Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 11 · Verse 12
VERS. 12.
And yee ſhall know that I am the Lord, &c.
IN this verſe is the end and ground of Gods judgements; you have the firſt words of the verſe oft before, eſpecially in Chap. 6. v. 7.10.13, 14. And thoſe words, ye have not walked in my ſtatutes, neither executed my judgements, you had opened, Chap. 5.6. One thing in this verſ. muſt be ſpoke unto: It's ſaid, Chap. 5.7. Neither have done according to the judgement of the Nations that are round about you. And here it is, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. The difficulty is not great in the 5. Chap. they were not ſo righteous and juſt as the heathens were, and here they followed the manners of the heathen; what corrupt manners they had, thoſe the Jews took up, their manners of worſhip and of life.
Obſer. 1 The ſcope and end of Gods judgements is to convince the wicked that hee is the Lord: Yee ſhall know that I am the Lord. You have caſt me off, taken in other gods, worſhipped the Sun, and formes of creeping things; but I will bring heavy judgements upon you, carry you out of this City to the borders of Iſrael, ſlay you with the ſword: and when you are in the hands of your enemies, you ſhall know experimentally that I am the Lord, that all other gods were falſe and idoll gods, that they were not able to ſave you in time of trouble, that you have don exceeding ill to provoke me, who am Jehovah the true and onelyonly God, who have all power in my hands, & will now make good my threats upon their heads and carkaſſes, your conſciences ſhall tell you, will you, …ill you, that I am righteous in my proceedings, and that themſelves dye juſtly by my ſtroaks.
2. God therefore puniſheth, becauſe men doe wickedly. I will judge you in the border of Iſrael, and ye ſhall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in my ſtatutes, neither executed my judgements, &c. God hath a ſpeciall eye to his own ſtatutes and judgements; when they are kept and performed, he proſpers, but when they are violated, he judgeth, he deſtroyes. Gods ſtatutes and judgements come from infinite wiſdome and holineſſe, they are good, equall, profitable: and for the ſonnes of men that depend upon God every moment for their lives and beings, to neglect the Lords ſtatutes, to tranſgreſſe them, and doe after their owne wills, humours, fancies, or others, this is unſpeakable wrong to God, and he hath, doth, and will viſit for ſuch wrongs: If men would not be broken with his judgements, let them not break his ſtatutes; if they would ſecure their lives, let them walk in his lawes.
3. The Lords owne people are prone to take up the manners and cuſtomes of other Nations. Yee have done after the manner of the heathen: and not one heatheniſh nation only, but of all round about you; they obſerved their manners of life, and manners of worſhip, liked, fetched them in, and practiſed the ſame. 2 Chron. 13.9. They made them Prieſts after the manner of the nations of other lands. Pſal. 106.35. They mingled with the heathen, and learned their workes and wayes. 2 Kings 16.3. Ahaz cauſed his ſonne to paſſe through the fire, according to the abhomination of the heathen: they would have a King to judge them, like all the Nations, 1 Sam 8.5.20.
Ezek. 20.32. Wee will be as the heathen, as the families of the Countries. Such conformity had they with the heathen, that Moab and Seir could ſay, Ezek. 25.8. Behold, the houſe of Judah is like to all the heathen.
4. When Gods people take up the manners of heathens, and Nations hatefull to God, it provokes him greatly, and aggravates the evill much.
In this caſe, 1. They reject Gods ſtatutes and wayes, they laid them by, and walked not in them; yet Deut. 4.8. No nation under heaven had ſtatutes and judgements ſo righteous as they. 2 Kings 17.15. They rejected his ſtatutes, & his commandements, his teſtimonies; they followed vanity, and went after the heathen that were round about them. It was as if men ſhould lay aſide the Bible, and take the Turkiſh Alcaron, or Popiſh maſſe-book.
2. There was a prohibition, that they ſhould not doe after the wayes of the heathens. Deut. 12.30. Take heed thou be not ſnared by following them, and that thou enquire not after their gods, Jer. 10.2. Lerrn not the way of the heathen.ſaying, how did theſe nations ſerve their gods? even ſo will I doe, v. 31. Thou ſhalt not doe ſo, &c. And 2 K. 17.15. The Lord had charged them that they ſhould not doe like the heathen.
3. God puniſhed the heathens for thoſe practiſes they tooke up, ſee Levit. 18.24, 25, 26.28. Deut. 12.29, 30. he caſt them out before their eyes, 2 K. 16.3.