Exposition of Ezekiel 1-5, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 1 · Verse 1-3 1
To come to the Chapter. Ver. 1, 2, 3. Now it came to paſſe, &c.
In this Chapter you have:
1. Ezekiels firſt viſion, from the fourth verſe to the end of the Chapter.
2. In the three firſt verſes you have:
1. The time, what yeare, what monethmonth, what day this viſion was, ver. 1, 2.
2. The place; 1. generall, the land of the Chaldeans; 2. particular, by the river of Chebar; ver. 3.
3. Together with this, you have the occaſion; his being there among the Captives.
3. The ſubject of this Viſion, Ezekiel. Deſcribed;
1. From his office; a Prieſt.
2. From his parentage; the ſonne of Buzi.
4. The Author of this Viſion; God. I ſaw viſions of God; ſuch viſions as came from God.
Now it came to paſſe, &c.
Now] The word in the Originall is And; And it came to paſſe. It ſeemes a ſtrange beginning of a booke; eſpecially when it referres to nothing ſaid or writ before. There are many of the books of ſacred Writ begin on this manner; as Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Ioſuah, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, and divers others. In hiſtoricall books, it may note the ſeries, connect things antecedent with things conſequent: but in propheticall books, it cannot note or make a connexion with things foregoing. Jonas begins his Prophecy ſo, and what was the antecedent to make up the connexion? Here is the Quere, and difficultie, why the Prophet ſhould begin his book on this manner, And it came to paſſe.
Some ſatisfie the doubt thus. They make it an idiome or proprietie of the Hebrew tongue, to begin books with this particle, And, or Now; and ſo they make nothing of it. But ſurely this is not all, there is ſomething wrapped up in this Now, or And, Van.which may be of inſtruction and uſe to us.
Now, or, And it came to paſſe. The Prophet doubtleſs was meditating upon the condition he was in; meditating of the condition that he had been in. Time was that we were at Jeruſalem, that we went with joy to the Temple, to the ſolemne Aſſemblies, that we heard the voyce of God, that we ſaw his glory, his beauty, his power and his ſtrength there: Time was that we had communion with the Saints; that we ſung ſongs of Sion together with chearfulnes and with joy; we had precious Ordinances, honourable Sabbaths, Sacrifices that did cheare our hearts, and ſeale up pardon of our ſinnes to us, and intimate the good will of God in Chriſt to our ſoules; wee ſate under our Vines and under our fig-trees, and were in ſafetie. But now, now we eate the bread of mourners, wee drinke our own teares; Now wee are deprived of all Ordinances, ſtript of all our comforts; wee are ſold into the hands of enemies, wee are become captives to a heathen Prince; our bondage is grievous, and muſt continue ſeventy years. It is the fruit of our ſinne. God is righteous in all his judgements, and if we willingly accept the puniſhment of our iniquitie, he will in wrath remember mercy, regard us in our low eſtate, he will ſweeten and ſanctifie our captivitie to us.
Such thoughts as theſe were in the breaſt of the Prophet. And I incline the rather to thinke ſo, becauſe it was upon the Sabbath day (as I ſhall ſhew you afterwards when I come to open ſome things that follow) when he was meditating on this manner. Alſo you ſhall finde in Scripture relatives uſed without antecedents; as Pſal. 87.1. His foundation is in the holy Mountaines. Here is a relative without any antecedent, yet the antecedent is duplicate page duplicate page ſuppoſed, and eaſily found out. His foundation, whoſe foundation? the foundation of the Temple, the foundation of the Citie is in the holy Mountaines. The Scripture doth ſometime lay downe things relatively and conjunctively, when the antecedent may be ſuppoſed and found out with a little inquiry. So here, And it was thus and thus with the Prophet, he was meditating, there was the Word in his boſome, and the particle And connects that with this Word of God revealed to him and expreſt by him.
Hence then take this note: That the hearts of the ſervants of God are exerciſed with thoughts of Gods dealings with the Church and themſelves. Their thoughts are better exerciſed then the world thinks. Ezekiel here had his thoughts buſied about his former and preſent condition, his heart was exerciſed that way. I have other meate to eate (ſaith Chriſt) then yee know of; So the Saints, they have other meat, other thoughts to feed upon then the world takes notice of; It is oft unknown how their thoughts are exerciſed. Eli thought Hanna madde when he ſaw her lips goe; but her heart was better employed then he fancied. Many thinke Gods people melancholy, and not worthy of their company, they are but heavy pieces, when their hearts are in heaven, and they are at ſolid and ſerious converſe with God. You have an expreſſion to this purpoſe in Cant. 1.2. Let him kiſſe me with the kiſſes of his mouth. The Spouſe had not ſpoke of her Beloved before. It is a ſtrange ſpeech to begin thus; Let him kiſſe me with, &c. Who ſhould kiſſe her? here is no mention of Chriſt, no mention of God, no mention of any before, but on a ſuddaine, Let him kiſſe me with, &c. Though Chriſt had not been mentioned by her lips, yet Chriſt was deep in her thoughts, and in her deſires, ſhee had meditated on Chriſt before, and ſo breakes out into this ſpeech, Let him kiſſe me with, &c. And Ezekiel having his heart meditating, and taken up with the thoughts of his former and preſent condition, of the Church in generall, of Gods wrath to them, and Gods mercy in the middeſt of his wrath, breaks out, And, or now, in the thirtieth yeare it was ſo and ſo.
This then inſtructs us what is the practice of the choice Worthies of God, their hearts are meditating and taken up with divers things that the world is not aware of. It is good for us to be in meditation this way: Iſaac he went out to meditate in the evening, and while he was meditating cometh Rebekah, the deſire of his ſoul; and the Prophet being in that poſture, hath viſions of God to cheare his ſoul, and the ſouls of his people. If you would be meditating, you may ſee heaven opened, and God coming down into your boſomes.
In the thirtieth yeere.
This time doth trouble Interpreters very much; It is not ſaid in the thirtieth yeere of what, or of whom, but barely in the thirtieth yeere. Here is an uncertain Chronologie, which makes a difficulty in the Prophet.
1. In the thirtieth yeer; not the thirtieth yeer from the Jubilee, as ſome do make it, for the fifth yeer of Jehoiachins captivity correſponds not with the thirtieth from the Jubilee; for as Junius, and ſome others (that take pains in ſearching out the truth herein) do obſerve, that falls in but with the ninth yeer from the Jubilee; therefore we let that paſs.
2. In the thirtieth yeer. Some make this to be the thirtieth yeer of his age, the Prophet was thirty yeers old, and then he began to prophecy. But this is not the practice of the Pen-men of Scripture, to compute the prophecies from their own age and birth; and there is good reaſon for it, becauſe prophecies and things that do concern the good of the Church ſo neerly and ſo much, do receive witneſs and ſtrength from the time wherein they are extant, and thoſe times muſt not be particular times, times of particular men that are not known, but the times muſt be ſuch as arr known to the world, that all may be convinced the thing was done at ſuch a time: now the birth of one that afterward was to be a Prophet, is not like to be a time ſo noted in the world, that the world then ſhould take notice that Ezekiel was born, and did begin the computation of his prophecy from thence. It is not like therefore that this ſhould be the meaning of the thirtieth yeere; If ſo, he would have ſaid in the thirtieth yeere of my life.
3. In the thirtieth yeer. That is, in the thirtieth yeer ſince the Law was found in Joſiah his dayes, and ſince that great Paſſeover which was kept by him. In the 2 King. 22. there is mention of finding the book of the Law, and in Chapt. 23. of the great Paſſeover, and this was in the eighteenth yeer of Joſiah his reign, verſe 33.
Now if we compute the time from the eighteenth yeer of Joſiah, it doth amount even to the thirtieth yeer in which our Prophet had his viſion, and began his prophecy: For Joſiah reigned thirteen yeers after this (as you may obſerve in the Story) hee raigned thirty and one yeers in all, 2 King. 22.1. and then Iehoahaz his ſon raigned three moneths, Chapt. 23.31. then Iehoiakim reigned eleven yeers, verſ. 36. and Iehoiachin his ſon reigned three months before he was carried captive into Babylon, 2 King. 24.and five yeers of his captivity was paſt when Ezekiel began his prophecy. So then take the thirteen yeeres of Joſiah, the eleven yeers of Iehoiakim, there is twenty four, then adde the five yeers of Iehoiachins captivity, that makes twenty nine, and then tahe three moneths that Iehoahaz reigned, and the three moneths that Iehoiachin reigned before hee was carried captive, it makes up twenty nine yeers and ſix moneths, therefore ſaith he in the thirtieth yeer, it was the thirtieth yeer current, and ſo I…poſitors do for the generality put it.
And whereas ſome would have it to be the thirtieth yeer of the …haldean account; it being according to them thirty yeers from the beginning of that Monarchy from Nebuchadonoſor, (as ſome call him) who was the father of this Nebuchadnezzar the great, that carried away Iehoiachin into captivity: If it were the thirtieth yeer of that Monarchy, it falls in with the thirty yeers ſince the eighteenth of Ioſiah, wherein the Law was found, and the Paſſeover kept; ſo that theſe two may ſtand together, and there need be no jarring between Interpreters for this time.
In the fourth monethmonth. It was not the MonethMonth Tebet or Thebeth (as ſome will have it) which anſwers to that we call Ianuary; but the monethmonth Tamuz, or Tammuz, that which anſwereth to part of Iune and part of Iuly; (about the time we are now in) for the Iewes were to reckon their moneths from April, as Exod. 12.2. This ſhall be the beginning of moneths, it ſhall be the firſt monethmonth of the yeer to you; that monethmonth was Abib, Niſan, or Niſſan, and anſwereth to part of March, and part of April; now from thence this is the fourth monethmonth, and falleth in with the latter end of Iune and beginning of Iuly.
In the fifth day of the monethmonth. This I finde ſome do make to be the Sabbath day, and it is very probable that it ſhould be ſo; for Chapt. 3.16. hee ſaith, that at the end of ſeven dayes the Word of the Lord came unto him again. Hence they collect, that it is not likely that God would ſtep over the Sabbath day, and give Ezekiel viſions upon another day, and not upon that; for if Ezekiel had had his viſions upon another day, the people ſhould have been deſtitute of all the benefit, they were ſo imployed in their works of building and planting, and other accommodations for a captivity, that they had no leaſure to reſort unto Ezekiel upon a week day; therefore they ſtrongly conclude, that it was upon a Sabbath day, in the latter end of the week.
From hence obſerve:
1. That that time is not conſiderable wherein the Law of God is out of date; the time was reckoned here from the eighteenth yeere of Joſiah, wherein the Law was found. It was loſt in Manaſſehs and Amons dayes, till the eighteenth yeere of Joſiah, when being found, it was brought forth for the comfort and inſtruction of the people, for the worſhip and honour of God, and from that punctum the Spirit of God reckons the time, and begins the account. When Gods Law is out of the way, and his Worſhip down, that is no conſiderable time at all in the eye of God. Parties that are in the dark, or dead, wee do not reckon of their time. One converted in his old age, ſaid, I have been long in the world, I have lived but a little time, meaning, ſince hee was converted, the time before was incomputable; The widow that liveth in pleaſure, the Apoſtle ſaith, is dead while ſhee lives, 1 Tim. 5.6.and the world is dead that hath not the Law, the place is dead that hath not the Ordinances of God; ſo long they have been, but they have not lived, they have not meaſured time; and therefore the Spirit of God fixeth the account at the finding of the Law.
2. The things here not being ſpecified, but left undetermined, that God would have us obſerve the remarkable paſſages in Church and States when they fall out, not one or two, but many, or all the chief: as the eighteenth yeer of Joſiah, when the Law was found, when that great paſſeover was kept, when he and the people of God entred into a ſolemn covenant with God, when the great reformation was made among them, ſuch great acts were taken notice of; as alſo the changes in Babylon, when the Chaldean Monarchy began, when Nebuchadnezzar was put into the Throne, and his head lifted up above others. God would have us take notice of the chief acts of his mercy and providence at chief times. Hoſea 14.8. Ephraim ſhall ſay, What have I to do any more with Idols? There will be a great alteration; then it will be a remarkable time, ſaid God, I have heard him, and obſerved him, and then followeth, Who ſo is wiſe, and he ſhall undrſtand theſe things, prudent, and he ſhall know them.
Now is a time of memorable emergents, and they ſhould be conſidered, the famous things of 1640. 1641. ought to be had in everlaſting remembrance: a triennall Parliament, reſurrection of Religion, Law and Goſpel were found again, Reformation begun, Proteſtation and Covenants taken, the Kingdomes united here, and forain ones ſhaken in pieces.
3 This makes for the truth and ſtrength of our Prophets viſions and prophecy; for when exact particular times and places are ſet down, that things were done in ſuch a yeer of ſuch a King, ſuch a monethmonth, ſuch a day of the monethmonth, it addes weight to an ordinary Hiſtory; and when the Spirit of God ſhall ſo punctually determine the time to a yeer, a monethmonth, a day, it is a ſtrong ſeal to the truth of the viſions and prophecy.
4. See here (from the fifth day,) that God hath a ſpeciall care of his Sabbaths, and of the ſpirituall good of his ſervants. Of his Sabbaths, that they ſhall not lie in the dark, when they are in Babylon God will open heaven and appeare to a Prophet, and give him viſions upon a Sabbath day. God will do it too upon a Sabbath day, that ſo the people which were in a ſad condition, that laboured now in Brick and Clay again, that were building, planting, taken up with ſecular affaires, might have a ſeaſonable opportunity for the good of their ſouls. The Sabbath was made for man, for the good of man, and they found it ſo. Though they be in Babylon, they ſhall have a Prophet, they ſhall have viſions, and viſions upon a Sabbath day, when they have liberty and opportunity to come to the Prophet to be inſtructed in theſe viſions without prejudice to their Callings.