Exposition of Ezekiel 1-5, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 3 · Verse 25
VER. 25.
But thou O Sonne of man, behold they ſhall put bands upon thee, and ſhall binde thee with them, and thou ſhalt not goe out amongst them.
THis verſe ſpeaks of the bands impos'd upon the Prophet, and what theſe were, we muſt inquire. The word is Gnavothim, foreignwhich the Syriack renders catenae, chains, the Vulgar vincula, bands, Montanus, funes ropes, and not any ropes, but funes contorti adeoque denſi, thick twiſted ropes, as the originall ſignifies. Now theſe ropes or bands be taken literally by ſome, and metaphorically by others.
Literally thus: They ſeeing the Prophet ſad ſeven dayes, and now aſtoniſhed at what he had ſeene and heard, and obſerving ſome ſtrange looks and carriages from him, they thought he was or would be beſides himſelfe, and therefore they bound him; it was a conceit among Jewes and Gentiles, that Prophets were a kinde of mad-men. Hoſ. 9.7. The ſpirituall man, or as the Hebrew is, the man of the Spirit is mad; they thought him out of his wits; our Prophet had received the Spirit of Chriſt, and that wrought in him, and the people might be apt enough to judge him a mad man. 2 King. 9.11. When a Prophet came to anoint Jehu, ſaid his Companions, Wherefore cometh this mad fellow? Prophets were reputed mad fellows, and that not onelyonly by the Jewes, but by Gentiles alſo. Plato in Phaedro ſaith, Quidam divino beneficio ſunt infani, Martyr in 2 King. 9.11. K…mchi thinks that the Prophets were ſo call'd quod dum vaticinarentur ſpeciem praeferrent hominis alienati cum à mente, tum à ſenſibus.ut Prophetae & Sibyllae, and Tullie in his 2. Book de divinationibus, Quid habet authoritatis furor iſte quem Divinum vocatis, ut quae ſapiens non videt ea videat inſanus, & is qui humanos ſenſus amiſerit, divinos aſſecutus ſit: & vaticinari idem ſit quod inſanire. This opinion was alſo in the Apoſtles time, Act. 26.24. Feſtus the Governour of Syria tells Paul, that he was beſides himſelfe, that much learning had made him mad.
In the Metaphoricall ſenſe take it thus; The Jewes cannot endure thee, nor thy prophecy, they are ſo bitter, ſo rebellious, obſtinate, and ſet againſt thee, that they will not ſuffer thee to look out of doores, and come among them, they decline thee and thy prophecy, they will not endure either of them, and ſo thou art as a priſoner and man in bands; not that he had any materiall bands upon him, but was bound up in this ſenſe; their ſinnes were the Prophets bonds; and we may take up this obſervation from it; That peoples ſinnes doe impriſon and imbondage the ſpirits of the Prophets, and ſo hinder the courſe of the word. This Paul knew, and therefore requeſts the Coloſsians to pray, That God would open to him and others a doore of utterance, Col. 4.3. that they might not be ſtraitned in the work of their Miniſtery; Mens ſinnes doe ſilence the Miniſters, and ſend them to priſons; if you look not well to it, your ſinnes may quickly make this good.
I incline to the literall ſenſe, and then it's doubtfull who bound the Prophet; They ſhall put bands, &c. Not the Angels; though God uſe them in the Government of the world, yet we finde not that God uſes them to binde his Prophets. Some conceive it to be his friends and familiar acquaintance, and that it was done in love; if others had done it, they would have left him in cuſtody other where, then in his own houſe; but without prejudice to any I conceive it came from the people, who either bound him, or beſpake his binding. And my ground for it is this; He is made a Watchman to the Houſe of Iſrael; in that capacitie and relation the Lord ſpeaks unto him; here is no mention of any domeſtick friends, but of the people, it was they without, not they within; as is cleare from the words, They ſhall put bands upon thee, and thou ſhalt not goe out among them.
Obſerv. 1. Chriſt deales fairely, not fraudulently with his, he tells them at firſt what they muſt expect, not gold and ſilver, but bands and chaines, They ſhall binde thee. He told Jeremy, they ſhall fight againſt him, Jerem. 1.19. So Paul no ſooner is called to preaching, but he heares of ſuffering, Act. 9.16. I will ſhew him how great things he muſt ſuffer; and Mat. 24.9. Chriſt tells all the Apoſtles, that they muſt be afflicted, hated, killed; and this he doth in faithfulneſſe, love, and wiſdome, that they might not be deceived in looking for other kinde of entertainment in the world; that they might not have hard thoughts of him for hiding away ſuch things from them, that they might be confirm'd againſt ſuch evills when they fell out, and remember it was no more then the Lord foretold them of, Job. 16.2. They ſhall put you out of the Synagogues; yea, they ſhall kill you, and think they do God good ſervice: and ver. 4. Theſe things have I told you, that you may remember I told you of them when the time comes.
2. No excellency exempts a Prophet from the malice of mens tongues and hands; Ezekiel is immediately call'd and ſent by Chriſt, ſees extraordinary Viſions, hath much converſe with Chriſt, is fill'd with the Spirit, yet all this keeps him not out of bands, they ſpake evill of him, and bound him. Chriſt himſelf was all excellency beauty, goodneſſe, yet theſe preſerved him not out of the hands of malice; there's nothing will ſatisfie it, but mens liberties and lives, malice feeds on ſuch dainties.
3. The generality of people are enemies to their own good, and active to their own ruine: the houſe of Iſrael they are againſt the Prophet, they fetter and chain him up, and think they have done well, to make him ſecure from coming amongſt them; and alas, what have they done? thruſt away the phyſician ſhould cure them, ſhut out mercy by ſhutting up a Prophet, put out the light; and now are there not droves and multitudes of people that would think it a happineſſe to get all the Prophets ſilenced, impriſoned, baniſhed, if not more? they would live in darkneſſe, and die in darkneſſe, and ſo undo themſelves for ever. Chriſt the great Prophet, the people, after all his precious Sermons and glorious miracles, cry, Away with this man, Crucifie him, crucifie him, Luke 23.18, 21. They had cryed Hoſanna formerly, but now the time being turn'd, they turn againſt Chriſt: there be many that ſhew ſome kindneſſe outwardly to the Prophets, but inwardly they are againſt them.
4. Wicked ones deal ſeverely, cruelly with the Prophets, when they fall into their hands; they put bands, not one or two, but many bands upon Ezekiel; and they were wreathed, twiſted, heavie, thick bands, ſuch as might not only hold, but hurt and pain the Prophet: when Ahab had got Micaiah into his hands, he ſends him to priſon, and commands him to be fed with bread and water of affliction, that is, with ſo little and ſo unſavory, ut longam potius mortem trahat, quam vitam ſuſtentet, hee would kill him, non brevi morte, ſed lenta fame. Jeremiah, the Princes are wroth with him, ſmite him, put him in the priſon, Jer. 37.15. yea, into the dungeon where he ſunk into deep mire, and had periſhed, if Ebedmelech an Ethiopian, had not been more propitious to him, then his own countreymen the Jewes were, Jer. 38.6, 7. Joſephus ſaith,Antiq. 10. they put him into a muddy pit, ut ibi praefocatus moreretur, which might eaſily have been, for he was uſque ad collum merſus; others think they aimed not at his preſent death, but thought, paedore & fame, lingeringly to conſume him: Peter, when he fell into Herods hands, he was bound with two chaines, Acts 12.6. You may obſerve ſomething in that verſe; there is a priſon, chains, ſouldiers, keepers, all theſe mentioned in it; which ſhew the ſeverity of Herod. A bare priſon had been too much for ſuch an Apoſtle, but he muſt be chain'd, and with two chaines; and for feare he ſhould get out of his chaines, hee muſt be between two ſouldiers, which probably were more afflictive to his ſpirit with their oaths, &c. then the iron was to his body; and leſt hee ſhould get from theſe, there was alſo the keepers at the dore, watching. Paul tels you how he was handled by wicked men: 2 Cor. 11.23, 24. In ſtripes above meaſure, in priſons frequent, in deaths oft; of the Jewes five times received I forty ſtripes ſave one, thrice beaten with rods, once ſtoned, thrice ſhipwrackt.
5. Afflictive conditions ſeldome better mens ſpirits, they were in Babylon under captivity, and five yeeers paſſed in that condition, Chapt. 1.2. and yet their proud hearts not humbled, their old enmity to the Prophets not worn out, 2 Chron. 36.15, 16, 17. God ſent them meſſengers, Prophets, and they mocked them, miſuſed them, till the wrath came, and there was no remedy; and therefore he brought upon them the Chaldeans, who led them into captivity, where they were ſervants and ſlaves; their wronging of the Prophets was the cauſe of their ſuffering, and yet all their ſufferings did not ſubdue their ſpirits, and work them to entertain the truth, and walk peaceably towards the Prophet; they bind him in the land of bondage: the Plough breaks the earth in many places, but doth not better it, but leaves it as it was, nothing is put in by the Plough; if the Maſter dung it, and ſow good ſeed in it, when the Plough hath broken it, then there is like to be a harveſt, but if nothing be ſown, weeds, nettles, thorns will grow where the Plough hath been; and ſo afflictions may break our eſtates, our bodies, our ſleep, yet if nothing be added, if God do not ſanctifie them, the harveſt will be tares, and not wheat.
6. It's no new thing for Prophets and Miniſters to be roughly intreated, and laid by as uſeleſſe things: Ezekiel 400. yeeres before Chriſt, is ſhut up, bound, kept from coming among the people, and this miſery hath befallen the Prophets in ſeverall ages, 1 Kin. 18.4. Jezabel cut off the Prophets, and then they were hid by fifties in caves; Jeremy was ſhut up in the priſon in the Kings Court, Jer. 32.2. moſt of the Prophets and Apoſtles were reſtrained from their publique imployments, ſhut up in priſons, baniſht or driven into corners, and that proves oft a great ſadding to ingenuous ſpirits, not ſo much in that they ſuffer, but becauſe they are out of imployment, but let thoſe are in ſuch conditions, or may ſhortly be, conſider it's no ſtrange unwonted thing, ſuch afflictions have been formerly, 1 Pet. 5.9. The ſame afflictions are accompliſhed in your brethren that are in the world; beſides, God hath need of no men, nor any of their parts.