The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 12
Chapter XII · Vol. III, pp. 1325–1326
1 The type of Ezekiel's removing. 8 It showed the captivity of Zedekiah. 17 Ezekiel's trembling showeth the Jews' desolation. 21 The Jews' presumptuous proverb is reproved. 26 The speediness of the vision.
1 The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
2 Sona of man, thou dwellest in the midst of ab rebellious house, cwhich have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.1
a ch.2.1,3,6,8; 3.1,4,10,17,25; 4.1,16; 5.1; 6.2; 7.2; 8.5,8,12,15,17; 11.2,4, &c.
b ch.2.3,6-8; 3.26,27.
c Is.6.9. Je.5.21. Jn.9.41. 2 Co.4.3,4; 3.14,15. Mat.13.13-15. Mar.4.12,13. Lu.8.10. Jn.12.40. Ac.28.26. Ro.11.8.
1 Rebellious against God their King, whom their idolatry dethroned—against the covenant of his peace, which they perfidiously violated—against the providence of which they ungratefully complained—against the light of divine truth, which they endeavoured to extinguish, and the remonstrances of conscience which they had hardened and seared.—C.
3 Therefore, thou son of man, dprepare thee 2stuff3 for removing, and remove eby day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: git may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.
4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth hat even4 in their sight, as they that go forth into5 captivity.
6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt icover thy face,7 that thou see not the ground; for I have set thee jfor a sign unto the house of Israel.
7 He shall go forth blindfolded, not knowing how to avoid danger, or find a place of safety.—C.
i 2 Sa.15.30. 1 Sa.28.8. Job 24.17.
7 Andk I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I 8digged9 through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
8 Heb. digged for me, Je.39.4; 52.7.
9 The Quarterly Review, No. 116, and the editor of the Pictorial Bible, imagine the prophet to speak of a kind of straw and mud wall, called cob in England, and common in the East. But the prophet also digged, in vision, through the wall of the temple (ch.8.8); and the attendants of Zedekiah are described as digging through the wall, which must mean the wall of the city, through which they escaped in the siege; and there can be no question that both these walls were of stone. See ver.12.—C.
k Ac.26.19. Ga.1.16. 1 Sa.15.22. Mat.16.24. 1 Co.11.23. De.12.32.
8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, lhath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, nWhat doest thou?
10 Sayo thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, This pburden concerneth the qprince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.
11 Say, rI am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove, and sgo into captivity.1
12 Andt the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: uhe shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.2
t ver.3-7. Je.39.4; 52.7. 2 Ki.25.4. ch.21.25.
u ver.6. 2 Sa.15.30. Job 24.17.
2 See note on ver.6.—C.
13 Myv net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it,3 though he shall xdie there.
v La.1.13. Ho.7.12. ch.17.20; 19.8; 32.3. Job 19.6. La.4.19,20; 1.3. 2 Ki.25.5-7. Je.52.8-11; 39.5-7.
3 Jeremiah had foretold (Je.32.4) that Zedekiah's eyes should behold the king; and here Ezekiel asserts he shall not see the city of Babylon; and Josephus relates that Zedekiah, holding these prophecies for contradictions, concluded to believe neither. Both, however, proved true. He was taken to Riblah, where he saw Nebuchadnezzar, who put out his eyes; and thence he was carried to Babylon, where he died.—Note, When statements can be proved contradictory to facts or first principles, then are they resolutely to be denied; for, by such contradictions, they are certainly proved untrue. But where the statements refer to different circumstances, or different aspects of the same subject, the contradiction may be merely apparent, and will form no excuse for the heedless and self-willed infidelity that neglects examination and despises evidence.—C.
x ch.17.16.
14 Andy I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
y Je.52.8,10,24-27. 2 Ki.25.4,5. ch.5.10,12. Je.5.10; 42.16; 43.11; 44.5-7.
15 Andz they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.
z ch.5.13. Ps.9.16. Is.26.9,11. Ps.58.10,11; 64.9.
16 Buta I will leave a few men4 of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence, that they may bdeclare5 all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and cthey shall know that I am the LORD.
4 Heb. men of number.
5 They declared their sins by the fact of their dispersion, and by carrying with them and exhibiting those very histories and prophecies in which their sins were recorded and denounced.—C.
a ch.6.8-10; 14.22,23. Is.1.9; 10.20-22. Je.4.27; 23.3.
b Je.3.13,24,25. Le.26.40,41, with 2 Ki.xvi.xxi.xxiv. Je.ii.-xvii. ch.xvi.-xxiv. Mi.ii.iii.vi.vii. Zep.i.-iii. 2 Ki.17.7-23. 2 Ch.36.14-16.
c De.29.24-28. 1 Ki.9.6-9. Je.22.8,9; 50.7.
17 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, deat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness.
19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel, They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, ethat her land may be desolate from all that is therein,6 because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.
20 Andg the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
A.M. cir. 3411. B.C. cir. 593.
g ver.19. Is.3.26; 8.21,22; 7.23,24; 24.1-20; 42.25. Je.4.4,7,23-29; 5.6,10; 6.12; 7.14,15,32; 8.13; 9.11; 10.20; 12.10,11; 13.19,24; 15.1-9; 16.2-18; 17.27; 18.21; 19.7,11; 20.5; 21.7; 24.8-10; 25.9; 34.22; xxxix. lii. La.i.ii.iv.v. ch.6.6,12,14; 7.2-15; 15.6-8; 16.39-43; 20.47; 23.33.
21 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
22 Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, hThe days are prolonged,7 and every vision faileth?
h ch.11.3. 2 Pe.3.3,4. Am.6.3,18. Is.5.19. ver.27.
7 The sentence is suspended—the day of grace indefinitely lengthened—'every vision (of judgment) faileth' of accomplishment.—C.
23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD, I iwill make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, jThe days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.8
i Is.28.22. Je.23.33-40. ch.11.5-12.
j ver.25; ch.7.2-15. Joel 2.1. Zep.1.14. Ps.37.13. La.i.-v.
8 The days of fulfilment are at hand—they have already come, and the substance of every vision is realized. Ver.24,25 are explanatory of this statement. The length of time between the partial captivity under Jehoiachin and the predicted destruction of the city and temple, was so great that the people doubted the truth of the predictions, and even turned them into a mocking proverb. Ezekiel meets this by another proverbial saying full of meaning.—P.
24 Fork there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
k ch.13.23. Je.14.13-16; 23.14-20. 1 Ki.22.12. Pr.5.3,4; 26.28.
25 For I am the LORD: lI will speak, and the word that I shall nspeak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Notes
Ver. 27. There is an impatient interpretation of prophecy which is not satisfied unless predicted events can be shown to be just at hand—and this is near akin to enthusiasm. But there is also a procrastinating interpretation, that removes all predicted events to an indefinite distance—and this is near akin to infidelity. The prayerful and attentive comparison of the 'sure word of prophecy,' with 'the (existing) signs of the times'—a patient searching for the mind, and waiting for the work of the Lord—learning, not dogmatizing—repentance of personal sins whilst denouncing the sins of others—are essential to all who profit themselves or others by 'this light (of prophecy) that shineth in a dark place.' C.
Reflections.—Ministers ought to accommodate themselves, not only to the weakness, but even to the wilfulness of their hearers. They ought cheerfully to comply with the most difficult and self-debasing method which God directs for promoting his glory or the welfare of souls. It is necessary that we be affected ourselves with the truths with which we wish to affect others. And we have need to sit loose to this world, and be always preparing to leave it.—God exactly observes what entertainment is given to his ministers or messages, and is highly displeased if they are overlooked or contemned. It is easy for him to take the greatest in his snares, and to make the most hardened sinners either glorify him by their distinguished destruction, or by their conversion and candid acknowledgments of sin.—It is just that they who abuse plenty should be punished with want. Anxious care and slavish terrors can strangely imbitter our comforts, and render them sore judgments. The decay of virtue in nations brings along with it the decay of everything valuable, or a curse on what remains. And if once neighbours, by fraud, oppression, and murder, devour one another, let them expect that God will plague them with common devourers; and that he will make himself known, either in the terrors of his wrath to the impenitent, or in the riches of his grace to such as humble themselves under his mighty hand. How dreadful is it when corrupt speeches become common proverbs, by which Satan hardens sinners against the words or ways of God! But they who will not believe God's warnings, will too late be terribly convinced by the infliction of his judgments. And let sinners put the evil day as far from them as they please, his threatenings will in due time prevail, and vindicate themselves.