Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 11 · Verse 18 – Verse 19
VERS. 18.
And they ſhall come thither, and they ſhall take away all the deteſtable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof from thence.
GOd doth not only promiſe them, that they ſhall returne to their owne Land, but alſo tells them, what they ſhall doe there, Take away the deteſtable things, and abominations thereof.
Deteſtable things.
The Septuagint renders it, and ſo the word for abomination, foreign. Aecol…mp. ſpurcitias. Tig. & Lavat. contaminationes. Caſt. ſcelera. Fr. Toutes ſes in…ametes; all things make infamous, Vulgar, Omnes offenſiones: Calvin, Omnia idola: And Idols are deteſtable things, as I ſhewed when I opened the 5. Chap. 11. One thing I ſhall add, and that is, Shikku…ziru, here rendered deteſtable, by our Tranſlators, is the ſame word in Dan. 9.27.12.11. where i…s tranſlated Abominations: And Matth. 24.15. foreign, Which ſome interpret of the Roman Souldiers, prophaning the Temple with blood, and brutiſh actions: Others of Antichriſt, ſitting in the Temple, and worſhipped as God; and others of Idols, brought in, and ſet up there.
Abominations.
Flagitia; Caſtal. This word was largely opened in the 5. Chap. 9. Verſ. Notorious ſinnes of all kinds, are called in the Scripture ſenſe, Abominations; things to be abhorred: So Rom. 2.22. foreign, Thou that abhorreſt Idolls. Idolls and Idolatries are abominable, 1 Pet. 4.3.
Obſer. 1.What the Lord promiſes that ſhall be performed; he had ſayd in the former Verſ. I will give them the Land of Iſrael: And here he ſaith, They ſhall come thither: What obſtructions ſoever may be in the way, what power ſoever oppoſe, yet the Lord having promiſed it, he would make it good: God is gracious in promiſing, faithfull in keeping promiſe, and powerfull in performing his promiſes: You may ſee it made good, Ezra 1.2, 3. God ſtirred up the ſpirit of Cyrus to make a Proclamation, for the Jewes to goe to their own Land, and then he ſtirred up the ſpirits of the people to goe, Verſ. 5. their ſpirits were downe, they were heartleſſe and hopeleſſe many of them, but God rayſed their ſpirits to goe up to Jeruſalem; the word is foreign Evigilavit ſuſcitavit, they were aſleep, and God dealt with them, as we with ſleepy men; they had their objections, but God took them all away, and raiſed their ſpirits above all difficulties, and cauſed them to haſten to their Countrey, and the worke he had for them: God hath promiſed a new Jeruſalem, that he will dwell with men, and be their God, wipe away all teares from their eyes, that there ſhal be no more death, ſorrow, crying, paine, Revel. 21.2, 3, 4. That the Nations of thoſe are ſaved ſhall walke in the light of that City, that Kings ſhall bring the glory and honour of the Nations into it; that onelyonly thoſe which are written in the Lambs Book ſhall enter; this will be a glorious time, God hath promiſed it, he is faithfull, and able to performe it.
2. When judgements and mercies are ſanctified to a people, they will produce anſwerable effects; they had had ſore judgements in Babylon, for Seventy yeares, and when they were brought out of that furnace into this pleaſant Land, which was a great deliverance; when they were come thither, what ſhould they doe? Take away the deteſtable things, the abominations therein. The fruit of that affliction, and the deliverance out of it, evidenced that their judgements and mercies were ſanctified.
1. They repented of their Idolatry and ſinfull practiſes, which had layd the Land waſt; which is ſuppoſed in the words. They would never have taken away the deteſtable things, had not their hearts been broken for them.
2. They reforme, when they come into the Land, they take away the deteſtable things; they are bitter againſt their maſter-ſin, and ſerve it as it ſerved them; their deteſtable things had taken them away out of the Land, Jer. 44.22. and they fall upon the deteſtable things preſently, and take them away, and what elſe they apprehended offended God; not onelyonly Idols did they take away, but reformed alſo the marriage of ſtrange Wives, Ezra 10. in point of Uſury, Nehem. 5. and prophaning of the Sabbath, Nehem. 13.
3. They ſhew themſelves ſyncere in it, they ſpare none but take away all deteſtable things: all abominations, Joſh, 24.14. It's ſyncerity to put away falſe Gods, and eſpecially all of them.
4. They endeavoured, to worſhip God purely, without any corruptions or mixtures of their owne. They put away all deteſtable things, all abominations, they labour'd to have onelyonly what was Divine, and ſo what was pleaſing to God. They would not come to God with any impieties, but in pure worſhip, as Jacob, Gen. 35.2. When he was to go up to Bethel, he took all their ſtrange Gods, their earerings, and what might be occaſion of ſinning that way, and buryed them under the Oake out of ſight, and cleanſed himſelfe and Family, and would ſerve God, not with any mungrell, but with pure worſhip; ſo was it here: when its thus, its an argument, judgments, and deliverances are ſanctified, that mercies are well beſtowed, and well injoyed; when corrections and mercies ſtirre us up to repent, reforme, to deale ſyncerely with God, and to worſhip him purely; its evident they came from Gods love, and are ſanctified unto us.
VERS. 19.
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new ſpirit within you: and I will take the ſtony heart out of their fleſh, and will give them an heart of fleſh.
IN the former Verſes you heard opened ſundry ſweet promiſes of God, made to his people, he would be a Sanctuary to them in Babylon, bring them thence to Sion, purifie them from the pollutions in their owne Land, all which were gracious; but here he exceeds all given in before; thoſe promiſes concerned their outward conditions chiefly, but theſe their inward and ſpirituall eſtate onelyonly: Some make this Verſe to conteine the Covenant of grace which God made with his people Iſrael, whom he had choſen, above any people in the World, but they forſook him, fell to Idolatry, and were now juſtly Captived for their ſinne, ſuffered much among their enemies; and here God enters into a gracious Covenant with them, and promiſes great things unto them. In the words conſider,
1. The party promiſing, I, I, I,
2. The things promiſed
1. One heart.
2. A new ſpirit.
3. Taking away the ſtony heart.
4. Heart of fleſh.
3. The perſons to whom, them,
4. The manner of conveying theſe, and it is expreſſed by Giving, putting, taking.