The name Ezekiel means "(whom) God will strengthen" [GESENIUS]; or, "God will prevail" [ROSENMULLER]. His father was Buzi ( Eze 1:3), a priest, and he probably exercised the priestly office himself at Jerusalem, previous to his captivity, as appears from the matured priestly character to be seen in his prophecies, a circumstance which much increased his influence with his captive fellow countrymen at Babylon. Tradition represents Sarera as the land of his nativity. His call to prophesy was in the fifth year from the date of his being carried away with Jehoiachin (see 2Ki 24:11-15) by Nebuchadnezzar, 599 B.C. The best portions of the people seem to have been among the first carried away ( Eze 11:16; Jer 24:2-7, 8, 10). The ungodly were willing to do anything to remain in their native land; whereas the godly believed the prophets and obeyed the first summons to surrender, as the only path of safety. These latter, as adhering to the theocratic principle, were among the earliest to be removed by the Chaldeans, who believed that, if they were out of the way, the nation would fall to pieces of itself. They were despised by their brethren in the Holy Land not yet captives, as having no share in the temple sacrifices. Thus Ezekiel's sphere of labor was one happier and less impeded by his countrymen than that of Jeremiah at home. The vicinity of the river Chebar, which flows into the Euphrates near Circeslum, was the first scene of his prophecies ( Eze 1:1). Tel-Abib there (now Thallaba) was his place of residence ( Eze 3:15), whither the elders used to come to inquire as to God's messages through him. They were eager to return to Jerusalem, but he taught them that they must first return to their God. He continued to prophesy for at least twenty-two years, that is, to the twenty-seventh year of the captivity ( Eze 29:17), and probably remained with the captives by the Chebar the rest of his life. A treatise, falsely attributed to E PIPHANIUS, states a tradition that he was killed at Babylon by a prince of his people whom he had reproved for idolatry.
He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. The former had prophesied for thirty-four years before Ezekiel, and continued to do so for six or seven years after him. The call of Ezekiel followed the very next year after the communication of Jeremiah's predictions to Babylon ( Jer 51:59), and was divinely intended as a sequel to them. Daniel's predictions are mostly later than Ezekiel's but his piety and wisdom had become proverbial in the early part of Ezekiel's ministry ( Eze 14:14, 16; 28:3). They much resemble one another, especially in the visions and grotesque images. It is a remarkable proof of genuineness that in Ezekiel no prophecies against Babylon occur among those directed against the enemies of the covenant-people. Probably he desired not to give needless offence to the government under which he lived. The effect of his labors is to be seen in the improved character of the people towards the close of the captivity, and their general cessation from idolatry and a return to the law. It was little more than thirty years after the close of his labors when the decree of the Jews' restoration was issued. His leading characteristic is realizing, determined energy; this admirably adapted him for opposing the "rebellious house" "of stubborn front and hard heart," and for maintaining the cause of God's Church among his countrymen in a foreign land, when the external framework had fallen to pieces. His style is plain and simple. His conceptions are definite, and the details even of the symbolical and enigmatical parts are given with lifelike minuteness. The obscurity lies in the substance, not in the form, of his communications. The priestly element predominates in his prophecies, arising from his previous training as a priest. He delights to linger about the temple and to find in its symbolical forms the imagery for conveying his instructions. This was divinely ordered to satisfy the spiritual want felt by the people in the absence of the outward temple and its sacrifices. In his images he is magnificent, though austere and somewhat harsh. He abounds in repetitions, not for ornament, but for force and weight. Poetical parallelism is not found except in a few portions, as in the seventh, twenty-first, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth through thirty-first chapters. His great aim was to stimulate the dormant minds of the Jews. For this end nothing was better suited than the use of mysterious symbols expressed in the plainest words. The superficial, volatile, and wilfully unbelieving would thereby be left to judicial blindness ( Isa 6:10; Mt 13:11-13, &c.); whereas the better-disposed would be awakened to a deeper search into the things of God by the very obscurity of the symbols. Inattention to this divine purpose has led the modern Jews so to magnify this obscurity as to ordain that no one shall read this book till he has passed his thirtieth year.
RABBI HANANIAS is said to have satisfactorily solved the difficulties (Mischna) which were alleged against its canonicity. Ecclesiasticus 49:8 refers to it, and JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 10.5.1]. It is mentioned as part of the canon in MELITO'S catalogue [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 4.26]; also in ORIGEN, JEROME, and the Talmud. The oneness of tone throughout and the repetition of favorite expressions exclude the suspicion that separate portions are not genuine. The earlier portion, the first through the thirty-second chapters, which mainly treats of sin and judgment, is a key to interpret the latter portion, which is more hopeful and joyous, but remote in date. Thus a unity and an orderly progressive character are imparted to the whole. The destruction of Jerusalem is the central point. Previous to this he calls to repentance and warns against blind confidence in Egypt ( Eze 17:15-17; compare Jer 37:7) or other human stay. After it he consoles the captives by promising them future deliverance and restoration. His prophecies against foreign nations stand between these two great divisions, and were uttered in the interval between the intimation that Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem and the arrival of the news that he had taken it ( Eze 33:21). HAVERNICK marks out nine sections:--(1) Ezekiel's call to prophesy ( Eze 1:1-3:15). (2) Symbolical predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem ( Eze 3:16-7:27). (3) A year and two months later a vision of the temple polluted by Tammuz or Adonis worship; God's consequent scattering of fire over the city and forsaking of the temple to reveal Himself to an inquiring people in exile; happier and purer times to follow ( Eze 8:1-11:25). (4) Exposure of the particular sins prevalent in the several classes--priests, prophets, and princes ( Eze 12:1-19:14). (5) A year later the warning of judgment for national guilt repeated with greater distinctness as the time drew nearer ( Eze 20:1-23:49). (6) Two years and five months later--the very day on which Ezekiel speaks--is announced as the day of the beginning of the siege; Jerusalem shall be overthrown ( Eze 24:1-27). (7) Predictions against foreign nations during the interval of his silence towards his own people; if judgment begins at the house of God, much more will it visit the ungodly world ( Eze 25:1-32:32). Some of these were uttered much later than others, but they all began to be given after the fall of Jerusalem. (8) In the twelfth year of the captivity, when the fugitives from Jerusalem ( Eze 33:21) had appeared in Chaldea, he foretells better times and the re-establishment of Israel and the triumph of God's kingdom on earth over its enemies, Seir, the heathen, and Gog ( Eze 33:1-39:29). (9) After an interval of thirteen years the closing vision of the order and beauty of the restored kingdom ( Eze 40:1-48:35). The particularity of details as to the temple and its offerings rather discountenances the view of this vision being only symbolical, and not at all literal. The event alone can clear it up. At all events it has not yet been fulfilled; it must be future. Ezekiel was the only prophet (in the strict sense) among the Jews at Babylon. Daniel was rather a seer than a prophet, for the spirit of prophecy was given him to qualify him, not for a spiritual office, but for disclosing future events. His position in a heathen king's palace fitted him for revelations of the outward relations of God's kingdom to the kingdoms of the world, so that his book is ranked by the Jews among the Hagiographa or "Sacred Writings," not among the prophetical Scriptures. On the other hand, Ezekiel was distinctively a prophet, and one who had to do with the inward concerns of the divine kingdom. As a priest, when sent into exile, his service was but transferred from the visible temple at Jerusalem to the spiritual temple in Chaldea.
Eze 1:1-28. EZEKIEL'S VISION BY THE CHEBAR. FOUR CHERUBIM AND WHEELS.
1. Now it came to pass--rather, "And it came," &c. As this formula in Jos 1:1 has reference to the written history of previous times, so here (and in Ru 1:1, and Es 1:1), it refers to the unwritten history which was before the mind of the writer. The prophet by it, as it were, continues the history of the preceding times. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign ( Jer 51:59), Jeremiah sent by Seraiah a message to the captives ( Jer 29:1-32) to submit themselves to God and lay aside their flattering hopes of a speedy restoration. This communication was in the next year, the fifth, and the fourth month of the same king (for Jehoiachin's captivity and Zedekiah's accession coincide in time), followed up by a prophet raised up among the captives themselves, the energetic Ezekiel.
thirtieth year--that is, counting from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, the era of the Babylonian empire, 625 B.C., which epoch coincides with the eighteenth year of Josiah, that in which the book of the law was found, and the consequent reformation began [S CALIGER]; or the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life. As the Lord was about to be a "little sanctuary" ( Eze 11:16) to the exiles on the Chebar, so Ezekiel was to be the ministering priest; therefore he marks his priestly relation to God and the people at the outset; the close, which describes the future temple, thus answering to the beginning. By designating himself expressly as "the priest" ( Eze 1:3), and as having reached his thirtieth year (the regular year of priests commencing their office), he marks his office as the priest among the prophets. Thus the opening vision follows naturally as the formal institution of that spiritual temple in which he was to minister [FAIRBAIRN].
Chebar--the same as Chabor or Habor, whither the ten tribes had been transported by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser ( 2Ki 17:6; 1Ch 5:26). It flows into the Euphrates near Carchemish or Circesium, two hundred miles north of Babylon.
visions of God--Four expressions are used as to the revelation granted to Ezekiel, the three first having respect to what was presented from without, to assure him of its reality, the fourth to his being internally made fit to receive the revelation; "the heavens were opened" (so Mt 3:16; Ac 7:56; 10:11; Re 19:11); "he saw visions of God"; "the word of Jehovah came verily (as the meaning is rather than 'expressly, English Version, Eze 1:3) unto him" (it was no unreal hallucination); and "the hand of Jehovah was upon him" ( Isa 8:11; Da 10:10, 18; Re 1:17; the Lord by His touch strengthening him for his high and arduous ministry, that he might be able to witness and report aright the revelations made to him).
2. Jehoiachin's captivity--In the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim, father of Jehoiachin, the first carrying away of Jewish captives to Babylon took place, and among them was Daniel. The second was under Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was carried away. The third and final one was at the taking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
4. whirlwind--emblematic of God's judgments ( Jer 23:19; 25:32).
out of the north--that is, from Chaldea, whose hostile forces would invade Judea from a northerly direction. The prophet conceives himself in the temple.
fire infolding itself--laying hold on whatever surrounds it, drawing it to itself, and devouring it. Literally, "catching itself," that is, kindling itself [FAIRBAIRN]. The same Hebrew occurs in Ex 9:24, as to the "fire mingled with the hail."
brightness . . . about it--that is, about the "cloud."
out of the midst thereof--that is, out of the midst of the "fire."
colour of amber--rather, "the glancing brightness (literally, 'the eye', and so the glancing appearance) of polished brass. The Hebrew, chasmal, is from two roots, "smooth" and "brass" (compare Eze 1:7; Re 1:15) [GESENIUS]. The Septuagint and Vulgate translate it, "electrum"; a brilliant metal compounded of gold and silver.
5. Ezekiel was himself of a "gigantic nature, and thereby suited to counteract the Babylonish spirit of the times, which loved to manifest itself in gigantic, grotesque forms" [HENGSTENBERG].
living creatures--So the Greek ought to have been translated in the parallel passage, Re 4:6, not as English Version, "beasts"; for one of the "four" is a man, and man cannot be termed "beast." Eze 10:20 shows that it is the cherubim that are meant.
likeness of a man--Man, the noblest of the four, is the ideal model after which they are fashioned ( Eze 1:10; Eze 10:14). The point of comparison between him and them is the erect posture of their bodies, though doubtless including also the general mien. Also the hands ( Eze 10:21).
6. Not only were there four distinct living creatures, but each of the four had four faces, making sixteen in all. The four living creatures of the cherubim answer by contrast to the four world monarchies represented by four beasts, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome ( Da 7:1-28). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two cherubim only stood over the ark in the temple; two more are now added, to imply that, while the law is retained as the basis, a new form is needed to be added to impart new life to it. The number four may have respect to the four quarters of the world, to imply that God's angels execute His commands everywhere. Each head in front had the face of a man as the primary and prominent one: on the right the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, above from behind the face of an eagle. The Mosaic cherubim were similar, only that the human faces were put looking towards each other, and towards the mercy seat between, being formed out of the same mass of pure gold as the latter ( Ex 25:19, 20). In Isa 6:2 two wings are added to cover their countenances; because there they stand by the throne, here under the throne; there God deigns to consult them, and His condescension calls forth their humility, so that they veil their faces before Him; here they execute His commands. The face expresses their intelligence; the wings, their rapidity in fulfilling God's will. The Shekinah or flame, that signified God's presence, and the written name, JEHOVAH, occupied the intervening space between the cherubim Ge 4:14, 16; 3:24 ("placed"; properly, "to place in a tabernacle"), imply that the cherubim were appointed at the fall as symbols of God's presence in a consecrated place, and that man was to worship there. In the patriarchal dispensation when the flood had caused the removal of the cherubim from Eden, seraphim or teraphim (Chaldean dialect) were made as models of them for domestic use ( Ge 31:19, Margin; Ge 31:30). The silence of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth chapters of Exodus to their configuration, whereas everything else is minutely described, is because their form was so well-known already to Bezaleel and all Israel by tradition as to need no detailed description. Hence Ezekiel ( Eze 10:20) at once knows them, for he had seen them repeatedly in the carved work of the outer sanctuary of Solomon's temple ( 1Ki 6:23-29). He therefore consoles the exiles with the hope of having the same cherubim in the renovated temple which should be reared; and he assures them that the same God who dwelt between the cherubim of the temple would be still with His people by the Chebar. But they were not in Zerubbabel's temple; therefore Ezekiel's foretold temple, if literal, is yet future. The ox is selected as chief of the tame animals, the lion among the wild, the eagle among birds, and man the head of all, in his ideal, realized by the Lord Jesus, combining all the excellencies of the animal kingdom. The cherubim probably represent the ruling powers by which God acts in the natural and moral world. Hence they sometimes answer to the ministering angels; elsewhere, to the redeemed saints (the elect Church) through whom, as by the angels, God shall hereafter rule the world and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God ( Mt 19:28; 1Co 6:2; Eph 3:10; Re 3:21; 4:6-8). The "lions" and "oxen," amidst "palms" and "open flowers" carved in the temple, were the four-faced cherubim which, being traced on a flat surface, presented only one aspect of the four. The human-headed winged bulls and eagle-headed gods found in Nineveh, sculptured amidst palms and tulip-shaped flowers, were borrowed by corrupted tradition from the cherubim placed in Eden near its fruits and flowers. So the Aaronic calf ( Ex 32:4, 5) and Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Beth-el, a schismatic imitation of the sacred symbols in the temple at Jerusalem. So the ox figures of Apis on the sacred arks of Egypt.
7. straight feet--that is, straight legs. Not protruding in any part as the legs of an ox, but straight like a man's [GROTIUS]. Or, like solid pillars; not bending, as man's, at the knee. They glided along, rather than walked. Their movements were all sure, right, and without effort [KITTO, Cyclopedia].
sole . . . calf's foot--HENDERSON hence supposes that "straight feet" implies that they did not project horizontally like men's feet, but vertically as calves' feet. The solid firmness of the round foot of a calf seems to be the point of comparison.
colour--the glittering appearance, indicating God's purity.
8. The hands of each were the hands of a man. The hand is the symbol of active power, guided by skilfulness ( Ps 78:72).
under their wings--signifying their operations are hidden from our too curious prying; and as the "wings" signify something more than human, namely, the secret prompting of God, it is also implied that they are moved by it and not by their own power, so that they do nothing at random, but all with divine wisdom.
they four had . . . faces and . . . wings--He returns to what he had stated already in Eze 1:6; this gives a reason why they had hands on their four sides, namely, because they had faces and wings on the four sides. They moved whithersoever they would, not by active energy merely, but also by knowledge (expressed by their faces) and divine guidance (expressed by their "wings").
9. they--had no occasion to turn themselves round when changing their direction, for they had a face ( Eze 1:6) looking to each of the four quarters of heaven. They made no mistakes; and their work needed not be gone over again. Their wings were joined above in pairs (see Eze 1:11).
10. they . . . had the face of a man--namely, in front. The human face was the primary and prominent one and the fundamental part of the composite whole. On its right was the lion's face; on the left, the ox's (called "cherub," Eze 10:14); at the back from above was the eagle's.
11. The tips of the two outstretched wings reached to one another, while the other two, in token of humble awe, formed a veil for the lower parts of the body.
stretched upward--rather, "were parted from above" (compare Margin; see on Isa 6:2). The joining together of their wings above implies that, though the movements of Providence on earth may seem conflicting and confused, yet if one lift up his eyes to heaven, he will see that they admirably conspire towards the one end at last.
12. The same idea as in Eze 1:9. The repetition is because we men are so hard to be brought to acknowledge the wisdom of God's doings; they seem tortuous and confused to us, but they are all tending steadily to one aim.
the spirit--the secret impulse whereby God moves His angels to the end designed. They do not turn back or aside till they have fulfilled the office assigned them.
13. likeness . . . appearance--not tautology. "Likeness" expresses the general form; "appearance," the particular aspect.
coals of fire--denoting the intensely pure and burning justice wherewith God punishes by His angels those who, like Israel, have hardened themselves against His long-suffering. So in Isa 6:2, 6, instead of cherubim, the name "seraphim," the burning ones, is applied, indicating God's consuming righteousness; whence their cry to Him is, "Holy! holy! holy!" and the burning coal is applied to his lips, for the message through his mouth was to be one of judicial severance of the godly from the ungodly, to the ruin of the latter.
lamps--torches. The fire emitted sparks and flashes of light, as torches do.
went up and down--expressing the marvellous vigor of God's Spirit, in all His movements never resting, never wearied.
fire . . . bright--indicating the glory of God.
out of the fire . . . lightning--God's righteousness will at last cause the bolt of His wrath to fall on the guilty; as now, on Jerusalem.
14. ran and returned--Incessant, restless motion indicates the plenitude of life in these cherubim; so in Re 4:8, "they rest not day or night" ( Zec 4:10).
flash of lightning--rather, as distinct from "lightning" ( Eze 1:13), "the meteor flash," or sheet lightning [F AIRBAIRN].
15. one wheel--The "dreadful height" of the wheel ( Eze 1:18) indicates the gigantic, terrible energy of the complicated revolutions of God's providence, bringing about His purposes with unerring certainty. One wheel appeared traversely within another, so that the movement might be without turning, whithersoever the living creatures might advance ( Eze 1:17). Thus each wheel was composed of two circles cutting one another at right angles, "one" only of which appeared to touch the ground ("upon the earth"), according to the direction the cherubim desired to move in.
with his four faces--rather, "according to its four faces" or sides; as there was a side or direction to each of the four creatures, so there was a wheel for each of the sides [FAIRBAIRN]. The four sides or semicircles of each composite wheel pointed, as the four faces of each of the living creatures, to the four quarters of heaven. HAVERNICK refers "his" or "its" to the wheels. The cherubim and their wings and wheels stood in contrast to the symbolical figures, somewhat similar, then existing in Chaldea, and found in the remains of Assyria. The latter, though derived from the original revelation by tradition, came by corruption to symbolize the astronomical zodiac, or the sun and celestial sphere, by a circle with wings or irradiations. But Ezekiel's cherubim rise above natural objects, the gods of the heathen, to the representation of the one true God, who made and continually upholds them.
16. appearance . . . work--their form and the material of their work.
beryl--rather, "the glancing appearance of the Tarshish stone"; the chrysolite or topaz, brought from Tarshish or Tartessus in Spain. It was one of the gems in the breastplate of the high priest ( Ex 28:20; So 5:14; Da 10:6).
four had one likeness--The similarity of the wheels to one another implies that there is no inequality in all God's works, that all have a beautiful analogy and proportion.
17. went upon their four sides--Those faces or sides of the four wheels moved which answered to the direction in which the cherubim desired to move; while the transverse circles in each of the four composite wheels remained suspended from the ground, so as not to impede the movements of the others.
18. rings--that is, felloes or circumferences of the wheels.
eyes--The multiplicity of eyes here in the wheels, and Eze 10:12, in the cherubim themselves, symbolizes the plenitude of intelligent life, the eye being the window through which "the spirit of the living creatures" in the wheels ( Eze 1:20) looks forth (compare Zec 4:10). As the wheels signify the providence of God, so the eyes imply that He sees all the circumstances of each case, and does nothing by blind impulse.
19. went by them--went beside them.
20. the spirit was to go--that is, their will was for going whithersoever the Spirit was for going.
over against them--rather, beside or in conjunction with them.
spirit of the living creature--put collectively for "the living creatures"; the cherubim. Having first viewed them separately, he next views them in the aggregate as the composite living creature in which the Spirit resided. The life intended is that connected with God, holy, spiritual life, in the plenitude of its active power.
21. over against--rather, "along with" [HENDERSON]; or, "beside" [FAIRBAIRN].
22. upon the heads--rather, "above the heads" [FAIRBAIRN].
colour--glitter.
terrible crystal--dazzling the spectator by its brightness.
23. straight--erect [FAIRBAIRN], expanded upright.
two . . . two . . . covered . . . bodies--not, as it might seem, contradicting Eze 1:11. The two wings expanded upwards, though chiefly used for flying, yet up to the summit of the figure where they were parted from each other, covered the upper part of the body, while the other two wings covered the lower parts.
24. voice of . . . Almighty--the thunder ( Ps 29:3, 4).
voice of speech--rather, "the voice" or "sound of tumult," as in Jer 11:16. From an Arabic root, meaning the "impetuous rush of heavy rain."
noise of . . . host-- ( Isa 13:4; Da 10:6).
25. let down . . . wings--While the Almighty gave forth His voice, they reverently let their wings fall, to listen stilly to His communication.
26. The Godhead appears in the likeness of enthroned humanity, as in Ex 24:10. Besides the "paved work of a sapphire stone, as it were the body of heaven in clearness," there, we have here the "throne," and God "as a man," with the "appearance of fire round about." This last was a prelude of the incarnation of Messiah, but in His character as Saviour and as Judge ( Re 19:11-16). The azure sapphire answers to the color of the sky. As others are called "sons of God," but He "the Son of God," so others are called "sons of man" ( Eze 2:1, 3), but He "the Son of man" ( Mt 16:13), being the embodied representative of humanity and the whole human race; as, on the other hand, He is the representative of "the fulness of the Godhead" ( Col 2:9). While the cherubim are movable, the throne above, and Jehovah who moves them, are firmly fixed. It is good news to man, that the throne above is filled by One who even there appears as "a man."
27. colour of amber--"the glitter of chasmal" [FAIRBAIRN]. See on Eze 1:4; rather, "polished brass" [HENDERSON]. Messiah is described here as in Da 10:5, 6; Re 1:14, 15.
28. the bow . . . in . . . rain--the symbol of the sure covenant of mercy to God's children remembered amidst judgments on the wicked; as in the flood in Noah's days ( Re 4:3). "Like hanging out from the throne of the Eternal a fing of peace, assuring all that the purpose of Heaven was to preserve rather than to destroy. Even if the divine work should require a deluge of wrath, still the faithfulness of God would only shine forth the more brightly at last to the children of promise, in consequence of the tribulations needed to prepare for the ultimate good" [F AIRBAIRN]. ( Isa 54:8-10).
I fell upon . . . face--the right attitude, spiritually, before we enter on any active work for God ( Eze 2:2; 3:23, 24; Re 1:17). In this first chapter God gathered into one vision the substance of all that was to occupy the prophetic agency of Ezekiel; as was done afterwards in the opening vision of the Revelation of Saint John.
Eze 2:1-10. EZEKIEL'S COMMISSION.
1. Son of man--often applied to Ezekiel; once only to Daniel ( Da 8:17), and not to any other prophet. The phrase was no doubt taken from Chaldean usage during the sojourn of Daniel and Ezekiel in Chaldea. But the spirit who sanctioned the words of the prophet implied by it the lowliness and frailty of the prophet as man "lower than the angels," though now admitted to the vision of angels and of God Himself, "lest he should be exalted through the abundance of the revelations" ( 2Co 12:7). He is appropriately so called as being type of the divine "Son of man" here revealed as "man" (see on Eze 1:26). That title, as applied to Messiah, implies at once His lowliness and His exaltation, in His manifestations as the Representative man, at His first and second comings respectively ( Ps 8:4-8; Mt 16:13; 20:18; and on the other hand, Da 7:13, 14; Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27).
2. spirit entered . . . when he spake--The divine word is ever accompanied by the Spirit ( Ge 1:2, 3).
set . . . upon . . . feet--He had been "upon his face" ( Eze 1:28). Humiliation on our part is followed by exaltation on God's part ( Eze 3:23, 24; Job 22:29; Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5). "On the feet" was the fitting attitude when he was called on to walk and work for God ( Eph 5:8; 6:15).
that I heard--rather, "then I heard."
3. nation--rather, "nations"; the word usually applied to the heathen or Gentiles; here to the Jews, as being altogether heathenized with idolatries. So in Isa 1:10, they are named "Sodom" and "Gomorrah." They were now become "Lo-ammi," not the people of God ( Ho 1:9).
4. impudent--literally, "hard-faced" ( Eze 3:7, 9).
children--resumptive of "they" ( Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps.
I . . . send thee--God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
Thus saith the Lord God--God opposes His name to the obstinacy of the people.
5. forbear--namely, to hear.
yet shall know--Even if they will not hear, at least they will not have ignorance to plead as the cause of their perversity ( Eze 33:33).
6. briers--not as the Margin and GESENIUS, "rebels," which would not correspond so well to "thorns." The Hebrew is from a root meaning "to sting" as nettles do. The wicked are often so called ( 2Sa 23:6; So 2:2; Isa 9:18).
scorpions--a reptile about six inches long with a deadly sting at the end of the tail.
be not afraid-- ( Lu 12:4; 1Pe 3:14).
7. most rebellious--literally, "rebellion" itself: its very essence.
8. eat--(See on Jer 15:16; Re 10:9, 10). The idea is to possess himself fully of the message and digest it in the mind; not literal eating, but such an appropriation of its unsavory contents that they should become, as it were, part of himself, so as to impart them the more vividly to his hearers.
9. roll--the form in which ancient books were made.
10. within and without--on the face and the back. Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God's message of impending woes that it was written also on the back.
Eze 3:1-27. EZEKIEL EATS THE ROLL. IS COMMISSIONED TO GO TO THEM OF THE CAPTIVITY AND GOES TO TEL-ABIB BY THE CHEBAR: AGAIN BEHOLDS THE SHEKINAH GLORY: IS TOLD TO RETIRE TO HIS HOUSE, AND ONLY SPEAK WHEN GOD OPENS HIS MOUTH.
1. eat . . . and . . . speak--God's messenger must first inwardly appropriate God's truth himself, before he "speaks" it to others (see on Eze 2:8). Symbolic actions were, when possible and proper, performed outwardly; otherwise, internally and in spiritual vision, the action so narrated making the naked statement more intuitive and impressive by presenting the subject in a concentrated, embodied form.
3. honey for sweetness--Compare Ps 19:10; 119:103; Re 10:9, where, as here in Eze 3:14, the "sweetness" is followed by "bitterness." The former being due to the painful nature of the message; the latter because it was the Lord's service which he was engaged in; and his eating the roll and finding it sweet, implied that, divesting himself of carnal feeling, he made God's will his will, however painful the message that God might require him to announce. The fact that God would be glorified was his greatest pleasure.
5. See Margin, Hebrew, "deep of lip, and heavy of tongue," that is, men speaking an obscure and unintelligible tongue. Even they would have listened to the prophet; but the Jews, though addressed in their own tongue, will not hear him.
6. many people--It would have increased the difficulty had he been sent, not merely to one, but to "many people" differing in tongues, so that the missionary would have needed to acquire a new tongue for addressing each. The after mission of the apostles to many peoples, and the gift of tongues for that end, are foreshadowed (compare 1Co 14:21 with Isa 28:11).
had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened-- ( Mt 11:21, 23).
7. will not hearken unto thee: for . . . not . . . me-- ( Joh 15:20). Take patiently their rejection of thee, for I thy Lord bear it along with thee.
8. Ezekiel means one "strengthened by God." Such he was in godly firmness, in spite of his people's opposition, according to the divine command to the priest tribe to which he belonged ( De 33:9).
9. As . . . flint--so Messiah the antitype ( Isa 50:7; compare Jer 1:8, 17).
10. receive in . . . heart . . . ears--The transposition from the natural order, namely, first receiving with the ears, then in the heart, is designed. The preparation of the heart for God's message should precede the reception of it with the ears (compare Pr 16:1; Ps 10:17).
11. thy people--who ought to be better disposed to hearken to thee, their fellow countryman, than hadst thou been a foreigner ( Eze 3:5, 6).
12. ( Ac 8:39). Ezekiel's abode heretofore had not been the most suitable for his work. He, therefore, is guided by the Spirit to Tel-Abib, the chief town of the Jewish colony of captives: there he sat on the ground, "the throne of the miserable" ( Ezr 9:3; La 1:1-3), seven days, the usual period for manifesting deep grief ( Job 2:13; see Ps 137:1), thus winning their confidence by sympathy in their sorrow. He is accompanied by the cherubim which had been manifested at Chebar ( Eze 1:3, 4), after their departure from Jerusalem. They now are heard moving with the "voice of a great rushing (compare Ac 2:2), saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place," that is, moving from the place in which it had been at Chebar, to accompany Ezekiel to his new destination ( Eze 9:3); or, "from His place" may rather mean, in His place and manifested "from" it. Though God may seem to have forsaken His temple, He is still in it and will restore His people to it. His glory is "blessed," in opposition to those Jews who spoke evil of Him, as if He had been unjustly rigorous towards their nation [C ALVIN].
13. touched--literally, "kissed," that is, closely embraced.
noise of a great rushing--typical of great disasters impending over the Jews.
14. bitterness--sadness on account of the impending calamities of which I was required to be the unwelcome messenger. But the "hand," or powerful impulse of Jehovah, urged me forward.
15. Tel-Abib--Tel means an "elevation." It is identified by MICHAELIS with Thallaba on the Chabor. Perhaps the name expressed the Jews' hopes of restoration, or else the fertility of the region. Abib means the green ears of corn which appeared in the month Nisan, the pledge of the harvest.
I sat, &c.--This is the Hebrew Margin reading. The text is rather, "I beheld them sitting there" [GESENIUS]; or, "And those that were settled there," namely, the older settlers, as distinguished from the more recent ones alluded to in the previous clause. The ten tribes had been long since settled on the Chabor or Habor ( 2Ki 17:6) [HAVERNICK].
17. watchman--Ezekiel alone, among the prophets, is called a "watchman," not merely to sympathize, but to give timely warning of danger to his people where none was suspected. Habakkuk ( Hab 2:1) speaks of standing upon his "watch," but it was only in order to be on the lookout for the manifestation of God's power (so Isa 52:8; 62:6); not as Ezekiel, to act as a watchman to others.
18. warning . . . speakest to warn--The repetition implies that it is not enough to warn once in passing, but that the warning is to be inculcated continually ( 2Ti 4:2, "in season, out of season"; Ac 20:31, "night and day with tears").
save-- Eze 2:5 had seemingly taken away all hope of salvation; but the reference there was to the mass of the people whose case was hopeless; a few individuals, however, were reclaimable.
die in . . . iniquity-- ( Joh 8:21, 24). Men are not to flatter themselves that their ignorance, owing to the negligence of their teachers, will save them ( Ro 2:12, "As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law").
19. wickedness . . . wicked way--internal wickedness of heart, and external of the life, respectively.
delivered thy soul-- ( Isa 49:4, 5; Ac 20:26).
20. righteous . . . turn from . . . righteousness--not one "righteous" as to the root and spirit of regeneration ( Ps 89:33; 138:8; Isa 26:12; 27:3; Joh 10:28; Php 1:6), but as to its outward appearance and performances. So the "righteous" ( Pr 18:17; Mt 9:13). As in Eze 3:19 the minister is required to lead the wicked to good, so in Eze 3:20 he is to confirm the well-disposed in their duty.
commit iniquity--that is, give himself up wholly to it ( 1Jo 3:8, 9), for even the best often fall, but not wilfully and habitually.
I lay a stumbling-block--not that God tempts to sin ( Jas 1:13, 14), but God gives men over to judicial blindness, and to their own corruptions ( Ps 9:16, 17; 94:23) when they "like not to retain God in their knowledge" ( Ro 1:24, 26); just as, on the contrary, God makes "the way of the righteous plain" ( Pr 4:11, 12; 15:19), so that they do "not stumble." CALVIN refers "stumbling-block" not to the guilt, but to its punishment; "I bring ruin on him." The former is best. Ahab, after a kind of righteousness ( 1Ki 21:27-29), relapsed and consulted lying spirits in false prophets; so God permitted one of these to be his "stumbling-block," both to sin and its corresponding punishment ( 1Ki 22:21-23).
his blood will I require-- ( Heb 13:17).
22. hand of the Lord-- ( Eze 1:3).
go . . . into the plain--in order that he might there, in a place secluded from unbelieving men, receive a fresh manifestation of the divine glory, to inspirit him for his trying work.
23. glory of the Lord-- ( Eze 1:28).
24. set me upon my feet--having been previously prostrate and unable to rise until raised by the divine power.
shut thyself within . . . house--implying that in the work he had to do, he must look for no sympathy from man but must be often alone with God and draw his strength from Him [FAIRBAIRN]. "Do not go out of thy house till I reveal the future to thee by signs and words," which God does in the following chapters, down to the eleventh. Thus a representation was given of the city shut up by siege [GROTIUS]. Thereby God proved the obedience of His servant, and Ezekiel showed the reality of His call by proceeding, not through rash impulse, but by the directions of God [CALVIN].
25. put bands upon thee--not literally, but spiritually, the binding, depressing influence which their rebellious conduct would exert on his spirit. Their perversity, like bands, would repress his freedom in preaching; as in 2Co 6:12, Paul calls himself "straitened" because his teaching did not find easy access to them. Or else, it is said to console the prophet for being shut up; if thou wert now at once to announce God's message, they would rush on thee and bind them with "bands" [C ALVIN].
26. I will make my tongue . . . dumb--Israel had rejected the prophets; therefore God deprives Israel of the prophets and of His word--God's sorest judgment ( 1Sa 7:2; Am 8:11, 12).
27. when I speak . . . I will open thy mouth--opposed to the silence imposed on the prophet, to punish the people ( Eze 3:26). After the interval of silence has awakened their attention to the cause of it, namely, their sins, they may then hearken to the prophecies which they would not do before.
He that heareth, let him hear . . . forbear--that is, thou hast done thy part, whether they hear or forbear. He who shall forbear to hear, it shall be at his own peril; he who hears, it shall be to his own eternal good (compare Re 22:11).
Eze 4:1-17. SYMBOLICAL VISION OF THE SIEGE AND THE INIQUITY-BEARING.
1. tile--a sun-dried brick, such as are found in Babylon, covered with cuneiform inscriptions, often two feet long and one foot broad.
2. fort--rather, "watch-tower" ( Jer 52:4) wherein the besiegers could watch the movements of the besieged [GESENIUS]. A wall of circumvallation [Septuagint and ROSENMULLER]. A kind of battering-ram [MAURER]. The first view is best.
a mount--wherewith the Chaldeans could be defended from missiles.
battering-rams--literally, "through-borers." In Eze 21:22 the same Hebrew is translated "captains."
3. iron pan--the divine decree as to the Chaldean army investing the city.
set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city--Ezekiel, in the person of God, represents the wall of separation between him and the people as one of iron: and the Chaldean investing army. His instrument of separating them from him, as one impossible to burst through.
set . . . face against it--inexorably ( Ps 34:16). The exiles envied their brethren remaining in Jerusalem, but exile is better than the straitness of a siege.
4. Another symbolical act performed at the same time as the former, in vision, not in external action, wherein it would have been only puerile: narrated as a thing ideally done, it would make a vivid impression. The second action is supplementary to the first, to bring out more fully the same prophetic idea.
left side--referring to the position of the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, as Judah, the southern, answers to "the right side" ( Eze 4:6). The Orientals facing the east in their mode, had the north on their left, and the south on their right ( Eze 16:46). Also the right was more honorable than the left: so Judah as being the seat of the temple, was more so than Israel.
bear the iniquity--iniquity being regarded as a burden; so it means, "bear the punishment of their iniquity" ( Nu 14:34). A type of Him who was the great sin-bearer, not in mimic show as Ezekiel, but in reality ( Isa 53:4, 6, 12).
5. three hundred and ninety days--The three hundred ninety years of punishment appointed for Israel, and forty for Judah, cannot refer to the siege of Jerusalem. That siege is referred to in Eze 4:1-3, and in a sense restricted to the literal siege, but comprehending the whole train of punishment to be inflicted for their sin; therefore we read here merely of its sore pressure, not of its result. The sum of three hundred ninety and forty years is four hundred thirty, a period famous in the history of the covenant-people, being that of their sojourn in Egypt ( Ex 12:40, 41; Ga 3:17). The forty alludes to the forty years in the wilderness. Elsewhere ( De 28:68; Ho 9:3), God threatened to bring them back to Egypt, which must mean, not Egypt literally, but a bondage as bad as that one in Egypt. So now God will reduce them to a kind of new Egyptian bondage to the world: Israel, the greater transgressor, for a longer period than Judah (compare Eze 20:35-38). Not the whole of the four hundred thirty years of the Egypt state is appointed to Israel; but this shortened by the forty years of the wilderness sojourn, to imply, that a way is open to their return to life by their having the Egypt state merged into that of the wilderness; that is, by ceasing from idolatry and seeking in their sifting and sore troubles, through God's covenant, a restoration to righteousness and peace [FAIRBAIRN]. The three hundred ninety, in reference to the sin of Israel, was also literally true, being the years from the setting up of the calves by Jeroboam ( 1Ki 12:20-33), that is, from 975 to 583 B.C.: about the year of the Babylonians captivity; and perhaps the forty of Judah refers to that part of Manasseh's fifty-five years' reign in which he had not repented, and which, we are expressly told, was the cause of God's removal of Judah, notwithstanding Josiah's reformation ( 1Ki 21:10-16; 2Ki 23:26, 27).
6. each day for a year--literally, "a day for a year, a day for a year." Twice repeated, to mark more distinctly the reference to Nu 14:34. The picturing of the future under the image of the past, wherein the meaning was far from lying on the surface, was intended to arouse to a less superficial mode of thinking, just as the partial veiling of truth in Jesus' parables was designed to stimulate inquiry; also to remind men that God's dealings in the past are a key to the future, for He moves on the same everlasting principles, the forms alone being transitory.
7. arm . . . uncovered--to be ready for action, which the long Oriental garment usually covering it would prevent ( Isa 52:10).
thou shalt prophesy against it--This gesture of thine will be a tacit prophecy against it.
8. bands-- ( Eze 3:25).
not turn from . . . side--to imply the impossibility of their being able to shake off the punishment.
9. wheat . . . barley, &c.--Instead of simple flour used for delicate cakes ( Ge 18:6), the Jews should have a coarse mixture of six different kinds of grain, such as the poorest alone would eat.
fitches--spelt or dhourra.
three hundred and ninety--The forty days are omitted, since these latter typify the wilderness period when Israel stood separate from the Gentiles and their pollution, though partially chastened by stint of bread and water ( Eze 4:16), whereas the eating of the polluted bread in the three hundred ninety days implies a forced residence "among the Gentiles" who were polluted with idolatry ( Eze 4:13). This last is said of "Israel" primarily, as being the most debased ( Eze 4:9-15); they had spiritually sunk to a level with the heathen, therefore God will make their condition outwardly to correspond. Judah and Jerusalem fare less severely, being less guilty: they are to "eat bread by weight and with care," that is, have a stinted supply and be chastened with the milder discipline of the wilderness period. But Judah also is secondarily referred to in the three hundred ninety days, as having fallen, like Israel, into Gentile defilements; if, then, the Jews are to escape from the exile among Gentiles, which is their just punishment, they must submit again to the wilderness probation ( Eze 4:16).
10. twenty shekels--that is, little more than ten ounces; a scant measure to sustain life ( Jer 52:6). But it applies not only to the siege, but to their whole subsequent state.
11. sixth . . . of . . . hin--about a pint and a half.
12. dung--as fuel; so the Arabs use beasts' dung, wood fuel being scarce. But to use human dung so implies the most cruel necessity. It was in violation of the law ( De 14:3; 23:12-14); it must therefore have been done only in vision.
13. Implying that Israel's peculiar distinction was to be abolished and that they were to be outwardly blended with the idolatrous heathen ( De 28:68; Ho 9:3).
14. Ezekiel, as a priest, had been accustomed to the strictest abstinence from everything legally impure. Peter felt the same scruple at a similar command ( Ac 10:14; compare Isa 65:4). Positive precepts, being dependent on a particular command can be set aside at the will of the divine ruler; but moral precepts are everlasting in their obligation because God cannot be inconsistent with His unchanging moral nature.
abominable flesh--literally, "flesh that stank from putridity." Flesh of animals three days killed was prohibited ( Le 7:17, 18; 19:6, 7).
15. cow's dung--a mitigation of the former order ( Eze 4:12); no longer "the dung of man"; still the bread so baked is "defiled," to imply that, whatever partial abatement there might be for the prophet's sake, the main decree of God, as to the pollution of Israel by exile among Gentiles, is unalterable.
16. staff of bread--bread by which life is supported, as a man's weight is by the staff he leans on ( Le 26:26; Ps 105:16; Isa 3:1).
by weight, and with care--in scant measure ( Eze 4:10).
17. astonied one with another--mutually regard one another with astonishment: the stupefied look of despairing want.
Eze 5:1-17. VISION OF CUTTING THE HAIRS, AND THE CALAMITIES FORESHADOWED THEREBY.
1. knife . . . razor--the sword of the foe (compare Isa 7:20). This vision implies even severer judgments than the Egyptian afflictions foreshadowed in the former, for their guilt was greater than that of their forefathers.
thine head--as representative of the Jews. The whole hair being shaven off was significant of severe and humiliating ( 2Sa 10:4, 5) treatment. Especially in the case of a priest; for priests ( Le 21:5) were forbidden "to make baldness on their head," their hair being the token of consecration; hereby it was intimated that the ceremonial must give place to the moral.
balances--implying the just discrimination with which Jehovah weighs out the portion of punishment "divided," that is, allotted to each: the "hairs" are the Jews: the divine scales do not allow even one hair to escape accurate weighing (compare Mt 10:30).
2. Three classes are described. The sword was to destroy one third of the people; famine and plague another third ("fire" in Eze 5:2 being explained in Eze 5:12 to mean pestilence and famine); that which remained was to be scattered among the nations. A few only of the last portion were to escape, symbolized by the hairs bound in Ezekiel's skirts ( Eze 5:3; Jer 40:6; 52:16). Even of these some were to be thrown into the fiery ordeal again ( Eze 5:4; Jer 41:1, 2, &c.; Jer 44:14, &c.). The "skirts" being able to contain but few express that extreme limit to which God's goodness can reach.
5, 6. Explanation of the symbols:
Jerusalem--not the mere city, but the people of Israel generally, of which it was the center and representative.
in . . . midst--Jerusalem is regarded in God's point of view as center of the whole earth, designed to radiate the true light over the nations in all directions. Compare Margin ("navel"), Eze 38:12; Ps 48:2; Jer 3:17. No center in the ancient heathen world could have been selected more fitted than Canaan to be a vantage ground, whence the people of God might have acted with success upon the heathenism of the world. It lay midway between the oldest and most civilized states, Egypt and Ethiopia on one side, and Babylon, Nineveh, and India on the other, and afterwards Persia, Greece, and Rome. The Phœnician mariners were close by, through whom they might have transmitted the true religion to the remotest lands; and all around the Ishmaelites, the great inland traders in South Asia and North Africa. Israel was thus placed, not for its own selfish good, but to be the spiritual benefactor of the whole world. Compare Ps 67:1-7 throughout. Failing in this, and falling into idolatry, its guilt was far worse than that of the heathen; not that Israel literally went beyond the heathen in abominable idolatries. But "corruptio optimi pessima"; the perversion of that which in itself is the best is worse than the perversion of that which is less perfect: is in fact the worst of all kinds of perversion. Therefore their punishment was the severest. So the position of the Christian professing Church now, if it be not a light to the heathen world, its condemnation will be sorer than theirs ( Mt 5:13; 11:21-24; Heb 10:28, 29).
6. changed . . . into--rather, "hath resisted My judgments wickedly"; "hath rebelled against My ordinances for wickedness" [BUXTORF]. But see on Eze 5:7, end.
7. multiplied--rather, "have been more abundantly outrageous"; literally, "to tumultuate"; to have an extravagant rage for idols.
neither have done according to the judgments of the nations--have not been as tenacious of the true religion as the nations have been of the false. The heathen "changed" not their gods, but the Jews changed Jehovah for idols (see Eze 5:6, "changed My judgments into wickedness," that is, idolatry, Jer 2:11). The Chaldean version and the Masora support the negative. Others omit it (as it is omitted in Eze 11:12), and translate, "but have done according to the judgments," &c. However, both Eze 11:12 and also this verse are true. They in one sense "did according to the heathen," namely, in all that was bad; in another, namely, in that which was good, zeal for religion, they did not. Eze 5:9 also proves the negative to be genuine; because in changing their religion, they have not done as the nations which have not changed theirs, "I (also) will do in thee that which I have not done."
8. I, even I--awfully emphatic. I, even I, whom thou thinkest to be asleep, but who am ever reigning as the Omnipotent Avenger of sin, will vindicate My righteous government before the nations by judgments on thee.
9. See on Eze 5:7.
that which I have not done--worse than any former judgments ( La 4:6; Da 9:12). The prophecy includes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the final one by Antichrist ( Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2), as well as that by Nebuchadnezzar. Their doom of evil was not exhausted by the Chaldean conquest. There was to be a germinating evil in their destiny, because there would be, as the Lord foresaw, a germinating evil in their character. As God connected Himself peculiarly with Israel, so there was to be a peculiar manifestation of God's wrath against sin in their case [FAIRBAIRN]. The higher the privileges the greater the punishment in the case of abuse of them. When God's greatest favor, the gospel, was given, and was abused by them, then "the wrath was to come on them to the uttermost" ( 1Th 2:16).
10. fathers . . . eat . . . sons--alluding to Moses' words ( Le 26:29; De 28:53), with the additional sad feature, that "the sons should eat their fathers" (see 2Ki 6:28; Jer 19:9; La 2:20; 4:10).
11. as I live--the most solemn of oaths, pledging the self-existence of God for the certainty of the event.
defiled my sanctuary--the climax of Jewish guilt: their defiling Jehovah's temple by introducing idols.
diminish--literally, "withdraw," namely, Mine "eye" (which presently follows), that is, My favors; Job 36:7 uses the Hebrew verb in the same way. As the Jews had withdrawn from God's sanctuary its sacredness by "defiling" it, so God withdraws His countenance from them. The significance of the expression lies in the allusion to De 4:2, "Ye shall not diminish aught from the word which I command you"; they had done so, therefore God diminishes them. The reading found in six manuscripts, "I will cut thee off," is not so good.
12. Statement in plain terms of what was intended by the symbols ( Eze 5:2; see Eze 6:12; Jer 15:2; 21:9).
draw out . . . sword after them-- ( Le 26:33). Skeptics object; no such thing happened under Zedekiah, as is here foretold; namely, that a third part of the nation should die by pestilence, a third part by the sword, and a third be scattered unto all winds, and a sword sent after them. But the prophecy is not restricted to Zedekiah's time. It includes all that Israel suffered, or was still to suffer, for their sins, especially those committed at that period ( Eze 17:21). It only received its primary fulfilment under Zedekiah: numbers then died by the pestilence and by the sword; and numbers were scattered in all quarters and not carried to Babylonia alone, as the objectors assert (compare Ezr 1:4; Es 3:8; Ob 14).
pestilence . . . and famine--signified by the symbol "fire" ( Eze 5:2). Compare Isa 13:8; La 5:10; plague and famine burning and withering the countenance, as fire does.
13. cause my fury to rest upon them--as on its proper and permanent resting-place ( Isa 30:32, Margin).
I will be comforted--expressed in condescension to man's conceptions; signifying His satisfaction in the vindication of His justice by His righteous judgments ( De 28:63; Pr 1:26; Isa 1:24).
they shall how--by bitter experience.
14. reproach among the nations--They whose idolatries Israel had adopted, instead of comforting, would only exult in their calamities brought on by those idolatries (compare Lu 15:15).
15. instruction--literally, "a corrective chastisement," that is, a striking example to warn all of the fatal consequences of sin. For "it shall be"; all ancient versions have "thou," which the connection favors.
16. arrows of famine--hail, rain, mice, locusts, mildew (see De 32:23, 24).
increase the famine--literally, "congregate" or "collect." When ye think your harvest safe because ye have escaped drought, mildew, &c., I will find other means [CALVIN], which I will congregate as the forces of an invading army, to bring famine on you.
17. beasts--perhaps meaning destructive conquerors ( Da 7:4). Rather, literal "beasts," which infest desolated regions such as Judea was to become (compare Eze 34:28; Ex 23:29; De 32:24; 2Ki 17:25). The same threat is repeated in manifold forms to awaken the careless.
sword--civil war.
Eze 6:1-14. CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT.
2. 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 ( 1Ki 13:2). The mountains are specified as being the scene of Jewish idolatries on "the high places" ( Eze 6:3; Le 26:30).
3. rivers--literally, the "channels" of torrents. Rivers were often the scene and objects of idolatrous worship.
4. images--called so from a Hebrew root, "to wax hot," implying the mad ardor of Israel after idolatry [CALVIN]. Others translate it, "sun images"; and so in Eze 6:6 (see 2Ki 23:11; 2Ch 34:4; Isa 17:8, Margin).
cast your slain men before your idols--The foolish objects of their trust in the day of evil should witness their ruin.
5. carcasses . . . before . . . idols--polluting thus with the dead bones of you, the worshippers, the idols which seemed to you so sacrosanct.
6. your works--not gods, as you supposed, but the mere work of men's hands ( Isa 40:18-20).
7. ye shall know that I am the Lord--and not your idols, lords. Ye shall know Me as the all-powerful Punisher of sin.
8. Mitigation of the extreme severity of their punishment; still their life shall be a wretched one, and linked with exile ( Eze 5:2, 12; 12:16; 14:22; Jer 44:28).
9. they that escape of you shall remember me--The object of God's chastisements shall at last be effected by working in them true contrition. This partially took place in the complete eradication of idolatry from the Jews ever since the Babylonian captivity. But they have yet to repent of their crowning sin, the crucifixion of Messiah; their full repentance is therefore future, after the ordeal of trials for many centuries, ending with that foretold in Zec 10:9; 13:8, 9; 14:1-4, 11. "They shall remember me in far countries" ( Eze 7:16; De 30:1-8).
I am broken with their whorish heart--FAIRBAIRN translates, actively, "I will break" their whorish heart; English Version is better. In their exile they shall remember how long I bore with them, but was at last compelled to punish, after I was "broken" (My long-suffering wearied out) by their desperate ( Nu 15:39) spiritual whorishness [CALVIN], ( Ps 78:40; Isa 7:13; 43:24; 63:10).
loathe themselves-- ( Le 26:39-45; Job 42:6). They shall not wait for men to condemn them but shall condemn themselves ( Eze 20:43; 36:31; Job 42:6; 1Co 11:31).
11. Gesticulations vividly setting before the hearers the greatness of the calamity about to be inflicted. In indignation at the abominations of Israel extend thine hand towards Judea, as if about to "strike," and "stamp," shaking off the dust with thy foot, in token of how God shall "stretch out His hand upon them," and tread them down ( Eze 6:14; Eze 21:14).
12. He that is far off--namely, from the foe; those who in a distant exile fear no evil.
he that remaineth--he that is left in the city; not carried away into captivity, nor having escaped into the country. Distinct from "he that is near," namely, those outside the city who are within reach of "the sword" of the foe, and so fall by it; not by "famine," as those left in the city.
14. Diblath--another form of Diblathaim, a city in Moab ( Nu 33:46; Jer 48:22), near which, east and south of the Dead Sea, was the wilderness of Arabia-Deserta.
Eze 7:1-27. LAMENTATION OVER THE COMING RUIN OF ISRAEL; THE PENITENT REFORMATION OF A REMNANT; THE CHAIN SYMBOLIZING THE CAPTIVITY.
2. An end, the end--The indefinite "an" expresses the general fact of God bringing His long-suffering towards the whole of Judea to an end; "the," following, marks it as more definitely fixed ( Am 8:2).
4. thine abominations--the punishment of thine abominations.
shall be in the midst of thee--shall be manifest to all. They and thou shall recognize the fact of thine abominations by thy punishment which shall everywhere befall thee, and that manifestly.
5. An evil, an only evil--a peculiar calamity such as was never before; unparalleled. The abruptness of the style and the repetitions express the agitation of the prophet's mind in foreseeing these calamities.
6. watcheth for thee--rather, "waketh for thee." It awakes up from its past slumber against thee ( Ps 78:65, 66).
7. The morning--so Chaldean and Syriac versions (compare Joe 2:2). Ezekiel wishes to awaken them from their lethargy, whereby they were promising to themselves an uninterrupted night ( 1Th 5:5-7), as if they were never to be called to account [C ALVIN]. The expression, "morning," refers to the fact that this was the usual time for magistrates giving sentence against offenders (compare Eze 7:10, below; Ps 101:8; Jer 21:12). GESENIUS, less probably, translates, "the order of fate"; thy turn to be punished.
not the sounding again--not an empty echo, such as is produced by the reverberation of sounds in "the mountains," but a real cry of tumult is coming [CALVIN]. Perhaps it alludes to the joyous cries of the grape-gatherers at vintage on the hills [GROTIUS], or of the idolaters in their dances on their festivals in honor of their false gods [T IRINUS]. HAVERNICK translates, "no brightness."
8, 9. Repetition of Eze 7:3, 4; sadly expressive of accumulated woes by the monotonous sameness.
10. rod . . . blossomed, pride . . . budded--The "rod" is the Chaldean Nebuchadnezzar, the instrument of God's vengeance ( Isa 10:5; Jer 51:20). The rod sprouting (as the word ought to be translated), &c., implies that God does not move precipitately, but in successive steps. He as it were has planted the ministers of His vengeance, and leaves them to grow till all is ripe for executing His purpose. "Pride" refers to the insolence of the Babylonian conqueror ( Jer 50:31, 32). The parallelism ("pride" answering to "rod") opposes J EROME'S view, that "pride" refers to the Jews who despised God's threats; (also CALVIN'S, "though the rod grew in Chaldea, the root was with the Jews"). The "rod" cannot refer, as GROTIUS thought, to the tribe of Judah, for it evidently refers to the "smiteth" ( Eze 7:9) as the instrument of smiting.
11. Violence (that is, the violent foe) is risen up as a rod of (that is, to punish the Jews') wickedness ( Zec 5:8).
theirs--their possessions, or all that belongs to them, whether children or goods. GROTIUS translates from a different Hebrew root, "their nobles," literally, "their tumultuous trains" (Margin) which usually escorted the nobles. Thus "nobles" will form a contrast to the general "multitude."
neither . . . wailing-- ( Jer 16:4-7; 25:33). GESENIUS translates, "nor shall there be left any beauty among them." English Version is supported by the old Jewish interpreters. So general shall be the slaughter, none shall be left to mourn the dead.
12. let not . . . buyer rejoice--because he has bought an estate at a bargain price.
nor . . . seller mourn--because he has had to sell his land at a sacrifice through poverty. The Chaldeans will be masters of the land, so that neither shall the buyer have any good of his purchase, nor the seller any loss; nor shall the latter ( Eze 7:13) return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see Le 25:13). Spiritually this holds good now, seeing that "the time is short"; "they that rejoice should be as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not": Paul ( 1Co 7:30) seems to allude to Ezekiel here. Jer 32:15, 37, 43, seems to contradict Ezekiel here. But Ezekiel is speaking of the parents, and of the present; Jeremiah, of the children, and of the future. Jeremiah is addressing believers, that they should hope for a restoration; Ezekiel, the reprobate, who were excluded from hope of deliverance.
13. although they were yet alive--although they should live to the year of jubilee.
multitude thereof--namely, of the Jews.
which shall not return--answering to "the seller shall not return"; not only he, but the whole multitude, shall not return. CALVIN omits "is" and "which": "the vision touching the whole multitude shall not return" void ( Isa 55:11).
neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life--No hardening of one's self in iniquity will avail against God's threat of punishment. FAIRBAIRN translates, "no one by his iniquity shall invigorate his life"; referring to the jubilee, which was regarded as a revivification of the whole commonwealth, when, its disorders being rectified, the body politic sprang up again into renewed life. That for which God thus provided by the institution of the jubilee and which is now to cease through the nation's iniquity, let none think to bring about by his iniquity.
14. They have blown the trumpet--rather, "Blow the trumpet," or, "Let them blow the trumpet" to collect soldiers as they will, "to make all ready" for encountering the foe, it will be of no avail; none will have the courage to go to the battle (compare Jer 6:1), [CALVIN].
15. No security should anywhere be found ( De 32:25). Fulfilled ( La 1:20); also at the Roman invasion ( Mt 24:16-18).
16. ( Eze 6:6).
like doves--which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher ( Ps 11:1). So Israel, once dwelling in its peaceful valleys, shall flee from the foe to the mountains, which, as being the scene of its idolatries, were justly to be made the scene of its flight and shame. The plaintive note of the dove ( Isa 59:11) represents the mournful repentance of Israel hereafter ( Zec 12:10-12).
17. shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance ( Jos 7:5; Ps 22:14; Isa 13:7).
18. cover them--as a garment.
baldness--a sign of mourning ( Isa 3:24; Jer 48:37; Mic 1:16).
19. cast . . . silver in . . . streets--just retribution; they had abused their silver and gold by converting them into idols, "the stumbling-block of their iniquity" ( Eze 14:3, 4, that is, an occasion of sinning); so these silver and gold idols, so far from "being able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath" (see Pr 11:4), shall, in despair, be cast by them into the streets as a prey to the foe, by whom they shall be "removed" (GROTIUS translates as the Margin, "shall be despised as an unclean thing"); or rather, as suits the parallelism, "shall be put away from them" by the Jews [CALVIN]. "They (the silver and gold) shall not satisfy their souls," that is, their cravings of appetite and other needs.
20. beauty of his ornament--the temple of Jehovah, the especial glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery used by God as to the temple, Eze 16:10, 11). Compare Eze 24:21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."
images . . . therein--namely, in the temple ( Eze 8:3-17).
set it far from them--God had "set" the temple (their "beauty of ornament") "for His majesty"; but they had set up "abominations therein"; therefore God, in just retribution, "set it far from them," (that is, removed them far from it, or took it away from them [VATABLUS]). The Margin translates, "Made it unto them an unclean thing" (compare Margin on Eze 7:19, "removed"); what I designed for their glory they turned to their shame, therefore I will make it turn to their ignominy and ruin.
21. strangers--barbarous and savage nations.
22. pollute my secret place--just retribution for the Jews' pollution of the temple. "Robbers shall enter and defile" the holy of holies, the place of God's manifested presence, entrance into which was denied even to the Levites and priests and was permitted to the high priest only once a year on the great day of atonement.
23. chain--symbol of the captivity (compare Jer 27:2). As they enchained the land with violence, so shall they be chained themselves. It was customary to lead away captives in a row with a chain passed from the neck of one to the other. Therefore translate as the Hebrew requires, "the chain," namely, that usually employed on such occasions. CALVIN explains it, that the Jews should be dragged, whether they would or no, before God's tribunal to be tried as culprits in chains. The next words favor this: "bloody crimes," rather, "judgment of bloods," that is, with blood sheddings deserving the extreme judicial penalty. Compare Jer 51:9: "Her judgment reacheth unto heaven."
24. worst of the heathen--literally, "wicked of the nations"; the giving up of Israel to their power will convince the Jews that this is a final overthrow.
pomp of . . . strong--the pride wherewith men "stiff of forehead" despise the prophet.
holy places--the sacred compartments of the temple ( Ps 68:35; Jer 51:51) [CALVIN]. God calls it "their holy places," because they had so defiled it that He regarded it no longer as His. However, as the defilement of the temple has already been mentioned ( Eze 7:20, 22), and "their sacred places" are introduced as a new subject, it seems better to understand this of the places dedicated to their idols. As they defiled God's sanctuary, He will defile their self-constituted "sacred places."
25. peace, and . . . none-- ( 1Th 5:3).
26. Mischief . . . upon . . . mischief-- ( De 32:23; Jer 4:20). This is said because the Jews were apt to fancy, at every abatement of suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will accumulate woe on woe.
rumour--of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty ( Mt 24:6).
seek a vision--to find some way of escape from their difficulties ( Isa 26:9). So Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah ( Jer 37:17; 38:14).
law shall perish--fulfilled ( Eze 20:1, 3; Ps 74:9; La 2:9; compare Am 8:11); God will thus set aside the idle boast, "The law shall not perish from the priest" ( Jer 18:18).
ancients--the ecclesiastical rulers of the people.
27. people of the land--the general multitude, as distinguished from the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks. The king, whose duty it was to animate others and find a remedy for existing evils, shall himself be in the utmost anxiety; a mark of the desperate state of affairs.
clothed with desolation--Clothing is designed to keep off shame; but in this case shame shall be the clothing.
after their way--because of their wicked ways.
deserts--literally, "judgments," that is, what just judgment awards to them; used to imply the exact correspondence of God's judgment with the judicial penalties they had incurred: they oppressed the poor and deprived them of liberty; therefore they shall be oppressed and lose their own liberty.
This eighth chapter begins a new stage of Ezekiel's prophecies and continues to the end of the eleventh chapter. The connected visions at Eze 3:12-7:27 comprehended Judah and Israel; but the visions ( Eze 8:1-11:25) refer immediately to Jerusalem and the remnant of Judah under Zedekiah, as distinguished from the Babylonian exiles.
1. sixth year--namely, of the captivity of Jehoiachin, as in Eze 1:2, the "fifth year" is specified. The lying on his sides three hundred ninety and forty days ( Eze 4:5, 6) had by this time been completed, at least in vision. That event was naturally a memorable epoch to the exiles; and the computation of years from it was to humble the Jews, as well as to show their perversity in not having repented, though so long and severely chastised.
elders--namely, those carried away with Jehoiachin, and now at the Chebar.
sat before me--to hear the word of God from me, in the absence of the temple and other public places of Sabbath worship, during the exile ( Eze 33:30, 31). It was so ordered that they were present at the giving of the prophecy, and so left without excuse.
hand of . . . Lord God fell . . . upon me--God's mighty operation fell, like a thunderbolt, upon me (in Eze 1:3, it is less forcible, "was upon him"); whatever, therefore, he is to utter is not his own, for he has put off the mere man, while the power of God reigns in him [CALVIN].
2. likeness--understand, "of a man," that is, of Messiah, the Angel of the covenant, in the person of whom alone God manifests Himself ( Eze 1:26; Joh 1:18). The "fire," from "His loins downward," betokens the vengeance of God kindled against the wicked Jews, while searching and purifying the remnant to be spared. The "brightness . . . upward" betokens His unapproachable majesty ( 1Ti 6:16). For Hebrew, eesh, "fire," the Septuagint, &c., read ish, "a man."
colour of amber--the glitter of chasmal [FAIRBAIRN], (see on Eze 1:4, "polished brass").
3. Instead of prompting him to address directly the elders before him, the Spirit carried him away in vision (not in person bodily) to the temple at Jerusalem; he proceeds to report to them what he witnessed: his message thus falls into two parts: (1) The abominations reported in Eze 8:1-18. (2) The dealings of judgment and mercy to be adopted towards the impenitent and penitent Israelites respectively ( Eze 9:1-11:25). The exiles looked hopefully towards Jerusalem and, so far from believing things there to be on the verge of ruin, expected a return in peace; while those left in Jerusalem eyed the exiles with contempt, as if cast away from the Lord, whereas they themselves were near God and ensured in the possessions of the land ( Eze 11:15). Hence the vision here of what affected those in Jerusalem immediately was a seasonable communication to the exiles away from it.
door of the inner gate--facing the north, the direction in which he came from Chebar, called the "altar-gate" ( Eze 8:5); it opened into the inner court, wherein stood the altar of burnt offering; the inner court ( 1Ki 6:36) was that of the priests; the outer court ( Eze 10:5), that of the people, where they assembled.
seat--the pedestal of the image.
image of jealousy--Astarte, or Asheera (as the Hebrew for "grove" ought to be translated, 2Ki 21:3, 7; 23:4, 7), set up by Manasseh as a rival to Jehovah in His temple, and arresting the attention of all worshippers as they entered; it was the Syrian Venus, worshipped with licentious rites; the "queen of heaven," wife of Phœnician Baal. HAVERNICK thinks all the scenes of idolatry in the chapter are successive portions of the festival held in honor of Tammuz or Adonis ( Eze 8:14). Probably, however, the scenes are separate proofs of Jewish idolatry, rather than restricted to one idol.
provoketh to jealousy--calleth for a visitation in wrath of the "jealous God," who will not give His honor to another (compare the second commandment, Ex 20:5). JEROME refers this verse to a statue of Baal, which Josiah had overthrown and his successors had replaced.
4. The Shekinah cloud of Jehovah's glory, notwithstanding the provocation of the idol, still remains in the temple, like that which Ezekiel saw "in the plain" ( Eze 3:22, 23); not till Eze 10:4, 18 did it leave the temple at Jerusalem, showing the long-suffering of God, which ought to move the Jews to repentance.
5. gate of . . . altar--the principal avenue to the altar of burnt offering; as to the northern position, see 2Ki 16:14. Ahaz had removed the brazen altar from the front of the Lord's house to the north of the altar which he had himself erected. The locality of the idol before God's own altar enhances the heinousness of the sin.
6. that I should go far off from my sanctuary--"that I should (be compelled by their sin to) go far off from my sanctuary"-- ( Eze 10:18); the sure precursor of its destruction.
7. door of the court--that is, of the inner court ( Eze 8:3); the court of the priests and Levites, into which now others were admitted in violation of the law [GROTIUS].
hole in . . . wall--that is, an aperture or window in the wall of the priests' chambers, through which he could see into the various apartments, wherein was the idolatrous shrine.
8. dig--for it had been blocked up during Josiah's reformation. Or rather, the vision is not of an actual scene, but an ideal pictorial representation of the Egyptian idolatries into which the covenant-people had relapsed, practising them in secret places where they shrank from the light of day [FAIRBAIRN], ( Joh 3:20). But compare, as to the literal introduction of idolatries into the temple, Eze 5:11; Jer 7:30; 32:34.
10. creeping things . . . beasts--worshipped in Egypt; still found portrayed on their chamber walls; so among the Troglodytæ.
round about--On every side they surrounded themselves with incentives to superstition.
11. seventy men--the seventy members composing the Sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, the origination of which we find in the seventy elders, representatives of the congregation, who went up with Moses to the mount to behold the glory of Jehovah, and to witness the secret transactions relating to the establishment of the covenant; also, in the seventy elders appointed to share the burden of the people with Moses. How awfully it aggravates the national sin, that the seventy, once admitted to the Lord's secret council ( Ps 25:14), should now, "in the dark," enter "the secret" of the wicked ( Ge 49:6), those judicially bound to suppress idolatry being the ringleaders of it!
Jaazaniah--perhaps chief of the seventy: son of Shaphan, the scribe who read to Josiah the book of the law; the spiritual privileges of the son ( 2Ki 22:10-14) increased his guilt. The very name means, "Jehovah hears," giving the lie to the unbelief which virtually said ( Eze 9:9), "The Lord seeth us not," &c. (compare Ps 10:11, 14; 50:21; 94:7, 9). The offering of incense belonged not to the elders, but to the priests; this usurpation added to the guilt of the former.
cloud of incense--They spared no expense for their idols. Oh, that there were the same liberality toward the cause of God!
12. every man in . . . chambers of . . . imagery--The elders ("ancients") are here the representatives of the people, rather than to be regarded literally. Mostly, the leaders of heathen superstitions laughed at them secretly, while publicly professing them in order to keep the people in subjection. Here what is meant is that the people generally addicted themselves to secret idolatry, led on by their elders; there is no doubt, also, allusion to the mysteries, as in the worship of Isis in Egypt, the Eleusinian in Greece, &c., to which the initiated alone were admitted. "The chambers of imagery" are their own perverse imaginations, answering to the priests' chambers in the vision, whereon the pictures were portrayed ( Eze 8:10).
Lord . . . forsaken . . . earth--They infer this because God has left them to their miseries, without succoring them, so that they seek help from other gods. Instead of repenting, as they ought, they bite the curb [CALVIN].
14. From the secret abominations of the chambers of imagery, the prophet's eye is turned to the outer court at the north door; within the outer court women were not admitted, but only to the door.
sat--the attitude of mourners ( Job 2:13; Isa 3:26).
Tammuz--from a Hebrew root, "to melt down." Instead of weeping for the national sins, they wept for the idol. Tammuz (the Syrian for Adonis), the paramour of Venus, and of the same name as the river flowing from Lebanon; killed by a wild boar, and, according to the fable, permitted to spend half the year on earth, and obliged to spend the other half in the lower world. An annual feast was celebrated to him in June (hence called Tammuz in the Jewish calendar) at Byblos, when the Syrian women, in wild grief, tore off their hair and yielded their persons to prostitution, consecrating the hire of their infamy to Venus; next followed days of rejoicing for his return to the earth; the former feast being called "the disappearance of Adonis," the latter, "the finding of Adonis." This Phœnician feast answered to the similar Egyptian one in honor of Osiris. The idea thus fabled was that of the waters of the river and the beauties of spring destroyed by the summer heat. Or else, the earth being clothed with beauty, during the half year when the sun is in the upper hemisphere, and losing it when he departs to the lower. The name Adonis is not here used, as Adon is the appropriated title of Jehovah.
15, 16. The next are "greater abominations," not in respect to the idolatry, but in respect to the place and persons committing it. In "the inner court," immediately before the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, where the priests advanced only on extraordinary occasions ( Joe 2:17), twenty-five men (the leaders of the twenty-four courses or orders of the priests, 1Ch 24:18, 19, with the high priest, "the princes of the sanctuary," Isa 43:28), representing the whole priesthood, as the seventy elders represented the people, stood with their backs turned on the temple, and their faces towards the east, making obeisance to the rising sun (contrast 1Ki 8:44). Sun-worship came from the Persians, who made the sun the eye of their god Ormuzd. It existed as early as Job ( Job 31:26; compare De 4:19). Josiah could only suspend it for the time of his reign ( 2Ki 23:5, 11); it revived under his successors.
16. worshipped--In the Hebrew a corrupt form is used to express Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship.
17. put . . . branch to . . . nose--proverbial, for "they turn up the nose in scorn," expressing their insolent security [Septuagint]. Not content with outraging "with their violence" the second table of the law, namely, that of duty towards one's neighbor, "they have returned" (that is, they turn back afresh) to provoke Me by violations of the first table [CALVIN]. Rather, they held up a branch or bundle of tamarisk (called barsom) to their nose at daybreak, while singing hymns to the rising sun [STRABO, 1.15, p. 733]. Sacred trees were frequent symbols in idol-worship. CALVIN translates, "to their own ruin," literally, "to their nose," that is, with the effect of rousing My anger (of which the Hebrew is "nose") to their ruin.
18. though they cry . . . yet will I not hear-- ( Pr 1:28; Isa 1:15).
Eze 9:1-11. CONTINUATION OF THE PRECEDING VISION: THE SEALING OF THE FAITHFUL.
1. cried--contrasted with their "cry" for mercy ( Eze 8:18) is the "cry" here for vengeance, showing how vain was the former.
them that have charge--literally, officers; so "officers" ( Isa 60:17), having the city in charge, not to guard, but to punish it. The angels who as "watchers" fulfil God's judgments ( Da 4:13, 17, 23; 10:20, 21); the "princes" ( Jer 39:3) of Nebuchadnezzar's army were under their guidance.
draw near--in the Hebrew intensive, "to draw near quickly."
2. clothed with linen-- ( Da 10:5; 12:6, 7). His clothing marked his office as distinct from that of the six officers of vengeance; "linen" characterized the high priest ( Le 16:4); emblematic of purity. The same garment is assigned to the angel of the Lord (for whom Michael is but another name) by the contemporary prophet Daniel ( Da 10:5; 12:6, 7). Therefore the intercessory High Priest in heaven must be meant ( Zec 1:12). The six with Him are His subordinates; therefore He is said to be "among them," literally, "in the midst of them," as their recognized Lord ( Heb 1:6). He appears as a "man," implying His incarnation; as "one" (compare 1Ti 2:5). Salvation is peculiarly assigned to Him, and so He bears the "inkhorn" in order to "mark" His elect ( Eze 9:4; compare Ex 12:7; Re 7:3; 9:4; 13:16, 17; 20:4), and to write their names in His book of life ( Re 13:8). As Oriental scribes suspend their inkhorn at their side in the present day, and as a "scribe of the host is found in Assyrian inscriptions accompanying the host" to number the heads of the slain, so He stands ready for the work before Him. "The higher gate" was probably where now the gate of Damascus is. The six with Him make up the sacred and perfect number, seven ( Zec 3:9; Re 5:6). The executors of judgment on the wicked, in Scripture teaching, are good, not bad, angels; the bad have permitted to them the trial of the pious ( Job 1:12; 2Co 12:7). The judgment is executed by Him ( Eze 10:2, 7; Joh 5:22, 27) through the six ( Mt 13:41; 25:31); so beautifully does the Old Testament harmonize with the New Testament. The seven come "from the way of the north"; for it was there the idolatries were seen, and from the same quarter must proceed the judgment (Babylon lying northeast of Judea). So Mt 24:28.
stood--the attitude of waiting reverently for Jehovah's commands.
brazen altar--the altar of burnt offerings, not the altar of incense, which was of gold. They "stood" there to imply reverent obedience; for there God gave His answers to prayer [CALVIN]; also as being about to slay victims to God's justice, they stand where sacrifices are usually slain [GROTIUS], ( Eze 39:17; Isa 34:6; Jer 12:3; 46:10).
3. glory of . . . God--which had heretofore, as a bright cloud, rested on the mercy seat between the cherubim in the holy of holies ( 2Sa 6:2; Ps 80:1); its departure was the presage of the temple being given up to ruin; its going from the inner sanctuary to the threshold without, towards the officers standing at the altar outside, was in order to give them the commission of vengeance.
4. midst of . . . city . . . midst of Jerusalem--This twofold designation marks more emph