Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 7 · Verses 5-9
CHAP. VII.
5. Thus ſaith the Lord God, An evill, an onelyonly evill, behold, it is come.
6. An end is come, the end is come, it watcheth for thee, behold, it is come.
7. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwelleſt in the Land; the time is come, the day of the trouble is neer, and not the ſounding againe of the Mountaines.
8. Now will I ſhortly poure out my fury upon thee, and accompliſh mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompence thee for all thine abominations.
9. And mine eye ſhall not ſpare, neither will I have pity: I will recompenſe thee according to thy wayes, and thine abominations that are in the middeſt of thee, and yee ſhall know that I am the Lord that ſmiteth.
SOMETHING I ſhall open in theſe Verſes, not much:
In the 5. An onelyonly evill. Evill befell them before, but none like this, none ſo great, ſo deſtructive to the Jewiſh Church and State; it hath reference to that in the 5. Chap. 9. Verſ. I will doe in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not doe any more the like; No ſuch extreame and deadly deſtruction ſhall befall thee, I have one evill now left for thee, which ſhall be without all compariſon; there ſhall need none after this to make a full Ruine of thee; God hath evils to doe his will at once, and ſo it may be called an onelyonly evill: 1 Sam. 26.8. ſaith Abiſhai to David, Let me ſmite Saul with the ſpeare even to the Earth at once, and I will not ſmite him the ſecond time.foreign
At once, its the ſame word with onelyonly in this Verſe: he would utterly ſlay Saul at one ſtroke, and God with one judgement would utterly deſtroy the Jewes; ſuch a phraſe you have in Nahum 1.9. He will make an utter end, affliction ſhall not riſe up the ſecond time; God would bring ſuch a judgement upon Niniveh, that at once it ſhould be deſtroyed, a ſecond affliction ſhould not be needfull, the evill of that day ſhould be ſufficient:foreign The Caldee reads it otherwiſe, Evill after evill; ſhewing the ſucceſſion of evils that ſhould follow one after another, till they were deſtroyed: as wave follows wave, one cloud another, &c. ſo affliction ſhould come after affliction; ſinnes goe linked together, and ſo doe afflictions, Levit. 26.18, 21, 24, 28. they goe by ſevens. God can at one judgement at once, deſtroy ſinners,Hoſea 5. Kingdomes, Cities, he can at pleaſure bring many, one after another, deſtroy by degrees, be a moth, rottenneſſe, a Lyon to Iſrael and Judah, we ſhould take heed how we offend ſuch a God.
Verſe 6.It watcheth for thee:
Thou thoughteſt judgement ſlept, but it is awake, and waits for, or againſt thee, thou thoughteſt it a dead thing, but it is alive and making haſt towards thee: The Hebrew word ſignifies to be weary, foreignas if judgement were weary with ſtaying ſo long, or God weary with deferring it; now there ſhould be no more delay; it notes alſo to excite a man aſleep, one dead, as in the 2 Kings 4.31. The Child is not awaked; that is, not raiſed from the dead: So here, God had threatned them by his Prophets, Iſaiah, Jeremiah, others, many years, and they thought the Prophets words winde, becauſe nothing was done, at leaſt that ſuch a judgement would not befall them in theſe dayes, as they had foretold. Ezek. 12.21, 27. as if the judgement they ſpake of was aſleep, or as a thing dead, therefore its ſaid, it lives, is awake, and watcheth as a theife to ſpoyle, as a Lyon for a prey; and hereby is poynted out the ſuddenneſſe of its comming, and intention of God to deſtroy them.
This Verſe, the former, and that follows, are full of Divine Rhetorick, Aſyndeton, Anadiploſis, Epanalepſis, Metaphoraes, Paronomaſia, Apoſtrophe, and others, are evident in them, the Scripture hath as great Elegancie as any Authours whatſoever.
Obſer. 1 1. In caſe of peoples ſecurity, repetition of the ſame thing is neceſſary; they were feareleſſe of judgements, ſecure of their Eſtates, put farre off the evill day, and ſee how the Lord doubles and trebles his threats, An evill, an onelyonly evill, an end, the end is come, is come, is come, is come, is come, is come, ſix times, and further, behold, behold its come; the ſeverall expreſſions of the ſeaſon, the morning, the time, the day of trouble, and then it watcheth, is come, is neare, why doth the ſpirit of God repeate all thoſe, even to awaken them out of their ſecurity, to convince them, as of the certainty, ſo the ſuddenneſſe of the judgement, and to make the greater, and deeper impreſſion upon them, things once ſpoken, paſſe away, but being iterated, are like to take ſome hold of mens eares, and affections, this Prophet is very repetitious of Threats and Judgements, and preſſeth them frequently, they were neer finall deſtruction, and therefore the ſpirit of God urgeth ſuch things oft in the mouth of this Prophet, that ſo no meanes being left unattempted, he might awaken all and gaine ſome; Chriſt pronounces the ſame words eight times in one Chapter, Woe unto you Scribes Phariſes, Hypocrites, Matth. 23.13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29. to affect them with the eminencie of their danger, and others with the evill of their wayes.
Obſer. 2 2. Gods judgements may ſeeme to linger, but they doe not ſlumber, wicked men God beares with, and forbeares long, even ſo long that they thinke his judgements are layd to ſleep, or dead; as in the 2 Pet. 3.4. Where is the promiſe of his comming: For ſince the Fathers fell aſleepe, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation: There is no Chriſt to Reigne or Judge; the Flood is dryed up, and the fire to conſume the World is not yet kindled; but Verſe 10. The day of the Lord will come as a thiefe in the night, in the which the Heavens ſhall paſſe away with great noyſe, and the Element ſhall melt with fervent heat: Chap. 2. Ver. 3. Whoſe judgement lingereth not, and their damnation ſlumbereth not.
Gods judgements, what ever ſinners thinke are awake, and footing of it, and haſtening to their Ruine: That which the wicked call a lingering, and ſlumbering judgement: Gods ſpirit cals in the 1. verſe. Swift deſtruction: it will be upon them before they ſee their doings, or repent of their Sinne, Revel. 6.2, 4, 8. you ſhall finde that judgements come riding in, they make haſte.
Obſer. 3 3. That God keeps judgements quiet till he pleaſe: It may watch, but cannot walke, or worke, till he ſeale a Commiſſion; God hath variety of judgements, creatures in a readineſſe to doe him ſervice, he hath Angels, Stars, Winds, Waters, Sword, Famine, Peſtilence, &c. but no one ſtirs, till he ſay goe, they watch to heare his voice, to doe his will; they move not at the call of man, their motion is onelyonly at the appointment of their great Creator; If he bid Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, with thouſands of Babylonians to ariſe, and haſten to the Ruine of Jeruſalem, they are watchfull, ſwift, and active to execute his commands: All creatures are Gods Army, and have cauſe ſufficient to watch for the Ruine of man, becauſe mans ſin hath ſubjected them to ruine, and imbondag'd them to corruption; but here is the wiſedome, power, and mercy of God, he keeps all in their banks, and without warrant from the great Generall the Lord of Hoſts, no attempt is made againſt any.
The morning is come unto thee:
That they might be affected, he tels them, the Day is broke, the morning is come, and the day of trouble beginneth; he would have them be no longer in the darke, but to look abroad to ſee how providences were working to fulfill Proph…ſi…: The Originall word is diverſly rendered,Some thinke he alludes to the practice of the Jewes who executed Delinquents in the morning, according to that in Jer. 21.12. & Pſal. 101.8. God would early bring the Sword upon them, and there is an emphaſis in the word foreign that Morning, which was the moſt obſervable and deplorable morning that ever they had; ſuch a morning was Sodoms, when fire and brimſtone rain'd upon it, Gen. 19.23, 24. Such a morning was the King of Iſraels, Hoſ. 10.15. it comes from foreign Maturare, mane ſurgere, and ſignifies Matutinum quid, ſome morning, ſome early thing: Ex uſu Chaldaeo, and Alapide interprets it Primum germen, the firſt bud that is upon any tree, the early the morning bud: and ſo the ſenſe is, Judgements are budding, breaking forth, appearing, and as near as Spring and Summer is when a Tree buds and bloſſomes; or as the word is, The morning is come; you have thought judgement ſlept, that it was ſtill evening, not paſt midnight, but the morning is come, judgement not onelyonly watcheth, but is riſing, riſen, comming forth, and it will be early upon thee.
The Septuagint implies there was a connexion and ſeries of evills comming upon them; Aquila hath it foreign,foreign. Nexus, complicatio. proſpectionem, as if the evill they had foreſeen and feared, were now comming upon them; the Chalde Coronam, diadema, ſo the word is uſed in Iſa. 28.5. and becauſe it notes Royall power, its thought the King of Babylon is here meant; the Vulgar is Contritio, breaking into pieces,La ſentence du matin, in the margent of the French. grinding to duſt is come upon thee: Maldonat, Contractio, beſieging is come, and thou muſt be in a narrow compaſſe: Shindler, Revolutio ad te, Nebuchadnezzar ſhall returne, compaſſe thee about as a Crowne, and carry thee into Captivity.
The day of trouble is neere.
The Hebrew word notes great trouble, vexation, with tumult and deſtruction, Haiom Mebumah, or a day of ſore trouble; you may hear the Prophet Iſaiah deſcribing ſuch a day, Chap. 22.5. It is a day of trouble, and of treading downe, of perplexety by the Lord God of Hoſts in the Valley of viſion, breaking downe the Walls, and of crying to the Mountaines. God hath dayes of trouble for Kingdomes, and when they come there is great diſtreſſe and great deſtruction, 2 Chron. 15.5, 6. In thoſe times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the Inhabitants of the Countries, and Nation was deſtroyed of Nation, and City of City, for God did vex them with all adverſity: This was a time or day of trouble for Iſrael: In Scripture is mentioned a day of Calamity, Pſal. 18.18. a day of Wrath, Job 20.28. a day of Battell, Pſal. 140.7. a day of Vengeance, Jer. 46.10. a day of evill, Prov. 16.4. of Rebuke, Hoſ. 5.9. of Slaughter, Jer. 12.3. of Burning, Mal. 4.1. of Deſtruction, Job 21.30. And all theſe may be in a day of trouble.
You ſhall find many of them together in the 1 Zeph. 14▪ 15, 16, 17. where he ſpeakes of the day that Ezekiel doth: The great day of the Lord is neere, it is neere, and haſteth greatly, even the voyce of the day of the Lord; the mighty man ſhall cry there bitterly: That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and diſtreſſe, a day of waſting and deſolation, a day of darkneſſe and gloomineſſe, a day of Clouds and thick darkneſſe, a day of the Trumpet and Alarum againſt the fenced Cities, and againſt the high Towers, and I will bring diſtreſſe upon men, that they ſhall walke like blinde men, &c.
Non gloriae montium. Vulgar. Non repercuſſio montium. Montan. Non Echus montium. Jun.Not the ſounding againe of the Mountaines.
The Land of Iſrael was full of Mountaines, Pſal. 125.2. As the Mountaines are round about Jeruſalem, and Judah was a Hill Countrey, Luke 1.39. About theſe hils were their Vines planted, and it was a Land of Vines, Deut. 8.8. Iſa. 7.23. and at their Vintage, when they gathered their Grapes, they had many Labourers, who to ſweeten and facilitate their paines, made great ſhoutings,Jer. 35.30. An Eccho is a reflexion of ſounds, and is made upon walls, woods, banks, rocks, hills. Iſa. 16.10. which made the Mountains to Eccho and reſound, but now there ſhould be no joyfull ſound, but the ratling of Armes, noyſe of Charets, neighing of Horſes, cry of Souldiers, theſe ſhould be heard in the Mountaines: Or thus, upon the Hils and Mountaines they had their Idols and Altars, Chap. 6.13. and where Idolaters ſacrificed, there they had their Muſick, Songs, and Dances, which made the Mountaines to ring, and were as the glory of them, but now, there ſhould be a day of ſl…ughter, and dreadfull clamour of enemies ſhould be in the Mountaines, the glory of them ſtained with the blood of men ſlaine, there ſhould be groaning, mourning, howling, ſchreeking of men and women wounded and wronged.
Or thus, you thinke all threats empty ſounds, as an Eccho from a Mountaine, which preſently vaniſheth, but you ſhall find the day of trouble no Eccho worke, it will be reall, and make you in the bitterneſſe of your ſpirits cry to Rockes and Mountaines, and ſeek to hide your ſelves in the clifts of them.
Ver. 8.The eighth Verſe hath formerly been opened, onelyonly you have Powring out of Fury, for accompliſhing fury, Chap. 5.13. and it is the ſame for ſubſtance; God would not hold in his fury any longer, he would give full ſcope unto it, freely, fully, ſtrongly would he proceed in his fury againſt them, all which are included in the word Powre out.
So for the ninth Verſe, I am the Lord that ſmiteth: You thinke it is the Chaldeans the ſecond cauſe, but ye ſhall know that it is the Lord himſelfe.