Exposition of Ezekiel 14-19, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 16 · Verses 47-50
VERS. 47, 48, 49, 50.
Yet haſt thou not walked after their wayes, nor done after their abhominations: but as if that were a little thing, thou waſt corrupted more then they in all thy ways.
As I live ſaith the Lord God, Sodome thy ſiſter hath not done, ſhee nor her daughters, as thou haſt done, thou and thy daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy ſiſter Sodome, pride, fulneſſe of …ead, and abundance of idleneſſe was in her and in her daughters, neither did ſhee ſtrengthen the hand of the poore and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me, therefore I tooke them away as I ſaw good.
IN theſe verſes, and the two next, the compariſon is ſtill carryed on between Jeruſalem, the nations, Sodome and Samaria, wherein the ſinnes of Jeruſalem are declared to exceed their ſinnes.
1. This is laid downe in generall, v. 47.
2. In ſpeciall, in the 48. verſ. where the ſinne of Jeruſalem is not only aſſerted to exceed the ſinne of Sodome, but ratified with an oath, as I live, &c.
Now concerning Sodome you have,
1. The catalogue of her ſins, verſ. 49. and beginning of the 50.
2. Gods dealing with the Sodomites for their ſinnes, verſ. 50. therefore I tooke them away, &c.
Verſ. 47. Yet haſt thou not walked after their wayes, &c.
Before he had ſaid, as is the mother ſo is the daughter, & thou art thy mothers daughter that loatheth her husband, &c. and here yet haſt thou not walked after their wayes, nor done after their abhominations, how do theſe cohere?
The Prophet doth not quit Jeruſalem from imitation of the Hittites, Amorites, Sodomites, amd Samaritans, he graunts ſhe had done that: but by a figure cal'd epanorthoſis, correcting himſelfe; he carries it on further, thou haſt not walked after their wayes, nor done, &c. but thou haſt gone beyond them all in thy wickedneſſe. Thou thoughtſt to be like unto them, a ſmall matter, a very little thing foreign as a little, a very little thing. Sept. foreign. Cal. quaſi parvum pauxillum & exiguum Lav. paululum pauxillum que This contented not thee, but thou haſt done more abominably then they, and corrupted thy ſelfe more deeply.
Some take the words thus; Thou haſt not walked after their wayes, nor done after their abominations for a little & a little time, and ſo referre the time to the reigne of Hezekiah, wherein Jeruſalem having fin'd greatly in Ahaz dayes, after Samaria was taken by Senacherib, repented, and abſteined from idolatry: but preſently after, in Manaſſes dayes, return'd more fully to it, and exceeded Samaria, Sodome, and the nations, which hints this unto us; That ſtate-repentance and reformation are ſeldome ſound or long liv'd; its feare of authority, not hatred of ſin, conſcience of duty, love of truth, vertue, juſtice, holineſſe, that ſet them on work: and when the bridle of feare is laxe or remov'd, they return to their old wayes, which cannot be otherwiſe, having their old natures.
Obſer. 1.
The Lord takes notice of the wayes of a people even from their beginning to their end; this Obſervation riſes from the 45, 46. and this verſe laid together; there the Lord ſaid their mother is an Hittite, their father an Amorite, their ſiſters, Samaria and Sodome: and here thou haſt corrupted more then they in all thy wayes. I have obſerv'd thee from the firſt to the laſt; from thy birth to thy end. God eyes the infancy, youth, growth, and age of a State, and what the wayes of it are; whoſe tenets, manners, cuſtomes and wayes it followes. 2 Chron. 28.26. of Ahaz a wicked King it's ſaid, The reſt of his acts, and of all his wayes, firſt and laſt, behold they are written, &c. There was nothing eſcaped the eye of heaven. Jer. 32.19. Thine eyes are open upon all the wayes of the ſonnes of men, even from the beginning to the end it is ſo. God doth not chop in like man, and obſerve here a paſſage & there a paſſage: but he is a conſtant obſerver of every thing, of every way. Prov. 5.21. The wayes of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
2. Sinfull Republiques and States think it no great matter to be like their neighbour nations and Cities in wickedneſſe and villanies; the Lord told this Common-wealth of Iſrael that ſhe was like the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Sodomites, Samaritanites in idolatry, uncleanneſſe, and other ſinnes: and ſhe thought this no great matter, a little, yea a very little thing. Verſ. 20. Is this thy whoredome a ſmall matter? ſhe thought it ſo. 1 Kings 16.31. Ahabs walking in the ſinnes of Jeroboam was reputed but a light thing, and Jehu ſaith of him, that he ſerved Baal a little, 2 King. 10.18. yet 1 King. 21.25, 26. There was none like unto Ahab which did ſell himſelfe to worke wickedneſſe in the ſight of the Lord: and he did very abominable in following idolls according to all things, as did the Amorites. Though he equalized the Amorites, yet this was a little thing. Ezek. 8.17. Is it a light thing to the houſe of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? they thought it ſo. Take any nation, even this nation, is it not like other nations for injuſtice, oppreſſion, drunkenneſſe, whoredome, ſwearing, falſhood, exceſſe, phantaſticalneſſe, &c. yet we ſay it's no great matter: ſin the greateſt evil is made nothing.
3. Thoſe God hath done much for, taken very neare to himſelfe, may degenerate ſo far, as to prove worſe then others, then any. Thou whom I exalted from ſo low an eſtate, and took into my ſpeciall favour, even thou haſt corrupted thy ſelfe more then they in all thy wayes. So notorious was Jeruſalem in her abominable practices, that v. 27. the Philiſtims were aſham'd of her lewd wayes. Chap. 5.7. She multiplyed ſin more then the nations round about her. How deſperately did this State ſinne in the days of Ahaz and Manaſſes; is not Jeruſalem call'd the filthy, polluted, oppreſſing City, Zeph. 3.1. and is it not thus at this day? are not many Chriſtian Eſtates which God hath done great things for, and bleſſed with choiſe meanes and mercies, are they not worſe then Heatheniſh nations? thoſe ſinnes found amongſt us which are unknown to them. I feare Rome, Madrid, Paris, &c. with Italy, Spaine, France, England, will be found to exceed the heathens.
Verſ. 48. As I live.
Heb. is foreign I living, or I live. Sept. foreign I do live: ſo Vatablus, Vulg. Calv. Lavat. Polan. the French: but Junius and Piſcat. more ſutable to the matter in hand: Jun. hath it thus, ne vivam ego, let me not live, if Sodome have not ſinn'd leſſe then Jeruſalem. Piſc. ut vivo ego, as ſure as I live Sodome hath not done as thou haſt done; and if ſhe have, I am a dead dumb God.Philologia ſacra, l. 5. Tractat. 2. p. 540. When God ſweares, moſt uſually it is by his life: and Glaſſius tels us, that by the life of God is meant his eternall glory, majeſty, power and truth, ſo that all theſe are impawn'd in Gods oath, and he had rather not be, then be found falſe and unfaithfull. Of this oath of God was ſpoken in the 5 Chap. verſ. 1. The Lord ſwares thus,
1. To let them know hee did not hyperbolize; hee had been in an Allegory before, and ſpoken allegorically of this Jewiſh eſtate: and that they might not think he did now allegorize or hyperbolize; he ſweares plainly that their ſins were greater then Sodoms; this aſſertion was both odious and incredible: to take away both the odiouſneſſe and incredibility thereof, he binds it with an oath, and the greateſt oath of all, by his life, by himſelf, as ſure as he was God, as he liv'd it was ſo.
2. To affect them as with the greatneſſe of their ſins, ſo with the heynouſneſſe of their puniſhments; if they exceeded Sodome in ſinning, ſurely they deſerv'd more dreadfull puniſhments and judgements then Sodome.
Obſer. 1.
That thoſe profeſſe God, and are in common account, Gods people, may come to ſuch an height of ſinning, as exceeds beliefe; who would, who could have thought that any Citie or nation ſhould have been worſe then Sodome, eſpecially that Jeruſalem the holy Citie, the habitation of the Lord: and that the Jewes who were the Lords firſt-born, his treaſure and peculiar people, that theſe ſhould out-goe Sodome and the Sodomites in wickedneſſe? it's matter of wonder, what! a Jew worſe then a Sodomite? who can believe it; Jeruſalem and her daughters worſe then Sodome and her daughters?
2. What great Cities are, uſually ſuch are the leſſer Cities, the bordering Townes and Villages which are calld daughters, they imitate their mothers, learn their wayes, receive their opinions, follow their Counſels, practiſes, manners. Samaria and her daughters were alike, Sodome and her daughters, ver. 45, 46. And ſo Jeruſalem and her daughters. Great Cities have great influence into the adjacent Towns and Villages; if they be idolatrous, unjuſt, bitter, contentious, proud, exceſſive in dyet and apparel, ſo wil all about them be. Rev. 17.3. Babylon the great is the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth.
3. To aſſure us of the truth of things, God is pleaſed to take an oath. The Lord knew this would not eaſily be entertain'd that Jeruſalem and her daughters were greater ſinners then Sodome and her daughters; to put it out of doubt, therefore the Lord ſweares a great oath, as I live it is ſo, as ſure as I am the living God it is truth: ſo God ſweares, Ezek. 33.11. to aſſure man. O beatos nos quorum cauſa jurat deus, O miſerrimos ſi nec deo juranti credimus.