Exposition of the Whole Bible

he that divines for gracé; in order to ingratiate himfelf into the people, to gain their good will, — or their money, or both; and therefore divines fmooth things, and flatters them with that which is moft agreeable to their inclination; but when they fhall fee the city taken, and themielves carried captive, they will no more regard fuch foothing diviners, who pretended from the {tars to tell what fhall come to pafs, as the Arabic verfion fuggetts,

¥.25. For I am the Lord, I will fpeak, &e.]} A fovereign being, immutable and eternal; who will fpeak by his prophets, what is his mind and will fhall be done: and the word that I fhall fpeak joall come to pafs; the word of prophecy delivered out in his name by the true prophets never fails, but is always accomplifhed; as that was which re- {pected the fiege of ‘Ferufalem, and captivity of the Fews: it foal be no more prolonged; the judgment threatened fhall be inflicted, and that in a very fhort time: for in your days, O rebellious houfe; whilft they were living; which they hoped would never be, at leaft not till after their death; whereas, within five or fix years after this, all came to pafs: will I fay the word, and will perform it, faith the Lord God of hofts; not only the prophecy of their ruin fhould be given out in their days, but accomplifhed in that time; which they might de- end upon, fince he who faid it, is the mighty God, the Lord of armies in heaven and in earth.

¥.26. Again, the word of the Lord came to me, faying.| This is repeated to confirm what was before fpoken, and that they might aflure themfelves that there would be a certain and fpeedy accomplifhment of what the Lord had faid by his pro- het.; y¥.27. Sen of man, bebold, they of the houfe of Tfrael fay, &c.] Either they of the ten tribes in Babylon, or the Fews in Fudea, who were alfo J/- raelites: thefe the Lord directs the prophet to take notice of, and be a witnefs of what they faid; fince he himfelf, as a prophet, was concerned in it; +he vifion that he feeth is for many days to come, and be prcphefieth of the times that are afar off; that is, according to them, the vifion that Ezekiel the prophet faw concerning their ruin; and the prophecy which he delivered out relating to that was not to be fulfilled as yet; there were many days and years ftill to come; it was at.a great diftance, and fo they put away this evil day far from them; they own that he had a vifion and prophecy, but it refpected future times, and diftant ages; and therefore. they did not trouble themfelves with it; it gave them no great concern, becaufe they confidered it as afar off.

y¥. 28. Therefore fay unto them, thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Carry this meffage to them:from me, whether they will hear it or no; fo fhall it be: there fhall none of my words be prolonged any more; the fulfilment of prophecies delivered in the name of the Lord by the prophets fhall be no longer deferred, but fhall quickly be: dut the word which I have fpoken, fhall be done, faith the Lord

| God; one jot and tittle of it fhall not pafs away, till all be fulfilled; fooner may heaven and earth pafs away, than that fhall; it is for ever fettled in © heaven, and fhall be fulfilled on earth; he that terms of doubtful fignification, and might be taken in more fenfes than one. The Septuagint verfion is, has faid it, is of one mind, and none can turn him; and is able to do whatfoever he pleafes.

IL’ being faid in the preceding chapter, y. 24.

that there fhould be no more a vain vifion, nor a flattering divination, the prophet is ordered to prophefy againft the falfe prophets and propheteffes, ¥.1, 2,17. the former are defcribed as prophefying out of their own hearts, ¥. 2. as foolith ones, following their own fpirit, and feeing nothing, ¥. 3. they are compared to foxes in the deferts, y. 4. and are reprefented as unconcerned to ftand in the gap for the people, ¥. 5. and as feeing vanity and lying divination; wherefore the Lord was again{t them, y¥. 6, 7, 8. what they are threatened with are, that they fhould not be in the affembly of God’s people; nor written in the writing of ‘the houfe of J/rael; nor enter into the land of

Tjreel, ¥. 9. the reafon of which was, becaufe they feduced the Lord’s people, by fpeaking peace to them when there was none; which is figuratively exprefied by building a wall, and daubing—it with untempered morter, ¥. 10. upon which the wall is threatened to be rent, and caufed to fall with a ftormy wind; fignifying the deftruction of Ferzfalem by the Chaldean army; and the falfe prophets to have the wrath of God poured on them, who doubted it, ¥. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. and then follows the order to the prophet to prophefy againit the falfe propheteffes, and fet his face again{ft them, and pronounce wo upon them in the name of the Lord; who are defcribed as prophefying out of their own hearts; fowing pillows to all arm-holes; and making kerchiefs on the head of all forts of perfons; and which they did for poor fmall gain, and to the detriment of immortal fouls, good and bad, ¥. 17,18, 19. wherefore the Lord threatens to tear off their pillows and kerchiefs, and deliver his people out of their hands, no more to be hunted by them, ¥. 20, 21. the reafon of which was, becaufe they faddened the hearts of the righteous, and ftrengthened the hands of the wicked, ¥. 22. and the chapter is concluded with a refolution that they fhould fee no more vanity nor divine divinations; and that the Lord’s people fhould be delivered from them, and they fhould know that he was the Lord, y. 23.

¥.1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, faying.} Giving orders to prophefy againft the falfe prophets and prophetefles, which were either in the land of J/rael, of whom the prophet had notice; or rather, who were among the captives in Babylon, where Ezekiel now was.

¥. 2. Son of man, prophefy againft the prophets of

Tfrael, &c.| Who called themfelves fo, and were accounted fuch by others; tho’ they were not true, but falfe prophets; and fo the Targum calls them: that prophefy;, that is, fmooth things to the people; promifing a fpeedy return from the captivity; or that %eru/alem fhould not be taken by the Chaldeans, and the inhabitants of it, and of the land, be carried captive: and fay thou unto them that prophefy out of their own hearts; who were not fent of God, nor {fpake from him; but of themfelves, what came into their heads, and was agreeable to their fancies, imaginations and carnal hearts; fuch are falfe teachers, that go foith witli out being fent, and teach not according to the word of God, but according to their own carnal teafonings; fo the Targum, “ according to the ‘¢ will of their hearts;” what they pleafed themfelves: hear ye the word of the Lord; which cameé from the Lord himfelf, and not from man, meaning the following prophecy; fo the written word of God fhould be attended to, both by teachers and hearers, as the only rule of faith and practice; fee Jf. viii. 20.

¥. 3. Thus faith the Lord God, wo unto the foolifh prophets, &c.] The falfe prophets, as the Targum; who are foolifh, as all are who are not fent of God, and furnifhed by him with wifdom and knowledge, and who prophefy out of their own hearts; for what elfe but folly can proceed from thence? this muft be a great mortification to thefe prophets to be called foolifh, when they reckoned themfelves wife men, being vainly puffed up in their flefhly minds, and were accounted fo by others; but what is wifdom with men, is foolifhnefs with God: that follow their own fpitit, or walk after it*; and not the Spirit of God, who leads into all truth; they pretended toa fpirit of prophecy, but it was their own fpirit, and the dictates of it they followed, and not the Spirit of the Lord; and therefore it is no wonder that they prophefied falfe things, and led the people wrong; as all fuch teachers do, who give way to their own fancies and imaginations, and forfake the word of God, and do not implore the affiftance and teachings of the bleffed Spirit: and have feen nothing; no vifion, as the Syriac verfion renders it; they pretended to have revelations of things future from the Lord, but they had none; what they faw were vain vifions and lying divinations, and were as nothing, and worfe than nothing; yea they faid what they never faw. ¥. 4. O Tfrael, thy prophets are like the foxes of the deferts.|’ The falfe prophets, as the Targum; thefe are called J/rael’s prophets, becaufe received, embraced and encouraged by them; not the Lord’s, for they were not fent by him, nor had any meffages from him; and fuch are comparable to foxes, for their craftinefs and cunning, and lying in wait to deceive, as thefe feduced the Lord’s people, y.10. and fuch are falfe teachers, who walk in craftinefs, and handle the word of God deceitfully, and are deceitful workers; and to foxes in the deferts, which are hungry and ravenous, and make a prey of whatfoever comes within their reach, as thefe prophets did of the people, y. 19. Kimchi interprets deferts of breaches and ruinous places in the walls of a vineyard, where the foxes lie, or thro’ which they enter into the vineyard, and fpoil it; as thefe falfe prophets entered in among the J/raelites like to a vineyard, and did them much hurt and damage, by infinuating themfelves among the weak, and thofe of little faith, which the above writer compares to breaches in vineyards; fee Cant. ii. 15. It may be, 'the deferts may have refpect to the land of Chaldea, where Ifrael was carried captive, and where thefe (aS the the falfe prophets, could play their part to advantage; not being under the notice and reftraints of the Sanbedrim at Feru/alem.

y¥. 5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, &t.] Or breaches‘; fo the Targum. The allufion is to breaches made in the walls of a city when befieged; at which time, thofe within gather together in great numbers to meet the enemy, and prevent his entrance by the breaches. Thefe words are either fpoken to the princes of J/rae/, the civil magiftrates; or to the prophets, who fecing the fins of the people like a mighty torrent, opening a breach for the wrath and judgments of God to pour in upon them, fhould have called them, and importunately prefled them to repentance and reformation, and to have put up their prayers, and made interceflion to God for them; neither of which they did, and therefore are here blamed; fee'ch. xxii. 30. Pf cvil.23: meither made up the hedge for the houfe of Ifrael, or a fence, a fortification.. The Vulgate Latin renders it, a wall; a new wall, which is generally made by the befieged within, when a breach is made upon them: it fignifies the fame as before. archi and Kimchi interpret it, of repentance and good works; and fo the Zargum, which paraphrafes the words thus, ‘* neither have ye done for yourfelves good works, ** to deprecate for the houfle of J/rael, to ftand ** to pray for them:” to jfrand in the battel in the day of the Lord; when he came forth in_ battelarray againft them, with great wrath and indignation, in the way of his righteous judgments, The Targum is, ** when warriors come up againft ** them in the day of the wrath of the Lord;” when the Chaldeans came againft them by the will of God, he being angry with them. _ ¥. 6. They have feen vanity, and lying divination, &c.] The vifions the falfe prophets pretended to fee, were nothing but the fruit of their own fancies and imaginations, and. had. nothing real in them; and what they divined or foretold fhould be, were all lies, and never came to pafs, and never would: faying, the Lord faith, and the Lord hath not fent them they came to the people with a lie in their mouths, giving out that the Lord fpoke by them; when they had no miffion from him; nor any commiffion to fay what they did; or any warrant from him for their prophecies: and they have made others to hope, that they would conjim the word; or, that the word would be con- Jirmed *; that what was faid by them would have its accomplifhment; and that their prophecies would be fulfilled. By their folemn way of fpeaking; by the ufe they made of the name of the Lord; by the ftrong affurances they gave, and by their frequent repetition of their predictions, the people were brought to hope and believe that the event would anfwer to what they faid; wherefore, inftead of bringing them to a fenfe of their fins, and repentance for them, whereby the judgments of God would have been prevented; they hardened them in them, and haftened their ruin.

¥. 7. Have ye not feen a vain vifion? &c.] A vifion only in pretence, and -not in reality; the effect of their own fancy, and not any thing fhewn them by the Lord: and have ye not fpoken a lying ~ divination? delivered out a known lie, faying they

had it from the Lord, when they had it not; or a prophecy that will deceive, and be without effect, and in the iffue prove a falfhood: whereas ye fay, the Lord faith it, albeit I have not fpoken? this is a proof that what they gave out for a vifion and prophecy was a vain and falfé one; feeing they pretended they had it from the Lord, when he never fpoke a word to them, or by them.

¥.8. Therefore thus faith the Lord God, &c.] This is what he fays, and it may be depended on will come to pafs; tho’ the other he faid nor, they faid he did, but was a lying divination: decaufe ye have fpoken vanity, and feen lies; which will in the iffue prove fo, lying and deceitful; what never came from God, but from themfelves, and the father of lies, and would never be accomplifhed: therefore bebold, I am againft you, faith the Lord God; or, I unto you; which may be fuplied thus, J come, or will come unto you’; in a way of providence, and chaftife and punifh you; fee Rev. ii. 16. or I will be your adverfary; and a fad thing it is for any to have God to be againft them; there’s no contending with him; none ever hardened themfelves againft him, and profpered; men are but with him as ftubble, or as thorns and briers to a confuming fire.

¥.9- And mine hand fhall be upon the prophets

that fee vanity, and that divine lies, 8c.) _Meaning by his hand, not the true fpirit of prophecy, attended with a divine power and energy, as in ch. i..3. and ii. 14. but the wrath and power of God feizing on them, and punifhing them. Soa the Targum, ‘* and the ftroke of my power fhall ‘* be, upon the falfe prophets,” &c... The fenfe is, that they fhould feel the weight of his, hand, and. the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his wrath, by inflicting punifhment upon them: they fhall not be in the affembly of my people; fhall have no place in the church of God, nor fellowfhip with the faints; they fhall not join with them in religious, worfhip here; but either fhall be left by the righteous judgment of God to feparate themfelves from them; or fhall be excluded their communion; and much lefs fhall they ftand in the congregation of the righteous hereafter: or, they fhall not be in the fecret, or council of my people ®; thall not be confulted by them on any account, civil or religious; or not be let into the fecret counfels of the Lord,, as the Lord’s people be, who are his favourites; and his friends; fee Pf. xxv. 14. The Targum is, ‘‘ in the good fecret ‘¢ which is hidden for my people, they fhall not “* be:” neither fhall they be written in the writing of the houfe of Ijrael, their names fhall not be in the roll or regifter of thofe that return from cap-~ tivity, as in Ezra ii. but fhall die in their exile 5 they fhall not be in the lift and catalogue of the citizens of any city in the land of J/rael, particularly of Ferufalem, the chief city; fee If iv. 3. and it fhould appear that their names were never written in the Lamb’s book of life; or that they ever were among the number of God’s elect, the true and fpiritual J/rael of God. So the Targum,

‘« and in the writing of eternal life, which is writ-

“¢ ten for the righteous of the houfe of Mrae, they

“« fhall not be written;” fee P/: lxix. 28: neither foall they enter into the land of Irael; thould not

%3Y “IDA in fecreto populi mei noa erunt, Montanus; in arcano, Muntter; in return to the land of Jrael, when the captives fhould at the end of the captivity; nor enter into the land of Canaan, the heavenly reft, which remains for the people of God; tor into the new Ferujalem-ftate fhall nothing enter that makes an abomination, or a lie, as thefe prophets had done; fee Rev. xxi. 27. and xxii. 15: and ye fhall know that I am the Lord Gods omnifcient, omnipotent, true and faithful, holy, juft, and good.. ¥. 10. Because, even becaufe they have seduced my people, &c.] Who were fo by profeffion; otherwile fuch who are truly the people of God, tho’ they may be deceived in civil things, yet not in religious matters, at leaft, not totally and finally, in this fenfe it is impotfible to deceive the eleét of God; but as falfe teachers are deceivers, they lie in wait, and ufe all means to deceive them, and do deceive nominal profeffors, which is refented by the Lord; and this is given asa reafon of their punifhment; and which is doubled, as in Lev. XXvi. 43. to fhew the heinoufnefs of their fin, and the certainty of their punifhment: /aying, peace, and there was no peace; giving out that peace would be made with the king of Babylon, that the captives would return to their own land, where, with thofe that were*in it, they would enjoy great profperity; when no fuch thing came to pafs, nor would; but the contrary was certain, by the predictions of the true prophets fent by the Lord: and one built up a wall, one of the falfe prophets, and of the chief of them, gave out that Yerufalem would continue a walled city, and abide firm and impregnable againft the Chaldean army, and would never be taken: and lo, others daubed tt with untempered morter; others of the falfe prophets, obferving that what the firft had delivered out was pleafing to the people, not only afiented to it, but ftrongly affirmed it; and with colourings and fpecious arguments, made it look more plaufible and probable; when alas! the whole was no other than like putting a parcel of loofe ftones or bricks together, and throwing fome flufhy ftuff upon them, as moiftened fand without lime, or clay without ftraw, as the Targum and Vulgate Latim verfions render it; which would never cement the bricks or ftones together. R. Fofeph Kimchi interprets it of bricks not burnt: fo falfe teachers imitate the true minifters of the word, in preaching peace; but then they don’t direct aright where it is to be had, which is only in Chrift; or the proper perfons, finners preffed with the guilt of fin, and feeking for eafe and peace in a right way; but publifh it to thofe to whom it does not belong, for there is no peace to the wicked, and put them upon making peace themfelves by their own works of righteoufnefs, and their legal repentance, and outward humiliation; or promife it to them, tho’ they have no faith in Chrift, and are not. fenfible of their fin and danger: thefe men are builders, but not wife mafter-builders; they don’t build upon the foundation Chrift, but build up a wall without him; leaving himo ut of the building who is the chief corner-ftone; deliver out fome loofe and unconnected doctrines, that are not according to the fcriptures, nor confiftent with each other; and encourage the people to perform fome loofe duties and cold fervices, without the cement of faith:and love; and which is no other than building upon the fand, or with it; tho’ they fancy it to be a wall, a fhelter, and protection to them, from-the wrath and juftice of God, and by which they hall climb up to heaven; which will prove'a bowing wall, and a tottering fence; and in thefe miftakes they are buoyed up by falfe teachers, and are flat tered as being in a fair way for eternal happinefs.

¥. 11. Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, &c.]' The falfe prophets, that flattered the people with peace, profperity and fafety: that it foall fall, the wall they have built and daubed over; the city of Ferufalem fhall be taken and deftroyed; the predictions of the prophets fhall prove lies; and the vain hopes and expectations of the people fail: there fhall be an overflowing /eower; that fhall wath away the wall with its untempered morter; meaning the Chaldean army, compared to an overflowing fhower of rain, for the multitude of men in it, and the force, power and noife with which it fhould come, bearing down all before it; fee J/. viii. 7, 8: and ye, O great hail- Stones, fail fall; wpon the wall, and break it down: or, ye, O great hail-ftones, hall caufe it to fall”, or, I will give great hail-ftones, and it fhall fall’. The word Elgasifb, which in fome copies is one word, and in others two, as Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve, is either the fame with Gadi/b, which fignifies a precious ftone, and is rendered pearl in

Job xxviii. 18. ‘or it may be, as it feems to be, an Arabic word; and Hottinger * takes it to be Gyp/fus or lime, or the Lapis Laminofus or flate; fo the Lord threatens to rain down lime or flate upoa them from heaven, which fhould deftroy the wall built with untempered morter: and a ftormy wind Jhall rent it; this feems to fignify the fame as the overflowing fhower, the Chaldean army, compared to a {trong tempeftuous wind; fee Yer. iv. 11, 12, 13. as the hail-ftones may fignify the king of Babylon, with his princes, nobles and generals.

¥. 12. Lo, when the wall is fallen, &c.| Ferufalem is taken: fhall it not be faid unto you, the falfe prophets, by the people who had been deceived by them: where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? what’s become of all your promifes of peace, and affurance of fafety and profperity; your fmooth words, and plaufible arguments; your fpecious pretences, and flattering prophecies? thus would they be infulted by thofe they had deceived, as well as laughed at by fuch who difregarded their predictions, and believed the prophets of the Lord.

¥. 13. Therefore thus faith the Lord Ged, &c.} Confirming what he had before bid the prophet fay, ¥. 11: J will even rent it with a ftormy wind in my fury, {tormy winds fometimes rend rocks afunder, 1 Kings xix. 11: and much more feeble tottering walls; what is before afcribed to the ftormy wind, is faid to be done here by the Lord himfelf, making ufe of that as an inftrument; ftormy winds fulfil his word, P/. cxlviii. 8. the caufe of which is his wrath, which made the difpenfation, or the invafion of the Chaldean army the more terrible; and this is mentioned in all the following claufes: and there hall be an overflowing foower in mine anger, and great bail-ftones in my fury to confume it; which, coming from the Lord, and attended with his wrath and fury, mutt needs bring on utter ruin and deftruction.. The whole is paraphrafed by the Targum thus, “ and I will «« bring a mighty king with the force of tempetts; ‘« anda deftroying people as a prevailing rain in my

“* fury fhall come; and kings, who were power- “© ful as hail-ftones, in wrath to confume.”

y. 14. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, c.| Which is repeated and exprefied in thefe words, both for the fake of confirmation and explanation of what is before faid: and bring it down to the ground, fo that the foundation thereof hall be difcovered; meaning the city of Feru/alem, and by thefe phrafes declaring the utter deftruction of it; whereby alfo would be difcovered the vain affurances and lying predictions of the falfe prophets, and which would appear to be entirely groundlefs: fo the Zargum, ** and I will deftroy the city in which ye ** have prophefied falfe prophecies; and I will ** caufe it to fall to the ground, and its founda- ** tions fhall be difcovered):” and it foall fall, and ye foall be confumed in the midft of it; the falfe prophets perifhed in the deftruction of Ferufalem, and not one of them efcaped: and ye fhall know that I am the Lord; who is true to his word, and able to accomplifh it, whether of punifhment, or of threatening.

y¥. 15. Lhus will 1 accomplifh my wrath upon the wall, &c.] Or upon the city, as the Zargum; pour out all his indignation, and inflict juft punifhment upon the city of Feru/alem and its inhabitants: and upon them that bave daubed it with untempered morter; the falfe prophets: fo the Targum, ‘* and the falfe prophets that prophefy in it “¢ falfe prophecies:” and will fay unto you, the wall is uo more, weither they that daubed it; neither the city of Ferufelem, nor the prophets that prophefied of its fafety; nor their falfe prophecies; nor the vain hopes of the people they fed them with: fo the Targum, ‘* there is no city, nor falfe proem ettase

¥.16. To wit, the prophets of Ifrael, which prophely concerning Ferufalem, &c.| This explains who are meant by thofe that daubed with untempered morter: and which fee viftons of peace for her not in reality, but in pretence; they boafted that they had vifions and revelations from the Lord, and affured the people they fhould enjoy great peace and profperity; but thefe, as they are before called, were vain vifions and lying divinations: there feems to be in this an allufion to the name of 7erujalem, which according to fome fignifies, ‘¢ they ** fhall fee peace:” and there is no peace, faith the Lord; not to the wicked; nor to the inhabitants of Ferufalem, who liftened to the falfe prophets; nor to the falfe prophets themfelves.

¥. 17. Likewife, thou fon of man, fet thy face againft the daughters of thy people, &c.| The falfe propheteffés; for as there were women in fome ages, who had the true fpirit of prophecy, as M4@- viam, Deborah, and Huldah; fo there were fome that pretended to it, who had it not, as Noadiah in the times of Nehemiah, Neb. vi. 14. and fuch there were in the times of Ezekiel; againft whom he is bid to fet his face, and look them out of countenance, and make them afhamed; who contrary to the modetty of the fex, had impudently taken upon them to prophefy to the people; and {uch have been fince in the times of the gofpel, as Jezebel, Rev. ii. 20. and Prifca, Maximilla, Quintilla, and others: who prophefy out of their own heart; as the men did, ¥.2. what their owm hearts fuggefted to them; what came into their minds, and their own fancies and imaginations led them to; what was according to their carnal affections and defires, and agreeable to thole that heard them: and prophefy thou againft them; declare their prophecies falfe; warn the people from giving heed to them; and foretel what fhall befal them for deceiving the people. 2 y. 18. And fay, thus faith the Lord God, wo to the women that fow pillows to all arm-holes, Sc. | Or, put pillows to all elbows'; thereby fignifying, that they might be at eafe, and reft fecure, and look upon themfelves as in the utmoft fafety, and not fear any enemy, the invafion of the Chaldeans; or that their city would be deftroyed, and they carried captive, as the prophets of the Lord had foretold: and make kercbiefs upon the bead of every fiature; whether taller or lower; the word /fature, according to Kimchi, is ufed, becaufe the people ftood when they enquired of thefe prophetefies, whether they fhould have peace or no, or good or evil fhould betal them: or, of every age, as the Septuagint verfion; young or old; they put) thete kerchiefs, or vails™, as fome render the word,

‘upon all forts of perfons; for they refufed none that came to them, they could get any thing by 5, upon their heads, either as a token of victory and triumph, fignifying that they fhould have the better of their enemies, and rejoice over them; or to make them proud, and fuggeft to them that they fhould never be ftripped of their ornaments; or elfe, as the former fign fhows that they lulled them afleep upon pillows, and led them on in a carnal fecurity, fo they kept them in blindnefs and ignorance: and this they did, 4o bunt fouls; to bring them into their nets and {nares; to catch them with their falfe prophecies, and deceive them by their fallacious figns, and fuperftitious rites and ceremonies, and fo ruin and deftroy them®. Will ye bunt the fouls of my people; that cleave to me, and regard my prophets; will ye endeavour to enfnare thofe, and feek to deftroy their peace) and comfort, and even their fouls? ye fhall not be able to do it: and will ye fave the fouls alive that come unto you? and enquire of you how things will be, and liften to your lying divinations; can you fave them from the ruin and deftruction that is coming, upon them? no, you will not be able to do it; and what wickednefs is it in you to attempt the one or the other? The Targum is, ** the fouls of “¢ my people, can ye deftroy or quicken? your ‘<¢ fouls, which are yours, can you quicken?” the fenfe is, they could neither do the one or the other; and yet fuch was their iniquity, that they fought to do both.

¥. 19. And will ye pollute me among my people, &c.] Defile the name of the Lord, by abufing iit, to cover their wicked defigns and practices, pretending they were fent by him, when they were not; that what they faid came from him, tho’ he fpoke not by them; and- that it was his will they declared, when it was their own, and what came out of their own hearts and heads: fo the Targum, will ye pollute my will among my people; to joe his name among the Genti/es was a great to pollute it among his own people was rs attempting to draw them afide from hisiabep jive worfhip, and that for gain, for fmall gain too?

2 7¥ MINDS pulvillos fuper omnes cubitos manus, Calvin; pro omnibus cubitis manaum, Pifcator.

’: < " Guffetius thinks, that by the words rendered pi chiefs, are meant nets, with which they covered lows ¢ (p.

their heads and arms; for otherwife, what connection is there between ah for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread; which fhows them to be abandoned creatures, that were ready to do or fay any thing for the: meaneft trifle; their confciences were feared; they gave up themielves to work wickednefs with greedinefs, and for filthy lucre’s fake, and for a {mall portion of that; which exaggerates their fin and folly; fee Prov. xxviii. 21. Mic. iii. 5: >to flay the fouls that fhould not die; by threatening the captives in Babylon, who had furrendered themfelves. in Feboiachin’s time, with deftruction and death; who ought to have been comforted in their: exile, and whom the Lord in his own time would deliver: aud to fave the fouls alive that foould not live; by promifing the inhabitants of Yeru/alem long life, fafety and profperity; when they fhould either die by the fword, famine, and peftilence; or be carried captive, which was as death; for fo they did, or attempted to do, both the one and the other, by their falfe prophecies, as follows: dy your lying to my people that hear your lies? their falfe prophecies, which fome hearkened to, and believed; and others were intimidated by, and feared that fo it would be.:

¥.20. Wherefore thus faith the Lord God, behold, Tam-againft your pillows, &c.] Not only had an abhorrence of them, but was determined to deftroy them, detect their fallacies, and expofe the folly of fuch actions and them,to fhame and contempt: wherewith ye there hunt the fouls, to make them fly; to the places where they prophefied; into the toils and nets they fpread for them, in order to catch them with their divinations and prophecies, and make a gain of them: or, into the gardens, or

¥: 22. Becaufe with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous fad, &c.] By polluting the name of the Lord by hunting and decoying fouls into their deftructive nets; and by threatening fuch who would not give heed to their fuperititious rites; lying divinations, and falfe prophecies: - e falfe teachers make.the hearts of fuch fad,,.,.whe having, feen the infufficiency of their own, righte-; oufnefs, truft in jthe ‘righteoufnefs, of Chrift,) and: are. juftified by it; ‘by teaching fuch.dogtrines as. depreciate the love and grace of God) the,Father;, making his love dependent. on the\ creature; his covenant conditional, and falvation to,be by works, and not by grace: as detract from the perfon,),ot-, fices, and grace of Chrift; denying, his deity; and divine ‘fonfhip; making light of -his, blood, and fetting up man’s righteoutnefs again{t his: and {uch as are injurious to the Spirit’s work; afcribing regeneration and conyerfion to; man’s free-will,; giving fuch marks and figns of grace, as are not, to be found in any, and. reprefenting. it as, what.may. be. entirely loft: whom I have not made,fad, nor would he have them made fad by. others.;, neither by falfe prophets and -their lies, nor, by,any other means; neither by any thing within; them,, or any thing without them; not by any or all: of their fpiritual enemies: he would have them comforted.; the covenant of grace, and the promifes,of it, are made for fuch a purpofe; the {criptures are written for this ufe; ordinances are defigned for. this, end.; minifters are appointed for this work’;, and this -is the office of the divine, Spirit; andthe Son of God himfelf was fent on this account':,and-jtrengthened the hands of the wicked, that he fhould not return groves*; there to commit idolatry, J/, lxv. 3: and from bis wicked way; by repentance and» reforma-

Iwill tear them from your arms; by which it feems, that thofe pillows were not only put under the arms of thofe that came to enquire of: thefe. fheprophets or fortune-tellers; but they put them under their own arms, and lay upon them as if they rwere afleep, and in a trance or exftacy; and fo the kerchiefs or veils were upon their heads, which covered their faces, to fhew that they were quite retired from the world, and wholly attentive to the vifions and revelations they pretended were made them by the Lord; and which they gave out in this fuperftitious way, to the credulous people that flocked about them: and will let the fouls go, even the fouls that ye bunt to make them fy; which were captivated with their fuperttitions; drawn into their nets and fnares; decoyed into the gardens, where they were prevailed upon to facri- _fice to idols, and were taken with their foothfaying and lying divinations; thefe the Lord promifes to break the f{nare for them, and fet them at liberty, and preferve them from that ruin and deftruction they were ready to come into; fee P/ cxxiv. 7. y. 21. Your kerchiefs alfo will I tear, &c.] From their heads; difcover their tricks, and expofe them to the contempt of the people, and deftroy both them and their works: aad deliver my people out of your band, from being hunted, enfnared, and deceived by them: aud. they fhall be no more in your land to be hunted, but fhould either flee into Egypt and other countries for fhelter, or be carried captive into Babylon; and ye shall know that I am the Lord; fee ¥. 9, 14.

tion; and fo far were the wicked from returning from it in this way, that they were emboldened in fin, and hardened in it; and were more frequent and open in the commiffion of it; and that. thro’ the prophecies of thefe falfe propheteffes; as wicked men are by the, doétrines of falfe teachers: and particularly dy promifing him life, or that he fhould live long, and enjoy much peace and profperity in the land of J/rae/, and not be carried captive into Babylon; and fo falfe teachers harden men in fin, by giving them hopes of eternal life, though they continue in their evil ways; or upon the foot of univerfal redemption, and upon their repentance, as the fruit of their own free-will; and therefore take their fwing of fin, as believing that Chrift died for all men, and fo for them, and therefore fhall be faved, live as they will; and that it is in their power to. repent when they pleafe, and therefore procraftinate it to. the laft.

¥. 23. Therefore ye fhall fee.no.more vanity, nor divine divinations, &c.] They fhould not be fuffered any longer to impofe upon the people; and they fhould be fo fufficiently expofed, that the people would not give heed to their vain vifions and lying divinations any more; and no gain coming to them hereby,» they would not be. difpofed to make pretenfions to them, as they had done: or the fenfe is, that they fhould perifh in the: fiege and deftruction of Feru/alem; and fo they and their falfe prophecies would ceafe together: for J will deliver my people out of your band, and ye fhall know that Iam the Lord; fee. 21.

FN this chapter are contained, the difpleafure of if God at hypocritical idolaters that fought unto him, and at the falfe prophets; the judgments that fhould come upon them, and which fhould not be averted by the interceffion of the beft of men; and yet a promife that a remnant fhould be faved. The elders of J/rael are faid to fit before the prophet, ¥. 1. to whom the Lord gives an account of them, ¥. 2, 3. and orders the prophet what he fhould fay to them, that the Lord would anfwer them himfelf, ¥. 4, 5. and that he fhould bid the houfe of J/rael repent and turn from their idols, or elfe the Lord would fet his face againft them, and cut them off, both them and the falfe prophets they fought unto; and this is threatened, in order to reform them, and continue them his covenant-people, ¥. 6, 7,8, 9,10, 11. and then the judgment of famine is particularly threatened; to avert which, the prayers of the beft of men would be of ‘no effeét, ¥. 12, 13, 14. and next the judgment of noifome beafts, with the fame intimation, ¥. 15, 16.-likewife the fword, ¥. 17, 18. and alfo the peftilence, ¥. 19, 20. and much lefs when they fhould be all fent together, ¥. 21. and the chapter is concluded with a promife, that a remnant fhould be faved; which would be a comfort to the captives of Babylon, and accounts for what the Lord had done, or would do, in Ferufalem, ¥. 22, 23.

W. 1. Then came certain of the elders of I/rael unto me, 8c.] The Syriac verfion adds, ¢o confult the Lord; by the prophet. chi, were the elders of the captivity, the heads of the captives that were now in Babylon with Ezekiel:

but there are others that think they were fome that came from Ferufalem to Babylon on fome bufinefs or another; and having heard much of the prophet, came to vifit him, and to hear his propheties, and enquire of the Lord by him: and fat before me, filent and penfive, as perfons in anxiety and diftrefs; or as hearers of him, for fitting is an hearing-gefture, they fat and heard with great attention, gravity, and ferioufnefs, with feeming affection and reverence; and all this was not in a vifionary way, but was a real fact; fee Ezek. XXXlil. 31, 32.

¥. 2. And the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.| Whilft the elders were fitting before him, and whifpered fecretly and powerfully the following things in his ears: /aying, y¥. 3. Son of man, thefe men have fet up their idols in their heart, &c.| Tho’ they look fo grave and demure, feem fo devout and religious, and hear with fo much attention and reverence, and exprefs fuch a defire of confulting me by thee, they are ‘mo other than idolaters; and tho’ they are at fuch a diftance from their native place, and have not their idols with them, yet they have them in their fancy and imagination, and their hearts are after them, and are fet upon them; thefe engrofs their ~ affections, they are near and dear unto them, notwithftanding all their pretenfions: or, they bave

Thefe, according to Kim-.| caufed their idols to afcend upan their heart»; their hearts are the altars on which they worfhip them; and the throne on which they have placed them; they are held in the higheft efteem by them, and have the greateft honours done them, and have the afcendent over them; even their dunghil-gods, as the word * fignifies'; though they are but dung, filthy and abominable, thefe they lay upon their hearts; and what elfe is man’s righteoufhefs, when made an idol of, trufted to, and depended on? it is no other, as the apoftle fays, than /of and dung, Phil. iti. 8. and fo every carnal luft that is gratified and indulged, is no other than an idol, or a dunghil-god, fet up in the heart: and put the ftumbling-block of their iniquity before their face 5 whenever they had an opportunity of fo doing; for their hearts were not only inwardly affected to idols, but they outwardly worfhipped them; fet them before them, and bowed the knee to them, and prayed: and thefe idols are called the ftumblingblock of their iniquity, becaufe by worfhipping thefe, they fell into fin, and fo into ruin; they were the occafion of their fin, and of their punifhment; they ftumbled at them, and fell, even tho’ they

“were before their eyes; nay, they fet them themfelves before their face, which fhows their obftinacy and refolution to continue in idolatry, tho’ it would be their ruin: jhould I be enquired of at all by them? faffer them to come near me, and put a queftion to me, or be confulted by them thro’ thee? no, I will not: or, am I ferioufly enquired of by them? {fo fome' render the words; no, Iam not: or, deing afked, fball I anfwer them? fo the Targum and Vulgate Latin verfion: or, anfwering fhall I anfwer them*? no, Iwill not, they deferve no.anfwer from me; they fhall have none other of me, than fuch an one as follows. yt. 4. Therefore {peak unto them, and fay unto them, &c.] That is, fpeak unto them as a prophet, and as from the Lord, and fay what follows; fo the Largum, ‘* prophefy unto them, and fay * unto them):” ‘thus faith the Lord God, every man of the houfe of Ijrael, that fetteth up his idols in bis heart, and putteth the ftumbling-block of his iniquity before bis face; let him be who he will, one ia public office, an elder of J/rael, or a private perfon; no refpect will be had, no diftinétion made, nor favour fhown; being an idolater in heart and practice, fecretly and openly, he fhall bear the punifhment of his fin: and cometh to the prophet; the prophet Ezekiel, as the elders of J/rael now did,. or any other prophet of the Lord: the Vulgate Latin verfion adds, enquiring of me by him; expecting to have an anfwer, and one according to their. wifhes: I the Lord will anfwer him that cometh; that cometh to the prophet; or as the Targum, «¢ that cometh to afk inftruction of me:” here is a various reading, a Keri and a Cetib; we follow the Keri or marginal reading, m3. that cometh; and fo does the Yargum: but the Cetid or written text is, 32 i it, thus; J the Lord will anfwer him in it*; in the queftion he puts to the prophet, or to

P tond by romnbds sSyrm afcendere fecerunt idola fua in, vel fuper cor fuum, Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin. 3 roy ftercoreos deos fuos, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; ftercora fua, Cocceius; ftercora ipforum, Starckius.

WIN LAVINA an igitur ferio interrogor ab eis? Pifcator. At r:; * Eodem tempore, Junias & Tremellius, Polanus; in illo tempore, Pifcator; in ea ré, Cocceius,

* An refpondendo refpondebo illis? Starckius to the Lord by him; or in that time, immediately; but not with fmooth things as he expects, but with terrible things in righteoufnefs; not in a way of grace and mercy, but in a way/of judgment; not as he defires, but as he deferves:.according to the multitude of bis idols; in proportion to the number of his gods, and his idolatrous: actions, fhall the anfwer or punifhment be: or thefe words may. be connected with the word cometh, and be read thus, that cometh with the multitude of bis idols,° with his heart full of idols, fet up there; which is an inftance of his hypocrify, feen and detected by the Lord; and of his impudence, in daring to come unto him in fuch a manner’;.and of his folly, to expect a gracious anfwer from the Lord, this being ‘his cafe’ The Targum underftands it. quite otherwife, as if the anfwer the Lord would give, would be a kind and agreeable one, paraphrafing this claufe thus, ‘ altho’ he is mixed (implicated or entangled) in the multitude of the worfhip *° of his idols.”

¥. 5. That I may.take the houfe of. Ifrael in their own heart, &e.} By which they are enfnared,..and drawn afidé to their ruin} being given up to ftrong delufions, to believe a lie, and worfhip idols God threatening ‘to’ anfwer them: by righteous judgments, and’ thereby take the wickednefs, the hypocrify, and idolatry, that were in their hearts, and expofe and “make it manifeft unto others; -or by punifhire them, to draw out the corruption and fin that were in them, thatit might be feen what a wicked people they were. ‘The Targum interprets the text -in another way,:“* that I may *¢ bring near the houfe of J/rae/, and put repent- ** ance into their hearts.” Becaufe they ave all efranged from me thro their idols, they grew fhy of Ged and’ his’ worfhip, when they fell into ido- Jatry. Alienation from God, from the life of God, from the law of Ged, from the worfhip of God, and of ‘the affections from him, is owing to fome idol or another fet up in the heart, or before the eye; whatever is worfhipped ‘befides God, or gains the afcendent in the heart, alienates from him, and God will not admit of a rival, he cannot and will not bear it; and for this reafon he inflicts punifhment, or anfwers in a terrible way.

y. 6. Therefore fay unto the houfe of Ifrael, &c.] Deliver out the following exhortation to repentance unto them; for God’s end, in all his threatnings and judgments, is to bring men to repentance: thus faith the Lord God, repent, and turn yourfelves from your idols; or, turn, and caufe to be tarned from your idols“, turn yourfelves from the worfhip of idols, as the Targum, and do all that in you ‘lies to turn others from the fame, particularly your wives and young men, as Kimchi; and the rather they were obliged to do this, fince in all probability they had been the means of drawing them into idolatry: and turn away your faces from all your abominations, their idols, deteftable to God, and ought to have been fo to them; thefe he would have them turn their faces. from, not fo much as look at them, much lefs worfhip them, that they’might not be enfhared by them, this is faid, in oppofition to their fetting of them before their face, ¥.3, 4. a y. 7. For every one of the boufe of Ifrael, 8c. | King and fubjeéts, princes and people, high and low, rich and poor, of every rank, fex, and age:

or of the firanger that fojourneth in Ifrael, the proi) pnd; mbinial ~ ipfi venienti in multitudine publith it, 2 Thef. ii. 11. and to his own idoloram fuorum, Pagninus, Montanus.

felytes; whether of righteoufnefs, fuch as were circumcifed and embraced the Fewifh religion; or of the gate, who weré only inhabitants with them; one as another were obliged to worfhip the God of [rael, and abftain from idolatry; there was but one law to the J/raelite, and to the ftranger, refpecting this matter: which feparateth bimJelf from me from the worfhip of God, and fo from communion with him; turns his back on him, and becomes an apoftate from him, by joining himfelf with idols: and fetteth up his idols in bis heart, and putteth the flumbling-block of bis iniquity before bis face; thefe things are repeated, partly to obferve the heinoufnefs of the fin they were guilty of; and partly to fhow the ftupidity of this people, which required things to be faid over and over, ere they could take them in, and be. convinced of their evil: and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him con~ cerning me this explains what fuch perfons would come to a prophet for, y. 4. and expofes their, hypocrify: J the Lord will anfwer him by myfelf 5 not by the prophet to whom he comes, but. by himfelf: or, im my word, as the Targum; yet not by words, but by blows; not in mercy, but in wrath; and in fuch manner, that it fhall appear to come from the Lord, and to be according to truth and | juttice.

¥. 8. And I will fet my face againft that man, &c.] And look him out of countenance; notwithftanding all his daring impudence and prefumption in coming to a prophet of the Lord, and enquiring of him by him, when guilty. of grofs idolatry; which muft needs be the cafe, wheit the face. of God is fet againfta man, The Targum renders it, my fury, or wrath; and indeed that is what is meant; when God fets his face againft a man, he pours out his wrath, or infliéts punifhment on him; fee P/. xxxiv. 16., Farchi’s note is, ‘* as.a man ‘s that fays I am at leifure from all bufinefs, and “* T will attend to this;” laying afide all other bufinefs, wholly giving himfelf up to one thing; on which he is fet. Dreadful is a man’s cafe, when the Lord thus fets himfelf againft him! 4#d-wi/l make him a fign and a proverb; a {pectacle of. horror. to look at, becaufe of his mifery; anda proverb, to be took up, and fpoke of, as Zedekiab and Abab were, Fer. xxix. 22: and will cut bim off from the midft of my people, by a fudden death, — which the Yews call death from heaven, or» by. the immediate hand of God; and which jis anfwering by himfelf, as in the preceding verfe: and ye /hall know that I am the Lord; that is, thofe that remain, are not cut off, but are reclaimed by. thefe examples from idolatry, and are brought to repentance, the remnant among them that fhould be faved; thefe fhould know and acknowledge. the Lord was omnifcient, and knew the hypocrify of thofe men above defcribed; and was omnipotent, and could make good his threatenings, and inflict deferved punifhment; and that he was holy, juit, and true in all his ways.

¥. 9. And if the prophet be deceived, when he hath fpoken a thing, &c.] That is pleafing to men,

-and is not true, in hope of reward and applaufe, but it never comes to pafs, and his expectations are not anfwered: J the Lord have deceived that prophet; by fending a lying {pirit to him, as to Abab’s prophets, 1 Kings xxii. 22, 23. by giving him up to ftrong delufions, to believe a lie, and heart’s