Exposition of Ezekiel 1-5, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 2 · Verse 5
VER. 5.
And they, whether they will heare, or whether they will forbeare, (for they are a rebellious houſe) yet ſhall know, there hath been a Prophet amongst them.
HEre the end or reaſon of the Prophets ſending is given, I ſend thee to this people: to take away all pleas and pretences of theirs, thou ſhalt propheſie unto them, and tell them of their ſins, what I require at thy hands, and if they will not heare, I have not left my ſelfe without witneſſes; they ſhall know, &c. they would otherwiſe have had to object againſt thee, and ſaid, If we had had a Prophet in our captivity to have reproved us for our ſins, to have ſhewed us Gods diſpleaſure, our danger, and the way to eſcape, we would have ceaſed from our evill wayes, have learned righteouſneſſe, and laid hold of offers of merciemercy and grace, but we had not to reprove or inſtruct us, wee periſhed for want of viſions. It's true, wee had Prophets in our countrey, but there they were common, and we did not much regard them, but had one been given us, now in this deſolate, afflicted condition, we would have hearkened, obeyed, &c. This objection God takes away, and tells them, whether they will heare or no, a Prophet they ſhall have, he will not be wanting to them, they ſhall have no cauſe to object againſt, or complain of him.
A rebellious houſe.
The originall is, a houſe of rebellion, it's in the abſtract,foreign and notes the ſtrength and provocation of their ſin: the Vulgar hath it, the exaſperating houſe, the houſe that provokes and vexes the Lord,Domus exaſperans. Irritans Sept. Domus amaricans. In amaritudinemme convertunt. or the imbittering houſe, that imbitters God, and ſo the Septuagint renders that in the third verſe, which have rebelled againſt mee, which have turned mee into bitterneſſe, and made me deal bitterly with them; A houſe, not becauſe God dwelt amongſt them, and was now driven out by their rebellions; but a houſe, becauſe they were the family, and ſeed of Iſrael; and this parentheſis is inſerted to arm the Prophet againſt their obſtinacie, that he underſtanding before hand, what they were, might not be deſpondent, but proceed cheerfully in his work, what ever he met withall.
Obſerv. 1. That there be few that heare and receive the Word ſavingly: I ſend thee to this people, and there be not many among them that will entertain thy meſſage, or believe the word that I put into thy mouth; Whether they will heare, or forbeare, for they are a rebellious houſe: this ſtrongly imports they would not heare, not ſavingly, but rather oppoſe the truth; there was a great number of them in Babylon, yet very few hearkened to the Prophet, and ſo was it before they went into Babylon, Iſa. 53. Who hath believed our report? we have preached, and made report of God and Chriſt, in the Temple, in the Synagogues, in the gates and ſtreets; but, Who hath believed us? Iſaiah was a Princely Prophet, had a Princely language, and yet neither among the great ones at Court, nor inferiour ſort, was there any conſiderable number; for Iſa. 8.18. He ſaith, I and the children the Lord hath given mee, are for ſigns and wonders in Iſrael; if they had been many, they would not have been for wonders, that is a wonder which is rare, unuſuall; and it's a rare unuſuall thing for men and women to believe the Word of God, multitudes flock to the gates and poſts of Wiſdome, but few lay up ſound wiſdome in their hearts,…x cent …ſimum quim que ſore fiddem. Calv. …t Eſ. 51 Quot eſſe putatis qui in e… vitate noſtra ſalventur? infeſtum quidem eſt quod d cturus ſum, d cam tamen, non poſſunt in tot millibus centum inveniri qui ſalventur, quin & de his dubito. Quanta en…m eſt, in juvenibus malitia? quantus in ſenibus torpor? nemo zelum habet, multitudo ſumus ſaeni, inordinatum mare, Chryſ. Ad fidem plures veniunt, ſed ad coeleſtia regna pauci perducuntur, Greg. Hom. 19. in Euang. many hearers, few believers: 1 Cor. 1.22. Wee preach Chriſt crucified unto the Jewes a ſtumbling block, and unto the Greeks fooliſhneſſe; the generality of both reject Chriſt and his Doctrine, of thoſe that heare the Goſpel, ſcarce the hundreth man is a believing man, ſaith Calvin, and Chryſoſtome exceeds him in his 40. Hom. Ad pop. Antioch. hee thinks that ſcarce the thouſand man that hears the Word will be ſaved. It's conceived by ſome Expoſiters, that in Antioch were above an hundred thouſand people, and yet this Father feared that hardly an hundred of them were right: Noah preached unto the old world, and few or none hearkened. When the Jewes were in the Wilderneſſe, how few hearkened unto the voyce of the Lord of 600000, only Caleb and Joſhua hearkened, obeyed and entred into Canaan, ſet aſide all prophane hearers, all negligent ones, all forgetfull, all unbelieving and unpracticall hearers, and you ſhall find the number very few of ſaving hearers; many come to heare, but few get into heaven. And you know what Chriſt hath ſaid, That narrow is the way to life, and few there be that find it, but broad is the way to deſtruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Let Chriſt ſpeak, hee is not heard, not received, let Satan or Antichriſt do it, they are heard and followed. Joſh. 5.43. I come in my Fathers Name, and yee receive mee not; if another ſhall come in his own name, him yee will receive. When Antichriſt came hee was received, Rev. 13.3. And all the world wondred after the Beaſt and worſhipped the Beaſt, ſaying; Who is like unto the Beaſt? The Doctrine and worſhip of the Beaſt was eaſie, ſuitable to carnall ſpirits; but the Doctrine of Chriſt is ſpirituall, deep, contrary to our fleſhly and ſinfull principles; and herein the greatneſſe of the myſterie of the Goſpel is ſet out, that few do heare and believe.
2. See the infinite goodneſſe of God, that will give a Prophet to ſuch a people as this; they were rebellious, had ſleighted, rejected, abuſed all the Prophets in Canaan, 2 Chro. 36.15, 16. The Lord God ſent to them by his Meſſengers, becauſe hee had compaſſion on them, but they mocked the Meſſengers of GOD, deſpiſed his Word, and miſuſed his Prophets, untill the wrath of the Lord aroſe, and there was no remedy or healing; God ſaw nothing would do them good, but that they muſt be ruin'd by warer, be thrown into captivity, and buiried in Babylon; yet ſuch was the compaſſion and goodneſſe of God, that hee gives them a Prophet here to try them what they would do, whether they would heare and learn righteouſneſſe, God will not be overcome with mans evill, but will overcome evill with good: when the Jewes had taken Chriſt the heire, and put him to death, yet hee being riſen, powres out his Spirit upon the Apoſtles, and gives them both to Jewes and Gentiles; and Peter at a Sermon, converted ſome of thoſe that had waſht their hands in his blood; when God will, nothing ſhall hinder his mercy and kindneſſe, hee will give the choyſeſt Miniſters to the corrupteſt people.
3. That ſinners in time come to a heighth and perfection of ſinning; they were not only a rebellious houſe, but a houſe of rebellion; when it comes to the abſtract once, it's at the heighth: as there is a going on in Gods ways to perfection, Heb. 6.1.foreign. ſo there is in ſins wayes: James tels us of, ſin finiſhed, perfected. Chap. 1.15. Hence Eccleſ. 8.11. mention is made of hearts fully ſet to do evill; and Jerem. 3.5. Judah is ſaid to ſpeak and do evill, as ſhee could; and Iſrael ſins are call'd mighty ſins, Amos 5.12.Fortia peccata. foreign the originall is, bony ſins, as men when their bones are come to their full growth, are ſtrong, and men of might; ſo is it in ſinning, when ſins are come to their full growth, then are they mighty ſins; the like is that in Jer. 44.16, 17. As for the word thou haſt ſpoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee, but wee will certainly do whatſoever thing goeth out of our own mouth: to burn incenſe to the Queen of Heaven, and to powre out drink-offerings unto her, as wee have done, wee and our fathers, our Kings and our Princes, &c. this was the ſin of Judah, her whole heart and will was in it, and Iſrael was not behind: Hoſ. 2.5. I will go after my lovers that gave me my bread and my water, my wooll and my flax, mine oyle and my drink, they ſinned with greedineſſe, as they in Epheſ. 4.19. which ſets out the greatneſſe of their ſin. The Scripture calls ſuch ſinners, ſons of Belial, Judg. 19.22. Sons of Belial beſet the houſe round about where the Levite and his Concubine were, in the old mans houſe at Gibeah, they got her, and forced her to death; theſe were ſons of Belial indeed, without profit; as ſome interpret the word, without yoke, as others, that is, lawleſſe, rebellious men, men of wickedneſſe, given to wickedneſſe; as Hophni and Phineas, 1 Sam. 2.12. ſuch as Chriſt will have nothing to do with, 2 Cor. 6.15. unleſſe it be to deſtroy them.
4. That ſin is an imbittering thing; the houſe of rebellion may be turn'd the houſe of bitterneſſe, that deals bitterly with me, and imbitters my Spirit againſt them, Hoſ. 12.14. Ephraim provoked him to anger moſt bitterly, foreign Peccata ſunt amaritudines Dei. O iniquitas Peccati quae ſuavitatem Dei in amaritudinem convertit.with bitterneſſes, Ephraim ſins were ſins full of bitterneſſe; they turn Gods ſweetneſſe into bitterneſſe, his patience into wrath, his bowels into wormwood; if any thing can ſadden divine nature, and imbitter the ſame, it's ſin; What a bitter thing is it, that God ſhould be thruſt out of his Throne and Temple, and an Idoll ſet up? What a bitter thing, that the heart and conſcience, which is the ſeat of God, ſhould be the habitation of luſts and Devils? when God ſees this, it doth much imbitter his Spirit. When Chriſt hung upon the Croſſe, they gave him gall and vineger to drink; which was a bitter provocation, and when wee ſin, wee give God and Chriſt pure gall to drink, Lam. 1.18.foreign the words there are, The Lord is righteous, for I have rebell'd againſt his Commandment; the Hebrew is otherwiſe, becauſe I have made bitter his mouth, I have given him gall and wormwood to drink, a cup of rebellion and diſobedience, he is righteous in theſe bitter afflictions, becauſe I have imbittered his mouth and Spirit with my bitter ſins.Felle & amaritudine propinare Deo. God is all love, ſweetneſſe, mercy, and would not afflict and deal bitterly with us, if wee did not drinke to him in gall, provoke him by our ſins to it. Hoſ. 13.16. Samaria ſhall become deſolate, for ſhee hath rebelled againſt God, the Vulgar is,Quoniam ad amaritudinem concitavit Deum ſuum. becauſe ſhee hath ſtirred up God to bitterneſſe; and hee will deal as bitterly by her, they ſhall fall by the ſword, ſaith God, their Infants ſhall be daſhed in pieces, and their women with child ſhall be ript up. Here was great bitterneſſe wee think, but it's nothing to the bitterneſſe of our ſins, our ſins croſſe Gods will, darken his glory, murthered his Son, grieve, vex his Spirit, deface his work, and burthen him daily. There is a double bitterneſſe conſiderable about ſin, the bitterneſſe in ſin, and that for ſin; this laſt God never taſtes, but all man-kind hath, and ſhall taſte; feares, ſorrows, troubles, ſickneſſe, death, &c. but the other bitterneſſe in ſin, God alwayes taſtes it. Deut. 32.32. their grapes are grapes of gall, their cluſters are bitter, both their works and worſhip are bitter; there is hypocriſie and ſuperſtition in them, there cannot be the leaſt dram of Gall in any thing his people do, eſpecially in worſhip, but the Lord taſtes it, and diſtaſtes it; our mouths are ſo out of reliſh, that wee finde ſweet in ſin, which is gall, wormwood, yea, bitterneſſe it ſelf, Job 20.12, 13, 14. Though wickedneſſe be ſweet in his mouth, hee hides it under his tongue, keeps it, and will not forſake it; yet his meat in his bowells is turned, it is the gall of Aſp… within him: It's a metaphor from a man given to his appetite, who meeting with ſome ſweet pleaſing morſell, keeps it long in his mouth, ſucks out the ſweet, delights his ſenſe with it,Quod palatum oblectavit viſcera d ſrumpit. and lets it not go down too quickly; but when it's down, it proves a poyſoned bit; and though it pleaſed his palate, yet it torments his bowels: ſo ſin in moſt mens mouths, in their fancies and to their ſenſes is ſweet, and they roll it up and down in their thoughts, and delight themſelves in a conceited pleaſure of it, but there is the gall of Aſps in it, the bitterneſſe of death: and Solomon, who had found ſweetneſſe in the wayes of the fleſh, at laſt felt and acknowledged the bitterneſſe in ſin, and in that ſin, Eccleſ. 7.26. I finde more bitter then death, the woman whoſe heart is ſnares and nets: Prov. 5.4. her end is bitter as wormwood. The bitterneſſe in ſin will be taſted at one time or other: Jer. 2.19. It is an evill thing and bitter, that thou haſt forſaken the Lord thy God.
5. A rebellious people grow worſe by the means of grace; let them heare the Word, or have it tendred to them, they are more obſtinate, oppoſite then before; the point riſes thus: Whether they will heare or no; for they are a rebellious houſe; they will not heare, they will not receive thee, nor thy meſſage, but out of their old malice and rebellious diſpoſitions, they will be the worſe for a Prophet ſent unto them, more hardned they will be againſt thee, thy perſon, thy Doctrine, thy converſation, thy calling, they will quarrell and queſtion all. Jer. 44.16, 17. As for the word that thou haſt ſpoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee, but wee will certainly do what ever thing goeth out of our own mouth; they were the worſe for the Prophet,Facier do ſac…emus. is the Hebrew. more obſtinate and ſet againſt him, and the truths hee delivered, in doing wee will do, ſince thou haſt ſpoken to the contrary, we are more reſolved and ſet upon it. When Chriſt the great Prophet was ſent unto the Jewes, did they not grow more hard, vile, and oppoſite to him and his Doctrine? did they not queſtion his calling, and quarrell at his converſation? Luke 4.18. when Chriſt had told them that the Spirit was upon him, and that hee was ſent to preach the Goſpel, Deliverance, Liberty, the acceptable yeere, and ſpake ſo, as that they wondred at the gracious words proceeded out of his mouth; yet in the 28th verſe it's ſaid, All they that were in the Synagogue, when they heard theſe things, were filled with wrath, and roſe up, and thruſt him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill, that they might caſt him down headlong. Chriſt was a Nazaren, and yet thus would the Nazarenites have ſerved their Prophet, their Meſſiah, their own Citizen; they would have thrown him down and broke his neck and bones together, which made Ambroſe ſay,Eſt pejor magiſtro Diſcipulorum haered…tas, Ambr. That theſe men were worſe then the devill, becauſe when hee had Chriſt upon the top of the pinacle, hee offered not to throw him down, but ſaid, Throw thy ſelf down; but theſe would have thrown him down with their own hands: wicked men ſtorm and rage againſt Chriſt, his Doctrine and doings, Luke 6.11. when hee had confuted their corrupt opinions about the Sabbath, and heal'd the man with the withered hand, it's ſaid, They were filled with madneſſe, and communed one with another, what they might do to Jeſus; you may ſee how the words of Chriſt ripened their corruptions; the Goſpel is like the Sun which ripens weeds as well as corn, crabs as well as good fruit; the vine of Sodome as well as the vine of Sibnah, Deut. 32.32. Iſa. 16.8.and the Vineyards of Timnah amongſt the Philiſtines, Judg. 14.5. as the Vineyards of Engedi among the Iſraelites, Can. 1.14. And ſo the Word of God and Goſpel of Chriſt, ripens the corruptions of the rebellious as well as the graces of the regenerate; Judas treaſon, the Phariſees hypocriſie, are ripened by the Word, as well John's love and Nathaniels ſincerity: in the hotteſt countreys are the rankeſt poyſon, the moſt venimous Serpents; and in England, which is zona torrida for the means of Grace, is the bittereſt enmity to godlineſſe, here are the rankeſt Serpents that ever lived.
6. That God will leave wicked men without excuſe; it's Gods intention, they ſhall never be able to challenge mee, nor to juſtifie themſelves; Gods primary intentions where hee ſends Prophets and meanes of grace, are the good of his elect, their comfort, ſanctification and ſalvation; but his ſecondary intentions, are the inexcuſableneſſe of the wicked and their juſt damnation. Hence is it, that the Apoſtle ſaith, wee are the ſavour of life unto life, and the ſavour of death unto death, 2 Cor. 2.16. There is a ſort of men that the Goſpel is a ſweet ſavour unto, they ſmell life in it, and it revives them, it works unto life, and theſe are the elect ones; but there is another ſort, that the Goſpel is a favour of death unto, they ſmel death in it, and find deadly effects from it, they are hardned, worſned, imbittered, and ſo it works unto death: it's like a ſtrong Sent, that kills immediatly: and thoſe it proves ſo unto are the reprobate, the loſt, whoſe mindes the God of this world hath blinded, 2 Cor. 4.4. Chriſt alſo tels us, Joh. 9.39. For judgement I am come into this world, that they which ſee not might ſee, and that they which ſee might bt made blinde; his firſt aim was at thoſe under election, to do them good, to make them ſee; the ſecondary end and aim was, to make others blind; that is, ſuch as were in a reprobate condition, when God ſends his Word to any place, it ſhall, and muſt proſper in the thing whereunto hee ſends it, Iſa. 55.11. be it to win and draw, or to harden and make inexcuſable, ſee Iſa. 6.9, 10. Go and tell this people; Heare ye indeed, but underſtand not; ſee ye, but perceive not: make the heart of this people fat, make their eares heavie, and ſhut their eyes, &c. And this Scripture is ſix times in the new Teſtament repeated; intimating, that as people are hardened under the meanes, ſo they are inexcuſable, having had the means; and it's a dreadfull condition, to have Law or Goſpel, Prophets or Apoſtles, and not to thrive by them; Chriſt pronounces a woe to the Cities, Matth. 11. that had the means of Grace, and mighty works done in them, and repented not; he tells them, it ſhall be more tolerable for Sodome then for them, at the day of judgement; curſed Sodomites that were deſtroyd with ſo dreadfull a judgement from heaven ſhall find more favour at the day of judgement, and more eaſe in hell after that day, then any that have had the Goſpel and means of grace, and not profited by them; let us learn to tremble at the Word of God, heare it as the Word of God, as that Word ſhall judge us and receive the truths of God with love, leſt otherwiſe God ſends us ſtrong deluſions, and we be damn'd for not being the truth.
7. Wicked men ſhall one day be awakened, and ſee what mercy, what means, offers of grace, they have refuſed and ſleighted; they ſhall know that there hath been a Prophet amongſt them, the time ſhall come, that they ſhall ſee and feel, that I was neer, that my Word was among them, that ſalvation was at their dores; they ſhall finde mee a ſevere Judge, that would not accept of mee a tender father; men go on a long time in a careleſſe, ſleepie or ſcorning way, but when ſickneſſe comes, death is before them, and they ready to take poſſeſſion of an eternall condition, then their conſcience ſtings them, and they feel what an evill it is, that they have oppoſed, neglected, undervalued the Prophets and Sons of the Prophets. The Adulterer will be rouſed out of his pleaſing dream and ſoft bed at laſt,Prov. 5.12, 13 and ſay, How have I hated inſtruction, and my heart deſpiſed reproof, and have not obeyed the voyce of my teachers, nor inclined mine eare to them that inſtructed me? there will be ſtrong convictions in the boſome of ſuch a finner, and conſcience will ſound in his eares, and ſet upon his ſpirit thoſe truths of his teachers that formerly have been deſpiſed. When Pharaoh and the Egyptians were in the red ſea, and the old world had the flood about its eares, what languages did their conſciences ſpeak? did they not tell them, they had had Moſes and Noah, Prophets and Preachers of righteouſneſſe, and gave no ear to them? did they not ſting them to death, and make them cry out, and ſay, O that wee had hearkened to thoſe ſervants of the living God? whileſt wicked men are hearing, ſometimes their conſciences are netled and gall'd: Act. 5.17. The high Prieſt, and all with him, when they heard and ſaw what was done by the Apoſtles, they were filled with indignation; and John 8.59. the Jewes were ſo vexed at Chriſt, that they took up ſtones to caſt at him:foreign diſſerrabatur. Super Martyrem, Stephanum, dentibus colubrinis ſtridebant quem quaſi ſerpentem in corde habebant, Aug. Serm. 6. de ſanct. and thoſe that heard Stephen, Act. 7.54. they were cut to the heart, and gnaſhed on him with their teeth; with the Saw of anger, malice and envie, they were even ſawn in ſunder, and gnaſhed on him with their teeth; and if the Word were ſo terrible while they had ſhifts to evade the ſtroke of it, and comforts to allay the power of it, what would it be to them at laſt, when all ſhifts and comforts ſhould fail them? Some have confeſſed their conſciences have been ſo cudgell'd at the hearing of ſome men, as they never were in all their dayes before; others, that truths have been ſo darted into them, they could not get them out in a week, or monethmonth after; they have ſtuck like arrowes in their livers, and have been half-deaths unto them,Mortes dimidiatae. what will the Word be at laſt unto rebellious ſinners? it will arreſt them, and be moſt terrible unto them, Zach. 1.6. Did not not my words take hold of their fathers? it did, and will do in theſe dayes; John 12.48. the Word of Chriſt will judge and condemn ſinners, be an Anathema Maranatha unto them, and they ſhall know it.
8. That the Prophets ſhall be witneſſes at laſt, for or againſt their hearers: they ſhall know there hath been a Prophet amongſt them, his perſon, his pains, his truths, his life, his ſufferings, his death, will all come in for witneſſes one day; every Prophet, every Preacher that Chriſt ſends, is a witneſſe as well as an Officer or a Miniſter; Acts 26.16. I have made thee a Miniſter and a witneſſe; all faithfull Miniſters are Chriſts witneſſes, Act. 1.8. They beare witneſſe of Chriſt and his Doctrine, and if wee receive not him and his doctrine, they will be Chriſts witneſſes againſt us; when the Lord Chriſt ſhall ſay to a people, I have knockt at your dores many yeers together, but yee would not open unto me, I tendered life and ſalvation, grace and glory in my Goſpel and Ordinances, but you would none of them; you had your Farmes, Oxen, Wives to take up your thoughts, Mammon to ſerve, honour and praiſe to ſeek of one another, examples of men to follow, &c. as for mee and my Prophets, my Miniſters, you deſpiſed, or only gave the hearing, and that was all, and my charge is not falſe, here are my witneſſes; What ſay you to it? Speak, you Miniſters of ſuch a City, and ſuch a place; What, did you not preach many a Sermon, ſhed many a teare, ſwet many a drop, make many a prayer for them? did yee not earely and late watch for the good of their ſoules, &c? Yea, Lord, but they would not receive us, they would not believe our report wee made of thee, they would not take thy yoke upon them, &c. wee ſhook off the duſt of our feet againſt them. This will be dreadfull, when ſuch witneſſe of the Prophets comes in againſt hearers.