Ezekiel 33:27

Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. SURELY THEY THAT ARE IN THE WASTES SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD - the very object of their confidence () should be the instrument of their destruction. Thinking to "stand" by it, by it they shall "fall." Just retribution! Some fell by the sword of Ishmael; others by the Chaldeans in revenge for the murder of Gedaliah, (Jeremiah 40:1; Jeremiah 41:1;...

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 33:27. _THEY THAT_ ARE _IN THE WASTES_] He seems to speak of those Jews who had fled to _rocks, caves_, and _fortresses_, in the _mountains_; whose death he predicts, partly by the _sword_, partly by _wild beasts_, and partly by _famine_....

The exhortation to repentance. Ezekiel first addresses the remnant that still linger in their ancient home, and warns them against presumptuous hopes resting on false grounds Ezekiel 33:23; then he turns his eyes to those near him, and points out that their apparent attention to his words was illusory. Ezekiel 33:24 THOSE WASTES - The places in the holy land devastated by the conqueror. ABRAHAM - The argument is, Abraham was but one man, and he had the promise of the land, though he did not at once possess it; much more shall we, the descendants of Abraham, being many, retain this promise and possess the land, though for a time we are depressed and subject. Compare...

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

SAY THOU THUS UNTO THEM, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... Send or write unto them in the name of the Lord, after this manner, AS I LIVE, which is the form of an oath; the Lord swears by himself his life, because he could swear by no greater, and for the confirmation of what follows: SURELY THEY THAT ARE IN THE WASTES SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD; by their own sword, falling out one with another; or by the sword of Ishmael Jeremiah 41:2 or by the sword of the Chaldeans, who revenged the death of Gedaliah and others; even such who dwelt amidst the ruins of the city of Jerusalem, and other places, that were become desolate through the ravages of the enemy: AND HIM THAT IS IN THE OPEN FIELD WILL I GIVE TO THE BEASTS TO BE DEVOURED; of which it may be supposed there were the greater numbers, since the land was so depopulated: and th

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 confirmation by the fugitives of all his previous predictions gave the prophet boldness to speak anew, and what he says is but a continuation of that which he had said before, and had been so literally confirmed. He had predicted the city's fall because of its sins, and his prophecy had been verified; those remaining in the land continue in the sins for which the city fell, and its fate shall certainly overtake them. The judgment must be carried out till the offences cease. But the teaching of these verses is the natural supplement also to that in Ezekiel 33:1. Those remaining in the land presume that they shall inherit the land because they are in it, notwithstanding their evil conduct: the inheritance of the land will be given on different conditions (Ezekiel 33:1, cf....

THEY THAT ARE IN THE WASTES— _They that_ [_trust_] _in the swords._ The _forts_ and _caves_ here mentioned, mean the strong-holds formed by nature in the rocks, or cut in the sides of the mountains. Palestine abounded with these, as we have had occasion to remark heretofore; particularly in the history of David....