Ezekiel 6:12

He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. HE THAT IS FAR OFF - namely, from the foe; those who in a distant exile fear no evil, "shall die of the pestilence." HE THAT REMAINETH - he that is left in the city, not carried away into captivity, nor having into the country "shall die by the famine." Distinct from "he that is near" - namely, those outside the city, who are within reach of "the sword" of the foe, and so "fall" by it, not by "famine," as those left in the city....

Now the Prophet explains himself how the Israelites were to be destroyed by famine, the sword, and pestilence, namely, _those who shall be far off shall die by pestilence; _that is, after they think themselves hidden in secret places, so that no danger nor inconvenience can overtake them, they shall die there by pestilence. For when they were dragged into distant exile, they thought themselves altogether remote from all harm. But pestilence, he says, shall attack them although the sword shall cease. Then those who shall be at hand, that is, those who remain at home, the sword shall consume. Now the remnant, he says, who had been besieged and hemmed in, shall die by famine. And so he confirms what we formerly saw, that there should be no cause why the Israelites should sleep amidst their sins when God spared them: because if they do not all perish by the sword, God has other means of puni...

11-14 It is our duty to be affected, not only with our own sins and sufferings, but to look with compassion upon the miseries wicked people bring upon themselves. Sin is a desolating thing; therefore, stand in awe, and sin not. If we know the worth of souls, and the danger to which unbelievers are exposed, we shall deem every sinner who takes refuge in Jesus from the wrath to come, an abundant recompence for all contempt or opposition we may meet with....

The gleam of hope is but transitory. Darkness again gathers round, for as yet the prophet is predicting judgment. Ezekiel 6:11 SMITE ... STAMP - Well-known modes of expressing grief. Ezekiel 6:13 SWEET SAVOR - Compare Genesis 8:21. Words, applied to the smell of sacrifices accepted by God, applied here to idol-sacrifices in irony. Ezekiel 6:14 TOWARD DIBLATH - Or, “Diblathaim,” the “Diblathan” of the Moabite stone, one of the double cities of Moab (see...

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 6:2, EZEKIEL 6:3 SET THY FACE TOWARD THE MOUNTAINS, etc. The formula is eminently characteristic of Ezekiel. We have had it with a different verb in the Hebrew, in Ezekiel 4:3. It will meet us again in Ezekiel 20:46; Ezekiel 21:2; Ezekiel 25:2; Ezekiel 28:21;...

HE THAT IS FAR OFF SHALL DIE OF THE PESTILENCE,.... That flies from the enemy into the wilderness, or into other countries, thinking himself safe there, the plague shall seize him, and he shall die of that; there is no fleeing from God, and escaping his hand; when he resolves to punish for sin, he has various ways to execute his wrath: AND HE THAT IS NEAR SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD; that is out of the city, and near it, attempting to get away; but within the reach of the enemy, shall be slain by him: AND HE THAT REMAINETH, AND IS BESIEGED, SHALL DIE BY THE FAMINE; that abides in the city, and does not attempt to go out; but continues in the siege, hoping the enemy will be obliged to depart, shall perish by the grievous famine. The Targum is, "he that remains, and goes into the cities of siege, shall die with famine:'' THUS WILL I ACCOMPLISH MY FURY UPON THEM; which before had been gradu...

Ezekiel 6:1. The mountains of Israel are mentioned first, because they were the places where the people practiced idolatry; they were the high places so often mentioned in the historical books. (Read Leviticus 26:30 .) Hundreds of years before, Moses wrote these words; and now they were all to be fulfilled. But the Lord also promised that a remnant should be left. That remnant would acknowledge the evil they had done. “They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.” The words “because I am broken with their whorish heart” means literally translated, “When I shall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from Me.” No judgment which has ever come upon Israel made a complete end of the nation. A remnant always remained and returned to the Lord. (See...

The prospect of the awful destruction of the idolaters by sword, famine, and pestilence, moves Ezekiel to give vent to his feelings in gestures of triumphant scorn; far from pitying his sinful fellow-countrymen in the hour of their sore distress, rather does he rejoice in Yahweh's victory over them. (For _alas,_ Ezekiel 6:11, read _ha!_) And again comes the scornful reference to the impotent idols who could save neither the worshippers nor the sanctuaries nor the land from destruction, but desolation would reign across it all from the wilderness in the south to Riblah (as we should read for Diblah) on the Orontes in the far north, where, after the sack of Jerusalem, king Zedekiah was taken and blinded (2 Kings 25:7)....

Second Section. Ch. Ezekiel 3:22 to Ezekiel 7:27 The second section of the Book contains these parts: (1) Ch. Ezekiel 3:22-27. A preface in which the prophet is commanded to confine himself to his own house, and abandon for a time his public ministry. (2) Ch. Ezekiel 4:1-4. A series of symbols representing the siege of Jerusalem, the scarcity during it, the pollution of the people in exile among the nations, and the terrible fate of the inhabitants on the capture of the city. (3) Ch. Ezekiel 5:5-17. Exposition of these s

C. A Distressing Lamentation 6:11-14 TRANSLATION (11) Thus says the Lord GOD: Clap your hand and stamp your foot, and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, with sword, famine and pestilence they shall fall. (12) He who is far off shall die with the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remains and is besieged shall die in the famine; then I shall bring to an end MY wrath against them. (13) And you will know that I am the LORD when their slain ones shall be in the midst of their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree and under every leafy oak, the place where they presented a sweet savor to all their idols. (14) And I shall stretch out My hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and waste more than the wilderness of Diblah in all their d...