Ezekiel 33:1-20
THE PROPHET AS A WATCHMAN... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROPHET AS A WATCHMAN... [ Continue Reading ]
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, in a message which was directly and verbally inspired,... [ Continue Reading ]
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, once more turning to the members of his own nation, after having addressed various foreign nations in announcing to them the judgments of the Lord, AND SAY UNTO THEM, WHEN I BRING THE SWORD UPON A LAND, in the punishment of war, IF THE PEOPLE OF THE L... [ Continue Reading ]
if, when he seeth the sword come upon the land, as the invaders advanced to the attack, HE BLOW THE TRUMPET, in giving the alarm of their approach, AND WARN THE PEOPLE, for the signal did not merely serve for an announcement, but called upon the people and urged them to save themselves and their pro... [ Continue Reading ]
then, whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, being aware of the signal and its meaning, AND TAKETH NOT WARNING, refusing and neglecting to heed its admonition, IF THE SWORD COME AND TAKE HIM AWAY, HIS BLOOD SHALL BE UPON HIS OWN HEAD, the guilt would rest upon him alone, lie would have no one b... [ Continue Reading ]
He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. The picture is taken from the sacrificial rites of the Jews, who transferred their own guilt to the head of animals used in sacrificing, by the laying on of hands with prayer. BUT HE THAT TAKETH WARNING SHALL DELIVE... [ Continue Reading ]
But if the watchman see the sword come, as the host of invaders approaches, AND BLOW NOT THE TRUMPET, deliberately neglecting this solemn duty, AND THE PEOPLE BE NOT WARNED, since they relied upon his giving the signal: IF THE SWORD COME AND TAKE ANY PERSON FROM AMONG THEM, HE IS TAKEN AWAY IN HIS I... [ Continue Reading ]
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, the Lord here applying the picture with the one change that the installation of the watchman is taken out of human hands; THEREFORE THOU SHALT HEAR THE WORD AT MY MOUTH, so that it is entirely and in every way a divine warni... [ Continue Reading ]
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surelydie, namely, in the absence of a true repentance, becoming subject to a certain death, the earnest of everlasting death; IF THOU, namely, the prophet, DOST NOT SPEAK TO WARN THE WICKED FROM HIS WAY, causing him to forsake his path of iniquit... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, not to persist in his iniquity; IF HE DO NOT TURN FROM HIS WAY, refusing to give heed to admonition and warning, HE SHALL DIE IN HIS INIQUITY, BUT THOU HAST DELIVERED THY SOUL, so that no blame could attach to him for the calamity whi... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, O thou son of man, in agreement with the principles thus set forth, SPEAK UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, THUS YE SPEAK, in trying to find some excuse for the position in which they found themselves, SAYING, IF OUR TRANSGRESSIONS AND OUR SINS BE UPON US AND WE PINE AWAY IN THEM, on account of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, than which there is no more solemn oath, I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF THE WICKED, much less is it His intention to have the wicked punished in this manner, BUT THAT THE WICKED TURN FROM HIS WAY AND LIVE, that alone being His gracious purpose. TURN... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, the Lord thus, in a way, disclaiming any relation with them as His own people in the very peculiar sense in which He had originally acknowledged them, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT DELIVER HIM IN THE DAY OF HIS TRANSGRES... [ Continue Reading ]
When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, as a reward of mercy in acknowledgment of a life of faith; IF HE TRUST TO HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, in a false reliance upon his own sanctity of life, AND COMMIT INIQUITY, freely risking a transgression with the idea that it would not be char... [ Continue Reading ]
Again, when I say unto the wicked, in pronouncing the sentence of punishment upon him, THOU SHALT SURELY DIE, temporal death being, in his case, the wages of sin and the earnest of eternal damnation; IF HE TURN FROM HIS SIN AND DO THAT WHICH IS LAWFUL AND RIGHT, thereby showing the sincerity of his... [ Continue Reading ]
if the wicked restore the pledge, the reference being to a form of oppression by which the garment of the poor man was taken as a pledge, Exodus 22:26, GIVE AGAIN THAT HE HATH ROBBED, Exodus 22:1, WALK IN THE STATUTES OF LIFE, WITHOUT COMMITTING INIQUITY, that is, follow strictly the commandments, t... [ Continue Reading ]
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him, for such is the nature of God's forgiveness; HE HATH DONE THAT WHICH IS LAWFUL AND RIGHT; HE SHALL SURELY LIVE. Cf.Ezekiel 18:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet the children of thy people say, as the Lord had complained once before, 18:25-29, THE WAY OF THE LORD IS NOT EQUAL, that is, not according to equity, they accused Hun of not being fair in His dealings with them; BUT AS FOR THEM, THEIR WAY IS NOT EQUAL, it was He who had the right to bring this a... [ Continue Reading ]
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby, as a result of his deliberate wickedness.... [ Continue Reading ]
But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, having been brought to the realization of the heinousness of his sins, AND DO THAT WHICH IS LAWFUL AND RIGHT, HE SHALL LIVE THEREBY, in possession of the forgiveness of the Lord and of His merciful gift of life.... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal, thereby heaping blasphemy upon the holiness and righteousness of the Lord. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways, thereby giving definite proof of the justice of all His dealings, also in His punishment upon blasphemers. It is t... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that is, a year and a half after the capture of Jerusalem, since Ezekiel was living in a very remote part of Babylon, THAT ONE THAT HAD ESCAPED OUT OF JERUSALEM CAME UNTO ME, SAYING, THE CITY... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RELATION OF THE PEOPLE TO EZEKIEL... [ Continue Reading ]
Now, the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, causing a kind of ecstasy to fall upon him, AFORE HE THAT WAS ESCAPED CAME AND HAD OPENED MY MOUTH, which had formerly been closed, UNTIL HE CAME TO ME IN THE MORNING, that is, this opening happened during the night, before the arrival of the mes... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,... [ Continue Reading ]
Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel, the few dwellers in the ruins of the cities of Israel, SPEAK, SAYING, ABRAHAM WAS ONE, AND HE INHERITED THE LAND; BUT WE ARE MANY; THE LAND IS GIVEN US FOR INHERITANCE. Their argument was: If Abraham as an individual person received t... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Ye eat with the blood, that is, without letting the blood drain out on the ground, as the ordinance of the Lord prescribed, Levitcus 3:17, AND LIFT UP YOUR EYES TOWARD YOUR IDOLS, in gross idolatry, AND SHED BLOOD, by freely committing deeds of viole... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye stand upon your sword, depending upon the forceful application of what they desired, YE WORK ABOMINATION, by committing base crimes without a show of regard for God's will, AND YE DEFILE EVERY ONE HIS NEIGHBOR'S WIFE, sins against the Sixth Commandment being unusually prevalent at that time; AND... [ Continue Reading ]
Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, the God of the covenant, who is at the same time the Ruler of the universe, AS I LIVE, the most solemn oath which He is able to swear, SURELY THEY THAT ARE IN THE WASTES, having sought refuge in the ruined cities and towns, SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD, A... [ Continue Reading ]
For I will lay the land most desolate, making it an utter waste, Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 12:11, AND THE POMP OF HER STRENGTH, upon which she depended and of which she boasted, SHALL CEASE; AND THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL SHALL BE DESOLATE THAT NONE SHALL PASS THROUGH, all the regular routes of travel th... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall they know that I am the Lord, this conviction being forced upon them in spite of all their efforts to deny His power, WHEN I HAVE LAID THE LAND MOST DESOLATE BECAUSE OF ALL THEIR ABOMINATIONS WHICH THEY HAVE COMMITTED. Note the force of the description in setting forth the continued state... [ Continue Reading ]
Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people, namely, those among the exiles in Babylon, STILL ARE TALKING AGAINST THEE BY THE WALLS AND IN THE DOORS OF THE HOUSES, both when they met in public and when they felt secure in the privacy of their own homes, AND SPEAK ONE TO ANOTHER, EVERY ONE TO H... [ Continue Reading ]
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, in an assembly or crowd, as students flock to a teacher, AND THEY SIT BEFORE THEE AS MY PEOPLE, pretending to be the people of the Lord, AND THEY HEAR THY WORDS, in a respectful attitude, apparently earnest and willing, BUT THEY WILL NOT DO THEM, op. Mat... [ Continue Reading ]
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, like a singer who charms with the sound of his voice, and can play well on an instrument, in accompanying his singing; FOR THEY HEAR THY WORDS, BUT THEY DO THEM NOT, giving no heed to their import nor obeying their... [ Continue Reading ]
And when this cometh to pass, namely, the prophecy concerning the desolation of the entire land of Israel, ( LO, IT WILL COME, this emphatic declaration being inserted as a final warning,) THEN SHALL THEY KNOW THAT A PROPHET HATH BEEN AMONG THEM, that it was God's message which Ezekiel proclaimed to... [ Continue Reading ]