Ezekiel 33:21

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. IN THE TWELFTH YEAR OF OUR CAPTIVITY, IN THE TENTH MONTH - a year and a half after the capture of the city (; Jeremiah 52:5), which took place in the 11th year and fourth month. The one who escaped (as foretold ) may have been so long on the road, through fear of entering the enemy's country (Henderson); or the singular is used for the plural in a collective sense, "the escaped remnant." (Compare similar phrases, "Him that escapeth of Moab,...

21-29 Those are unteachable indeed, who do not learn their dependence upon God, when all creature-comforts fail. Many claim an interest in the peculiar blessings to true believers, while their conduct proves them enemies of God. They call this groundless presumption strong faith, when God's testimony declares them entitled to his threatenings, and nothing else....

Verse Ezekiel 33:21. _IN THE TWELFTH YEAR OF OUR CAPTIVITY, IN THE TENTH_ MONTH, _IN THE FIFTH_ DAY _OF THE MONTH_] Instead of the _twelfth year,_ the _eleventh_ is the reading of _seven_ of _Kennicott's_ MSS., _one_ of _De Rossi's_, and the _Syriac_. My own, mentioned in the preceding chapter, reads with the present text. This was on _Wednesday, Jan_. 25, A.M. 3416 or 3417. _ONE THAT HAD ESCAPED OUT OF JERUSALEM_] After it had been taken by the Chaldeans. _CAME UNTO ME, SAYING, THE CITY IS SMITTEN._] This very message God had promised to the prophet, Ezekiel 24:26....

The date shows an interval of 112 years from the taking of Jerusalem Jeremiah 52:12. The general news that the city was taken must have reached them, but it was only when the messenger arrived that the prophet’s mouth was opened. It is not improbable that a body of men after the destruction of the city joined their brethren in Chaldaea; if so this would account for the lapse of time, and supply a reason why Ezekiel on their arrival should commence a new series of prophecies....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 33:1 If we may think of Ezekiel as compiling and arranging his own prophecies, we may think of him as returning, with something like a sense of relief, to his own special work as the watchman of the house of Israel. For upwards of two years the messages which it had been given him to write (how far they were in any sense published we have no means of knowing) in Ezekiel 25-32; had dealt exclusively with foreign nations. Now his own people are again the object of his care. He resumes his pastoral office at once for warning and consolation. From this point onwards, with the exception of the strange Meshech-Tubal episode in Ezekiel 38:1; Ezekiel 39:1; all is leading

AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE TWELFTH YEAR OF OUR CAPTIVITY,.... Of Jeconiah's captivity, when Ezekiel with others were carried into Babylon; see Ezekiel 1:2 IN THE TENTH MONTH, IN THE FIFTH DAY OF THE MONTH; which was a year, four months, and some days, after the city of Jerusalem was taken; for that was destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and so of the captivity, and in the fifth month, and tenth day of the month. 2 Kings 25:2. It is much it was not known at Babylon before; though so it might, and yet not one that escaped came to Ezekiel sooner to give him an account of it, which he had seen with his eyes. The Syriac version reads it, in the "eleventh year"; and so makes it but a few months after the destruction; and it may be observed that it is promised by the Lord,...

TENTH MONTH That is, January....

II. PREDICTIONS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM (33-48) Chapter S 33-34 A. The Watchman, the False Shepherds, and the True Shepherd _ 1. The renewed call of Ezekiel as watchman (Ezekiel 33:1) _ 2. Ezekiel's mouth opened after Jerusalem's fall is announced (Ezekiel 33:21) 3. Message against the shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34:1) 4. The True Shepherd and restoration promised (Ezekiel 34:20) Ezekiel 33:1. The commission of Ezekiel as watchman corresponds to the same call in...

NEED OF A DEEPENED SENSE OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (EZEKIEL 33), and this alike for himself and his hearers. EZEKIEL 33:1. He feels that he is responsible for them, and that they are responsible for themselves. He compares himself, as once before (Ezekiel 3:16), to a watchman whose duty is to raise the alarm in case of impending danger; so it is his, in view of the crisis, to care for and warn individual souls. EZEKIEL 33:10. But the people are despondent, stupefied by the news of the fall of the city (Ezekiel 33:21), sullenly at last admitting their guilt, but believing themselves to lie under the i

THE TWELFTH YEAR... TENTH MONTH... FIFTH DAY. This is the date of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. See Ezekiel 40:1. The event in the twenty-fifth year is said to be the fourteenth year from the twelfth (i.e. from the tenth month of tho twelfth year to the first month of the twenty-fifth). The prophecies of the preceding Chapter s were given to Ezekiel in the Land before this twelfth year. See the table on p. 1105, and App-50.). This was the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month and ninth day (Jeremiah 39:1; Jeremiah 39:2; 2 Kings 25:1). CAME UNTO ME. While still in the Land, probably in hiding,...