6 `Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, yea, turn ye back from your idols, and from all your abominations turn back your faces,
Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,
And ye have defiled the covering of Thy graven images of silver, And the ephod of thy molten image of gold, Thou scatterest them as a sickening thing, `Go out,' thou sayest to it.
`Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet -- I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols,
Seek ye Jehovah, while He is found, Call ye Him, while He is near, Forsake doth the wicked his way, And the man of iniquity his thoughts, And he returneth to Jehovah, and He pitieth him, And unto our God for He multiplieth to pardon.
And Samuel speaketh unto all the house of Israel, saying, `If with all your heart ye are turning back unto Jehovah -- turn aside the gods of the stranger from your midst, and Ashtaroth; and prepare your heart unto Jehovah, and serve Him only, and He doth deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.'
and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock -- let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink; and cover themselves `with' sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that `is' in their hands. Who knoweth? He doth turn back, and God hath repented, and hath turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish.'
draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled! be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness; be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you.
but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation;
the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,
bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation, and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have -- Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham, and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.
In that day thou art not ashamed because of any of thine actions, Wherewith thou hast transgressed against Me, For then do I turn aside from thy midst The exulting ones of thine excellency, And thou dost add no more to be haughty, In My holy mountain.
and they have turned `it' back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee, in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely -- we have done wickedly; yea, they have turned back unto Thee, with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed unto Thee the way of their land, which Thou gavest to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have builded for Thy name: `Then Thou hast heard in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause,
O Ephraim, what to Me any more with idols? I -- I afflicted, and I cause him to sing: `I `am' as a green fir-tree,' From Me is thy fruit found.
Turn back, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God, For thou hast stumbled by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah, Say ye unto Him: `Take away all iniquity, and give good, And we do render the fruit of our lips. Asshur doth not save us, on a horse we ride not, Nor do we say any more, Our God, to the work of our hands, For in Thee find mercy doth the fatherless.'
And ye have remembered your ways that `are' evil, And your doings that `are' not good, And have been loathsome in your own faces, For your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your sake am I working, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Be it known to you, Be ashamed and confounded, because of your ways, O house of Israel.
So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy shame, In My receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
And He bringeth me in unto the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and lo, at the opening of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men, their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces eastward, and they are bowing themselves eastward to the sun.
In those days, and at that time, An affirmation of Jehovah, Come in do sons of Israel, They and sons of Judah together, Going on and weeping they go, And Jehovah their God they seek. `To' Zion they ask the way, Thitherward `are' their faces: Come in, and we are joined unto Jehovah, A covenant age-during -- not forgotten.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, `Thou hast chastised me, And I am chastised, as a heifer not taught, Turn me back, and I turn back, For thou `art' Jehovah my God. For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth. A precious son is Ephraim to Me? A child of delights? For since My speaking against him, I do thoroughly remember him still, Therefore have My bowels been moved for him, I do greatly love him, An affirmation of Jehovah.
Wherefore hath this people of Jerusalem Turned back -- a perpetual backsliding? They have kept hold on deceit, They have refused to turn back. I have given attention, yea, I hearken, They do not speak right, No man hath repented of his wickedness, Saying, What have I done? Every one hath turned to his courses, As a horse is rushing into battle.
`Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye -- ye trespass -- I scatter you among peoples; and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them -- if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 14
Commentary on Ezekiel 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Eze 14:1-23. Hypocritical Inquirers Are Answered According to Their Hypocrisy. The Calamities Coming on the People; but a Remnant Is to Escape.
1. elders—persons holding that dignity among the exiles at the Chebar. Grotius refers this to Seraiah and those sent with him from Judea (Jer 51:59). The prophet's reply, first, reflecting on the character of the inquirers, and, secondly, foretelling the calamities coming on Judea, may furnish an idea of the subject of their inquiry.
sat before me—not at once able to find a beginning of their speech; indicative of anxiety and despondency.
3. heart … face—The heart is first corrupted, and then the outward manifestation of idol-worship follows; they set their idols before their eyes. With all their pretense of consulting God now, they have not even put away their idols outwardly; implying gross contempt of God. "Set up," literally, "aloft"; implying that their idols had gained the supreme ascendancy over them.
stumbling-block of … iniquity—See Pr 3:21, 23, "Let not them (God's laws) depart from thine eyes, then … thy foot shall not stumble." Instead of God's law, which (by being kept before their eyes) would have saved them from stumbling, they set up their idols before their eyes, which proved a stumbling-block, causing them to stumble (Eze 7:19).
inquired of at all—literally, "should I with inquiry be inquired of" by such hypocrites as they are? (Ps 66:18; Pr 15:29; 28:9).
4. and cometh—and yet cometh, reigning himself to be a true worshipper of Jehovah.
him that cometh—so the Hebrew Margin reads. But the Hebrew text reading is, "according to it, according to the multitude of his idols"; the anticipative clause with the pronoun not being pleonastic, but increasing the emphasis of the following clause with the noun. "I will answer," literally, reflexively, "I will Myself (or for Myself) answer him."
according to … idols—thus, "answering a fool according to his folly"; making the sinner's sin his punishment; retributive justice (Pr 1:31; 26:5).
5. That I may take—that is, unveil and overtake with punishment the dissimulation and impiety of Israel hid in their own heart. Or, rather, "That I may punish them by answering them after their own hearts"; corresponding to "according to the multitude of his idols" (see on Eze 14:4); an instance is given in Eze 14:9; Ro 1:28; 2Th 2:11, God giving them up in wrath to their own lie.
idols—though pretending to "inquire" of Me, "in their hearts" they are "estranged from Me," and love "idols."
6. Though God so threatened the people for their idolatry (Eze 14:5), yet He would rather they should avert the calamity by "repentance."
turn yourselves—Calvin translates, "turn others" (namely, the stranger proselytes in the land). As ye have been the advisers of others (see Eze 14:7, "the stranger that sojourneth in Israel") to idolatry, so bestow at least as much pains in turning them to the truth; the surest proof of repentance. But the parallelism to Eze 14:3, 4 favors English Version. Their sin was twofold: (1) "In their heart" or inner man; (2) "Put before their face," that is, exhibited outwardly. So their repentance is generally expressed by "repent," and is then divided into: (1) "Turn yourselves (inwardly) from your idols"; (2) "Turn away your faces (outwardly) from all your abominations." It is not likely that an exhortation to convert others should come between the two affecting themselves.
7. stranger—the proselyte, tolerated in Israel only on condition of worshipping no God but Jehovah (Le 17:8, 9).
inquire of him concerning me—that is, concerning My will.
by myself—not by word, but by deed, that is, by judgments, marking My hand and direct agency; instead of answering him through the prophet he consults. Fairbairn translates, as it is the same Hebrew as in the previous clause, "concerning Me," it is natural that God should use the same expression in His reply as was used in the consultation of Him. But the sense, I think, is the same. The hypocrite inquires of the prophet concerning God; and God, instead of replying through the prophet, replies for Himself concerning Himself.
8. And I will set my face against that man—(See on Le 17:10).
and will make him a sign—literally, "I will destroy him so as to become a sign"; it will be no ordinary destruction, but such as will make him be an object pointed at with wonder by all, as Korah, &c. (Nu 26:10; De 28:37).
9. I the Lord have deceived that prophet—not directly, but through Satan and his ministers; not merely permissively, but by overruling their evil to serve the purposes of His righteous judgment, to be a touchstone to separate the precious from the vile, and to "prove" His people (De 13:3; 1Ki 22:23; Jer 4:10; 2Th 2:11, 12). Evil comes not from God, though God overrules it to serve His will (Job 12:16; Jas 1:3). This declaration of God is intended to answer their objection, "Jeremiah and Ezekiel are but two opposed to the many prophets who announce 'peace' to us." "Nay, deceive not yourselves, those prophets of yours are deluding you, and I permit them to do so as a righteous judgment on your wilful blindness."
10. As they dealt deceitfully with God by seeking answers of peace without repentance, so God would let them be dealt with deceitfully by the prophets whom they consulted. God would chastise their sin with a corresponding sin; as they rejected the safe directions of the true light, He would send the pernicious delusions of a false one; prophets would be given them who should re-echo the deceitfulness that already wrought in their own bosom, to their ruin [Fairbairn]. The people had themselves alone to blame, for they were long ago forewarned how to discern and to treat a false prophet (De 13:3); the very existence of such deceivers among them was a sign of God's judicial displeasure (compare in Saul's case, 1Sa 16:14; 28:6, 7). They and the prophet, being dupes of a common delusion, should be involved in a common ruin.
11. Love was the spring of God's very judgments on His people, who were incurable by any other process (Eze 11:20; 37:27).
12. The second part of the chapter: the effect which the presence of a few righteous persons was to have on the purposes of God (compare Ge 18:24-32). God had told Jeremiah that the guilt of Judah was too great to be pardoned even for the intercession of Moses and Samuel (Ps 99:6; Jer 14:2; 15:1), which had prevailed formerly (Ex 32:11-14; Nu 14:13-20; 1Sa 7:8-12), implying the extraordinary heinousness of their guilt, since in ordinary cases "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (for others) availeth much" (Jas 5:16). Ezekiel supplements Jeremiah by adding that not only those two once successful intercessors, but not even the three pre-eminently righteous men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, could stay God's judgments by their righteousness.
13. staff of … bread—on which man's existence is supported as on a staff (Eze 4:16; 5:16; Le 26:26; Ps 104:15; Isa 3:1). I will send a famine.
14. Noah, Daniel … Job—specified in particular as having been saved from overwhelming calamities for their personal righteousness. Noah had the members of his family alone given to him, amidst the general wreck. Daniel saved from the fury of the king of Babylon the three youths (Da 2:17, 18, 48, 49). Though his prophecies mostly were later than those of Ezekiel, his fame for piety and wisdom was already established, and the events recorded in Da 1:1-2:49 had transpired. The Jews would naturally, in their fallen condition, pride themselves on one who reflected such glory on his nation at the heathen capital, and would build vain hopes (here set aside) on his influence in averting ruin from them. Thus the objection to the authenticity of Daniel from this passage vanishes. "Job" forms the climax (and is therefore put out of chronological order), having not even been left a son or a daughter, and having had himself to pass through an ordeal of suffering before his final deliverance, and therefore forming the most simple instance of the righteousness of God, which would save the righteous themselves alone in the nation, and that after an ordeal of suffering, but not spare even a son or daughter for their sake (Eze 14:16, 18, 20; compare Jer 7:16; 11:14; 14:11).
deliver … souls by … righteousness—(Pr 11:4); not the righteousness of works, but that of grace, a truth less clearly understood under the law (Ro 4:3).
15-21. The argument is cumulative. He first puts the case of the land sinning so as to fall under the judgment of a famine (Eze 14:13); then (Eze 14:15) "noisome beasts" (Le 26:22); then "the sword"; then, worst of all, "pestilence." The three most righteous of men should deliver only themselves in these several four cases. In Eze 14:21 he concentrates the whole in one mass of condemnation. If Noah, Daniel, Job, could not deliver the land, when deserving only one judgment, "how much more" when all four judgments combined are justly to visit the land for sin, shall these three righteous men not deliver it.
19. in blood—not literally. In Hebrew, "blood" expresses every premature kind of death.
21. How much more—literally, "Surely shall it be so now, when I send," &c. If none could avert the one only judgment incurred, surely now, when all four are incurred by sin, much more impossible it will be to deliver the land.
22. Yet … a remnant—not of righteous persons, but some of the guilty who should "come forth" from the destruction of Jerusalem to Babylon, to lead a life of hopeless exile there. The reference here is to judgment, not mercy, as Eze 14:23 shows.
ye shall see their … doings; and … be comforted—Ye, the exiles at the Chebar, who now murmur at God's judgment about to be inflicted on Jerusalem as harsh, when ye shall see the wicked "ways" and character of the escaped remnant, shall acknowledge that both Jerusalem and its inhabitants deserved their fate; his recognition of the righteousness of the judgment will reconcile you to it, and so ye shall be "comforted" under it [Calvin]. Then would follow mercy to the elect remnant, though that is not referred to here, but in Eze 20:43.
23. they shall comfort you—not in words, but by your recognizing in their manifest guilt, that God had not been unjustly severe to them and the city.