their defeat by the Medes and Persians. The 2 Chron 21:16; Isa 13:17; Ezek 23:22;

their defeat by the Medes and Persians. The 2 Chron 21:16; Isa 13:17; Ezek 23:22;

JEREMIAH 50:36 1052

and over her princes, and over her wise men. 36 A sword is over the false prophets and they will behave like fools. A sword is over her mighty men,

report about them, and his hands have become weak. Anguish has seized him, and pangs like

a woman in labour. 44 See, he will come up like a lion from the flooding of the Jordan to the

and they will be dismayed. 37 A sword is over their horses and over their chariots

dwelling place of the strong; but I will make them suddenly run

and over all the mixed people who

away from her. And who is the chosen man whom I

are in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is over her treasures,

may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who will appoint me the time? And who is that shepherd who can

and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is on her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images,

stand against me?" 45 Therefore hear the plan of the LORD, that he has devised against Babylon, and his purposes, that he has formed

and they are crazy about their idols.

39 "Therefore the wild beasts of the desert together with jackals will live there, and the owls will live in it;

against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock will drag

them away; surely he will make their dwelling

and it will no longer be inhabited, forever; it will not be lived in from generation

place desolate by them. 46 At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth will shake, and the cry will be heard among the nations.

to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring cities,

says the LORD, so no one will remain there, and no son of man will live in it.

Thus says the LORD: "See, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who live in the midst

41 "See, a people will come from the north, and a great nation and many kings will

of those who rise up against me,

be raised up from the ends of the earth. 42 They will hold the bow and the lance. They are cruel, and will not show mercy. Their voice will roar like the sea,

a destroying wind, 2 And will send winnowers to Babylon

who will winnow her and empty her land; for in the day of trouble they will be

and they will ride on horses, everyone set in array like men for

against her all around. 3 Against him who bends a bow let the

battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon has heard the

archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up

in his armour;

"Redeemer" – note at Ps 78:35. 50:38 No land that gives itself to idolatry as Babylon did can finally prosper. The idolatry that she delighted in was one of the main causes of her downfall.

Bible teachers think that Babylon will be rebuilt at the end of this age and will become the Babylon of Revelation chapters 17 and 18. The language of Jeremiah and Isaiah seems to make impossible the rebuilding of a literal great city of Babylon. 50:41-43 See 6:22-24 where Babylon itself is meant. Here the same words refer to the armies coming against Babylon. 50:44-46 See 49:19-21 where the words are spoken against Edom. Here the same words refer to Babylon's fall. 51:1 "I will raise up" – v 11; 1 Chron 5:26; 2 Chron 21:16; Isa 13:17; Ezek 23:22; Amos 6:14; Hab 1:6. To fulfill His purposes in the earth God can and sometimes does stir up one nation against another.

"Crazy about their idols" – or "glory in their idols" or "boast about their idols" or "foolish about their idols." However it is translated it reveals the madness in the hearts of those people who prefer a dumb idol to the living God. 50:39,40 Verse 13; 51:37,62; Isa 13:1922. This did not happen immediately after their defeat by the Medes and Persians. The city gradually decayed, completely lost its importance, and was at last utterly abandoned. Only heaps of ruins remain today. Its place became as barren and devoid of human life as Sodom and Gomorrah. Some

"Those who rise up against me" – here refers to Babylonia.

1053 JEREMIAH 51:20

and do not spare her young men. Completely destroy all her army. 4 Thus the slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those who are pierced in her streets. 5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God,

the vengeance concerning his temple. 12 Set up the banner on the walls of Babylon! Make the guard strong! Station the watchmen! Prepare the ambushes! For the LORD has both planned and

done what he spoke against the

by the LORD of hosts, even though their land was filled with

inhabitants of Babylon. 13 O you who live on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your covetousness. 14 The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, "Surely I will fill you with men,

sin against the Holy One of Israel."

6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and everyone rescue his soul. Do not be cut off in her wickedness. For this is the time of the LORD's

as with locusts; and they will raise a shout against you."

vengeance; he will repay her. 7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the

LORD's hand, that has made the whole earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations have gone mad. 8 Babylon has suddenly fallen and been

15 He has made the earth by his power, has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by

his understanding. 16 When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,

destroyed. Wail for her. Take balm for her pain;

and he causes the vapours to ascend

perhaps she may be healed.

from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning with rain,

9 "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let each of us go to

and brings the wind out of his treasuries. 17 Every man is stupid, without knowledge. Every metal worker is put to shame by

his own country, for her judgment reaches to heaven,

the carved image, for his cast metal image is a lie,

and is lifted up to the skies. 10 The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion the

and there is no breath in them. 18 They are worthless, the work of error. In the time of their punishment they will perish. 19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the Maker of all things,

work of the LORD our God.

11 Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The LORD has raised up the spirit of

and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of hosts is his name.

the kings of the Medes, for his plan against Babylon is to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD,

20 "You are my war club, my weapons for battle;

Jerusalem speak. They have learned many lessons in Babylon, have repented, sought and found God (29:10-14). Now God brings their righteousness to the light (Ps 37:6). 51:11 "Medes" – v 28; Isa 13:17; Dan 5:28,31. "Temple" – 50:28. 51:13 "Waters" – the great river Euphrates, with the river Tigris not far distant, and a very extensive system of canals. 51:15-19 See 10:12-16. Many peoples of that day made the mistake of thinking that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was only one deity among a great many (just as many people today mistakenly think the God of Christians is only one of many). Here God proclaims to the Babylonians who He really is, and how worthless is all worship other than the worship of the true God. 51:20-23 "My war club" – in 50:23 Babylon

51:5 When God acts as He does among the nations He always has His people in His heart and mind (Zech 2:8). 51:6 "Flee" – this looks forward many years from the time of writing. Rev 18:4 has a similar call to come out of figurative Babylon at the end of this age.

"Vengeance" – 50:15; Rev 18:5-8. 51:7 "In the LORD's hand" – the Lord used Babylon to punish other nations, to make them senseless and staggering, to make them suddenly fall. 51:8,9 Jewish (and other) exiles in Babylon had lived there long enough to try to heal her, to pity her when she fell. In the book of Daniel we see something of the witness for the true God given in Babylon (2:27; 3:16-18; 4:24,25; 5:18-23). 51:10 This is a prophecy that looks forward many years. The exiles from Judah and

JEREMIAH 51:21 1054

and the whole land of his dominion. 29 And the land will tremble and writhe, for every purpose of the LORD will

for with you I will break the nations in pieces, and with you I will destroy kingdoms, 21 And with you I will break the horse and its rider in pieces, and with you I will break the chariot

be accomplished against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a

desolation without an inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting. They remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become like women. They have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gates are broken. 31 One courier runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his

and its rider in pieces, 22 With you I will also break man and woman in pieces, and with you I will break old and young

in pieces, and with you I will break the young man

and the maiden in pieces; 23 With you I will also break the shepherd and his flock in pieces, and with you I will break the farmer

and his yoke of oxen in pieces, and with you I will break captains

city has been captured from end to end, 32 And that the river fords are blocked, that they have burned the reeds with fire, that the warriors are terrified.

and rulers in pieces. 24 And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done

in Zion in your sight, says the LORD.

33 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a

25 "See, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys the whole earth,

threshing floor; it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and the time of her

says the LORD, and I will stretch out my hand over you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain. 26 And they will not take a stone for a corner from you, or a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate forever,

harvest will come."

34 "Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty jar. He has swallowed me up like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my delicacies. He has thrown me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon," says the inhabitant of Zion. "And my blood be on the inhabitants

says the LORD.

27 "Set up a banner in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together the kingdoms of Ararat,

Minni, and Ashkenaz against her. Appoint a commander against her. Cause the horses to come up like the

of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.

36 Therefore thus says the LORD: "See, I will plead your case, and take

bristling locusts. 28 Prepare the nations against her, with the kings of the Medes,

vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea,

its commanders, and all its rulers,

kingdom. Compare Dan 2:35,44,45). 51:27 Verse 11. Other kingdoms were allied to the Medes and Persians. These three were located north of Babylon and the land of the Medes. They had come under the power of the Medes (v 28). 51:33 "Daughter" – 4:31; 43:11,24; 49:4; 50:42. 51:34,35 The exiles from Jerusalem speak. For notes on such prayers against enemies see Ps 35:8. 51:36-40 "Therefore" – God will act according to their cries to Him.

is compared to a hammer in 50:23 and to a gold cup in 51:7. Now it is called a war club (though some think this means the Medes and Persians). But see whose hand holds this "war club". Though Babylon shattered nations and peoples it was only an instrument which God used. 51:24 Nations will be judged according to their behavior to God's people. See Deut 32:10; Zech 2:8; compare Matt 25:31-46. 51:25 God used Babylon to destroy others but will in turn destroy it, make it like an extinct volcano (mountain here signifies a

1055 JEREMIAH 51:57

and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon will become ruins, a dwelling place for jackals, an object of astonishment and hissing,

and all her slain will fall in her midst. 48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them,

will shout for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her

without an inhabitant. 38 They will roar together like lions; they will growl like lion cubs. 39 In their feverish activity I will make feasts for them, and I will make them drunk,

from the north, says the LORD.

49 "As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon will fall the slain of all the earth. 50 You who have escaped the sword, go away. Do not stand still. Remember the LORD from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind."

so that they may rejoice, and sleep a permanent sleep,

and not wake up, says the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. 41 How Sheshach is captured! And how the praise of the whole earth

51 "We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces,

for foreigners have come into the

is surprised! How Babylon has become an object of

sanctuaries of the LORD's house."

astonishment among the nations! 42 The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with its many waves. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land where no one lives,

52 "Therefore, see, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will judge her carved images; and through all her land the wounded

will groan. 53 Even though Babylon mounts up to heaven, and though she fortifies her high stronghold, yet destroyers will come from me to

where no son of man passes by. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth

her, says the LORD."

what he has swallowed up. And the nations will no longer go

54 A sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land

streaming to him; yes, the wall of Babylon will fall.

of the Chaldeans; 55 Because the LORD has destroyed Babylon, and silenced her loud voice, when her waves roared like great waters, and the noise of their voice sounded out, 56 Because the destroyer has come on her, on Babylon, and her mighty men are captured. Every one of their bows is broken. For the LORD God of retribution will

45 "My people, go out of her midst, and each one of you rescue his soul

from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 Then do not let your heart faint, or fear for the rumour that will

be heard in the land. A rumour will come one year,

and after that, in another year, a rumour will come, and violence will be in the land,

certainly repay. 57 "And I will make her princes and her wise men drunk, also her captains and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they will sleep a permanent sleep, and not wake up, says the King,

ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, see, the days come, when I will bring judgment on the

carved images of Babylon, and her whole land will be put to shame,

51:37 "Jackals" – see note at 9:11. 51:41 "Sheshach" – 25:26. Indicates Babylon. 51:42 "Sea" – probably used here symbolically for enemy armies (v 55; compare 46:7,8; Isa 17:12). 51:44 "Bel" – note at 50:2. 51:47 "Judgment" – v 52. Compare Ex 12:12. 51:48 Compare Rev 19:1-3. The fall of a

cruel, blood-stained, God-defying system will be a cause of great joy. 51:49 Verses 5, 10, 24; Zech 2:8. 51:50 "Remember" – 29:10-14; Ps 137:6. 51:51 The exiles of Judah and Jerusalem speak. Nebuchadnezzar's army had defiled the temple in Jerusalem. 51:56 "God of retribution" – Deut 32:35,4043; Ps 54:5; Rom 12:19. 51:57 "Drunk" – v 39; 25:15,16,26.

JEREMIAH 51:58 1056

whose name is the LORD of hosts."

7 Then the city was broken in, and all the warriors fled, and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were surrounding the city, and went away on the road to the plain. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army scattered from him.

58 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon will be

utterly broken down, and her high gates will be burned with fire; and the people will labour in vain,

and the nation, because of the fire; and they will be faint."

59 This is the word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet officer. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book the whole disaster that would come on Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon, and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, 'O LORD, you have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that nothing remains in it, whether man or beast. It will be desolate forever.' 63 And it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you will tie a stone to it, and hurl it into the middle of the Euphrates; 64 and you shall say, 'Babylon will sink like this, and will not rise from the disaster that I will bring on her; and they will be faint.'"

9 Then they took the king, and led him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There he gave judgment on him. 10 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in front of his eyes. Also at Riblah he killed all the officials of Judah. 11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and took him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, serving the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, 13 and burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house. And he burned with fire all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans that was with the commander of the guard, broke down all the surrounding walls of Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took away captive some of the poor people and the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who had defected, who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vineyard workers and farmers.

Thus far the words of Jeremiah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, who was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, in accordance with all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out of his presence.

17 Also the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars that were at the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were at the house of the LORD, and carried away all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons, and all the bronze articles with which the priests ministered. 19 And the commander of the guard took away the basins and the firepans and the bowls and the pots and the lampstands and the spoons and the cups, what had been made of gold as gold, and what had been made of silver as silver, 20 and the two pillars, one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the stands, which

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 And it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem and encamped against it and built siege works against it all around. 5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

51:58 "Burned with fire" – how often this is true of the great works of men, and even of the effort of some servants of Christ (1 Cor 3:12-15). 51:59 Seraiah was the brother of Baruch, Jeremiah's colleague. 51:61 Compare 36:5,6.

51:63,64 Rev 18:21. "Thus far the words of Jeremiah" – it seems, then, that chapter 52 was added by another servant of God. 52:1-27 This is found almost word for word in 2 Kings 24:18-25:21. See notes there. The Jeremiah in verse 1 here is not, of

1057 JEREMIAH 52:34

king Solomon had made at the house of the LORD. The bronze of all these articles was beyond weighing. 21 And concerning the pillars: the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow. 22 And a capital of bronze was on it, and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capitals, all of bronze. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like these. 23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on each side; and all the pomegranates all around on the network were a hundred.

Thus Judah was carried away captive from his own land.

28 These are the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive eight hundred and thirty-two persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried away captive seven hundred and forty-five of the Jews; altogether these people were four thousand six hundred.

31 And it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him out of prison, 32 and spoke kindly to him, and appointed his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon, 33 and changed his prison garments; and Jehoiachin ate food regularly in his presence all the days of his life. 34 And as for his provisions, there was a permanent ration given him by the king of Babylon, a portion each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

24 And the commander of the guard took away Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 25 He also took away from the city an officer in charge of the warriors, and seven of the kings's advisors who were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath.

course, Jeremiah the prophet. 52:21 "Cubits" – a cubit is about 18 inches. 52:31-34 This is found almost word for word

in 2 Kings 25:27-30.

"Evil-Merodach" – he was also called "Amel-Marduk."

LAMENTATIONS

Author:

Jeremiah.

Date:

Sometime after 586 BC.

Themes:

A lament about the fall of Jerusalem in poetic language; the reason for it; Jeremiah's mental anguish; the spiritual lessons he declares; his prayer for the people of Israel. In the midst of the mournful lament we have the beautiful and meaningful words of 3:21-27.

Contents:

The prophet describes the city's ruined condition ............................................. 1:1-11 Jerusalem personified laments her condition .................................................... 1:12-22 The prophet speaks again in his own voice ...................................................... 2:1-22 The prophet continues to lament.................................................................... 3:1-20 Bright beams of hope ................................................................................... 3:21-42 But grief remains .......................................................................................... 3:43-66 Jerusalem's past glory and present sad state .................................................. 4:1-22 The prophet, representing the city,

pleads with God for mercy ...................................................................... 5:1-22

1059 LAMENTATIONS 1:12

that find no pasture, and they have gone without strength

before the pursuer. 7 In the days of her affliction and her miseries, when her people fell into the hands of

1 How lonely the city sits, she that was full of people! How she has become like a widow,

the enemy, Jerusalem remembered all her pleasant

she that was great among the nations! And the princess among the provinces, how she has become a forced labourer! 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one

things that she had in the days of old, but no one helped her. Her adversaries saw her,

and mocked at her Sabbaths.

8 Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she has been removed. All who honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, she sighs and turns back. 9 Her filthiness is in her skirts.

to comfort her. All her friends have dealt

treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into captivity under affliction and under great servitude. She lives among the nations;

She did not consider her future,

therefore her fall was amazing. She had no comforter.

she finds no rest. All her persecutors have caught up with

her in her distress. 4 The roads of Zion mourn, because no one comes to the solemn feasts. All her gates are desolate. Her priests sigh, her virgins are

O LORD, see my affliction, for the

enemy has exalted himself. 10 The adversary has spread out his hands on all her precious things, for she has seen the nations enter

afflicted, and she is in bitterness. 5 Her adversaries have become the masters, her enemies prosper. For the LORD has afflicted her because

her sanctuary, those whom you had forbidden to enter your congregation. 11 All her people sigh; they seek bread; they have given their precious things

of her many transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity

for food to renew life. See, O LORD, and consider, for I am despised.

in the presence of the enemy.

12 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow

6 And all her beauty has departed from the daughter of Zion. Her princes have become like deer

like my sorrow, which has been

brought on me,

1:1 The prophet expresses his deep grief that Jerusalem, the city of the King of heaven, had fallen into her enemies' hands and was crushed and deserted.

1:6 "Daughter" – compare Ps 9:14; 45:12; 137:8; Isa 1:8; Jer 6:2. 1:7 "No one helped her" – Jer 2:36,37; 37:7,8. "Mocked" – v 21; Jer 48:26; Ezek 25:2-7; Obadiah 12; Zeph 2:8. 1:8 Verse 5. 1:9 "Future" – Deut 32:28,29. Compare Isa 47:7. Men close their eyes to the future and go on sinning without restraint. They do not think of the punishment God is going to send on them either in this world or the next.

"Princess" – 1 Kings 4:21; Ps 48:2; 87:1-3. 1:2 "Lovers", "friends" – these speak of those peoples or nations for whom she had forsaken God, those whom she thought would help her against the Babylonians (Jer 2:36,37; 3:12; 4:30). 1:3 "Captivity" – 2 Chron 36:15-20. "No rest" – this happened just as Moses had foretold many centuries before (Deut 28:65. See also Ps 137:1-4). 1:4 "Feasts" – Ex 23:14-17; Levi 23:1-44. "Bitterness" – Jer 9:17-22. 1:5 "Her many transgressions" – 2 Chron 36:14-16; Jer 2:8,9; 4:18; 6:19; 13:22,25. Jerusalem deserved all the destruction which came on her. And notice that it was "the LORD" who brought this destruction. He did so in perfect justice, after appealing to her many times to repent.

"See my affliction" – the prophet writes as though Jerusalem were speaking. 1:10 "Precious things" – Jer 52:12-19. 1:11 "Seek bread" – a famine attended the destruction of Jerusalem – 2:20; Jer 14:12; 15:2; 16:4. 1:12 From this verse to the end of the chapter it is as thought Jerusalem herself were speaking as an individual. The prophet who is speaking for her has been enabled by God's Spirit to understand the deep grief that was in the mind of the people and to

LAMENTATIONS 1:13 1060

my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have

which the LORD has inflicted on me

in the day of his fierce anger. 13 He has sent fire from above into my bones, and it has prevailed. He has spread a net for my feet; he has turned me back; he has made me desolate and faint all

gone into captivity. 19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders expired in the city,

while they sought their

food to renew their lives.

day long. 14 The yoke of my transgressions was bound, woven by his hands. They have come onto my neck. He has made my strength fall. The Lord delivered me into the hands

20 Look, O LORD, for I am in distress. My inner being is troubled. My heart turns over inside me;

for I have grievously rebelled. Outside, the sword bereaves;

at home it is like death. 21 They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day that you have

of those whom I was not able

to withstand. 15 The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst. He called an assembly against me to

crush my young men. The Lord has trampled the virgin,

announced, and they will become like me. 22 Let all their wickedness come before you, and do to them as you

the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress. 16 For these things I weep. My eye, my eye flows with water, because the comforter who could

have done to me for all my

transgressions; for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

relieve my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the

enemy prevailed.

17 Zion spreads out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. Concerning Jacob the LORD has

1 How the Lord has covered the daughter

of Zion with a cloud in his anger! And he has thrown down the beauty of

commanded that his adversaries

should surround him. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing

Israel from heaven to the earth, and has not remembered his footstool

among them.

in the day of his anger. 2 The Lord has swallowed up all the

18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please listen, all you people, and see

dwelling places of Jacob,

and has not shown pity. experience it with them (see Jer 4:19,20; 6:24,25; 9:1,10). "Fierce anger" – Jer 4:8,26; 12:13; 25:37,38; 30:24. See notes on God's anger at Numbers 25:3; Ps 90:7-11. 1:13 "Fire" – Jer 52:12,13. "Net" – this refers to falling into the hands of the Babylonians. 1:14 "Yoke" – Deut 28:48; Isa 47:6; Jer 27:1-11. 1:15 "Daughter" – v 6. "Winepress" – a symbol of God's judgment (Isa 63:2,3; Joel 3:13; Rev 14:19,20; 19:15). 1:16 Jer 9:1,10,18. Sin and its consequences (punishment and grief) are closely bound together and follow each other. 1:17 "The LORD has commanded" – all that happened to Jerusalem, including the enmity shown by neighboring peoples, was a result of God's action (Levi 26:16,18,2325; Jer 25:8-11). 1:18 "Righteous" – God will never punish the innocent. And He will never punish

anyone more than they deserve. All of His decrees and ways are just and good (Rev 15:3; 16:5-7). "Rebelled" – Jer 2:8,20; 5:23; 6:19; 7:25,26. It is men's rebellion against the true and living God that brings punishment on them. 1:19 Verse 7. 1:20 Jer 2:19; 9:21,22. 1:21 "They are glad" – v 7. "The day that you have announced" – Jer 25:15-28. 1:22 Ps 109:14,15; 35:8. 2:1 In this whole chapter up to verse 20 the prophet himself is speaking of Jerusalem.

"Daughter" – 1:6. "Anger" – see notes at Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11; etc. This sentence can also be translated "How the Lord in His anger has treated the Daughter of Zion with contempt."

"His footstool" – Ps 99:5,9; 1 Chron 28:2. 2:2 "Not shown pity" – v 17; Jer 13:14; Ezek 5:11; 7:4,9; 8:18; 9:5. God knows when to

1061 LAMENTATIONS 2:15

In his wrath he has thrown down the

the wall to lament. They languish together. 9 Her gates are sunk into the ground.

strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground; he has dishonoured the kingdom and

He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among

its princes. 3 In his fierce anger he has cut off all

the Gentiles. The law is no more, and her prophets

the horn of Israel. He has drawn back his right hand from

find no vision from the LORD. 10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, and keep silent. They have thrown dust on their heads. They have tied sackcloth around themselves. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down

before the enemy, and burned against Jacob like a flaming

fire which devours all around. 4 He has bent his bow like an enemy.

He stood with his right hand like

an adversary, and has slain all who

their heads to the ground.

were pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion,

11 My eyes fail with tears, my inner being is troubled, my heart is poured out on the earth,

he has poured out his fury like fire. 5 The Lord was like an enemy;

because of the destruction of the

he has swallowed up Israel, he has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed its strongholds,

daughter of my people, because the children and the infants

faint in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?" as they faint like the wounded in

and has multiplied mourning and

lamentation in the daughter of Judah. 6 And he has done violence to his

tabernacle like a garden. He has destroyed his place of assembly. The LORD has caused the appointed

the streets of the city, as their life pours out into their

mothers' bosom.

feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten

in Zion, and in the indignation

13 What thing shall I take to testify for you? To what can I liken you, O daughter of

of his anger has despised the king and the priest. 7 The Lord has rejected his altar;

Jerusalem? To what can I compare you, that I may

he has abhorred his sanctuary; he has given up the walls of her

comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your fracture is as vast as the sea. Who can heal you? 14 The things your prophets saw for you were empty and foolish visions. And they did not expose your guilt,

palaces into the hands of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house

of the LORD, as in the day of an

appointed feast. 8 The LORD purposed to destroy the wall

to turn you away from captivity, but their visions for you were false

of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line. He did not withdraw his hand from destroying; therefore he caused the rampart and

oracles, leading you astray. 15 All who pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their heads at the

show mercy and when not to show mercy. 2:3 "Horn" – here indicates strength. 2:4 "Bow" – Deut 32:42; Ps 7:12,13. 2:5 God was their true friend, but was an enemy of their sins and rebellion and wickedness. 2:6 "His tabernacle", "His place" – the temple in Jerusalem (Ps 27:4,5; 74:4). 2:7 Ezek 10:4,18,19; 11:23; Jer 52:13. 2:8 1:17. 2:9 Ps 74:9; Amos 8:11; Micah 3:6,7. 2:10 Job 2:12,13; Ps 35:13,14. 2:11 Compare 1:20; Jer 9:1; Luke 19:41-44. The Spirit of Christ was in the prophet. The grief of the prophet indicated beforehand the grief of Christ.

"Heart" – the Hebrew has the word for "liver," but it is symbolic here of the inner person, or, as we say, heart. 2:12 1:11. 2:13 Jer 14:17; 30:12-15. 2:14 See Jer 5:12,13; 6:13-15; 8:10-12; 14:13-15; 23:9-40; 27:9-28:17. Perhaps if those called prophets had exposed and rebuked the sins of the people the people might have repented and this calamity might not have come on them. But those prophets preferred to speak lies. And the people wanted to hear and believe lies (Jer 5:31). The results of all this are seen here in this book of Lamentations. Compare 2 Thess 2:9-12. 2:15 "Hiss" – Jer 19:8; Deut 28:37.

LAMENTATIONS 2:16 1062

daughter of Jerusalem, saying, "Is this the city that men called

children a span long? Should the priest and the prophet be

The Perfection of Beauty,

slain in the sanctuary of the LORD? 21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have

The Joy of the Whole Earth?" 16 All your enemies have opened their mouth against you. They hiss and gnash the teeth. They say, "We have swallowed her up! Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it, we have seen it." 17 The LORD has done what he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he

fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger. You have killed, and not pitied. 22 You summoned my terrors all around as to a feast day, so that in the day

of the LORD's anger no one

commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not shown pity. And he has caused your enemy to

escaped or remained. My enemy has consumed those whom I

nursed and reared.

rejoice over you. He has set up the horn of your adversaries.

18 Their hearts cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion,

1 I am the man who has seen affliction

let your tears run down like a

by the rod of his wrath. 2 He has led me and brought me into

river day and night. Give yourself no rest. Do not let your eyes get relief. 19 Arise, cry out in the night! In the beginning of the watches pour

darkness, but not into light. 3 Surely he has turned against me;

he turns his hand against me all day long. 4 He has made my flesh and my skin grow old.

out your heart like water before

He has broken my bones. 5 He has built siege works against me,

the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward him for the

and surrounded me with bitterness

life of your young children,

and hardship. 6 He has set me in dark places,

who faint for hunger at the head

of every street.

like the dead of long ago. 7 He has hedged me in, so that I cannot

20 See, O Lord, and consider whom you have treated like this. Should the women eat their offspring,

get out. He has made my chain heavy.

"Joy" – Ps 48:2. 2:16 3:46; Jer 51:34; Ps 35:25; Ezek 36:3; Micah 4:11. 2:17 "Fulfilled His Word" – Lev 26:23-39; Deut 28:15-68.

are never far from his thoughts and feelings. This chapter is the heart of this little book. In it we see deep sorrow, the beginning of hope as he thinks of God's goodness, the willingness to quietly accept the will of God, to learn the lessons God was teaching through chastisement, and the prayer that justice would prevail. When the people suffered calamities it was as though Jeremiah suffered them. Their inner experiences were his inner experiences.

"Not shown pity" – v 2. "Horn" – power and authority. 2:18 Jer 14:17. Here the word "daughter" signifies all that remained in the city. 2:20-22 Here once again it seems that Jeremiah is presenting Jerusalem herself as speaking. Speaking of himself he could hardly have used words like "my virgins and my young men" (v 21), "those whom I nursed and reared" (v 22). See Jer 16:1,2. 2:20 "Eat their offspring" – Levi 26:29; Deut 28:53-57; Jer 19:9. This is one of the punishments that God Himself said would come on them if they rejected Him and disobeyed His Word. 2:21 Jer 9:21,22. 2:22 "Anger" – v 1. 3:1 In this chapter the prophet again is speaking. Here and there he uses the word "we" – vs 22,40-47. Even when he is speaking of his own experiences the people

"Rod of His wrath" – the Babylonian army (compare Isa 10:5. See Jer 51:20). Job also spoke of the rod of God's anger punishing him (Job 9:34). Many words of the first 18 verses of this chapter are quite similar to words in the book of Job and in other poetical books of the Old Testament. 3:2 Job 12:25; 19:8. 3:3 Job 19:21; Ps 38:2. 3:4 Job 13:28; 16:8; 30:30; Ps 51:8; Isa 38:13. 3:5 This may refer to the siege of the Babylonian armies. 3:6 Ps 143:3; 88:5,6; Isa 59:10; 50:10. 3:7 Job 3:23; 19:8; Ps 88:8.

1063 LAMENTATIONS 3:28

from the LORD have perished. 19 I remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness, 20 My soul still remembers them, and sinks down within me.

8 Also when I cry and shout, he shuts

out my prayer. 9 He has blocked up my ways with cut stones.

He has made my paths crooked. 10 He was like a bear lying in wait for me, and like a lion in secret places. 11 He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate. 12 He has bent his bow, and set me as a target for the arrow. 13 He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter my inner being.

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

24 The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and keep silent, because he has laid it on him.

14 I was an object of derision to all my people, and their mocking song all day long. 15 He has filled me with bitterness. He has made me drunk with wormwood. 16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel. He has covered me with ashes. 17 And you have moved my soul far from peace. I have forgotten prosperity.

18 And I said, "My strength, and my hope

complete destruction and gave them hope for the future, and that one thing was the grace of God. God loves those whom He has chosen with an eternal love (Jer 31:3; Rom 8:37-39). So His love remains on them forever (Ps 78:38; 103:13,14). Every morning believers can make new beginnings. They can receive fresh encouragement every day by understanding that their sins are blotted out, and that God's love and mercy will surround them in the future. They can go on from the failures and mistakes of the past to higher, better things in the future, knowing that God will always be faithful to His covenant and promises (Ex 34:6; Ps 89:1,2; 108:4; 115:1; etc). 3:24 Ps 73:26; 119:57; 142:5; Num 18:20. The truths he has been looking at have strengthened his faith and brought peace of mind, and rest of heart. No despair can stand against these powerful truths when they are understood and believed. 3:25 Ps 25:3; 34:8; 86:5; Jer 29:14; Matt 7:7-11. In spite of the experiences recorded in vs 1-18 he knows that God is good and does good. This is the victory faith achieves over every circumstance that seems against faith. 3:26 Ps 37:7; 40:1; Isa 26:3; 30:15. 3:27 "Yoke" – in other words it is good for a person to fully obey God and heartily accept the discipline, chastisement, training, and the pains that go with such things, and he should learn to do this when he is young. The older he is when he begins this the harder it will be for him. The word "yoke" brings to mind the words of the Lord Jesus in Matt 11:29. 3:28 If God has put certain things on us to bear we should not try to escape from them by fellowship with other people, but face up

3:8 Verse 44. Job 30:20; Ps 22:2; 28:1. 3:9 Verse 7; Isa 63:17; Hosea 2:6. If God apparently does not hear the prayers of a person and does not help him, if God brings darkness on him, it will seem to him that his ways have been made crooked. Compare Ps 5:8. 3:10,11 Job 10:16; Jer 4:7; 5:6; 49:19; 50:44; Hosea 6:1; 13:7,8. Men acted like wild animals toward them and toward Jerusalem, but it was God who appointed it. 3:12,13 2:4; Job 6:4; 7:20; 16:12-14; Ps 38:2. 3:14 Job 17:2; 30:9; Ps 22:6,7; 69:12; Jer 20:7. 3:15 Verse 19; Job 9:18; Jer 9:15. 3:16 Since God had appointed all this the prophet is attributing all of it to God. 3:17 Job 3:26; Ps 77:2-4. "Prosperity" – the Hebrew word also means "happiness", "good", etc. 3:18 Job 7:6; 17:15. The prophet here draws near to the borders of despair. 3:19-21 The prophet cannot forget the fearful things which he has experienced. But by thinking again of the wonderful truths found in the following verses (up to v 39), he is able to stand in faith instead of falling into despair. By doing so he shows the way for anyone to endure discouragement, mental distress, and inner pain and to come out safely on the other side.

"I remember" – Deut 8:;2-5; 32:7; Ps 42:4,5; 63:6; 77:1-12. 3:22,23 The prophet remembers what God is like, and by contemplating God's loving and gracious qualities finds peace for his troubled heart. He knows very well that both himself and Jerusalem have deserved even worse punishment than has actually come on them (compare Ps 103:10). He realizes afresh that only one thing kept them from

LAMENTATIONS 3:29 1064

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is hope. 30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him. Let him be filled with disgrace. 31 For the Lord will not reject forever. 32 For though he causes grief, he will have compassion in accordance with

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; you have not pardoned. 43 You have covered us with anger, and pursued us. You have slain us ; you have not shown pity. 44 You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that our prayer cannot pass through. 45 You have made us like scrapings and trash in the midst of the people. 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 47 Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction.

the abundance of his mercies. 33 For he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, 35 To turn aside a man's rights before the face of the Most High, 36 To defraud a man in his case, the Lord does not approve of such things.

48 My eye runs down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter

of my people. 49 My eye will flow without interruption, and will not stop, 50 Until the LORD looks down, and sees from heaven. 51 My eye affects my heart because of all the daughters of my city. 52 My enemies hunted me down like a bird, without cause. 53 They cut off my life in the dungeon, and hurled a stone on me; 54 Waters flowed over my head. Then I said, "I am cut off." 55 I called on your name, O LORD,

37 Who is he who speaks, and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not

commanded it ? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that disaster and good things come?

39 Why should a living man complain, a man undergoing punishment for his sins?

40 Let us search and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD. 41 Let us lift up our heart together with our hands to God in the heavens.

to them in God's presence. Compare Jer 15:17. 3:29 "Dust" – indicates a sincere and humble acceptance of those things God has caused to happen and obedience to His will. 3:30 Compare Isa 50:6; Matt 5:39. 3:31,32 Ps 30:5; 66:10-12; 94:14; Isa 54:7,8; Heb 13:5. The prophet encourages himself by the thought that the troubles and griefs that God causes His people to undergo are only for a comparatively short time. See 2 Cor 4:17,18. 3:33 Ps 103:13,14; Jer 48:36-38; Isa 63:9; Ezek 18:23,32; Hosea 11:8; Heb 12:10,11. God, in accordance with His absolute justice, brings troubles and distress on people because of their sins. But this gives him no pleasure at all. In all that He does He has good motives and grand purposes. 3:34-36 God sees the cruel and unjust acts of men such as those displayed by the leaders of Judah and the armies of Babylon, but He does not approve of them – quite the opposite. 3:37-39 If God had not decreed the disaster that came on Jerusalem and its people then it would not have happened (1:17; Amos 3:6; Isa 14:26,27). But all left alive in Jerusalem (and all men everywhere) should understand that any punishment from God comes because of their sins. Micah 7:9 perfectly describes the kind of attitude we

should have when God causes troubles to come to us.

"Why. . .complain" – see Ex 14:11,12; 15:24; 16:2; Num 11:1; 14:2,3; 16:11; 17:5. 3:40 There will be good results from the troubles and griefs which come to us if we are able to do this (Ps 119:59; 139:23,24; 1 Cor 11:28; 2 Cor 13:5). 3:41,42 This was the way for the people of Jerusalem to obtain forgiveness and restoration, and the only way. Compare Ps 32:3-5; Prov 28:13; 1 John 1:9. 3:43-47 This happened just as God foretold in Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28. 3:48-51 The prophet has humbly submitted to what God has done to him and to Jerusalem and is looking with hope to the future. But this has not removed the grief he feels for his people. He determines that he will go on lamenting until God shows mercy and compassion on them. Having peace in our personal relationship with God does not mean that we will not feel sorrow at the troubles and pains of others. Compare Luke 19:41; Rom 9:1-3; Ps 126:5. 3:52-63 These words bring before us Jeremiah's personal experiences. Compare v 53 with Jer 37:16 and 38:6, v 58 with Jer 38:7-13, v 59 with 18:19,20, v 60 and 61 with 11:18-21; 12:6; 18:18.

1065 LAMENTATIONS 4:12

the desert. 4 The tongue of the sucking child clings

out of the deep dungeon. 56 You heard my voice: "Do not hide your ear at my breathing,

to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask for bread, and no one breaks it for them. 5 Those who ate delicacies are desolate

at my cry." 57 You drew near in the day that I called to you. You said, "Do not fear." 58 O Lord, you have pleaded the case for my soul. You have redeemed my life. 59 O LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me. Judge my case. 60 You have seen all their vengeance and all their plots against me. 61 You have heard their insults, O LORD, and all their plots against me, 62 The words of those who rose up against me, and their whispering

in the streets. Those who were brought up in scarlet

embrace ash heaps. 6 For the punishment of the wickedness of

the daughter of my people is greater

than the punishment of the sin

of Sodom that was overthrown in a moment, with no hand turned to help her. 7 Her Nazirites were purer than snow;

they were whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies; their appearance was like sapphire. 8 Now their faces are blacker than coal;

against me all day long. 63 Look at their sitting down, and their rising up. I am their mocking song. 64 Repay them, O LORD, in accordance with the work of their hands. 65 Give them sorrow of heart. Your curse be on them! 66 In anger pursue and destroy them from under the LORD's heavens!

they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it is withered; it has become like a stick.

9 Those slain by the sword are better off

than those slain by hunger; for these pine away, stricken by the

lack of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they were their food in the destruction

1 How the gold has become dim!

How the most fine gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are

of the daughter of my people.

scattered at the head of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion,

11 The LORD has brought his fury to bear; he has poured out his fierce anger,

worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded like earthenware

and has kindled a fire in Zion; and it has devoured its foundations. 12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world,

pitchers, the work of the potter's hands! 3 Even jackals offer the breast,

they give suck to their young ones, but the daughter of my people has

would not have believed that the

adversary and the enemy could

become cruel, like the ostriches in

enter the gates of Jerusalem.

3:62 "Words" – in Hebrew "lips." 3:64-66 This is a prayer that justice might prevail. See the note on such prayers at Ps 35:8. 3:65 Compare Isa 6:9,10. 3:66 "Pursue. . .them" – v 43; Ps 35:6. 4:2 The people of Judah and Jerusalem were God's special treasure – Ex 19:5. But all their beauty and splendor had vanished. 4:3 The people had become harsher than animals toward their children (2:20).

endure a siege of a year and a half, and then fell into the hands of savage enemies who destroyed her. 4:7 Verse 5. 4:8 This was the result of the famine that came to them. 4:10 Verse 4; Lev 26:29; Deut 28:53-57. Terrible indeed is the curse that sin brings on people. 4:11 Sin not confessed and forsaken brings God's anger, and that anger brings terrible punishment. 4:12 Jer 21:13. Before this event Jerusalem had sometimes fallen into the hands of its enemies. But afterwards the kings of Judah had greatly strengthened the walls and defensive fortifications of the city (2 Chron 26:9; 33:14). Jerusalem withstood

"Ostriches" – Job 39:13-17. 4:4 Verse 10; 2:11,12. 4:5 Neither wealthy people or those of the royal family were able to escape (scarlet here probably indicates royalty). 4:6 Sodom was destroyed immediately by fire from heaven, but Jerusalem had to

LAMENTATIONS 4:13 1066

13 Because of the sins of her prophets, and the evil deeds of her priests

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz; but the cup will also pass to you. You will get drunk, and make yourself naked. 22 The punishment of your guilt is completed, O daughter of Zion. He will no longer lead you away into captivity. He will punish your guilt,

who shed the blood of the just in

the midst of her, 14 They have wandered like blind men in the streets; they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15 They cried out to them, "Go away, unclean! Go away, go away!

O daughter of Edom; he will expose your sins.

Do not touch!" When they ran away and wandered,

people among the nations said, "They will not settle there again." 16 The anger of the LORD has scattered them; he no longer regards them. They did not respect the person of

1 Remember, O LORD, what has come

upon us. Consider, and look at our disgrace. 2 Our inheritance has been turned over

the priests; they did not show favour to the elders.

to foreigners, our houses to aliens. 3 We are orphans and fatherless;

17 As for us, our eyes failed, vainly looking for our help. In our watching we looked for a nation

our mothers are widows. 4 We have to lay out money for our

drinking water. Our wood is sold to us. 5 Our necks are being pursued.

that could not save us. 18 They hunt our steps, so that we cannot go into our streets. Our end is near; our days are finished,

We labour, and have no rest. 6 We have given our hand to the

for our end has come. 19 Our pursuers are swifter than the eagles of the sky. They pursued us on the mountains. They lay in wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD,

Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more,

and we have borne their evil deeds. 8 Servants rule over us.

There is no one to rescue us out

of their hands. 9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,

was caught in their pits; we had said of him, "Under his shadow we will live among

because of the sword in the wilderness. 10 Our skin is black as an oven because of the terrible famine. even a siege of one and a half years at the hands of the mighty Babylonian army. Perhaps the kings and peoples of the earth remembered how the armies of Sennacherib had perished outside Jerusalem's walls (Isa 36:1,2; 37:36,37), and thought the same thing might happen to the Babylonians. 4:13 Jer 2:8; 5:31; 6:13. Even a city thought to be impossible to conquer may be destroyed because of its sins. Sin is the great destroyer of cities and people. 4:14 Deut 28:28,29; Isa 29:9. 4:15 The priests had changed their holy consecration and the glory of their priesthood into something abominable and evil. 4:16 Deut 28:49,50. 4:17 Jer 2:18,36; Ezek 29:16. 4:20 This refers to king Zedekiah – Jer 39:4,5. 4:21 Esau's descendants rejoiced when they saw the fall of Judah and Jerusalem (Ezek 35:15; Obadiah 12). But the time of their destruction was near (Jer 25:15,21).

the nations."

"Uz" – Job 1:1. 5:1 See 3:49,50. 5:2 "Inheritance" – their country. 5:4 "Money for our drinking water" – compare Deut 8:7. Sin can ruin the good gifts God has given. 5:5 Isa 57:20,21. 5:6 The leaders of Judah thought that Egypt or Assyria would come to their help in the fight against Babylon (Jer 2:18,36; Ezek 29:16). 5:7 Since that generation bore the punishment of their ancestors we may be sure that they deserved it (v 16; Jer 14:20; 16:11,12; 31:29,30). 5:8-12 Let us learn this lesson well – sin was the one and only thing that brought cruel enemies to rule over them, that brought danger to life and limb, that brought them into a destitute state, that robbed them of all peace and happiness. The only cause of their pains, troubles, griefs and destruction was sin.

1067 LAMENTATIONS 5:22

11 They have ravished the women in Zion, and the maidens in the cities of Judah. 12 Princes have been hanged up by their hands. The faces of elders have not been honoured. 13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the loads

17 Because of this our heart is faint. Because of these things our eyes are dim; 18 Because of Mount Zion, which is desolate. The foxes walk on it.

19 You, O LORD, remain forever, your throne from generation to generation. 20 Why do you forget us permanently, and forsake us for such a long time? 21 Turn us back to you, O LORD, and we will turn back. Renew our days as of old, 22 unless you have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us.

of wood. 14 The elders have gone from the gate, the young men from their music.

15 The joy of our heart has ceased. Our dancing has turned to mourning. 16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

Lamentations. 5:20 Ps 6:3; 13:1; 89:46. 5:21,22 Jer 31:18,19; Ps 80:3. Jeremiah knows that if God does not turn the people back to Himself then they will not turn to Him. It is God who enables men to repent and seek Himself (Acts 5:31; 11:18; Rom 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25).

5:15 Jer 7:34; 16:9; 25:10. Compare Ps 30:11; Isa 61:3. 5:19-22 The prophet leaves all these matters where they belong – in the hands of the eternal God who is the creator and ruler of the universe. Verse 19 is similar to Ps 102:12. In fact the language of that whole psalm is something like this book of

EZEKIEL

Author:

The prophet Ezekiel. His name means "God strengthens." Ezekiel was from a priestly family. His father was an official of high rank. Nebuchadnezzar took Ezekiel along with other captives in Babylon in 597 BC.

Date:

God called Ezekiel to be a prophet in 593 BC, when Ezekiel was 30 years of age. The events in this book cover a period of 22 years. He wrote either during those years or shortly afterwards.

Themes:

God's glory; in prophetic vision the departure of God's glory from His temple in Jerusalem, and in a future time the return of that glory to a new temple. Between these two events the prophet writes of the corrupt condition of the people of Israel, God's judgment on them and on other nations, the change that will come to Israel at the end of this age, the destruction of armies invading from the north. Everywhere in this book we see that the LORD (Jehovah) God is the sovereign ruler of the world. We also see His determination that through His deeds and actions men should know that He alone is God. The phrase "then they will know that I am the LORD" is found a great many times. Another common phrase is "the word of the LORD came." Ezekiel did not devise the messages he delivered. They came directly from God. See 1 Peter 1:20,21.

Contents:

A word about Ezekiel .................................................................................... 1:1-3 Ezekiel's vision of God's glory ......................................................................... 1:4-28

The four living creatures and a chariot ....................................................... 1:4-21 Divine splendor........................................................................................ 1:22-28 God calls Ezekiel ........................................................................................... 2:1-10 Ezekiel to be God's spokesman ....................................................................... 3:1-15 Ezekiel a watchman ...................................................................................... 3:16-21 God shut Ezekiel's mouth and opened it .......................................................... 3:22-27 The siege and capture of Jerusalem symbolized by Ezekiel ................................ 4:1 - 5:4 God's words concerning Jerusalem ................................................................. 5:5-17 Idolatry the reason for coming judgment ........................................................ 6:1-14 Punishment of wickedness – sword, plague, famine, enemies ............................ 7:1-27 Ezekiel is taken in vision to Jerusalem ............................................................. 8:1-3 Idolatry and wickedness in the temple ............................................................ 8:4-18 Slaughter of Jerusalem's wicked people .......................................................... 9:1-11 God's glory leaves the temple and city ............................................................ 10:1 - 11:25

Prophecy against the leaders .................................................................... 11:1-13 God will scatter and regather Israel ........................................................... 11:14-21 Ezekiel's actions symbolize the Jews' exile ....................................................... 12:1-28 A condemnation of false prophets .................................................................. 13:1-23 Idols in the heart ......................................................................................... 14:1-11 No way of escape ........................................................................................ 14:12-23 A parable of the unfruitful vine ...................................................................... 15:1-8 A parable of the adulterous woman – Jerusalem's unfaithfulness ....................... 16:1-63

God choice of Jerusalem and Jerusalem's sin ............................................... 16:1-34 The penalty for unfaithfulness .................................................................. 16:35-43 Jerusalem and Samaria their sin and restoratrion ......................................... 16:44-63 The parable of the two eagles ....................................................................... 17:1-21 A new Branch in Israel .................................................................................. 17:22-24

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The person who sins will die ........................................................................... 18:1-29 God wants everyone to be saved .................................................................. 18:30-32 A song of sorrow for the princes of Israel ....................................................... 19:1-14 The visit of Israel's elders to Ezekiel and God's message to them ........................ 20:1-31 God promises to restore Israel ....................................................................... 20:34-44 Prophecy against the southland ..................................................................... 20:45-49 Prophecy against the sanctuary a sword was ready ......................................... 21:1-32 Jerusalem's sins and the coming judgment ....................................................... 22:1-31 The parable of the unfaithful sisters ............................................................... 23:1-49

Their names wicked lives and punishment ................................................... 23:1-49 The parable of the boiling pot ........................................................................ 24:1-14 Death of Ezekiel's wife .................................................................................. 24:15-27 Prophecies against various nations ................................................................. 25:1 - 32:32

Ammon, Moab and Edom .......................................................................... 25:1-14 Tyre ....................................................................................................... 26:1 - 28:19

Prophecy against Tyre ......................................................................... 26:1-21 Lament for Tyre .................................................................................. 27:1-36 A message for the rulers of Tyre ........................................................... 28:1-10 A lament for the king of Tyre ................................................................ 28:11-19 Sidon ..................................................................................................... 28:20-26 Egypt ..................................................................................................... 29:1 - 32:32

A lament for Egypt .............................................................................. 30:1-26 Comparison with Assyria ...................................................................... 31:1-18 A lament for Pharaoh........................................................................... 32:1-32 God appoints Ezekiel as a watchman............................................................... 33:1-33 False shepherds ........................................................................................... 34:1-10 The true Shepherd ....................................................................................... 34:11-31 Destruction of Edom ..................................................................................... 35:1-15 A word against the mountains of Israel ........................................................... 36:1-21 God will restore Israel and give them a new heart ............................................ 36:22-38 A valley of bones ......................................................................................... 37:1-10 Promise of a new life .................................................................................... 37:11-14 Unification of Judah and Israel ...................................................................... 37:15-28 Gog and Magog ........................................................................................... 38:1 - 39:29

Prophecy against Gog, his invasion of Judah ............................................... 38:1-18 Victory over Gog and his armies................................................................. 38:17 - 39:29 A new temple .............................................................................................. 40:1 - 44:31

In a vision Ezekiel goes to Israel ................................................................ 40:1-4 The courts and gates, and rooms in the courtyard ....................................... 40:5-47 The temple itself ...................................................................................... 40:48 - 41:26 Rooms in the inner court........................................................................... 42:1-20 The glory of God returns .......................................................................... 43:1-12 Altar of burnt offering .............................................................................. 43:13-27 One gate for the LORD God ...................................................................... 44:1-3 Glory fills the temple ................................................................................ 44:4 Regulations regarding worship .................................................................. 44:5-31 Levites and priest .................................................................................... 44:10-31 A new division of the land of Israel ................................................................. 45:1 - 48:29

The sacred district and a portion for the prince ........................................... 45:1-8 Offerings, festivals and holy days ............................................................. 45:13 - 46:24 A river giving new life to the land............................................................... 47:1-12 Boundaries of the land for the tribes .......................................................... 48:1-29 The city's gates and God's presence ............................................................... 48:30-35

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Now this happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was among the captives by the Kebar River: the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

9 Their wings were joined to one another. The beings did not turn as they went; each one went straight forward.

10 As for the likeness of their faces, each of the four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side; and each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four also had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward. Two wings of each one were joined to one another, and two covered their bodies. 12 And each one went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went; and they did not turn as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living beings, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of torches. The fire went up and down among the living beings, and the fire was bright, and out of the fire came lightning. 14 And the living beings sped back and forth like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3 the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Kebar River; and there the hand of the LORD was on him.

4 And I looked and saw a whirlwind coming out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself. And a brightness was around it, and radiating from its center something like the colour of amber, from inside the fire. 5 Also from its center came the likeness of four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 And each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7 And their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf's foot; and they gleamed like the colour of burnished bronze. 8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings.

15 Now as I was watching the living beings, one wheel appeared on the earth by each of the living beings, with their four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship

1:1,2 "Thirtieth year" – probably means the 30th year of Ezekiel's life – 593 BC. "Captives" – those taken by the Babylonians to Babylonia in 597 BC, before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

number may indicate the whole earth with its "4 corners."

The cherubim had four faces (vs 6,10). Their faces represent the whole of earth's creatures – lion "king" of wild beasts, eagle "king of birds", ox symbolizing cattle in general, the most important species of domesticated animals, and man "king" of all other of earth's creatures (Gen 1:28; Ps 8:6-8).

"River" – the Hebrew word can mean a stream of any sort. Kebar was actually a canal from the river Euphrates south of the city of Babylon.

"Heavens were opened" – the doors of God's unseen dwelling place opened. Compare Rev 4:1. 1:3 "Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi" – or it could be translated "Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest." Three statements indicate that God's revelation came to Ezekiel – "visions of God" (v 1. Note on vision at Gen 15:1); "the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel" (v 3. Jer 1:2); "the hand of the LORD was upon him" (3:14,22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1). Ezekiel gives us a sure revelation from God, not the mere writings of a man.

The form of the cherubim was like a man's form (v 5). God's glory has more to do with mankind than with the rest of earth's creatures.

The cherubim were in the fire which symbolizes God's presence and glory (v 5). They were very bright and fiery themselves (v 13).

They went straight ahead without turning. God's ways are straight ways not like man's crooked ways (Ps 125:5; Prov 2:1215; Isa 40:3,4; 42:16; 59:8; Mark 1:3). They went as the Spirit directed (v 12). Spirit here means God's Spirit in relation to the sovereignty of earth.

"Chaldeans" – Babylonians. 1:4 Here are three symbols of God's presence – whirlwind or storm (Ex 19:16; Job 38:1; 40:6; Ps 18:9-13); fire (note at Ex 3:2); brightness or light (Ps 104:2; 1 Tim 6:16; 1 John 1:5). 1:5-28 This vision can be divided into three sections – living beings (vs 5-14), wheels (vs 15-21), expanse (vs 22-28). The vision as a whole reveals God's glory in His sovereign rule over all the earth. 1:5-14 The living beings are cherubim (10:15), not human beings. Notes on cherubim at Gen 3:24; Ex 25:18-20. Here we should note the following:

They moved like flashes of lightning. This may indicate the speed with which they executed the will of God. With them there is no reluctance, no hesitation, no delay.

In 10:12 it is said they were "full of eyes" (compare Rev 4:6,8). This suggests God's ability to see everything everywhere.

Their movement was like the voice of God (v 24. Compare Rev 1:15). 1:15-21 "Wheels" – we should note the following:

Wheels obviously speak of motion, of a vehicle of some sort. Here the wheels with

There were four cherubim (v 5). This

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was like the colour of beryl. And the four had the same likeness; and their appearance and their workmanship was like a wheel inside another wheel. 17 When they went, they went in the direction of one of their four sides, and they did not turn as they went. 18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them.

over their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were straight, toward one another. Each one had two which covered this side, and each one had two which covered that side of their bodies. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, the sound of speech, like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

19 And when the living beings went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living beings were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they went, for there the spirit went. And the wheels were lifted up close beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood still, these stood still; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up close beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

25 And there came a voice from the expanse that was above their heads, when they stood and let down their wings. 26 And above the expanse that was above their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone. And high above, on the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man. 27 And I saw something like the colour of amber, like the appearance of fire all around inside it; from the appearance of his waist upward, and from the appearance of his waist downward, I saw what appeared to be fire, and it had brightness all around. 28 The appearance of this surrounding brightness was like the appearance of the rainbow that is in

22 And the likeness of the expanse above the heads of the living creature was like the colour of an awesome crystal; it was above, stretched out

the cherubim seem to carry above them a platform and a throne (vs 22,26). It is interesting that the ark of the covenant, with the cherubim above it and God's glory above them, is compared to a chariot in 1 Chron 28:18. See also Dan 7:9. Note on this ark at Ex 25:10-16.

us observe the following:

The throne with its occupant is the important thing, not the expanse. Evidently, from there the voice was heard (vs 25,26). The throne here speaks of God's sovereignty over all creation. His voice, His word determine the direction of His activity on earth. The cherubim and the wheels give instant and full obedience.

These wheels were like wheels within wheels or like intersecting wheels, but their structure is not described. Perhaps they speak of the mysterious and complicated nature of the activity of God's glorious presence on earth (Isa 55:8,9; Rom 11:33). Remember these verses present a picture of God's glory and it is a part of God's glory to conceal certain matters (Prov 25:2).

The one sitting on the throne was in figure like a man (v 26). No one has seen God at any time (John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16). But God at times has come in the form of man to speak with men (Gen 18:1,2; etc). The Lord Jesus was the supreme example of this (John 1:1,14; Phil 2:5-7). Doubtless He is the one on the throne in this vision, as He was in Isaiah's vision (Isa 6:1; John 12:41). 1:24 "The Almighty" – in Hebrew "Shaddai" – note at Gen 17:1. 1:27 Compare Rev 1:13-16. 1:28 "Rainbow" – Rev 4:3; 10:1. "Glory" – he does not say He saw God. He does not say even that he saw God's glory, only the "appearance" of the "likeness" of it. He knows it is all symbolic and gives only a picture of something that cannot be conveyed fully in a picture. No doubt Ezekiel associated the glory of God with the temple in Jerusalem. It was the temple which had the ark and God's presence over it and the cherubim. To the people of Israel, the center of God's activity on earth was there (1 Kings 8:11; Ps 26:8; 63:2; 96:6; 102:16). Ezekiel could never have expected to see God's glory coming to the plains of Babylon, but later he came to understand that for that time God was forsaking Jerusalem and coming to His people in captivity (10:4,15,18,19; 11:22-24). The glory of

The wheels did not act independently of the cherubim and the Spirit (vs 17,19, 20,21). God's ways on earth are intimately connected with the activities of heavenly beings. And everything works together in perfect harmony as a vehicle of God's glory.

The rims, like the cherubim, were full of eyes. The movement of God's glorious activity in the world and in history is not blind. God is fully aware of every direction or change of direction that needs to be taken. The chariot of the true Lord of the universe does not recklessly, ruthlessly roll on and crush individuals or peoples or nations. He who sits on the throne is love (1 John 4:8), His throne is a throne of grace (Heb 4:16). When He acts in judgment He does so because He is the just judge of the universe and must put down evil. This too is done because He sees it needs to be done for the good of the world as a whole. 1:22-28 The expanse and the throne – vs 22 and 26 suggest some sort of beautiful platform on which God's throne rested. Let

EZEKIEL 2:1 1072

the cloud on a day of rain.

listen; for they are very rebellious. 8 But, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you."

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I prostrated myself, and I heard a voice of one who spoke.

9 And when I looked, a hand appeared, stretched out to me, and in it a scroll appeared. 10 And he spread it out before me; and it was written inside and outside; and lamentations and mourning and woe were written on it.

And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you." 2 And when he spoke to me the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 For they are obstinate and stubborn progeny. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.' 5 And whether they listen, or refuse to listen (for they are a rebellious house), they will still know that there has been a prophet among them. 6 And, son of man, do not be afraid of them, or be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns surround you, and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words, or be dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they listen or refuse to

Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, eat what you are encountering; eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that scroll.

3 And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach, and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you." Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was like honey in sweetness.

4 And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak to them with my words. 5 For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel; 6 not to many people of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I had sent you to them, they

God was still bound up with Israel – not principally with those Jews who remained in the land of Israel but with those in Babylon (Jeremiah chapter 24). Let us understand that where we as God's people go, God goes with us (Heb 13:5).

2:3-8 Compare Isa 6:9-13; Jer 1:4-10. 2:3 "Rebellious" – Isa 1:2-4; Jer 5:23. Rebellion was a characteristic of the nation from the very beginning (Deut 9:24). 2:4,5 "Say" – verse 7. God's prophets are to speak whether people will listen or not.

Compare Ezekiel's reaction to the appearance of God's glory with Dan 8:17,18; 10:7-10; Rev 1:17. The vision as a whole, even if we don't understand all the details of it, should strike us to some extent as it did Ezekiel. There is in it a mysterious, powerful, indescribable sense of the glory of God. God's purpose in giving the vision to Ezekiel was not to confuse him with details but to give him, before he entered into his ministry, a view of the greatness, glory and holiness of God. He wanted him (and us) to serve God with reverence and awe and godly fear. 2:1 "Son of man" – an emphatic way for God to say that Ezekiel was a mere man. The Lord Jesus when He called Himself "the son of man" was referring to Dan 7:13 and 8:17 where the phrase is a title of the Messiah. This phrase is not used like that here in Ezekiel.

"Lord God" – see the note at Gen 15:2. 2:6 "Do not be afraid" – 1:8; Josh 1:9; 2 Tim 1:7; Heb 13:6. "Scorpions", "rebellious house" – from this description of Israel in Babylon we would not guess that these people were the good fruit of Jer 24:5-7, the remnant of Isa 46:3,4 through whom God would restore the nation. 2:8 Ezekiel by nature was a sinner too and had to be on guard against the rebelliousness of his fallen nature (notes at Gen 9:21; 12:13; Num 20:11; 2 Sam 11:1). 2:9,10 Ezekiel's message at the beginning was loaded with God's condemnation of the people's behavior and His judgments which were very grievous. Later in his ministry Ezekiel was given a message full of hope. Observe that his message was not of his own invention. It was handed to him by God. It was not his business to add anything to it or take anything away. See 2 Tim 3:16; Rev 22:18,19. 3:1-3 Compare Jer 1:9; 15:16; Rev 10:9,10. God's word must be received and digested by God's servants. It must become a part of their lives.

"Stand" – Ezekiel could not forever lie on his face in God's presence. There was work to do, messages to deliver for God. Compare Acts 26:16. Worship is to lead to work. 2:2 The same Spirit in the cherubim and wheels (1:12,19,20) now comes into Ezekiel to empower him to do God's will and to live for God's glory. All the true prophets of God stood in God's presence, heard God speak, and spoke as they were moved by God's Spirit (2 Pet 1:21).

"Sweetness" – this contact with God, this taste of His message was sweet even though it contained words of lamentation and woe. But in Ezekiel's inner man, as later in John's, it became bitter (vs 12-14). 3:4-6 2:3-5. Compare Matt 11:20-24.

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would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for the whole house of Israel is obstinate and hard-hearted. 8 See, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead like adamant, harder than flint. Do not fear them, or be dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house."

16 And at the end of seven days it happened that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not give him warning or speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his guilt, but I will require his blood at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he will die in his guilt, but you will have delivered your soul.

10 Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, hear with your ears and receive in your heart all my words that I speak to you. 11 And go to those of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they listen or refuse to listen."

20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous man that the righteous are not to sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he was warned; also you have delivered your soul."

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a voice sounding like a great rushing, saying, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in his place." 13 Also I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings that touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and a sound of a great rushing. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15 Then I came to those of the captivity at Tel-Abib, who lived by the Kebar River, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

22 And the hand of the LORD was on me there; and he said to me, "Arise, go out to the plain, and there I will talk with you." 23 Then I arose, and went out to the plain; and the glory of the LORD appeared standing there, like the glory which I saw

3:7 Jer 7:27. But God has His good purpose in sending His messages even if the people they go to won't listen. 3:8,9 Ezekiel means "God is strong" or "God strengthens" or "God makes hard." To face the kind of people he faced Ezekiel needed to be a tough, strong, determined man and only God could make him so. Compare Isa 50:7; Jer 1:17-19. God will make all His servants suited to the task to which He calls them (2 Cor 3:5,6). 3:10 The messenger of God himself must be very careful to respond to the Word of God. He is not to be like a mere talking parrot or a myna bird, untouched by the Word he delivers. 3:11 The exiles were troubled by false prophets who predicted an early end to their exile. They did not believe Jerusalem would be destroyed and that they would be in Babylon for many decades. See Jeremiah's letter to these same exiles in Jeremiah chapter 29. 3:12-14 From 2:1 to 3:11 the cherubim, the wheels, and the glory of God have been there. Now Ezekiel must leave all that and begin a ministry to a stubborn people who will reject what he says. The word of God with its messages of sadness and woe is burning in his heart (2:10). It is no wonder he went in bitterness and anger of spirit. God was already beginning to work in him to make him the kind of person who could deliver His message as He wanted it delivered (vs 8,9). Observe that God's Spirit

compelled him to go. 3:15,16 Dan 8:27; 10:2. It is not surprising that he was overwhelmed for seven days. Truly, after all he had experienced he could never be the same again. 3:17 "Watchman" – Isa 52:8; 56:10; 62:6; Jer 6:17; 31:6; Ezek 33:7-9. God's watchmen were to watch for God's Word and the behavior of the people, and speak for God, especially warning of coming danger. 3:18-21 See the awesome responsibility of God's prophets. They had to give an account to God for their ministry and for the people to whom they were sent. It is not clear what God would do to Ezekiel if he failed to warn those God sent him to, but the words "I will require his blood at your hand" (vs 18,20) are very severe and no doubt went deep into the mind and heart of Ezekiel. 3:20 "Die" – this does not necessarily speak of the loss of eternal life but of physical death. See 18:1-32. Compare John 5:24; 11:25,26. 3:22 "Hand of the LORD" – 1:3. "Go out" – to be alone with God. Ezekiel was already overwhelmed (v 15); perhaps the message of vs 16-21 overwhelmed him even more. In any case God wanted him to see the glory again. Alone he communed with God. Compare Moses alone (Ex 3:1,2;), Elijah alone (1 Kings 19:9-13), John the Baptist alone (Luke 1:80), Jesus alone (Luke 4:42; 6:12), John alone (Rev 1:9,10). 3:23 God's glorious presence awaited His

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by the Kebar River; and I prostrated myself.

guilt for the number of the days that you lie on your side. 5 For I have laid on you a number of days in accordance with the years of their guilt, three hundred and ninety days. So you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel.

24 Then the Spirit came into me, and set me on my feet, and spoke to me, and said to me, "Go, shut yourself up inside your house. 25 But, son of man, see, they are going to put ropes on you and tie you up with them; and you will not go out among them. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be mute, and will not be one who rebukes them; for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.' He who will listen, let him listen; and he who refuses to listen, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

6 "And when you have completed them, lie down again, on your right side; and you will bear the guilt of the house of Judah forty days. I have appointed to you a day for each year. 7 Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be bare, and you shall prophesy against it. 8 And, see, I will put ropes on you, and you will not be able to turn yourself from one side to the other, until you have finished the days of your siege.

"Also you, son of man, take a clay tablet, and place it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it; 2 and lay siege to it, and build siege works against it, and heap up a mound against it. Also set up camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Moreover take for yourself an iron pan, and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face against it. And it will be under siege, and you will be laying siege to it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

9 "And take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in a container, and make bread with them. You shall eat it for as many days as you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10 And your food which you will eat is to be by weight, twenty shekels a day; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 You shall also drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. You shall drink it from time to time. 12 And you shall eat it like barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with human dung for fuel."

4 "Also, lie down on your left side, and lay the guilt of the house of Israel on it. You shall bear their

obedient servant – as always. 3:24-27 New instructions that would further prepare Ezekiel for what he had to face. 3:26,27 Apparently Ezekiel for some time was unable to speak except when God enabled him. At times there are firm restraints on God's servants; they may not have the same freedom that others enjoy. During this time Ezekiel's ministry was in his house and only to those who came there. But through them his words and news of his doings would surely spread among all the exiles. Compare Paul bound (Phil 1:12-14; 2 Tim 2:9). 4:1-3 In this chapter and the first 4 verses of chapter 5 is the record of how God made Ezekiel an object lesson to the people. Ezekiel acted out what would happen to Jerusalem. The people had refused to believe that the city would be destroyed (3:11). Ezekiel's actions worked impressively with God's message which begins from 5:5. For other examples of object lessons see 1 Kings 11:29-31; 2 Kings 13:14-19; Isa 8:3,4,18; Jer 13:1-7. 4:3 The iron pan with Ezekiel behind it facing Jerusalem probably conveyed the following idea to the people – iron would speak of strength and fixed purpose; Ezekiel the prophet represented God as being opposed to the city and bringing a siege against it. 4:4-8 Israel means here the northern kingdom that separated from Judah after king Solomon's death (1 Kings chapter 12). Judah means the southern kingdom. From the beginning of the northern kingdom Israel was

in rebellion against God and worshiped idols (1 Kings 12:28-30). So the time of their sin is put at 390 years – probably from Jeroboam's time to Ezekiel's. The sin of the house of Judah was put at 40 years, possibly because for a long time they did not completely fall away from God. They had some good kings, some times of revival, and maintained at least the outward forms of worship of the true God in His temple. 4:4 "Bear their guilt" – this does not mean to make atonement for them or take their sins away. Ezekiel was merely representing the two kingdoms and showing by his actions the times of their most grievous sin against God. 4:7 "Arm shall be bare" – symbolized that God was ready to take action. Compare Isa 52:10. "Prophesy against it" – see the prophecy given in 5:5-17. Ezekiel's remarkable actions and words would have been spoken of throughout the community of exiles and many must have come to watch and hear him. Indeed, who would have kept away? 4:9-11 Ezekiel's food was to be only that which could be stored for a long time in containers, no fresh vegetables, no meat, and no dairy products. Both his daily food and water were to be taken in rationed, very limited quantities. All this symbolized siege conditions (vs 16,17).

"Twenty shekels a day" (v 10) – a little more than 200 grams.

"Hin" – about 0.6 liter. 4:12,13 Speaks of very severe conditions when normal fuels would not be available.

1075 EZEKIEL 5:12

13 And the LORD said, "In this way the children of Israel will eat their defiled food among the Gentiles, where I will drive them."

5 "Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that surround her. 6 And she has rebelled against my ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances and my statutes. They have not walked in them.

14 Then I said, "Ah Lord God! See, my soul has never been defiled; for from my youth up until now I have not eaten anything which died of itself, or was torn in pieces, and no unclean meat has come into my mouth."

7 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have multiplied rebellion more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, or kept my ordinances, or even acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you,

15 Then he said to me, "See, I grant you cow's dung in place of human dung, and you can prepare your bread over that."

16 Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, see, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they will eat bread by weight, and with care; and they will drink water by measure, and with astonishment, 17 because they will lack bread and water, and be astonished at one another, and consume away because of their guilt.

8 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: See, I, I myself, am against you and will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. 9 And, because of all your abominations, I will do in you what I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again. 10 Therefore the fathers will eat the sons in your midst, and the sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all the rest of you to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore surely I will also withdraw and my eye will have no pity, and I will not spare. 12 A third of you will die from the plague, and will be consumed by famine in your midst; and a third part will fall by the sword around you; and I will scatter a third part to all the winds, and draw out a sword after them.

"And, son of man, take a sharp knife; take and use it as a barber's razor on your head and on your beard. Then take scales for weighing, and divide the hair. 2 You shall burn a third of it with fire inside the city, when the days of the siege are ended. And you shall take a third of it, and strike it with the knife all around the city, and you shall scatter a third in the wind. For I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall also take a few hairs from it, and tie them in your garment. 4 Again, take some of them and throw them into the middle of the fire, and burn them in the fire. For from there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

4:14 Compare Acts 10:14. Ezekiel was a priest (1:3), and carefully observed the dietary instructions given in the law of Moses (Leviticus chapter 11). 4:15 Ps 103:13,14. 4:16,17 Lev 26:26; Deut 28:47,48; Lam 1:11. "Guilt" – Lev 26:39; Ezek 24:23; 33:10. 5:1 See Isa 7:20; 15:2; 2 Sam 10:4,5. This signified falling into the hands of enemies and the humiliation that would result. Shaving the head was also a sign of mourning (Job 1:20; Jer 7:29; 16:6; Ezek 27:31). 5:2 Indicated that most of the people of Jerusalem would perish in or around the city (v 12). The hair represented the people, Jerusalem represented the head. Notice God says "I will draw out a sword after them." In other words God would use Jerusalem's enemies for its punishment. Compare Isa 10:5; Jer 51:20. 5:3,4 Some of the people would escape, but some of those who escaped would also perish. Try to imagine what an effect Ezekiel's strange behavior would have on those who saw it. 5:5 From this verse to the end of chapter 7 we have God's message through Ezekiel explaining his symbolic actions.

parts of the world where He wanted them to be (Acts 17:26). Jerusalem was to be a channel of truth and blessing to all nations. God so arranged matters that Jerusalem would be in an ideal place at the center of all, at the crossroads of many peoples. Jerusalem was the center of God's activities on earth, not merely geographically but spiritually. 5:6-8 Jerusalem utterly failed in what she should have been. Because that city had far more of God's light and truth than other nations its wickedness was even greater than others because it turned away from light and truth. Because it had been given much, much was required of it. Compare Matt 11:20-24; Luke 12:48. So God would make that city an object lesson to all the world. See the terrible words of v 8 – "I am against you". If God is against us who can be for us? 5:9 Verse 11. Idolatry was one of the chief reasons for God's terrible anger against Jerusalem (6:3-10). 5:10 Deut 28:53; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; 4:10; Zech 11:9. 5:11 "No pity" – this word came from the God who is love (1 John 4:8), and who delights to show compassion (Ex 34:6; Ps 103:8). We can understand from this how terrible was Jerusalem's wickedness. 5:12 Verse 2.

"In the midst" – or "in the center" – 38:12; God has placed all peoples in the

EZEKIEL 5:13 1076

13 "Thus my anger will be spent, and I will cause my fury to rest on them, and I will be appeased; and when my fury against them is spent, they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in my zeal.

of the children of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all the places you live, the cities will be laid waste, and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols will be broken and come to an end, and your images will be cut down, and your works will be abolished. 7 And the slain will fall in your midst, and you will know that I am the LORD.

14 "Moreover I will make you a wasteland, and an object of reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15 So it will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of astonishment to the nations that are around you, when I execute judgments in you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken it. 16 When I send on them the disastrous arrows of famine, which will destroy them, I will send them to destroy you (then I will increase the famine among you, and will break your staff of bread). 17 So I will send on you famine and evil beasts, and they will bereave you; and plague and bloodshed will pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken it."

8 "Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who will escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. 9 And those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are led away as captives, because I am heartbroken over their adulterous heart which departed from me, and over their eyes which go after their idols, prostituting themselves. And they will loathe themselves because of the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 And they will know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would bring this disaster on them.

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys: See, I, I myself, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 And your altars will be desolate, and your images will be broken. And I will throw your slain people down in front of your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead bodies

11 "Thus says the Lord God: Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, 'Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel!' For they will fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. 12 He who is far off will die from the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die from the famine. Thus I will spend my fury on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the LORD, when

5:13 6:12; 7:8; 13:15; 20:8,21. Notes on God's anger at Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11; John 3:36; Rom 1:18.

"I will throw" (v 4), "my hand" (v 14). Then is God heartless and cruel? Not at all (Lam 3:22,32,33). He has infinite love and compassion. But this will not mean that the guilty will be spared (Ex 34:6,7). There would be great destruction and misery, but out of it all would come great good – the people who escaped would learn an invaluable lesson (vs 7,10,13,14). Israel's need to recognize Jehovah and His deeds is a central theme in the whole book of Ezekiel, mentioned more than 50 times. 6:8-10 God often spoke through Isaiah concerning a remnant (Isa 1:9; 10:20-22; 11:11,16; 37:31,32; 46:3). In this way one of God's purposes in bringing disaster on Judah would be fulfilled – the exiles would remember God (Jer 29:11-14). They would understand in some measure how they had grieved Him by their idolatry and adulterous behavior. And they would loathe themselves – an attitude that accompanies deep conviction of sin and true repentance (Job 42:6). 6:11 Ezekiel's actions could make a deeper impression on the people than mere words could do. 6:12 "My fury" – 5:13; 7:8; 13:15; 20:8,21. 6:13 Throughout the Bible the one true God reveals His utter hatred of false worship and idolatry (Ex 20:4-6; etc).

"They will know that I, the LORD, have spoken" – these words or similar words are found 65 times in Ezekiel. It was very important for the people of Israel to know that God was speaking to them. Hearing and obeying God's message was the only way back to God for them. 5:14,15 Lev 26:32; Deut 28:30,46; Ps 74:310; 79:1-4; Jer 18:16; 19:8; 22:8,9. 5:16,17 Here are the four means of destruction God sometimes used when He rose against evil cities and lands – famine, wild beasts, plague, and sword (Jer 15:2,3; 24:10). For something similar in the future see Rev 6:8. Observe that in times of judgment "arrows of famine" are sent by God Himself. 6:1 In 5:5-17 God speaks of punishment coming on Jerusalem. In this chapter He speaks of judgments about to fall on the whole land of Israel. 6:3 "High places" – the Israelites, contrary to God's commands about worship, followed the practice of other nations and erected shrines and idols in the open air, usually on hills (v 13). 6:4-14 God would personally see to it that their false worship would be ended. Observe

1077 EZEKIEL 7:22

their slain people are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 So I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in every place they live; and they will know that I am the LORD."

None of them will remain, none of their crowd, nothing they have; and there will be no wailing for them. 12 The time has come! The day has drawn near! Do not let the buyer rejoice, or the seller grieve; for wrath is on its whole multitude. 13 For the seller will not return to what was sold, as long as they are alive; for the vision concerns its whole multitude, which will not return, and no one will strengthen his life by his iniquity. 14 They have blown the trumpet to prepare everyone, but no one goes to the battle; for my wrath is on its whole multitude.

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Also, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is coming on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways, and will repay you for all your abominations. 4 And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but on you I will repay you for your ways, and for your abominations which are among you; and you will know that I am the LORD.

15 "The sword is outside, and the plague and famine inside. He who is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and plague will devour the one who is in the city. 16 But those among the ones who escape will escape and be on the mountains, all of them mourning like doves of the valleys, each one for his guilt. 17 All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be as weak as water. 18 They will also tie sackcloth around themselves, and horror will cover them, and shame will be on every face, and every head will be shaved. 19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be abhorred. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD; they will not satisfy their souls, or fill their stomach, because it has been their stumbling block of wickedness. 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 out of it, so I will make it abhorrent to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners as prey, and to the wicked of the earth as plunder, and they will defile it. 22 I will also turn my face from them, and they will defile my secret place; for robbers will enter it, and defile it.

5 "Thus says the Lord God: A disaster, a unique disaster! See, it has come. 6 An end has come! The end has come! It is aroused for you. See, it has come! 7 Doom has come to you, O you who live in the land. The time has come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounds of joy again on the mountains. 8 Now I will shortly pour out my fury on you, and spend my anger on you, and judge you according to your ways, and repay you for all your abominations. 9 And my eye will not spare, and I will not have pity; I will repay you for your ways and your abominations that are among you; and you will know that I, the LORD, give the blows.

10 "See the day! See, it has come. Doom has set out. The rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.

3:1; Ezek 24:16; Hos 6:1. The people would trace their calamities back to their source and understand why they had come on them. 7:10-13 These verses point out other reasons for God's anger. The people were proud (vs 20,24), violent (v 23), greedy (v 19), and totally occupied with their own affairs. This will be the condition of many at the end of this age – Matt 24:37,38; 2 Tim 3:1-5. 7:14 They would not be able to resist the coming armies of Babylon. 7:16 "For his guilt" – God repeats this again and again so that none might think they were innocent sufferers. 7:18 5:1-4. 7:19 Too late they would learn what little value their wealth had. Compare Ps 49:5-10; Luke 12:14-21. 7:20 Isa 3:16,18-22; Jer 10:3,4; Ezek 16:11-17. 7:21 What we do not use in a proper way for God's glory may be taken from us at any moment. 7:22 "Turn my face" – compare the expression

6:14 "My hand" – 14:9,13; 16:27; 35:3. Compare Isa 5:25; 9:12,17,21; 10:4. 7:1,2 This whole chapter, like chapter 6, is taken up with judgments against the whole land of Israel. The language of verses 2, 6, 7, 10, 12 indicates how near and how certain was the threatened disaster. 7:3 "Judge you" – as the just judge of the universe this is what God must do and does do (Ps 7:8; 9:8; 50:6; 89:14; 94:2; 98:9). We may be sure that no individual, no city, no land, no people anywhere will ever receive more punishment than they deserve. But this should be no consolation to those who live in sin. 7:4 5:11; Jer 13:14. 7:8 "Pour out my fury" – 9:8; 14:19; 20:8,13,21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18. This phrase is similar to the expression "spend my wrath" in 6:12. The words "wrath" and "anger" and "fury" are used many times in Ezekiel. 7:9 "I, the LORD, give the blows" – 2 Chron 21:14; Ps 39:10; Isa 9:13; Jer 5:3; Lam

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23 "Make a chain. For the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also put a stop to the pomp of the strong, and their holy places will be defiled. 25 Destruction is coming! And they will seek peace, and there will be none. 26 Disaster will follow disaster, and rumour will follow rumour. Then they will seek a vision from the prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will do to them as their ways deserve, and judge them according to their own standards, and they will know that I am the Lord."

there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then he said to me, "Son of man, now raise your eyes toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and saw in the north, at the gate of the altar, this idol of jealousy at the entrance.

6 And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, to drive me far away from my sanctuary? But now turn, and you will see greater abominations."

7 And he brought me to the door of the courtyard; and when I looked I saw a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, "Son of man, now dig in the wall." And when I had dug in the wall, a door appeared.

9 And he said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they are doing here." 10 So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the wall. 11 And before them stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, and among them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. And each man had his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense was rising up.

And it came about in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, that the hand of the Lord God suddenly came on me there. 2 Then I looked, and saw a figure like the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist downward, fire; and from his waist upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the colour of amber. 3 And he stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was. 4 And, see, the glory of the God of Israel was

12 Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in the room of his idol? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us. The LORD has forsaken the land.'" 13 He also to me, "Turn yourself again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing."

give them God's message.

to hide the face (Ps 13:1; 30:7; 69:17; 143:7).

"Hand" – 1:3. 8:2 The same figure that appeared on the throne in 1:26,27. 8:3 This was an experience similar to Paul's recorded in 2 Cor 12:2. Possibly Ezekiel did not know whether he was in the body or out of it.

"My secret place" – God's temple in Jerusalem. 7:23 "Chain" – signifies that some who remained in Jerusalem would go into captivity. 7:24 "The worst of the nations" – Babylon. See Isa 14:3-6; Jer 50:29-33,38; 51:6,7, 34,35; Hab 1:6-11. 7:25 13:10,16; Jer 6:14; 8:11; Isa 48:22; 57:21. 7:26 When God withdraws His guidance it is a calamity worse than mere physical ones. 7:27 "As their ways deserve" – Ps 18:25,26. "According to their own standards" – Israel knew what just judgment was, and was quick enough to judge other nations. Compare Rom 2:14,15. Now they would experience judgment themselves. Compare Matt 7:12; Rom 2:1-3. 8:1 This begins a series of visions which is concluded at the end of chapter 11. This section records things Ezekiel saw and heard in vision as though he were in Jerusalem. The time was September 592 BC, about 14 months after the first visions he saw (1:2).

"Jealousy" – v 5; Ex 20:4-6; 34:14; Deut 4:23,24. 8:4 1:4-27. 8:6 "Abominations" – it was arrogant and daring wickedness to put idols to a false god or goddess in Jehovah's own temple compound.

"Drive me far away" – 10:4,18,19; 11:23. The unbelief and sin of the people had reached such a degree that God could no longer endure it. 8:10 Observe even in God's special people Israel this strange and wicked tendency to forsake the true and living God, the Creator, and to worship animals. See Rom 1:21-23. The Jews in Ezekiel's day even worshiped animals they regarded as unclean (Lev 11:26,27,41-45). 8:11,12 It was not merely the common people (who may not have known better)

"Elders" – by now it seems they recognized Ezekiel as a prophet who could

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14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north, and there appeared women sitting, weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Turn yourself again, and you will see greater abominations than these."

appeared coming from the way of the Upper Gate, which faces north, and each one had a weapon of slaughter in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writing case at his side. And they went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and about twenty-five men appeared at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And he called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writing case at his side, 4 and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst of it."

17 Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they are committing here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have repeatedly provoked me to anger. And, see, they are putting the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I will also deal in fury. My eye will not spare, and I will not have pity. And though they cry out in my ears with a loud voice, I will still not listen to them."

5 And he said to the others in my hearing, "You go after him through the city, and strike. Do not let your eye spare, do not have pity. 6 Slaughter old and young, both maidens and little children and women, but do not go near anyone on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary." Then they began with the elders who were before the house.

7 And he said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth." And they went forth, and killed people in the city. 8 And it came about, as they were killing them, and I was left alone, that I prostrated myself, and cried out, saying, "Alas, Lord God! Will you destroy all the

He also cried out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Cause those who have charge of the city to draw near, each once with his destroying weapon in his hand." 2 And six men

who engaged in this detestable worship of creatures, it was the leaders of the people. Observe what they said (9:9; Ps 10:11; Isa 29:15; etc). 8:14 Tammuz was the Babylonian god of fertility, connected with the cycles of nature. He was regarded as dying each year when vegetation died, and as coming to life when new vegetation sprang up. Each year women mourned the death of Tammuz. They were forsaking the God of Israel, who gave them all they had, for one of the false gods of their conquerors, the cruel and ruthless Babylonians. This was very detestable to the true God. 8:15,16 The most detestable thing of all was false worship at the very altar of God by priests or Levites (no one else could approach the altar). They were facing the wrong way – not toward the Most Holy Place where God was, but toward the east. They had forsaken the God who made the sun (Gen 1:16), and worshiped the sun He had made – a thing forbidden in God's law on pain of death – Deut 17:2-5. 8:17 "Putting the branch to their nose" – the only place in the Bible where this is mentioned. It may have been connected with their false worship. 8:18 5:11; 9:10; 24:14; Jer 11:11; 13:14; Isa 1:15; 59:2. 9:1,2 These ones who had "charge of the city" were angels who appeared to Ezekiel in the form of men as angels sometimes did then and, for all we know, may do now

(Gen 19:1; Heb 13:2).

"Writing case" – pens, ink, writing material. 9:3 The glory of God moved away from its place in the Most Holy Place above the cherubim over the mercy seat. The true God will have nothing to do with idolatry. Compare 2 Cor 6:14-16. 9:4 Even in those days of wickedness and unbelief there were some in Jerusalem who remained true to God and His word. They showed they were in tune with God by their attitude to the sins of the city. The angel was to mark them out for protection. Remember that this happened in a vision. There was no literal marking of physical foreheads. Compare Rev 7:1-4. 9:5,6 This was to signify to Ezekiel what would happen when the Babylonians captured and destroyed the city.

"Begin at my sanctuary" – they began with those who were responsible to lead the people in the ways of God. Because they did not do so, these leaders were the most guilty of all the people (8:11,12; compare 1 Pet 4:17). 9:7 "Defile" – dead bodies were defiling under the law (Lev 21:1,11; Num 19:1116). God commanded the angels to defile His own holy temple. It had become an idol shrine and He was abandoning it. 9:8 11:13. Compare Ezekiel's love for the people with other men of God – Ex 32:3032; Num 14:5,6,10-19; Josh 7:6,7; Jer 8:21; 9:1; Rom 9:1-3. What a contrast with the elders described in 8:10,11!

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rest of Israel in your pouring out of your fury on Jerusalem?"

9 And when I looked, I saw the four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the colour of a beryl stone. 10 And as for their appearances, the four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel was inside another wheel. 11 When they went, they went in the direction of one of their four sides. They did not turn as they went, but followed to the place where the head was looking. They did not turn as they went. 12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, in my hearing they were called "The Whirling Wheels." 14 And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

9 Then he said to me, "The wickedness of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land,' and 'The LORD does not see.' 10 And as for me also, my eye will not spare, and I will not have pity, but I will repay their way on their head."

11 And the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side, appeared, and reported the matter, saying, "I have done as you commanded me."

Then I looked and saw in the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubim an appearance above them of something like a sapphire stone, like the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 And he spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, "Go in between the wheels, under the cherub, and fill your hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And in my sight he went in.

15 And the cherubim rose up. This is the living being that I saw by the Kebar River. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went with them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise up from the earth, the wheels also did not turn from beside them. 17 When they stood, these stood, and when they went up, these went up with them; for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

3 Now the cherubim stood at the right side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud was filling the inner courtyard. 4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood above the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of the Almighty God when he speaks.

18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple, and stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim raised their wings, and rose from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and each one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house. And the glory of the God of Israel was up above them.

6 And it came about, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim," that he went in, and stood beside the wheels. 7 And one cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the one who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 And there appeared among the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.

20 This is the living being that I saw under the God of Israel by the Kebar River; and I knew that they were the cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces, and each one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces whose appearance I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight forward.

9:10 7:4,9; 8:18; 11:21; 23:49. 10:1 1:26. 10:2 Verses 6,7; 1:13. These coals symbolize God's fiery judgments falling on Jerusalem. 10:4 2 Chron 7:1-3. This was the last time this was ever true of the temple Solomon built. 10:5 1:24; 3:13. "Almighty God" – in Hebrew "El-Shaddai" – note at Gen 17:1. 10:8 1:8. 10:9-11 1:15-21. 10:12 This is a fact not stated in the

description of the cherubim in 1:5-14. Full of eyes signifies great intelligence and great watchfulness. 10:13 A fact about the wheels not given in chapter 1. 10:15 Verse 20. Ezekiel did not call them cherubim in chapter 1. Perhaps he did not then recognize them to be such. 10:16,17 1:19-21. 10:18,19 Signifies the slow, reluctant departure of God from His temple, His home, His people. 10:21,22 1:6-8.

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And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the LORD's house, which looks eastward. And at the door of the gate twentyfive men appeared. Among them I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who plot evil, and give wicked counsel in this city, 3 who say, 'It is not near the time for us to build houses. This city is the cooking pot and we are the meat.' 4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man."

ways of the nations that are around you."

13 And it happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I went down on my face, and cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Alas, Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

14 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15 "Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, your relatives and kindred, and the whole house of Israel, are the ones to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far from the LORD. This land has been given to us to possess.'

5 And the Spirit of the LORD suddenly came on me, and said to me, "Say, Thus says the LORD: You have spoken this, O house of Israel; for the things which come into your mind, I know them all . 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.

16 "Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: Although I have put them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them in the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.'

7 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have caused to lie in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot, but I will bring you out of the midst of it. 8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword on you, says the Lord God. 9 And I will bring you out of the midst of the city, and hand you over to foreigners, and will execute judgments among you. 10 You will fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you will know that I am the LORD. 11 This city will not be your cooking pot, and you will not be the meat inside it, but I will judge you on the border of Israel, 12 and you will know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in my statutes, or executed my judgments, but have acted in the

17 "Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.'

18 "And they will come here, and they will take away from here all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart follows their detestable things and their abominations, I will

misinterpret what God does and turn the truth upside down. 11:16 "I have been a sanctuary for them" – God's presence was forsaking Jerusalem to be with His people in exile. This is the significance of the vision of the glory of God leaving the temple in Jerusalem and appearing to Ezekiel in Babylon. 11:17 The future of the nation of Israel lay with the exiles, not with those who remained in Judah. 11:18 The exiles after their return from Babylon, having learned their lesson, were opposed to all idolatry. 11:19 36:26. "One heart" – Ps 86:11; 1 Cor 7:35; Jam 1:6,7. "Stony heart" – this is what they had before the exile. Their hearts were so hard that the word of God made no impression on them. A heart of flesh is a heart that is tender and obedient toward God, a heart on which His word can be written – v 20; Prov 3:3; 7:3; Jer 31:33; 2 Cor 3:3. 11:20 "I will be their God" – the promise that runs like a golden thread through the Bible – Gen 17:7; Ex 6:7; Lev 26:12; Deut 7:6; 26:19; Jer 11:4; 31:33; Ezek 36:28; Hos 1:9,10; 2:23. 11:21 9:10; 16:43; Jer 16:18.

11:1 This Jaazaniah is different from the one in 8:11. 11:3 They refused to believe God's message through Jeremiah that the Babylonians would destroy the city (Jer 14:12-16; 21:310). They thought they were safe, that the walls of Jerusalem would be like brass walls around them to protect them. They boasted that they were the "meat", the choicest part of the nation. Compare vs 7-11; see Jeremiah chapter 24. 11:5 "The things which come into your mind, I know them all" – Ps 26:2; Jer 17:10; Heb 4:12. 11:6 7:23; Isa 1:15; etc. 11:7 God says the choicest part of the nation was those murdered by these men. Those dead were true prophets and godly men. Compare Matt 23:27-31; Acts 7:52. 11:10,11 2 Kings 25:18-21. 11:12 2 Chron 36:14. 11:13 9:8. 11:15 The people of Jerusalem were referring to those who had gone into exile with Ezekiel. They thought God's wrath was on them and imagined that God's blessing was on those who remained in Jerusalem. This was the exact opposite of the truth as verses 16-21 show. See also Jeremiah chapter 24. It is the way of sinful men to

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repay their way on their own heads, says the Lord God."

11 Say, 'I am your sign. It will be done to them just as I have done. They will be exiled and go into captivity.'

22 Then the cherubim raised their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24 Afterwards the Spirit took me up, and in a vision brought me by the Spirit of God to Chaldea, to those of the captivity.

12 "And the prince who is among them will carry his things on his shoulders at twilight, and go out. They will dig through the wall to carry their things out through it. He will cover his face, so that he will not see the ground with his eyes. 13 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans. But he will not see it, though he will die there. 14 And I will scatter all his helpers who are around him and all his troops to all the winds, and I will draw out the sword after them.

So the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 Then I told those of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shown me.

15 "And they will know that I am the LORD, when I scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from the plague, so that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go; and they will know that I am the LORD."

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house. They have eyes to see, but do not see. They have ears to hear, but do not hear. For they are a rebellious house.

3 "Therefore, son of man, pack up your things for exile, and in the daylight go into exile in their sight, going into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. 4 Then you are to bring out your things in the daylight in their sight, like things for exile, and in the evening set out in their sight, like those going away into captivity. 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the things out through it. 6 In their sight you carry them on your shoulders, and bring them out at twilight. You are to cover your face, so that you will not see the ground. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel."

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, eat your food with shuddering, and drink your water with trembling and with anxiety, 19 and say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and concerning the land of Israel: They will eat their food with anxiety, and drink their water with astonishment, for their land will be emptied of everything that is in it, because of the violence of all those who live there. 20 And the cities that are inhabited will be laid waste, and the land will be desolate; and you will know that I am the Lord.'"

7 And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my things in daylight, like things for captivity, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and carried them on my shoulder in their sight.

21 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 "Son of man, what is that proverb you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days go on, and every vision fails'? 23 Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will put a stop to this proverb, and they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.' And say to them, 'The days are at hand, and the fulfilment of every vision. 24 For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD. I will speak, and the word that I speak will come to

8 And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

10 "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: This burden is concerning the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel who are among them.'

truth God once again makes Ezekiel an object lesson to them (v 11). 12:12-14 This prince was king Zedekiah. He was brought to Babylon but did not see it because his eyes had been put out (Jer 52:6-11). 12:15,16 "They will know" – 6:8-10. 12:17-20 Another object lesson showing the hopelessness of the situation of the people in Jerusalem (7:27). 12:21,22 This "proverb" showed the unbelief of the people. Compare 2 Pet 3:4. 12:23 Verses 25,28. 12:24 For false visions see next chapter

11:22,23 The mountain east of Jerusalem is the mount of Olives. From its summit, much later in history, God's glory in Christ, after pausing there, ascended into heaven. To the same mount He will return at the end of this age (Zech 14:4). 11:24 8:3. "Chaldea – the southern part of the country of Babylon, but sometimes the whole country was called by this name. 12:2 Isa 1:2-4; 6:9,10. 12:3-16 Neither the exiles in Babylon nor those who remained in Jerusalem believed that Jerusalem would be destroyed and all the people exiled. To convince them of the

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pass. It will no longer be delayed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word, and will fulfil it, says the Lord God.'"

therefore, see, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 And my hand will be on the prophets who see false things, and lying divinations. They will not be in the assembly of my people, nor will they be written in the records of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel; and you will know that I am the Lord God.

26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 "Son of man, see, those of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies about times far off.'

10 "'Because, yes, because they have seduced my people, saying, "Peace," when there was no peace, and one builds a wall, and, see, others daub it with whitewash, 11 say to those who daub it with whitewash, that it will fall. There will be a torrential rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind will tear it down. 12 Look, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, "Where is the whitewash with which you daubed it?"

28 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word which I have spoken will be done, says the Lord God.'"

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, 'Hear the word of the LORD. 3 Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps, or made a wall for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They see a false thing and lying divination, saying, "The LORD says," and the LORD has not sent them; and they have made others hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision, and have you not spoken a lying divination when you say, "The LORD says it", although I have not spoken?

13 "'Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my fury I will tear it down with a stormy wind, and in my anger there will be a torrential rain, and in my fury great hailstones to destroy it. 14 So I will break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered, and it will fall, and you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus I will spend my wrath on the wall, and on those who have daubed it with whitewash, and will say to you, The wall is gone, and those who daubed it, 16 that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord God.'

8 "'Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies,

17 "Likewise, son of man, set your face against

and Jer 14:14. 12:27 Since the Lord through the prophets kept giving the same message again and again the people finally admitted that it might be fulfilled – but only far in the future. They tried to escape the plain meaning of God's word by saying it did not apply to their own time. They were not the last to do so. 13:2,3 "Own hearts" – Jer 14:14. Other notes on false prophets at Gen 20:7; Deut 18:20-22; 1 Kings 18:19-29; Jer 23:32; Matt 24:11,24.

13:8,9 Those who falsely speak for God will find eventually that God is against them. These particular ones were among the exiles in Babylon. See Jer 29:15,32. 13:10 This is the great damage false prophets do to their fellow men. They lead them astray, away from truth, away from God. To those who have the anger of God resting on them because of their sins and unbelief they promise peace. They whitewash the wall which unbelieving people try to build against disaster. Whitewash means to make it look finished and attractive. Thus they contribute to their hardness of heart and eventual punishment (vs 19,22). 13:11 This storm symbolizes the anger of God that would demolish all that people thought was their protection and safety (vs 13-16). 13:12 The false prophets will be found out for what they really are. 13:17-23 There were true prophetesses in Israel – Miriam (Ex 15:20), Deborah (Jud 4:4), Hulda (2 Kings 22:14). There were also false ones who engaged in black magic. The practice of magic, divination, sorcery, etc is severely condemned in the Bible (Ex 22:18; Deut 18:10; Acts 8:11; Rev 9:21; 21:8; 22:15). Those who engage in them will have God against them. They who practice such

"Foolish prophets" – or it could be translated "wicked" or "vile" prophets. The Hebrew word signifies someone who is foolish because he is lacking in moral character, one who has no wisdom because he has no fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7). In other respects such "foolish" shepherds might be very clever and knowledgeable. 13:4,5 They were destructive not constructive. They sought a comfortable place for themselves in ruins left by others, but could do nothing to rebuild those ruins. 13:6 Not everyone who imagines he is a prophet is one. The world has always been troubled and deceived by those who vainly thought they were prophets or whom others considered prophets.

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the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy against them, 18 and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all wrists, and make veils on the heads of every height to hunt for souls! Will you hunt for the souls of my people, and will you save alive the souls who come to you? 19 And will you profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save alive the souls that should not live, by your lying to my people who hear your lies?

of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their wickedness before their face. Should I be consulted by them at all? 4 Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord God: When anyone of the house of Israel sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet, I, the LORD, will answer the one who comes, in accordance with his many idols, 5 so that I may take hold of the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

20 "'Therefore thus says the Lord God: See, I am against your charms, with which you there hunt souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that you hunt like birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils, and rescue my people out of your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the LORD. 22 Because with your lies you have saddened the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad, and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked by promising him life, so that he would not turn back from his wicked way. 23 Therefore you will no longer see false visions, or practice divinations, for I will deliver my people out of your hands; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent, and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

7 "When anyone of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners who have settled in Israel, separates himself from me, and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to consult him concerning me, I, the LORD, will answer him by myself, 8 and I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among my people; and you will know that I am the LORD.

9 "And if a prophet is induced to speak a thing, I, the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him

Then some of the elders of Israel came to me, and sat in front of me. 2 And the word

things do so for their personal benefit. These things lead to bondage. They are based on lies, and appeal to those who are ignorant of the truth of God or who refuse that truth. They destroy those who persist in them. 13:19 What they did was from a desire for gain. Compare Jer 6:13; 8:10; Micah 3:5,11. For the sake of money there are always some people who will teach and preach what people want to hear, without any regard for the truth (Titus 1:11). They do not seem to care even though those deceived by them are destroyed in time and eternity. Notice the words "who hear your lies" – false prophets and prophetesses would have no place in the world if people were not willing to believe their lies. God will judge very severely those who prefer lies to truth (2 Thess 2:10-12). 13:20 False prophets and prophetesses ensnare people by lies and satanic power. They operate in the realm of the darkness and spiritual ignorance of the human heart. They use the same method Satan uses to destroy men – lies (John 8:44). Those who do not know the Bible or believe God's truth revealed in it are in grave danger from such. God will deal with them all as they deserve in His time and way. 13:21 They have a kind of power only God

can save people from (v 23). 13:22 Verses 13,19. 14:1 These elders recognized Ezekiel as a prophet and came to enquire what God had to say through him. 14:3 They did not receive the kind of message they expected. They were not fit to enquire of God and were plainly told so. They were breaking God's first commandment and were worthy of death (Ex 20:3-5; Deut 13:6-18). Did they vainly imagine that God would give them His blessing? Two sins are mentioned here. Idols in the heart are mentioned three times (vs 3,4,7). Idolatry in the heart is the source of all kinds of idolatry and is just as sinful and dangerous as the worship of outward idols. Many a person who is religious and seemingly pious may have something in his heart which replaces the true God and to which he gives his affections and service. Compare Col 3:5. So we are told in God's Word to guard our hearts above all things (Prov 4:23). 14:4 God will give such people what they deserve – v 8. 14:5 Even in severe judgments God has good purposes. 14:6 God delights to show mercy, not to punish – 18:30; 33:11; etc. 14:9 Here is a truth (punishment, judgment from God) that should make us tremble. If

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from among my people Israel. 10 And they will bear the punishment for their wickedness. The punishment of the prophet will be the same as the punishment of the one who seeks him out, 11 so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me, or be polluted any more with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, says the Lord God."

19 "Or if I send a plague into that land, and pour out my fury on it through bloodshed, to cut off from it man and beast, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would rescue neither son nor daughter; they would rescue only their own souls by their righteousness.

21 "For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the wild beast, and the plague, to cut off from it man and beast? 22 Yet there will be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. See, they will come out to you, and you will see their way and their deeds, and you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem, concerning all that I have brought on it. 23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their deeds; and you will know that I have not done all that I have done in it without reason, says the Lord God."

12 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 13 "Son of man, when the land sins against me by unfaithfulness, then I will stretch out my hand on it, and will break the staff of its bread and send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would rescue only their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God.

15 "If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they depopulate it, so that it becomes desolate, no man passing through it because of the beasts, 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would rescue neither sons nor daughters; only they would be rescued, and the land would become desolate.

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, how is the vine tree better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Will wood be taken from it to do any work? Or will men make a peg from it to hang any utensil on? 4 See, it is thrown into the fire as fuel. The fire devours both ends of it, and

17 "Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land,' so that I cut off man and beast from it, 18 even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would rescue neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be rescued.

people insist on hearing lies and false doctrine, in judgment God will see to it that they get them. Then He will punish both the prophet who spoke them and the people who loved to hear them (Deut 13:1-5; 1 Kings 22:1-28; 2 Thess 2:9-12). 14:10 They who refuse God's truth and love to hear lies (Jer 5:30,31) and prophets who tell them what they want to hear are all following their fallen sinful natures. 14:11 Verse 5. 14:13,14 God here means Jerusalem and Judah in particular. It seems some of the exiles thought that as long as there were righteous men such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel to pray for the people God would not destroy Jerusalem. The three mentioned in v 14 were the most righteous people in their generations – Noah (Gen 6:9; 7:1); Job (Job 1:8); Daniel (his righteousness and purity appear throughout the book of Daniel). But even if they were in Jerusalem to intercede for it they would not be able to preserve anyone but themselves by their righteousness. God reveals more about this truth in chapter 18. In all history there is only one person able to save others by His righteousness – the Lord Jesus (Rom 5:18,19).

for his righteousness but totally unknown down through the centuries, whose name could be joined with such famous names as Noah and Job. 14:21 "Four severe judgments" – these four are the usual instruments of punishment (5:17; 33:27; Jer 14:12; 15:3; 24:10; 27:8; Rev 6:8). 14:22 12:16. They will be preserved from destruction, not because of the righteousness of others, but because of their own righteous conduct – 9:4-6. Seeing this the exiles in Babylon would have some comfort. 14:23 Did they doubt that God always has a good reason for what He does? 15:1-8 The nation Israel is compared to a vine also in Ps 80:8-13; Isa 5:1-7. Here the remnant of those remaining in Jerusalem is described as completely useless. They have been like wood put in the fire already and who had escaped to some extent. This was in 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took away captives. Jerusalem would be in the fire again and conquered completely. This happened in 586 BC. Ezekiel has warned about it already (5:2,4; 10:2,7). But why should the nation represented by Jerusalem be compared to wood from a vine? The purpose of a vine is to bear fruit. Israel had not done this. It was fit only for the fire. Compare Matt 3:10.

"Daniel" – some scholars think that the Hebrew spelling of this name here may indicate some person other than Daniel the prophet (also v 20). However, it would be strange if there were a person so outstanding

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the middle of it is burned. Is it fit for any work? 5 See, when it was whole, it was not fit for any work; how much less will it be fit for any work, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

and became great, and you reached the age of wearing beautiful ornaments. Your breasts were formed, and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

6 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given as fuel for the fire, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. They will go out of one fire, and another fire will devour them; and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have been unfaithful, says the Lord God."

8 "When I passed by you, and looked at you, I saw your time was the time of love, and I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; yes, I gave my oath to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.

9 "Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I also clothed you with embroidered work, and gave you sandals of badger skin, and I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I also adorned you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your arms, and a necklace around your neck. 12 And I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate food made with fine flour and honey and oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful, and you rose to a position of royalty. 14 And your fame went out among the nations for your beauty, for it was perfect through my splendour, which I had put upon you, says the Lord God.

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, in the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, and you were not washed in water to cleanse you ; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. 5 No eye pitied you to do any of these for you, to have compassion on you, but you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day that you were born.

15 "But you trusted in your own beauty, and acted like a prostitute because of your fame, and poured out your acts of adultery on everyone who passed by who would have it. 16 And you took some of your garments and adorned your high

6 "And when I passed by you, and saw you defiled in your own blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' 7 I caused you to grow like a plant of the field, and you increased

16:9-14 God inspired His people (especially David and Solomon) to build and beautify the city. But surely more than buildings is meant here. Jerusalem was beautiful also because it was the center of true religion and spirituality. The "crown" of v 12 probably means God's temple situated on one of the hills of Jerusalem. 16:13 "Gold and silver" – Solomon's day (1 Kings 10:21).

16:1-63 This whole chapter is an elaborate parable or allegory about Jerusalem. It may be divided into 5 parts – God's chosen city (vs 1-14), the city and apostasy (vs 15-34), the city and judgment (vs 35-43), the city compared with her sisters (vs 44-52), and the restoration of the city and her sisters (vs 53-63). 16:3 The people of Israel did not build Jerusalem. Before they arrived in Canaan it had already been built by the people of the land. Note on Amorites and Hittites at Gen 15:16; Josh 1:4. 16:4,5 When first built Jerusalem was not a holy city, not beautiful, not loved by anyone. In fact it was treated as an unwanted female infant and abandoned to die. 16:6-8 God looked at Jerusalem and choose it as His city on earth. But He did not immediately take possession of her. He waited until the proper time. Then He entered into a marriage relationship with her (here, as in Mal 2:14, called a covenant). Verse 8 probably points to the time when God's servant David took the city from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9). From here on in this chapter Jerusalem is the capital city of the people of Israel and represents them.

"Royalty" – because from there David and Solomon ruled all Israel, and other nations, and because it was the city of the great king, God Himself (Ps 48:2; Matt 5:35). 16:14 "Fame" – 1 Kings 10:23,24. "Beauty" – Ps 48:1,2; Lam 2:15. 16:15-34 The city is not mere buildings, but its people. In these verses Jerusalem, representing Israel, is pictured as going away from the one true God to worship other gods. This began to happen toward the end of Solomon's reign and continued with some breaks until Ezekiel's own day (1 Kings 11:48; Ezek 8:5-16). In the Bible unfaithfulness to God in spiritual matters is compared to adultery and prostitution. See chapter 23; Jeremiah chapter 3; Hosea chapter 2. 16:15 "Everyone" – Israel ran after the gods

1087 EZEKIEL 16:40

places with various colours, and acted like a prostitute on them; such things should not happen or ever be. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels made from my gold and my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and committed prostitution with them, 18 and took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 Also my food which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey, with which I fed you, you set before them as a fragrant aroma. This is the way it was, says the Lord God.

multiplied your acts of adultery with the land of merchants, Chaldea; and yet you were not satisfied with that.

"30 How weak is your heart, says the Lord God, since you do all these things, the work of a bold-faced prostitute! 31 When you build your shrine at the head of every road, and make your high place in each street, you have not been like a prostitute, because you scorned payment, 32 but like a wife who commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband! 33 They give payments to all prostitutes, but you give your payments to all your lovers, and hire them, so that they will come to you from every side for your prostitution. 34 And in your prostitution you are different from other women, because no one comes after you to commit adultery, and because you give payment, and no payment is given to you; therefore you are different.

20 "Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to me, and you sacrificed them to the idols to be devoured. Were your acts of prostitution a small matter, 21 that you slaughtered my children, and offered them up to pass through the fire for the idols ? 22 And in all your abominations and your acts of prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and defiled in your blood.

35 "Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD. 36 Thus says the Lord God: Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers and with all of your abominable idols, and through the blood of your children, which you gave to them, 37 see, therefore, I will gather all your lovers, those with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those whom you have loved, with all whom you have hated, I will gather them around against you, and will uncover your nakedness to them, so that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you, as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and I will bring blood on you in fury and jealousy. 39 And I will also give you into their hands, and they will tear down your shrines, and break down your high places. Also they will strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and bare. 40 They will also bring up a mob against you, and they will hurl stones on you, and pierce you with

23 "And it came about after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord God), 24 that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place in each street for yourself. 25 You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty abhorrent, and offered yourself to every one who passed by, and multiplied your acts of prostitution. 26 You also committed adultery with your neighbors the Egyptians, great of flesh, and increased your acts of prostitution, provoking me to anger. 27 See, therefore, that I stretched out my hand over you, and reduced your rations, and delivered you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd way. 28 You also acted like a prostitute with the Assyrians, because you were unsatiable; yes, you acted like a prostitute with them, and yet could not be satisfied. 29 And you

of all the nations around them. 16:17 "Images of men" – part of the idolatry of Israel's neighbors, and at times of Israel herself, had to do with phallic symbols. 16:18,19 All that the people possessed had been the gift of God. They offered their gifts to idols which God hated. 16:20,21 20:26,31; 23:37; 2 Kings 21:6; 23:10; Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. 16:22 Deut 4:9; 6:12; Ps 78:11,42; 106:13. 16:23-25 Places of idolatry which had been on the hills and in the towns around Jerusalem were built afterwards in Jerusalem itself. 16:27 After the death of Solomon the kingdom was divided, and Judah and Jerusalem lost much territory and were greatly weakened. They lost more territory in 701 BC when the king of Assyria gave some of it to the Philistines. 16:28,29 Whatever nation became the great

power in western Asia Israel ran after it and its gods. 16:31-34 Jerusalem, unlike prostitutes, got nothing for giving herself to other gods. Her behavior was worse than that of a common prostitute. So God calls her in v 32 an adulterous wife who refuses her own husband and fully abandons herself to strangers. 16:35-43 Now God sets forth what Jerusalem will have to suffer because of her unfaithfulness. 16:37 Jerusalem's enemies would destroy her and strip her and leave her as she was in the beginning (vs 4,5). 16:38 The penalty of murder and adultery was death (Gen 9:5,6; Ex 21:12-14; Lev 20:10).

"Fury" – notes at Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11. 16:40 "Hurl stones on you" – 23:47; Deut 22:22-24.

EZEKIEL 16:41 1088

their swords. 41 And they will burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to stop acting like a prostitute, and also you will no longer hire lovers. 42 So I will cause my fury toward you to subside, and my jealousy will depart from you, and I will be quiet, and no longer be angry.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination in front of me; therefore I took them away as I saw good. 51 Neither did Samaria commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous in comparison with all the abominations which you have done. 52 And you, who have judged your sisters, must bear your own shame, for the sins that you have committed are more abominable than theirs. They are more righteous than you. Yes, and be disgraced, and bear your shame, for you have made your sisters seem righteous.

43 "Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have provoked me in all these things, see, I will also bring repayment of your way on your head, says the Lord God; and you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations.

44 "See, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you, saying, 'As the mother, so her daughter.' 45 You are the daughter of your mother who loathed her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And your elder sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, was Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet you have not followed their ways or acted according to their abominations, but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt in your ways than all of them. 48 As I live, says the Lord God, neither Sodom your sister nor her daughters did as you have done, you and your daughters.

53 "When I reverse their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then along with them I will bring back the captives of your captivity, 54 that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you have done by being a source of comfort to them. 55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. 56 For in the day of your pride your lips did not even mention your sister Sodom, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. So at this time you are reproached by the daughters of Syria, and all who are around her, and the daughters of the Philistines. Everyone around you despises you. 58 You have brought it on you by your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD.

49 "See, this was the wickedness of your sister Sodom: Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, and she did not strengthen the hands of the poor and needy.

59 "For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised

16:51,52 No words could better show how vile Jerusalem had become. Samaria's people were so evil God sent them into exile. Sodom was the most notoriously wicked city of ancient times and was completely destroyed for its many sins. If Samaria and Sodom appeared righteous compared to Jerusalem what must Jerusalem have been? And did she vainly imagine she could escape God's judgment? 16:53-63 Here begins a message of hope – the first such message about Jerusalem in Ezekiel. Jerusalem would be restored to her former glory (v 55). But only after she had been punished for her sins (vs 58,59). Along with Jerusalem Samaria and Sodom and the towns associated with them would also be restored. This is the only place in the Bible that speaks of the restoration of Sodom. It surely speaks of a time when the whole land of Canaan including the area where Sodom was located would blossom like a rose (Isa 35:1,2). 16:53 "Bring. . .from captivity" – or "Restore their well-being" – the Hebrew phrase means either thing.

16:41 After the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah's captivity in Babylon the people renounced idolatry. 16:42 Isa 40:1,2; 54:9; Jer 29:10-14; Ezek 5:13; 39:29. 16:43 Jerusalem had sunk so low morally and spiritually that she could not escape. Her punishment was certain to come. 16:44-52 Jerusalem is now compared to Samaria the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Sodom the ancient wicked city destroyed by God (Gen 19:24-29). 16:45 "Mother" – v 3. Jerusalem before Israel took it under David was unfaithful and idolatrous. 16:46-48 "Daughters" – towns and cities in the territory ruled from Samaria.

"Sodom" – except for a small number of people Jerusalem became more wicked than Sodom had been. See Isa 1:9,10. 16:49,50 Sodom's sins were both sins of commission and of omission – they did what they should not have done, and did not do what they should have done. Both kinds of sins are equally bad. On sins of omission see Num 32:23; 1 Sam 12:23; Matt 25:31-46.

1089 EZEKIEL 17:22

the oath in breaking the covenant. 60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you made in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, your elder and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. 62 And I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, 63 so that you may remember, and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your shame, when I am propitiated toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God."

great power or many people will be required to pull it up by its roots. 10 Yes, see, though planted, will it prosper? Will it not completely wither, when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden where it grew.'"

11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 "Now say to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean ?' Tell them, 'See, the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes, and brought them with him to Babylon. 13 And he took one of the royal family, made a covenant with him, and took an oath from him. He also took away the mighty of the land, 14 so that the kingdom might be lowly, that it might not lift itself up, but might stand by keeping his covenant. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will the one who does such things escape? Or can he break the covenant and be saved?

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with large wings, long pinions, full of feathers of various colours, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar. 4 He plucked off the topmost of its new twigs, and carried it into a land of traders and set it down in a city of merchants.

16 "'As I live, says the Lord God, he will certainly die in the place where the king lives who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, with him in Babylon. 17 Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde do anything for him in the war, by erecting siege mounds and building fortifications, to cut off many people, 18 since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, see, he had given his hand, then did all these things. He will not escape.

5 "'He also took some of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fertile field. He placed it by great waters, and planted it like a willow tree. 6 And it grew, and became a low spreading vine, whose branches turned toward him, and whose roots were under it. So it became a vine, and produced branches, and put out sprigs.

19 "'Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will certainly bring repayment on his own head for my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. 20 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will try him there for his unfaithfulness shown against me. 21 And all his fugitives with all his troops will fall by the sword, and those who remain will be scattered to all the winds. And you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken it.

7 "'And there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; and, see, this vine bent its roots toward him, and put out its branches toward him from the garden where it had been planted, so that he might water it. 8 It had been planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might put out branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might become a splendid vine.'

9 "Say, 'Thus says the Lord God: Will it prosper? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers? All of its spring leaves will wither. No

22 "'Thus says the Lord God: I will also take a

16:60 "Everlasting covenant" – 37:26-28; Isa 54:10; 55:3; Jer 31:31-34. 16:61 At that time Samaria and Sodom will not be separate kingdoms but will be associated and subsidiary to Jerusalem. 16:63 Jerusalem's forgiveness and restoration and God's covenant with them will be based on the atonement He will make for them. Can this refer to anything other than the cross of Christ?

king of Babylon (v 12; 48:40; Jer 49:22; Dan 7:4). Lebanon is Jerusalem. Cedar is the royal family of David. The topmost twig (v 4) is King Jehoiachin deported to Babylon, a "city of merchants" (v 4). The "seed" (v 5) is Zedekiah who remained in the land of Judah and was appointed ruler by Nebuchadnezzar. In v 6 the seed becomes a vine (chapter 15). The "cedar" grew in Babylon until Judah was restored. The eagle of v 7 is Pharaoh king of Egypt. Zedekiah appealed to him for help, but God reveals that it will come to nothing (vs 9,10,17). 17:13 "One of the royal family" – this person was Zedekiah.

"Propitiated" – Christ's sacrifice will remove God's anger from them (this is the meaning of propitiation), and make it possible for God to completely forgive them. 17:1 This chapter contains a parable (vs 3-10) and its explanation (vs 11-21). In the parable the eagle (v 3) is Nebuchadnezzar

"Oath" – 2 Chron 36:13. "Mighty of the land" – 2 Kings 24:15-17.

EZEKIEL 17:23 1090

twig of the topmost branch of the tall cedar, and will set it out. I will pluck from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and lofty mountain; 23 I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel, and it will produce branches and bear fruit, and be a splendid cedar; and under it birds of every kind will live; they will live in the shadow of its branches. 24 And all the trees of the field will know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree, exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree flourish; that I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.'"

withdraws his hand from evil, administers true justice between man

and man, 9 walks in my statutes and keeps my judgments, to behave faithfully, he is righteous; he will surely live, says the Lord God.

10 "If he begets a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, or who does any of these things, 11 or who does not do any of those duties, but eats on the mountains, and defiles his neighbour's wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge,

The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?

and lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, 13 lends at usury and takes increase, then will this son live? He will not live. He does all these abominations; he will surely die. His blood will be on him.

3 "As I live, says the Lord God, you will no longer have occasion to use this proverb in Israel. 4 See, all souls are mine. As the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it will die.

5 "But if a man is righteous, and does what is lawful and right, 6 And does not eat at the shrines on the mountains, or lift up his eyes to the idols of the

14 Now, see, if he begets a son who sees all his father's sins which he has done, and considers, and does not do likewise, 15 does not eat on the mountains, or lift up his eyes to the idols of the

house of Israel, or defile his neighbour's wife, or go near a menstruous woman, 7 And does not oppress anyone, but restores the debtor's pledge to him,

house of Israel, does not defile his neighbour's wife, 16 or oppress anyone, does not withhold the pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a

does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment, 8 if he does not lend at usury, or take increase,

garment,

18:2 Jer 31:29. The exiles evidently thought that the disasters that had come on them were not because of their own sins but because of the sins of their fathers. The tendency of human nature is always to try to shift the responsibility for one's guilt to other people or to blame one's fate or circumstances. Compare Gen 3:12,13. 18:4 Here is a great principle of God's word. God deals with each person individually. All belong to Him and the great issues of life and death are in His just hands. It is true that children are affected by the sins of their fathers and suffer for them (Ex 34:6,7). This is because in some way, in some measure, they share the guilt of their fathers (Rom 5:12-19). But individually they do not suffer the judgment of being suddenly cut off and going to hell because of what their fathers did. In judging people God always takes into account what the individual himself has or has not done (v 30).

18:5-29 Illustrations of the truth that God deals with the individual and does not cut him off for what another person has done. 18:6-9 Under the law God in grace accepted the righteous acts of individuals because such acts revealed their faith in God, the true desire of their hearts to be right with God, and a proper attitude toward God and His word. Here the righteous life is seen to be both in what a man does not do and in what he does do. 18:6 "Shrines" – high places where unlawful sacrifices were made. 18:7 Ex 20:15; 22:21,26; Deut 15:7-11; 24:12,13. Compare Matt 25:31-46. 18:8 Ps 15:5. "Usury" – or simply "interest" (also verses 13,17). 18:9 20:11; Lev 18:5; 19:37; Deut 4:1. 18:10-13 A son does not inherit the righteousness of his father. If he lives in sin he will personally be guilty and will die for it. 18:14-20 The third generation is now

1091 EZEKIEL 19:2

17 withdraws his hand from the poor, does not receive usury or increase, administers my justice,

done will not be remembered. Because of the trespass that he has committed, and because of the sin that he has done, because of them, he will die.

and walks in my statutes, he will not die for the guilt of his

25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel, Is not my way just? Are not your ways unjust? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and does evil, and dies in it, he will die for the evil that he has done. 27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from the wickedness that he has committed, and does what is lawful and right, he will keep himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions that he has committed, he will surely live. He will not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Are not your ways unjust?

father; he will surely live.

18 "As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed others, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, see, he will die in his guilt.

19 "Yet you say, 'Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?' When the son does what is lawful and right, and keeps all my statutes and does them, he will surely live. 20 The soul that sins, it will die. The son will not bear the guilt of the father, and the father will not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on him.

30 "Therefore I will judge each one of you, O house of Israel, according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent, and turn away from all your transgressions. Then wickedness will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, through which you have transgressed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the one who dies, says the Lord God; therefore turn to me, and live.

21 "But if the wicked turns from all the sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of his righteous acts, which he has done, he will live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his ways, and live?

"Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say,

24 "But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and does evil, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, will he live? All the righteous acts that he has

"'What is your mother? A lioness. She lay down among lions,

considered. Compare Ex 20:5; 34:7. Children to the third and fourth generation will be punished as their fathers, only if they commit the same sins as their father. If they do not, they will escape God's judgment (v 20). 18:17 "From the poor" – this means he does not injure or oppress or rob the poor. 18:21,22 Verses 14-20 teach that the evils of one generation may be overcome in the next generation. These verses teach that the evils of one generation may be overcome by the same generation. In either case, a person's so-called karma has nothing to do with it. Verse 21 speaks of full repentance. Compare Isa 55:7. Verse 22 speaks of forgiveness, the complete blotting out of one's sins. See Ps 103:12; Isa 44:22; Mic 7:18,19; 1 John 1:7-9. 18:23 Verse 32; 33:11. God is love. He is not keen to punish, but to forgive (Joel 2:13; 2 Pet 3:9). He does not heartlessly, arbitrarily decree the death or the eternal punishment of anyone. Does anything make Him happier than seeing men turn to Him in repentance (Luke 15:7,10)? He delights in those who turn to Him, who are redeemed and forgiven (Zeph 3:17; Ps 147:11). 18:24 The meaning here is not that a child

of God, saved by God's grace and given eternal life, can lose eternal life and be lost. That would contradict a verse like John 10:28 and a number of other such verses. Eternal life and eternal death are not in view here in Ezekiel (and rarely in any place in the whole Old Testament). The context is God's judgment on Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem and many of its people and the exile of others. In those circumstances physical death is viewed as God's judgment, living means enjoying His favor. 18:25 Jer 2:29. This shows a tendency in fallen human beings. Unjust themselves they dare to accuse God of injustice. 18:26-29 Verses 21-25; 33:12-20. 18:30-32 A strong and moving appeal to Israel and every individual in the nation to repent. Compare Isa 1:16-19; 19:22; Jer 8:1; 35:15; Hos 12:6-14; Joel 2:12; Matt 3:2; Acts 17:30. 18:30 "Your ruin" – Hos 5:5; 13:9; 14:1. 18:31 A new heart and new spirit can be gotten only by repentance and coming to God who alone can give them (36:26; Ps 51:10). 18:32 Verse 23. A great theme of Ezekiel and of the whole Bible. 19:2 "Mother" – the people of Israel with

EZEKIEL 19:3 1092

12 But she was rooted up in fury. She was hurled to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong rods were broken and

she nourished her cubs among young

lions. 3 And she raised one of her cubs. It became a young lion,

withered; the fire consumed them. 13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. 14 And fire has gone out of a rod of her branches; it has consumed her fruit, so that she

and it learned to catch prey; it devoured men. 4 The nations also heard of him. He was captured in their pit,

and they brought him with chains

to the land of Egypt.

5 "Now she waited and saw that her hope was gone. Then she took another of her cubs and

has no strong rod to be a sceptre

to rule. This is a lament, and is to be for a lament.'"

made him a young lion, 6 And he prowled among the lions. He became a young lion,

And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

and learned to catch prey, and he devoured men. 7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land with its abundance became

2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

desolate through the sound of his

roaring. 8 Then the nations from the provinces beset him on every side, and spread their net over him. He was captured in their pit. 9 And with hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into nets, so that his

4 "Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them ? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day that I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand to swear to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to swear to them, saying, I am the LORD your God, 6 in the day that I lifted up my hand to swear to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 7 Then I said to them, 'Throw away, each of you, the abominations that attract his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'

voice would no longer be heard on

the mountains of Israel.

10 "Your mother is like a vine in your bloodline, planted by the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches

because of the many waters. 11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of those who ruled, and she towered in height among the

thick branches, and she appeared in her height with her

8 "But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me. They did not all throw away the abominations that attracted their eyes, nor did

many branches.

their capital in Jerusalem. 19:3,4 "One of her cubs" – king Jehoahaz who was defeated by Pharaoh Neco and taken to Egypt (2 Kings 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-13). 19:5-9 Both king Jehoiachin and king Zedekiah were taken to Babylon but the description in verses 6-9 seems to fit Zedekiah better, although the time of his exile had not yet come. 19:10 "Vine" – 15:2; 17:7,8; Isa 5:1,7. 19:12 The armies of Babylon which destroyed Judah and Jerusalem were from an eastern country. 19:13 "Wilderness" – Babylon seemed like a spiritual wilderness to the exiles. 19:14 Fire here means sinful rebellion that

brought destruction on Jerusalem.

"No rod" – after Zedekiah's exile there was no king left in Jerusalem. 20:1 This was five years before the capture of king Zedekiah and the burning of Jerusalem. 20:2,3 14:1-4. 20:4-29 A recounting of Israel's sinful history. Compare 16:1-52; 23:1-49; Ps 78:8-64; 106:7-48. 20:5,6 Ex 3:6-17; 4:29-31; 6:1-8. Lifting up the hand was a solemn way of making a promise. 20:7-9 This description of events in Egypt is not given anywhere else in the Bible. While in Egypt Israel began to worship the gods

1093 EZEKIEL 20:31

they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out my fury on them, to spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.' 9 But I acted for my name's sake, so that it would not be profaned before the nations among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt. 10 Therefore I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, 11 and I gave them my statutes and showed them my judgments, by which a man will live, if he does them. 12 And I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

keep my judgments to do them, by which a man will live, if he does them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them, to spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withdrew my hand, and acted for my name's sake, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 23 I also lifted up my hand to swear to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries, 24 because they had not put my judgments into effect, but had despised my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and because their eyes went after their fathers' idols. 25 Therefore I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments they could not live by, 26 and I let them pollute themselves by their own gifts, letting them cause the firstborn to pass through the fire to their idols, so that I might make them desolate, so that they might know that I am the LORD.'

13 "But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, by which a man will live, if he does them. And they greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I acted for my name's sake, so that it would not be profaned before the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 But I also lifted up my hand to swear to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, 16 because they had despised my judgments, and did not walk in my statutes, but profaned my Sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless my eye spared them instead of destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said to their children in the wilderness, "Do not walk according to the statutes of your fathers, or observe their judgments, or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the LORD your God. Walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, 20 and hallow my Sabbaths, for they are a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God."

27 "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: Also in this your fathers blasphemed me, by being unfaithful to me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand swearing to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and there they offered their sacrifices, and there they made offerings that provoked me. There too they offered their fragrant incense and there poured out their drink offerings. 29 Then I said to them, "What is this high place you go to?'" And its name is called Bamah to this day.

30 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers? And act like a prostitute with their abominations? 31 For to this very day when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

21 "However, the children rebelled against me. They did not walk according to my statutes, or

of Egypt (Josh 24:14). Even though God promised them deliverance from slavery and freedom in their own land, the love of idolatry remained in them. Later this bore evil fruit in the shameful acts of Ex 32:1-6. On God's anger see Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11. 20:9 "My name's sake" – v 14,22,44. Compare 32:9-14; Num 14:10-19. 20:10 Ex 13:8; 19:1. 20:11,12 Ex 20:1-23; 31:13-17. 20:13 Ex 32:1-6; Num 14:1-4; Ps 78:40. 20:14 Verse 9. 20:15 Num 14:21-35. 20:16 Verses 7,8; 14:3. 20:17 Ex 34:6,7; Ps 103:8-10. 20:18-21 The second generation was little (or no) better than the first generation which

came out of Egypt. 20:22 Verses 9,14,44. 20:23 Lev 26:33; Deut 28:64. 20:25 This was a just punishment for their willful rebellion. Compare Rom 1:24,26,28. In judgment God sometimes abandons people to things that are not good for them. 20:26 Verse 31; 16:20. If only they would see the evil of their horrible acts and come to a knowledge of God their abandonment to evil would serve a good purpose. 20:27-29 Israel in the land was no better than it had been in Egypt or in the desert (Ps 78:55-58; 106:34-39).

"Bamah" (v 29) – means "high place". 20:30,31 Israel in Ezekiel's day was no better than any previous generation.

EZEKIEL 20:32 1094

32 "And what comes into your mind will never happen, your saying 'We will be like the nations, like the tribes of other countries, worshipping wood and stone.' 33 As I live, says the Lord God, I will certainly rule you with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 34 And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead my case with you face to face, 36 as I pleaded it with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead it with you, says the Lord God. 37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant, 38 and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the country where they live, but they will not enter the land of Israel; and you will know that I am the LORD.

will show myself holy among you before the nations. 42 And you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country concerning which I lifted up my hand to swear to give it to your fathers. 43 And there you will remember your ways, and all your deeds, in which you have been defiled, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord God."

45 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 "Son of man, set your face toward the south, and utter your words toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the southland, 47 and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord God: See, I will kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing fire will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 48 And all flesh will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it. It will not be quenched."

39 "As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Hereafter, if you will not listen to me, go, each of you serve his idols, but do not profane my holy name any longer with your gifts, and with your idols. 40 For in my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord God, all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, will serve me. There I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you with your fragrant incense, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I

49 Then I said, "Ah Lord God! They say of me, 'Is he not just speaking parables?'"

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and utter your words toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: See, I am against you, and will draw my

20:32 This attitude was one of the foundation stones of their sinful, rebellious way of life. Compare 1 Sam 8:5. They did not wish to be what God called them to be – a distinct, separate, holy people (Ex 19:5,6; Deut 7:6). They wanted to conform to the world's standards and not be regarded as different. Do we not see the same attitude in many Christians today? 20:33-44 As for Israel, God here declares that He will never let them be like other peoples of earth. What they wanted would never happen. He would not deal with them as He dealt with other nations. He had a purpose toward them and He was determined to fulfill it. This is true also of individual believers (see Ps 73:12-14; etc). 20:33,34 Compare Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8. 20:35 Desert 19:13. Exile from their land was a desert-like experience for Israel. 20:36 Verses 8-10. 20:37,38 Jer 33:13. As a shepherd counts his sheep and separates them from those which are not his, so God will do to the people of Israel. Compare Num 14:26-35.

20:39 The first part of this verse is what Israel determined to do; the second part what God was determined to work in them. 20:40-44 A gracious promise of restoration to their land. Not only so, but a promise that as a nation they would be freed from idolatry to serve God and be enabled to offer acceptable sacrifices. Above all they would come into a fuller knowledge of both themselves (v 43) and God (vs 42,44). 20:43 They will see themselves (in some measure) as God sees them and will repent – 6:9; 16:63; 36:31. 20:45-48 A prophecy of the complete destruction of that part of the kingdom which remained in the land. It is compared to a forest. The kingdom was the southern kingdom in relation to Israel, the northern kingdom. Also it was south of the armies of Babylon which always invaded from the north.

"Fire" – God's judgment in sending enemies to destroy them (Isa 10:16-19; Jer 15:14; 17:27; 21:14). 20:49 Ezekiel evidently thought that speaking in parables would give unbelievers more opportunity to reject and mock him. 21:3 "Sword" – Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.

"Covenant" – 16:60,62.

1095 EZEKIEL 21:24

sword out of its scabbard, and will cut off the righteous and the wicked from you. 4 Since, then, I will cut off the righteous and the wicked from you, therefore my sword will come out of its scabbard against all flesh from the south to the north, 5 so that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword out of its scabbard. It will not return again.

It will no longer be, says the Lord God. 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together, and let the sword do double the third

time, the sword for the slaughter, the sword for the slaughter of great men, that enters their private rooms. 15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint,

6 "Therefore, son of man, groan with a breaking heart, and with bitterness. Groan before their eyes. 7 And when they say to you, 'Why are you groaning?' then you are to answer, 'Because of the news. It is coming; and every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will faint, and all knees will be as weak as water. See, it comes, and will happen, says the Lord God.'"

and their ruins be multiplied. Ah! it is made bright,

it is grasped for slaughter. 16 Go one way or another, either to the right or to the left, wherever your face is set. 17 I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest. I, the LORD, have said it."

8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

9 "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the LORD. Say:

"A sword, a sword is sharpened,

18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 19 "Also, son of man, mark out two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them are to come out of the same land. And make a sign and put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Mark out a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, to fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the head of the two roads, to use divination. He shakes his arrows, he consults images, he looks in the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to raise a siege mound, and to build fortifications. 23 And in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths it will seem like a false divination, but he will remind them of wrongdoing, that they may be captured.

and also polished! 10 It is sharpened to make a terrible slaughter; it is polished to flash like lightning. Should we then be merry? It despises the rod, my son,

and all wood. 11 And he has given it to be polished, that it may be handled. This sword is sharpened, and it is polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.' 12 Cry and wail, son of man! For it will come on my people, it will come on all the princes of Israel. Because of the sword terrors will be on

my people. Therefore strike your thigh. 13 Because it is for testing. And what if the sword despises even

24 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because God calls invading armies His "sword," used to execute judgments. Here the armies of Babylon are meant (v 19). 21:5 Men will know it because God repeatedly foretold it through His prophets. 21:6 God wants His servants to be in tune with Him, to think and feel about things as He thinks and feels, and to reveal to people what He thinks and feels. Compare v 12; Isa 22:4; Jer 8:21 - 9:1; 48:36; Lam 1:16; Ezek 18:23; Luke 19:41. 21:7 Lev 26:36; 30:6; Jer 4:31; etc. 21:8-17 This is a sword song. In poetic language God's "sword" is described. It was all ready to descend in judgment on God's own people (v 12). Though that nation was like a son to God (v 10) it could not escape the punishment God was sending by means of Babylon's armies. Babylon's soldiers, swords in hand, would surround them, would

the rod?

stand at every gate to slaughter the people (vs 14-16). God will thus spend His anger on them as He had declared He would (v 17; 5:12,13). 21:18-22 Ezekiel in exile in Babylon was to enact before the people the approach of king Nebuchadnezzar to Jerusalem. Compare 4:1-3. Verse 21 predicts that Nebuchadnezzar would be indecisive whether to first attack Jerusalem, or Rabbah the capital city of Ammon. He would seek for signs and omens to make a decision and then decide to come on to Jerusalem.

"Liver" (v 21) – examining the liver of an animal was one way those people then sought an omen. They did not have a living God to get guidance from. 21:23,24 "Sworn oaths" – the rulers of Jerusalem on oath agreed to submit to the king of Babylon, but were now in rebellion

EZEKIEL 21:25 1096

you have caused your wrongdoing to be remembered, because your transgressions are uncovered, so that your sins appear in all your deeds; because, I say, that you have come to remembrance, you will be captured by hand.

judge, will you judge the city of bloodshed? Yes, you must show her all her abominations. 3 Then say, Thus says the Lord God: The city sheds blood in the midst of it, bringing her time near, and makes idols against herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty because of the blood you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made, and you have caused your days of punishment to draw near, and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you an object of scorn to the nations, and an object of mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will mock you, you who are infamous and full of turmoil.

25 "And to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, when wrongdoing will come to an end, 26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things will not be the same. Exalt him who is lowly, and abase him who is high up. 27 I will overturn it, overturn, overturn, and it will be no more until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it to him.'

28 "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach. Say:

6 "See, each one of the princes of Israel, used their power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have made light of father and mother; in the midst of you they have oppressed the foreigner; in you they have troubled the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. 9 In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed, and in you they eat at the shrines in the mountains; in the midst of you they commit lewd acts. 10 In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness, in you they have violated her who was set apart in her impurity. 11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbour's wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another in you has violated his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken usury and increase, and you have made gain from your neighbours by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord God. 13 See, therefore that I have struck with my fist at the dishonest gain which you have made, and at your bloodshed which has been in the midst of you. 14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you in the countries, and will rid you of your filthiness. 16 And this inheritance of yours will (17:11-15). God condemns them for being unfaithful and treacherous. 21:25 Zedekiah. 21:26 17:24; 1 Sam 2:7,8; Luke 1:52:53. 21:27 Compare Gen 49:10. Probably means the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32,33). 21:28-32 Verse 20. After destroying Jerusalem God would send the king of Babylon against the Ammonites. For other prophecies concerning them see 25:1-7; Jer 49:1-6; Amos 1:13-15; Zeph 2:8-11. 21:31 Armies of Babylon would be the instrument God used – Jer 4:7; 51:20-23. 22:2 "City of bloodshed" – Jerusalem. 22:3,4 Two sins in particular brought God's anger on the city – murder and idolatry (2 Kings 21:16; 24:4; Isa 59:3,7; Jer

The sword, the sword is drawn. It is polished for the slaughter

to consume, to flash like lightning, 29 While they see vain visions for you, while they divine a lie for you, to bring you on the necks of those

to be slain, the wicked,

whose day has come, and whose wrongdoing will have an end. 30 Shall I cause it to return to its scabbard? I will judge you in the place where you

were created,

in the land of your birth. 31 And I will pour out my indignation on you. I will blow against you in the fire of

my wrath, and deliver you into the hands of

savage men, skillful in destruction. 32 You will be fuel for the fire. Your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will no longer be remembered; for I, the LORD, have spoken it."

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Now, you son of man, will you

2:34; Lam 4:13; Ezek 8:5-12; 9:9). 22:5 "Mock" – Deut 28:37; 2 Chron 7:20; Jer 18:16; 44:8. 22:6-12 Here is a list of sins against specific commands of God's law (Ex 20:12,13; 22:21,22; 20:3,8,16; Lev 18:7; 12:2; 18:8,15,19; 19:13; Deut 27:25). One of the root causes of such behavior is seen in the last phrase of v 12 – they forgot God (Ps 106:21; Isa 71:10; 57:11. See Ps 50:22). Forgetting God is a great evil and leads to other great evil. 22:9 "Mountains" – note at 18:6. 22:12 "Usury" – or simply "interest". 22:14 Ps 76:7; Joel 2:11; Nah 1:6; Mal 3:2; Rev 6:17. 22:15 Lev 26:33; Deut 4:27. 22:16 It is exceedingly important that men

1097 EZEKIEL 23:4

be allotted to you in the sight of the heathen, and you will know that I am the Lord."

and profane, nor have they shown a difference between the unclean and the clean. And they have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes inside her are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with whitewash, seeing vain visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the LORD had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and committed robbery, and have troubled the poor and needy; yes, they have unjustly oppressed the foreigner.

17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. They are all bronze and tin and iron and lead, inside the furnace. They are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, so see that I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace, to blow fire on it to melt it , so I will gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you in the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted inside it. 22 You will be melted inside it, as silver is melted inside the furnace, and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my fury on you."

30 "And I sought for a man among them who would build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have repaid their own way on their heads, says the Lord God."

23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 "Son of man, say to her, 'You are the land that is not cleansed, or rained on in the day of indignation.' 25 There is a conspiracy by her prophets inside it, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have shown no difference between the holy

The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother, 3 and they committed acts of prostitution in Egypt. They committed acts of prostitution in their youth. There their breasts were pressed, and there their virgin bosoms were embraced. 4 And their names were learn the ways of the one true God even if they have to learn them the hard way. 22:17-22 Jerusalem is compared to a furnace, and God's wrath is compared to fire. The meaning is this: the best of the nation (the silver) had already gone into exile. Those who were left were the worst (dross). The Babylonians would invade Judah again, many from Judah would flee to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem would become a place where most of them would be destroyed. 22:23-29 Verses 6-12. Here is what God means by "dross." He condemns the sinful condition of Jerusalem with special emphasis on its rulers (vs 25,27), priests (v 26) and prophets (v 28). Each group of people was the exact opposite of what it should have been. It was the work of rulers to rule with justice, of priests to know the difference between holy and unholy and to teach the holy, of prophets to get God's messages and speak only the truth. It is no wonder that the people followed the evil example of their leaders and became dross too (v 29). 22:28 "Whitewash" – 13:10. "Vain visions" – see Jer 14:14. Of all the prophets in Jerusalem at that time only Jeremiah spoke the truth, and rulers, priests, prophets, and people all refused to listen to him. 22:30 Isa 51:18; 59:16; 63:5. God meant someone in an official position in Jerusalem who would stand for Him and turn the people back to God, to truth and holiness. Jeremiah was His man in Jerusalem but he

was an outsider, without an official position and rejected by all the leaders. Observe from this verse how reluctant God was to pour out His wrath on Jerusalem and how much leaders might have done to avert that wrath. Compare Ex 32:9-14; 34:8,9; Ps 106:23; Num 16:42-50. 22:31 Though reluctant to punish when there is the slightest reason for mercy, the situation had become so bad that God could no longer delay. On wrath see Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11; etc. 23:1 This whole chapter is about the unfaithfulness of the two divisions of the people of Israel. It may be compared with chapter 16 and Jeremiah chapter 3. 23:2,3 Even before the people of Israel left Egypt for Canaan they became "prostitutes" – that is, they became unfaithful to God, and set their love on the things of Egypt (20:7,8; Num 11:5; 14:2-4; 16:13; 21:5). In the Bible spiritual unfaithfulness is frequently compared to adultery and prostitution (16:15; Ex 34:15; Lev 17:7; Deut 31:16; Jud 2:17; Jer 2:20; 3:6,9). In this chapter the emphasis is on unfaithfulness to God in the matter of seeking allies, but idolatry is also in view (vs 7,30,37,49). Both kingdoms in Israel all too often sought help, not from God, but from powerful and ungodly nations. They admired their strength and wanted to follow their ways. And they were prone to adopt the gods and idols of the nations they went after. 23:4 Aholah means "her own tent"; Aholibah

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