Ezekiel 6:14 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. A threatening of the destruction of Israel for their idolatry, and the destruction of their idols with them (Eze 6:1-7). II. A promise of the gracious return of a remnant of them to God, by true repentance and reformation (Eze 6:8-10). III. Directions given to the prophet and others, the Lord's servants, to lament both the iniquities and the calamities of Israel (Eze 6:11-14).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 6 This chapter contains a prophecy of the desolation of the whole land of Israel, and a promise that a remnant should escape, with a lamentation for the sad destruction, signified by some gestures of the prophet. The order to the prophet to deliver out the prophecy is in Eze 6:1; the several parts of the land of Israel or Judea, to which the prophecy is directed, are signified by mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, on which the sword should be brought, Eze 6:3; the desolation is described, and the cause of it suggested, the idolatry of the people, Eze 6:4; the promise of a remnant that should escape, who should remember the Lord, loath themselves for their sins, acknowledge him, and that his word was not in vain, is in Eze 6:8; the lamentation, signified by the prophet's smiting with his hand, and stamping with his foot, for the sins of the people, and the judgments that should come upon them, is in Eze 6:11; a particular enumeration of these judgments follows, and of the places where they should be executed, Eze 6:12; the end of them was to bring them to the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, against whom they had sinned and offended by their idolatry, as the places where their slain fell would show, Eze 6:13; and the chapter is concluded with a resolution to bring this desolation on them, Eze 6:14.

(Verse 14.) And I will stretch out my hand upon them and make the land desolate and forsaken, from the wilderness of Deblath to all their dwellings. And they shall know that I am the Lord. O mountains of Israel, when your slain ones have fallen among your idols and on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, when I have filled your forests with the corpses of the dead, those whom you once burned incense to, then I will stretch out my hand against you in vengeance, which has been restrained until now, and I will make the whole land of Israel a desolation, from the wilderness of Deblath in the land of Hamath, which is called Epiphania of Syria, to all their dwellings. So that all may know that there is nothing between the wilderness and the Great Sea that the sword of the enemy has not consumed. Many people think that the same place is meant, about which it is written in Jeremiah: 'And they took Zedekiah in the desert that is near Jericho, and all his company fled from him.' And when they had captured the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath (Jer. 39:5). It may also be called Deblatha or Reblatha due to the close similarity of the Hebrew letters Daleth and Res, which are distinguished by a small dot. But according to mystical understanding, the Lord extends His hand over all those who have been deceived by heretical error, in order to make their land, which is interpreted as the Church, desolate from the desert of Deblatha, which in our language means 'mass of figs', and of compacted thistles, so that after they have discovered bitterness in the simulated sweetness, which was not of cultivated land but of solitude, then they may know that He Himself is the Lord. Honey drips from the lips of a prostitute, who temporarily satiates the mouths of those who eat, but afterwards is found bitter as gall (Prov. 5:3,4). This also signifies the two baskets of figs that were placed in front of the Temple in Jeremiah (Jer. 24): one basket of good figs and one of rotten figs. One of these refers to the Church of Christ, the other to the congregation of the wicked.

In this chapter, which forms a distinct section, the prophet denounces the judgments of God against the Jews for their idolatry, Eze 6:1-7; but tells them that a remnant shall be saved, and brought to a sense of their sins by their severe afflictions, Eze 6:8-14.

And make the land - more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath - Diblath or Diblathayim is situated in the land of Moab. It is mentioned Num 33:46, Almon-Diblathaim; and in Jer 48:22, Beth-Diblathaim. It was a part of that horrible wilderness mentioned by Moses, Deu 8:15, "wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought." The precise reason why it is mentioned here is not very evident. Some think it is the same as Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar slew the princes of Israel, and put out Zedekiah's eyes; the principal difference lying between the ד daleth and the ר resh, which in MSS. is often scarcely discernible; and hence vast multitudes of various readings. Five, probably six, of Kennicott's MSS. have רבלתה riblathah, as likewise two of my oldest MSS.; though in the margin of one a later hand directs the word to be read בדלת bedaleth, with daleth. But all the Versions read the word with a D. This may appear a matter of little importance, but we should take pains to recover even one lost letter of the word of God.

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT. (Eze 6:1-14) mountains of Israel--that is, of Palestine in general. The mountains are addressed by personification; implying that the Israelites themselves are incurable and unworthy of any more appeals; so the prophet sent to Jeroboam did not deign to address the king, but addressed the altar (Kg1 13:2). The mountains are specified as being the scene of Jewish idolatries on "the high places" (Eze 6:3; Lev 26:30).

Diblath--another form of Diblathaim, a city in Moab (Num 33:46; Jer 48:22), near which, east and south of the Dead Sea, was the wilderness of Arabia-Deserta. Next: Ezekiel Chapter 7