Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Ezekiel · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Ver. 1. MOreover the spirit lift me up] The ſame Spirit of God that lifted up and acted the living wights, and the wheels: like as the ſame breath cauſeth the diverſe ſounds in the Organs.
Ʋnto the Eaſt-gate] Of the outward Court, chap. 10.19.
Five and twenty men] Proceres populi, the Senatours of the City with their Prefect or Preſident. The like number is now at Rome, and likewiſe at London: an Alderman in each of the twenty four Wards, and a Mayor. See Rev. 4.4.
Among whom I ſaw Jaazaniah] I ſaw them and knew them by name, but for no good.
Judex locuſta civitatis eſt malus.Scaliger.
Ver. 2. Theſe are the men that deviſe miſchief] That whet their wits and beat their brains about it: the Polititians of the time, who like children are ever ſtanding on their heads, and ſhaking their heels againſt heaven.
And give wicked counſel] As Balaam and Ahitophel did of old: as Machiavel did at Florence, and Gondamor here did of later times. The Prophet here nameth a couple: and taketh the ſame liberty to reprove them, that they took to do amiſſe.
Ver. 3. Which ſay it is not near] ſc. The evil day is not: the viſion that he ſeeth is for many dayes to come: and he propheſieth of the times that are far off, chap. 12.22, 27. See Am. 6.3. Iſa. 29.1. 2 Pet. 3.4. And this was likely the evil counſel they gave the King and people: lulling them aſleep in the cradle of carnal ſecurity.
Let us build houſes] Though Jeremy hath counſelled us to the contrary, chap. 29.5. though he (with all the wit he hath) hath told us that this City is the Cauldron, and we are the fleſh, chap. 1.13. Some ſuch thing Jeremy had indeed foretold: and theſe profane ſcoffers make a jear at it: Captant argutias quibus elevant omnem fidem doctrinae coeleſtis. This made god Jeremy complain heavily, chap. 20.7, 8. I am in deriſion daily, every one mocketh me, &c. Our Prophet Ezekiel, though he name him not, yet confirmeth his holy ſayings; and threateneth his ſcurrilous adverſaries. Miniſters ſhould ſtand by, and for one another, &c.
Ver. 4. Therefore propheſie againſt them, propheſie] Ʋrget & repetit, ne cunctetur. Out of greateſt indignation againſt theſe Peſts he pricketh him on to Propheſie, as having vengeance in a readineſs for the diſobedient, 2 Cor. 10.6. Mockers ſhall be ſure to have their bands increaſed, Eſa. 28.22.
Ver. 5. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me] Et irruit in me Spiritus Jehovae, with force and power: it was a mighty illapſe from a God much offended.
Thus have you ſaid] As ver. 3. but better ye had held your peace: or, thus have ye thought, and as good ye might have ſpake out.
For I know the things that came into your minde] Heb. And the aſcenſions of your Spirit, I know it, i. e. I know them every one, as if they had all been but one: I underſtand your Ironies, your ſly jears, and will deal with you accordingly. See Luk. 24.38. Deut. 31.21.
Ver. 6. Ye have multiplied your ſlain in this City] Called therefore a bloody City, chap. 22.2. and 9.9. and 7.23. and it ſhall therefore despume you.Vos ſicut ſpumae ejicieminis Evil counſellours are cruel and bloody minded: their craft is never but accompanied with cruelty; and their cruelty ſeldom without: craft: none of them wanteth their mate, as the Scripture ſpeaks of thoſe birds of prey and deſolation, Eſa. 34.16.
Ver. 7. Your ſlain] Whether ye have ſlain them out-right, or have laid them a bleeding and a dying by your oppreſſions; for a poor mans livelyhood is his life, Mar. 12.44. Luk. 8.43. he is in his houſe l…ke a ſnaile in his ſhell; cruſh that, and you kill him.
Haec verba Monachi funibus trahunt ad Purgatorium proband. nixi autoritate Originis.And this City is the cauldron] Thus, their own words ſpoken in mockage, are wittily retorted upon them, and driven back again down their throats, as it were.
But I will bring you forth out of the midſt of it] As rotten fleſh to be caſt out, or as filthy ſcum to boile over.
Ver. 8. Ye have feared the ſword] And yet they made as if they feared nothing; they doubted not but to dye in their neſt: but all guilt hath fear, and all ſuch fear hath torment.
Vellelus l. 2.And I will bring a ſword upon you] Such as all your craft can never keep off. Ineluctabilis vis fatorum, cujus fortunam, mutare conſtituit, conſilia corrumpit. See Prov. 10.24. with the Note.
Ver. 9. And I will bring you out of the midſt thereof] The ſame again, for better aſſurance. We uſe to do ſo oft, when we threaten ought.
Ver. 10. I will judge you in the border of Iſrael] In the Northern border, even at Riblah, 2 King. 25.6.21. Jer. 52.10, 24, 27.
Virgil.Ver. 11. This City ſhall not be your cauldron] Ye ſhall not be ſo happy as to dye in your own native Country, atque ante or a patrum: but elſewhere, at Riblah or Antiochia.
Ver. 12. And ye ſhall know that I am the Lord] That which ye would not take knowledge of by the words of your Prophets, ye ſhall now be made to know by the ſwords of your enemies.
For ye have not walked in my ſtatutes] When God is about to proceed in judgement againſt evil doers, there is ever a cauſe for it, and they ſhall know it.
Ver. 13. And it came to paſſe that when I propheſied] God heweth men by his Prophets, and ſlayeth them by the words of his mouth, and his Judgements are as the light (or, lightening) that goeth forth, Hoſ. 6.5. Eliſha hath his ſword as well as Jehu and Hazael, 1 Kings 19.17. See Jer. 1.10. 2 Cor. 10.6.
Pelatiah the ſon of Benaiah died] Suddenly, and before his time in Solomons ſenſe, Eccleſ. 7.17. Driven away he was in his iniquity, Prov. 14.32. ſo were Ananias and Sapphira, Magnum eſt ſubito opprimi.Corinthus, Arius, Steven Gardiner, Cardinal Pool, Dick of Dover, as they called the perſecuting Suffragan there, Nightingal Parſon of Bocking, &c. See Prov. 6.14, 15.
Then fell I down upon my face] Out of an holy ſollicitude about Gods Elect, leſt they alſo ſhould have periſhed, as Pelatiah had done: whoſe very name might ſeem ſomewhat ominous, for it ſignifieth The eſcaped one of the Lord: and therefore his ſo ſuddain death might portend deſtruction to the remnant of Iſrael.
And cryed with a loud voice] Suddain or ſingular Judgements put Saints upon humble, earneſt, and argumentative prayer.
Ver. 14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me] In anſwer to my prayer; though there was ſomething in it of unbelief, and humane frailty. See Pſal. 31.22. with the Note.
Ver. 15. Thy brethren, even thy brethren] i. e. Thine unbrotherly brethren of Jeruſalem ſeek to unbrother and to unchurch thee and the reſt of thy concaptives. See Iſa. 65.5. Papiſts and Sectaries deal ſo by us.
The men of thy kindred] Viri vindiciarum tuarum, or they that have the right of redemption.
And all the houſe of Iſrael] Tota downs Iſraelis, quanta quanta eſt. The Hieroſolymitanes challenged the Lord, and the Land, and all therein to be theirs; excluding and as it were excommunicating the Captives at Babylon, who were dear to God. So dealt the Scribes and Phariſees by the Chriſtians, Joh. 16.2. Acts 26.9, 10, 11. So did the Rogatian Heretikes and the Donatiſts, who gave themſelves out (as now the Papiſts do) to be the only Catholikes. The Arians called the Orthodox (by way of ſcorn and contempt) Ambroſians, Athanaſians, Homouſians, &c.
Get ye far from the Lord] Greſſus removete, profani: Iee in malam crucem: foreign: ye are cut off from the people of God, and may go whither you will: we are heirs and owners of the promiſes; ye are outcaſts, and abjects.
Ver. 16. Although I have caſt them] What a Cornucopia of comfort may this promiſe be to poor priſoners, forlorn Exiles, and ſuch as by ſickneſſe or otherwiſe are neceſſitated to keep from publike Ordinances, that they ſhall have Gods preſence and protection, the comfort and conduct of his Spirit, &c?
Yet I will be to them as a little Sanctuary] By hearing their prayers,Sanctuarium modicum. ſanctifying their natures, bringing to their remembrance what things they have heard and learned touching Me and my will, Themſelves and their duties; They ſhould in Babylon worſhip God in ſpirit and in truth; and in the life to come, the Lord God Almighty and his Lamb ſhould be their Temple, Rev 21.22.
Ver. 17. I will even gather you from the people] How impoſſible or improbable ſoever you may think it, and thoſe of Hieruſalem pronounce it. The Prophet Iſay in many Chapters of his Goſpel (which beginneth at chap. 40.) ſetteth himſelf to chear up theſe poor captives with good hopes of a return, after a little while,Pauliſper. as ſome render the word Megnat in the foregoing Verſe.
Ver. 18. And they ſhall take away all the deteſtable things] So God calleth their Mawmets and monuments of Idolatry;They choſe rather to dye, then to ſuffer Caligula's ſtatue to be ſet up in their Temple by Petronius. not daigning to call them by their uſual names. After the Captivity the Jews would never endure idols. To this day they ſay that there is an ounce of the golden calf in all their ſufferings.
Ver. 19. And I will give them one heart] Oppoſed to a divided heart (ſuch as the Paphlagonian Partridges are ſaid to have) Hoſ. 10.2. that is partly for God, and partly for the world, Ezek. 33.31. This oneneſſe of heart truely and entirely cleaving to God alone, is that boon that David ſo dearly beggeth,Plin. l. 11. c. 37. Pſal. 86.11. that he might attend upon God without diſtraction, 1 Cor. 7.35. and as the viſive beams are wholly bent upon the thing that is beheld by the eye, and as it were concentred in it: ſo might his deſires and indeavours be entirely carried toward God, and firmly fixed upon him.
And I will put a new ſpirit within you] The ſame ſoul for ſubſtance, but altered in the frame, renewed in the qualities thereof. Marke 16.17. they ſhall ſpeak with new tongues. So we read of a new Song: The ſtrings are the ſame, but the tune is changed. See Pſal. 51.12. Epheſ. 4.23. 2 Cor. 5.17.
And I will take the ſtony heart] Extraham, ſay the Sept. I will draw or pull it out: which none can do but the hand of Heaven. God only can make the flinty heart fleſhly, that is, ſenſible, ſoft, pliant, penetrable, buxom and obedient to his holy Will.
Ver. 20. That they may walk in my ſtatutes] The Covenant of grace is ſuited to all the exigencies and indigencies of a poor Saint: It is ordered in all things, 2 Sam. 23.5.
Ver. 21. But as for them] This is added, leſt any wicked men ſhould miſapply the Promiſes, as they do quiſperando praeſumunt & praeſumendo pereunt.
Ver. 22. Then did the Cherubims] Now God is utterly leaving the refractory Jewes, He did ſo much more, after their rejection of Chriſt and his Goſpel.
Ver. 23. From the midſt of the City] From the Eaſt-gate.
And ſtood upon the mountain] Mount Olivet. There he made his laſt ſtand, to ſee if they would meet him with intreaties of peace, that he might ſtop or ſtep back. Here it was that Chriſt wept over the City; and hence he went up to heaven: after which came the Romans and deſtroyed it.
Ver. 24. By the Spirit of God] i. e. In a ſupernatural rapture.
Ver. 25. Then I ſpake unto them of the Captivity] Theſe were his proper charge, and now Gods chiefeſt care: to them therefore he delivered the whole counſel of God, which he had ſeen and heard for their better ſettlement.