Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 11 · Verse 19 · Textual commentary 9 – Textual commentary 11
Out of their fleſh.
Fleſh is ſometimes put for corruption, or corrupt nature. Rom. 7.18. In my fleſh dwelleth no good thing, ſo its not taken here: ſometimes for the body of man Pſal. 38, 3. There is no ſoundneſſe in my fleſh, that is, in my body: ſometimes for the whole man, Rom. 3.20. By the Law ſhall no fleſh be juſtified in his ſight, and ſo in Luke, 3.6. All fleſh ſhall ſee the Salvation of God, and thus its taken here, out of their fleſh, its out of them, out of the whole man.
Obſer. 1 Mens hearts naturally are ſtony, hard. Some diſeaſes are hereditarie, even the ſtone in many perſons: this ſtonineſſe is ſo in all, not a man borne but hath a ſtony heart, a ſtony ſpirit, Ezek. 3.7. All the Houſe of Iſrael are hard hearted young and old.
There is a naturall hardneſſe of the heart, and a contracted, Originall ſin,Neh. 9.16. They dealt proudly, and hardned their necks. Heb. 3.13. Leſt any of you bee hardned through the deceitfulneſſe of ſin. which is common to all, and comee with all, makes the heart hard, and actuall ſins make the heart ſtony, very hard; every ſin contracts more ſtonynes; and where ſin abounds, there ſtonyneſſe abounds: hence the Scripture ſpeakes of hearts like Adamants, Zech. 7.12. They have made their hearts as an Adamant, by their ſins, they have brought their hearts to ſuch a high degree of ſtonineſſe. Iſa. 48.4. I knew that thou art obſtinate and thy neck an Iron ſinew, and thy brow braſſe; Which ſets out the great hardneſſe they had contracted by their ſin: is their any thing harder then ſtone, Iron and braſſe? unto theſe are their hardned hearts, necks, and browes compared.
The ſpirituall hardneſſe ſpreads it ſelfe into the underſtanding Rom. 11.7. foreign, the reſt were blinded, blindneſſe reſpects the minde, the underſtanding, and its ſuch a blinding as hardens foreign, Eſt calloſa durities, a brawnie hardneſſe, their ignorance and unbeleife blinded and hardned them; In the night we have the hardeſt froſts &c.
Hebrewes, 5.11. The Apoſtle tells the Hebrewes, they were dull of hearing, they had beene long taught, yet ſcarcely underſtood the principles of Religion, Luke, 24.25. O fooles and ſlowe of heart to beleive.
2. Into the will and affection, ſaith Chriſt, you will not come to me that you may have life, John. 5.40. There was a ſtone, ſtubborneneſſe, and obſtinacy in their wills; Did not Chriſt Preach powerfully ſpiritually, did he not command, threaten, promiſe, preſent ſtrong arguments, tender the greateſt mercies beare with the greateſt patience, weepe over Jeruſalem with the moſt patheticall and ſacred tears, ſaying moſt compaſſionately, O Jeruſalem Jeruſalem, yet Jeruſalem would not. Doe not the Miniſters of Chriſt now beſeech you in his ſtead, to leave your ſinfull courſes, and to come in, yet, &c?
3. Into the conſcience; Paul tells you of conſciences ſeared with a hot Iron, 1 Tim. 4.2. When any part of the body is ſeared with a hot Iron, it growes hard and feeles nothing; ſuch were the conſciences of men then, and are now; they are ſo brawny and ſtony, that tell them of danger, judgements, death, Hell, eternall damnation, that their ſins are great, grievous, ſubjecting them every moment to all the vengeance of an infinite Deity, they are not troubled at it, tell them that all the curſes in Gods Book due to ſinners will come upon them, their hearts faile them not, their conſciences are ſtill, &c.
Now this ſtonineſſe of heart is a great evill, its unthankfull what mercies ſoever it hath given in, inſenſible of all ſpirituall good, its unyeildable to any Ordinance, it reſiſts the truth,Cor lapid eum adverſus Deum, omnino inflexibile eſt, Aug. and ſpirit of truth, Acts 7.51. Yee ſtiffe necked nad uncircumciſed in heart and eares, yee doe alwayes reſiſt the holy Ghoſt, as your Fathers did, ſo doe yee: Its contradicting, and contending againſt the Lord his wayes, its tending ſwiftly to deſtruction; for its impenitent, it neither will nor can repent.
Obſer. 2 Its the Lord that takes away the ſtony heart out of men; I will doe it, its not in the power of man to remove the ſtone out of the heart, he may get the ſtone out of the kidneys, out of the Bladder, but not out of the heart: We may all ſay, Who ſhall roll away this ſtone, as they ſayd, Mark 16.3. and the anſwer muſt be, Not an Angell, not any Creature, but onelyonly the Lord: God tels them that They ſhould take away all the deteſtable things out of the Land; but he would take away the ſtone out of their heart, and the ſtony heart out of them.
Its the worke of free grace; nothing is in a ſtony heart to move God to take it away, but enough to move God to deſtroy it, and him that hath it; its meerly good will puts him on to doe it.
Its the worke of omnipotent power to doe it; ſome read it, auferam, ſome removebo, ſome extrabam, I will draw out of you: intimating, there muſt be a mighty power to doe it: when you would remove a great ſtone, you bring a ſtrong Teame, and tacklings to draw it out of its place, ſo here.
Its a great mercy to have this ſtone removed; the ſtone in the heart is a great plague, yea greater then all the plagues of Aegypt, Pharoahs hard heart was worſe then all them; the removall therefore of it is a greater mercy then the removall of all thoſe judgements.
Its an heart incapable of reproofe; that profits not by the meanes of grace whatſoever, that is not kindly affected with the greateſt mercies or judgements, its an heart that hates holineſſe, and the power of godlineſſe, an heart that pleaſeth it ſelfe in the wayes of wickedneſſe, its an heart the Devill lives in, and workes his will by.
Queſt. Whither doth God remove the ſtone totaly out of the hearts of his People at firſt converſion or while they are in this life.
Anſw. God doth this worke gradually, its not all done at once, the Apoſtles were converted, yet all hardneſſe was not out of their hearts, Mar. 6.52.8.17. Stones are digg'd out of the Quarres by degrees, and Rocks hewne in peices in time; So is it here, God breakes and ſeperates the ſtonineſſe of the heart, ſome one day, ſome another day, and its doeing all a mans life; As a man ſubject to the ſtone, and gravell, voids ſome one day, ſome another, and is not perfectly cured till death; ſo in this ſpirituall ſtonyneſſe. Neither let any ſay then, the heart is ſtony ſtill, and in the ſame condition it was before. Not ſo; for though there be ſome ſtonyneſſe in it, yet is it not ſtony: There is ſoftneſſe introduced and the denomination is from that. I will give them a heart of fleſh.
Queſt. If there be ſtonyneſſe in the hearts of theſe be in Covenant with God, how ſhall I know the difference betweene the ſtonyneſſe in the godly, and that in the wicked?
Anſw. 1. The ſtonyneſſe of the wicked growes greater and greater, every day they are more ſtony,L…pi… obſ…matus. 2 Chron. 28.22. they grow worſe and worſe, 2 Tim. 3.13. But the ſtonyneſſe in the godly growes eſſe and leſſe, they uſe all means to abate it, in the one its incurable, in the other its curing.
2. That in the Saints is rather accidentall, then eſſentiall, an externall cruſtineſſe, rather then an intrinſecall hardneſſe; its an ycecineſſe not a true ſtonynes, water may become yce, but not ſtone: it will thawe and melt againe, it freezes and thawes oft, not ſo with a ſtone, or iron, they hav intrinſecall, eſſentiall hardneſſe.
3. The godly feele the ſtone in their hearts, complaine and cry out of it, as a greivous evill, but the wicked feele it not, in them it reignes, is in full power and ſtrength, Epheſ. 4.19. They are paſt feeling.
4. The ſtonyneſſe in the godly, is rather a ſtonyneſſe againſt ſin, then a ſtonyneſſe of ſin; he is facile to good, but obſtinate to evill, Gen, 39, 9. How can I doe this great evill and ſin againſt God, Pſal. 119.115. Depart from me yee evill doers, for I will keep the Commandements of my God: He had ſtrong temptations to ſin from the wicked, but he would not be drawne by them; but its otherwiſe with the wicked, they are obſtinate to good, and prone to evill, They worke ſinne with greedineſſe, Eph. 4.19. and ceaſe not from their ſtubborne way, Judges 2.19. So the Samaritans who were fallen to falſe worſhip, ſayd, In the ſtoutneſſe and pride of their hearts the Bricks are fallen downe, but we will build with hewen ſtone, Iſa. 9.9, 10. & Mal. 3.13. their words were ſtout againſt God: and Saul a wicked King, its ſayd,Counſell of God, Luke 7.13, He rejected the word of the Lord, 1 Sam. 15.23. The builders who had ſtony hearts, rejected Chriſt the corner ſtone, Mat. 21.42. Lawyers rejected the counſell of God, Luke 7.30.
foreign Cor Carnis.And will give them an heart of fleſh.
We have opened the word Heart before, at the beginning of the Verſe, and ſhewed, it comprehended underſtanding, will, affections, and conſcience.
Fleſh.
Here its ſet in oppoſition to ſtony, and differs from the word Fleſh mentioned immediately before, there fleſh implyed ſubſtance, their perſons, here it implyes a quality, tenderneſſe, ſoftneſſe; fleſh is in it ſelfe a tender thing, ſin hardens it, and makes it ſtony, but God would take out the ſtonyneſſe, hardneſſe thereof, and make it tender, ſoft.
There is a double tenderneſſe ſpoken of in Scripture:
1. A naturall tenderneſſe, 2 Chron. 13.7. When Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withſtand them: he was not hardened in wickedneſſe, but being young, had a naturall tenderneſſe, which made him facile and yeeldable to the onſets of others; but this is not the tenderneſſe wee are to ſpeak of.
2. A ſpirituall tenderneſſe, Epheſ. 4.32. Be yee kind one to another: tender hearted foreign, full of tender bowels: A Mother hath naturall tenderneſſe and bowells to her Childe, have you anſwerable, ſpirituall bowels, ſuch as are in the Lord, who is ſayd to be foreign, Full of pitty and tenderneſſe, James 5.11. and this is the tenderneſſe here meant.
This ſpirituall tenderneſſe is a gracious diſpoſition of the heart, wrought by the ſpirit, eaſily admitting, or receiving what ever ſpirituals are propounded unto it.
Its a gracious diſpoſition, not naturall, nor morall, neither Parents nor education convey ought unto it; grace is a tender thing, and makes tender, Luke 1.78. its cald tender mercy of God, and that makes a tender heart; a gracious diſpoſition in it like it ſelfe.
Wrought by the ſpirit; its not the Law workes it, that may break the heart into pieces, as a Hammer doth a ſtone, but not melt it and make it tender; its the Goſpell and fire of the ſpirit in it which produceth that effect: not the Plow, but raine which ſoftens the ground: David ſaith, Pſal. 65.10. Thou makeſt it ſoft with ſhowers: The Galatians received the ſpirit,The Corinthians hearts were not Tables of ſtone but fleſhy Tables, the ſpirit had made them ſuch, and written the Goſpell in them. 2 Cor. 3.3. not by the Preaching of the Law, but by the Preaching of Faith, Gal. 3.2. and that ſpirit made their hearts tender. When Job was in his great afflictions, they ſoftened not his heart, but he ſayth, God made ſoft his heart, Job 23.16. that was by his ſpirit.
Eaſily admitting or receiving; this is the formall, intrinſicall nature of this tenderneſſe, that its like Wax taking in impreſſions, the ſtony heart yeilds not, but reſiſts; this reſiſts not but yeilds, like Gideons Fleece, it drunke in the dew as faſt as it fell, Judges 6. Like the ſoft earth which drinkes in the raine, not like the Rocks and Mountaines, which ſhoot it off, Heb. 6.7. Hence ſayth Moſes, Deut 33.3. ſpeaking of Saints, who have tender hearts, and ſit at Gods feet, Every one ſhall receive of thy words: And Paul ſpeaking of a naturall man, 1 Cor. 2.14. he ſayth, The naturall man receives not the things of the ſpirit: his heart is ſtony, not tender, and ſo without a capacity of receiving what ever ſpirituall things are propounded; its ready to ſay as Samuel, Speake, for thy ſervant heareth, 1 Sam. 3.10. Let God or any from God offer any ſpirituall things unto a tender heart, its ready to receive them, Acts 9.6. ſayth Saul, Lord what wilt thou have me to doe? propound what thou pleaſeſt unto me.