Ezekiel 11:18 Komentář

This chapter concludes the vision which Ezekiel saw, and this part of it furnished him with two messages: - I. A message of wrath against those who continued still at Jerusalem, and were there in the height of presumption, thinking they should never fall (Eze 11:1-13). II. A message of comfort to those who were carried captives into Babylon and were there in the depth of despondency, thinking they should never rise. And, as the former are assured that God has judgments in store for them notwithstanding their present security, so the later are assured that God has mercy in store for them notwithstanding their present distress (Eze 11:14-21). And so the glory of God removes further (Eze 11:22, Eze 11:23). The vision disappears (Eze 11:24), and Ezekiel faithfully gives his hearers an account of it (Eze 11:25).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 11 This chapter contains an account of the sins of the princes of Judah; a prophecy of their destruction; some comfortable, promises respecting those of the captivity; and the chapter is closed with the finishing of the vision of the Lord's removing from Jerusalem; and the whole being ended, the prophet related it to the men of the captivity. In Eze 11:1; the prophet, is shown five and twenty men, among whom were two he knew, and are mentioned by name, and were princes of the people; and he is told that these men devised mischief, and gave bad advice to the people, Eze 11:2; wherefore he is bid to prophesy against them, Eze 11:4; which he accordingly did, the Spirit of the Lord falling upon him, Eze 11:5; declaring that their secret evils were known, as well as their public ones; and that, seeing they had multiplied their slain, and had feared the sword, the sword should come upon them; some should fall by it, and others should be carried captive; the consequence of which would be, that God would be known, and his justice acknowledged, it being what their sins deserved, Eze 11:6; upon this prophecy being delivered out, one of the princes before named died immediately; which filled the prophet with great concern, and put him upon expostulating with God, Eze 11:13; wherefore, for his comfort, he is told, that though the inhabitants of Jerusalem had insulted their brethren that were carried captive, and looked upon the land of Israel as their own possession, that God would be a little sanctuary to them; that he would gather them out of all lands, and give them the land of Israel; that they should come thither, and remove all idolatry from it, and should have regenerating and renewing grace given them, to walk in the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, by which they should appear to be his people, and he to be their God, Eze 11:14; but as for such that continued in their abominable idolatries, these should receive a just recompence of reward, Eze 11:21; after which follows an account of the entire removal of the glory of the Lord from the city of Jerusalem, Eze 11:22; and the prophet being, in vision, brought again to Chaldea, reports the whole he had seen to them of the captivity, Eze 11:24.

And they shall come thither,.... That those of the captivity shall come to the land of Israel, they or their posterity: and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof; the idols of the nations, that had been there introduced, detestable to God and all good men: and all the abominations thereof from thence; idols, as before, even all of them, so that idolatry should be wholly rooted out; this had its accomplishment under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Haggai, &c. when the worship of God was restored, and there was a reformation of many abuses in religion; and again in the times of the Maccabees; and will have a greater fulfilment at the time of the conversion of the Jews; when everything that is detestable and abominable among that people will be removed; of which conversion the following words are a prophecy.

(Verse 17 and following) Therefore, speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall go there and remove all offenses and all abominations from it. And I will give them one heart (or I will give them a new heart) and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them; then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.' But as for those whose heart follows their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads," declares the Lord God. This is a divine message to those who were captive in the land of Babylon, to the brothers of the prophet Ezekiel, and to the near ones to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem (or Israel) said: 'You have gone far from the Lord, the land has been given to us as a possession.' But these are the words that follow: 'I will gather you from the peoples and give you the land of Israel.' And when you have entered, you shall remove all idols, because of which you have offended God, and I will give you a unified heart of fear and servitude to God, so that you may not serve diverse idols, or any other than what you had before. And I will give a new spirit in your midst, according to what is written: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:12). And I will remove from you a heart of stone, that is, a hard heart, according to what Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, spoke: Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart (Acts 7:51). And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people of Israel go (Exod. VII). And I will give them a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, that they may receive the commandments of God, so that they may be written on the tablets of their carnal hearts. Therefore, a soft heart is given and a hard heart is taken away, so that they may walk in my precepts, keep my judgments, and be a people of God. And the Lord, who was previously an adversary, shall be their God. But those who do not correct their previous sins with repentance, but follow after their abominations, I will repay them according to what they deserve, so that their ways may be upon their heads. These things are believed by many to have happened under Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, and under Jesus, the son of Josedec, the high priest, and under Ezra and Nehemiah, to the tribe of Judah, and to those who returned with them. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were taken captive under King Zedekiah of Judah, or who fled with Jeremiah to Egypt, are believed to have been dispersed into all lands and not to have returned to the city of Jerusalem. But the full conversion of those who were captive and the remnant of Israel is understood in Christ, when the remnant was saved, and three thousand believed in one day, and again five thousand (Acts 2); and others, of whom James speaks to the apostle Paul: Do you see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed? hi, all the imitators of the Law are. But even the proud daily inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, whose hearts walk after their stumbling blocks and abominations, deserve the offense of God, but those who were outside, with their stony heart removed and a very soft heart accepted, return to the Church through repentance, and they walk in the precepts of the Lord and keep His judgments, and they become the people of the Lord, and the Lord, whom they formerly offended, becomes their God.

When you have entered and taken away all the idols that caused offences to God, I will give you one heart, to fear and serve the Lord, so that you stop serving any kind of idols, even if they are different from the ones you had; and I will put a new spirit in your innermost being.

Truly great and mighty is the power of God’s word. For the word of God has changed the “offspring of vipers” into children of God. So let us constantly sow it within the hard soil of our heart, waiting for [the word] to soften [our heart] so that the wheat ear of life may sprout up in it. For the word of God is at the same time the seed and the water; and even though we have a “heart like stone,” it will be softened and split up by the water of the Spirit, so that it can bring forth holy fruit that is pleasing to God.Therefore let no one neglect meditation on the divine words or the labor of reading the appointed measure. As our honored teacher said, from such meditation the soul acquires great benefit and finds salvation.

This chapter denounces the judgments of God against those wicked persons who remained in Jerusalem and made a mock of the types and predictions of the prophets, Eze 11:1-13; compare Eze 11:3 with Jer 1:13. God promises to favour those who were gone into captivity, and intimates their restoration from the Babylonish yoke, Eze 11:14-21. Then the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, is represented forsaking the city, as in the foregoing chapter it did the temple, Eze 11:22, Eze 11:23; and the prophet returns in vision to the place from which he set out, (Eze 8:1. etc.), in order to communicate his instructions to his brethren of the captivity, Eze 11:24, Eze 11:25.

PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CORRUPT "PRINCES OF THE PEOPLE;" PELATIAH DIES; PROMISE OF GRACE TO THE BELIEVING REMNANT; DEPARTURE OF THE GLORY OF GOD FROM THE CITY; EZEKIEL'S RETURN TO THE CAPTIVES. (Eze. 11:1-25) east gate--to which the glory of God had moved itself (Eze 10:19), the chief entrance of the sanctuary; the portico or porch of Solomon. The Spirit moves the prophet thither, to witness, in the presence of the divine glory, a new scene of destruction. five and twenty men--The same as the twenty-five (that is, twenty-four heads of courses, and the high priest) sun-worshippers seen in Eze 8:16. The leading priests were usually called "princes of the sanctuary" (Isa 43:28) and "chiefs of the priests" (Ch2 36:14); but here two of them are called "princes of the people," with irony, as using their priestly influence to be ringleaders of the people in sin (Eze 11:2). Already the wrath of God had visited the people represented by the elders (Eze 9:6); also the glory of the Lord had left its place in the holy of holies, and, like the cherubim and flaming sword in Eden, had occupied the gate into the deserted sanctuary. The judgment on the representatives of the priesthood naturally follows here, just as the sin of the priests had followed in the description (Eze 8:12, Eze 8:16) after the sin of the elders. Jaazaniah--signifying "God hears." son of Azur--different from Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan (Eze 8:11). Azur means "help." He and Pelatiah ("God delivers"), son of Benaiah ("God builds"), are singled out as Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, in the case of the seventy elders (Eze 8:11-12), because their names ought to have reminded them that "God" would have "heard" had they sought His "help" to "deliver" and "build" them up. But, neglecting this, they incurred the heavier judgment by the very relation in which they stood to God [FAIRBAIRN].

They have eschewed every vestige of idolatry ever since their return from Babylon. But still the Shekinah glory had departed, the ark was not restored, nor was the second temple strictly inhabited by God until He came who made it more glorious than the first temple (Hag 2:9); even then His stay was short, and ended in His being rejected; so that the full realization of the promise must still be future.