Ezechiele 24:13 Commento

After the ten tribes were carried into captivity, and that kingdom was made quite desolate, the remains of it by degrees incorporated with the kingdom of Judah, and gained a settlement (many of them) in Jerusalem; so that the two sisters had in effect become one again; and therefore, in these verses, the prophet takes those to task jointly who were thus conjoined: "Wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah together? Eze 23:36. Wilt thou go about to frame an excuse for them? Thou seest the matter is so bad as not to bear an excuse." Or, rather, "Thou shalt now be employed, in God's name, to judge them, Eze 20:4. The matter is rather worse than better since the union." I. Let them be made to see the sins they are guilty of: Declare unto them openly and boldly their abominations. 1. They have been guilty of gross idolatry, here called adultery. With their idols they have committed adultery (Eze 23:37), have broken their marriage-covenant with God, have lusted after the gratifications of a carnal sensual mind in the worship of God. This is the first and worst of the abominations he is to charge them with. 2. They have committed the most barbarous murders, in sacrificing their children to Moloch, a sin so unnatural that they deserve to hear of it upon all occasions: Blood is in their hands, innocent blood, the blood of their own children, which they have caused to pass through the fire (Eze 23:37), not that they might be dedicated to the idols, but that they might be devoured, a sign that they loved their idols better than that which was dearest to them in the world. 3. They have profaned the sacred things with which God had dignified and distinguished them: This they have done unto me, this indignity, this injury, Eze 23:38. Every contempt put upon that which is holy reflects upon him who is the fountain of holiness, and from a relation to whom whatever is called holy has its denomination. God had set up his sanctuary among them, but they defiled it, by making it a house of merchandise, a den of thieves; nay, and much worse; there they set up their idols and worshipped them, and there they shed the blood of God's prophets. God had revealed to them his holy sabbaths, but they profaned them, by doing all manner of servile work therein, or perhaps by sports and recreations on that day, not only practised, but allowed and encouraged by authority. They defiled the sanctuary on the same day that they profaned the sabbath. To defile the sanctuary was bad enough on any day, but to do it on the sabbath day was an aggravation. We commonly say, The better day the better deed; but here, the better day the worse deed. God takes notice of the circumstances of sin which add to the guilt. He shows (Eze 23:39) what was their profanation both of the sanctuary and of the sabbath. They slew their children, and sacrificed them to their idols, to the great dishonour both of God and of human nature; and then came, on the same day, their hands imbrued with the blood of their children and their clothes stained with it, to attend in God's sanctuary, not to ask pardon for what they had done, but to present themselves before him, as other Israelites did, expecting acceptance with him, notwithstanding these villanies which they were guilty of; as if God either did not know their wickedness or did not hate it. Thus they profaned the sanctuary, as if that were a protection to the worst of malefactors; for thus they did in the midst of his house. Note, It is a profanation of God's solemn ordinances when those that are grossly and openly profane and vicious impudently and impenitently so intrude upon the services and privileges of them. Give not that which is holy unto dogs. Friend, how camest thou in hither? 4. They have courted foreign alliances, been proud of them, and reposed a confidence in them. This also is represented by the sin of adultery, for it was a departure from God, not only to whom alone they ought to pay their homage and not to idols, but in whom alone they ought to put their trust, and not in creatures. Israel was a peculiar people, must dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations; and they profane their crown, and lay their honour in the dust, when they covet to be like them or in league with them. But this they have now done; they have entered into strict alliances with the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, the most renowned and potent kingdoms at that time; but they scorned alliances with the petty kingdoms and states that lay near them, which yet might have been of more real service to them. Note, Affecting an acquaintance and correspondence with great people has often been a snare to good people. Let us see how Jerusalem courts her high allies, thinking thereby to make herself considerable. (1.) She privately requested that a public embassy might be sent to her (Eze 23:40): You sent a messenger for men to come from far. It seems, then, that the neighbours had no desire to come into a confederacy with Jerusalem, but she thrust herself upon them, and sent under-hand to desire them to court her: and, lo, they came. The wisest and best may be drawn unavoidably into company and conversation with profane and wicked people: but it is no sign either of wisdom or goodness to covet an intimacy with such and to court it. (2.) Great preparation was made for the reception of these foreign ministers, for their public entry and public audience, which is compared to the pains that an adulteress takes to make herself look handsome. Jezebel-like, thou paintedst thy face and deckedst thyself with ornaments, Eze 23:40. The king and princes made themselves new clothes, fitted up the rooms of state, beautified the furniture, and made it look fresh. Thou sattest upon a stately bed (Eze 23:41), a stately throne; a table was prepared, whereon thou has set my oil and my incense. This was either, [1.] A feast for the ambassadors, a noble treat, agreeable to the other preparations. There was incense to perfume the room and oil to anoint their heads. Or, [2.] An altar already furnished for the ambassadors' use in the worship of their idols, to let them know that the Israelites were not so strait-laced but that they could allow foreigners the free exercise of their religion among them, and furnish them with chapels, yea, and complimented them so far as to join with them in their devotions; though the law of their God was against it, yet they could easily dispense with themselves to oblige a friend. The oil and incense God calls his, not only because they were the gift of his providence, but because they should have been offered at his altar, which was an aggravation of their sin in serving idols and idolaters with them. See Hos 2:8. (3.) There was great joy at their coming, as if it were such a blessing as never happened to Jerusalem before (Eze 23:42): A voice of a multitude being at east was with her. The people were very easy, for they thought themselves very safe and happy now that they had such powerful allies; and therefore attended the ambassadors with loud huzzas and acclamations of joy. A great confluence of people there was to the court upon this occasion. The men of the common sort were there to grace the solemnity, and to increase the crowd; and with them were brought Sabeans from the wilderness. The margin reads it drunkards from the wilderness, that would drink healths to the prosperity of this grand alliance, and force them upon others, and be most noisy in shouting upon this occasion. Whoever they were, in honour of the ambassadors they put bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads, which made the cavalcade appear very splendid. (4.) God by his prophets warned them against making these dangerous leagues with foreigners (Eze 23:43): "Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, that from the first was fond of leagues with the heathen, of matching with their families (Jdg 3:6), and afterwards of making alliances with their kingdoms, and, though often disappointed therein, would never be dissuaded from it (this was the adultery she was old in), I said, Will they now commit whoredoms with her and she with them? Surely experience and observation will by this time have convinced both them and her that an alliance between the nation of the Jews and a heathen nation can never be for the advantage of either." They are iron and clay, that will not mix, nor will God bless such an alliance, or smile upon it. But, it seems, her being old in these adulteries, instead of weaning her from them, as one would expect, does but make her the more impudent and insatiable in them; for, though she was thus admonished of the folly of it, yet they went in unto her, Eze 23:44. A bargain was soon clapped up, and a league made, first with this, and then with the other, foreign state. Samaria did so, Jerusalem did so, like lewd women. They could not rest satisfied in the embraces of God's laws and care, and the assurances of protection he gave them; they could not think his covenant with them security enough. But they must by treaties and leagues, politic ones (they thought) and well-concerted, throw themselves into the arms of foreign princes, and put their interests under their protection. Note, Those hearts go a whoring from God that take a complacency in the pomp of the world and put a confidence in its wealth, and in an arm of flesh, Jer 17:5. II. Let them be made to foresee the judgments that are coming upon them for these sins (Eze 23:45): The righteous men, they shall judge them. Some make the instruments of their destruction to be the righteous men that shall judge them. The Assyrians that destroyed Samaria, the Chaldeans that destroyed Jerusalem, those were comparatively righteous, had a sense of justice between man and man and justly resented the treachery of the Jewish nation; however, they executed God's judgments, which, we are sure, are all righteous. Others understand it of the prophets, whose office it was, in God's name, to judge them and pass sentence upon them. Or we may take it as an appeal to all righteous men, to all that have a sense of equity; they shall all judge concerning these cities, and agree in their verdict, that forasmuch as they have been notoriously guilty of adultery and murder, and the guilt is national, therefore they ought to suffer the pains and penalties which by law are inflicted upon women in their personal capacity that shed blood and are adulteresses. Righteous men will say, "Why should bloody filthy cities escape any better than bloody filthy persons? Judge, I pray thee," Isa 5:3. This judgment being given by the righteous men, the righteous God will award execution. See here, 1. What the execution will be, Eze 23:46, Eze 23:47. The same as before, Eze 23:23, etc. God will bring a company of enemies upon them, who shall be made to serve his holy purposes even when they are serving their own sinful appetites and passions. These enemies shall easily prevail, for God will give them into their hands to be removed and spoiled; this company shall stone them with stones as malefactors, shall single them out and dispatch them with their swords; and, as was sometimes done in severe executions (witness that of Achan), they shall slay their children and burn their houses. 2. What will be the effects of it. (1.) Thus they shall suffer for their sins: Their lewdness shall be recompensed upon them (Eze 23:49); and they shall bear the sins of their idols, Eze 23:35, Eze 23:49. Thus God will assert the honour of his broken law and injured government, and let the world know what a just and jealous God he is. (2.) Thus they shall be broken off from their sins: I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, Eze 23:27, Eze 23:48. The destruction of God's city, like the death of God's saints, shall do that for them which ordinances and providences before could not do; it shall quite take away their sin, so that Jerusalem shall rise out of its ashes a new lump, as gold comes out of the furnace purified from its dross. (3.) Thus other cities and nations will have fair warning given them to keep themselves from idols. That all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. This is the end of the punishment of malefactors, that they may be made examples to others, who will see and fear. Smite the scorner and the simple will beware. The judgments of God upon some are designed to teach others, and happy are those who receive instruction from them not to tread in the steps of sinners, lest they be taken in their snares; those who would be taught this must know God is the Lord (Eze 23:49), that he is the governor of the world, a God that judges in the earth, and with whom there is no respect of persons.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 24 Is this chapter the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem is prophesied of; the former under the parable of a boiling pot; the latter is represented by the sudden death of Ezekiel's wife. The time of this prophecy was that very day the king of Babylon began the siege of Jerusalem, Eze 24:1, the parable of the boiling pot, Eze 24:3, the explanation and application of it to the city of Jerusalem, Eze 24:6, the prophet is told of the death of his wife, and bid not to mourn on that account, which accordingly came to pass, Eze 24:15, upon the people's inquiring what these things meant, he informs them that hereby was signified the profanation of the temple; and that their distress should be so great, that they should not use any set forms of mourning, but pine away and die, Eze 24:19, and the chapter is closed with assuring the prophet, that the day these things should come to pass, a messenger should be sent him, to whom he should open his mouth, and be no more dumb, Eze 24:25.

In thy filthiness is lewdness,.... Consummate wickedness joined with impudence, and an obstinate persisting in it; though her sins were so abominable and filthy, yet she was not ashamed of them, nor could be reclaimed from them; but, like a lewd woman, or an old harlot, was bold and impudent: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged; made use of means for the purgation of them, by his prophets, and by exhortations and instructions given by them, and by various corrections and chastisements; but all in vain, and to no purpose, they were all without effect: thou shall not be purged from thy filthiness any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee; there was no other way left to purge her from her sins, but by the fire of his wrath, and the fury of his anger, in her utter destruction.

(Chapter 24, Verse 1 onwards) Then in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. And speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on and also pour water into it; put in it the pieces of meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest of the flock; pile the logs under it, boil it well; let the bones be cooked in it.' Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust has not gone out of it! Empty it part by part; pour out its blood upon the bare rock; no lot has fallen upon it. For her blood is in the midst of her; she put it upon the bare rock; she did not pour it out upon the ground, to cover it with dust. I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered. Because of this, says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, whose pyramid I will make great. Gather the bones that I will set on fire, the flesh will be consumed, and the entire composition will be cooked, and the bones will decay. Also place it on empty coals, so that its bronze heats up and melts, and its pollution is melted in its midst, and its rust is consumed. It has been labored greatly, and its excessive rust has not gone out, nor through fire. Your filthiness is detestable, for I desired to cleanse you, but you are not cleansed from your impurities; nor will you be cleansed until I have made my indignation rest upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not pass by, nor spare, nor have mercy. According to your ways and your doings I have judged you, says the Lord. LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying: Son of man, write down the name of this day, for on this day the king of Babylon has exerted his strength against Jerusalem from this very day, and speak a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Set the pot, set it on, and also pour water into it; gather the pieces into it, every good piece, thigh and shoulder; fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest of the flock, and pile up the bones underneath it; let it boil well, and let the bones be cooked in the midst of it. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: O city of blood, the pot in which rust is, and rust has not come out of it: by its parts it has brought it forth; the lot has not fallen upon it, because its blood is in the midst of it. On a bare rock I have set it; I have not poured it out on the ground, that it may be covered with dust. That it may rise up in fury for vengeance, I have set its blood on the bare rock, that it may not be covered. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile of wood great. I will kindle the fire, so that flesh may be consumed and bones may be burned. I will set the city on fire and burn it completely. Its copper will become hot to melt, and its impurity will be consumed in its midst, and its rust will be eliminated. Its rust will be humbled and there will be no more great rust. Its impurity and contamination have brought you low, because you have not been cleansed from your impurity. And what will happen if you are not cleansed beyond until I fulfill my fury in you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and it will come to pass; I will not delay, nor will I have pity, nor will I relent. According to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you, says the Lord God. Therefore I will judge you according to your blood and according to your thoughts; you are unclean and vile, and exceedingly provocative. ** Most of these additions are from Theodotion, and the Hebrew word Zemma (), for which we have interpreted as abominable uncleanness. And that which has been added by them, which is not contained in Hebrew, and should be noted with an obelus: Therefore I will judge you according to your blood, and I will judge you according to your thoughts, unclean and infamous, and excessive to provoke. Let us then speak about each one. In the ninth year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin (for in the fifth year he began to prophesy) and in the tenth month of the same ninth year, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel, who was in the region of Babylon, and He said to him: Son of man, write down this very day for yourself, and know that today the king of Babylon has begun to besiege Jerusalem in the region of Judah, and to fortify it with an army; and describe this siege by means of a parable and a proverb, which in this present place signifies a metaphor and a translation. He said, 'Put a bronze pot, that is, a cauldron, and fill it with water, and cut up the bodies of the fattest animals into pieces, both the thigh and the leg and the arm, and carefully separate the flesh from the bones, and after putting the meat in the cauldron, put the bones under or arrange them around the cauldron, and make layers, and piles of bones, so that the boiling of the cauldron may bubble up not once, but frequently, and the meat may be cooked thoroughly inside, and the bones may be solidified below by the fire.' But you, O prophet, wish to know who this pot is, or what kind of flesh or bone it may be? Speak these things, says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, that is Jerusalem, to the pot whose rust, that is excessive wickedness, is in it, and though fire is placed under it, its rust has not gone out from it. For they have persisted, even the captives and the crucified ones, in their former wickedness. Consume it in parts and individually, let no one remain safe. The fate did not fall upon her so that some would perish, and others would be saved, but a universal destruction came upon all. For her blood, that is, her murders, and the deaths of her sons, are in the midst of her. She poured out this blood upon the clearest rock, so that it would be evident to all, and the earth would not cover it with dust: for my indignation would not pass, but my vengeance would hasten upon the most exposed blood. For it is natural that if blood is poured onto the earth, the ground would absorb the moisture of the blood, or gradually be covered by the earth and dust. But when blood is spilled over a very clear rock with no cavity, it flows and occupies a wide seat. This indicates that it has committed not hidden, but public murders, according to what is said to Cain: The blood of your brother cries out to me (Gen. IV, 10): therefore say to the city, not of one blood, but of many bloods: Behold, I will make a great pyre in you, or I will raise a tower, which the common people call a bonfire, and I will burn not only soft and tender flesh in you, but also the hardest bones in such a way that nothing remains in you that is not consumed by fire. And when both the flesh and bones have been consumed and burned, place the empty cauldron on hot coals, so that the brass may also heat up and be consumed, and with the brass consumed, may its rust also perish, that is, may it be burned with the city's fire and may wickedness perish with the city. But what profit is there in having done what was commanded? Not even through fire could the rust and wickedness of the cauldron, and of the city, be removed; but it remains in that impure and abominable state: for this is what the token signifies. And he directed his anger against the city itself, that is, against the city itself. I wanted to cleanse you, but you have not cleansed yourself from your filth, and you will not be able to be cleansed until I have fully vented my anger upon you. I am the Lord, and my judgment cannot be ignored. The siege of the city is now upon you, and I will do what I have threatened: I will not pass by your crimes as I have often done in the past. I will not spare you any longer, and I will not be appeased even if you multiply your prayers. Instead, I will repay you for your ways and your inventions. Indeed, I will judge you according to your deeds and your thoughts, so that in this also I may show my mercy, like a physician who does not spare rotten flesh in order to save healthy limbs. He does not spare in order to spare; he is cruel in order to show pity; he does not consider the patient's pain, but the health of the wound, according to the Gospel saying that he would rather one member be lost than the whole body perish (Matthew 5). It should also be noted how from the beginning of the prophecy until the present day, when Jerusalem began to be besieged, the captivity comes in order. First the sword is drawn; then two paths are set, one leading to Jerusalem, for which the lot falls to Nebuchadnezzar; silver is melted in the city, as well as bronze, tin, lead, and iron; the land is not watered, but occupied by thorns: afterwards, under the name of the two sisters Oolla and Oolibah, the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem are told, how the former was captured, and the latter to be captured. At the end of the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Ezechiel and those with him were put into captivity, having surrendered themselves with king Jechoniah. It is shown on what day the city began to be besieged, and a representation of a pot is set up; just as the flesh and bones piled up in the pot are burned by fire, so the whole city will perish with its inhabitants, and none of those who are besieged will remain, but they will be consumed by hunger, sword, and pestilence, and the remaining part will be led captive to Babylon. Could this same prophecy also pertain to the time of the Lord's passion, for which Jerusalem was surrounded by an army and its children were killed, and Tito, the son of Vespasian, laid siege to it, and no one escaped for safety, and the temple was destroyed; and after fifty years, under Hadrian, the city was consumed by eternal fire? But when Ezekiel beheld this present captivity in Babylon, and Jeremiah sets forth in the beginning of his volume, 'What do you see, Jeremiah?' And he answering, said, A boiling pot, and its face from the face of the north. (Jeremiah 1:13). There are those who, according to tropology, transfer the whole passage to the end of the world (or age), and the number nine, which signifies punishment and sufferings in holy scripture, and always follows justice, they temper with the mercy of the tenth month and the tenth day. For this reason, punishments are inflicted on the sick, so that health may follow pain. Therefore, the world which is situated in evil (1 John 5:19) will be set ablaze by the divine fire of judgment; and the city of blood will be placed upon the coals of fire, so that what is written in Isaiah may be fulfilled: 'You have coals of fire, sit upon them; they shall be a help to you' (Isaiah 47:14). And this is difficult to understand, how both the coals and the bones will be consumed, with which even the Pharisees are filled, about whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: 'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, who are like whitewashed sepulchers; which inside are full of uncleanness and dead men's bones' (Matthew 23:27), unless it be said that the rust and filth of the world will not be consumed, but evil will remain even after the severity of judgment. It is easily solved, if we understand the Apostle's statement: God has concluded all under sin, that he may have mercy upon all (Galatians 3:22). For the creature is subject to vanity (Romans 8:28). And the blood that was shed on the face of all creation is presented, that the crimes of all may be revealed. But we can receive the purest rock, and the Lord Savior, who followed the people of Israel in the wilderness, of whom it is written: They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4): that in him all things may be revealed; and that which is written may be fulfilled: There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. And he says that the Lord does not have mercy, nor overlook the sins of the world; nor spare the wicked, nor be appeased, so that the ways of the wicked may perish, according to what is placed at the end of the first psalm: And the way of the wicked will perish.

The prophet now informs those of the captivity of the very day on which Nebuchadnezzar was to lay siege to Jerusalem, (compare Jer 52:4), and describes the fate of that city and its inhabitants by a very apt similitude, Eze 24:1-14. As another sign of the greatness of those calamities the prophet is forbidden to mourn for his wife, of whom he is to be deprived; intimating thereby that the sufferings of the Jews should be so astonishing as to surpass all expressions of grief; and that private sorrow however affectionate and tender the object, ought to be absorbed in the public calamities, Eze 24:15-18. The prophet, having farther expressed his prediction in plain terms, intimates that he was to speak to them no more till they should have the news of these prophecies having been fulfilled, Eze 24:19-27.

In thy filthiness is lewdness - זמה zimmah, a word that denominates the worst kinds of impurity; adultery, incest, etc., and the purpose, wish, design, and ardent desire to do these things. Hers were not accidental sins, they were abominations by design, and they were the worse in her, because God had cleansed her, had separated the Israelites from idolatry and idolatrous nations, and by his institutions removed from them all idolatrous incentives. But they formed alliances with the heathen, and adopted all their abominations; therefore God would not spare them. See Eze 24:14.

VISION OF THE BOILING CALDRON, AND OF THE DEATH OF EZEKIEL'S WIFE. (Eze. 24:1-27) Ezekiel proves his divine mission by announcing the very day, ("this same day") of the beginning of the investment of the city by Nebuchadnezzar; "the ninth year," namely, of Jehoiachin's captivity, "the tenth day of the tenth month"; though he was three hundred miles away from Jerusalem among the captives at the Chebar (Kg2 25:1; Jer 39:1).

lewdness--determined, deliberate wickedness; from a Hebrew root, "to purpose." I have purged thee--that is, I have left nothing untried which would tend towards purging thee, by sending prophets to invite thee to repentance, by giving thee the law with all its promises, privileges, and threats. thou shalt not be purged . . . any more--that is, by My gracious interpositions; thou shalt be left to thine own course to take its fatal consequences.