasure which takes away their courage.

Without - In the countries. Within - The besieged city. Field - Whoever is in the field.

Iniquity - Either for the punishment of their iniquity, or for their iniquity itself.

Baldness - Either by pulling off the hair amidst their sorrows, or cutting it off in token of mourning.

Cast - That they may be the lighter to fly. Removed - Carried away into Babylon. Not satisfy - They shall afford them no comfort. Stumbling - block - This silver and gold they coveted immeasurably, and abused to pride, luxury, idolatry and oppression; this that they stumbled at and fell into sin, now they stumble at and fall into the deepest misery.

The beauty - The temple, and all that pertained to it, which was the beauty and glory of that nation. He set - God commanded it should be beautiful and magnificent. Images - Their idols. Far from them - I have sent them far from the temple.

It - My temple.

Turn - Either from the Jews, or from the Chaldeans, neither relieving the one nor restraining the other. Secret place - The temple, and the holy of holies. Robbers - The soldiers.

A chain - To bind the captives.

The pomp - The magnificence and glory, wherein they boasted; or the temple that the Jews gloried in.

Seek - But in vain. The priest - He shall have no words either of counsel or comfort to say to them. Ancients - Nor shall their senators know what to advise.

The king - Zedekiah. The prince - Every magistrate. Troubled - Hang down, and melt away. What can men contrive or do for themselves, when God is departed from them? All must needs be in tears, all in trouble, when God comes to judge them according to their deserts, and so make them know, that he is the Lord, to whom vengeance belongeth.

1 MOreover, the word of the LORD, came unto me, saying,

This introduceth a continuation and confirmation, with some illustration of what Judgements were denounced in the former Chapter.

2 Also thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel, An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.

The inhabitants who had sinned, and also to the Land wherein they sinned.

End of Gods Patience, of the peace and welfare of the People, and of the plenty, beauty and, desireableness of the Land it self, is come, or is near at hand.

That dreadful end I threatned against you, and which you will find in the execution of the menaces pronounced against you by the former and latter Prophets.

It is an overflowing misery that spreads over all the Land.

3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will Judge thee according to thy wayes, and will recompence upon thee all thine abominations.

There shall be no more delays, mine anger is upon thee.

It is I, who send the Chaldeans, the Pestilence, Famine, &c. These are Commissioned by me.

Punish.

As thou deservest.

Give, Heb unto thee as the wages of thy iniquities, or lay all the guilt, and all the punishment of all thy sins upon thee.

Marginal references: Heb. give.

4 And mine eyes shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity, but I will recompence thy wayes upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Vid. Chap. 5.11.

Not onely the punishment an smart, but the vileness, loathsomeness and hatefulness of thy sins shall be.

Ever before thee, and openly known to others also, or shall reach thy very heart,

See Chap. 6.10, 12.

Marginal references: Chap. 8.18. & 9.10.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD, An evil, an onely evil , behold, it is come.

An evil and sore affliction, one misery enough to ruin the whole, so that there will be no need of another. Or, as the Chald. paraphr. one evil after another, and this bespeaks the extream sadness of their condition who suffer under this evil.

Open your eyes you will see it is at the doors and breaking in upon you.

6 An end is come, the end is come, it watcheth for thee, behold, it is come.

Thus frequently is it repeated to shew the certainty of the thing, the heaviness of the judgment, the great apprehensions they should have of it, and yet the great security they are under.

Gods vengeance seems to slumber, and sinners dream 'twill never awake, but here the Prophet assureth the sinners of Ierusalem and its People, that God hath awakened his vengeance which now watcheth to take the first opportunity, or rather to hasten it.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] against th[illegible: 2 letters]

7 The morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.

The word is variously rendred and accordingly variously applied, it is, say some, of a Chaldee original, and signifies to cry out, to encompass, and to rise betimes in the morning, very fitly applicable here. With the morning Starr which ushers in the light thine Enemies, and thy sorrows are risen, have compassed thee about, and the cry of their shoutings, and the cry of thy distressed people is raised, a long day of sorrows threatens thee, is upon thee.

Upon every one that dwelleth in the Land.

As the day near to the morning, so near are thy troubles, thy great, perplexed, and tumultuous troubles, as the word implies, like that Isai. 22.5. and Zeph. 1.14, 15, 16, 17.

Either it means the Eccho, which Mountains make, and is an empty sound, makes great noise and onely startles Children; the noise and report of your calamities are real, yea dreadful. Or, else thus on the Mountains were your Vineyards, and in vintage time your Grape-gatherers were wont to shout for joy and fill the Neighbourhood with their joys, but no such soundings shall you hear now. Or, it may allude to the Musick with which their Idol Worship was celebrated in Mountains, high places, in vallies, &c. whence the sound was heard and eccho'd from Hill to Hill. Those soundings from the Mountains shall cease, 'tis a long day of vengeance for those sins.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word]

8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish my anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.

Or from a near distance, as well as in a short time, that the Flood of my wrath may bear all down before it.

My wrath shall not be poured out as water from a Cloud at mighty distance, but like the breaking out of the Sea on the Neighbouring Villages, which swallows them up Houses, Cattel and Men without remedy.

See chap. 5. ver. 13. and verse 3. of this Chapter.

9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways, and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.

See chap. 5.11.

Worse then the wayes of Heathens, and thy punishments shall be worse.

Still thou retainest the old, and addest new abominations, these to this day are in thee not hidden, but openly.

You look onely to the Hand and Sword of the Chaldeans, but i'le not cease till you feel and acknowledge my hand smiting, that you may accept punishment, repent and return to me.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

10 Behold the day, behold, it is come, the morning is gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.

If you will open your eies you may see the lowring day of vengeance, see ver. 7.

This and what follows may refer either 1. To Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans, the rod of Gods anger, they flourish, are strong and heavy, like to last too long in their strength to break Israel.

As they flourish in strength they exceed in pride and arrogance, which buddeth forth in the haughty designs they lay, of raising themselves on the ruines of all Countries.

11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs, neither shall there be wailing for them.

With fierceness which is their natural temper, a bitter and hasty Nation, H[illegible: 1 letter]b. 1.6. with eagerness and impetuous[illegible: 1 letter] vigor executing, and with injustice and violence oppressing all.

Is grown up to be though a rod to punish bad men, yet to be worse then those it punisheth; in brief, you may expect the very worst from the Power, Pride, and Violence of those I am now letting in upon you. Or, 2. It may refer to Israel; thus your Tribe (or rod the same word) blossometh but tis in sin, and that in Pride and Violence, so grown that tis a most wicked rod of injustice and oppression to your Neighbours, Brethren, Servants, &c. as Ieremiah, Hoseah, and other Prophets as well as Ezekiel complained, and now your sins thus ripe your sorrows must be very near, as tis not many months between the budding of the Tree and the ripening and gathering of the Fruit.

This also is fairly applicable to both Chaldeans and Jews, the Jews should be utterly wasted first for their sins, which God will punish by this violent, proud, mighty Enemy, and afterwards he will destroy root and branch of that mighty oppressor, and

so sad shall the sufferings of both be, that the living shall not bewail their dead Friends, because they shall judg the dead in better case then the living. And though the words may have this double aspect yet I take them to refer principally, and first to the Jews, and their near approaching sorrows.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word]; Or, th[illegible: 3 letters] [illegible: 2 letters] multuous [illegible: 1 word]; Jer. 16.[illegible: 2 letters] Ch. 24.1[illegible: 1 letter], [illegible: 1 letter]

12 The time is come, the day draweth near, let not the buyer rejoyce, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

See Verse 2, 3.6, 7.

Though he honestly possesse what his money purchased, yet let him not hug himself in the thought of his riches.

Men usually part with their Estates grieving that they must transmit their right to others, but let sellers now think how little a while they could have kept them, and how little time they shall keep them who have bought them.

Such wrath from God an offended judge, and from insolent Enemies, that Buyer and Seller shall find their state much alike.

13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return, neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

He that now selleth is of that age, that can scarce promise himself to live till the 70 years Captivity expire.

Either out of Captivity, or at the Year of Jubilee, he shall never with grief behold another in possession of that he was forced to sell. Nor doth this contradict Ieremiah who promiseth a return, for he foretelleth the return to Children and Posterity, Ezekiel denies the present Generation shall return, Ieremiah speaks of a return to the Land of Canaan, Ezekiel denieth a return to ancient particular Rights, Estates and Possessions.

For if any should survive the Captivity, yet the Conqueror wasting and destroying all would confound all distinct Titles, and antient Boundaries.

The evils foreseen and threatned are designed against all the multitude of Israel, whose sin and impenitence have involved them in these Judgements, and miseries, as I am assured by Vision which cannot fail of accomplishment, which shall not return vain, and not performed.

Nor shall any one man of them all be able to fortifie himself and secure his state against these threats by his obstinacy and sin, or by any sinful contrivances.

Marginal references: Heb. though their life were yet among the living.; Or, whose life [illegible: 2 letters] in his iniquity.; Heb. his iniquity.

14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready, but none goeth to the battle, for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.

The House of Israel have publisht their resolution for War, and summoned in all fit for Arms, so, if the words be read as here. Or, if in the imperative Mood, blow ye, &c. They are a smart Irony against the preparations the Jews can possibly make for repelling the Enemy, and defending their City.

Persons fit for the War and all warlike provisions, a thing necessary in case of Invasions, but in their case a vain attempt.

There is not a man going to the War (as the Heb.) all are backward in this danger.

That displeasure which takes away their Prudence and Courage, that these men of might sleep, and none finds his hands or weapons, Isa. 29.14.

15 The sword is without, and the pestilence, and the famine within, he that is in the field shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

In the Countries.

The Besieged City.

Whoever is in the Field.

Of the Chaldean Souldier.

Shall eat him up; you, O Jews! shall be food for unsatiable Pestilence and Famine, heavy Tydings to sinful Ierusalem!

Marginal references: Deut. 32.25. Lam. 1.20.

16 ¶ But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

As we read the words they are a prediction, some shall escape, and a promise of some mercy in the escape. But if we read them as we may thus. And fly ye that are escaped of them, in the imperative, they are a command to, or direction for such as would escape, like that Ier. 21.9.

Wandring out of their proper place and uneasie.

That are frighted out of their nests and fly among the wilder sort of Doves, which give them trouble and danger, such will be the state of escaped among salvage Idolaters.

Bemoaning themselves and making a mournful noise, Na[illegible: 1 letter]. 2.7.

Either for the punishment of their iniquity, so the worst of those that escape. Or, for their iniquity cause of their punishment, so the best among them. Or, for both together, the mourning though on different motives yet should be universal, every one weeping.

17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

With which they should hold the instruments of Fortification, the Weapons of War, the tools of working, and that should carry away their Goods, that they shall not be able to work at the Ramparts, nor fight in the Battel, nor earn their Bread, or carry away their substance on which they might subsist.

Which bowed to idols shall now fall under the punishments of Idolatry, shall be neither strong to stand in Battel, or to fly from the drawn Sword, and this weakness was on all as 'tis twice repeated.

Marginal references: Isa. 13.7. Jer. 6.24.; Heb. go into water.

18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them, and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

A very general usage in the Eastern parts in deepest sorrows and distresses to put Sackcloth on, and to gird it close to their bodies.

Either dreadful apprehensions of growing evils, or continued shakings from impressions of what formerly they felt according to Lev. 26.16.36.

Be on every side, no side safety or quiet, and confidence.

Of disappointment which breeds consternation and shame of conscious guilt and unbecoming deportment which fills the countenance as much with blushing, as it fills the Conscience with guilt and sin.

Either by pulling off the hair amidst their sorrows. Or, cutting off their hair in token of greatest mourning, Isa. 15.2. Ier. 7.29. and 48.37. Amos 8.10.

Marginal references: Isa. 15.2, 3. Jer. 48.37.

19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfie their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity.

Either 1. The Jews themselves, that they be the lighter to fly, and might stop the pursuer whom they hope Silver may stop a while, and give them some space to get away. Or, might occasion quarrels among Souldiers of Fortune, which might set them one against another till the distressed Jew could get away from them all. Or, 2. The Chaldeans who in this day of their own rage and Gods wrath against the Jews did (as the Medes and Persians shall Isa. 13.17.) not regard Silver or Gold, Prov. 11.4. Or, 3. Because Nebuchadnezzar might possibly reserve it all to himself having those vast thoughts of enlarging his Empire by Arms, which could not be done without great Treasures.

Carried away into Babylon to the Royal Treasury. Or, laid aside as despised when offered a ransom of their Life. Or, hid by the Jews in polluted places, which perhaps the Jew might think would be securest from searching, forasmuch as the Chaldaean knew their Law forbad them to touch any unclean thing.

This is the sum of it▪ these Treasures shall stand them in no stead.

If the self flattering Jew should think much Silver and Gold might ransom their Life, when the City is taken, the Prophet removes this confidence and tells them they should not have enough to buy Bread to fill their own Bellies.

This Silver and Gold they valued too much, covered immeasurably, abused to Pride, Luxury, Idolatry and Oppression, this, that they stumbled at and fell into sin, this now that they stumble at and fall into deepest misery and danger.

Marginal references: Heb. for a separation, or, uncleanness.; Pro. 11.4. Zeph. 1.18. Ecclus. 5.8.; Or, because their iniquity is their stumbling block.

20 ¶ As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations, and of their † detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.

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.

God commanded, it should be stately, beautiful and rich very magnificent, said Solomon, great, 2 Chron. 2.5. and God gave the Riches with which 'twas built, 1 Chr. 29.11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

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 commit Adultery before the Eye of her Husband. Or, made their Idols, those abominable images, those detestable things, of the Silver and Gold which I adorned them with.

I have parted between them sent them from the Temple, and their Gold and Silver from them.

Marginal references: Or, made it unto them an unclean thing.

21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil, and they shall pollute it .

My Temple.

Power and Possession.

Forreigners who by direction of my Law were excluded coming to it, they now shall enter into it, and take the riches of it as lawful prey.

This description of these men, strangers by their distance of place, and the worst of Men on Earth by the proud, cruel, and fierce disposition.

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 say the Text speaks of the rich Idols which the Idolaters accounted most holy, and on which they laid out their Treasure, and which now the Chaldeans should plunder and pollute.

22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it and defile it.

Either from the Jews who cry under such violence and profaneness. Or, from the Chaldeans who act it, neither relieving the one nor restraining the other.

Either, 1. My enclosed Land of Iudaea. Or, 2. My City Ierusalem. Or, 3. The Temple. And 4. The Holy of Holies, all which the Babylonian Conquerors trampled under their conquering feet.

The Souldiers who in Truth robbed the Temple, and here have their true stile given them, are Robbers that used the Temple and it, consecrate Gifts without any reverence or respect. They should break all open and rush into the places, Jews, Levites, and Priests might not enter.

Marginal references: Or, burgl[illegible: 1 letter]rs.

23 ¶ Make a chain ; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

Either to signifie that like criminals they should be brought in chains before God their Judge. Or, as guilty and condemned should be led away in chains. Or, else as Captives in chains carried away in triumph, because Murthers, and Oppressions abounded in them. Or,

Because the crimes which deserved death abounded among them.

24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possesse their houses, I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled.

The most violent, proud and bloody men, such the Chaldeans shewed themselves.

Not only dwell in their houses, but by right of Conquest account them their own, and descending to theirs after them.

The excellency, magnificence and glory, what ever they boasted of, either literally, the Pride, or figuratively, the Temple that the Jews gloried in,

Of the Jews who thought Ierusalem too well Fortified by Art and Nature, and the Divine presence, it being the City of God, ever to be overthrown.

All that pertains to their Religion▪ and exercise of it, persons, places, things, which now by their abuse of them are theirs, not mine, shall be polluted.

Marginal references: Or, they shall inherit their holy places.

25 Destruction cometh, and they shall seek peace and there shall be none.

Such as an angry, provoked power makes when it cuts off all root and branch.

Either by enquiring of Prophets. Or, rather suing to Nebuchadnezzar, whom, after so many affronts, they will attempt to pacifie.

No such thing can be had, they should seek it elsewhere and appease their God who could give them peace, as for the Chaldean, he will not, because God doth not.

Marginal references: Heb. cutting off.

26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour, then shall they seek a vision of the prophet : but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the antients .

Loss upon loss, one sorrow on the neck of another.

Dreadful news one post after another of the Enemies threats, preparations, marches, successes▪ and cruelties, wounding the Heart of the stoutest.

In this multiplied perplexity they will enquire, its likely, of their false Prophets, hating the true, whom if they consult, they will not like their answer. Or, rather there shall be no Prophet, as Psal. 74.9. No Revelation from Heaven for them.

And Heb. rather then, But. When they consult the Priest their ordinary director by the Law, alas! If any remain they are Ignorant of the Law, nor have they Sacrifices to bring to them to offer unto God. Religious men can afford them no comfort.

Nor shall their Senators know what to advise.

Marginal references: Jer. 4.20.; Psal. 74.9. Lam. 2.9.

27 The King shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Zedekiah.

Droop and despair.

Every Magistrate shall despond.

See verse 17.

Hang down, and melt away.

I will no more forbear what they have deserved, I will repay and they shall know my vengeance.

Marginal references: Heb. with their judgments.

The Overthrow of Israel

The second “word of God,” contained in this chapter, completes the announcement of judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah, by expanding the thought, that the end will come both quickly and inevitably upon the land and people. This word is divided into two unequal sections, by the repetition of the phrase, “Thus saith Adonai Jehovah” (Eze 7:2 and Eze 7:5). In the first of these sections the theme is given in short, expressive, and monotonous clauses; namely, the end is drawing nigh, for God will judge Israel without mercy according to its abominations. The second section (vv. 5-27) is arranged in four strophes, and contains, in a form resembling the lamentation in Eze 19:1-14, a more minute description of the end predicted.

The End Cometh

Eze 7:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me thus: Eze 7:2. And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An end to the land of Israel! the end cometh upon the four borders of the land. Eze 7:3. Now (cometh) the end upon thee, and I shall send my wrath upon thee, and judge thee according to thy ways, and bring upon thee all thine abominations. Eze 7:4. And my eye shall not look with pity upon thee, and I shall not spare, but bring thy ways upon thee; and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee, that ye may know that I am Jehovah. - ואתּה - .havoheJ ma I, with the copula, connects this word of God with the preceding one, and shows it to be a continuation. It commences with an emphatic utterance of the thought, that the end is coming to the land of Israel, i.e., to the kingdom of Judah, with its capital Jerusalem. Desecrated as it has been by the abominations of its inhabitants, it will cease to be the land of God’s people Israel. 'לאדמת ישׂ (to the land of Israel) is not to be taken with כּה אמר (thus saith the Lord) in opposition to the accents, but is connected with qeets קץ (an end), as in the Targ. and Vulgate, and is placed first for the sake of greater emphasis. In the construction, compare Job 6:14. ארבּעת כּנפות הארץ is limited by the parallelism to the four extremities of the land of Israel. It is used elsewhere for the whole earth (Isa 11:12). The Chetib ארבּעת is placed, in opposition to the ordinary rule, before a noun in the feminine gender. The Keri gives the regular construction (vid., Ewald, §267 c). In Eze 7:3 the end is explained to be a wrathful judgment. “Give (נתן) thine abominations upon thee;” i.e., send the consequences, inflict punishment for them. The same thought is expressed in the phrase, “thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee;” in other words, they would discern them in the punishments which the abominations would bring in their train. For Eze 7:4 compare Eze 5:11.

Eze 7:5-9

The execution of the judgment announced in Eze 7:2-4, arranged in four strophes: Eze 7:5-9, Eze 7:10-14, Eze 7:15-22, Eze 7:23-27. - The first strophe depicts the end as a terrible calamity, and as near at hand. Eze 7:3 and Eze 7:4 are repeated as a refrain in Eze 7:8 and Eze 7:9, with slight modifications. Eze 7:5. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Misfortune, a singular misfortune, behold, it cometh. Eze 7:6. End cometh: there cometh the end; it waketh upon thee; behold, it cometh. Eze 7:7. The fate cometh upon thee, inhabitants of the land: the time cometh, the day is near; tumult and not joy upon the mountains. Eze 7:8. Now speedily will I pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger on thee; and judge thee according to thy ways, and bring upon thee all thine abominations. Eze 7:9. My eye shall not look with pity upon thee, and I shall not spare; according to thy ways will I bring it upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee, that ye may know that I, Jehovah, am smiting. - Misfortune of a singular kind shall come. רעה is made more emphatic by אחת רעה, in which אחת is placed first for the sake of emphasis, in the sense of unicus, singularis; a calamity singular (unique) of its kind, such as never had occurred before (cf. Eze 5:9). In Eze 7:6 the poetical הקיץ, it (the end) waketh upon thee, is suggested by the paronomasia with הקּץ. The force of the words is weakened by supplying Jehovah as the subject to הקיץ, in opposition to the context. And it will not do to supply רעה (evil) from Eze 7:5 as the subject to  הנּה באה (behold, it cometh). באה is construed impersonally: It cometh, namely, every dreadful thing which the end brings with it. The meaning of tzephirâh is doubtful. The only other passage in which it occurs is Isa 28:5, where it is used in the sense of diadem or crown, which is altogether unsuitable here. Raschi has therefore had recourse to the Syriac and Chaldee צפרא, aurora, tempus matutinum, and Hävernick has explained it accordingly, “the dawn of an evil day.” But the dawn is never used as a symbol or omen of misfortune, not even in Joe 2:2, but solely as the sign of the bursting forth of light or of salvation. Abarbanel was on the right track when he started from the radical meaning of צפר, to twist, and taking tzephirâh in the sense of orbis, ordo, or periodical return, understood it as probably denoting rerum fatique vicissitudinem in orbem redeuntem (Ges. Thes. p. 1188). But it has been justly observed, that the rendering succession, or periodical return, can only give a forced sense in Eze 7:10. Winer has given a better rendering, viz., fatum, malum fatale, fate or destiny, for which he refers to the Arabic tsabramun, intortum, then fatum haud mutandum inevitabile. Different explanations have also been given of הד הרים. But the opinion that it is synonymous with הידד, the joyous vintage cry (Jer 25:30; Isa 16:10), is a more probable one than that it is an unusual form of הוד, splendor, gloria. So much at any rate is obvious from the context, that the hapax legomenon dh̀ is the antithesis of מהוּמה, tumult, or the noise of war. The shouting of the mountains, is shouting, a rejoicing upon the mountains. מקּרוב, from the immediate vicinity, in a temporal not a local sense, as in Deu 32:17 (= immediately). For כּלּה , see Eze 6:1-14;12. The remainder of the strophe (Eze 7:8 and Eze 7:9) is a repetition of Eze 7:3 and Eze 7:4; but מכּה is added in the last clause. They shall learn that it is Jehovah who smites. This thought is expanded in the following strophe.

Eze 7:10-14

Second Strophe

Eze 7:10. Behold the day, behold, it cometh; the fate springeth up; the rod sprouteth; the pride blossometh. Eze 7:11. The violence riseth up as the rod of evil: nothing of them, nothing of their multitude, nothing of their crowd, and nothing glorious upon them. Eze 7:12. The time cometh, the day approacheth: let not the buyer rejoice, and let not the seller trouble himself; for wrath cometh upon the whole multitude thereof. Eze 7:13. For the seller will not return to that which was sold, even though his life were still among the living: for the prophecy against its whole multitude will not turn back; and no one will strengthen himself as to his life through his iniquity. Eze 7:14. They blow the trumpet and make everything ready; but no one goeth into the battle: for my wrath cometh upon all their multitude. - The rod is already prepared; nothing will be left of the ungodly. This is the leading thought of the strophe. The three clauses of Eze 7:10 are synonymous; but there is a gradation in the thought. The approaching fate springs up out of the earth (יצא, applied to the springing up of plants, as in 1Ki 5:13; Isa 11:1, etc.); it sprouts as a rod, and flowers as pride. Matteh, the rod as an instrument of chastisement (Isa 10:5). This rod is then called za=dho4n, pride, inasmuch as God makes use of a proud and violent people, namely the Chaldeans (Hab 1:6.; Jer 50:31 seq.), to inflict the punishment. Sprouting and blossoming, which are generally used as figurative representations of fresh and joyous prosperity, denote here the vigorous growth of that power which is destined to inflict the punishment. Both châmâs (violence) and zâdhōn (pride) refer to the enemy who is to chastise Israel. The violence which he employs rises up into the chastening rod of “evil,” i.e., of ungodly Israel. In Eze 7:11 the effect of the blow is described in short, broken sentences. The emotion apparent in the frequent repetition of לא is intensified by the omission of the verb, which gives to the several clauses the character of exclamations. So far as the meaning is concerned, we have to insert יהיה in thought, and to take מן ekat o in a partitive sense: there will not be anything of them, i.e., nothing will be left of them (the Israelites, or the inhabitants of the land). מהם (of them) is explained by the nouns which follow. המון and the ἁπ. λεγ. לחולםš, plural of הם or המה, both derivatives of המה, are so combined that המון signifies the tumultuous multitude of people, המה the multitude of possessions (like המון, Isa 60:2; Psa 37:16, etc.). The meaning which Hävernick assigns to hâmeh, viz., anxiety or trouble, is unsupported and inappropriate. The ἁπ λεγ. נהּ is not to be derived from נהה, to lament, as the Rabbins affirm; or interpreted, as Kimchi - who adopts this derivation - maintains, on the ground of Jer 16:4., as signifying that, on account of the multitude of the dying, there will be no more lamentation for the dead. This leaves the Mappik in ה unexplained. נהּ is a derivative of a root נוהּ; in Arabic, na=ha , elata fuit res, eminuit, magnificus fuit; hence  ,נהּres magnifica. When everything disappears in such a way as this, the joy occasioned by the acquisition of property, and the sorrow caused by its loss, will also pass away (Eze 7:12). The buyer will not rejoice in the property he has bought, for he will not be able to enjoy it; and the seller will not mourn that he has been obliged to part with his possession, for he would have lost it in any case.“It is a natural thing to rejoice in the purchase of property, and to mourn over its sale. But when slavery and captivity stare you in the face, rejoicing and mourning are equally absurd.” - Jerome.

The wrath of God is kindled against their whole multitude; that is to say, the judgment falls equally upon them all. The suffix in המונהּ refers, as Jerome has correctly shown, to the “land of Israel” (admath , Yisrâeel) in Eze 7:2, i.e., to the inhabitants of the land. The words, “the seller will not return to what he has sold,” are to be explained from the legal regulations concerning the year of Jubilee in Lev 25, according to which all landed property that had been sold was to revert to its original owner (or his heir), without compensation, in the year of jubilee; so that he would then return to his mimkâr (Lev 25:14, Lev 25:27-28). Henceforth, however, this will take place no more, even if היּתם, their (the sellers') life, should be still alive (sc., at the time when the return to his property would take place, according to the regulations of the year of jubilee), because Israel will be banished from the land. The clause 'ועוד בּחיּים ה is a conditional circumstantial clause. The seller will not return (לא ישׁוּב) to his possession, because the prophecy concerning the whole multitude of the people will not return (לא), i.e., will not turn back (for this meaning of שׁוּב, compare Isa 45:23; Isa 55:11). As לא ישׁוּב corresponds to the previous לא ישׁוּב, so does חזון את־כּל המונהּ to חרון אל־כּל־המונהּ in Eze 7:12. In the last clause of Eze 7:13, חיּתו is not to be taken with בּעונו in the sense of “in the iniquity of his life,” which makes the suffix in בּעונו superfluous, but with יתחזּקוּ, the Hithpael being construed with the accusative, “strengthen himself in his life.” Whether these words also refer to the year of jubilee, as Hävernick supposes, inasmuch as the regulation that every one was to recover his property was founded upon the idea of the restitution and re-creation of the theocracy, we may leave undecided; since the thought is evidently simply this: ungodly Israel shall be deprived of its possession, because the wicked shall not obtain the strengthening of his life through his sin. This thought leads on to Eze 7:14, in which we have a description of the utter inability to offer any successful resistance to the enemy employed in executing the judgment. There is some difficulty connected with the word בּתּקוע, since the infin. absolute, which the form תּקוע  seems to indicate, cannot be construed with either a preposition or the article. Even if the expression  ּבתּקוע תּקעוּ in Jer 6:1 was floating before the mind of Ezekiel, and led to his employing the bold phrase  ּבתּקוע, this would not justify the use of the infinitive absolute with a preposition and the article. תּקוע must be a substantive form, and denote not clangour, but the instrument used to sound an alarm, viz., the shōphâr (Eze 33:3). הכין, an unusual form of the inf. abs. (see Jos 7:7), used in the place of the finite tense, and signifying to equip for war, as in Nah 2:4. הכּל, everything requisite for waging war. And no one goes into the battle, because the wrath of God turns against them (Lev 26:17), and smites them with despair (Deu 32:30).

Eze 7:15-22

Third strophe

Thus will they fall into irresistible destruction; even their silver and gold they will not rescue, but will cast it away as useless, and leave it for the enemy. - Eze 7:15. The sword without, and pestilence and famine within: he who is in the field will die by the sword; and famine and pestilence will devour him that is in the city. Eze 7:16. And if their escaped ones escape, they will be upon the mountains like the doves of the valleys, all moaning, every one for his iniquity. Eze 7:17. All hands will become feeble, and all knees flow with water. Eze 7:18. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and terrors will cover them; on all faces there will be shame, and baldness on all their heads. Eze 7:19. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be as filth to them. Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; they will not satisfy their souls therewith, nor fill their stomachs thereby, for it was to them a stumbling-block to guilt. Eze 7:20. And His beautiful ornament, they used it for pride; and their abominable images, their abominations they made thereof: therefore I make it filth to them. Eze 7:21. And I shall give it into the hand of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, that they may defile it. Eze 7:22. I shall turn my face from them, that they defile my treasure; and oppressors shall come upon it and defile it. - The chastisement of God penetrates everywhere (Eze 7:15 compare with Eze 5:12); even flight to the mountains, that are inaccessible to the foe (compare 1 Macc. 2:28; Mat 24:16), will only bring misery. Those who have fled to the mountains will coo - i.e., mourn, moan - like the doves of the valleys, which (as Bochart has correctly interpreted the simile in his Hieroz. II. p. 546, ed. Ros.), “when alarmed by the bird-catcher or the hawk, are obliged to forsake their natural abode, and fly elsewhere to save their lives. The mountain doves are contrasted with those of the valleys, as wild with tame.” In כּלּם המות the figure and the fact are fused together. The words actually relate to the men who have fled; whereas the gender of המות is made to agree with that of כּיוני. The cooing of doves was regarded by the ancients as a moan (hâgâh), a mournful note (for proofs, see Gesen. on Isa 38:14); for which Ezekiel uses the still stronger expression hâmâh fremere, to howl or growl (cf. Isa 59:11). The low moaning has reference to their iniquity, the punishment of which they are enduring. When the judgment bursts upon them, they will all (not merely those who have escaped, but the whole nation) be overwhelmed with terror, shame, and suffering. The words, “all knees flow with water” (for hâlak in this sense, compare Joel 4:18), are a hyperbolical expression used to denote the entire loss of the strength of the knees (here, Eze 7:17 and Eze 21:12), like the heart melting and turning to water in Jos 7:5. With this utter despair there are associated grief and horror at the calamity that has fallen upon them, and shame and pain at the thought of the sins that have plunged them into such distress. For כּסּתה פלּצוּת, compare Psa 55:6; for אל־כּל־פנים בּוּשׁה, Mic 7:10; Jer 51:51; and for קרחה  'בּכל־ראשׁ, Isa 15:2; Amo 8:10. On the custom of shaving the head bald on account of great suffering or deep sorrow, see the comm. on Mic 1:16.

In this state of anguish they will throw all their treasures away as sinful trash (Eze 7:19.). By the silver and gold which they will throw away (Eze 7:19), we are not to understand idolatrous images particularly - these are first spoken of in Eze 7:20 - but the treasures of precious metals on which they had hitherto set their hearts. They will not merely throw these away as worthless, but look upon them as niddâh, filth, an object of disgust, inasmuch as they have been the servants of their evil lust. The next clause, “silver and gold cannot rescue them,” are a reminiscence from Zep 1:18. But Ezekiel gives greater force to the thought by adding, “they will not appease their hunger therewith,” - that is to say, they will not be able to protect their lives thereby, either from the sword of the enemy (see the comm. on Zep 1:18) or from death by starvation, because there will be no more food to purchase within the besieged city. The clause 'כּי assigns the reason for that which forms the leading thought of the verse, namely, the throwing away of the silver and gold as filth; מכשׁול עונם, a stumbling-block through which one falls into guilt and punishment; צבי עדיו, the beauty of his ornament, i.e., his beautiful ornament. The allusion is to the silver and gold; and the singular suffix is to be explained from the fact that the prophet fixed his mind upon the people as a whole, and used the singular in a general and indefinite sense. The words are written absolutely at the commencement of the sentence; hence the suffix attached to שׂמהוּ, Jerome has given the true meaning of the words: “what I (God) gave for an ornament of the possessors and for their wealth, they turned into pride.” And not merely to ostentatious show (in the manner depicted in Isa 3:16.), but to abominable images, i.e., idols, did they apply the costly gifts of God (cf. Hos 8:4; Hos 13:2). עשׂה, to make of (gold and silver); ב denoting the material with which one works and of which anything is made (as in Exo 31:4; Exo 38:8). God punishes this abuse by making it (gold and silver) into niddâh to them, i.e., according to v. 19, by placing them in such circumstances that they cast it away as filth, and (v. 21) by giving it as booty to the foe. The enemy is described as “the wicked of the earth” (cf. Psa 75:9), i.e., godless men, who not only seize upon the possession of Israel, but in the most wicked manner lay hands upon all that is holy, and defile it. The Chetib חלּלוּה is to be retained, notwithstanding the fact that it was preceded by a masculine suffix. What is threatened will take place, because the Lord will turn away His face from His people (מהם, from the Israelites), i.e., will withdraw His gracious protection from them, so that the enemy will be able to defile His treasure. Tsâphuun, that which is hidden, the treasure (Job 20:26; Oba 1:6). Tsephuunii is generally supposed to refer to the temple, or the Most Holy Place in the temple. Jerome renders it arcanum meum, and gives this explanation: “signifying the Holy of Holies, which no one except the priests and the high priest dared to enter.” This interpretation was so commonly adopted by the Fathers, that even Theodoret explains the rendering given in the Septuagint, τὴν ἐπισκοπήν μου, as signifying the Most Holy Place in the temple. On the other hand, the Chaldee has ארעא בּית שׁכינתי, “the land of the house of my majesty;” and Calvin understands it as signifying “the land which was safe under His (i.e., God’s) protection.” But it is difficult to reconcile either explanation with the use of the word tsâphuun. The verb tsâphan signifies to hide, shelter, lay up in safety. These meanings do not befit either the Holy of Holies in the temple or the land of Israel. It is true that the Holy of Holies was unapproachable by the laity, and even by the ordinary priests, but it was not a secret, a hidden place; and still less was this the case with the land of Canaan.We therefore adhere to the meaning, which is so thoroughly sustained by Job 20:26 and Oba 1:6 - namely, “treasure,” by which, no doubt, the temple-treasure is primarily intended. This rendering suits the context, as only treasures have been referred to before; and it may be made to harmonize with בּאוּ בהּ which follows. בּוא ב signifies not merely intrare in locum, but also venire in (e.g., 2Ki 6:23; possibly Eze 30:4), and may therefore be very properly rendered, “to get possession of,” since it is only possible to obtain possession of a treasure by penetrating into the place where it is laid up or concealed. There is nothing at variance with this in the word חלּל, profanare, since it has already occurred in Eze 7:21 in connection with the defiling of treasures and jewels. Moreover, as Calvin has correctly observed, the word is employed here to denote “an indiscriminate abuse, when, instead of considering to what purpose things have been entrusted to us, we squander them rashly and without selection, in contempt and even in scorn.”

Eze 7:23-27

Fourth Strophe

Still worse is coming, namely, the captivity of the people, and overthrow of the kingdom. - Eze 7:23. Make the chain, for the land is full of capital crime, and the city full of outrage. Eze 7:24. I shall bring evil ones of the nations, that they may take possession of their houses; and I shall put an end to the pride of the strong, that their sanctuaries may be defiled. Eze 7:25. Ruin has come; they seek salvation, but there is none. Eze 7:26. Destruction upon destruction cometh, and report upon report ariseth; they seek visions from prophets, but the law will vanish away from the priest, and counsel from the elders. Eze 7:27. The king will mourn, and the prince will clothe himself in horror, and the hands of the common people will tremble. I will deal with them according to their way, and according to their judgments will I judge them, that they may learn that I am Jehovah. - Those who have escaped death by sword or famine at the conquest of Jerusalem have captivity and exile awaiting them. This is the meaning of the command to make the chain, i.e., the fetters needed to lead the people into exile. This punishment is necessary, because the land is full of mishpat dâmim, judgment of blood. This cannot mean, there is a judgment upon the shedding of blood, i.e., upon murder, which is conducted by Jehovah, as Hävernick supposes. Such a thought is irreconcilable with מלאה, and with the parallel מלאה חמס. משׁפּט דּמים is to be explained after the same manner as משׁפּט מות (a matter for sentence of death, a capital crime) in Deu 19:6, Deu 19:21 -22, as signifying a matter for sentence of bloodshed, i.e., a crime of blood, or capital crime, as the Chaldee has already rendered it. Because the land is filled with capital crime, the city (Jerusalem) with violence, the Lord will bring רעי, evil ones of the heathen, i.e., the worst of the heathen, to put an end to the pride of the Israelites. גּאון עזּים is not “pride of the insolents;” for עזּים does not stand for עזּי פנים (Deu 28:50, etc.). The expression is rather to be explained from גּאון עז, pride of strength, in Eze 24:21; Eze 30:6, Eze 30:18 (cf. Lev 26:19), and embraces everything on which a man (or a nation) bases his power and rests his confidence. The Israelites are called עזּים, because they thought themselves strong, or, according to Eze 24:21, based their strength upon the possession of the temple and the holy land. This is indicated by ונחלוּ  which follows. נחל, Niphal of חלל and מקדשׁיהם, not a participle Piel, from מקדּשׁ, with the Dagesh dropped, but an unusual form, from מקדּשׁ for מקדּשׁיהם (vid., Ew. §215 a). - The ἁπ λεγ. חהצנצט;, with the tone drawn back on account of the tone-syllable which follows (cf. Ges. §29, 3. 6), signifies excidium, destruction (according to the Rabbins), from קפד, to shrink or roll up (Isa 38:12). בּא is a prophetic perfect. In Eze 7:25 the ruin of the kingdom is declared to be certain, and in Eze 7:26 and Eze 7:27 the occurrence of it is more minutely depicted. Stroke upon stroke does the ruin come; and it is intensified by reports, alarming accounts, which crowd together and increase the terror, and also by the desperation of the spiritual and temporal leaders of the nation - the prophets, priests, and elders - whom God deprives of revelation, knowledge, and counsel; so that all ranks (king and princes and the common people) sink into mourning, alarm, and horror. That it is to no purpose that visions or prophecies are sought from the prophets (Eze 7:26), is evident from the antithetical statement concerning the priests and elders which immediately follows. The three statements serve as complements of one another. They seek for predictions from prophets, but the prophets receive no vision, no revelation. They seek instruction from priests, but instruction is withdrawn from the priests; and so forth. T̄ōrâh signifies instruction out of the law, which the priests were to give to the people (Mal 2:7). In Eze 7:27, the three classes into which the people were divided are mentioned - viz. king, prince (i.e., tribe-princes and heads of families), and, in contradistinction to both, עם הארץ, the common people, the people of the land, in distinction from the civil rulers, as in 2Ki 21:24; 2Ki 23:30. מדּרכּם, literally from their way, their mode of action, will I do to them: i.e., my action will be derived from theirs, and regulated accordingly. אותם for אתּם, as in Eze 3:22, etc. (See the comm. on Eze 16:59.)

The Desolation of Israel. (b. c. 594.)

1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. 4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord . 5 Thus saith the Lord God ; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. 9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth. 10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them. 12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

We have here fair warning given of the destruction of the land of Israel, which was now hastening on apace. God, by the prophet, not only sends notice of it, but will have it inculcated in the same expressions, to show that the thing is certain, that it is near, that the prophet is himself affected with it and desires they should be so too, but finds them deaf, and stupid, and unaffected. When the town is on fire men do no seek for fine words and quaint expressions in which to give an account of it, but cry about the streets, with a loud and lamentable voice, "Fire! fire!" So the prophet here proclaims, An end! an end! it has come, it has come; behold, it has come. He that hath ears to hear let him hear.

I. An end has come, the end has come (v. 2), and again (v. 3, 6), Now has the end come upon thee—the end which all their wickedness had a tendency to, and which God had often told them it would come to at last, when by his prophets he had asked them, What will you do in the end hereof?—the end which all the foregoing judgments had been working towards, as means to bring it about (their ruin shall now be completed)—or the end, that is, the period of their state, the final destruction of their nation, as the deluge was the end of all flesh, Gen. vi. 13. They had flattered themselves with hopes that they should shortly see an end of their troubles. "Yea," says God, "An end has come, but a miserable one, not the expected end" (which is promised to the pious remnant among them, Jer. xxix. 11); "it is the end, that end which you have been so often warned of, that last end which Moses wished you to consider (Deut. xxxii. 29), and which, because Jerusalem remembered not, therefore she came down wonderfully," Lam. i. 9. This end was long in coming, but now it has come. Though the ruin of sinners comes slowly, it comes surely. "It has come; it watches for thee, ready to receive thee." This perhaps looks further, to the last destruction of that nation by the Romans, which that by the Chaldeans was an earnest of; and still further to the final destruction of the world of the ungodly. The end of all things is at hand; and Jerusalem's last end was a type of the end of the world, Matt. xxiv. 3. Oh that we could all see that end of time and days very near, and the end of our own time and days much nearer, that we may secure a happy lot at the end of the days! Dan. xii. 13. This end comes upon the four corners of the land. The ruin, as it shall be final, so it shall be total; no part of the land shall escape; no, not that which lies most remote. Such will the destruction of the world be; all these things shall be dissolved. Such will the destruction of sinners be; none can avoid it. Oh that the wickedness of the wicked might come to an end, before it bring them to an end!

II. An evil, an only evil, behold, has come, v. 5. Sin is an evil, an only evil, an evil that has no good in it; it is the worst of evils. But this is spoken of the evil of trouble; it is an evil, one evil, and that one shall suffice to affect and complete the ruin of the nation; there needs no more to do its business; this one shall make an utter end, affliction needs not rise up a second time, Nah. i. 9. It is an evil without precedent or parallel, an evil that stands alone; you cannot produce such another instance. It is to the impenitent an evil, an only evil; it hardens their hearts and irritates their corruptions, whereas there were those to whom it was sanctified by the grace of God and made a means of much good; they were sent into Babylon for their good, Jer. xxiv. 5. The wicked have the dregs of that cup to drink which to the righteous is full of mixtures of mercy, Ps. lxxv. 8. The same affliction is to us either a half evil or an only evil according as we conduct ourselves under it and make use of it. But when an end, the end, has come upon the wicked world, then an evil, an only evil, comes upon it, and not till then. The sorest of temporal judgments have their allays, but the torments of the damned are an evil, an only evil.

III. The time has come, the set time, for the inflicting of this only evil and the making of this full end; for to all God's purposes there is a time, a proper time, and that prefixed, in which the purpose shall have its accomplishment; particularly the time of reckoning with wicked people, and rendering to them according to their desserts, is fixed, the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of god; and he sees, whether we see it or no, that his day is coming. This they are here told of again and again (v. 10): Behold, the day that has lingered so long has come at last, behold, it has come. The time has come, the day draws near, the day of trouble is near, v. 7, 12. Though threatened judgments may be long deferred, yet they shall not be dropped; the time for executing them will come. Though God's patience may put them off, nothing but man's sincere repentance and reformation will put them by. The morning has come unto thee (v. 7), and again (v. 10), The morning has gone forth; the day of trouble dawns, the day of destruction is already begun. The morning discovers that which was hidden; they thought their secret sins would never come to light, but now they will be brought to light. They used to try and execute malefactors in the morning, and such a morning of judgment and execution is now coming upon them, a day of trouble to sinners, the year of their visitation. See how stupid these people were, that, though the day of their destruction was already begun, yet they were not aware of it, but must be thus told of it again and again. The day of trouble, real trouble, is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains, that is, not a mere echo or report of troubles, as they were willing to think it was, nothing but a groundless surmise; as if the men that came against them were but the shadow of the mountains (as Zebul suggested to Gaal, Matt. ix. 36) and the intelligence they received were but an empty sound, reverberated from the mountains. No; the trouble is not a fancy, and so you will soon find.

IV. All this comes from God's wrath, not allayed, as sometimes it has been, with mixtures of mercy. This is the fountain from which all these calamities flow; and this is the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery, which make it bitter indeed (v. 3): I will send my anger upon thee. Observe, God is Lord of his anger; it does not break out but when he pleases, nor fasten upon any but as he directs it and gives it commission. The expression rises higher (v. 8): Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee in full vials, and accomplish my anger, all the purposes and all the products of it, upon thee. This wrath does not single out here and there one to be made examples, but it is upon all the multitude thereof (v. 12, 14); the whole body of the nation has become a vessel of wrath, fitted for destruction. God does sometimes in wrath remember mercy, but now he says, My eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity, v. 4 and again v. 9. Those shall have judgment without mercy who made light of mercy when it was offered them.

V. All this is the just punishment of their sins, and it is what they have by their own folly brought upon themselves. This is much insisted on here, that they might be brought to justify God in all he had brought upon them. God never sends his anger but in wisdom and justice; and therefore it follows, "I will judge thee according to thy ways, v. 3. I will examine what thy ways have been, compare them with the law, and then deal with thee according to the merit of them, and recompense them to thee," v. 4. Note, In the heaviest judgments God inflicts upon sinners he does but recompense their own ways upon them; they are beaten with their own rod. And, when God comes to reckon with a sinful people, he will bring every provocation to account: "will recompense upon thee all thy abominations (v. 3); and now thy iniquity shall be found to be hateful (Ps. xxxvi. 2) and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee" (v. 4); that is, the secret wickedness shall now be brought to light, and that shall appear to have been in the midst of thee which before was not suspected; and thy sin shall now become an abomination to thyself. So the abomination of iniquity will be when it comes to be an abomination of desolation, Matt. xxiv. 15. Or, Thy abominations (that is, the punishments of them) shall be in the midst of thee; they shall reach to thy heart. See Jer. iv. 18. Or therefore God will not spare, nor have pity, because, even when he is recompensing their ways upon them, yet in their distress they trespass yet more; their abominations are still in the midst of them, indulged and harboured in their hearts. It is repeated again (v. 8, 9), I will judge thee, I will recompense thee. Two sins are particularly specified as provoking God to bring these judgments upon them—pride and oppression. 1. God will humble them by his judgments, for they have magnified themselves. The rod of affliction has blossomed, but it was pride that budded, v. 10. What buds in sin will blossom in some judgment or other. The pride of Judah and Jerusalem appeared among all orders and degrees of men, as buds upon the tree in spring. 2. Their enemies shall deal hardly with them, for they have dealt hardly with one another (v. 11): Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; that is, their injuriousness to one another is protected and patronised by the power of the magistrate. The rod of government had become a rod of wickedness, to such a degree of impudence was violence risen up. I saw the place of judgment, that wickedness was there, Eccl. iii. 16; Isa. v. 7. Whatever are the fruits of God's judgments, it is certain that our sin is the root of them.

VI. There is no escape from these judgments nor fence against them, for they shall be universal and shall bear down all before them, without remedy. 1. Death in its various shapes shall ride triumphantly, both in town and in country, both within the city and without it, v. 15. Men shall be safe nowhere; for he that is in the field shall die by the sword (every field shall be to them a field of battle) and he that is in the city, though it be a holy city, yet it shall not be his protection, but famine and pestilence shall devour him. Sin had abounded both in city and country, Iliacos intra muros peccator et extra—Trojans and Greeks offend alike; and therefore among both desolations are made. 2. None of those that are marked for death shall escape: There shall none of them remain. None of those proud oppressors that did violence to their poor neighbours with the rod of wickedness, none of them shall be left, but they shall be all swept away by the desolation that is coming (v. 11): None of their multitude, that is, of the rabble, whom they set on to do mischief, and to countenance them in doing it, to cry, "Crucify, crucify," when they were resolved on the destruction of any, none of them shall remain, nor any of theirs; their families shall all be destroyed, and neither root nor branch left them. This multitude, this mob, divine vengeance will in a particular manner fasten upon; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof (v. 12, 14) and the vision was touching the whole multitude thereof (v. 13), the bulk of the common people. The judgments coming shall carry them away by wholesale, and they shall neither secure themselves nor their masters whose creatures and tools they were. God's judgments, when they come with commission, cannot be overpowered by multitudes. Though hand join in hand, yet shall not the wicked go unpunished. 3. Those that fall shall not be lamented (v. 11): There shall be no wailing for them, for there shall be none left to bewail them, but such as are hastening apace after them. And the times shall be so bad that men shall rather congratulate than lament the death of their friends, as reckoning those happy that are taken away from seeing these desolations and sharing in them, Jer. xvi. 4, 5. 4. They shall not be able to make any resistance. The decree has gone forth, and the vision concerning them shall not return, v. 13. God will not reveal it, and they cannot defeat it; and therefore it shall not return re infecta—without having accomplished any thing, but shall accomplish that for which he sends it. God's word will take place, and then, (1.) Particular persons cannot make their part good against God: No man shall strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life; it will be to no purpose for sinners to set God and his judgments at defiance as they used to do. None ever hardened his heart against God and prospered. Those that strengthen themselves in their wickedness will be found not only to weaken, but to ruin, themselves, Ps. lii. 7. (2.) The multitude cannot resist the torrent of these judgments, nor make head against them (v. 14): They have blown the trumpet, to call their soldiers together, and to animate and encourage those whom they have got together, and thus they think to make all ready; but all in vain; none enlist themselves, or those that do have not courage to face the enemy. Note, If God be against us, none can be for us to do us any service. 5. They shall have no hope of the return of their prosperity, with which to support themselves in their adversity; they shall have given up all for gone; and therefore, "Let not the buyer rejoice that he is increasing his estate and has become a purchaser; nor let the seller mourn that he is lessening his estate and has become a bankrupt," v. 12. See the vanity of the things of this world, and how worthless they are—that in a time of trouble, when we have most need of them, we may perhaps make least account of them. Those that have sold are the more easy, having the less to lose, and those that have bought have but increased their own cares and fears. Because the fashion of this world passes away, let those that buy be as though they possessed not, because they know not how soon they may be dispossessed, 1 Cor. vii. 29-31. It is added (v. 13), "The seller shall not return, at the year of jubilee, to that which is sold, according to the law, though he should escape the sword and pestilence, and live till that year comes; for no inheritances shall be enjoyed here till the seventy years be accomplished, and then men shall return to their possessions, shall claim and have their own again." In the belief of this, Jeremiah, about this time, bought his uncle's field, yet, according to the charge, the buyer did not rejoice, but complain, Jer. xxxii. 25. 6. God will be glorified in all: "You shall know that I am the Lord (v. 4), that I am the Lord that smiteth, v. 9. You look at second causes, and think it is Nebuchadnezzar that smites you, but you shall be made to know he is but the staff: it is the hand of the Lord that smiteth you, and who knows the weight of his hand?" Those who would not know it was the Lord that did them good shall be made to know it is the Lord that smiteth them; for, one way or other, he will be owned.

The Desolation of Israel. (b. c. 594.)

16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord : they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

We have attended the fate of those that are cut off, and are now to attend the flight of those that have an opportunity of escaping the danger; some of them shall escape (v. 16), but what the better? As good die once as, in a miserable life, die a thousand deaths, and escape only like Cain to be fugitives and vagabonds, and afraid of being slain by every one they meet; so shall these be.

I. They shall have no comfort or satisfaction in their own minds, but be in continual anguish and terror; for, wherever they go, they carry about with them guilty consciences, which make them a burden to themselves. 1. They shall be always solitary and under prevailing melancholy; they shall not be in the cities, or places of concourse, but all alone upon the mountains, not caring for society, but shy of it, as being ashamed of the low circumstances to which they are reduced. 2. They shall be always sorrowful. Those have reason to be so that are under the tokens of God's displeasure; and God can make those so that have been most jovial and have set sorrow at defiance. Those that once thought themselves as the lions of the mountains, so daring were they, now become as the doves of the valleys, so timid are they, and so dispirited, ready to flee when none pursues and to tremble at the shaking of a leaf. They are all of them mourning (not with a godly sorrow, but with the sorrow of the world, which works death), every one for his iniquity, that is, for those calamities which they now see their iniquity has brought upon them, not only the iniquity of the land, but their own: they shall then be brought to acknowledge what they have each of them contributed to the national guilt. Note, Sooner or later sin will have sorrow of one kind or other; and those that will not repent of their iniquity may justly be left to pine away in it; those that will not mourn for it as it is an offence to God shall be made to mourn for it as it is a shame and ruin to themselves, to mourn at the last, when the flesh and the body are consumed, and to say, How have I hated instruction! Prov. v. 11, 12. 3. They shall be deprived of all their strength of body and mind (v. 17): All hands shall be feeble, so that they shall not be able to fight, or defend themselves, and all knees shall be weak as water, so that they shall neither be able to flee nor to stand their ground; they shall feel a universal colliquation: their knees shall flow as water, so that they must fall of course. Note, It is folly for the strong man to glory in his strength, for God can soon weaken it. 4. They shall be deprived of all their hopes and shall abandon themselves to despair (v. 18); they shall have nothing to hold up their spirits with; their aspects shall show what are their prospects, all dreadful, for they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, as having no expectation ever to wear better clothing. Horror shall cover them, and shame, and baldness, all the expressions of a desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11. Note, Those that will not be kept from sin by fear and shame shall by fear and shame be punished for it; such is the confusion that sin will end in.

II. They shall have no benefit from their wealth and riches, but shall be perfectly sick of them, v. 19. Those that were reduced to this distress were such as had had abundance of silver and gold, money, and plate, and jewels, and other valuable goods, from which they promised themselves a great deal of advantage in times of public trouble. They thought their wealth would be their strong city, that with it they could bribe enemies and buy friends, that it would be the ransom of their lives, that they could never want bread as long as they had money, and that money would answer all things; but see how it proved. 1. Their wealth had been a great temptation to them in the day of their prosperity; they set their affections upon it, and put their confidence in it. By their eager pursuit of it they were drawn into sin, and by their plentiful enjoyment of it they were hardened in sin; and thus it was the stumbling-block of their iniquity; it occasioned their falling into sin and obstructed their return to God. Note, There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin. The gaining of the world is the losing of their souls; it makes them proud, secure, covetous, oppressive, voluptuous; and that which, if well used, might have been the servant of their piety, being abused, becomes the stumbling-block of their iniquity. 2. It was no relief to them now in the day of their adversity; for, (1.) Their gold and silver could not protect them from the judgments of God. They shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not serve to atone his justice, or turn away his wrath, nor to screen them from the judgments he is bringing upon them. Note, Riches profit not in the day of wrath, Prov. xi. 4. They neither set them so high that God's judgments cannot reach them nor make them so strong that they cannot conquer them. There is a day of wrath coming, when it will appear that men's wealth is utterly unable to deliver them or do them any service. What the better was the rich man for his full barns when his soul was required of him, or that other rich man for his purple, and scarlet, and sumptuous fare, when in hell he could not procure a drop of water to cool his tongue? Money is no defence against the arrests of death, nor any alleviation to the miseries of the damned. (2.) Their gold and silver could not give them any content under their calamities. [1.] They could not fill their bowels; when there was no bread left in the city, none to be had for love or money, their silver and gold could not satisfy their hunger, nor serve to make one meal's meat for them. Note, We could better be without mines of gold than fields of corn; the products of the earth, which may easily be gathered from the surface of it, are much greater blessings to mankind than its treasures, which are with so much difficulty and hazard dug out of its bowels. If God give us daily bread, we have reason to be thankful, and no reason to complain, though silver and gold we have none. [2.] Much less could they satisfy their souls, or yield them any inward comfort. Note, The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, much less he that loses it. (3.) Their gold and silver shall be thrown into the streets, either by the hands of the enemy, who shall have more spoil than they care for or can carry away (silver shall be nothing accounted of; they shall cast that in the streets; but the gold, which is more valuable, shall be removed and brought to Babylon); or they themselves shall throw away their silver and gold, because it would be an incumbrance to them and retard their flight, or because it would expose them and be a temptation to the enemy to cut their throats for their money, or in indignation at it, because, after all the care and pains they had taken to scrape it together and hoard it up, they found that it would stand them in no stead, but do them a mischief rather. Note, The world passes away, and the lusts thereof, 1 John ii. 17. The time may come when worldly men will be as weary of their wealth as now they are wedded to it, when those will fare best that have least.

III. God's temple shall stand them in no stead, v. 20-22. This they had prided themselves in, and promised themselves security from (Jer. vii. 4; Mic. iii. 11); but this confidence of theirs shall fail them. Observe, 1. The great honour God had done to that people in setting up his sanctuary among them (v. 20): As for the beauty of his ornament, that holy and beautiful house, where they and their fathers praised God (Isa. lxiv. 11), which was therefore beautiful because holy (it was called the beauty of holiness, and holiness is the beauty of its ornament; it was also adorned with gold and gifts)—as for this, he set it in majesty; every thing was contrived to make it magnificent, that it might help to make the people of Israel the more illustrious among their neighbours. He built his sanctuary like high palaces, Ps. lxxviii. 69. It was a glorious high throne from the beginning, Jer. xvii. 12. But, 2. Here is the great dishonour they had done to God in profaning his sanctuary; they made the images of their counterfeit deities, which they set up in rivalship with God, and which are here called their abominations and their detestable things (for so they were to God, and so they should have been to them), and these they set up in God's temple, than which a greater affront could not be put upon him. And therefore, 3. It is here threatened that they shall be deprived of the temple, and it shall be no succour to them: Therefore have I set it far from them, that is, sent them far from it, so that it is out of the reach of their services and they are out of the reach of its influences. Note, God's ordinances, and the privileges of a profession of religion, will justly be taken away from those that despise and profane them. Nay, they shall not only be kept at a distance from the temple, but the temple itself shall be involved in the common desolation (v. 21); the Chaldeans, who are strangers, and therefore have no veneration for it, who are the wicked of the earth, and therefore have an antipathy to it, shall have it for a prey and for a spoil; all the ornaments and treasures of it shall fall into their hands, who will make no difference between that and other plunder. This was a grief to the saints in Zion, who complained of nothing so much as of that which the enemy did wickedly in the sanctuary (Ps. lxxiv. 3); but it was the punishment of the sinners in Zion, who, by profaning the temple with strange gods, provoked God to suffer it to be profaned by strange nations, and to turn his face from those that did it as if he had not seen them and their crimes and from those that deprecated it as not regarding them and their prayers. Let the soldiers do as they will; let them enter into the secret place, into the holy of holies, as robbers; let them strip it, let them pollute it; its defence has departed, and then farewell all its glory. Note, Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness who will not be governed by the power of godliness.

The Desolation of Israel. (b. c. 594.)

23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord .

Here is, I. The prisoner arraigned: Make a chain, in which to drag the criminal to the bar, and set him before the tribunal of divine justice; let him stand in fetters (as a notorious malefactor), stand pinioned to receive his doom. Note, Those that break the bands of God's law asunder, and cast away those cords from them, will find themselves bound and held by the chains of his judgments, which they cannot break nor cast from them. The chain signified the siege of Jerusalem, or the slavery of those that were carried into captivity, or that they were all bound over to the righteous judgment of God, reserved in chains.

II. The indictment drawn up against the prisoner: The land is full of bloody crimes, full of the judgments of blood (so the word is), that is, of the guilt of blood which they had shed under colour of justice and by forms of law, with the solemnity of a judgment. The innocent blood which Manasseh shed, probably thus shed, by the judgment of the blood, was the measure-filling sin of Jerusalem, 2 Kings xxiv. 4. Or, It is full of such crimes as by the law were to be punished with death, the judgment of blood. Idolatry, blasphemy, witchcraft, Sodomy, and the like, were bloody crimes, for which particular sinners were to die; and therefore, when they had become national, there was no remedy but the nation must be cut off. Note, Bloody crimes will be punished with bloody judgments. The city, the city of David, the holy city, that should have been the pattern of righteousness, the protector of it, and the punisher of wrong, is now full of violence; the rulers of that city, having greater power and reputation, are greater oppressors than any others. This was sadly to be lamented. How has the faithful city become a harlot!

III. Judgment given upon this indictment. God will reckon with them not only for the profaning of his sanctuary, but for the perverting of justice between man and man; for, as holiness becomes his house, so the righteous Lord loves righteousness and is the avenger of unrighteousness. Now the judgment given is, 1. That since they had walked in the way of the heathen, and done worse than they, God would bring the worst of the heathen upon them to destroy them and lay them waste, the most barbarous and outrageous, that have the least compassion to mankind and the greatest antipathy to the Jews. Note, Of the heathen some are worse than others, and God sometimes picks out the worst to be a scourge to his own people, because he intends them for the fire when the work is done. 2. That since they had filled their houses with goods unjustly gotten, and used their pomp and power for the crushing and oppressing of the weak, God would give their houses to be possessed and all the furniture of them to be enjoyed by strangers, and make the pomp of the strong to cease, so that their great men should not dazzle the eyes of the weak-sighted with their pomp, nor with their might at any time prevail against right, as they had done. 3. That, since they had defiled the holy places with their idolatries, God would defile them with his judgments, since they had set up the images of other gods in the temple, God would remove thence the tokens of the presence of their own God. When the holy places are deserted by their God they will soon be defiled by their enemies. 4. Since they had followed one sin with another, God would pursue them with one judgment upon another: "Destruction comes, utter destruction (v. 25); for there shall come mischief upon mischief to ruin you, and rumour upon rumour to frighten you, like the waves in a storm, one upon the neck of another." Note, Sinners that are marked for ruin shall be prosecuted to it; for God will overcome when he judges. 5. Since they had disappointed God's expectations from them, he would disappoint their expectations from him; for, (1.) They shall not have the deliverance out of their troubles that they expect. They shall seek peace; they shall desire it and pray for it; they shall aim at and expect it: but there shall be none; their attempts both to court their enemies and to conquer them shall be in vain, and their troubles shall grow worse and worse. (2.) They shall not have the direction in the trouble that they expect (v. 26): They shall seek a vision of the prophet, shall desire, for their support under their troubles, to be assured of a happy issue out of them. They did not desire a vision to reprove them for sin, nor to warn them of danger, but to promise them deliverance. Such messages they longed to hear. But the law shall perish from the priest; he shall have no words either of counsel or comfort to say to them. They would not hear what God had to say to them by ways of conviction, and therefore he has nothing to say to them by way of encouragement. Counsel shall perish from the ancients; the elders of the people, that should advise them what to do in this difficult juncture, shall be infatuated and at their wits' end. It is bad with a people when those that should be their counsellors know not how to consider within themselves, consult with one another, or counsel them. 6. Since they had animated and encouraged one another to sin, God would dispirit and dishearten them all, so that they should not be able to make head against the judgments of God that were breaking in upon them. All orders and degrees of men shall lie down by consent under the load (v. 27): The king, that should inspire life into them, and the prince, that should lead them onto attack the enemy, shall mourn and be clothed with desolation; their heads and hearts shall fail, their politics and their courage; and then no wonder if the hands of the people of the land, that should fight for them, be troubled. None of the men of might shall find their hands. What can men contrive or do for themselves when God has departed from them and appears against them? All must needs be in tears, all in trouble, when God comes to judge them according to their deserts, and so make then know, to their cost, that he is the Lord, the God to whom vengeance belongs.

CHAP. VII.

Ver. 1. MOreover the word of the Lord came unto me] Five or ſix years afore it fell out. God loveth to foreſignifie, to premoniſh, or ere he puniſh. Let us upon whom the ends of the world are come, take warning, and think we hear the trump of God ſounding, as here, An end is come, is come, is come, it watcheth for thee, behold it is come: ver. 2, 3, 6.

Ver. 2. An end, the end is come] Exitium & excidium. Great Kingdoms have their times and their turnes, their riſe and their ruine. The wickeds happineſſe will take its end, ſurely and ſwiftly.

Ʋpon the four corners of the land] Heb. the four wings: called alſo the four winds, Mat. 24.31, They had defiled the land from corner to corner, as Ezra 9.11. God therefore now would ſweep it all over, with the beeſom of utter deſtruction.

Ver. 3. Now is the end come upon thee] Even upon thee, O Iſrael: who would ever have thought it? Lam. 4.12.

And I will ſend mine anger upon thee] Reveal it from heaven, as Rom. 1.18.

And will judge thee according to thy wayes] i. e. I will puniſh thee for thy wayes, as Hoſ. 4.9. Obad. 15.

And will recompenſe upon thee] Heb. I will give or put upon thee all thine abominations, q. d. Thou haſt hitherto put them upon me, but I will have a writ of remove, and ſet them upon their own baſe, as Zach. 5.11.

Ver. 4. And mine eye ſhall not ſpare thee] Chap. 5.11. See on Jer. 13.14.

And thine abominations ſhall be in the midſt of thee] Ʋt quae antea latuerant, in apertum prodeant.

And ye ſhall know that I am the Lord] That ſmiteth you, ver. 9.

An evil, an only evil] viz. Without mixture of mercy: or that ſhall ſmite thee down at one only blow, as 1 Sam. 26.8. See on Nahum. 1.9. The Vulgar, after the Chaldee, rendreth it An evil after an evil, q. d. Lighter and leſſer judgements have done no good upon thee. Now I will finiſh the work and cut it ſhort in righteouſneſſe, Rom. 9.28. Ruinam pracedunt ſtillicidia.

Ver. 6. An end is come, the end is come] Still the Prophet ringeth this doleful knell in their eares, whom ſin and Satan had caſt into ſuch a dead lethargy, that they could not eaſily be arrouſed. Battologia eſt, ſed neceſſaria verborum redundantia, ſaith Pintus.

It watcheth for thee] Which hitherto lay at the door, Gen. 4.7. ſleeping dog-ſleep, as we ſay. In the Hebrew there is an elegant Agnomination between hakets an end, and hekits watcheth. See 2 Pet. 3.3.

Ver. 7. The morning is come unto thee] The morning of execution,Viſitaberis ſummo mane, id eſt mature. Piſcat. Florulenta felicitas occidit. Oecol. as Jer. 21.12. Pſal. 101.8. Confer Hoſ. 10.15. Gen. 19.23.24. worſe then the Sicilian Veſpers, or the French Maſſacre. Thine utter deſtruction, bene mane in te irruet, ſhall be upon thee betimes, as it was upon Sodom: and as the morning light breaketh in upon thoſe that are faſt aſleep. Sicut decoctores multa ſibi promittunt, interim pereunt: ſo it befalleth the wicked.

The day of trouble is near] Hajom mehumah, Day in Hebrew is thought to have its name from the ſtir and noiſe that is made in it, the humming noiſe and buſtle of buſineſſe. A troubleſome and tumultuous day is here forethreatned, ſuch as that Eſay 22.5. and Zeph. 1.14, 15, 16, 17.

Not the ſounding again of the mountaines] Not an empty ſound,Virgil. or an Echo (reſonabilis Echo] but a worſe matter, that ſhall do more then beat the aire.

Ver. 8. Now will I ſhortly poure out my fury] See on chap. 5.13.

And I will judge thee, &c.] See on ver. 3.

Ver. 9. I will recompenſe] The ſame as before. Nunquam ſatis dicitur, quod nunquam ſatis diſcitur.

That I am the Lord that ſmiteth] Think not that I am made all of mercy, or that I will ever ſerve you for a ſinning-ſtock. Ye ſhall know that I have verbera as well as ubera: and can ſo ſet it on as no creature can take it off.

Ver. 10. The morning is gone forth] Matutina ſententia, the decree bringeth forth, as Zeph. 2.2. See there.

The rod hath bloſſomed] You have had your Floralia, and ſhall ſhortly have your Funeralia. Nebuchadnezzar (that rod of my wrath) is at hand.

Pride hath budded] And will ſhortly bring forth: viz. the bitter fruit of your bold rebellion. Not much unlike to this was the Almond rod ſeen by Jeremy, chap. 1.11.

Ver. 11. Violence is riſen up into a rod of wickedneſſe] Their oppreſſions ſpeak them moſt wicked, and will make them moſt wretched.

Nor of their multitude] Or, their tumultuous perſons, their Thraſo's, ſaith Tremellius, quantumvis circumſtrepant famulitio numeroſo, with all their traine and retinue, that keep a clutter.

Neither ſhall there be wailing for them] Their deareſt friends ſhall not dare to lament the loſs of them, for fear of the enemyes who are preſent would puniſh it. We read in the Roman hiſtory of one Vitia who was put to death by the command of Tiberius, for that ſhe had lamented Geminus her ſon, executed as a friend to Sejanus. Tacit.

Ver. 12. The time is come, the day draweth near] Let this voyce ever ſound in the ears of thoſe negligent ſpirits who cry Cras Domine: Advenit illud tempus, pertigit illa dies. whiling away their time as ſhe, Rev. 2 21. and ſo fooling away their own ſalvation, as thoſe Virgins, Mat. 25.

Let not the buyer rejoyce] He ſhall have no ſuch great joy of his purchaſe: ſith the enemy ſhall ſhortly take all, & qui latifundia habuerunt, ne latum pedem retinebunt, and no man ſhall be maſter of his own, nay not of a molehill.

For wrath is upon all the multitude thereof] Or, upon all the wealth thereof. To like purpoſe the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 7.29. This then I ſay brethren, The time is ſhort, or truſſed up, contracted, Let them that have wives be as though they had none; they that weep as though they wept not; they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not; and they that buy as though they poſſeſſed not, &c. Rebus non me trado ſed commodo, Sen. ſaid the wiſe heathen. Hang looſe to all things here below: and labour after that undefiled and unfadable inheritance, 1 Pet. 1.4.

Deut. 25.10.Ver. 13. For the ſeller ſhall not return,] ſc. At the year of Jubilee, by reaſon of the lands deſolation.

Which ſhall not return] Or rather, it ſhall not return, ſc. void and ineffectual: but ſhall be accompliſhed.

Neither ſhall any ſtrengthen himſelf in the iniquity of his life] That's but an ill defence. The ſpirit of power and of a ſound mind are fitly ſet together, 2 Tim. 1.7. Mens iniquity will be their ruine. Munſter rendreth the text thus, For that when as the viſion was to the whole multitude thereof, no man returned, neque ullus propter iniquitatem ſuam pro anima ſua ſe roborabat, neither did any one (by reaſon of his iniquity) ſtrengthen himſelf for his own ſoul, i. e. uſe means to eſcape the juſt puniſhment of it.

Ver. 14. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready] But all to no purpoſe; ſith God hath diſpirited them (as he did the old Canaanites, the Saxons and Picts in that Victoria Hallelujatica, the Germans againſt the Huſſites in Bohemia, &c.) and ſtruck them with a Panick terrour, with utter deſpondency; ſo that they were feeble and faint-hearted, and the ſtrong were become as tow, Iſa. 1.31.

Ver. 15. The ſword is without, and the peſtilence, &c.] No ſafety can be to ſuch as are purſued by the divine vengeance; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. called therefore by the Greeks [non-Latin text not transcribed], becauſe there is no outrunning of it. Of theſe three judgements (ſeldom ſeparated) ſee chap. 4.

[non-Latin text not transcribed]. [non-Latin text not transcribed] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [non-Latin text not transcribed]

Ver. 16. But they that eſcaped of them] Here we have the mournful repentance of them that eſcaped, Fere autem fit ut, malo demum accepto, oculos aperiamus, ſaith Lavater here.

Heb. [non-Latin text not transcribed] ejulantes ut pueri ſolent qui virgis coercentur. All of them mourning, every one for his iniquity] Thus Hezekiah mourned as a dove, Eſa. 38.14. And we mourn ſore like doves, ſaith the Church, Iſa. 59.11. happy if it be every man for his iniquity, and not for the puniſhment of it only or mainly. See that it be a ſorrow according to God, a ſorrow to a tranſmentation, 2 Cor, 7.10, 11.

Ver. 17. All hands ſhall be feeble] As after ſome grievous diſeaſe, or as in extream cold weather: ye ſhall not be able to handle your armes, wherein ye ſo truſt. God ſtrengtheneth or weakeneth the armes of either party, Ezek. 30.24.

Vulg. Hieron. Septudg. And all knees ſhall be weak as water] Fluent aquis: put a ſudore ex gravi anguſtia, vel potius urina, ex pavore. Not ſo thoſe that wait upon God, Eſa. 40.30, 31. Let wicked Thraſo's think on this.

Ver. 18. They ſhall alſo gird themſelves with ſackcloth] They ſhall be a miſerable mourning people for a long while.

Horrour ſhall cover them] Such heart-quake as is in earth quakes: horripilatis.

Scal. Shame ſhall be upon all faces] Pudor à rebus putidis: aſhamed they ſhall be of their doings, aſhamed of their diſappointments.

And baldneſſe upon all their heads] A ſign of ſorrow among the Jews. The Romans (contrariwiſe) in times of ſorrow ſuffered their hair to grow, ſaith Plutarch: ſo did Mephiboſheth in Davids dayes.

Ne ſit ponderi quod prius fuit luxuriae. Hieron. Ver. 19. They ſhall caſt their ſilver in the ſtreets] As burdenſom, and not beneficial to them. Thus Judas threw away his wages of wickedneſſe: and many on their death-beds deteſt their curſed hoards of evil-gotten goods: ſaying unto them as once Charles the fifth did, Abite hinc, abite longe, away from me, away, away.

Their gold ſhall be removed] Shall be for a dunghil, ſaith the Vulgar: it ſhall be eſteemed, as it is, the guts and garbidge of the earth.

Their ſilver and their gold] See Prov. 11.4. Zeph. 1.18. Eccleſ. 5.8. with the Notes.

They ſhall not ſatisfie their ſouls] Silver and gold are not eatable, as Midas found, and the great Chaliph of Babylon, whom Haalon the great Chan of Tartary affamiſhed to death in the midſt of his infinite treaſures;Turk. hiſt. 113. Plato in Cratylo ſcribit Tantalum dictum eſſe quaſi [non-Latin text not transcribed]. i. e. infeliciſſimum. which though they were in valour great, and with great care laid together, yet ſerved they him not now to ſuffice nature beſt contented with a little.

Becauſe it is the ſtumbling blok of their iniquity] Their wealth is the occaſion of their wickedneſs: and they are much the worſe men for their worldly ſubſtance. See Pſal. 52.7. with the margin. Jer. 5.27, 28. Luk. 16.9, 13.

Ver. 20. As for the beauty of his ornament] That is mine Ark, ſaith Junius: or my ſilver and gold, ver. 19. as others.

He ſet it in majeſty] In ſuperbiam poſuit, ſo ſome render it, they were proud of their abundance: their good and their blood roſe together, as the proverb is.

Therefore have I ſet it far from them] I will (for their ingratitude and abuſe of my good things) take away mine own and be gone, as Hoſ. 2.8, 9.

Ver. 21. And I will give it into the hands] So he did the pleaſant land to be plundered, the Sanctuary alſo to be rifled and raſacked by the Babylonians, Syrians, Romans, &c. See Lam. 1.10. with the Notes.

And to the wicked of the earth] Sept. to the Peſts of the earth.

Ver. 22. My face will I turn alſo from them] From the Chaldees, that they may ſpoile at pleaſure: or from the Iſraelites, that they may periſh without ſuccour.

And they ſhall pollute my ſecret place] Even the Holy of Holyes, whereinto none was to enter but the high Prieſt once a year: yet (beſides theſe Babylonian burglers) Heliodorus and Pompey did, but the one fell mad, and the other never proſpered after it.

For the Robbers ſhall enter into it] Effractores, by this name Breaechmakers, the Jews at this day term our Nobles and Grandees.

Ver. 23. Make a chain] Which is an emblem of bondage.

For the land is full of bloody crimes] i. e. Capital crimes, unjuſt ſentences and other deadly evils.

Ver. 24. Wherefore I will bring the worſt of the heathen] velut carnifices, who may plunder you to the life, and take away your lives, Hab. 1.6, 7, 9. The Jews were bad enough, but the Chaldees were worſe, if worſe might be; Malignants above meaſure, Poneropolitans, breathing devils. A hard knot muſt have a harder wedge, as the Proverb is.

I will alſo make the pomp of the ſtrong to ceaſe] I will cruſh the creſts of thoſe Potentates, and lay them low. See Eſa. 14.11, 12.

Their holy places ſhall be defiled] Sacella & lararia corum, their Chappels or Oratories made in or near unto their houſes for divine worſhip.

Ver. 25. Deſtruction cometh] Not, mercy ſhall come, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. as the Septuagint ill render it) but utter exciſion: as when a weaver cutteth the web he hath finiſhed, out of the loom, Iſa. 38.12.

They ſhall ſeek peace] Of God, but all too late: of the Chaldees, but all in vain: for they were Cockatrices, and would not be charmed, Jer. 8.17.15. & 12.12. & 16.5. Note here how Jeremy and Ezekiel ſay the ſame thing; as being acted by the ſame ſpirit.

Ver. 26. Miſchief ſhall come upon miſchief] Aliud ex alio malum. I will heap miſchiefs upon them, Deut. 32.23. War is called evil or miſchief by a ſpecialty, Eſa. 45.7.

And rumour ſhall be upon rumour] ſc. Of Nebuchadnezzars advance, acts and atcheivements.

Then ſhall they ſeek a viſion of the Prophet] As a drowning man catcheth at the ſprig of a tree, which before he ſlighted.

But the Law ſhall periſh from the Prieſt] Not only Prophecy, which is an extraordinary gift, ſhall fail them, but alſo the ordinary preaching of Gods Word, and all good advice and proviſion of humane wiſdom. And yet this fooliſh people were wont to ſooth up themſelves and ſay, The Law ſhall not periſh from the Prieſt, nor wiſdom from the Ancient, Jer. 18.

[non-Latin text not transcribed].Ver. 27. The king ſhall mourn] With a funeral mourning, as the Sept. expreſſe it: with a continued mourning, as the Hebrew importeth.

The Prince ſhall be clothed with deſolation] Opplebitur triſtitiâ ad ſtuporem.

And the hands] Which they had ſo oft lifted up to vanity.

According to their deſertes] See ver. 3, 4, 8, 9.