Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 9 · Verse 8
VERS. 8.
And it came to paſſe while they were ſlaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cryed, and ſaid, Ah Lord God, wilt thou deſtroy all the reſidue of Iſrael, in the pouring out of thy fury upon Jeruſalem.
THis verſe is the ſecond generall head of the Chapter, and contains the Prophets interceſſion for Iſrael, when he ſaw what bloody doings was in the Temple and City by the ſlaughter-Angels, he is affected therewith, he cannot hold, but falls down, and cryes out, Ah Lord God, &c.
In the verſe you may conſider,
1. The occaſion of the Prophets interceding, or moving cauſe thereof, which is double.
1. The peoples ſlaughter.
2. His owne ſolitarineſſe, I was left.
2. The circumſtances or adjuncts thereof, which are
1. Falling upon his face.
2. Crying.
3. The interceſſion it ſelfe; where you have,
1. A patheticall invocation of God: Ah Lord God.
2. An efficatious deprecation of judgement, wilt thou deſtroy all the reſidue, &c.
For opening of the words,
1. We muſt enquire how the Prophet here ſaith, I was left. There were many ſeal'd and ſpar'd, which makes the difficulty; Some think the Septuagint paſſed by theſe words, and left them out, left they ſhould ſeem contrary to what went before. Theodoret adds foreign, I was left alone; but the Hebrew is, I was left. foreignFor underſtanding of this phraſe, you may take notice that its uſuall in Scripture, when great deſtructions are, to ſay few or none are left, Judg. 4.16. All the hoſt of Siſera fell upon the edge of the ſword, and there was not a man left; yet Siſera, if no others was fled: So in 1 Kings 19.14. Elijah ſaith, They have ſlain thy Prophets with the ſword, and I, even I onelyonly am left, when there were 7000. that bowed not their knees to Baal: If this ſatisfie not.
2. I was left: That is, left with the ſeal'd ones, all were deſtroyed beſides: or,
3. Of theſe in the Temple, or belonging to it, I was left. Our Prophet ſaw them all ſlain, and the ſlaughter-men were gone out into the City, and there they were deſtroying: and as they had ſpared none in the Temple, ſo he might feare there would be few ſpared in the City. and ſo ſafely ſay, I am left.
That they in the Temple were not ſpar'd, appeares thus, they were not ſeal'd, and all ſuch were to ſuffer; the deſtroyers commiſſion was not to come neare the mark'd ones, but to ſlay without pitty all others: And beſides, the man that mark'd them was bid to goe through the City and mark there, not to come at the Temple at all, there were none to be mark'd, there they practiſed & juſtified abhominations, they did not mourn for them: Thoſe had to doe with the holy things were moſt unholy, and ſuffered in the Temple; yet it's not ſafe to think, or ſay, that all the Leviticall race were cut off at this time, and in this place; for Jer. 52.24. Seraiah the chiefe Prieſt, and Zephaniah the 2d Prieſt, and three keepers of the door, with others, were carryed to the King of Babylon, and put to death in Riblath.
I fell upon my face.
Falling upon the face in order to prayer, notes great ſorrow and humiliation, Numb. 14.5. when the people would make a Captaine, and return to Aegypt, Moſes and Aaron fell on their faces before the Aſſembly; they were deeply affected with that evil. So Moſes, when hee heard what Corah, and thoſe of his faction ſaid, he fell upon his face, Numb. 16.4. And Joſhuah, when Iſrael fell through Achans ſin, he fals to the earth upon his face, & prayes. Chap. 7.6. Sometimes they ſtood and prayed, 1 Kings 8.22. Sometimes fitting, Neh. 1.4. So Chriſt ſitteth at the right hand of God, and makes interceſſion for us. Sometimes kneeling, Dan. 6.10. Sometimes proſtrate upon their faces, as here; and when it comes to this poſture, it argues great griefe and ſorrow, as in Chriſt, Matth. 26.38. My ſoule is exceeding ſorrowfull: And v. 39. He fell on his face and prayed. So Ezekiel being fill'd with ſorrow that all ſorts were now a ſlaying, that no mercy muſt be ſhewed, he falls upon his face and cries out;
Ah Lord God:
The Hebrew, foreign is a token of griefe, and uſed in ſuch caſes, as they cryed out for griefe, Jer. 1.6.4.10. and is ſometime expreſt by alas, Joſh. 7.7. Judg. 6.22. Joel 1.15. Sometimes by woe, as Ezek. 30.2. Woe worth the day, where it's foreign for foreign.
Lord God foreign.
Theſe be two chiefe names of the moſt High, the one noting his Dominion, the other his Eſſence; the Prophet had an eye to theſe, ſeeing God about to deſtroy, as if hee ſhould have ſaid, thou haſt being of thy ſelfe, and haſt given being to theſe; thou that art Soveraign over all, and canſt call backe the deſtroyers, ah Lord God doe it.
Its Jehovih, not Jehovah, and ſome obſerve that its uſed ſo, when the ſervants of God were moſt intenſe and affected in prayer, as in Deut. 3.24.9.26. and Gen. 15.28. in which places its Jehovih, and both Abraham and Moſes were exceeding earneſt with God.
Wilt thou deſtroy all the reſidue in Iſrael, &c.
This deprecation is very argumentative, and hath many conſiderations to divert God from deſtroing of them.
The firſt lyeth in the word Thou; wilt thou who haſt choſen Sion, and ſaid it ſhould be thy reſt for ever, Pſal. 132.13, 14. Wilt thou who haſt made a Covenant with the p ople, and tweareſt by thy holineſſe to David, that his ſeede ſh uld endure for ever as the Sunne and Moone, Pſal. 89.35, 36, 37. Wilt thou who promiſedſt Abraham that in his ſeede all the nations of the earth ſhould be bleſſed, wilt thou now diſannull thy promiſes, breake Covenant, and ſhew thy ſelfe forgetfull of all, yea unfaithfull?
The 2d is in the word Deſtroy; what? will nothing ſuffice but deſtruction? thou ſaidſt, If they brake thy Statutes, and kept not thy commandements, that thou wouldſt viſit their tranſgreſſion with the rod, and their iniquity with ſtripes, but thy loving kindneſſe thou wouldſt not utterly take from them, nor ſuffer thy faithfullneſs to faile, Pſal. 89.31, 32, 33. But if thou deſtroy and that without pitty, mercy, where is thy loving kindeneſſe, where is thy faithfulneſſe?
3d. Is in the word Iſrael, which was a moving word, and put God in mind how deare they had been unto him. Iſrael was his Sonne, his Firſt-borne, Exod. 4 22. His choſen ones, Iſa. 44.1. His glory, Iſa. 46.13. Iſrael he had brought out of Aegypt, and done great things for, Exod. 18.1.8, 9. Its Iſrael is ſo deare to thee, whom thou haſt done ſo much for, and wilt thou deſtroy Iſrael? Iſrael here is put for Judah, by a ſynechdoche.
4. In the reſidue of Iſrael, there be ten tribes gone already into captivity; yea, a great part of th'other two tribes are now in Babylon, and wilt not thou have compaſſion on the little remnant that is remaining?
5. All the reſidue: What? ſhall all of them be deſtroyed, and utterly? man, woman, childe, they are all ſlain in the Temple, moſt in the City? Didſt not thou bid me bind up a few hairs in my skirts, Chap. 5.3. thereby typifying out that ſome ſhould be ſaved? Didſt not thou tell me, Chap. 6.8. Yet will I leave a remnant? and what now Lord, muſt all the reſidue be cut off? I be a lying Prophet, and thou falſe in thy word? O doe it not, doe it not.
6. In powring out of thy fury, it notes emptying of himſelfe, as clouds, vials, buckets, when all is in them is powred out, and the argument runs thus; Lord, muſt all thy fury be powred out at once? where are thy bowels, thy mercies, thou ſayeſt thou reſerveſt wrath for thine enemies, Nahum 1.2. wilt thou powr it all out upon thy people, and reſerve none for heathens, for thine adverſaries, for whom properly thy fury is, Iſa. 59.18. O reſerve thy wrath for them, and powr it not out upon us.
7. Ʋpon Jeruſalem: This is the place thou choſeſt, and where thou didſt ſet thy name, 2 Kings 23.27. This City was the perfection of beauty, and joy of the whole earth, Lam. 2.15. The City of God the great King, and Lord of Hoſts, Pſal. 48.1.28. The holy Citie, Iſa. 52.1. It had the holy Temple, the holy Ark, the holy Sacrifices and Ordinances, the holy Prieſts and Prophets, the holy Law. Here only was God known, and his name great; Lord, wilt thou powr out thy wrath upon Jeruſalem, thou wilt then have no place left thee in the world to be worſhipped in; what will become of thy name, thy glory, all thy holy things. Thou wilt have no Church, no people, no praiſe in the earth: Nay, the adverſary will mocke and blaſpheme, and what will the mark'd ones think and ſay, when Jeruſalem is laid waſt, the pledge of their hope, may they not ſay we looked for light, but behold darkneſſe, we expected a Meſſiiah, but our hopes are cut off, we have our lives for a prey, and that is all.
The godly doe ſympathize with the miſeries of others,Obſer. 1. the Prophet here is affected greatly with the judgements of God upon this people: When the Prophets told them of Gods judgements comming upon them, they thought hardly of the Prophets, they could not heare them, 2 Chron. 36.16. they conceiv'd the Prophets hated them, and meant them no good; but when the things they fore-told came to paſſe, they pittied them, and mourned for them: Ezekiel through deepe ſenſe of their ſlaughter, falls downe, and ſhed tears as they ſhed blood: their bodies were wounded, and his heart was wounded, wounded for their ſins, wounded for Gods wrath and heavy judgements were now upon them, Jer. 9.1. Oh that my head were waters, & mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weepe day and night for the ſlaine of the daughter of my people. Jeremiah ſo ſympathiz'd with them, that he had a mind neither to eate, drink, or ſleep, but only to weep night and day; tears ſhould be his meat, drink, and ſleep. Such a ſympathizing man was Moſes, Deut. 9 12, 13. When the people had ſin'd in making them a Calviſh god, and Gods wrath was comming out to their deſtruction, what did Moſes, verſ. 18. Hee fell downe before the Lord forty dayes and forty nights, and did neither eate bread, nor drinke water, becauſe the people had ſin'd, and provoked God to anger. Here was a man affected with their miſeries, (I was afraid ſaith he, of the anger and hot diſpleaſure wherewith the Lord was wrath againſt you to deſtroy you.) Forty dayes did Moſes mourn for them, and humble himſelfe: and this kind of mourning 40. dayes in caſe of judgement, ſome think riſeth from Gods raining upon the world 40. dayes, and 40. nights. Anſwerable to which, Moſes, Eliah, and Chriſt faſted, mourned and prayed, and ſo to Nineveh 40. days was given them to prevent their deſtruction.
This duty of ſympathizing with others in their miſery, was Davids practiſe; though they were wicked, and rewarded him evill, yet if they were in miſery, Pſalm 35.11. he would ſhare in it. When they were ſicke, his cloathing was ſack-cloath, he humbled his ſoule with faſting. Wicked men laugh and are glad at the miſeries of the godly, but the godly ſigh and mourn at, and for the miſeries of the wicked, they remember the Apoſtolicall command, Rom. 12.15. Weepe with them that weepe, that will be ſome eaſe to them to ſee others ſenſible of their condition. This makes them like to Chriſt himſelfe, Heb. 4.15. Hee is touched with our infirmities. Judgements are upon the Kingdome: many of Gods deare ſervants as well as others ſuffer hard things.
1. Take notice of their grievances, burthens, dangers.
2. Mind them.
3. Be tender affectioned towards them.
And 4. helpe them what you can, and this is true ſympathy.
2. The ſervants of God that draw neere him in time of his judgements, are conſcious to themſelves of their own weakneſſe, ſinfulneſſe, and unworthineſſe. Ezekiel fals down upon his face as unworthy to look upon the great and glorious God, his own ſins and infirmities made him hide his face, & the great wrath of God againſt his people made him tremble. When Abraham parlied with the Lord, being about to deſtroy Sodom, he remembred that he was duſt and aſhes, Gen. 18.27. God is terrible in judgment, & humility is the beſt poſture an angry God can finde any in; when wee lye proſtrate at his feete he will not deſtroy us.
3. Thoſe are faithfull meſſengers of God will deprecate judgments when they are comming upon the people. Ah Lord God, wilt thou, &c. So did Moſes that was faithfull in Gods houſe, Exod. 32.11, 12, 13.32. where hee uſes ſtrong arguments to preſſe the Lord to forgive their ſins, to divert his wrath, and to ſpare their lives, or elſe to blot him out of his booke. Joſhuah and the Elders of Iſrael lie upon their faces, put duſt upon their heads, and pray earneſtly to God not to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites, and to remember his great name, Joſh. 7.6, 7.9. Samuel thought it a ſin for him not to pray for the people when they were in danger of deſtruction, 1 Sam. 12.19.23. God forbid that I ſhould ſinne in ceaſing to pray for you. Hee had done it, and would ſtill doe it, and if poſſible, turne away the diſpleaſure of the moſt High. Jehoſhaphat, when a great Army was comming upon them, and ready to over-runne all, hee makes an effectuall prayer, produceth ſtrong arguments, which you may read, 2 Chron. 20.6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. from Gods power in heaven and earth, from the experience they had of him, in driving our enemies, and giving them the Land, from the Sanctuary built for honour of his Name, and his promiſe to heare prayer there; from the ſpring of the enemies when they came out of Aegypt, and their intentions now to caſt them out of Gods poſſeſſion, and then concludes with a conquering argument of faith: O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have not might againſt this great company that commeth againſt us: neither know we what to doe, but our eyes are upon thee. He firſt overcame God by his mighty prayer, and then overcame the enemies. Jeremie ſeeing a great famine upon the people, he ſees upon God, Ch. 14.7, 8.9. O Lord, though our iniquities teſtifie againſt us, doe thou it for thy names ſake: O the hope of Iſrael, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why ſhouldſt thou be as a ſtranger in the land, & as a wayfaring man that turns aſide to tarry for a night. Why ſhouldſt thou be as a man aſtonied, as a mighty man that cannot ſave. Yet thou O Lord art in the middeſt of us, and we are called by thy name, leave us not. Doe not according to our ſinnes, but thy Name, thou art the hope of Iſrael, and it hath been thine office, worke, to ſave Iſrael, why ſhouldſt thou be a ſtranger, as if thou hadſt nothing to doe, no right in us.
4. Gods judgements puzzle even Prophets, they ſee not into the equity and depths of them: Now that all were ſlaine in the Temple, the Citie, and all in it ruining, the Prophet is aſtonied, and knows not what to make of it, that wrath ſhould be ſo fully powred upon Jeruſalem; that God would leave himſelfe no people, no place to be worſhipped in, fruſtrate the hopes of his people touching the promiſed ſeede, and make void all promiſes thereabout, and give up the holy land to prophane uncircumciſed wretches, this puzzl'd him.
There is ſomething ever in Gods judgements which wee cannot reach, and then becauſe they proceede croſſe to our wills, expectations, deſires, wee are ready to think hardly of them, and boile in our ſpirits againſt heaven; but we muſt remember Gods wayes are not ours, he is ever righteous in his judgements, though we ſee not the reaſon thereof, Pſal. 36.6. Thy judgements are a great deepe. Some referre it to providence, thus, mens ſins are a deep ſea of wickedneſſe, yet Gods providence is a greater deepe, which orders them, ſinners, and all things.
Others take it literally; Gods judgements in puniſhing ſinnes is ſuch a depth that no humane underſtanding can ſound: Our Prophet could not doe it, neither the Apoſtles, and therefore cryes out, how unſearcheable are his judgements.
foreign.When States, Churches, or perſons ſuffer hard things, let us not thinke them wrong'd, they ſuffer not more then they deſerve, no nor ſo much, Ezra 9.13. Thou haſt puniſhed us leſſe then our iniquities.