The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 33
Chapter XXXIII · Vol. III, pp. 1359–1360
1 According to the duty of a watchman, in warning the people, 7 Ezekiel is admonished of his duty in warning sinners. 10 God showeth the justice of his ways towards the penitent, and towards revolters. 17 He maintaineth his justice. 21 Upon the news of the taking of Jerusalem, Ezekiel prophesieth the desolation of the land. 30 God's judgments upon the mockers of the prophets.
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, aspeak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When bI bring the sword upon a land,1 if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:c
4 Then whosoever gheareth2 the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, hhis blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He iheard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning, his jblood shall be upon him: but khe that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, andl blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, nhe is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
l Is.56.10,11;42.19,20. Mat.15.14. Ac.29.30.
n ch.3.18,20. Pr.14.14,32;5.22,23. 2 Th.1.8. ch.18.13,20,24.
7 Soo thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; ptherefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
o ch.3.17-21. Hab.2.1. He.13.17. 1 Co.12.28. Ep.4.11.
p ch.2.7;3.17. Je.1.16,17;23.28. Mat.28.20. 1 Co.11.23. 2 Ch.19.10. Col.1.28,29. Ac.20.27,31. 1 Pe.4.11.
8 When I say unto the wicked, qO wicked man, rthou shalt surely die; sif thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his tiniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.3
s Is.30.10-14. Je.8.11,12;14.13-16. ch.3.18,20.
3 His blood will I require at thine hand. I will hold thee guilty of murder, Ge.9.5,6. A solemn warning to parents and ministers of the word, to friends and neighbours, not one of whom will be able to plead, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' for that plea having been already rejected, Ge.4.9, its repetition would only be an aggravation of the sin.—C.
t Nu.27.3.
9 Nevertheless, uif thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; vif he do not turn from his way, he shall xdie in his iniquity; but ythou hast delivered thy soul.
10 Therefore, O thou son of man, zspeak unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, saying, aIf our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, bhow should we then live?4
z See ver.2,22.
a ch.24.23;32.27. La.2.14;5.7. Le.20.39.
b Je.2.25. ch.37.11. Ps.130.7. Is.49.14;40.27. Re.16.9.
4 The fundamental error in the Jewish theology at this period lay in these words—'The way of the Lord is not equal,' see ver.17,20; that is, say they, God deals neither with individuals nor with nations according to their works: therefore, there is no use of self-examination or of repentance. The judgment is heavy on us (for the fact of the divine judgment upon the nation, no Jew that respects the Scriptures can deny), 'we pine away in our sins,' as one in a lingering disease; and since it is thus the fatal, and not any equitable and judicial will of God, we have no remedy—'how should we then live?' This language presents a sad mixture of unintelligent fatalism, infidelity, recklessness, and despair.—C.
11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, cI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: dturn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?5
c 2 Sa.14.14. La.3.33. ch.18.13,32. 1 Ti.2.4. 2 Pe.3.9. Ho.11.8.
d ch.18.30-32;14.6. Pr.1.23. Is.31.6. Je.3.14,22. Ho.12.6;14.1-3. Joel 2.12. Zec.1.3,4. Lu.15.20.
5 What long-suffering tenderness, what depth of affection, what earnestness of appeal is here! The words here addressed to Israel may be considered applicable to every impenitent sinner in a Christian land. Every verse read in his hearing from the Word of God; every sermon to which he listens; every religious service he attends, is as a voice from the Lord, saying, 'I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner—turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.'—P.
12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, eThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, ghe shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his hrighteousness in the day that he sinneth.
13 Wheni I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; jif he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, khe shall die for it.6
* He shall die for it. This does not mean that a truly righteous man, one endowed with the only righteousness, 'the righteousness which is of God by faith' (Phi.3.9), may perish eternally (for this cannot be, Jn.10.27,28), but that sickness and death will become at once the corrigent and the punishment of his faults. (See 1 Co.11.30-32. He.12.5-11.) Some understand the passage as a supposed case, not a real or possible, put to the Jews as a statement of divine procedure, which, if acted upon, they could not deny to be equitable: an argument to their consciences, of their utter unfitness to be judged by such a rule, and consequently of the necessity of fleeing to 'the LORD their righteousness.' (See 2 Co.5.19.) There is no inconsistency in supposing that both these views may have been, at the same time, in the mind of the prophet.—C.
i ch.18.5-9. Is.3.10.
j Ro.9.32;10.3. Phi.3.9. Lu.18.9,11,12,14. He.10.38. 2 Pe.2.20-22. Mat.10.22. 1 Jn.2.19.
k ch.18.4. Jn.8.21.
6 See note * in first column.
14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, lThou shalt surely die; nif he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;7
15 Ifo the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in pthe statutes of life without committing iniquity; qhe shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 Noner of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
r Mi.7.18,19. Ro.5.16,21. ch.18.22. Is.1.18;43.25;44.22. Ep.1.7. 1 Jn.1.7;2.1,2.
17 Yet the children of thy people say, sThe way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
s ver.20; ch.18.29. Ps.50.21. Jude 16. Mat.25.24,26. Lu.19.21,22.
18 Whent the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
t ver.12,13; ch.18.24,26. He.10.38. 2 Pe.2.20-22. 1 Jn.2.19. 2 Ti.4.10.
19 Butu if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yetv ye say, xThe way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, yI will judge you every one after his ways.
21 And it came to pass in the ztwelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that aone that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, Theb city is smitten.8
z ch.1.2. Je.52.12.
A.M. cir. 3417. B.C. cir. 587.
a ch.24.26,27.
b 2 Ki.25.8-10. 2 Ch.36.17-19. Je.39.2-8;52.4-14.
8 It appears from this, compared with Je.39.2, that the prophet did not hear of the capture of Jerusalem till a year after the event had taken place. He is particular in recording dates, to show that the words which are here recorded were revealed to him before he had heard these sad tidings.—P.
22 Now cthe hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning, and dmy mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
c ch.1.3;3.22,24,14.
d ch.3.26,27;24.26,27, with ch.11.3;12.27.
23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, ethey that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, gAbraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many;h thei land is given us for inheritance.
e ch.5.3; ver.27. Je.39.10;43.7-10;52.16. 2 Ki.25.12,22-24.
g Mat.3.8. Is.51.2. Jn.8.33,39. Ro.9.7. Mi.3.11.
25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; jYe eat with the blood,9 and klift up your eyes toward your idols, and lshed blood: and shall ye npossess the land?
26 Ye1 stand upon your sword,2 yeo work abomination, and pye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and qshall ye possess the land?
1 Use violence and murder, Ge.7.40. Mi.3.2,3. Zep.3.3.
2 'Stand with your sword' (Newcome). Some think it a reference to a mode of divination by standing upon a sword—it seems simpler to understand it of 'standing with' or leaning on a drawn sword, ready, and watching for violence.—C.
p ch.18.6;22.11.
q ver.25. Ps.50.16-22;94.20,21.
27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, rsurely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured,3 and they that be in the forts and in the scaves shall die of the pestilence.
28 For tI will lay the land most desolate,4 and the upomp of her strength shall cease; and thev mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.
t Je.9.11;16.16;25.11;44.2,6,22. ch.6.14. 2 Ch.36.21.
4 Heb. desolation and desolation.
u ch.7.24;24.21;30.6,7.
v ch.6.2-6;36.4.
29 Thenw shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate xbecause of all their abominations which they have committed.
w ch.6.7. Is.26.9,11. Ps.9.16;83.17,18.
x Is.3.11. Je.2.19,20. Is.i.-iii. ix. lix. Je.ii.-xix. ch.vi.-xxiv. Ho.i.-xiii. Am.ii.-ix. Zep.i.-iii. 2 Ki.17.7-23.
30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against5 thee6 by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come,y I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
5 Or, of.
6 Against thee—rather 'of thee,' as in the margin; for they seem not to be represented so much as opponents of the truth, as double-minded and unstable in its profession, Ja.1.6-8.—C.
y ver.31. Is.29.13;58.2. Mat.15.8. 2 Ch.36.16.
31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh,7 and they8 sit before thee as my people, and they zhear thy words, but they will not do them: afor with their mouth they show much love,9 but their heart bgoeth after their covetousness.
7 Heb. according to the coming of the people, Ps.78.36,37. Is.58.2. ch.8.1;14.1;20.1.
8 Or, my people sit before thee.
a De.5.28,29.
9 Heb. they make loves or jests, Is.29.13. Mat.15.8. ver.32.
32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song1 of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for cthey hear thy words, but they do them not.2
1 Heb. a song of loves.
c ver.31. Je.3.7. Ja.1.22,23.
2 They admired his eloquence—not his doctrine, and disregarded denunciations and precepts.—C.
Notes
Ver. 10, 11. They cavil, and say, If we are thus miserable, and long punished for our iniquities, how can we be ever delivered and restored to prosperity? But know assuredly that I take no pleasure in punishing you, wicked as you are; but had rather you should repent of your wickedness, that I might accomplish my promises of mercy to you. Why then do ye not, without a moment's delay, heartily repent and return! Why do ye continue to ruin yourselves, and to provoke me to destroy you?—N.B. The death and life here, as well as in ch. iii. and xviii., primarily denote the temporal misery or happiness of the Jews; the first of which might have been prevented, and the latter might have been obtained, by repentance and righteousness, though not properly evangelical or infallibly persevering. 24. They whom the Chaldeans have left in the desolated country of Judea, far from lamenting their sins and desolations, and the captivity or death of their brethren, boast that, being Abraham's seed, and especially considering their number, they shall be able to keep possession of the country.
Reflections.—One faithful minister or magistrate may be of great service to a country or nation. Yet much care and faithfulness is necessary in the work of either. And it is a great mercy that, when they cannot be so useful to others as they wished, they may save themselves. They who have hardened themselves in presumption generally at last sink into and harden themselves in despair. Yet certain and delightful is it that God hath no pleasure in the ruin of sinners; and that he is infinitely sincere and earnest in his calls to repentance. But sinners must repent or be damned. Holiness and happiness, obstinate sinning and misery, are inseparably connected in God's purposes, oracles, and providences; nor does the escaping one stroke secure the hardened transgressor from imminent ruin.—To what a fearful pitch of profaneness are they arrived who can make common calamities the matter of their joy, or important discourses the object of their derision! And yet faithful ministers are a common object of contempt and hatred, and a common subject of discourse in the places where they live. And, alas, many pretend great fondness for God's ministers and ordinances who have no real love to them! Often hearers have their fancies pleased who never get their consciences touched, their hearts renewed, or lives sanctified, by what they hear. And nothing more effectually prevents the efficacy of the gospel than a covetous heart. But neither scoffers nor hypocrites shall be able to defeat the threatenings of God; and they who would not improve his mercies shall know their value by wanting them.