# commentaries

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<p>Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate- This implies that both Samaria [the 10 tribes] and Judah would‘return to their former estate’ at one and the same time. And this passage is clearly in a restoration context. It was potentially possible for the 10 tribes to have returned at the same time as Judah. But somehow, that potential was never made possible by them. The message as heard by the inhabitants of Judah wouldn’t have been that attractive- that their only hope of restoration was together with Samaria and the children of Sodom whom they despised.</p>


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<p>For your sister Sodom was a byword to you in the day of your pride- The sin of the Jerusalem priesthood, which is whom Ezekiel is specifically addressing here, was compounded by their spiritual arrogance. They used proverbs which mocked the wickedness of Sodom (Moab and Ammon) and the ten tribes (Samaria), thereby exalting themselves spiritually in their own eyes. We note that God is aware of and sensitive to our throwaway expressions and words.</p>


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<p>Before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around- The GNB helps with"Now you are just like her- a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you". As the Jerusalem priesthood had mocked Sodom and Samaria, now they were mocked- by the very ones whose idols they had accepted, as"hire"or payment for having military protection from those peoples. The uncovering or exposure of Jerusalem was when the various nations she had made alliances with in return for sole devotion to their gods realized that they were being two timed. And worse. It became known that the Jerusalem temple was a house of all manner of gods, the symbol of her relationship with multiple nations, all of whom she had promised total allegiance to in return for their military and political help. Hence the anger and mockery of all of them, when their mercenaries confederated with Babylon to totally destroy that temple.</p>


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<p>You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh- To carry sin is a metaphor for carrying the punishment for that sin. That punishment was still future (:59) and yet the secret was out, the nations knew they had been deceived, and now there was only a very narrow window of opportunity for Jerusalem to repent. Their only way out was to throw themselves solely upon their only true defence, Yahweh. But they refused.</p>


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<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant-&nbsp; See on <a href='B:450 11:10-11'>Zec 11:10-11</a>. As explained on :57, they had broken not only their covenant of exclusive loyalty to Yahweh, but their covenants with multiple nations and their gods. As noted on :28 and often, they had broken the covenant which Yahweh made with them at Sinai. And the curses for disobedience to it were now to come.</p>


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<p>Nevertheless I will remember My covenant made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant- Here is amazing grace. They had broken the covenant (:59), but God would still be faithful to that covenant. Yet it was a broken covenant; and so He would make a new and everlasting one with them. That covenant was"everlasting"in that God hoped and envisioned that they would never again break it. See on :41,43. This was His hope, the hope of the desperate lover, but it was not to come true. Zechariah some time later was to speak of God breaking the covenant with His people. And so He has made the new covenant with us, a new Israel.</p>


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<p>Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant- This implies a new covenant would be made with the exiles, as explained in Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36 etc. That new covenant involved acceptance of the ten tribes on an equal footing with themselves, as well as with the people of Sodom, whom I have suggested refer to the children of Lot born near there, Moab and Ammon- in other words, the reconcilliation of all the seed of Abraham. Given their spiritual pride and elitism, that was perhaps not a great prospect for the Jerusalem leadership at Ezekiel’s time. And after the restoration, their elitism continued, despising the Samaritans and indeed all Gentiles, rather than welcoming them into the covenant of grace. Acceptance of the new covenant, then as now, required reconcilliation with God to be reflected in reconcilliation with our brethren. They preferred the old covenant at Sinai; but they had broken that, and this acceptance of their apparently spiritually weaker brethren was to be"not by your covenant", the covenant made exclusively with Israel at Sinai, but by the new covenant. The way the Jews tenaciously held on to that old covenant merely reflected their refusal of this new way, this new covenant of grace. Whilst that covenant was fully ended by the Lord’s death on the cross, in effect it had ended at Ezekiel’s time; for here it is pronounced broken, and a new covenant offered- which they refused to enter. So from now onwards, their covenant relationship with God was effectively over.</p>


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<p>I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- They would"know"Him through the utter grace of this new covenant. They deserved death, the death of a whore, to be eternally forgotten after how they had treated heir husband- the God of all grace and patience.</p>


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<p>That you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh- The not opening their mouth again could refer to not using the language of spiritual superiority against others referenced in :56. But we can also read it as meaning that they will be so ashamed that they will feel as if they are dumb; and yet they will speak, but only of God’s grace, and with a deep humility.</p><p>In the future, God will use a repentant Israel to achieve great things in terms of converting this world unto Himself; but that was possible for the captives in Babylon who could have converted the world of their time to the God of Israel. They will walk up and down in His Name, witnessing to Him as He had originally intended them to (<a href='B:450 10:12'>Zec 10:12</a>); men will cling to their skirts in order to find the knowledge of their God (<a href='B:450 8:23'>Zec 8:23</a>). “In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee (Israel) the opening of the mouth in the midst of them (the surrounding nations, see context); and they shall know that I am the LORD”, in that Israel will preach to them from their own experience of having recently come to know Yahweh (<a href='B:330 29:21'>Eze 29:21</a>). But at the time of the Lord’s return, when Israel repent and enter the new covenant with Him, they will remember all their past sins “and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame... for all that thou hast done” (<a href='B:330 16:63'>Eze 16:63</a>). They will be so ashamed that they will feel as if they can never open their mouth. But Yahweh will open their mouth, and they will witness. In some anticipation of this, Ezekiel as the “son of man” prophet, a representative of his people just as the Lord was to be, had his mouth shut in dumbness, and he only had his mouth opened when Israel came to know [to some degree] that “I am the LORD” (<a href='B:330 24:27'>Eze 24:27</a>). In all these evident connections something marvellous presents itself. Those who feel as if they just cannot open their mouths in witness are the very ones whom the Father will use; He will open their mouths and use them exactly because they are ashamed of their sins! And so it should be with us.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- Chapters 17-22 form an ABABAB structure. Chapters 17,19 and 21 speak of Babylon, and chapters 18,20 and 22 of Judah’s sins which warranted the Babylonian involvement.</p>


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<p>Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel- A"riddle"is Heb. ’that which is sharp’. This was now painless riddle, but as the crude language of Ezekiel 16 was intended to grab their attention and elicit repentance, so this parable was intended to be"sharp". And indeed it is so- that a parable, a story expressing a challenge, can be sharper than bald statements.</p>


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<p>And say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers of various colours- Literally, the great eagle, a symbol of Babylon (<a href='B:300 48:40'>Jer 48:40</a>; <a href='B:300 49:22'>Jer 49:22</a>), perhaps alluding to their god Nisroch, the eagle. The great wings spoke of his armies, the long wings / feathers of the extent of his empire. The feathers of various colours refer to the nations confederate with her.</p><p>Came to Lebanon- Eusebius says that the temple at Jerusalem was called ’Lebanon’ by the Jews, because its woodwork was of cedars of Lebanon.</p><p>And took off the top of the cedar- King Jeconiah, then only 18 years old, and many of the leaders with him (<a href='B:120 24:8'>2Ki 24:8</a>; <a href='B:120 24:12-16'>2Ki 24:12-16</a>). They were taken as hostages to Babylon, whilst Zedekiah became the puppet king under covenant with Babylon</p>


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<p>He cropped off the highest of its young twigs and carried it to a land of commerce where he set it in a city of merchants- Babylon was famous for its transport traffic on the Tigris and Euphrates; also, by its connection with the Persian Gulf, it traded even with India.</p>


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<p>He also took the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil. He placed it beside many waters and set it as a willow tree- We must remember that Ezekiel was teaching this parable to the depressed exiles as they sat by the rivers / waters of Babylon by the Chebar river. What seemed a hopeless, dead end situation was in fact fruitful soil for their spiritual growth and the development of God’s purpose. The"seed of the land"were the royal family. The implication is that the kingly line would revive;"the prince"of Ezekiel 40-48 could have been literally in the line of David, and Zerubbabel was just such a candidate, although it seems he didn’t live up to the potential."Willow"can be"vine", which would connect with the parable of the destroyed, useless vine of Ezekiel 15. Those charred, useless branches were to be enabled by the spiritually fruitful soil of Babylon to miraculously revive. If we insist upon"willow", then we see the connection with <a href='B:230 137:2'>Psa 137:2</a>, where the depressed captives sit by the waters of Babylon under willow trees. But they were to realize that their apparently hopeless situation was in fact upon spiritually fruitful soil. And we can perceive dead end situations in life the same way. Indeed it could be that the willow tree, symbol of their mourning in Babylon, became a vine.</p>


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<p>It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and young shoots- It"became a vine"in that it was planted a willow tree; see on :6. This speaks of the power of the Spirit to transform the most depressive situations into spiritual fruitfulness. The"low stature"may refer to the humility there would be in the revived community. But it was deformed, just as Israel had been at their birth (see on <a href='B:330 16:5'>Eze 16:5</a>)- its branches turned inwards, and the roots did not spread far out, accounting for its low height. This vine would be humble. Or we can read the"him"as referring to the eagle of Babylon. Zedekiah and the royal seed of the land (:5) were to be loyal to Babylon. His roots were under"him", Babylon.</p>


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<p>There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. This vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it- This is interpreted later in that chapter as Egypt (:15). The partially revived vine looked to Egypt for help to throw off the Babylonians; we see here how in their hearts, God’s people always yearned toward Egypt. It could be that it was from exile in Babylon that the royal seed sought to reach out to Egypt and make a covenant with them to throw off the Babylonian yoke. They refused to accept Ezekiel’s message, that exile there was required and was part of their spiritual reformation. The reference is to the Nile being made to water the fields by means of small canals or AV"furrows;"these waters are the figure of the auxiliary forces wherewith Egypt tried to help Judah.</p>


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<p>It was planted in a good soil by many waters that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine- This laments how it was really possible that the exile in Babylon could have quite quickly brought forth spiritual fruit to God. The apparently bad situation was ideally suited to their becoming"a goodly vine". Fruit bearing is what God seeks of us; contrary to what we often think, He places us in situations which are optimal for our spiritual development. And yet by seeking a better material situation we can ruin all that potential.</p>


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<p>Say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper?- Spiritually, the vine would not prosper, just as we will not spiritually prosper if we refuse to accept the situations God places us in for our spiritual good. Nehemiah uses this same word"prosper", as if he realized that the exiles had not prospered as intended, but he wished to put that right at the restoration (<a href='B:160 1:11'>Neh 1:11</a>; <a href='B:160 2:20'>Neh 2:20</a>). The plan of God didn’t ultimately prosper at that time, but it will in the hands of the messiah Jesus, the fulfilment of the twig which becomes a cedar later in the chapter (<a href='B:290 53:10'>Isa 53:10</a>). Jeremiah’s parable of the girdle demonstrated that the Jews would not"prosper"(<a href='B:300 13:7'>Jer 13:7</a>; <a href='B:300 13:10'>Jer 13:10</a>) even when taken into captivity at the Euphrates (i:e. Babylon), using the same word as in the parable of the vine in <a href='B:330 17:9'>Eze 17:9</a>. Babylon, according to <a href='B:330 17:8'>Eze 17:8</a>, was potentially fruitful soil for their spiritual revival. But they would not"prosper", Jeremiah says, because of their deep seated love of idolatry and lack of true repentance. The parable of the vine has just stated that the burnt and charred vine tree is not"suitable for any work", using the same word translated here"prosper"(<a href='B:330 15:4'>Eze 15:4</a>). Only Divine grace could make it prosper and be useful to Him.</p><p>Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots- Even a small Babylonian army could do the job of destroying Judah (<a href='B:300 37:10'>Jer 37:10</a>). The withering of the fruit is emphasized because the whole idea was that the vine could have brought forth spiritual fruit in the early days of the exile, even whilst Zedekiah was still puppet king in Jerusalem. But that was all to be destroyed by the uprooting.</p>


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<p>Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew- For"prosper", see on :9. The focus is not so much upon the physical destruction, but upon the withering of the fruit and the tragedy of the loss of potential spiritual fruit. Babylon is likened to the east wind, coming from the north east to destroy that which had been planted.</p>


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<p>Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying- The apparent gap between the riddle and the interpretation was to encourage them to work it out for themselves.</p>


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<p>Say now to the rebellious people, Don’t you know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon- The parable is not hard to interpret. They surely saw the point. But apparently they acted dumb, as if it was all a mystery; and so the obvious interpretation is given. This shows that apparent intellectual failure to understand God’s word, or at least His moral demands, has a moral basis. They refused to understand the parable because they were a"rebellious people", not because of some purely intellectual block.</p>


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<p>He took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him. He also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land- These were the very people who were with Ezekiel in captivity in Babylon. The parable was highly relevant to them."The seed royal"were as it were hostages in Babylon.</p>


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<p>That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand- The idea may be that it was God’s plan that through keeping the covenant, the royal family and leadership would be humbled, and this would bring about God’s favourite paradox- the brought down could then be exalted,"that... it might stand". See on :24. But they refused to repent, to be humbled, to be ashamed, and instead sought to wriggle out of the covenant by making agreements with Egypt to attack the Babylonian forces, liberate Jerusalem and perhaps later themselves from Babylon itself. Yet all these things had been explicitly promised to Judah; God would do all these things, if they repented. But instead of doing so, they sought by all manner of desperate means to bring about this liberation in the strength of Egypt. This is so typical of human behaviour. It is for us to learn the lesson.</p>


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<p>But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper?- For"prosper", see on :9. We wonder whether it was yet public knowledge in Babylon that Zedekiah and the royal family had sent these ambassadors and had these plans. If not, Ezekiel’s message would have been tantamount to a betrayal of serious secrets which would have directly led to the Babylonian invasion and fury with the royal family who were already with Ezekiel in captivity in Babylon. It would have been a very hard message for Ezekiel to deliver, and would have made him hated and at risk for his life amongst the captives.</p><p>Shall he who does such things escape? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?- This is the language of Judah breaking covenant with God, just used in <a href='B:330 16:59'>Eze 16:59</a>. God had designed the covenant between Zedekiah and the Babylonians, for the spiritual growth and repentance of the Jews. To break it was therefore to effectively break covenant with God. Or we could instead perceive that covenant breaking with God is reflected in covenant breaking with men. Our attitude to God becomes our attitude to men.</p>


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<p>As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die- The very opposite would happen to that which Zedekiah hoped. He is presented in Jeremiah as wanting to do the right thing before God, earnestly seeking God’s word, yet fearing the opinion of his princes. But here Ezekiel sees to the essence; that fear of the opinion of others was effectively a despising of covenant relationship with God.</p>


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<p>Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many people- The"they"appears to be the Babylonians. No amount of human might could alter the purpose of God, which required repentant trust in Him rather than hope in the human strength of Egypt. The Egyptian forces were destroyed and had to return to Egypt (<a href='B:300 37:7'>Jer 37:7</a>; <a href='B:300 44:30'>Jer 44:30</a>).</p>


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<p>For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape- To give the hand was a metaphor for making a covenant agreement. Jeremiah appears to justify the way Judah had done this by saying that they did it"for bread"(<a href='B:310 5:6'>Lam 5:6</a>), as if the famine sent by God to bring about their repentance was so severe that the alliances were not just for political and military protection, but for basic food. This was how low the one time beautiful prostitute of Ezekiel 16 had fallen; just"for bread"she made the agreements which meant that she had to have the idols of these people in the Jerusalem temple. Clearly these ’givings of the hand’ were wrong, and yet Jeremiah laments as if they were somehow justifiable. But Ezekiel 17 clearly condemns them as immoral acts. For God as Judah’s husband would surely provide her with bread. The lack of it was to bring her back to Him, but instead she responded by madly making more spiritually adulterous covenants. We too can respond to God’s chastening hand either by total repentance and casting ourselves upon Him, or by madly seeking to get around His chastisement by yet further sin and unfaithfulness.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely My oath that he has despised, and My covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head- This is the language of Judah breaking covenant with God, just used in <a href='B:330 16:59'>Eze 16:59</a>. God had designed the covenant between Zedekiah and the Babylonians, for the spiritual growth and repentance of the Jews. To break it was therefore to effectively break covenant with God. Or we could instead perceive that covenant breaking with God is reflected in covenant breaking with men. Our attitude to God becomes our attitude to men. Judah were light hearted in their attitude to everything; they"gave the hand"in :18 in order just to get"bread"(<a href='B:310 5:6'>Lam 5:6</a>). They were in need, and instead of turning to God in repentance, they madly made promises of total loyalty to various peoples and their gods. It is this light hearted, not serious attitude, seeking for the immediate for the total sacrifice of principle, which dominates our age today.</p>


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<p>I will spread My net on him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his sins that he has committed against Me- Zedekiah was to be taken by the net of the Babylonian armies. We marvel that he was not immediately slain by God. But there in Babylon God says in the AV that"I will plead with him there". In his blindness, God appealed to him. We marvel at God’s continual effort to save this man; it is the loving initiative of the shepherd who searches for the lost with the attitude that He will search until He finds it. God doesn’t give up with people, and neither should we.</p>


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<p>All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it- The prophecy would be written down, and would be later seen to have fulfilled exactly. Zedekiah’s accompanying soldiers were slain, but his life was preserved. This would surely have been reflected upon by him; it was part of God’s special pleading with that man to realize His grace (see on :20).</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain- When Zedekiah was taken into captivity (<a href='B:330 17:20'>Eze 17:20</a>), it was prophesied that “a tender one” (Messiah- <a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:290 53:2'>Isa 53:2</a>) would be planted “upon an high mountain”, and grow into a tree in whose shadows all animals would live(<a href='B:330 17:21-22'>Eze 17:21-22</a>). This is clearly the Messianic Kingdom (<a href='B:490 13:19'>Luk 13:19</a>). This young twig at the time of the captivity [when Zedekiah was taken into captivity, :20] was surely Zerubbabel, and the “high mountain” upon which his Kingdom could have been established is surely the “high mountain” of <a href='B:330 40:2'>Eze 40:2</a> where the temple could have been built. Yet the prophecy had to suffer a massive deferment until its fulfilment in Christ. See on <a href='B:450 6:12'>Zec 6:12</a>.</p><p>had spoken of how at the restoration, Babylon would fall and a “tender one” arise, who would grow into a tree under whose branches all the birds would find shelter. This is the very language of the Kingdom of Jesus in <a href='B:470 13:32'>Mat 13:32</a>. The Kingdom of Babylon- also likened in Daniel to a tree with birds beneath it- could have been replaced with God’s Kingdom when it fell soon after the restoration of Judah. But no Messiah figure arose (see on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a> - Zerubbabel could have fulfilled it), and so the prophecy had a changed fulfilment- the tree that was abased and then lifted up could have been Israel, but it was re-applied to the Lord Jesus, the ultimate “servant” of Yahweh. <a href='B:330 19:13-14'>Eze 19:13-14</a> help us perceive this more clearly- Judah in Babylon were as it were “planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground”. She had “no [Messianic] strong rod to be a sceptre to rule”, and this was “for a lamentation”. But the prophecy was fulfilled in another way- for the Lord Jesus was the root out of a dry ground who sprang up and did fulfil God’s intention (<a href='B:290 53:1'>Isa 53:1</a>).</p><p>This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation- The chapter at least from :10 onwards is therefore a funeral dirge. It could have been for the literal mother of Zedekiah who died in Babylon (<a href='B:300 29:2'>Jer 29:2</a>), or perhaps for Zedekiah himself. Part of the reason her sons made the alliances they did was due to her ambitions, which were clearly not based upon faith in God.</p>


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<p>In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar. Under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell- The parable opened by describing the various nations within the Babylonian empire as wings and feathers (:3). The potential was that the Babylonian empire would be converted to Yahweh by the repentant exiles, and would come to dwell under the shadow of the reestablished Messianic kingdom of God in Israel. So much potential was wasted by Zerubbabel and the exiles.</p><p>&nbsp; <a href='B:330 17:22-23'>Eze 17:22-23</a> had spoken of how at the restoration, Babylon would fall and a “tender one” arise, who would grow into a tree under whose branches all the birds would find shelter. This is the very language of the Kingdom of Jesus in <a href='B:470 13:32'>Mat 13:32</a>. The Kingdom of Babylon- also likened in Daniel to a tree with birds beneath it- could have been replaced with God’s Kingdom when it fell soon after the restoration of Judah. But no Messiah figure arose (see on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a> - Zerubbabel could have fulfilled it), and so the prophecy had a changed fulfilment- the tree that was abased and then lifted up could have been Israel, but it was re-applied to the Lord Jesus, the ultimate “servant” of Yahweh. <a href='B:330 19:13-14'>Eze 19:13-14</a> help us perceive this more clearly- Judah in Babylon were as it were “planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground”. She had “no [Messianic] strong rod to be a sceptre to rule”, and this was “for a lamentation”. But the prophecy was fulfilled in another way- for the Lord Jesus was the root out of a dry ground who sprang up and did fulfil God’s intention (<a href='B:290 53:1'>Isa 53:1</a>)</p>


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<p>All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it- In the first context, the high tree was that of Babylon. The low tree was the deformed vine of :6 (see note there). This humiliated kingdom could have arisen to eclipse the Babylonian empire. As explained on Daniel 2, the vision of the image can be understood as a sequence of kings rather than kingdoms which could have been destroyed by the little stone of restored Judah under a Messianic ruler. But this was precluded by Judah’s lack of repentance and spiritual vision, and so the prophecies were rescheduled and reapplied to the Lord Jesus. He was to be the root out of a dry ground who through the humiliation of the cross was to establish the Divine kingdom of :23.</p><p>It was God’s plan that through keeping the covenant, the royal family and leadership would be humbled, and this would bring about God’s favourite paradox- the brought down could then be exalted,"that... it might stand"(see on :14).</p><p>This lack of humility led to the prophecy being reapplied to the Lord Jesus. And His mother seems to have perceived this. The humility of Mary was the pattern for the Lord’s self-humiliation in the cross. Here above all we see the influence of Mary upon Jesus, an influence that would lead Him to and through the cross. Her idea of putting down the high and exalting the lowly (<a href='B:490 1:52'>Luk 1:52</a>) is picking up <a href='B:330 17:24'>Eze 17:24</a>: “I have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish”. And yet these very words of Ezekiel were quoted by the Lord in His time of dying. With reverence, we can follow where we are being led in our exploration and knowing of the mind of Christ. His dear mum had gone around the house singing her Magnificat. He realized that she felt the lowly who had been exalted [and perhaps in some unrecorded incident before her conception she had been recently humbled?]. And Jesus had realized her quotation of <a href='B:330 17:24'>Eze 17:24</a>. And He had perceived His linkage and connection with her, and how she saw all that was true of Him as in some way true of her, and vice versa. And now, in His final crisis, He takes comfort from the fact that like His dear mother, He the one who was now humbled, would be exalted. How many other trains of thought have been sparked in men’s minds by the childhood instructions of their mothers…?</p><p>The Lord’s words as He carried the cross"If they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"is packed with allusion to O:T. Scriptures (<a href='B:330 17:24'>Eze 17:24</a>; <a href='B:300 11:16'>Jer 11:16</a>; <a href='B:300 11:19'>Jer 11:19</a>; Psalms 1; <a href='B:300 17:5-8'>Jer 17:5-8</a>). His preceding words to the women were likewise; his quotation from <a href='B:350 10:8'>Hos 10:8</a> is set in a context so appropriate to the situation He was in. If they did these things to Him, the green and healthy shoot, what would be done to the dry dead wood of Israel…? His concern was always with the sufferings others would experience rather than being lost in His own introspection. Without getting too deeply involved in the actual exposition, a simple lesson emerges: He was not so overpowered by the terrible physicality of His human situation that He ceased to be spiritually aware. His mind was full of the word, not just out of place quotations flooding His subconscious, but real awareness of the spirit of the Father’s word and its’ intensely personal relevance to Himself. In this He sets a matchless example.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying- The righteous remnant were actually persecuted by the other Jews in Babylon, according to the testimony of the later parts of Isaiah. One significant problem which they had right from the start was that they insisted that the captivity was unfair, it was not their fault, they were righteous and were being unfairly punished for the sins of their fathers. Ezekiel 18 addresses this at length with them. God’s intention was that His exiled people would"declare all their abominations among the nations whither they come", i:e. the 127 provinces of Babylon (<a href='B:330 12:16'>Eze 12:16</a>). Note how confession of personal failure and testimony to God’s forgiveness is actually a powerful witness to unbelievers. But instead, Ezekiel had to reason against the Jews’ insistence that they had not sinned, and were being unfairly punished for their fathers’ sins by an unjust God (Ezekiel 18). And so likewise it happens with us all too often that the potential witness which we could make simply isn’t made <a href='B:110 8:47-50'>1Ki 8:47-50</a> had predicted that God would give the exiles compassion in captivity if they repented. They didn’t repent, as passages like Ezekiel 18 make clear (they blamed everything on their fathers and protested their personal innocence)- and yet still God gave them compassion in the eyes of their captors, through the amazing decrees of Cyrus enabling them to return to their land and rebuild the temple at his expense.</p>


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<p>What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?- Note that God is aware of even the throwaway language and phrases used by us.</p><p>It’s apparent that Judah in captivity weren’t repentant; and yet God granted them His forgiveness so that they might repent. Indeed, the Jews were bitter with God. They claimed that they were suffering unfairly as a result of their fathers’ sins, and that Yahweh was unfair (<a href='B:330 18:25'>Eze 18:25</a>)- when He was showing them a grace so wonderful that all that is within us fights against perceiving it! The lack of perception of God’s grace was terrible- and yet many of us have lived for decades doing just the same! Some of the comments of the Jewish religious leaders during the captivity are preserved for us in the Babylonian Talmud. It’s interesting to see the development of their commentaries upon the prophets (See H. Freedman, The Babylonian Talmud: Seder Mo’ed (London: Soncino Press, 1938). Hosea clearly taught that he represented God, and Israel were likened to a prostitute, unfaithful to Him. Time and again, Hosea appeals for Israel to"return", the same Hebrew word being used about ’returning’ to the land of Judah. But Israel would not. And they obviously found Hosea hard to grapple with. And so the Talmud condemns Hosea for marrying a promiscuous woman (See Peshitta 87b in the Babylonian Talmud; and H:L. Ginsberg, ’Hosea, Book of’ in G. Roth and C. Wigoder, eds, Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Macmillan, 1971) Vol. 18 col. 1011). By so doing they were refusing to let the prophetic word bite as it was intended to; their interpretations, like many false exposition today, was intended to justify them. And thereby they effectively condemned the God who loved them so freely. Even those who did return were impenitent. The sins of those who returned are styled"the transgression of those that had been carried away"(<a href='B:150 9:4'>Ezr 9:4</a>). Yet those who returned to the land weren’t mainly the generation who had been carried away. The intended confusion is surely to suggest that those who returned committed the same sins as had led Judah into captivity a generation earlier. And Ezra comments on this fact in his subsequent prayer (<a href='B:150 9:7'>Ezr 9:7</a>).</p>


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<p>As I live says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel- In <a href='B:330 16:56'>Eze 16:56</a>; <a href='B:330 16:63'>Eze 16:63</a> we noted that God wished to stop Israel using certain proverbs. He paid attention to their sayings, their language, their throwaway expressions. All language is significant to God, and He aimed to reform even the kind of language they spoke. This is part of being in the new covenant- <a href='B:300 31:29'>Jer 31:29</a> had specifically stated this, contemporary with Ezekiel. So Ezekiel is so labouring the point in Ezekiel 18, because he wants them to accept the new covenant in exile, and to live and speak according to it. And yet Jeremiah himself seems to say that God has in fact punished the children for their fathers’ sins (<a href='B:310 5:7'>Lam 5:7</a>). He was contradicting his own message in <a href='B:300 31:29'>Jer 31:29</a>. We would therefore have in this an example of a man who in depression says things which are wrong, struggling with God, as Job did; and yet still finally accepted.</p>


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<p>Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine- The idea may be that God created all people and therefore He will judge each individually. But the allusion is surely to <a href='B:30 20:26'>Lev 20:26</a>:"You [all Israel] shall be Mine", out of all the families of the earth. All Israel were indeed God’s people, but this did not mean that the person ["soul"] who sinned would not be punished with death. For the contrast is with the righteous who would"live"(:19) and in that sense, not die. And perhaps specifically the reference is again to the priesthood, who appear to be the subject of much of Ezekiel’s criticisms; for it was they and the royal family who were taken into captivity rather than the common masses. For"the Levites shall be Mine"(<a href='B:30 3:12'>Lev 3:12</a>; <a href='B:40 8:14'>Num 8:14</a>). This would explain the male reference, to"the son"; for the priesthood was male. The phrase is used again in <a href='B:460 3:17'>Mal 3:17</a>, of the repentant remnant amongst the exiles. But even amongst them, those who sinned would die.</p><p>The soul who sins, he shall die- Proof enough that"the soul"simply means ’the person’ and is not immortal. The death in view is death at the hands of the Babylonians, in the context. For some souls / people implicitly didn’t commit the sin which led to death. It is judicial death which is in view, rather than the death which is common to all men.</p>


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<p>But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right- The things listed as exemplifications of this are all from the second table of the ten commandments. Doing justice and right was the characteristic of Abraham’s true seed (s:w. <a href='B:10 18:19'>Gen 18:19</a>). Those who did not do so were therefore not the true Israel of God. Again, the Jewish assumption of salvation from the Babylonians on account of their fleshly descent is being deconstructed.</p>


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<p>And has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity- The sexual immorality is bracketed together with the idolatry, because as made clear in Ezekiel 16, the two went together. The sexual aspect of idolatry was not solely in sleeping with the cult prostitutes but with other women who had come to worship, even your neighbour’s wife. The idol cults apparently had no restrictions regarding sleeping with menstrous women. And so at the very time when her husband could not sleep with her due to the Mosaic prohibitions about this, she could go to the idol worship and sleep with her neighbour’s husband. Thus the inability of compromise between God’s law and idolatry is emphasized, whereas the priests were teaching that the idolatry was being performed as part of Yahweh worship.</p>


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<p>And has not wronged any but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment- Such sensitivity and generosity to the poor is not a mere optional extra in the spiritual life; it is in fact part of being basically"just"and committed to social justice (:5), part of ’dealing truly’ (:9).</p>


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<p>He who has not given forth on interest neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man- These issues suggest that the person addressed is in a position of power; to lend to others, and to judge between persons. This strengthens the impression that Ezekiel is addressing specifically the leadership; it was the priests and ruling classes who had been taken into exile at that time, and they were his audience. ’Executing true justice’ was appealed for again by Zechariah after the restoration (<a href='B:450 7:9'>Zec 7:9</a> s:w:). Clearly the community addressed by Ezekiel were still failing in this as they had before the exile, and continued to do so after the restoration. The captivity didn’t produce the reformation intended. But by race, God still restored them, in the hope that this further outpouring of grace would motivate them to repentance; and yet it didn’t.</p>


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<p>Has walked in My statutes, and has kept My commandments, to deal truly: he is just- See on :7. Dealing truly is a phrase often used of keeping covenant promises. By not doing these things, Israel had ended their covenant with God.</p><p>He shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh-"Surely live"isn’t necessarily an offer of eternal life; it could refer to how those who repented in Jerusalem would be spared the destruction and death which would otherwise come.</p>


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<p>If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things- These were all things going on at the time of Ezekiel. The exiles needed to repent of these things. Perhaps he is viewing coveting as theft, and hatred of brethren as murder. But there is strong reason to suspect that these actual things had been practiced by the ruling classes who were now in exile with Ezekiel. The same word is used to express how the Jerusalem temple had been turned by the priests into a"den of robbers"(<a href='B:300 7:11'>Jer 7:11</a>). Again we have the impression that Ezekiel as a priest is addressing the leaders of the priests and their children who had been taken into captivity. One reason Judah was destroyed was because Manasseh was a ’shedder of blood’ (<a href='B:120 21:16'>2Ki 21:16</a>; <a href='B:120 24:4'>2Ki 24:4</a>). Perhaps this was being focused upon by the exiles, complaining that God was unfairly punishing them for Manasseh’s sins. But the reality was that in essence, his descendants and wider family had done the same as he had done. For they too had been involved in the shedding of the innocent blood of their own children to the idol cults (<a href='B:230 106:38'>Psa 106:38</a>). Indeed <a href='B:300 7:6'>Jer 7:6</a> says that this innocent blood was shed in the temple; it was there that the idols were worshipped and child sacrifice made. This is in proximity to the description of that temple as a den of robbers (<a href='B:300 7:11'>Jer 7:11</a>), which is the same word used here in <a href='B:330 18:10'>Eze 18:10</a>.</p>


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<p>And who does not any of those obligations- The idea of"obligations"may be that the theft and shedding innocent blood in child sacrifices (:10) were performed as part of their religious obligations to the idols of the surrounding nations whom they had contracted to worship, in return for material and political help.</p><p>But even has eaten on the mountains and defiled his neighbour’s wife- There was perhaps the idea amongst some of the exiles that they had not performed child sacrifice nor theft in the Jerusalem temple (:10), and were therefore acceptable. But they had eaten idol sacrifices elsewhere, and in that context slept with their neighbour’s wife; see on :6 for the connection.</p>


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<p>Has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination- Lifting up the eyes can be understood as meaning to trust in, to look towards for help. Judah’s leadership, whose children were now in exile and formed Ezekiel’s first audience, had made deals with other nations, trusting in their gods to help them against the Babylonians; instead of looking to Yahweh.</p>


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<p>Has given forth on interest, and has taken increase: shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die; his blood shall be on him- Nehemiah makes it clear that this lending to brethren on interest was going on amongst the restored exiles, and clearly they were just continuing to live how they had done in exile. For those whom Ezekiel is addressing in captivity were apparently doing this, just as they had done before their exile. The experience of restoration by grace had not affected their behaviour. We too must allow ourselves to be challenged by this.</p><p>The prohibition of taking interest was so that"your brother shall live by / with you"(<a href='B:30 25:36'>Lev 25:36</a>). By having done so, those now in exile were separated from their poorer brethren. They had placed personal material gain before the unity of God’s people. Again, that is a timeless warning. This taking of interest specifically happened in the temple, according to <a href='B:330 22:12'>Eze 22:12</a>; suggesting the priesthood had become a financial racket which exploited the poor. It is the priesthood and ruling classes whom Ezekiel addresses, for they were those in exile with him.</p><p>"He shall surely die"sounds like a legal pronunciation of death at judgment."He shall not die... live"is an allusion to the words of the serpent, who had taught that God’s people would not"surely die"for their sins. The Jews faced the same test, from false teachers acting as the serpent in Eden, the sanctuary of God at that time.</p>


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<p>Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and sees, and does not such like- Ezekiel was especially addressing the children of the priesthood, royal family and ruling classes. He was inviting them to repent. Those young people were the ones who could have brought about the repentance required to trigger God’s amazing plan of restoring His Kingdom in Israel. So often young people have great potential in God’s plan. But we get the impression that Daniel and his friends were the only truly faithful young men amongst the exiles.</p>


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<p>Who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbour’s wife- The idols are described specifically as belonging to"the house of Israel". The reference may be to the temple, where Ezekiel had seen the idols being worshipped. Or perhaps the sense is also that it took a strong individual to refuse to worship the idols of his house / family. The gods of the nations were now those of the people of Israel.</p>


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<p>Neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry and has clothed the naked- The times of the exiles were those of famine, as God tried to bring Judah to repentance. Bread was to be removed from them (<a href='B:330 4:17'>Eze 4:17</a>; <a href='B:330 5:16'>Eze 5:16</a>). For the righteous to share their bread with those lacking bread was therefore tantamount to saying that they would pity sinners in their judgment, and not simply leave them to their sufferings because they had brought those sufferings upon their own heads. If a man digs a pit and falls into it, he is still in the pit and deserves our compassion. This is at the heart of God’s compassion towards His sinning people.</p>


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<p>Who has not oppressed the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has kept My commandments, has walked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live- The ’death’ in view here is the judicial death threatened at the hands of the Babylonians; see on :4. ’Living’ means being spared those judgments. These warnings take on especial relevance if indeed Ezekiel was preaching the message to the literal, exiled sons of those who had oppressed the poor in Judah."Not oppressed [the poor]"in <a href='B:330 18:17'>Eze 18:17</a> is literally ’to turn back the hand from’. God did not turn His hand back from destroying Jerusalem (<a href='B:310 2:8'>Lam 2:8</a> s:w:) because the people of Judah and those already in exile had not responded to Ezekiel’s call to ’turn back their hand’ from oppressing the poor. Their attitude to their poor brethren was to become God’s attitude to them. And that is taught by the Lord Jesus in His parables as being the principle by which we too shall be judged.</p>


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<p>As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, see, he shall die in his iniquity-"Robbed"is ’plundered’, exactly as Jerusalem and the temple was to be plundered, along with the houses of the wealthy. How they treated their brother was how they were to be judged; they were plundered because they plundered their brother. And that is the principle upon which we too shall be judged.</p>


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<p>Yet you say, Why doesn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father?- The Hebrew is ambiguous, maybe purposefully so. It could be read as a complaint about they the children bearing the result of their father’s sins, as AV:"Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?". Or it could be read as a statement that they the children who had gone into exile were bearing the punishment of their father’s sins, and therefore, their fathers shouldn’t suffer any more. Even though their fathers continued sinning.</p><p>When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live- The emphasis upon"When..."would suggest that the sons, the young people in exile, were not doing what was lawful and right. If they did, then they would"live", be spared the judgment which was threatened to come upon them even in Babylon. But they were powerless to alter the outcomes for their parents, unless their parents personally repented.</p>


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<p>The soul who sins, he shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him- As noted on :19, this bearing sin, or the punishment for sin, was thought to work in that a sinful son could have his punishment carried by the suffering of his father, and vice versa. God doesn’t operate such a substitutionary system of atonement. The Lord Jesus bore the punishment for our sins in that He was representative of those who are willingly"in"Him and identify with Him in order to seek forgiveness of their sins which they fully acknowledge. This is different to substitutionary atonement.</p>


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<p>But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all My statutes and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die-"Turn"is the word also used for the ’return’ of the exiles. Their repentance would lead to their return. They didn’t repent, yet by grace God took the initiative and returned them anyway. Yet most didn’t want to return and preferred the soft life in Babylon / Persia, and those who did, as the later prophets make clear, didn’t repent.</p>


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<p>None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live-"Remembered"is one of a series of Bible verses which could imply that there will be a ’going through’ of the sins of the rejected at judgment day, and a ’going through’ of the good deeds of the righteous, the water and clothing provided as it were to the Lord Jesus."Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord"(<a href='B:560 6:8'>Eph 6:8</a>)- at judgment day. Not in this life, when the righteous often suffer for their goodness. Every good deed will then have its recognition; but their sins have been dealt with, and these will not be ’gone through’ with them.</p><p>"God shall judge the righteous and the wicked (at the second coming): for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work…for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or bad"(<a href='B:250 3:17'>Ecc 3:17</a>; <a href='B:250 12:14'>Ecc 12:14</a>). Note the emphasis on"every". Even what we have spoken in the ear will be shouted out (<a href='B:490 12:3'>Luk 12:3</a>) -implying others will somehow observe our judgment, cp. <a href='B:470 12:41'>Mat 12:41</a>. If the judgment is merely a yes/no statement which has been worked out taking our whole life into consideration, then this emphasis on every work having a time for consideration and judgment"there"is pointless. God will"require"the flock at the hand of the pastors (<a href='B:330 34:10'>Eze 34:10</a>), or, as the NT puts it, the ecclesial elders must give an account at judgment day for their flock. The Hebrew word translated"require"in the above passages has the sense of to search / enquire- which suggests a process of discussion during the judgment process. Paul prayed that the fact the brethren in Rome hadn’t stood with him in his court case"may not be laid to their charge"(<a href='B:620 4:16'>2Ti 4:16</a>). This sounds as if he expected their behaviour in this specific matter to be something which could be brought up with them in the last day and possibly be the cause of their rejection.</p><p>"I will never forget any of their works"(<a href='B:370 8:7'>Amo 8:7</a>) was God’s judgment against the wicked in Israel. Their works would be mentioned to them again at judgment day. Nehemiah several times asks God to"remember unto me"the good deeds he had done for Judah (<a href='B:160 5:19'>Neh 5:19</a> RV), and to likewise"remember"the bad works of the wicked (<a href='B:160 6:14'>Neh 6:14</a> RV). He clearly perceived judgment day as featuring the good deeds of the righteous being as it were listed, and the sins of the wicked being likewise recounted. Perhaps his prayer was heard in that in a restoration context, <a href='B:460 3:16'>Mal 3:16</a> comments that a book of remembrance was written by God to record the good deeds of the faithful at that time.</p><p>For those who suffer persecution, prison etc. for the Lord’s sake,"it shall turn to you for a testimony"(<a href='B:490 21:13'>Luk 21:13</a>). When? How? Surely in that these things will be ’gone through’ with them at judgment as a testimony to their faithfulness. At judgment God"shall bring forth thy righteousness (good deeds) as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day"(<a href='B:230 37:6'>Psa 37:6</a>). The sins of the rejected and the good deeds of the righteous will be publicly declared at the judgment, even if they are concealed from men in this life (<a href='B:610 5:24-25'>1Ti 5:24-25</a>). This is how men will receive"praise of God"(<a href='B:530 4:5'>1Co 4:5</a>; <a href='B:670 1:7'>1Pe 1:7</a>; <a href='B:520 2:29'>Rom 2:29</a>). The wicked will see the generous deeds of the righteous rehearsed before them; and will gnash their teeth and melt away into condemnation (<a href='B:230 112:9-10'>Psa 112:9-10</a>).</p>


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<p>Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?- The desire of God for repentance is stronger than His need to punish sin. Hence LXX"Shall I at all desire the death of the sinner, saith the Lord, as I desire that he should turn from his evil way, and live?". This is why He hangs on so long with sinful people, and Israel are the parade example. His desire for repentance, His passion for human reformation, is active and huge. It’s not that He has set a bar which must be jumped over, and is passive toward us until that is achieved.</p>


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<p>But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die- As explained on :22, the good deeds of the righteous will be ’gone through’ at judgment day. But if they turn away, then those good deeds will not be remembered or gone through, but rather his sins.</p>


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<p>Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, house of Israel: Is My way not fair? Aren’t your waysunfair?- <a href='B:290 40:3'>Isa 40:3</a>, which is quoted in <a href='B:490 3:4'>Luk 3:4</a>, speaks of “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”, whereas <a href='B:290 62:10'>Isa 62:10</a> speaks of “Prepare ye the way of the people”. Yet tragically, the way / path of Israel was not the way / path of the Lord (<a href='B:330 18:25'>Eze 18:25</a>). We are not only Jesus to this world but also effectively we are the witness to God Himself. We minister His care to others; to the extent that Paul could write both that he was a minister of God, and also a minister of the church (<a href='B:540 6:4'>2Co 6:4</a>; <a href='B:580 1:24-25'>Col 1:24-25</a>).</p>


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<p>When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die- This was perhaps a warning to the righteous remnant who had so far repented in exile; they were liable to be dragged back into sin by the other exiles and the depressive situation they found themselves in.</p>


text:
<p>Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive-"Save his soul alive"implies that judgment is about to come, the death penalty already passed, but his repentance just about averts this at the last moment. It is the term used in <a href='B:10 19:19'>Gen 19:19</a> of how Lot was just about saved by grace out of Sodom, which was a symbol of Jerusalem under judgment, as Ezekiel 16 has made clear. This was the desperate urgency of Ezekiel’s appeal; and yet he was seen at best as a singer of fairy tales or old time love songs (<a href='B:330 33:32'>Eze 33:32</a>).</p>


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<p>Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die-"Considers"is literally ’see’. Part of our spiritual blindness is in refusing to see that our current path will lead to death and not life. They were to ’see’ their situation and turn back, literally, ’return’. Their return from captivity was to be associated with their return from sin. But God took the initiative and returned them anyway, despite their impenitence. And even that initiative of grace was refused by the majority. The same words are used of Ezekiel being bidden both to ’consider [see]’ and to ’turn’ (<a href='B:330 8:6'>Eze 8:6</a>; <a href='B:330 8:13'>Eze 8:13</a>; <a href='B:330 8:15'>Eze 8:15</a>; <a href='B:330 47:6'>Eze 47:6</a>). He was set up as their pattern, as the parade example of how the remnant ought to be.</p>


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<p>Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair. House of Israel, aren’t My ways fair? Aren’t your ways unfair?- The majority of the captives insisted, according to Ezekiel 18, that they hadn’t sinned, and they were suffering unjustlybecause of the sins of their fathers; whereas this righteous remnant in Babylon were intended to admit that “we have sinned. Equally with them of old time have we transgressed” (<a href='B:290 64:5'>Isa 64:5</a>). They took the message of Ezekiel to heart- unlike the majority. And thus this was the sad end of the great plan developed by the God of all grace for His people in Babylon. They rejected it, and hated His servants who brought that good news to them. The complaint that God is unfair is answered by reminding them that they have sinned. And this finally is one aspect of the answer to ’the problem of suffering’.</p>


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<p>Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin- Time and again the prophets judged Israel according to their"ways", rather than according to their theological or academic knowledge."Each one"was a reminder to the exiles that not one of them were mere victims of some group judgment whilst being personally innocent. They had sinned, but the appeal was not to allow that iniquity to be their"stumblingblock", which is how the Hebrew for"ruin"is usually translated. We all sin, but we are not to allow that sin to become a stumblingblock which plunges us headlong into further sin. And that involves a conscious attempt to turn themselves. God lay a stumblingblock before those who had sinned (<a href='B:330 3:20'>Eze 3:20</a>) in that He psychologically confirmed them in the way they chose to go. He confirmed them in how they had laid the stumblingblock themselves before their own faces (<a href='B:330 14:3-4'>Eze 14:3-4</a>), blocking their mental vision with a desire to do wrong, specifically to attain or retain personal wealth (<a href='B:330 7:19'>Eze 7:19</a>). All these passages use the same word for"ruin"as here, but translated"stumblingblock". This again is the urgency of our situation; we have sinned, but we must urgently repent. Otherwise, that sin becomes entrenched in our mental vision, and will stumble us into the mire of sinful being and thinking.</p>


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<p>Cast away from you all your transgressions in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?- Elsewhere in Ezekiel, God promises to give them a new heart and spirit (<a href='B:330 11:19'>Eze 11:19</a>; <a href='B:330 36:26'>Eze 36:26</a>). This was part of the new covenant God was offering the exiles, seeing they had broken the old covenant. On one hand, God can give the new psychology, the new pair of eyes, the heart of the Spirit... just like that. But to simply do so regardless of human volition would be to turn man into a mere puppet of an almighty psychological controller. There must be a desire for that new heart and spirit, and then God will confirm it. This offer of a new spirit due to the work of God’s spirit on human hearts is just as much part of the same new covenant which God has given to all who accept it in Christ today.</p>


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<p>For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live- God is not passive to human repentance. He wants us to repent and&nbsp; wills us to do so. Those who refuse to turn or repent will die, and He has no satisfaction or pleasure or will for that to happen. The exiles could have repented, both individually and collectively ["turn yourselves"in Hebrew carries that collective implication], and averted the death which was otherwise planned for them and their brethren back in Judah at the hand of the Babylonians. Peter alludes to these words in saying that for all time, God is not willing ["pleasure"in Hebrew can mean ’will’] that any should perish but that all should repent (<a href='B:680 3:9'>2Pe 3:9</a>). His work of judging insistent sinners is in this sense for Him a"strange act... a strange work"(<a href='B:290 28:21'>Isa 28:21</a>). His passion is for our repentance and salvation, not our condemnation.</p>


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<p>Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel- Chapters 17-22 form an ABABAB structure. Chapters 17,19 and 21 speak of Babylon, and chapters 18,20 and 22 of Judah’s sins which warranted the Babylonian involvement.</p>


text:
<p>And say, What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs- The lions represent the leaders or princes; the lioness is the state of Judah or perhaps the Jerusalem leadership specifically (<a href='B:310 1:1'>Lam 1:1</a>; <a href='B:550 4:25'>Gal 4:25</a>), who"couched among [the other] lions"of the nations, one with them through making alliances with them. And she raised her cubs, the princes of Judah, amongst the lions of the surrounding nations, with their mentality. Babylon and Assyria are both likened to lions; although Jerusalem was"the lion of God"in <a href='B:290 29:1'>Isa 29:1</a> (also <a href='B:10 49:9'>Gen 49:9</a>; <a href='B:40 23:24'>Num 23:24</a>; <a href='B:40 24:9'>Num 24:9</a>). But she was to ’couch among’ the good pastures of Israel as a repentant sheep rather than as a lion once she had repented (<a href='B:330 34:14-15'>Eze 34:14-15</a>; <a href='B:430 3:13'>Zep 3:13</a>). The mother however may refer to Hamutal, the literal mother of the princes mentioned, and whose unGodly ambitions for her sons led them to tragic ends.</p>


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<p>She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men- The reference is to Jehoahaz, son of Josiah [called Shallum in <a href='B:300 22:11'>Jer 22:11</a>], taken captive from Riblah to Egypt (:4) by Pharaoh-necho (<a href='B:120 23:33'>2Ki 23:33</a>). His devouring others must refer to an aggressive kind of behaviour simply called doing evil in the Lord’s eyes (<a href='B:120 23:32'>2Ki 23:32</a>),just like his father. He was raised in this way and continued; and Ezekiel was appealing to the young people of the royal family and Jerusalem leadership to not go in the way of their fathers.</p>


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<p>The nations also heard of him; he was caught in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt- The aggression of Jehoiachin was to such an extent that he was seen as a threat and somehow entrapped by the Egyptians.</p>


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<p>Now when she saw that she had waited and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion- This could refer to Jehoiachin (<a href='B:120 24:15'>2Ki 24:15</a>), although it could also be Zedekiah (<a href='B:120 25:6-7'>2Ki 25:6-7</a>); both were taken to Babylon (:9). The stress on the same mother (:2,3,5) would then highlight how the mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah had raised them in such a way that led both of them to make dishonest alliances as part of a crazy bid for power, which ended both of them in captivity.</p>


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<p>He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men- He didn’t learn from the mistakes and judgment of Jehoahaz. Sometimes parallel people are brought into our lives from whom we are intended to learn, and avoid the path they took.</p>


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<p>He knew their palaces- This is s:w."widows", hence RVmg. and Keil"he knew, i:e. outraged, the widows of Israel". He knew (i:e. eyed with satisfaction) his palaces" from which he had ejected their former owners (<a href='B:300 22:15'>Jer 22:15</a>). If we stay with "palaces", then the idea would be that he visited the palaces of the local rulers of the nations. But he hardly "laid waste their cities". Perhaps his plan to do so was counted as having been as good as done, which is why the nations saw him as a threat.</p><p>And laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring- The idea may be that the land was made desolate because of his singular failures, just as was to happen with Zedekiah (see on :14). But the idea may be that he wasted the land for his own benefit, and therefore the land was to be desolated by the invaders.</p>


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<p>Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit- He was seen as a dangerous lion, a potential threat, and caught. The nations are called "the provinces" to stress that Babylon was the empire to which they all belonged. They used their own limited autonomy in order to depose the aggressive princes of Judah.</p>


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<p>They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel- And Ezekiel in captivity in Babylon was prophesying to him and his family.</p>


text:
<p>Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full ofbranches because of the many waters- This is the language already used in Ezekiel 17. It uses the prophetic perfect tense, talking of that which was yet to happen as if it has happened. They had wasted all the potential to become a fruitful vine by seeking to establish the kingdom in their own strength. The chapter at least from :here onwards is a funeral dirge (:17). It could have been for Hamutal the mother of Zedekiah who died in Babylon (<a href='B:300 29:2'>Jer 29:2</a>), or perhaps for Zedekiah himself. Part of the reason her sons made the alliances they did was due to her ambitions, which were clearly not based upon faith in God.</p>


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<p>It had strong rods for the sceptres of those who bore rule, and their height was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches- We perhaps have an intensive plural here, referring to Zedekiah; or perhaps all 22 of the kings of Judah from David to Zedekiah are in view. And yet if the reference is to Zedekiah, we note that he appears to have been weak and under the control of Babylon, and finally his sons were slain before his eyes. The strength therefore refers to the potential strength and possibility there was to become the rulers of God’s revived Kingdom- if they had totally repented.</p>


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<p>But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them- The vine was not completely destroyed; only its branches were. It was plucked up by the Babylonians, but replanted in Babylon. The imagery reflects God’s grace in not totally destroying the vine. The east wind refers to the Babylonian invasion from the north east, and how the royal family withered to nothing in Babylon.</p>


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<p>Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land- The "dry ground" is Babylon, and the new "planting" indicates the deportation of Jehoiachin and the chief men of Judah. It was out of this dry ground that a Messianic figure could have arisen, as predicted in Isaiah 53. But Zerubbabel and others failed in this, and so the predictions were reapplied to the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<p>Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule- This is the same figure as in <a href='B:70 9:15'>Jdg 9:15</a>; Zedekiah’s refusal to repent at Jeremiah’s preaching brought forth the fire of destruction upon the entire vine. Just one man’s repentance could have averted so much damage.</p>


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<p>It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and they sat before me- At this time, Zedekiah was planning to revolt from the king of Babylon and under the influence of his mother (see Ezekiel 19) was planning to gain independent power through making alliances with other nations. The elders who come to Ezekiel may have been from within the community of Jewish captives already in Babylon, or from Jerusalem. The enquiry may have been because they wanted to know Ezekiel’s take on how long they would have to remain in captivity, considering how the false prophets were speaking of an immediate return and victory against Babylon. It seems they came to Ezekiel wanting to hear this message, which is why God would not be inquired of by them (:3,31).</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying-</p><p> Chapters 17-22 form an ABABAB structure. Chapters 17,19 and 21 speak of Babylon, and chapters 18,20 and 22 of Judah’s sins which warranted the Babylonian involvement.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of Me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you- The allusion may be to <a href='B:50 4:29'>Deu 4:29</a>, where the same word for "inquire" is used. Israel would find God if they "seek" or "inquire" for Him "with your whole heart". And their apparent interest in God’s word was not wholehearted but like many today, they came to His word with their own already decided agenda as to what they wanted the answer to be. The word is also used of seeking other gods (<a href='B:50 12:30'>Deu 12:30</a>; <a href='B:300 8:2'>Jer 8:2</a> and especially see on <a href='B:330 14:3'>Eze 14:3</a>; <a href='B:330 14:7'>Eze 14:7</a>; <a href='B:330 14:10'>Eze 14:10</a>). Idolatry was clearly a problem amongst them; if they were ’seeking to’ other gods then they could not expect a response from Yahweh, if they treated Him as just one of many options available. The elders who came to Ezekiel are in the same category as those in Judah who did not seek / inquire of Yahweh, although they did externally (<a href='B:300 10:21'>Jer 10:21</a>). We can pray and come to God’s word, when in reality we are not doing so from our whole heart and are doing this simply on the level of religious interest rather than wholehearted devotion. They would only ’find’ God is they ’sought’ with their whole heart (<a href='B:300 29:13'>Jer 29:13</a>).</p>


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<p>Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers- Judgment is here paralleled with being caused to know the sins of their fathers which they were in denial of, and which they apparently were continuing in. For Ezekiel 18 had appealed for them to repent of the sins of their fathers. This is the purpose of judgment; to elicit in men an acknowledgment of their sins and thus coming to ’know Yahweh’.</p>


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<p>And tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them saying, I am Yahweh your God- "Swore" is ’to lift up the hand’ as AV. It is fitting that the Lord Jesus Christ died with hands and arms lifted up above his head, rather than spread out in a crucifix form, seeing that uplifted hands is a symbol of God’s promises being confirmed (<a href='B:330 20:5-6'>Eze 20:5-6</a>; <a href='B:330 20:15'>Eze 20:15</a>; <a href='B:330 36:7'>Eze 36:7</a>; <a href='B:330 47:14'>Eze 47:14</a>), as well as intense prayer (<a href='B:310 2:19'>Lam 2:19</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:610 2:8'>1Ti 2:8</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:140 6:12-13'>2Ch 6:12-13</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:230 28:2'>Psa 28:2</a>), which Christ was engaged in on the cross (<a href='B:650 5:7'>Heb 5:7</a>). The covenant is described as being made in Egypt (<a href='B:330 20:5'>Eze 20:5</a>) to heighten the similarity with the exiles now in Babylon, who were being offered a new covenant, and then the possibility of leaving Babylon / Egypt and entering the land again. Judah are also being reminded that the covenant was made with all Israel, the seed of Jacob, and not just Judah. For it was God’s intention to regather them to the land together with Judah.</p><p>But although God had chosen Israel as His unique people, they had chosen other gods (<a href='B:70 5:8'>Jdg 5:8</a>), and at Ezekiel’s time they were doing this in order to get political and military protection from those various gods and nations whom they were choosing. God’s choosing of Israel is associated with God placing them in their own land (<a href='B:290 14:1'>Isa 14:1</a>; <a href='B:290 41:8-9'>Isa 41:8-9</a>). At the restoration they would therefore be as it were chosen again (<a href='B:290 49:7'>Isa 49:7</a>). Yet by grace God restored them, even though they had not uniquely chosen Him again. And they still didn’t respond to that grace.</p>


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<p>In that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands- Likewise our place in God’s Kingdom will have been carefully prepared for us. Just as God "searched out" Canaan for His people. And yet the spies sent to search out Canaan were not in step with God’s searching out of the land. Indeed instead of trusting that He had searched out Canaan, they insisted on sending their own spies to do so, and stumbled because of this.</p>


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<p>I said to them, Throw away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God- This was apparently a condition of God saving them from Egypt (:8). Later when in the wilderness the command was required again because they had brought the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea, as <a href='B:370 5:26'>Amo 5:26</a> states clearly. We too can smuggle the idols of the world through the waters of baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>). The parallel was with the exiles in Babylon, who were to quit idolatry before they could enter the land in restoration. Yet it seems God restored them anyway, so eager was He to restore them. The idols were abominations of their eyes in the sense of Ezekiel 14 - they had placed their idols before their eyes and faces, they were a mental block to them, because the essence of idolatry is within the worldview and mind of people.</p>


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<p>But they rebelled against Me, and would not listen to Me; they didn’t throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt- And yet all the same God led them out of Egypt and He again led them from Babylon at the restoration despite the spiritual preconditions not being met. Ezekiel is told from the start that the exiles were ’rebellious’, just as Israel from the start had been rebellious by not casting away their idols. The idols of Egypt may refer to the literal idols, and the abominations of their eyes to their mental blockage and obsession with these things; see on :7.</p><p>Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt- The cessation, accomplishment or resting of God’s wrath is mentioned several times in Ezekiel, and nowhere else in this way (<a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a>; <a href='B:330 6:12'>Eze 6:12</a>; <a href='B:330 7:8'>Eze 7:8</a>; <a href='B:330 13:15'>Eze 13:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:42'>Eze 16:42</a>; <a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a>; <a href='B:330 21:17'>Eze 21:17</a>; <a href='B:330 22:20'>Eze 22:20</a>; <a href='B:330 24:13'>Eze 24:13</a>). The idea is not that God was so angry that He had to express that anger and only calmed down once He had as it were lashed out. He does have real wrath; the huge love He has cannot exist in a dimensionless vacuum, it of itself implies He also has wrath. <a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a> continues: "I will cause My wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted", and the Hebrew there for "comforted" is literally ’to sigh’, to be sorry, even to repent / change. Having expressed His legitimate anger, God knew that He would then be sorry and would then embark upon a process of restoration- by grace. For the objects of His wrath didn’t deserve any restoration. "To rest" is the word translated "to place" in <a href='B:330 37:14'>Eze 37:14</a>: "I shall place you in your own land" at the restoration from captivity. His wrath had to be expressed, and yet it was part of His wider purpose toward restoring His people and Kingdom. We would be quite wrong, therefore, to read these words as meaning that God was furiously angry and needed to lash out and get it all expressed so that He could as it were calm down again. His judgments are always ultimately constructive, and therefore "the wrath of God is the love of God". His wrath is therefore described in <a href='B:330 5:15'>Eze 5:15</a> as the rebuke of His fury/ wrath; it was intended to rebuke, to achieve instruction, that they should ’know Yahweh’. The tragedy was that the captives for the most part refused to perceive it this way and respond.</p>


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<p>But I worked for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among which they were, in whose sight I made Myself known to them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt- Time and again God’s love made Him re-think and alter His plans. <a href='B:330 20:9-10'>Eze 20:9-10</a> explains that God intended to destroy Israel in Egypt because of their idolatry, and so He decided to bring them out into the wilderness and destroy them there so as not to do it in Egypt and give the Egyptians a reason to mock Him. And yet according to Jeremiah and <a href='B:330 16:5-10'>Eze 16:5-10</a>, it was in the wilderness that God fell in love with Israel and gave them His covenant. He is attracted to us so easily; hence His anger when we abuse this and disappoint Him.</p><p>God’s salvation of Israel from Egypt and Babylon was very public, in the sight of the nations. Our baptism and deliverance from this world is likewise intended to be a public declaration, intended to encourage others to come with us.</p>


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<p>So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness- This ’causing’ to go forth was by grace, because they had not met the required spiritual preconditions- in that they had not in fact cast away their idols (see on <a href='B:330 20:6-8'>Eze 20:6-8</a>). And it was to be the same in the exodus from Babylon. This Divine ’causing to go forth’ was by the Spirit, for those who left captivity did so because their minds were stirred up by the Spirit to do so, even though they were not spiritually qualified for the restoration (<a href='B:150 1:5'>Ezr 1:5</a>). They had been commanded to "go forth" from Babylon (<a href='B:290 52:11'>Isa 52:11</a> s:w:) but it was God who caused them to do this by the grace of His Spirit’s operation on their hearts. The same is true of our exodus from this world through the water of baptism. It is all of grace and confirmation of the smallest desire to do so; and so this causing to go forth was by God’s "mighty hand" (<a href='B:330 20:34'>Eze 20:34</a> s:w:).</p>


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<p>I gave them My statutes and showed them My ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them- The context here has been of God entering a covenant with Israel by grace. They had not quit the idols of Egypt, which was a condition of the covenant. So the gift of God’s statutes and the revealing to them of His ordinances was far from a burden placed upon them, but rather a parade example of Divine grace in entering further into a relationship with a people who were not prepared or worthy of it.</p>


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<p>Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them- The Sabbath was specifically "a sign between them (Israel) and Me (God), that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them" (<a href='B:330 20:12'>Eze 20:12</a>):&nbsp;As such, it has never been intended to be binding on Gentiles (non-Jews). “... the Lord has given you [not all mankind] the Sabbath (<a href='B:20 16:29'>Exo 16:29</a>); “... You [God] made known to them [Israel] Your holy Sabbath” (<a href='B:160 9:14'>Neh 9:14</a>).</p><p>As noted on :11, this law was not a burden but a gift of grace, to remind them that they had been sanctified by grace, not on the basis of their works, but by God’s grace. For He had entered a covenant with them despite their refusal to meet the vital precondition of having quit the idols of Egypt. This resting from their own works was intended to teach them that they were sanctified, counted righteous and able to enter covenant with God, by grace and quite apart from their works</p>


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<p>But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness- Ezekiel’s ministry began with the revelation that the house of Israel of Ezekiel’s time were still a rebellious house.</p><p>They didn’t walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and My Sabbaths they greatly profaned- The refusal to accept justification by grace and not by works was a great profanation. Keeping God’s commandments is intended to elicit a way of life. They are designed and structured to be lived in. There was no promise here of eternal life in return for obedience, but rather the point is that the commandments were given in order to provoke an upward spiral of spirituality, life lived within them. When Divine commandments are singled out and analyzed alone, with tokenistic obedience to them demanded, then they will not achieve that which they are designed for. The sum of Divine commandments were intended together to produce a life lived within them. This is why partial obedience or obedience only in the letter was not going to be helpful.</p><p>Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them- This surely refers to the time of the golden calf incident when God says He would destroy Israel and make of Moses a great nation to replace them (<a href='B:20 32:10'>Exo 32:10</a>).</p>


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<p>But I worked for My name’s sake that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out- This gives an insight into God’s internal struggles. His grace as it were worked against His judgment. His mercy rejoiced against His judgment. But that struggle was motivated by the appeal of Moses for Him not to consume Israel. And that same struggle was ongoing over the question of whether to totally destroy Judah in captivity. Perhaps there is the implication that He would have done were it not for the intercession of a Moses like figure- perhaps Ezekiel and / or Jeremiah. God "worked" so that His Name would not be further profaned amongst the nations. It was His people who profaned that Name. But He worked through His Spirit to preserve them from further profaning His Name.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands- The swearing of a covenant now becomes swearing to destroy them by not bringing them into the land which potentially had been given to them. And so the exiles in Babylon were in a similar situation. Whilst their idolatry continued, they could not hope to be ’brought into the land’, which is what the elders were presumably asking for (:2,3).</p>


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<p>Because they rejected My ordinances, and didn’t walk in My statutes, and profaned My Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols- Typical of the prophets, the essential reason for disobedience is perceived as being that their heart, their mind, was elsewhere rather than with God. The phrase ’the heart going after…’ is used by the contemporary Jeremiah of the heart going after its own imaginations and also of the heart going after idols; their heart walked after their own imaginations [literally, their own images] and also after Baalim (<a href='B:300 3:17'>Jer 3:17</a>; <a href='B:300 9:14'>Jer 9:14</a>; <a href='B:300 13:10'>Jer 13:10</a>; <a href='B:300 16:12'>Jer 16:12</a>; <a href='B:300 18:12'>Jer 18:12</a>). The essential reason for their literal idolatry was in their lack of spiritual mindedness, their following of the mental images they allowed themselves to internally worship. And this is why the essence of idolatry is so relevant to us today, we who live as never before in an age of visual images and mental pictures and all consuming perceptions. Judah’s heart went after their own covetousness (<a href='B:330 33:31'>Eze 33:31</a>), and that was why effectively their heart went after idols which promised them material blessings and fertility, and political and military support from those nations identified with those idols.</p>


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<p>Nevertheless My eye spared them and Ididn’t destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness- see on <a href='B:330 7:14'>Eze 7:14</a>; <a href='B:330 9:1'>Eze 9:1</a>; <a href='B:20 34:9'>Exo 34:9</a>. There are passages which speak of how God’s eye would not spare at Ezekiel’s time, and also of how His eye would spare. This is not the meandering of an unstable God; rather is this God in passion, His pity and mercy struggling against the pole of judgment which is also within His same personality. He had gone through the same feelings with Israel in the desert.</p><p>The idea of two Angels being present with Israel is found here in <a href='B:330 20:17'>Eze 20:17</a>; <a href='B:330 20:22'>Eze 20:22</a>; God’s “eye”, which is definitely Angelic language, spared them from being destroyed- by the destroyer Angel. And therefore God “withdrew mine hand”, also Angelic language, in order not to destroy them. The "eye" Angel limited the action of the "hand of destruction" Angel, just as on Passover night. Note too how it is the Angelic “eye of the Lord” which is paralleled with God’s mercy in <a href='B:230 33:18'>Psa 33:18</a>; <a href='B:230 33:22'>Psa 33:22</a>.</p>


text:
<p>I said to their children in the wilderness, Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols- This call to radically break from their fathers’ example was exactly that being made to the younger exiles who first heard Ezekiel’s words. This is why this description of God’s appeal to the young people in the wilderness is not a verbatim quote from anywhere in the Pentateuch; it is expressed in terms which are appropriate to Ezekiel’s audience. We note that the historical record gives little clue that idolatry was such a major problem with the Hebrews; God’s record is so gracious. For in Ezekiel 16 He says that He fell in love with these people- despite all their idolatry.</p>


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<p>I am Yahweh your God. Walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them- The conflict is between walking in the statutes of their human fathers (:18) and those of their Heavenly Father. And there was a radical difference. It was so difficult for people in such strongly family-based societies to reject their human fathers for another. But this was the call of God to that generation in the wilderness; and now the royal family and priesthood were in exile in Babylon, it was equally necessary that their children likewise broke from their fathers’ ways.</p>


text:
<p>And make My Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God- It was not that the Sabbath wasn’t being kept. The issue was that the significance of it was being lost. The sabbath was to remind them that they had been sanctified by grace, not on the basis of their works, but by God’s grace. For He had entered a covenant with them despite their refusal to meet the vital precondition of having quit the idols of Egypt. This resting from their own works was intended to teach them that they were sanctified, counted righteous and able to enter covenant with God, by grace and quite apart from their works. But the Jews in exile as well as those in Judah were madly scheming by their own works and device as to how to overcome the Babylonian threat and achieve a kingdom on their own terms rather than God’s.</p>


text:
<p>But the children rebelled against Me; they didn’t walk in My statutes, neither kept My ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them: they profaned My Sabbaths- The younger generation on the wilderness journey were assured that they would enter the land / Kingdom, although the older generation would die in the wilderness. Despite that wonderful assurance, and seeing the carcasses oftheir parents falling in the desert... they still refused to be obedient. Just as the younger generation of Ezekiel’s audience were a rebellious house, despite all and every evidence and reason to live differently to their fathers.</p><p>Then I said that I would pour out My wrath upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness- See on :8.</p>


text:
<p>Nevertheless I withdrew My hand- The idea could be that as Abraham withdrew his hand from sacrificing Isaac, so God relented. But "swore" in Ezekiel 20 is literally ’to lift up the hand’, so to withdraw the hand could mean that God rescinded the oath which was the basis of the covenant relationship with Israel- because they themselves had broken the covenant.</p><p>And worked for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth- God had said He would destroy Israel and make of Moses a new nation. But He relented of that, and here in <a href='B:330 20:22'>Eze 20:22</a> we see the picture of His internal struggle, working for His Name’s sake, for the sake of the principles incorporated within His Name. So it is an intrinsic part of His Name and essential personality that He changes His judgments from pity. When the Psalmist of <a href='B:230 109:21'>Psa 109:21</a> asks for God’s grace, He asks God to "do" or "work" for the sake of His Name, and not bring about a threatened judgment. Jeremiah likewise understood this and asks God to still be gracious to Israel despite their lack of repentance- through working for His Name’s sake (<a href='B:300 14:7'>Jer 14:7</a>). To save by grace was therefore working or doing according to His Name’s sake, rather than according to human merit (<a href='B:330 36:22'>Eze 36:22</a>). Thus by working for His Name’s sake, the repentant exiles would come to ’know Yahweh’ (<a href='B:330 20:44'>Eze 20:44</a>), they would come to see who He essentially is. And He is revealed as the very opposite of a stone faced, unchanging, insensitive God, which was then the standard conception of a deity.</p>


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<p>Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries- The reference may be to this threat at the end of the wilderness journey (<a href='B:50 28:64'>Deu 28:64</a>). But more likely it alludes to an unrecorded curse made during the journey. However, if indeed it does refer to <a href='B:50 28:64'>Deu 28:64</a>, this was stated just prior to their entry into Canaan, on the last day of Moses’ life. And yet despite this curse of being scattered, they then soon afterwards entered the land of promise. This grace would then have special relevance to Ezekiel’s exiles, who were located spiritually although not geographically "in the wilderness", and whom God intended to restore to the land by grace even though they were unworthy of it.</p>


text:
<p>Because they had not executed My ordinances but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols- This is a sad commentary upon the real state of the Israelites in the wilderness. Truly they were saved and brought into the land by grace. And the restoration from Babylon was to feature a similar grace. The wilderness generation who entered Canaan were not as faithful as some think; if indeed the reference of :23 is to <a href='B:50 28:64'>Deu 28:64</a>, then they entered Canaan still worshipping the Egyptian idols which their parents had worshipped in Egypt. They took them across the Jordan as their fathers took them across the Red Sea. And the law of Moses and Sabbath regulations were not observed by them in the wilderness. And we know that circumcision was also not practiced by them- thus they despised the covenant (<a href='B:60 5:5'>Jos 5:5</a>).</p>


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<p>Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live- In the Hebrew Bible, God is oftensaid&nbsp;to do, what He only&nbsp;permits&nbsp;to be done. So it is here; He allowed them to be given bad laws from their religious leaders, which led them further into sin. God confirms people in the path they choose; this is the work of the holy Spirit positively, and negatively, an "evil spirit from the Lord" (<a href='B:90 16:14'>1Sa 16:14</a>) confirms sinners in the path they choose. It is God who is the dynamic in both these scenarios; there is no place for a superhuman, cosmic being called Satan.</p>


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<p>And I polluted them in their own gifts, because they caused their children to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate; to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh- We marvel at how God does not turn away from sin but instead seeks to work through it, so that even through the horror of child sacrifice, people were intended to come to know Yahweh through their repentance. They desolated themselves by offering their children to their idols, the fire and smoke of the burning bodies supposedly transporting those children to the gods in heaven. But God worked through that to desolate them. He only did to them what they had done to themselves. "Their children" is as AV "all that openeth the womb", the firstborn, which were intended to be Yahweh’s in memorial of how He had saved the firstborn at the Passover. They were wilfully ignorant of their past salvation and the implications that should have had upon them for all time. We too can forget our spiritual past, and the grace shown to us then.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore son of man speak to the house of Israel and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this, moreover, have your fathers blasphemed Me, in that they have committed a trespass against Me- Ezekiel now moves on as it were to a new subsection in this description of Israel’s historical sins. They had sinned in the wilderness and now the history moves on to how they continued sinning once they entered Canaan. This surely gives us reason to reevaluate the idea that the generation who entered Canaan were the most faithful of all Israel’s generations- an idea taught by Rabbis to this day. We note however the present tenses- the fathers "have committed a trespass...", as if to make the audience of Ezekiel realize that the essence of those historical sins was continuing in their literal fathers and in their own generation.</p>


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<p>For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings- Such apostasy apparently happened as soon as they entered Canaan. The great victories given to the people under Joshua were therefore given to a people who also worshipped idols.</p>


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<p>Then I said to them, What does the high place where you go mean? So its name is called Bamah to this day- The implication is that they should have renamed such places. But "to this day" they called their high places "Bamah" just as the Canaanites had. "Bamah" appears to be a Canaanite term for the high places; it is the term found for them on the Moabite stone. They ought to have immediately destroyed the Canaanite high places (<a href='B:50 12:1-5'>Deu 12:1-5</a>) but instead they eagerly used them for worship, and still did. All the recorded reforms of the faithful kings of Judah had not therefore been that far reaching.</p>


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<p>Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations?- The emphasis is upon the word "you". Now the recounting of history ends, and the rhetorical question is asked- ’Are you really any better than your fathers?’. Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23 clearly state that Judah were right then prostituting themselves to other gods- even the exiles with Ezekiel.</p>


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<p>When you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day?- "To this day" means that the exiles in captivity were offering their children to Moloch. And yet they came asking for Yahweh’s word to be revealed to them. No wonder God refused to sympathetically respond.</p><p>Shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you- This is not so much God refusing to respond, but a function of their lack of ’inquiry’. The elders who came to Ezekiel are in the same category as those in Judah who did not seek / inquire of Yahweh, although they did externally (<a href='B:300 10:21'>Jer 10:21</a>). We can pray and come to God’s word, when in reality we are not doing so from our whole heart and are doing this simply on the level of religious interest rather than wholehearted devotion. They would only ’find’ God is they ’sought’ with their whole heart (<a href='B:300 29:13'>Jer 29:13</a>). See on :3.</p>


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<p>And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone- Their attitude was that they would leave Yahweh worship and be as the nations who worshipped idols. This was the thought which God perceived in them, even though they likely had not articulated this in so many words. For after all, they had come before Yahweh to hear His word (:31). But God wouldn’t let His beloved leave Him so easily. Despite this, He wanted to have them as His own, still.</p>


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<p>As I live says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out will I be king over you- As explained on :32, the inner thought of the exiles was that they would just quit Yahweh worship and worship idols like the other nations. But God’s mighty hand would rescue them even from that, and through His judgments He would still become their exclusive king- even if only of a remnant. We see here the same tenacity God shows with us, searching for the lost until He finds us. But to again be king over Israel, with them subservient to Him as His kingdom, under His Kingly dominion, He would have to first pour out His wrath. But there was a purpose in that wrath- to establish again His Kingdom over them.</p>


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<p>I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out- The mighty hand and stretched out arm of God was available to bring Judah out of Babylon- but most of them preferred to stay there. God was not sanctified before the heathen. The wonderful possibility of a new covenant went unrealized- to be deferred until the true Israel of God are gathered home in our last days. The scenario here envisaged didn’t fully come about, because Israel were unwilling to participate. The idea was that He would with anger bring them out of Babylon, and then judge them (:35), and a minority would then form the remnant who would then be the kernel of His Kingdom reestablished in Israel under a Messianic ruler.</p>


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<p>And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face- . <a href='B:330 20:30-33'>Eze 20:30-33</a> contains God’s response to the elders in captivity wanting Ezekiel to pray for them. They were committing whoredom, idolatry etc. <a href='B:330 36:20'>Eze 36:20</a> likewise comments how they “profaned My holy name” during the Babylonian captivity. They were not enabling God’s plan of restoration to be realized. <a href='B:330 20:35-40'>Eze 20:35-40</a> therefore goes on to outline what was perhaps another possibility- that God would take the entire captive people into the wilderness at the end of the 70 years captivity, and purge out the rebels, and then bring them into the land, where they would have a temple and worship God (<a href='B:330 20:40'>Eze 20:40</a>)- presumably in the temple outlined in Ezekiel 40-48. But it seems this alternative didn’t work out either. The "face to face" meeting recalls that when the old covenant was made in <a href='B:50 5:4'>Deu 5:4</a>. The judgment was to not merely punish them, but to enter into another covenant with them. "The wilderness of the peoples" was not the same as the lands of their captivity (:34). Those lands were the equivalent of Egypt (:36), and the "wilderness" was a period in which they would be judged and yet again enter covenant with God.</p>


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<p>Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh- This judgment however was to result in a new covenant and a remnant entering the land (:34,35). The Hebrew for ’entering into judgment’ is literally "to plead" (as AV). The experience of judgment was not mere punishment, but a pleading to enter totally into covenant relationship. This pleading or judgment of the exiles is likewise associated with their salvation and restoration in <a href='B:290 43:26'>Isa 43:26</a>; <a href='B:290 51:5'>Isa 51:5</a>. God would plead with or judge the exiles "because you say, I have not sinned"(<a href='B:300 2:35'>Jer 2:35</a>). This was the purpose of the judgment envisaged- to elicit in the exiles repentance. Ezekiel was trying to achieve that by his ministry, he was to judge them so that they recognized their abominations (<a href='B:330 20:4'>Eze 20:4</a>; <a href='B:330 22:2'>Eze 22:2</a>), but they were a rebellious house:&nbsp; And so this idea of bringing them out of Babylon into some situation of judgment was envisaged (<a href='B:330 20:34-38'>Eze 20:34-38</a>), so that they might repent. Zedekiah personally was to be judged or pleaded with in Babylon concerning his sin (<a href='B:330 17:20'>Eze 17:20</a>), i:e. to make him recognize it and repent of it.</p>


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<p>I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant- This alludes to the custom of&nbsp;tithing&nbsp;the&nbsp;sheep. The shepherd stood at the door of the fold, where only one sheep could come out&nbsp;at a time. He had in his hand a&nbsp;rod&nbsp;dipped in red die [cp. the blood of Christ], with which he branded every tenth sheep as the Lord’s tithe portion. This apparently was known as ’causing to pass under the rod’. The implication would be therefore that only a tenth would survive, and come into the new covenant relationship with God. The size and proportion of the projected remnant differs between prophecies; so many different potential scenarios were possible, all depending upon the freewill repentance of His people. The intention was that having been brought out of Babylonian captivity and judged, those who were repentant would accept the new covenant. But this didn’t happen. Something similar will happen in the last days, when the essence of these prophecies will again come true.</p>


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<p>And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who disobey against Me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- The idea as explained on :34-36 was that the exiles would be brought out of exile forcibly, "the land where they live" (Babylon) into a "wilderness" situation, where they would be judged. The rebellious house would be purged; and thus <a href='B:290 52:11'>Isa 52:11</a> would be fulfilled, which speaks of the purged ["clean"] exiles returning to the temple in Zion. Yet this scenario didn’t quite work out, because the people were so unwilling to participate. Ezekiel told the captives during the early stages of their captivity that the false prophets and "rebels" amongst them would receive the condemnation and judgment of not returning to the land (<a href='B:330 13:9'>Eze 13:9</a>; <a href='B:330 20:38'>Eze 20:38</a>). And yet when the command came to return to the land, most of the people chose to remain in Babylon- and therefore they chose their own condemnation. They were a "rebellious house" (<a href='B:330 2:3'>Eze 2:3</a>). For they were aware from Ezekiel’s words that not returning to the land was God’s condemnation. Those who will not be in the Kingdom will be those who chose not to be there- all who truly love the Lord’s appearing will be accepted.</p><p>says that the rebels in the wilderness “shall not enter into the land”, with reference to how when Moses called the people “rebels” and beat the rock, he was disallowed entry into the land. Because he called them rebels, i:e. unworthy of entry to the Kingdom, he also was treated as a rebel. If we condemn others, we likewise will be condemned. On another level, he was simply barred for disobedience; and on yet another, his prayer to the effect that he didn’t want to be in the land if his people weren’t going to be there was being answered; and on yet another and higher level, his offer to be blotted out of the book of inheritance for Israel’s sake was also being heard. Thus God works within the same incident in so many ways!</p>


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<p>As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go, serve each one his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to Me; but My holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and with your idols- As noted on :25, God is often said&nbsp;to do, what He only&nbsp;permits&nbsp;to be done. So it is here; He allowed them to be given bad laws from their religious leaders, which led them further into sin. God confirms people in the path they choose; this is the work of the holy Spirit positively, and negatively, an "evil spirit from the Lord" (1Sa 1614) confirms sinners in the path they choose. It is God who is the dynamic in both these scenarios; there is no place for a superhuman, cosmic being called Satan. God wanted to bring an end to the miserable situation whereby His people professed to worship Him but also worshipped idols. His plan therefore was to purge out the rebels, and only those who were repentantly dedicated wholly to Him would return to the land and restore the Kingdom. But the truth was that there were none of them.</p>


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<p>For in My holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve Me in the land. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things- God’s vision for the restoration was that the ten tribes would also come out of captivity and join with Judah in repentant, acceptable worship of Him in the one and only high place He recognized, mount Zion. But they were unwilling to leave, and so this prophecy or project will have its final fulfilment in the last days. But such prophecies will be reapplied and only fulfilled in their essence, not in their detail. Hence we are not to imagine&nbsp; them offering literal offerings. For the one acceptable offering for all time was to be that of the Lord Jesus, whom they will then accept.</p>


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<p>As a pleasant aroma will I accept you when I bring you out from the peoples- "Pleasant aroma" is the phrase often used for the "pleasant aroma" of sacrifices to Yahweh- three times in Exodus, seventeen in Leviticus, seventeen in Numbers. As a priest, Ezekiel would have been aware of this. But instead, they offered this to the idols (<a href='B:330 6:13'>Eze 6:13</a>). The Divine hope (see on <a href='B:330 6:9'>Eze 6:9</a>), the desperate hope of the unrequited lover for the beloved, was that a repentant remnant would realize this and then offer "pleasant aroma" again to Him alone. But they didn’t. The idea of God ‘accepting’ Israel is found later in <a href='B:330 43:27'>Eze 43:27</a>; when the temple was built and the sacrifices offered, “I will accept you”- if they passed through the program here envisaged, of coming out of Babylon and being purged by a meeting for judgment in "the wilderness". But this scenario didn’t happen, and so neither was the temple vision fulfilled as planned. If Judah had later resumed building the temple according to Ezekiel’s plan in penitence, then they could have even then been accepted: “I will take pleasure” in it, God offered (<a href='B:440 1:8'>Hag 1:8</a>).</p><p>And gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered- Consider the use of the word pus, ’scatter’. It was God’s intention that mankind should scatter abroad in the earth and subdue it (<a href='B:10 1:28'>Gen 1:28</a>); but it required the judgment of the tower of Babel to actually make them ’scatter’ (<a href='B:10 11:4'>Gen 11:4</a>). Thus even in judgment, God worked out His positive ultimate intentions with humanity. And this word pus is the same word used with reference to Judah’s ’scattering’ from the land into Babylonian captivity (<a href='B:330 11:17'>Eze 11:17</a>; <a href='B:330 20:34'>Eze 20:34</a>; <a href='B:330 20:41'>Eze 20:41</a>; <a href='B:330 28:25'>Eze 28:25</a>). The intention, surely, was to show the captives that they had been scattered as the people had at the judgment of Babel / Babylon, but even in this, God was working out His purpose with His people and giving them the opportunity to fulfil His original intentions for them.</p><p>And I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations- As explained on :34-36, God’s intention was to forcibly bring His people out from captivity,the ten tribes as well as Judah, into a "wilderness" situation, where there would be some kind of public judgment of them. The wicked would be purged (:38) and the remnant accepted into a new covenant. This would be done "in the sight of the nations", in the hope that Gentiles would also enter that covenant. But this scenario didn’t happen in the form envisaged.</p>


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<p>You shall know that I am Yahweh when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers- Their knowledge of Yahweh would be in terms of relationship, walking in covenant with Him, in awe at His grace towards them and their experience of salvation by grace. This was and is to know Yahweh; academic knowledge of theological propositions is not in view. The new covenant is based upon the promises to Abraham, hence the frequent reference to their receiving the land sworn to the fathers.</p>


text:
<p>There you shall remember your ways and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed- It is the experience of grace and salvation by grace which elicits an awareness of our sins. The idea originally had been that the remnant would repent in exile and then be restored. But they didn’t. And so the Divine hope was that by restoring them in impenitence, they would remember their sins and loathe what they had done. It’s the same reason why Jesus broke His bread with as yet impenitent sinners- because He as a doctor was trying to bring sinners to repentance. We note that it was the exiles with Ezekiel who were to loathe themselves for their pollutions, or that was the intention. It was they there in exile who were still offering their children to their idols, "to this day" (:31). Their self loathing uses the word translated "grieve" regarding God’s grieving for Israel’s idolatry in the wilderness (<a href='B:230 95:10'>Psa 95:10</a>). They would come to see their sins as God saw and felt them; that is part of repentance. But initially it had been God’s plan that they would grieve or loathe their sins whilst in captivity in Babylon (s:w. <a href='B:330 6:9'>Eze 6:9</a>). But now the plan was different; seeing they had not done so, they would be forcibly brought out from Babylon into the undefined "wilderness" situation, where God would purge the rebels from the rebellious house, and then the remnant would be allowed to return to the land; and only then would they loathe themselves for their sins. But then in <a href='B:330 36:21'>Eze 36:21</a> the grace was extended even further- it was after the restoration of the kingdom conditions in the land that they would be thus provoked to loathe their former sins. God’s grace is such that He amends His plans if by any means He might save some. He has that same passion for human salvation today.</p>


text:
<p>You shall know that I am Yahweh when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh- See on :22. "The wages of sin is death" (<a href='B:520 6:23'>Rom 6:23</a>) but we see here how God’s earnest passion to save people leads Him to devise means whereby He can all the same save from death (see on <a href='B:100 14:14'>2Sa 14:14</a>). It is appreciating this breathtaking grace which is to "know Yahweh", rather than any cold assent to theological propositions, no matter how true they are.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- This final addendum may be an explanation of the otherwise mysterious "wilderness" situation into which God envisaged bringing the people when He had released them from Babylon and before He brought the remnant back into the land of Israel.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, set your face toward the south and direct your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the south- "The south" could refer to the area south of the Chebar river where Ezekiel was located with the captives. This short prophecy may explain area the otherwise mysterious "wilderness" situation into which God envisaged bringing the people when He had released them from Babylon and before He brought the remnant back into the land of Israel.</p>


text:
<p>And tell the forest of the south, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby- This may be the explanation as to how Israel would be released from captivity. "The north", Babylon itself, to the area south of Babylon which is in view (see on :45,46), would be burnt by the fire of God’s wrath. It was that wrath which was to lead to Israel being able to leave Babylon (:33,34)</p>


text:
<p>All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched- The wilderness in which Israel was to meet their God in judgment was to be observed by all the nations (:41). Hence the reference here to "all flesh" observing. This scenario didn’t work out at the time because Israel were so utterly rebellious; had the rebels were purged from the rebellious house, there would have been no remnant. For Ezekiel’s ministry began with the comment that all Israel were in totality a rebellious house. But something similar in essence shall happen in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn’t he a speaker of parables?- It was tragic for the prophets that the people were so indifferent. They portrayed the tragic, passionate love of God to His people, they sung of it, wrote of it, made poetry about it [for much of the prophetic writing is poetry]. And yet they passed this off as mere “allegory” in a mocking way (<a href='B:330 20:49'>Eze 20:49</a>), Ezekiel was “to them like one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice… for they hear what you say, but they will not do it” (<a href='B:330 33:32'>Eze 33:32</a>). They were like buskers singing songs in the subway, which we may listen to with half an ear, even admire them for a few moments, and then walk on in our busy lives. But the prophets were speaking forth the words of passionate love of God Almighty for His people… truly as Paul Simon put it, with an uncanny appropriacy to our train of thought, “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls”. They thought that “the Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill” (<a href='B:430 1:12'>Zep 1:12</a>); “the Lord does not see us” (<a href='B:330 8:12'>Eze 8:12</a>; <a href='B:330 9:9'>Eze 9:9</a>); “my way is hidden from the Lord” (<a href='B:290 40:27'>Isa 40:27</a>; <a href='B:290 29:15'>Isa 29:15</a>). This of course is the attitude with which we daily live. The question is, will we perceive it as the prophets did?</p>


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<p>Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel- The plural "sanctuaries" may refer to all the high places, or it could be an intensive plural for the great sanctuary, the temple. We recall that Ezekiel was with the exiles in Babylon, hence he looks towards Jerusalem and Israel.</p>


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<p>And tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath- For "Israel" to be told of these prophecies, Ezekiel’s words must have been published and taken there in some form; see on :13. Or perhaps the cherubim transported him there to give this message to them in person. However the threatened destruction of Judah is being told to the exiles because their repentance could have altered the outcome for the Jews still in Judah. We note Ezekiel’s continual reference to Judah as "the land of Israel" because of God’s intention to restore both Judah and the ten tribes in the Kingdom He wished to reestablish in the land.</p><p>And will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked- The allusion is clearly to Abraham’s pleading with God not to destroy both righteous and wicked in Sodom (<a href='B:10 18:23'>Gen 18:23</a>; <a href='B:10 18:25'>Gen 18:25</a>). Jerusalem was no better than Sodom, a point already made in Ezekiel 16. Perhaps the implication was that there was no intercessor like Abraham to stop this eventuality happening; and that the "righteous" were not even as righteous as ’righteous Lot’ (2Pe 27), who himself was weak spiritually and only counted righteous by faith. Ezekiel 20 has painted a very bad picture of the spiritual state of things in Judah, with sacrifice of children to idols ongoing at that very time.</p>


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<p>Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north- I have often noted that God speaks His judgments, but there is a gap between the statement and its fulfilment. During that gap, there is the possibility of repentance. Hence Nineveh was to be destroyed after 40 days, but in reality it wasn’t because there was repentance. This idea of a gap is represented here by the sword of judgment being still in its sheath. If there was no repentance then it would be drawn out of the sheath. Likewise the implication of the Sodom and Abraham allusion could be that the sword would have remained in its sheath if there had been an Abraham type intercessor. Although maybe the state of affairs was such that God saw total destruction as the only way to move forward.</p>


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<p>And all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more- The judgment of Israel in the wilderness spoken of in <a href='B:330 20:36-38'>Eze 20:36-38</a> (see notes there) was to also be the judgment of "all flesh". This scenario didn’t come about, but it will do so in essence in the last days. The judgment of "all flesh" around Israel and that of the Jews is described in Revelation as being part and parcel of the same series of events. The threatened judgments would not again be delayed or rescinded, the sword would no more return to its sheath. This speaks of a final judgment, such as will only be seen in the last days, but which could have come about in Ezekiel’s time had the preconditions been met.</p>


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<p>Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes- We have the impression of the exiles standing around Ezekiel. Perhaps he was still under house arrest. He was personally involved in his message, feeling for the tragedy of it all, and not merely a relayer of information from God; as the GNB expresses the Hebrew, "groan as if your heart is breaking with despair". Just as any preaching work is not merely the imparting of information, but the word has to become flesh in the preacher of it. The despair was for the fact that had the exiles repented, the awful judgment need not have come. "Thighs" is literally "sides", as if his heart had burst and the blood was issuing through his side- yet another way in which he prefigured the ultimate "son of man", the Lord Jesus. "Bitterness" again reflects how Ezekiel was to feel their bitterness, as their "son of man" representative. But GNB offers "sorrow" for "bitterness".</p>


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<p>It shall be, when they tell you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, Because of the news, for it is coming. Every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, every spirit shall faint and all knees shall be weak as water. It is coming, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh- Because Israel’s heart would melt and be feeble “Because of the tidings” which Ezekiel taught, therefore his heart sighed and broke because he identified with how they would later feel when his words came true (<a href='B:330 21:6-7'>Eze 21:6-7</a>). See on <a href='B:330 3:15'>Eze 3:15</a>. There would be a psychological paralysis- evidence that God can work directly on the mind of people, positively [through the "holy spirit"] and negatively [an "evil spirit from the Lord"]. This had been threatened in <a href='B:330 7:17'>Eze 7:17</a> and <a href='B:300 6:24'>Jer 6:24</a> in the same words as used here; the point is now made that the words of the prophets were to really come true, and they must be taken seriously.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- There may or may not have been a gap between the prophecies, but the sword which was about to be taken from its sheath has now been prepared by sharpening and polishing (:9,10).</p>


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<p>Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Yahweh: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also polished- This speaks of the preparation of the Babylonians by God. They were His sword, and would be wielded by His hand.</p>


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<p>It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it s polished that it may be as lightning- This is again an allusion to the opening vision of the cherubim, from whom flashed lightning. This huge system of Divine operation was to use the Babylonians in order to destroy His own people.</p><p>Shall we then laugh?- As noted on <a href='B:330 20:49'>Eze 20:49</a>, the response to Ezekiel’s words was mirth and refusing to take seriously the issues of eternal judgment, just as we see today.</p><p>The rod of My son condemns every tree- LXX "be sharpened that thou mayest be bright, ready for slaughter, slay, set at nought, despise every tree"; GNB "There can be no rejoicing, for my people have disregarded every warning and punishment". This would take "my son" as Israel (as in <a href='B:350 11:1'>Hos 11:1</a>). The rod to fall upon Israel would also be the condemnation of every nation or tree, a figure just used in <a href='B:330 20:46-47'>Eze 20:46-47</a>.</p>


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<p>It is given to be polished, that it may be ready for use: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is polished, to give it into the hand of the killer- The sword of Babylon was in fact being prepared by the Jews trying to deceive Babylon by entering into alliances and loyalty agreements with other nations. This was what provoked the sharpness of Babylon’s final fall upon Judah. But God worked through that; thereby Judah were preparing their own judgment.</p>


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<p>Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on My people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with My people; strike therefore on your thigh- The princes were to be judged parallel with the masses of "My people". This is a point often made in the prophets. It wasn’t that the masses suffered because of the failures of the minority in leadership. The leaders acted as the people wanted, so that even without democracy, a people effectively get the leadership they subconsciously desire. And so all Judah were to be judged.</p>


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<p>For I am putting My people to the test, and if they refuse to repent, all these things will happen to them, says the Lord Yahweh- The message of Ezekiel, perhaps particularly of this chapter, was to be published in Judah itself; see on :3. It was a call to repentance, and if they failed to respond, then these things would happen. Jeremiah’s prophetic words to Judah were likewise to be their "test" (<a href='B:300 6:27'>Jer 6:27</a> s:w:). The same word is used of how the fire of the invaders’ judgment would "test" the people (<a href='B:450 13:9'>Zec 13:9</a>). But they could have avoided this if they had responded to God’s word ahead of time. The call to repentance we hear today is likewise a foretaste of the fire of final judgment; and now is the time to respond and not then when it is too late.</p>


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<p>You therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great slaughter which surrounds them- The sword doubled the third time may simply be an idiom meaning as GNB "the sword will strike again and again". The LXX has "take a second sword: the third sword is the sword of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and thou shalt strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint". Perhaps the first sword refers to the "test" of :13; the sword point is held at Jerusalem in the hope they would repent on the cusp of Divine judgment. The second sword is repeated twice, in that Jerusalem was to fall and suffer from the sword, and then the exiles also were to suffer the sword in Babylon. &nbsp;The ESV has "let the sword come down twice, yes, three times"; and this would be using the same idiom as "for three and for four" in <a href='B:370 1:3'>Amo 1:3</a> etc. The triple coming of the sword would then connect with the triple ’overturning’ of Zion to be spoken of in :27.</p><p>"The deadly wounded" refers to Zedekiah, "You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come" (:25). The intention was that Zedekiah would die by the sword, but in fact he didn’t. He was blinded, but died peacefully in prison (<a href='B:300 52:11'>Jer 52:11</a>). The wound that ought to have been unto death was in fact not unto death- because God wanted him to be moved by His grace to repent.</p>


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<p>I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their hearts may tremble, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning it is pointed for slaughter- The sword was a "threatening sword" because it was part of the "test" of :13. It was as if the people of Jerusalem were being held at sword point by Ezekiel’s words, telling them that the sword was about to pierce them. If they repented, then it would be withdrawn. That sword was fully prepared for actual slaughter, and the similarity with lightning [from being so highly polished and therefore glinting] was to forge connection with the cherubim vision. God was in and behind and above and controlling the Babylonian invasion; His huge system of operation was involved.</p>


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<p>Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set- GNB sees this as addressed to the sword, in what could be described as "the song of the sword": "Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn". Right and left could return to ’north and south’.</p>


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<p>I will also strike My hands together- Just as Ezekiel had done (:15). Ezekiel was not merely imparting information on God’s behalf, but was emotionally caught up in the message as God’s representative. And any true preacher of God’s word should be likewise.</p><p>And I will cause My wrath to rest: I, Yahweh, have spoken it- The cessation, accomplishment or resting of God’s wrath is mentioned several times in Ezekiel, and nowhere else in this way (<a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a>; <a href='B:330 6:12'>Eze 6:12</a>; <a href='B:330 7:8'>Eze 7:8</a>; <a href='B:330 13:15'>Eze 13:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:42'>Eze 16:42</a>; <a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a>; <a href='B:330 21:17'>Eze 21:17</a>; <a href='B:330 22:20'>Eze 22:20</a>; <a href='B:330 24:13'>Eze 24:13</a>). The idea is not that God was so angry that He had to express that anger and only calmed down once He had as it were lashed out. He does have real wrath; the huge love He has cannot exist in a dimensionless vacuum, it of itself implies He also has wrath. <a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a> continues: "I will cause My wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted", and the Hebrew there for "comforted" is literally ’to sigh’, to be sorry, even to repent / change. Having expressed His legitimate anger, God knew that He would then be sorry and would then embark upon a process of restoration- by grace. For the objects of His wrath didn’t deserve any restoration. "To rest" is the word translated "to place" in <a href='B:330 37:14'>Eze 37:14</a>: "I shall place you in your own land" at the restoration from captivity. His wrath had to be expressed, and yet it was part of His wider purpose toward restoring His people and Kingdom. We would be quite wrong, therefore, to read these words as meaning that God was furiously angry and needed to lash out and get it all expressed so that He could as it were calm down again. His judgments are always ultimately constructive, and therefore "the wrath of God is the love of God". His wrath is therefore described in <a href='B:330 5:15'>Eze 5:15</a> as the rebuke of His fury / wrath; it was intended to rebuke, to achieve instruction, that they should ’know Yahweh’. The tragedy was that the captives for the most part refused to perceive it this way and respond.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me again saying- This further prophecy is also about the sword; but the point is that the Babylonian sword is in fact in God’s hand</p>


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<p>Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land. Mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city- Ezekiel as God’s prophet is helped to see that he and his prophetic word are in fact the controllers of the movements of the Babylonian army. Ezekiel was to as it were draw a road coming out of Babylon and then split it into two ways (:21), one going to Rabbah and the other to Jerusalem (:20).</p>


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<p>You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified- Perhaps the Jewish false prophets claimed that the Babylonian army advancing from the north was in fact heading for Rabbah and the Ammonites and not for them. But Ezekiel was to prophesy that the same Divine sword was to attack both cities, and the apparent choice exercised by Nebuchadnezzar was in fact all overruled by God.</p>


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<p>For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use fortune telling. He shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the images, he looked in the liver- The king had a choice as to whether to attack Rabbah first, or Jerusalem. He would have taken two arrows, presumably with the names of the two cities upon them, and shaken them back and forth in his quiver, believing that whichever he withdrew first after a certain ritual would be the one to attack first.</p>


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<p>In his right hand was the forecast for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts- The battering rams are exactly those depicted by Ezekiel (<a href='B:330 4:2'>Eze 4:2</a>);</p>


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<p>It shall seem to them as a false forecast in their opinion- Perhaps the Jewish false prophets claimed that the Babylonian army advancing from the north was in fact heading for Rabbah and the Ammonites and not for them.</p><p>They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be caught- The Jews had solemnly promised total allegiance to Babylon, when in fact they had been making such solemn oaths to others, in the hope of assembling enough political and military might to overcome Babylon. This was how the Babylonian sword was so sharpened against Israel; they were angry that they had been lied to, and that the Jerusalem temple was not merely the shrine of their gods, but of the gods of other nations too. In all this they were used by God to express His anger regarding how Judah had treated Him.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have made your wickedness to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand- The way the Jews had made alliances with other peoples was an uncovering of their sins. Their previous infidelities to Babylon now were also remembered by the Babylonians; and again, God was manifest through Babylon. Because their feelings of hurt and anger at the deception experienced were exactly those of God- with whom Judah had also entered a covenant of total loyalty, and promised the temple as His sole sacred space.</p>


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<p>You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come- “The prince” of Ezekiel 40-48 is hard to understand as an immortal being such as the Lord Jesus. “The prince” of <a href='B:330 21:27'>Eze 21:27</a> was Judah’s last ruler- so “the prince” later in Ezekiel would appear to be a promise of a restored monarchy. Yet tragically, the royal family chose to remain in Babylon. See on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>. "The deadly wounded" of :14 refers to Zedekiah, "You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come" (:25). The intention was that Zedekiah would die by the sword, but in fact he didn’t. He was blinded, but died peacefully in prison (<a href='B:300 52:11'>Jer 52:11</a>). The wound that ought to have been unto death was in fact not unto death- because God wanted him to be moved by His grace to repent.</p><p>In the time of the iniquity of the end- This phrase could imply that this was the time when Judah’s iniquity would be finally punished. It is the same idea as in <a href='B:340 9:24'>Dan 9:24</a>, when after the 70 weeks there was to be an end of Judah’s sin, in that the punishment for it would be completed. But as noted there, the 70 years prophecy had become reapplied to a 70 weeks prophecy. So this "end" envisaged didn’t in fact come when expected, neither in the death or deposition of Zedekiah, neither at the end of the 70 years, neither at the end of 70 weeks, but only in the last days in the final "time of the end".</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Remove the mitre and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same- It seems that Zedekiah had worn both the crown and the high priestly mitre, declaring himself to be the Messianic king-priest. But "this shall be no more the same", he was not to be a king-priest any more.</p><p>Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high- Zedekiah the high, the proud, was to be abased- blinded and then left to die in prison. But a "low" one was to&nbsp; be exalted to take his place. This would have been possible at the time of the restoration. But the various possibilities didn’t work out, and so the prophecy was reapplied and rescheduled to the Lord Jesus, the low one who was made high, as Philippians 2 exults.</p>


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<p>I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him- The triple ’overturning’ of <a href='B:330 21:25-27'>Eze 21:25-27</a> can refer to the three invasions made by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon:&nbsp;Remember that Ezekiel was primarily speaking to the captives in Babylon who had been taken there after the first and second Babylonian invasions. One more was yet to come. We have here an example of how the kingdom of God and its king can be treated as parallel;&nbsp;Zedekiah’s overthrow was that of God’s kingdom:&nbsp; Thus God’s kingdom as it was in the nation of Israel ended:&nbsp;"I... will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel" (<a href='B:350 1:4'>Hos 1:4</a>):&nbsp;"It shall be no more, until..." carries the implication that the kingdom would revive when "he come whose right it is;&nbsp;and (God) will give it him":&nbsp; God will "give (Jesus) the throne of his father David... and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (<a href='B:490 1:32-33'>Luk 1:32-33</a>) - at Christ’s return:&nbsp;This, therefore, is when the promise of the kingdom’s restoration will be fulfilled. There is a tremendous theme throughout the Old Testament prophets of the restoration of God’s Kingdom on Messiah’s return:&nbsp;Christ’s disciples were well tuned in to this:&nbsp;"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt you at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?" i:e. ’Will <a href='B:330 21:27'>Eze 21:27</a> be fulfilled now?’&nbsp;Jesus replied by saying that the exact time of his second coming they would never know, although the angels immediately afterwards assured them that he would, indeed, return at some point (<a href='B:510 1:6-11'>Act 1:6-11</a>).</p><p>And yet the triple overturnings, perhaps parallel with the triple smiting with the sword of :14, could refer to three overturnings of Zion; once by Babylon, then by Rome, and then finally a third time in the last days, which will be the final signal for the Lord Jesus to come and revive the throne.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is polished, to ause it to devour, that it may be as lightning- This is the language of the same sword which was to come upon Judah as described earlier in this chapter. Judah had tried to make an alliance with Ammon so that together they could resist the Babylonian advances against them. But this was not to succeed, and Ammon also was to be destroyed by the same Divinely directed Babylonian sword as Judah. But <a href='B:330 25:3-6'>Eze 25:3-6</a> describes the Ammonites rejoicing with Babylon at the destruction of the temple. Clearly they were not sincere in their agreement with Judah; like Judah, they were promising loyalty whilst making the same promise of loyalty to Babylon. The deceivers were deceived by each other.</p>


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<p>While they see for you false visions, while they forecast lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end- Ammon like Judah had its false prophets. The "deadly wounded" earlier referred to Zedekiah (:14,25), and the time of the end of the iniquity to the final judgment for Israel’s sins (:25). So the idea may be that Ammon was to be judged together with Judah- far from the false prophecies that "No, actually this Babylonian advance is not in fact headed for us, but it’s aiming for Rabbah... for Jerusalem". They would perish as it were together, even if they didn’t do so chronologically.</p>


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<p>Cause it to return into its sheath- This can be translated as a rhetorical question: "Shall I cause it to return into its sheath?". And the answer was that no, God was really going to bring about this destruction, and the prophets claiming that the sword of judgment was going to return into its sheath at the last moment were going to be shown utterly false.</p><p>In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you- Ammon was born of an incestuous relationship in the land of Sodom. Sodom has been associated with apostate Judah in Ezekiel 16. The idea is that Ammon and Judah would share a similar judgment because their origins and mentality were similar. Jerusalem’s birthplace was therefore defined as being in Canaan, where Ammon’s was too (<a href='B:330 16:3'>Eze 16:3</a>). The false prophets were quite wrong to claim that the Babylonians would only judge Ammon and not Judah; and it seems the false prophets of Ammon were saying similarly that Babylon would judge only Judah and not themselves.</p>


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<p>I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of cruel men, skilful to destroy- The idea is that these men had been educated or trained up for this destruction, just as in an earlier analogy the sword of Babylon had been sharpened and polished.</p>


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<p>You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be remembered no more: for I, Yahweh, have spoken it- If Ammon were but fuel on the fire, the implication is that the fire is burning something else. And according to Ezekiel’s pictures of Jerusalem as a pot, that something was Jerusalem. Clearly it was utterly foolish for the false prophets of both Rabbah and Jerusalem to claim that the Babylonian judgment was solely intended for the other party.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the city of blood? So now cause her to know all her abominations- Ezekiel’s initial audience were in denial of their sins and that of their families. The Hebrew for ’entering into judgment’ is literally "to plead" (as often in AV). The experience of judgment was not mere punishment, but a pleading to enter totally into covenant relationship. This pleading or judgment of the exiles is likewise associated with their salvation and restoration in <a href='B:290 43:26'>Isa 43:26</a>; <a href='B:290 51:5'>Isa 51:5</a>. God would plead with or judge the exiles "because you say, I have not sinned" (<a href='B:300 2:35'>Jer 2:35</a>). This was the purpose of the judgment envisaged- to elicit in the exiles repentance. Ezekiel was trying to achieve that by his ministry, he was to judge them so that they recognized their abominations (Eze 204; <a href='B:330 22:2'>Eze 22:2</a>), but they were a rebellious house:&nbsp; And so this idea of bringing them out of Babylon into some situation of judgment was envisaged (<a href='B:330 20:34-38'>Eze 20:34-38</a>), so that they might repent. Zedekiah personally was to be judged or pleaded with in Babylon concerning his sin (<a href='B:330 17:20'>Eze 17:20</a>), i:e. to make him recognize it and repent of it.</p>


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<p>You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The city sheds blood in the midst of her so that her time of judgment may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself!- The starting point of the 70 or 40 years (see on <a href='B:330 4:6'>Eze 4:6</a>) was somewhat flexible- for <a href='B:330 22:3-4'>Eze 22:3-4</a> records Ezekiel’s prophecy that the desolation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians [the starting point of the time periods] was actually being hastened, brought forward, by the terrible behaviour of the Jews living there after the initial Babylon invasion of the land. See on :30. God worked through their sins; it was they who were bringing on their time of judgment, rather than God of Himself.</p><p>The shedding of blood was done "in the midst of" Jerusalem, presumably in the temple. <a href='B:300 7:6'>Jer 7:6</a> likewise laments that innocent blood was shed there, in connection with idol worship. The reference seems to be to the sacrifice of children to other gods in the temple. <a href='B:310 4:13'>Lam 4:13</a> states that it was the priests, perhaps Ezekiel’s relatives, who had shed this innocent blood in the temple:&nbsp; Jerusalem gave the blood of her children to the idols rather than dedicating the firstborn to Yahweh (<a href='B:330 16:36'>Eze 16:36</a>):&nbsp; The ideas of shedding blood and idolatry are again found in <a href='B:330 22:4'>Eze 22:4</a>; <a href='B:330 33:25'>Eze 33:25</a>. We may recoil at this awful practice, but to dedicate our children to careers and the idols of this world rather than to Yahweh is in essence the same abomination, and it can likewise be done in the temple of Yahweh.</p>


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<p>You have become guilty in the blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made- "The blood" is AV "Thy blood"; as explained on :3, the reference is to their sacrificing their own children to their idols of their own hands. We must ask what are the equivalents in this age of sacrificing our children to our idols. "Guilty" is the same word sometimes translated "desolate" (<a href='B:290 24:6'>Isa 24:6</a>; <a href='B:330 6:6'>Eze 6:6</a>). The desolation of the land was directly their fault. But it may also mean that they were legally now pronounced guilty for the sacrifice of their children- hence after doing it, they ’became guilty’. In the gap between their sin and the execution of judgment for it, they could have repented. We too live in such a gap, giving intensity to the life we live and our response to the calls for repentance.</p><p>And you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your year of judgment. Therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries- See on :3. The idea is that their time of judgment was hastened by their awful behaviour.</p>


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<p>Those who are near and those who are far from you shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult- "Tumult" refers to the psychological breakdown of those under Divine condemnation. Shame and mockery were a fate worse than death in the ancient world, and therefore it is so often mentioned that Israel and Jerusalem would become a mockery to the world. God deals with people within the frameworks of their self-understanding and worldviews.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you to shed blood- The initial audience of Ezekiel would have included members of the royal family. These words were therefore a direct rebuke to them and / or their families. I explained on :3 that the shedding of blood referred to child sacrifices. The princes of Israel, the royal family of Judah, had apparently done this too- with the royal seed.</p>


text:
<p>In you have they set light by father and mother- The intention of the gripping passage in Ezekiel 16 was to convict Jerusalem of her sins (<a href='B:330 16:2'>Eze 16:2</a>); because they considered their spiritual and literal prostitution "a small matter". The same word is used in accusing the priesthood of considering it "a small matter" for the flock to have been ruined by them (<a href='B:330 34:18'>Eze 34:18</a>). This was the problem, as it is today- the real implications of attitudes and behaviour are not taken seriously. We fail to perceive how deeply we affect both God and man. Society makes us feel insignificant cogs, but we are not like that to God. This was the problem with Ezekiel’s audience; they had a light hearted approach to eternal issues. To them, sin was a light thing (<a href='B:330 8:17'>Eze 8:17</a>; <a href='B:330 22:7'>Eze 22:7</a>). This was the role of the prophets, to convict people of the gravity of their sins and positions, and the consequences to come.</p><p>In the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow- Sin brings an appropriate judgment. As they oppressed foreigners, so now Ezekiel’s audience were being oppressed by foreigners. And yet all that follows in this section is exemplification of how the princes had "shed blood" (:6), which I have argued on :3-6 was in the context of idolatry and human sacrifice, with distinct sexual overtones (:9 "lewdness"). We wonder if their sexual perversions extended to masochism and the murder of their sex objects, as in cases of extreme sexual violence today. And their victims led to the exploitation of the most vulnerable in society, including Gentiles. It’s all so similar with cases we encounter in the news today.</p>


text:
<p>You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My Sabbaths- This implies a conscious defilement, a using of the sabbath regulations and holy things as part of idol worship and sexual lewdness (:9). Again, this kind of extreme blasphemy, sexual perversion and masochism is known today, and it seems the princes of Israel, whose relatives and children were before Ezekiel in exile as he uttered these words, were doing the same kind of awful things. And doing them in Yahweh’s temple. The same word is used how even after the restoration, the returned exiles "despised" God’s Name and offerings ["holy things"] (<a href='B:460 1:6-7'>Mal 1:6-7</a>; <a href='B:460 1:12'>Mal 1:12</a>). They didn’t learn the lesson.</p>


text:
<p>Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness- Typical of the prophets, there is a juxtaposition between slandering and shedding blood. The Lord Jesus taught the same- that hatred in the heart was murder. To slander is to murder. And yet slander is here listed along with the grossest sexual immorality imaginable, apparently involving the murder of vulnerable people in the process of it. See on :12.</p>


text:
<p>In you have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity- The sexual lewdness (:9) involved with the idol worship involved sleeping with family relatives and sexual perversions with menstruating women. This was all a conscious denial of Yahweh worship. And yet they claimed loyalty to Him.</p>


text:
<p>One has committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter- These sexual perversions with close relatives were, in the context, performed in the temple and as part of idol worship. "Abomination" is elsewhere used in that sense. And thereby the most basic moral teachings of the Law of Moses, Israel’s covenant with God, were broken.</p>


text:
<p>In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, you have greedily gained from your neighbours by oppression and have forgotten Me, says the Lord Yahweh- The prohibition of taking interest was so that "your brother shall live by / with you" (<a href='B:30 25:36'>Lev 25:36</a>). By having done so, those now in exile were separated from their poorer brethren. They had placed personal material gain before the unity of God’s people. Again, that is a timeless warning. This taking of interest specifically happened in the temple, according to <a href='B:330 22:12'>Eze 22:12</a>; suggesting the priesthood had become a financial racket which exploited the poor. It is the priesthood and ruling classes whom Ezekiel addresses, for they were those in exile with him.</p><p>As noted on :9, we have here a powerful juxtaposition. Sexual perversion in the temple as part of idol worship, even involving masochism and the murder of the women they abused, is mentioned along with taking bribes and lending on interest to their brethren. These things might seem insignificant compared to those apparently far grosser sins. But not to God through the prophets. We note that the bribes were "to shed blood", and there seems no reason to doubt that literal murder was in view.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, therefore, I have struck My hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been shed in the midst of you- As noted on :9 and :12, some "dishonest gain" here and there might appear not at all on the same scale as sexual perversion / idolatry in the temple, even involving murder of those sexually abused as sacrifices to the idols. But to God, such sin is in fact in the same league. There are degrees of sin, as the regulations of the Law of Moses itself reflected; but all sin against persons, especially abuse of God’s people, is seen as within the same league- be it deceiving them financially or murdering them. For hatred is murder, in the Lord’s book.</p>


text:
<p>Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it- The implication is that they had psychologically strengthened and desensitized themselves to perform the gross abominations just discussed. That was surely the only way they could have committed murder as part of a sexually perverted session of idol worship, performed within Yahweh’s temple. But in the day of judgment, all such hardening of themselves would collapse, and even they would face God’s judgment with weak hands and broken hearts. It is for us to soften ourselves before Him now, and never become hardened in sin. See on :22.</p>


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<p>I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you- This didn’t actually happen; the captivity didn’t reform them. And yet the essence of the prophecy will come true in the last days. This suggests that as the day of the second coming approaches, Israel will be progressively purged and move closer and closer towards repentance. We marvel too at God’s desire to ultimately save; for the perversions listed previously are so disgusting that we would assume that such persons should just be destroyed and forgotten eternally. But God’s intention was as ever to punish with a view to reformation. We must never forget this in any discipline we may be called upon to minister.</p>


text:
<p>You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- This was perhaps the Divine hope; that the filthiness would be consumed from out of them in captivity (:15) and thus they would know Yahweh, coming into a relationship with Him. But this didn’t happen; they refused to be cleansed, and so they didn’t come to know Yahweh. And nationally, they even went on to slay His begotten Son. But this shall ultimately come true in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came to me, saying- This next prophecy seeks to develop the idea of how God hoped to consume the filthiness out of His people (:15). He hoped to achieve that by their exile, and yet here we have the hope that this might be achieved by the judgment of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The hopefulness of God comes through powerfully.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me: all of them are brass, tin, iron and lead in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver- God’s intention was that the fire of Babylonian judgment would somehow purge His people in Jerusalem. Impurity had become so mixed with purity that only this crisis could separate them. It seems this was true both in the hearts of individuals, and in society- in that not a single person was found with a pure heart (:30).</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem- As noted on :18, they "all" were dross. Impurity was apparently inextricably mixed with purity, and only the fire of the Babylonian holocaust could possibly divide the righteous from the wicked, and also purify the hearts of even the righteous.</p>


text:
<p>As they gather silver, brass, iron, lead and tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire onto it to melt it; so will I gather you in My anger- The gathering of the impure metals into the furnace was fulfilled through the peasant masses fleeing into Jerusalem in the face of the Babylonian advance. Again we see that it was not just the leadership who were corrupt, but the masses too.</p><p>And in My wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you- "I will lay you" uses the word usually used about the resting of God’s wrath. And that seems the preferable translation. The cessation, accomplishment or resting of God’s wrath is mentioned several times in Ezekiel, and nowhere else in this way (<a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a>; <a href='B:330 6:12'>Eze 6:12</a>; <a href='B:330 7:8'>Eze 7:8</a>; <a href='B:330 13:15'>Eze 13:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:42'>Eze 16:42</a>; <a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a>; <a href='B:330 21:17'>Eze 21:17</a>; <a href='B:330 22:20'>Eze 22:20</a>; <a href='B:330 24:13'>Eze 24:13</a>). The idea is not that God was so angry that He had to express that anger and only calmed down once He had as it were lashed out. He does have real wrath; the huge love He has cannot exist in a dimensionless vacuum, it of itself implies He also has wrath. <a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a> continues: "I will cause My wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted", and the Hebrew there for "comforted" is literally ’to sigh’, to be sorry, even to repent / change. Having expressed His legitimate anger, God knew that He would then be sorry and would then embark upon a process of restoration- by grace. For the objects of His wrath didn’t deserve any restoration. "To rest" is the word translated "to place" in <a href='B:330 37:14'>Eze 37:14</a>: "I shall place you in your own land" at the restoration from captivity. His wrath had to be expressed, and yet it was part of His wider purpose toward restoring His people and Kingdom. We would be quite wrong, therefore, to read these words as meaning that God was furiously angry and needed to lash out and get it all expressed so that He could as it were calm down again. His judgments are always ultimately constructive, and therefore "the wrath of God is the love of God". His wrath is therefore described in <a href='B:330 5:15'>Eze 5:15</a> as the rebuke of His fury / wrath; it was intended to rebuke, to achieve instruction, that they should ’know Yahweh’. The tragedy was that the captives for the most part refused to perceive it this way and respond.</p>


text:
<p>Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst- As noted on :20, the gathering&nbsp; of the impure metals into the furnace was fulfilled through the peasant masses fleeing into Jerusalem in the face of the Babylonian advance. Again we see that it was not just the leadership who were corrupt, but the masses too.</p>


text:
<p>As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you- "Melted" is often translated "poured out", so there is a play on ideas here. The intention of the pouring out of wrath was to pour them out. We noted on :14 the psychological hardening of the people to do the abominations which they did. The intention of the fire of judgment was to soften them. But the Divine hope and intention didn’t come about. Instead of softening them and purging them, the fire consumed them (:31). They were not cleansed of their dross.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- This prophecy follows on from the fact just presented that the fire of Babylonian judgment would not in fact cleanse Judah of their dross. Hence :31 concludes that the fire would not purge but rather consume them.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained on in the day of indignation- As noted on :23, the intention of the "day of indignation" was that it would be a fire which would cleanse the land. But it didn’t, the dross as not removed, and the rain of blessing intended therefore didn’t come.</p>


text:
<p>There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst- The reason as to why the land was not cleansed by the fire of judgment in the "day of indignation" (:24) is now given. The people allowed the false prophets to devour them. It was the ordinary peasant masses who were to be gathered in to the furnace of Jerusalem and judged (:20). They were equally culpable; for the false prophets had spoken and acted as they perceived the masses wanted them to. And so the prophets became like the Babylonians, as a roaring lion, the symbol of Babylon. They were to be identified with Babylon; the Babylonian judgment was what they had done to themselves, as :31 makes explicit. Perhaps the valuable items of the peasants fleeing into Jerusalem was taken by the false prophets. The souls and widows they devoured may refer, as earlier in this chapter, to vulnerable women whom they killed during perverted sex acts as part of their worship of idols. And this was done in the "midst" of the city, in the temple.</p>


text:
<p>Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean and have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them- See on :8. The priests were those who actually performed the human sacrifices (<a href='B:300 2:34'>Jer 2:34</a>; <a href='B:300 19:4'>Jer 19:4</a>). But the root cause of their gross abominations was because they had failed to recognize and teach a distinction between holy and common, clean and unclean. The Mosaic regulations about these things were intended to teach a clear separation in the conscience between sin and righteousness. But when the line between sin and righteousness is blurred into so many shades of grey... then the awful abominations mentioned in this chapter are committed:&nbsp; And this is our abiding challenge, in a world which increasingly cannot tell right from wrong.</p>


text:
<p>Her princes in its midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood and to destroy people so that they may get dishonest gain- The attitude of the princes to the people is described in terms appropriate to the Babylonians, who were to act as wolves in devouring the people (<a href='B:300 5:6'>Jer 5:6</a>; <a href='B:420 1:8'>Hab 1:8</a>). By so doing, and with the people tacitly supportive of the whole system, they had brought about the Babylonian judgment; for this would be but an extension of their own attitudes (:31). ’Getting dishonest gain’ characterized the entire society, from the poor to the rich (<a href='B:300 6:13'>Jer 6:13</a>; <a href='B:300 8:10'>Jer 8:10</a>). See on :29.</p>


text:
<p>Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and foretelling lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken- The gross immorality spoken of earlier in this chapter was justified by false claims that Yahweh in fact sanctioned it. The scary thing was that such gross immorality was performed in His temple; the people involved would have subconsciously wished to have Yahweh’s sanction of it in order to ease their bad conscience, and so the false prophets complied. Again we see that as in the New Testament, the false prophets or teachers were not simply genuinely mistaken over abstract theological issues; the false teaching of false teachers in the Bible is nearly always in a moral context, justifying sin as righteousness.</p>


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<p>The people of the land have used oppression and committed robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully- Again we see how the judgment to come was not just because of the sins of the leadership, the princes and false prophets (:27,28). The ordinary people had in their turn also abused the weak and vulnerable. And so it was appropriate that now foreigners were to oppress them. ’Getting dishonest gain’ (:27) characterized the entire society, from the poor to the rich (<a href='B:300 6:13'>Jer 6:13</a>; <a href='B:300 8:10'>Jer 8:10</a> s:w:).</p>


text:
<p>I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none- See on :3. If a person had been found who would have powerfully interceded for Jerusalem, ’stood in the gap’, God wouldn’t have destroyed Jerusalem - "that I should not destroy it" is an allusion to Abraham interceding for Sodom in <a href='B:10 18:28'>Gen 18:28</a>. But there was not such a person, because they were "all" dross (<a href='B:330 22:18-19'>Eze 22:18-19</a>). Jeremiah was in the land at the time and was surely righteous, but he had been told not to intercede for the people (<a href='B:300 11:14'>Jer 11:14</a>; <a href='B:300 14:11'>Jer 14:11</a>). It seems that if another like him had been found, in addition to Ezekiel in exile, then the judgments could have been averted. There were simply so many possible scenarios! And this is what we must expect if even time periods can be shortened or extended in response to human behaviour. And yet Jeremiah himself seems to have been too ’pro’ Israel. He was shocked at the depth of their weakness and even naive to it; and in Lamentations he seems to consider God had acted too harshly against His people. So perhaps in any case Jeremiah was not the appropriate interceder.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore have I poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath. Their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh- As noted on :22, the fire of Babylonian judgment had been intended to purify them, to remove the dross. But the dross would not be removed, and so they were in fact consumed by the fire. And this was completely the result of their own ways, rather than simply the anger of God. Judgment is really always an extension of a man’s own way in his time of opportunity.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came again to me saying- The metaphors used to describe the anger of God with Israel are pretty awful. Her children to be slain with thirst, she was to be stripped naked by her husband (Hosea 2), gang raped by her lovers, having her nose cut off and left a battered, bleeding mess in the scrubland (Ezekiel 16, 23), to have her skirt pulled up over her head and her nakedness revealed (<a href='B:300 13:20-27'>Jer 13:20-27</a>), wishing to pluck off her own breasts for shame (<a href='B:330 23:34'>Eze 23:34</a>). Jerusalem is to be raped, violated and humiliated, according to Ezekiel. Indeed, Ezekiel’s images verge at times on what some would consider pornographic. He speaks of the woman Israel’s pubic hair, breasts, menstrual cycle (<a href='B:330 16:7'>Eze 16:7</a>; <a href='B:330 16:10'>Eze 16:10</a>); the gang rape by her enemies which God would bring about, leaving her mutilated and humiliated (<a href='B:330 16:37'>Eze 16:37</a>; <a href='B:330 23:22-49'>Eze 23:22-49</a>); about the size of her lovers’ sexual organs and coital emissions, and how she let them fondle her breasts (<a href='B:330 23:8'>Eze 23:8</a>; <a href='B:330 23:20'>Eze 23:20</a>). This is shocking language, which perhaps we skip over in our Bible reading from sheer embarrassment- and we are modern readers brutalized by exposure to this kind of stuff in the media. For early Israel, it would all have been even more shocking. It all seemed out of proportion to having ‘merely’ made a few political alliances with Egypt and Assyria. Was that really like a wife letting other men fondle her breasts and have sex with her, admiring their bodies as she did so? Did it all have to end in such brutality and vulgarity? Today, sex and violence are what attract attention. From lyrics of songs to advertising and movies, that’s clear enough. And the prophets are using the same tactics to arrest Israel’s attention, all the more so because nudity and sex were things simply not up for public discussion. There’s an anxiety which any talk about sex seems to arouse in us, and it was the prophets’ intention to make us likewise get on the edge of our seats, anxious, rapt, sensitive for the next word… realizing that really and truly, this is what human sin does to God. The outrageous sex talk was to bring out how outrageous and obscene are our sins and unfaithfulness to the covenant we cut with God in baptism.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother- Unlike the similar lurid passage in Ezekiel 16, this appears to be a private revelation to Ezekiel, addressed personally as "son of man". Perhaps he still struggled to realize that the priesthood and society he had come from were really as bad as God saw them to be. The Jews considered the Israelites of the ten tribes to have been so far worse than themselves that they had gone into captivity in Assyria. One purpose of this allegory was to remind them that Israel were not worse than Judah; in fact the opposite was the case, and they were all the same sisters.</p>


text:
<p>And they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there were fondled the breasts of their virginity- The people of Israel worshipped idols in Egypt, and there lost their virginity. It was by grace that God took them on as His wife when they were already not virgins. The language of pressing the breasts means groping. They were raped, but raped as prostitutes are raped, half willingly so, in Egypt.</p>


text:
<p>Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters- God’s grace is here noted, that He married such defiled women; and by grace, they had children, when prostitutes were stereotypically perceived as barren.</p><p>As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah- "Oholah" is "her tent", a reference to the false sanctuary created by Jeroboam for the ten tribes; and "Oholibah" ’my tent is in her’, reflecting how indeed God’s true sanctuary was in Jerusalem and not Samaria. But the allegory will continue to reveal that this didn’t make her superior but rather even more responsible for the profanity performed in that sanctuary. So the assumption of Judah that they were somehow more righteous because they had the true sanctuary amongst them is thereby subverted.</p>


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<p>Oholah played the prostitute when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours- Those lovers turned on her and destroyed her. She was taken captive to Assyria, the people whose gods she had so loved. "Doted" is literally ’to breathe after’, the language of a woman in heat. This is how God presents her attraction to the Assyrian idols. And the word and extreme image is repeatedly used here (:7,9,12,16,20).</p>


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<p>Who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses- It was as horsemen that the young men of Assyria came as soldiers to destroy Samaria and lead her into captivity. Her rulers were attractive because Israel thought that they had power to protect and save them instead of their God. And there again is a timeless warning. What they found so attractive turned to be their destruction. It was God’s Kingdom which should have been "desirable" to Israel (s:w. <a href='B:290 27:2'>Isa 27:2</a>; <a href='B:290 32:12'>Isa 32:12</a>), but the passing visual attraction of the world was more "desirable".</p>


text:
<p>She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself- Idolatry is presented as prostitution. But she "bestowed her prostitution on them", rather than them coming to her. For "doted" see on :5. Every relationship with the idols of our age is likewise prostitution against the God who has so loved us. "Choicest men" is used of soldiers (<a href='B:340 11:15'>Dan 11:15</a>; <a href='B:300 48:15'>Jer 48:15</a>; <a href='B:20 15:4'>Exo 15:4</a>). It was the protection of Assyria’s handsome soldiers which was so attractive to Israel; and therefore they agreed to serve their idols to have their protection. And it was those same soldiers who were to turn and destroy them.</p>


text:
<p>Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they fondled the breasts of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her- Israel is presented as having been sexually unstable from her youth; her subsequent encounter with Yahweh, her marriage to Him and His pouring out His love upon her... didn’t change her basic mentality. She was not serious, light minded, and went to whatever her eyes and flesh were attracted to. This is our tendency as humans. She didn’t leave her prostitution "for" or because she had lost her virginity in Egypt, before she met Yahweh. The long term effect f her idolatry there, just like the long term effect of sexual promiscuity in youth, was that she never settled down to a stable monogamous relationship, even though she had the best ever husband.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians on whom she doted- For "doted" see on :5. It was appropriate that she should be delivered into the hand or power of the Assyrians, for they were the ones she had loved more than Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters and her they killed with the sword, and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her- The ’death’ of the ten tribes must be compared to the insistence of all the restoration prophets that a revived Israel and Judah would together return to the land and form God’s reestablished Kingdom. This has to imply that the slain Samaria would be as it were resurrected; which is what Ezekiel 37 predicts, a resurrection of the dry bones. The uncovering of nakedness implies shame, as does becoming a byword. This was a fate worse than death in their terms. The uncovering her nakedness means she was revealed for who she was- a worn out whore, self-ruined by her profligate life. What was uncovered by the Assyrians was her whoredom (:29). The Assyrians realized that Samaria had not been faithful to them as she had promised, but in fact had made similar agreements with other powers, and also worshipped their gods- as well as Yahweh. It was this discovery which made the Assyrians so angry with Samaria, just as the Babylonians were to be with Judah.</p>


text:
<p>Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which was more than the prostitution of her sister- This repeats Jeremiah’s message to the Jews still in the land (<a href='B:300 3:7'>Jer 3:7</a>). For "doting" see on :5. The idea seems to be that Jerusalem was encouraged in her immorality by Samaria. The reasoning was that because the sanctuary was in Jerusalem, Judah were automatically more righteous than Israel, and could therefore sin more than her. This is where mere tokenism and externality leads in religious life- to spiritual and literal immorality. "Corrupt" is the word used about the situation before the flood, when the eretz was again "corrupt" and was "destroyed" (<a href='B:10 6:11-13'>Gen 6:11-13</a>)- both are valid translations of the same Hebrew word. To be corrupt was to destroy oneself. The judgment was the sin.</p>


text:
<p>She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbours, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men- For "doting" see on :5. She was infatuated by the Assyrian leadership and military, the very things which Judah found attractive as promising protection and stability, when instead she should have looked to Yahweh for this.</p>


text:
<p>I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way- Again it is stressed that Judah was not better than Israel, as she imagined; she took the same "way". "Defiled" means that she was no longer a virgin (s:w. <a href='B:10 34:5'>Gen 34:5</a>; <a href='B:10 34:13'>Gen 34:13</a>; <a href='B:10 34:27'>Gen 34:27</a>). But she had lost her virginity in Egypt; it was there that she had been defiled by idolatry (<a href='B:330 20:7'>Eze 20:7</a>). The idea therefore is that God recognized that this was how she had been from the beginning; He "saw" the iniquity in His people which earlier by grace He had not ’seen’ because He imputed righteousness to them, as the object of His love (<a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a>). It was specifically the temple which was "defiled" (s:w. <a href='B:300 32:34'>Jer 32:34</a>; <a href='B:330 5:11'>Eze 5:11</a>; <a href='B:330 43:7'>Eze 43:7</a>), and perhaps that is the location of "the wall" in :14.</p>


text:
<p>She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed withvermilion- I suggested on :13 that the context is of the temple. It could be that Jews went to the land of the Chaldeans and were impressed with the friezes on their walls, coloured with bright red. For they loved anything foreign, rather than the things of Yahweh. But more likely were these friezes replicated on the walls of the temple. Instead of the motif of the protecting cherubim within the temple, there were friezes of Chaldean soldiers, her pinups, her heroes and preferred saviours. "The wall" in <a href='B:330 8:10'>Eze 8:10</a>; <a href='B:330 43:8'>Eze 43:8</a> refers specifically to the wall dividing the holy and most holy place; there, perhaps on the inside of the most holy, there were the friezes of idols and Chaldean warriors, used in a&nbsp; pornographic sense.</p>


text:
<p>Dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth- See on :23. The men depicted on the wall (:14) were like the Babylonian soldiers depicted on the friezes in the palaces and cities of the Chaldeans. The Jews had visited these lands and in their love for anything foreign, had replicated such motifs and friezes upon the walls of the temple.</p>


text:
<p>As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea- For "doted" see on :5. She sent to Chaldea for these men to come to her, suggesting the pictures of the men were on the walls of the Jerusalem temple, and even within the holy places (see on :15). It is stereotypically men who respond to visual representations of females. Here it was men responding to the pictures of Chaldean men. It could be a reference to homosexual attraction, but the idea was that the lust was for the military protection of these soldiers; when the entire Angelic army symbolized by the cherubim was ready to protect Jerusalem. But they had removed the cherubim motif and replaced it with these images.</p>


text:
<p>The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them- Judah felt that she had not been given the protection and support from Babylon which she had expected.</p>


text:
<p>So she displayed her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then My soul was alienated from her, like as My soul was alienated from her sister- <a href='B:300 6:8'>Jer 6:8</a> and <a href='B:330 23:18'>Eze 23:18</a> speak of how God’s soul "departed" (AV) from His people- but the same word is translated to hang / crucify (<a href='B:40 25:4'>Num 25:4</a>; <a href='B:100 21:6'>2Sa 21:6</a>; <a href='B:100 21:9'>2Sa 21:9</a>; <a href='B:100 21:13'>2Sa 21:13</a>). It’s as if God was crucified in His pain for Israel. And in the death of His Son He went through that pain. And so never, ever, ever... can we nor Israel complain that our pain is greater than God’s. Never. The pain of God at Israel’s sin leads Him to exclaim (almost in the language of piercing and crucifixion): "Before me continually is grief and wounds" (<a href='B:300 6:7'>Jer 6:7</a>). We can wound God by our sin, so sensitive is He to us. In the end, we read that God’s "soul" departed from them, because "the Lord has rejected you" (<a href='B:300 6:8'>Jer 6:8</a>; <a href='B:300 6:30'>Jer 6:30</a>). This is the same language used about Saul- God rejected him, and so His spirit departed from him (<a href='B:90 15:23'>1Sa 15:23</a>; <a href='B:90 16:14'>1Sa 16:14</a>). The implication was that God’s very soul / spirit is "with" us, and therefore He can be so terribly wounded by us in His heart by therebellions of those in covenant relationship with Him. For His heart / soul / spirit is so close to us His beloved people.</p>


text:
<p>Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt- Despite God’s departure from her, perhaps symbolized by the visible departure of the cherubim and glory from the temple described earlier in Ezekiel, she instead repeated her prostitution and multiplied it, by trying to make treaties with the Egyptians and accepting their idols and gods.</p>


text:
<p>She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses- For "doted" see on :5. The language here is crude, but it reflects the crude nature of Jerusalem’s attraction towards the other nations simply on the basis of their external attributes. Donkeys or asses were famed for having large reproductive organs, and horses for having much sperm. And these characteristics of the men portrayed on the walls of the temple (see on :14) were so attractive to the Jews. The horse was used by the Egyptians as the hieroglyphic for a lustful person; and as just pointed out in :19, Judah was still influenced by Egyptian thought and idolatry.</p>


text:
<p>Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the fondling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth- Under threat from the Babylonians, Judah returned to Egypt to make treaties with them, which involved accepting their idols into the Jerusalem temple. She was thus returning to her youth, acting as she had done then.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side- This alienation refers to the falling out between Judah and her masters in Babylon. She fell out with all her lovers once they realized she had been making similar treaties with other nations ["lovers"] and therefore her temple in Jerusalem was filled with the idols of various nations. She was alienated from Yahweh (:18) and now was alienated from her lovers. She was pathetically and tragically alone- and this is the picture of the condemnation of all who reject Yahweh. A gnashing of teeth alone in the darkness.</p>


text:
<p>The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans- The "Chaldeans" refer to a group of Aramean people who attacked and conquered Babylon in 625 BC. They came to establish the kingdom known as Babylon, but strictly the "Babylonians" at this stage referred to the local inhabitants of Babylon before the Chaldeans arrived there.</p><p>Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses- These other nations are mentioned as exemplification of how Judah had been a whore in wanting relationship with so many different peoples. The names of these people all hint at the judgment upon Judah which they would bring: ’Punishment’, ’Cry for help’ and ’Shriek’. Judah befriended and ’loved’ those who would later be their punishment, and force Judah to shriek urgently for help- which would then not be forthcoming.</p>


text:
<p>They shall come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments- LXX "And they all shall come upon thee from the north, chariots and wheels". This is clearly an allusion to the cherubim, seen also from the north, with chariots and wheels. The armies of cherubic protection which they had rejected (see on :14) would turn against them in the form of the Babylonian invaders. God could have judged Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness to Him, but He allowed the other offended lovers to judge her for her unfaithfulness to them. In this sense He committed her judgment to them.</p>


text:
<p>I will set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury- As explained on :24, God too was jealous, as the betrayedhusband and lover. But the other lovers were also jealous, and so He judged them through allowing those lovers to judge her in their own way.</p><p>They shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire- Cutting off nose and ears was a Mesopotamian punishment rather than a Hebrew one. So the idea may be that God would allow the former lovers to judge Judah, rather than He Himself directly. And they would judge in their way. The nose rings and earrings she had adorned herself with would be taken away and left for the executioners to pick up; her actual nose and ears would be cut off and she would be stoned to death, through the Babylonian siege engines hurling rocks at Jerusalem. For this was how they judged unfaithful women.</p>


text:
<p>They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels- This alludes to the Mesopotamian custom (see on :25) of the executioner taking the clothes and jewels of the adulteress, and then leaving her dead body to be sexually used by any who wished. We note that Babylon was judging Judah for adultery against her; Judah had sworn total loyalty to Babylon as well as other nations, and when her whoredom / nakedness was discovered, when it was realized that the Jerusalem temple was full of the idols of all manner of gods; then Babylon judged Jerusalem as an adulterous wife. And God Himself of course wanted to do so, but as noted on :25, He allowed Babylon to do this for Him as it were.</p>


text:
<p>Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more- The emphasis upon Egypt is perhaps because it was Egypt who tempted Judah to trust in her strength and therefore break her agreements with Babylon and Assyria. The unfaithful woman Jerusalem would be stoned to death by her one time lovers; but here we get the impression she would somehow be revived, resurrected to a position where she would never again make the same mistakes. And this is the revival spoken of in the valley of dry bones prophecy in Ezekiel 37. But this spiritual revival didn’t happen at the restoration; it is yet to come, when these prophecies shall come to their final term.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom your soul is alienated- Illicit love always turns to hatred. Never was this more true than in the case of Judah and her lovers. The true seed of Abraham were to dominate those who hated them (<a href='B:10 24:60'>Gen 24:60</a> s:w:). But Jerusalem was dominated by her haters. For she had broken the covenant.</p>


text:
<p>And they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labour, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution- Their lovers hated them now, and so did God because of their deep unfaithfulness (<a href='B:300 12:8'>Jer 12:8</a>; <a href='B:350 9:15'>Hos 9:15</a>; <a href='B:370 5:21'>Amo 5:21</a>; <a href='B:370 6:8'>Amo 6:8</a> s:w:). Their prostitution was uncovered [the same word used of exiles being sent into captivity] in that all the nations came to realize what God already had experienced with Jerusalem- that she had made exclusive covenants with them all, and accepted their gods into the Jerusalem temple. But she</p>


text:
<p>These things shall be done to you because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols- Jerusalem’s prostitution involved idolatry in that as noted on :29, each of her lovers expected her to worship their idols as part of the covenant deal they made with her. The exposure of all this was when they each realized that they were being spoken with in just the same way as Jerusalem was dealing with various nations.</p>


text:
<p>You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand- Again the point is made that Judah were so wrong to think that they were so intrinsically better than the ten tribes. To drink a cup from the Lord is a double symbol- either the cup of blessing which we bless at the communion service (<a href='B:530 10:16'>1Co 10:16</a>), or the cup of condemnation, also given from the Lord. In this sense at the breaking of bread service we drink either blessing or condemnation to ourselves, as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 11. Hence self examination at that time ought to be naturally elicited.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much- To be ridiculed and derided was a fate worse than death in the ancient world, and is often mentioned as Israel’s fate. As with Job, the thing greatly feared comes upon those who are condemned; the nature of their condemnation will be appropriate to them. But the degree to which derision and ridicule is so painful to a person is directly related to their pride. It was Judah’s pride which made these things so hard for them. If they had been humble, the derision would have been far less painful.</p>


text:
<p>You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria- The physical desolation of the land during the exile was a reflection of this, and was one of the curses for breaking the covenant (<a href='B:30 26:33'>Lev 26:33</a>). And yet there is archaeological evidence that agriculture didn’t cease in the land during the exile, the poor of the land, the vast majority of the population, were left there; and they even brought grain offerings to the temple site (<a href='B:300 41:5'>Jer 41:5</a>). So God ameliorated this absolutely deserved judgment, in His pity and grace. And this God is our God. The "astonishment" reflects how they had wilfully believed the words of the false prophets. They really thought they were better than Samaria. And it was this deep seated spiritual arrogance which was their worst problem, and which enabled their conscience to become so blunted.</p>


text:
<p>You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear off your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh- This is the picture of absolute self hatred. Plucking off their own breasts is another way of describing the weeping and gnashing of teeth of the rejected in their self hatred. The Bible has a lot to say about condemnation. Yet God doesn’t wish to condemn and takes no pleasure in it. This vast array of Biblical information is therefore given, I suggest, in order to help us appreciate what a great salvation we have received by grace in Christ; this is what we deserve, and yet we have been saved from it. Without that backdrop, the concepts of salvation, grace, redemption, rescue etc. all seem less wonderful.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have forgotten Me, and cast Me behind your back, therefore you also shall bear your lewdness and your prostitution- They had committed awful "lewdness" but there is here the implication that they didn’t have to ’bear’ it, to take the judgment for that sin. But they cast Yahweh behind their back, and so they had to bear the consequences. They refused Ezekiel’s urgent calls for repentance. They worshipped their idols with their backs to Yahweh’s sanctuary (<a href='B:330 8:16'>Eze 8:16</a>). They did not literally ’forget’ Yahweh. But effectively they did, for He was not continually in their self awareness and conscience. And this again is a timeless warning to all who claim to be His people. To cast Yahweh behind the back meant worshipping other gods (<a href='B:110 14:9'>1Ki 14:9</a>). And yet they claimed to be Yahweh worshippers. So the point is that if we do not put God first and solely in our lives, then we have cast Him behind our back. We cannot have Him as merely part of our devotions and religious life. Nehemiah had heard these words of Ezekiel, and interpreted them as meaning that they had cast God’s law behind their backs (<a href='B:160 9:26'>Neh 9:26</a> cp. <a href='B:230 50:17'>Psa 50:17</a>). God is His word; "the word was God". Our attitudes to His word are our attitudes to Him.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations- This could imply (as elsewhere) that Ezekiel struggled to really understand that his people, especially the priesthood he had come from, were really that bad. By declaring to the people what he had been privately shown in this chapter, he would thereby judge them. This is a parade example of knowledge of God’s word bringing responsibility to judgment. If the word was declared to them and they refused to respond, then they had thereby their judgment.</p>


text:
<p>For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery-This may appear a mere repetition of the obvious. But perhaps the stress is upon "they have...", because as noted on :26, Ezekiel was reluctant to accept they had in fact sinned this deeply.</p><p>And they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to their idols to be devoured- Whilst all our children are born to God, the reference would be particularly to the firstborn, who were to be devoted to God in memory of the Passover deliverance. And instead, they offered their firstborn to idols. That their children should be carried away into captivity in these lands to serve their gods was therefore an appropriate judgment, seeing the Jews had offered their firstborn to those idols.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover this they have done to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths- God feels sin very deeply and personally; what they did was "done to Me". We marvel at His sensitivity, that so far from us and above us, yet He is so close and so deeply affected by our actions. We can likewise touch His heart so relatively easily by our devotion to Him. It seems Judah purposefully committed their worst sacrilege in the temple on the sabbath, "in the same day". The child sacrifices of :39 were committed on the sabbath. They had justified their perversions by claiming that they were in fact a form of Yahweh worship. That was the only way their consciences could be numbed to do as they did. This is the scenario of <a href='B:300 7:7-10'>Jer 7:7-10</a>; they offered their children in nearby Gehenna and then came into the temple, reasoning that they were "delivered", saved from Egypt and from threatened judgment, in order to be able to sin without conscience. This was the Old Testament form of continuing in sin because grace abounded (<a href='B:520 6:1'>Rom 6:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of My house- See on :38. Excavations of the Elephantine community reveal that the Jews mixed Yahweh and Baal worship to such an extent that they believed that Yahweh , like Baal, had a consort called Anat. Inscriptions from Quntillet Ajrud show the names Yahweh and Baal mixed together, including one which appears to speak of “Yahweh and his asherah”. &nbsp; <a href='B:330 16:21'>Eze 16:21</a> and <a href='B:330 23:39'>Eze 23:39</a> are quite specific about this anyway- Israel offered sacrifice to idols in Yahweh’s own temple.</p>


text:
<p>Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments- As explained on :16, this was in response to their beholding the images of these men carved on the friezes of the temple instead of the cherubim, symbols of God’s protection. The painting of eyes recalls Jezebel, notorious queen of apostate Samaria. Judah were no better; that is the recurring message. For it was that sense of spiritual superiority which led them into so much of their grosser sin.</p>


text:
<p>And sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set My incense and My oil- The fornication committed involved elements of Yahweh worship. As noted on :38,39, this was the way in which they allowed their consciences to be so numbed. They justified their immorality as&nbsp; Yahweh worship. The table was the altar, with the incense and oil of Yahweh worship upon it; and they had sex with the representatives of the Gentile nations right in front of that altar. This was typical paganic worship- to sleep with the cult prostitutes before the altar. And they did this right within Yahweh’s sanctuary. We too have an altar, a table at which we eat as Christian believers (<a href='B:650 13:10'>Heb 13:10</a>). And before that we surely cannot commit such adultery.</p>


text:
<p>The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on both their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads- LXX "And they raised a sound of music, and&nbsp;that&nbsp;with men coming from the wilderness out of a multitude of men, and they put bracelets on their hands, and a crown of glory on their heads". I suggested on :41 that they committed religious and literal fornication before Yahweh’s altar, as part of a ritual which they justified to themselves as Yahweh worship. I say "to themselves" because the later anger of their lovers was when the lovers realized that Jerusalem was not wholly devoted to them; her whoredom was revealed and uncovered to all when it was realized that she worshipped many gods, including Yahweh. The music therefore refers to the temple songs, and the crown for beauty to the high priestly crown. Hence in captivity they were mockingly asked to continue singing Yahweh’s temple songs (<a href='B:230 137:3'>Psa 137:3</a>)</p>


text:
<p>Then I said of her who was an adulteress of old, Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them- The final section of the prophecy is a reflection upon the fact that right to the end, the two women had continued their immorality. The idea here may be ’Who would really want to use such an old worn out prostitute?’. But as she was in her youth, so she continued to old age. She had no attraction, reflecting the lack of benefit in forming any alliances with the failed state of Judah, but still she desperately tried to sell herself. There was no repentance right to the end.</p>


text:
<p>They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women- Now both sisters are again mentioned; neither repented (see on :43), they were merely used, there was no love, no permanence. That alone was available in Yahweh their God and husband.</p>


text:
<p>Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands- The judges were "righteous" in that they executed just judgment upon her; she was a "lawful captive" (<a href='B:290 49:24'>Isa 49:24</a>). The judgment of an adulteress and of a woman who sheds blood is apparently different. The latter may refer to a woman who slays her own children. The two charges were connected in that Jerusalem slew her children as part of her spiritual adultery with other gods.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed- This "company" equate with the crowd of witnesses who stoned an adulteress to death. And yet the figure implies she was both killed, and yet survived to be tossed back and forth and robbed- a description of Judah in exile. Does she survive this death, or not? This paradox is finally resolved in Ezekiel 37, when the dead bones of Judah are resurrected. Despite the awful sin of Judah, by God’s grace He was not finished with her and would resurrect her to an intended further relationship with Him. That after all that she rejected Him and murdered His beloved Son is a tragedy beyond words. "Tossed back and forth" is literally "be removed", the word used for the punishment for breaking the covenant (<a href='B:50 28:25'>Deu 28:25</a>). "Robbed" is s:w. ’to take for a prey’. Having repeatedly said that sinful Jerusalem would be given for a prey (<a href='B:300 15:13'>Jer 15:13</a>; <a href='B:300 17:3'>Jer 17:3</a>; <a href='B:330 7:21'>Eze 7:21</a>; <a href='B:330 23:46'>Eze 23:46</a>) we read that the latter day invasion of Israel comes as a great company (as in <a href='B:330 23:46'>Eze 23:46</a>) to "take a prey" (<a href='B:330 38:12-13'>Eze 38:12-13</a>); but that invasion is not to be successful, unlike the previous historical invasions which took Jerusalem for a prey. The implication therefore is that Jerusalem finally repents, and so shall not be given for a prey in the very last invasion.</p>


text:
<p>The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire- This sounds as if the prostitute was to be permanently killed as a prostitute would have been executed. But the marvel of the dry bones prophecy in Ezekiel 37 is that there would be revival and resurrection of this dead, shameful body; and God would enter again into relationship with her. Let’s remember that God’s own law was pretty clear about adultery. The adulterous woman was to be punished with death- for one act of adultery. Even if she repented. And in any case, it was a defiling abomination [according to the Mosaic Law] to remarry a divorced wife. But Hosea doesn’t keep the law. He lets his wife commit multiple acts of adultery, and he still loves her and pleads with her- even though he was a man in love with God’s law. And this reflects the turmoil of God in dealing with human sin, and His sinful people. Hosea outlines his plan in Hosea 2. He will hamper her movements so she can’t find her lovers; if she does find them, he will take away her food and clothing, so she appreciates his generosity to her; and if she still doesn’t return, he will expose her naked and shamed in front of her lovers. But there’s no evidence Hosea ever did that. He just… loved her, was angry with her as an expression of that love, loved her yet more, yet more… And this perhaps too reflects God’s mind- devising and declaring judgments for Israel, which are themselves far less than what He has earlier stated in His own law, and yet the power of His love means He somehow keeps bearing with His people. Even in the context of speaking of His marriage to Israel, God says that He will punish them "as women that break wedlock are judged" (<a href='B:330 16:38'>Eze 16:38</a>; <a href='B:330 23:45'>Eze 23:45</a>). And yet, He didn’t. His love was too great, His passion for them too strong; and He even shamed Himself by doing what His own law forbad, the remarriage to a divorced and defiled wife. Perhaps all love involves a degree of paradox and self-contradiction; and a jealous, Almighty God in love was no different. This, to me, is why some Bible verses indicate God has forsaken Israel; and others imply He hasn’t and never will. Somehow, even right now, the Jews you meet… are loved still by their God. And he still fantasizes, in a way, over their return to Him. Imagine His utter joy when even one of them does in fact turn to Him! That alone motivates me to preach to Israel today.</p>


text:
<p>Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness- Through such terrible judgments it was God’s intention that a resurrected, revived Judah would not again commit such unfaithfulness, and "all women", the other nations, would likewise be taught God’s ways. Both these things were potentially possible at the restoration. But they didn’t happen. Judah again fell into unfaithfulness, and the Gentile world weren’t preached to by a repentant Judah. And so these things have been rescheduled and reapplied to the last days.</p>


text:
<p>They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh- As noted on :48, Judah were intended to bear the punishment for their idolatry and immorality. Although the punishment was total and shameful death, yet for her to ’know Yahweh’ she would be revived, resurrected from the pile of dead, disgraced bones, as Ezekiel 37 states. But this didn’t happen at the restoration as was potentially possible. Judah shall only know Yahweh ultimately through the application of these things in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying- The very day on which the army of Nebuchadnezzar began the two year siege of Jerusalem (<a href='B:300 39:1'>Jer 39:1</a>; <a href='B:120 25:1-12'>2Ki 25:1-12</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, write the name of the day, this selfsame day: the king of Babylon came close to Jerusalem this day- The date was to be recorded because this parable of how Jerusalem would become a boiling pot of destruction was given the day the two year siege started. The false prophets were claiming that the people would survive the siege, and like some today, claimed that Jerusalem was inviolate. But this was not to be, and Bible prophecy likewise indicates that all the Zionist Christian claims that Jerusalem cannot fall to her enemies will also be proven tragically false.</p>


text:
<p>Utter a parable to the rebellious house- We wonder why this prophecy is given to those already in captivity. They are described in Ezekiel 2 as rebellious. The implication is perhaps that for the sake of the repentance of that group already in captivity, the suffering of the rest of Judah in Jerusalem could have been avoided; they could have returned from exile, and the further waves of captivity and awful suffering of Jerusalem avoided. But they refused. In the last days, perhaps the repentance of Judah / Jewry in dispersion could avert the latter day suffering of Jerusalem. Hence we ought to be witnessing to them.</p><p>And tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Set on the cauldron, set it on, and also pour water into it- In <a href='B:330 11:3'>Eze 11:3</a> the Jews had mocked: "This is the cauldron, and we are the meat". This would have been a sneering at Jeremiah’s prophecy that Jerusalem would be boiled in the fire of Babylonian judgment- <a href='B:300 1:13'>Jer 1:13</a>"I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north". Their idea was that the holy city was as a cauldron which would defend them from the fire of judgment. But this is deconstructed her by Ezekiel in the parable of Ezekiel 24. The cauldron would refuse to respond to the purging of the fire and they would all in fact be destroyed. Their concept of sacred space would not save them.</p><p>Setting on a large pot with selected good pieces in it suggests preparations for a feast. God’s judgment is likened to a banquet to which the nations are invited. As with the cup of wine, to be at God’s banquet is a double symbol- either of blessing or of condemnation. This is why being given the Lord’s cup at His table, the breaking of bread, is cause for self-examination.</p>


text:
<p>Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones- The valley of dry bones vision in Ezekiel 37 depicted Israel in captivity as bones waiting to come together and return to the land as a great army. <a href='B:300 8:1'>Jer 8:1</a> and other passages earlier in Ezekiel (<a href='B:330 6:5'>Eze 6:5</a>; <a href='B:330 24:4'>Eze 24:4</a>) had described both Judah and Israel as dry bones. The feeling of those bones was that "our bones are dried and our hope is lost" (<a href='B:330 37:11'>Eze 37:11</a>). Judah in captivity felt that they had no "hope", that God had cast them off, and that they were unable to have a full relationship with Him outside the land. However, it seems that this was a rather convenient piece of theology for them- they were doing well in Babylon, and despite the opportunity to return to the land, they largely chose to remain in Babylon. The good pieces, thigh and shoulder [considered the softest and best part of the animal], may refer to the royal family and priesthood. The ordinary people fled from the Babylonians into Jerusalem, thinking they must be safe there; but this false belief was used by God to effectively gather those who believed it into the pot of judgment.</p>


text:
<p>Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled in its midst- The choice of the flock would refer to the leadership of Judah. The bones are emphasized; because the cauldron was to boil dry, and those dry bones would be cast out but then by grace be revived in the Ezekiel 37 vision. The choice of the flock ought to have been offered to God in sacrifice; but instead, by keeping the best for themselves and other gods, it would all the same be destroyed. We either give the best or lose it at judgment day.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the city of blood, to the cauldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece- The earlier fire of Babylonian judgment had been intended to purge the cauldron, representing Jerusalem. But it didn’t, and so the heat was increased.</p><p>No lot is fallen on it- There was to be total destruction. The invaders typically counted off a certain "lot" to be spared and taken into captivity. But this apparently was not to be. And yet not all were destroyed; indeed, some were taken by lot into captivity (<a href='B:360 3:3'>Joe 3:3</a>). This again is God’s grace, relenting because of His grace and pity; or because of the intercession and repentance of a minority. See on :26.</p>


text:
<p>For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust- Blood was poured out on the earth and covered with dust to teach the total dedication of life to God. There was also the custom of covering blood shed in violence with earth, to as it were prevent it from crying to God for vengeance (<a href='B:10 4:10'>Gen 4:10</a>; <a href='B:300 16:18'>Jer 16:18</a>). But Jerusalem didn’t even try to cover the blood of the children she had slain; she justified it as part of a ritual of Yahweh worship. And so it was uncovered blood, which cried to God for vengeance.</p>


text:
<p>So that it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered- The blood, as noted on :7, was not covered, and so it as it were cried out for vengeance. "Her blood" may mean the blood shed by Jerusalem, which has earlier been defined as the blood of child sacrifices made to other gods. They did this because they kidded themselves that they were doing this as part of Yahweh worship; they were open about it, placing the blood on the bare rock of the altars, as was perhaps required by the sacrifice rituals. And God saw that and refused to Himself cover it; and the blood cried out to Him for vengeance, as did that of Abel slain by his brother.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the city of blood! I also will make the pile great- God as it were augmented the pile of firewood by adding the bones out of the boiled dry cauldron to it (:5). The resurrection and revival of these dry, charred bones in Ezekiel 37 is therefore all the more miraculous, just as in Ezekiel 15 the charred vine twigs were to be revived and used by God. The language of the restoration is used of us in the New Testament; this is how amazing is His ability to use we who were rendered worse than useless by sin.</p>


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<p>Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, make thick the broth- The language of <a href='B:290 30:33'>Isa 30:33</a>, where we learn that the firewood is kindled by the breath or Spirit of God breathing upon them. But it was that same breath of God which was to revive the dry bones in Ezekiel 37.</p><p>And let the bones be burned- Again the bones are emphasized; the cauldron boiled dry and itself melted in the end, and the bones were taken out of it and used as firewood (:5,9). But still by absolute grace, in Ezekiel 37 it is these bones which are to be revived. This is the power of the Spirit and the prophetic word breathed into those bones.</p>


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<p>Then set it empty on its coals- It boiled dry, explaining how the dead bones of Israel in Ezekiel 37 were dry bones.</p><p>That it may be hot and its brass may be hot, so that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed- The "coals" are the same word used about the coals used in the sanctification of the tabernacle after the gross apostasy of Aaron’s two sons (<a href='B:30 16:12'>Lev 16:12</a>). The coals were used to burn incense which formed a cloud which covered the most holy place and made atonement for the desecration of the tabernacle (<a href='B:30 16:13'>Lev 16:13</a>; <a href='B:30 16:17'>Lev 16:17</a>). The situation is clearly that of Ezekiel 10, where Ezekiel takes the coals and then the cloud of God’s glory fills first the most holy, then the holy and then the entire temple. The cleansing ritual is then symbolized as complete by a live goat having the sins of the house of Israel placed upon it, and sent by a willing [AV "fit"] man into the desert far away. This willing man represented Ezekiel, sent by the Lord into the desert and thence to Babylon along with the captives. The word is also used in <a href='B:330 24:11'>Eze 24:11</a> concerning how there would be "coals" of fire in Jerusalem, upon which the cauldron of Jerusalem would be burnt and judged. This action was a direct result of Ezekiel taking the coals of fire from the cherubim in <a href='B:330 10:2'>Eze 10:2</a> and scattering them upon the city. This was therefore a direct result of the action of the cherubim, God’s massively powerful Angelic way of working, in cooperation with Ezekiel. The whole arrangement shows God’s eagerness to work with people. The coals of fire therefore don’t solely and simply speak of the burning of Jerusalem by fire at the hands of the Babylonians. That burning was part of the cleansing of the temple from its apostasy, and the exile into Babylon along with Ezekiel, the willing man of <a href='B:30 16:21'>Lev 16:21</a>, was in fact the bearing away of Israel’s sin. There is always a silver lining to God’s judgments. They are not simply Him lashing out in the offended anger of an omnipotent deity. They were and are designed to propel forward His purpose of saving by grace whilst at the same time judging sin and sinners. And yet tragically, the Babylonian holocaust did not purge the cauldron of Jerusalem.</p>


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<p>She has wearied herself with lies- Jerusalem wearied herself with lies in that the "lies" were her dishonest covenants with the various surrounding nations, as well as with Yahweh. She even became ’weary’ of this way of life; but still she would not be purged. The Hebrew word carries the idea of loathing; they in a sense hated their sin (s:w. <a href='B:300 9:5'>Jer 9:5</a>), climaxing in Jerusalem loathing herself and wanting to pluck off her own breasts (<a href='B:330 23:34'>Eze 23:34</a>). The world is full of people weary with sin, who loathe their own addictions and sin, yet they will not surrender themselves to God’s demands and be purged.</p><p>Yet her great rust doesn’t go forth out of her; her rust doesn’t go forth by fire- As noted on :3, it could be that the repentance of a minority could have averted the boiling of the city. But the fire experienced so far at the hands of Babylon didn’t make the rust go forth.</p>


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<p>In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more- As noted on :3,12, there was the opportunity to be cleansed by the initial wave of Babylonian attacks and the captivity of a minority. But this wasn’t achieved. This will be true in the last days too; which is why the prophetic program is open ended, as so much depends upon when and whether a remnant repent.</p><p>Until I have caused My wrath toward you to rest- The cessation, accomplishment or resting of God’s wrath is mentioned several times in Ezekiel, and nowhere else in this way (<a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a>; <a href='B:330 6:12'>Eze 6:12</a>; <a href='B:330 7:8'>Eze 7:8</a>; <a href='B:330 13:15'>Eze 13:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:42'>Eze 16:42</a>; <a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a>; <a href='B:330 21:17'>Eze 21:17</a>; <a href='B:330 22:20'>Eze 22:20</a>; <a href='B:330 24:13'>Eze 24:13</a>). The idea is not that God was so angry that He had to express that anger and only calmed down once He had as it were lashed out. He does have real wrath; the huge love He has cannot exist in a dimensionless vacuum, it of itself implies He also has wrath. <a href='B:330 5:13'>Eze 5:13</a> continues: "I will cause My wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted", and the Hebrew there for "comforted" is literally ’to sigh’, to be sorry, even to repent / change. Having expressed His legitimate anger, God knew that He would then be sorry and would then embark upon a process of restoration- by grace. For the objects of His wrath didn’t deserve any restoration. "To rest" is the word translated "to place" in <a href='B:330 37:14'>Eze 37:14</a>: "I shall place you in your own land" at the restoration from captivity. His wrath had to be expressed, and yet it was part of His wider purpose toward restoring His people and Kingdom. We would be quite wrong, therefore, to read these words as meaning that God was furiously angry and needed to lash out and get it all expressed so that He could as it were calm down again. His judgments are always ultimately constructive, and therefore "the wrath of God is the love of God". His wrath is therefore described in <a href='B:330 5:15'>Eze 5:15</a> as the rebuke of His fury / wrath; it was intended to rebuke, to achieve instruction, that they should ’know Yahweh’. The tragedy was that the captives for the most part refused to perceive it this way and respond.</p>


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<p>I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I relent- This could simply mean that the threatened judgment upon the people in Jerusalem would indeed happen; Ezekiel is repeating Jeremiah’s message to the Jews in Judah itself (<a href='B:300 4:28'>Jer 4:28</a> s:w:). But this could also be an example of where God speaks in legitimate anger, but in grace does retract; for He did spare and relent, at least on a national level. And the scale of destruction in Jerusalem was not as total and absolute as implied at times. This could have been from pity; or as the result of the intercession and repentance of a minority. For God does "go back" if there is repentance (s:w. <a href='B:300 18:8'>Jer 18:8</a>; <a href='B:300 18:10'>Jer 18:10</a>; <a href='B:300 26:3'>Jer 26:3</a>; <a href='B:360 2:13-14'>Joe 2:13-14</a>).</p><p>According to your ways and according to your doings shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh- The judgment was therefore not so much by God as by "your doings". Sin is its own condemnation and judgment.</p>


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<p>Also the word of Yahweh came to me, saying- As noted on :3,12,13, there had been repeated attempts to spiritually cleanse Judah but they had not responded. And so now Jerusalem was to fall and the temple be destroyed, represented by the death of Ezekiel’s beloved wife.</p>


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<p>Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes- Ezekiel loved his wife and was clearly faithful to her, unlike Jerusalem. God recognizes how much he loved her. He is aware of how much we feel towards those we love and whom we lose. We recall God’s understanding of Abraham’s love for Isaac in <a href='B:10 22:1'>Gen 22:1</a> "Your only son, whom you love". Ezekiel’s very deep and personal loss was to represent how God felt over the loss of Jerusalem; for He was represented by Ezekiel.</p><p>With a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down- "With a stroke" (s:w. "plague") is LXX "by violence"; :18 can be translated as saying that she not only "died" but ’was killed’. If Ezekiel’s wife was indeed slain by violence, then this would point forward exactly to the destruction of Jerusalem. If she were slain by local Babylonians, then the correspondence would be exact. If she were slain by the Jews who were hostile to Ezekiel’s ministry, then this would also point forward to how Jerusalem was to be destroyed due to the violence of the Jews towards each other.</p><p>Ezekiel is told ahead of time that his wife is going to be slain "by violence" (LXX). He believed this, and the exiles were likewise being asked to believe that indeed, Jerusalem will fall and be slain. They were to prepare for this as Ezekiel was psychologically preparing for the loss of his wife.</p>


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<p>Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, don’t cover your lips nor eat men’s bread- The priests were allowed to mourn for their deceased ones; but the high priest was not, and was forbidden from removing his mitre. This command to Ezekiel could imply that with the destruction of the high priesthood in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was effectively the high priest, the spiritual leader of Judah. Or it could be that the idea simply is that Ezekiel is not to mourn at all, even though as a priest he would normally have been permitted to mourn for his wife. Mourners usually went barefoot, but he was to keep his shoes on his feet. Nor was he to eat the bread brought by men to mourners.</p>


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<p>So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at evening my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded- Ezekiel’s personal loss was so intimately connected with the loss of the temple. He was totally involved in the message he preached, as we should be. "Died" here can also be translated "killed" (as it is in <a href='B:20 1:16'>Exo 1:16</a>; <a href='B:20 4:24'>Exo 4:24</a>; <a href='B:20 16:3'>Exo 16:3</a> and often); see on :16.</p>


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<p>The people said to me, Won’t you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?- This was the intention of the acted parable; to elicit the question, "What are you doing? / What do you mean?", as in <a href='B:330 12:9'>Eze 12:9</a>; even though in their consciences the answer was surely clear. The question&nbsp; was elicited; but this was followed by the direct revelation of God’ word. And so it is in our witness; our lives elicit questions and pique interest from those around us, as a springboard toward the declaration of God’s word to them.</p>


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<p>Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities- This is how a man should feel about his wife if he truly loves her; he is proud of her, desires her, she is his holy place, and the one he pities / sympathizes with (Heb:). This was how Ezekiel felt to his wife, and how the people felt for the Jerusalem temple. But in reality they had profaned that which they loved and were proud of. They only loved the externalities of their religion. And we have here powerful reason for self examination; for we can love our church religion in all its external forms, being proud of it to others- and yet profane Yahweh’s sanctuary in real spiritual terms.</p><p>And your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword- The prophecy was initially given by Ezekiel in captivity; the older, more senior members of the royal family and priesthood were already in captivity. And they were learning that now their children left behind in Judah were to die. It is psychologically credible that their angry reaction to this prophecy was to arrange the murder of Ezekiel’s wife.</p>


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<p>You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men- The Babylonian discovery that the Jewish leadership had lied to them and made covenants with other nations, placing their gods in their temple along with those of Babylon, would lead the Babylonians to turn against the royal family and exiles already in Babylon. Perhaps the idea is that they would not have a chance to eat bread brought to them by sympathizers- for there would be no sympathizers, and they themselves would be persecuted and slain. But the reason for not mourning is given in :23.</p>


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<p>Your ornaments shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and groan one toward another- They were not to remove their ornaments and go barefoot, as was done when mourning. The reason was that they would lament beyond tears and all external mourning; they would mourn internally for their sins (s:w. <a href='B:330 33:10'>Eze 33:10</a>). We wonder why Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, which appears to be a record of his external mourning. Whilst the book was inspired by God, at times Jeremiah there appears to be lamenting in a way inappropriate. He ’wept’ (<a href='B:310 1:16'>Lam 1:16</a>), whereas in <a href='B:330 24:23'>Eze 24:23</a> Judah were told not to externally weep. He did not take on board the idea that there was to be no mourning or weeping externally, but rather deep internal recognition of their sins. It seems the Jews were not obedient to Ezekiel’s command not to externally weep but to internally mourn their own sinfulness; the same word for "weep" is used of how they did weep by the rivers of Babylon (<a href='B:230 137:1'>Psa 137:1</a>).</p>


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<p>Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh- In <a href='B:330 24:22-24'>Eze 24:22-24</a>, Ezekiel’s feelings of grief for the loss of his wife were to be understood as representative of two things- Israel’s grief for losing the temple, and God’s grief over losing His people. In this way, Ezekiel was set up as a bridge builder, in that his feelings reflected both those of God and those of his audience- in order that his preaching could come over as God appealing to them. And consciously and unconsciously, this is how God uses us too, today. By opening our hearts to others, they open theirs to us and to the Lord. This was precisely how Paul dealt with Corinth. He opened his mouth and his heart to them, and in return he asks them: “Open you hearts to us” (<a href='B:540 6:11'>2Co 6:11</a>; <a href='B:540 7:2'>2Co 7:2</a> RV). Paul received them into his heart (<a href='B:540 7:3'>2Co 7:3</a>), and wished to be received into theirs.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters- "In the day" may not refer to the same literal day; for it would have taken longer than a day to travel from Jerusalem to Ezekiel in Babylon. "At that time" seems to be the idea. The Jerusalem temple had been their strength, joy, glory, desire and psychological obsession (:21)- to the point that it is now paralleled with how they felt about their own children. And yet despite this very deep love for the religion of Yahweh, their behaviour toward Him was despicable, and they had cast Him behind their backs. This is the problem with being religious; form so easily swamps content. Some people are wired to be attracted to religion, to the outward, external forms of religion such as meetings, places of worship, tradition and history of the religion etc. These types have to be so careful to ensure that form is not swamping content; for the form is meaningless, indeed it is a distraction; it becomes "their strength... joy... glory... desire... that whereupon they set their heart", when it is God and His Son who should be all these things for us, and not mere religion. He is our strength and joy (<a href='B:100 22:33'>2Sa 22:33</a>; <a href='B:160 8:10'>Neh 8:10</a>; <a href='B:300 16:19'>Jer 16:19</a>), our glory (as the cherubim vision of Ezekiel 1 had shown), our desire.</p>


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<p>That in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?- We noted on :6 that God had originally threatened total destruction of all within Jerusalem, but in actuality He repented of this. But in <a href='B:330 24:26'>Eze 24:26</a> Ezekiel is told that in fact one would escape and come to him with the news which by prophecy he already knew. This happened (<a href='B:330 33:21'>Eze 33:21</a>). The mention of one who escapes is therefore a tacit reflection of God’s grace in not doing all He threatened in <a href='B:330 24:6'>Eze 24:6</a>.</p><p>It could be that Ezekiel was struck dumb (:27) and deaf by the death of his wife, just as he had endured a similar period earlier in <a href='B:330 3:24-26'>Eze 3:24-26</a>; <a href='B:330 4:4-8'>Eze 4:4-8</a>, but when the news of Jerusalem’s fall came, he recovered hearing and speech. In that period of prophetic silence and deep mourning we see reflected God’s mourning and silence to His people throughout the two year siege. It has been suggested that the period of dumbness recorded in <a href='B:330 3:24-26'>Eze 3:24-26</a>; <a href='B:330 4:4-8'>Eze 4:4-8</a> actually refers to this same period. But it could just as well be that Ezekiel, like us, experienced one such situation as a preparation for the repeat of that situation later in life.</p>


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<p>In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute. So you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- At the Lord’s return, God will use a repentant Israel to achieve great things in terms of converting this world unto Himself. They will walk up and down in His Name, witnessing to Him as He had originally intended them to (<a href='B:450 10:12'>Zec 10:12</a>); men will cling to their skirts in order to find the knowledge of their God (<a href='B:450 8:23'>Zec 8:23</a>). “In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee (Israel) the opening of the mouth in the midst of them (the surrounding nations, see context); and they shall know that I am the LORD”, in that Israel will preach to them from their own experience of having recently come to know Yahweh (<a href='B:330 29:21'>Eze 29:21</a>). But at the time of the Lord’s return, when Israel repent and enter the new covenant with Him, they will remember all their past sins “and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame... for all that you have done” (<a href='B:330 16:63'>Eze 16:63</a>). They will be so ashamed that they will feel as if they can never open their mouth. But Yahweh will open their mouth, and they will witness. In some anticipation of this, Ezekiel as the “son of man” prophet, a representative of his people just as the Lord was to be, had his mouth shut in dumbness, and he only had his mouth opened when Israel came to know [to some degree] that “I am the LORD” (<a href='B:330 24:27'>Eze 24:27</a>). In all these evident connections something marvellous presents itself. Those who feel as if they just cannot open their mouths in witness are the very ones whom the Father will use; He will open their mouths and use them exactly because hey are ashamed of their sins! And so it should be with us.</p><p>Ezekiel’s prophetic mouth was to be opened at the time when the siege finished and it would be opened to the remnant who had escaped. Through the ministry of His prophetic word, God would again speak to the remnant whom He hoped would repent and return to reestablish His Kingdom in Israel.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me, saying- We now have a distinct section, from Ezekiel 25-32, containing seven judgments upon the nations around Judah. The seven nations are surely a symbolic number. All the nations around her were to be judged for their participation in her judgment. The last of these prophecies was some 15 years later, so they were widely spaced. This sets the pattern for the book of Revelation, which described the seven judgments upon latter day Israel, followed by the various judgments upon those who have judged her.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, set your face toward the people of Ammon, and prophesy against them- Whilst Ezekiel looked toward them from Babylon, his prophecies were to be told to them (:3). Perhaps a scribe was taking down his words and would take the scroll to the Ammonites.</p>


text:
<p>And tell the people of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh- All the practical effort involved in getting these prophecies to Ammon, not least the risk for the messenger, was surely only required because Ammon were intended to repent upon receiving these words of judgment.</p><p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity- Ammonites joined with the Babylonians in attacking God’s people (<a href='B:120 24:2'>2Ki 24:2</a>). <a href='B:330 25:3'>Eze 25:3</a>; <a href='B:330 25:6'>Eze 25:6</a>; <a href='B:330 25:8'>Eze 25:8</a>; <a href='B:330 25:15'>Eze 25:15</a> reveal how sensitive God is to&nbsp; what is said and felt about the people whom He loves. Because Ammon mockingly said “Aha!” when Israel went into captivity, because Moab sneered that Judah were like any other nation now, because the Philistines had “despite of soul” (RV) against Israel… therefore God so condemned them even though Israel were so spiteful to Him at that very time. Even though they betrayed Him, His sensitivity for them, His feeling, His emotion, His passion, His pleading with them…surely inspires us to plead likewise with them, for His sake. For the sake of His feelings, His passion…</p>


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<p>Therefore behold, I will deliver you to the people of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk- The nomadic "people of the east" regularly attacked the more settled lands west of them such as Ammon. But they usually grabbed what they could and then returned to their nomad encampments. But now they were to actually move into Ammon and make permanent dwellings there. It has been suggested that Rabbah was left undefended whilst the Ammonites joined in the attack upon Jerusalem with the Babylonians; and so their judgment was immediate and appropriate.</p>


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<p>I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the people of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh- As noted on :4, the Bedouin nomads usually attacked and retreated with their spoil. But now they were to come and settle down in Ammon, no longer always driving their flocks to new pasture, but using Rabbah as a resting place and stable. The intention was that Ammon too would come to ’know Yahweh’ through this judgment, just as Judah were intended to.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel- Ammon was like Judah, sometimes in covenant with Assyria and Babylon and sometimes not. But they eagerly joined in with their invasions of Israel to vent their anger upon God’s people. It had been for Ezekiel to stamp with his feet to symbolizeGod’s judgment of His people (<a href='B:330 6:11'>Eze 6:11</a>). Ammon is here condemned for playing God in condemning others, when it is His prerogative alone to do that.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore behold, I have stretched out My hand upon you and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries. I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- In the same way as God at times threatened total destruction upon Judah but didn’t literally carry it out because of His pity or because some repented, so it seems it was with Ammon. For some form of Ammonites continued. And again we have the hope of a national revival, in that they were to be "cut off" as Judah was, and yet come to know Yahweh in repentance.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Moab and Seir say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations- Moab had mocked Judah when they were destroyed (<a href='B:430 2:8'>Zep 2:8</a>; <a href='B:300 48:27'>Jer 48:27</a>). The Moabite Stone, found in the ruins of Dibon records how Mesha, King of Moab, exults about his conquest of Judah along with other nations, treating them as just another nation he had defeated. This treatment of God’s people as if they were nothing special was particularly offensive to God. We are to learn that His people are special, and even in disagreement, we are to respect them as His people and not treat them as if they are just worldlings.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim- The "side" is Heb. "shoulder", referring to the high cliff face which formed Moab’s defensive frontier. All that seems humanly invincible and the guarantee of our safety and endurance can be opened by God in an instant. We note that the names of the cities all have connections to idols, and that they were the defences of Moab’s northern frontier- which was to be overcome by the Babylonians. These cities were actually part of the original Israelite inheritance (<a href='B:70 11:23'>Jdg 11:23</a>).</p>


text:
<p>To the people of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the people of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations- As with the judgments upon Judah, it seems these were not carried out fully at this time. The Ammonites were still an important people in the time of the Maccabees (1Ma_5:6; 1Ma_5:30-45) and are mentioned by Justin Martyr. As noted on :11, the final fulfilment will be in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- The seven nations listed in Ezekiel for judgment are also spoken of in Jeremiah: Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Zidon and Egypt. The original intention was that they would be judged, and along with a judged but repentant Israel enter into covenant with Yahweh in the restored Kingdom of God in Israel. But this potential didn’t work out. So the prophecies must come true in the last days. But it seems unwise to try to look for geographical entities which match e.g. "Moab". The seven nations are surely meant to represent all the nations surrounding Israel, the peoples of the eretz promised to Abraham who are the focus of Bible prophecy. There are likewise seven nations mentioned in Amos 1, 2.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance and has greatly offended and revenged himself on them- Edom had taken a special pleasure in desecrating the temple and ensuring it was razed to the foundation stones (<a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>). The theme of Edom / Esau wanting revenge is significant; it was the old hatred of Esau for Jacob (<a href='B:330 35:5'>Eze 35:5</a>). The vengeance was for the incident of Jacob tricking Esau out of his birthright. But these prophecies against Edom demonstrate that the promises of Isaac associated with that birthright were in fact meaningless, and not worth any striving about. The judgment upon Esau / Edom, therefore, was effectively for their lack of forgiveness. And that is the abiding lesson for all ages. For out of the seven surrounding nations judged by Ezekiel, the others all finally will come to "know Yahweh", but Esau / Edom never will. This is not said of them. For hatred and unforgiveness of our brother is presented as the mortal sin</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out My hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate: from Teman even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword- As with the curses upon Judah, this utter destruction of every man and animal didn’t quite happen. God relented, or perhaps a minority repented. These words about Edom / Esau differ markedly from the ’blessing’ of Isaac upon Esau, that he would live by his sword and throw off the yoke of Jacob and also find blessing. I suggest therefore that the blessings of Isaac were of his own will and paternal imagination, rather than from God. And so all the angst between Jacob and Esau about obtaining those blessings was utterly misplaced and human.</p>


text:
<p>I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to My anger and according to My wrath- Israel never really fully did this, although John Hyrcanus did invade Edom and force its people to receive circumcision; but he did not make the area empty of man and animal (:13). And so as noted on :11, it will come true in the last days.</p><p>And they shall know My vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh- Unlike the other curses upon the nations, there is no comment that Edom would know Yahweh, i:e. enter into relationship with Him after the experience of judgment. God was going to take vengeance upon Esau / Edom, and the language of the curse upon Edom is far more intense than that upon the other nations. Esau was Jacob’s brother, and therefore so much more was expected of him. Attitude and hatred toward our brother is therefore of paramount importance, and will lead to eternal condemnation as it did and shall do for Edom / Esau. The equivalent of "Edom" will have this fate in the last days (see on :11).</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy for the old enmity- The Philistines were given Israelite territory by the Babylonians, both during the Assyrian invasion of Israel and the Babylonian conquest of Judah. But the Philistines weren’t satisfied with that, and are judged here for wanting personal vengeance. They sold Israelite villages into slavery (<a href='B:370 1:6-8'>Amo 1:6-8</a>), beyond what the Assyrians and Babylonians had intended. It’s as if God cut the Philistines a certain amount of slack, but when they went beyond that in "despite of soul", they became the more culpable to judgment. The "enmity" is the same word as in <a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>, and the ’ancient’ enmity strengthens the allusion. They were the seed of the serpent at enmity with Israel, the seed of the woman; which considering Judah’s deep sin at this time, reveals how God by grace still saw them as His special people of purpose.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the rest of the sea coast- I suggested on :11 that these prophecies never came fully true as intended because Judah and these surrounding seven nations didn’t repent after the Babylonian invasion. But they will come true in the last days. It is significant that the "sea coast", the Gaza strip, is a hotbed of hatred against God’s people today; and judgment is threatened upon it. "Cherethites", those from Cyprus, is a word play upon the Hebrew word translated "I will cut off". These kinds of word play are common in the Bible because the text was initially used with illiterate people who would have appreciated such aids to memorization.</p>


text:
<p>I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay My vengeance on them- <a href='B:450 9:7'>Zec 9:7</a> implies that a remnant of the Philistines would repent and turn to Yahweh. But again, this wasn’t seen in the immediate context, and so it must refer to the last days- even though in that day their territory will be given to Israel (<a href='B:380 1:19'>Oba 1:19</a>; <a href='B:290 11:14'>Isa 11:14</a>). But then, material possession of land will be unimportant; all that will matter is knowing Yahweh, being in relationship with Him, which is the ultimate purpose of His "vengeance" or judgments</p>


text:
<p>It happened in the eleventh year in the first day of the month that the word of Yahweh came to me saying- The LXX adds "the first month". Jerusalem fell in the eleventh year on the ninth day of the fourth month. This message was presumably taken to Tyre, as a warning for them not to rejoice at her fall. However some manuscripts read "the twelfth year". This would clear up the problem and explain more easily why Tyre is now being warned not to rejoice over Jerusalem’s fall. The messenger who came to Babylon with the news of Tyre’s fall in the tenth month of the eleventh year (<a href='B:330 33:21'>Eze 33:21</a>) could have gone to Tyre too, or at least, another such messenger may have done.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken!- The judgments upon Tyre and Egypt are far longer than those upon the other five of the seven surrounding nations condemned by Ezekiel in this section. This is because of their relative size and importance, and their attraction to Judah as defenders against Babylon. The past tense is apparently used, but it seems (see on :1) that Jerusalem had not yet fallen. So the sense of the tense may be ’This is how you ought not to respond after you hear the news’.</p><p>The gate of the peoples is now is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste- Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23 has been described as a whore, inviting men from all nations to come to her. She loved everything foreign, rather than the things of her God, and had thus acquired a name as an international metropolis; and Tyre now eagerly looked forward to replacing her in Canaan as this city.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up- The "therefore" reflects how God is deeply sensitive to the thoughts and even unexpressed hopes and fantasies of people and nations; and judges them accordingly. The figure of the sea is appropriate to Tyre as an island citadel.</p>


text:
<p>They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock- The apparently invincible technology of this world cannot resist Divine judgment; and that applies to all our insurance policies of whatever form. The reference to "a bare rock" here and in :14 uses the same term as that about Zion in the time of her condemnation (<a href='B:330 24:7-8'>Eze 24:7-8</a>). The phrase is used nowhere else. The connection would be in the impression that Zion was to be judged in the same way as Tyre, with the same hallmark of Yahweh’s activity. Neither was superior to the other, as they both considered. Again and again, the prophets reveal that it is human pride and the sense of inherent superiority which is to be brought down.</p>


text:
<p>She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations- Tyre did revive at various times after the Babylonian invasion. So as noted on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>, we are to look for the final fulfilment in the last days. "The nations" who spoiled Tyre would refer to the various peoples confederate with the Babylonians and Greeks who effected Tyre’s judgment. As noted on :4, the same kind of judgment was brought upon Tyre as upon Zion.</p>


text:
<p>Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- "Daughters" can refer to confederate cities, and here the reference is to those towns and cities on the mainland who were connected with island Tyre. But did they really ’know Yahweh’ through the Greek and Babylonian attacks upon Tyre? It seems that as noted on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>, this remains to be fulfilled in some latter day judgment of Tyre.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen and a company, and many people- The language is that of the cherubim of Ezekiel 1; again we see how movements of peoples and armies on earth were under Divine control. <a href='B:330 26:3-14'>Eze 26:3-14</a> speaks of how Babylon will surround and destroy Tyre. But this never happened- it was done by Alexander and the Greeks much later. So, did the prophecy just go unfulfilled? <a href='B:330 29:17-20'>Eze 29:17-20</a> explains that because the King of Babylon laboured so hard to take Tyre- even though he never actually succeeded- God would give him the land of Egypt as a reward. For me, this doesn’t mean that the word of prophecy failed. Rather does it mean that God is open to a rethinking of plans and futures in accord with human response. Although all the conditions for Tyre’s fall and Babylon’s victory against her aren’t given, evidently there must have been such unrecorded conditions; and they weren’t fulfilled, hence Tyre was spared destruction by the Babylonians, and yet they were ’rewarded’ for their part in the situation.</p><p>The following comment from Ted and Bev Russell expands upon this: "The prophecy about Tyre (in Ezekiel 26) indicated that the place would be&nbsp; scraped of her&nbsp; dust and made&nbsp; like the top of a rock, a place for spreading of nets, plundered for the nations,&nbsp; cast&nbsp; out, devoured with fire,&nbsp; (Hosea, Amos and&nbsp; Zechariah also), and&nbsp;never rebuilt, (<a href='B:330 26:21'>Eze 26:21</a>) (11th year). However, later in Chapter 29, (27th year), we learn that Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers would be given the land of Egypt, because they laboured strenuously&nbsp; and long against Tyre, so long that the soldiers had rubbed heads and shoulders from their leather helmets and armour, (verse 18), but they did not overcome Tyre. So instead God would give Nebuchadnezzar&nbsp; the land of Egypt, for wages."Spoil and pillage from Egypt will be the wages that My servant will take from Egypt, instead of the reward I promised you at Tyre",&nbsp; (verse 17, 18, 19). Nebuchadnezzar was" God’s servant", and even though he did a great service for God, in punishment at Tyre, (verse 18), God changed&nbsp; the terms and conditions of his labour. He would not conquer Tyre, but he was given Egypt instead! Tyre was not laid bare, and not never rebuilt. It&nbsp; thrived and still thrives. It had its ups and downs, with different conquerors, of course. To the best of my memory the peninsula that they built into the sea to defend themselves is not there now, but the seaside town is. It lays nets out, as a fishing town, but it is not bare. We have photos of us there. We know it was there&nbsp; in NT times (Peter). Is it that God changes His mind? Did someone, (of whom there is no record), plead successfully for Tyre, like Lot did unsuccessfully for Sodom? Or is it that He tells us something, only a piece of the future at a time, and then we get a fuller picture later on? The prophesy&nbsp; goes on and on&nbsp; about Tyre’s destruction, and one has to be quick to see the change of circumstance in a few verses in Ezekiel 29!&nbsp; The complete destruction of Tyre has been used to show that the Bible is true, by some undiscerning folk, in past lectures, in our time, (with lantern slide pictures&nbsp; of destruction there). Once world travel was easily available&nbsp; and people more readily saw Tyre, that mistake&nbsp; is not&nbsp; made now. The point, (that the Bible is true), is better made elsewhere.</p><p>We do not need to question God’s prophesies. We can believe Him each time, and believe the changes He makes, as well. In this prophecy do we know a&nbsp; reason why God changed his mind about utter and complete destruction of Tyre? It does indicate that we don’t know everything, that we don’t need to, and that God does not tell us. He decides what is best. Certainly the Bible record keeps us on our toes!&nbsp;&nbsp; For then"They shall know that I am the Lord", <a href='B:330 29:21'>Eze 29:21</a>".</p><p>To this I would add a comment from <a href='B:290 23:1-2'>Isa 23:1-2</a>; <a href='B:290 23:4'>Isa 23:4</a>; <a href='B:290 23:15'>Isa 23:15</a>; <a href='B:290 23:18'>Isa 23:18</a>. These verses seem to imply that if Tyre had howled in repentance and then been silent and ashamed, she would be ‘forgotten’ 70 years and then become devoted to Yahweh. This never happened. Yet the 70 year period is of course analogous to Judah’s 70 years in captivity, also without repentance.</p>


text:
<p>He shall kill your daughters in the field with the sword; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you- As noted on :7, this was not done by Babylon but by Greece under Alexander. The prophecy was reapplied and rescheduled, just as many Bible prophecies are; the original human preconditions for the first or ideal fulfilment did not come about.</p>


text:
<p>He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers- See on :8. This is the language of Alexander’s invasion, not Nebuchadnezzar’s. Alexander breached the walls by using battering rams attached to his ships.</p>


text:
<p>By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you. Your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach- The noise of chariots and AV "wheels" recalls that of the cherubim of the opening visions. The human armies and chariots depicted here were under the direct control of the Angel cherubim. See on <a href='B:330 13:13'>Eze 13:13</a>. Alexander conquered Tyre by making a breach in the southern wall, through which his army entered from the causeway they had built. The description of this fall of Tyre would have seemed impossible of fulfilment. For nobody thought that a causeway could be built enabling such military hardware to rumble into Tyre itself.</p>


text:
<p>With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground- &nbsp;See on :8. This is the language of Alexander’s invasion, not Nebuchadnezzar’s. But as with the judgments upon Judah, the scale of destruction was not quite as envisaged. Alexander killed 8,000 defenders of Tyre and sold the remaining 30,000 into slavery. This is not the scale of total destruction implied here, and so we must look to a latter day fulfilment.</p>


text:
<p>They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters- This was clearly done by Alexander the Great and not Nebuchadnezzar; although the rubble of the old Tyre was used by Alexander to build the causeway to island Tyre. According to Babylonian records, Tyre surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and was not destroyed. So the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied to him, and yet some of the language still doesn’t ring true to what even Alexander did. So the ultimate reapplication will be in the latter day judgment of "Tyre" at the Lord’s return.</p>


text:
<p>I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; the sound of your harps shall be no more heard- Tyre sung songs so that her memory would be preserved (<a href='B:290 26:13'>Isa 26:13</a>). But all such attempts to achieve permanence beyond the grave are doomed; and we have there a lesson. The idea may be that the only sound would be the music of the sea washing over her bare rocks (:14). But again this is the language of Zion’s judgment (<a href='B:290 24:8'>Isa 24:8</a>; <a href='B:300 7:34'>Jer 7:34</a>). There was to be the same hallmark stamped upon it. Zion was no better than Tyre of the Gentiles.</p>


text:
<p>I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh- Tyre was rebuilt, to such an extent that it was besieged by the Crusaders in the 12th century. As noted on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>, this prophecy shall only come totally true in its latter day fulfilment.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?- "Islands" can mean ’sea coasts’ and would refer to the areas with whom Tyre traded, such as Philistia (Isa 206), south and east coasts of Arabia (<a href='B:330 27:15'>Eze 27:15</a>) and Caphtor. The language of merchant partners mourning her fall is that regarding Babylon in Revelation. I have suggested on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a> that the intended scenario at Ezekiel’s time didn’t come about, because neither Judah nor the judged nations repented and turned to Yahweh. So the prophecies are to be rescheduled and reapplied; and perhaps the judgment of Tyre is to be reapplied in the last days to Babylon, just as the prophecies in this chapter about Nebuchadnezzar were reapplied to Alexander the Great. For judgment upon Babylon is not specifically mentioned in Ezekiel.</p>


text:
<p>Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground and shall tremble every moment, being astonished at you- As noted on :15, this is more the language of the merchant partnes of Babylon in Revelation 17-19 mourning that the queen city of their trading system has come to a disgraceful end. But the fall of Tyre didn’t mean, in Ezekiel’s time, the loss of political power [coming down from thrones] for her trading partners; we are to look to the last days for the complete fulfilment.</p>


text:
<p>They shall take up a lamentation over you and tell you, How you are destroyed, who was inhabited by mariners, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!- The peoples who traded with Tyre (see on :15) do not rejoice that an oppressor has fallen, but rather lament that their source of trade and profit has fallen. So "terror" here refers more to awe and respect rather than fear of an oppressor. "Lived there" is not the best translation; the word is used about marriage, and the idea is that her trading partners were as it were married to her in covenant.</p>


text:
<p>Now shall the islands tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the islands that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure- The "islands" refer to coastal areas who were associated with Tyre by trade (see on :15). ’Trembling at the fall’ of Tyre is the same phrase used about Egypt (<a href='B:330 32:10'>Eze 32:10</a>). The similarity is in that the same hallmark of Yahweh’s judgment is seen upon all who are judged by Him. They were not mere victims of random event; the Divine hand was in the fall of all in whom His wayward people had trusted.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you and the great waters shall cover you- The covering of island Tyre with the waters, which had seemed so impossible, was to parallel the waters of invading armies taking her over. And yet this was not fulfilled under Nebuchadnezzar nor really under Alexander; the city was rebuilt and was not left uninhabited; even under Alexander the majority of the population were not slain. So the main fulfilment is in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>Then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit- In her death, Tyre would go down to the grave with other Gentiles (<a href='B:330 32:19'>Eze 32:19</a>) and be at rest there. So there is no sense at all that "the pit" included conscious beings. For death is unconsciousness. Tyre would no longer be seen as superior to others, for death was to be the great leveller- a principle which likewise applies today.</p><p>That you be not inhabited- After the Babylonian invasion, Tyre was inhabited; indeed <a href='B:290 23:15'>Isa 23:15</a> speaks of a 70 year period of Tyre’s desolation. But the final fulfilment therefore must be future, because as noted on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>, the whole series of prophecies in this section of Ezekiel was part of the wider Divine intention that the Gentiles along with Judah would repent after the Babylonian destruction and come into covenant with Him, ’knowing Yahweh’. But this didn’t happen as God hoped and potentially enabled; and so the prophecies have their final fulfilment in the last days.</p><p>And I will set glory in the land of theliving- This is the language of the restored Kingdom of God in Israel, where Zion will become characterized by "life" (<a href='B:330 47:19'>Eze 47:19</a>). God’s glory would be set there; as noted above and on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>, the intention was that the Gentiles along with Judah would repent after the Babylonian destruction and come into covenant with Him, ’knowing Yahweh’. But this didn’t happen as God hoped and potentially enabled; and so the prophecies have their final fulfilment in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>I will make you a terror, and you shall no more be rebuilt; though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh- But Tyre was rebuilt after the Babylonian invasion:&nbsp; Indeed <a href='B:290 23:15'>Isa 23:15</a> speaks of a 70 year period of Tyre’s desolation. So the final fulfilment therefore must be future, as explained on <a href='B:330 25:11'>Eze 25:11</a>.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came again to me saying- The previous chapter has recorded the prophesied destruction of Tyre. Perhaps the idea was that as with the proclamation of Nineveh’s destruction after forty days, so Tyre was intended to receive this message and repent. Perhaps this further prophecy was given because the first one had not been responded to as hoped for.</p>


text:
<p>You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre- A funeral dirge is recited after a demise; Tyre’s destruction was so sure to happen that Ezekiel can therefore recite this before the event, but in the past tense. This is a clear example of the ’prophetic perfect’ tense in Biblical Hebrew.</p>


text:
<p>And tell Tyre: You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, thus says the Lord Yahweh: You, Tyre, have said, I am perfect in beauty- Or, "you are a ship perfect in beauty". This poem about Tyre likens her to a great ship in the sea. The same phrase "perfect in beauty" is used of Jerusalem (<a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:14'>Eze 16:14</a>). Clearly Tyre considered herself as the holy city of God, and in Ezekiel 28 there are many allusions to the tabernacle. It seems Tyre was envious of Jerusalem’s claim to be Yahweh’s holy city, and rejoiced at the demise of Jerusalem and its temple, thinking that she would then replace it.</p>


text:
<p>Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty- As noted on :3, it was Zion who was the perfection of beauty (<a href='B:230 50:2'>Psa 50:2</a>). That beauty was taken away in the destruction of the temple (s:w. <a href='B:310 1:6'>Lam 1:6</a>; <a href='B:310 2:1'>Lam 2:1</a>), and so Tyre wrongly imagined that she would replace Zion.</p>


text:
<p>They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you- This is appropriate if in fact Tyre is being likened to a great ship (see on :3). We noted on :3 and :4 that Tyre was presenting itself as a fake and replacement Zion; the cedars of Lebanon were so associated with the Jerusalem temple that the temple is even called "Lebanon" in <a href='B:450 11:1'>Zec 11:1</a>. So Tyre having the cedar of Lebanon as its mainstay and most focal point would suggest she was seeing the pagan temple in her midst, like the mast on the ship "Tyre", as replacing Zion.</p>


text:
<p>Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood from the islands of Kittim- <a href='B:290 2:13'>Isa 2:13</a> and <a href='B:450 11:2'>Zec 11:2</a> imply that oaks of Bashan were used in the Jerusalem temple, so again we have the impression that Zion was being ’imitated’ by Tyre; see on <a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>. Whilst "benches" refers to the benches sat upon by the rowers of the ship "Tyre", this is the same Hebrew word more commonly used for the "boards" of the tabernacle (<a href='B:330 26:15-21'>Eze 26:15-21</a> etc:). All the time we see allusions to the tabernacle and temple of Zion; which Tyre was imitating, suggesting she was greater than Zion, and her gods than Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>Of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you for a banner; blue and purple from the islands of Elishah was your awning- Tyre is being likened to a glorious ship (see on :3). But again the descriptions recall that of the tabernacle, decked with embroidered work [which in the tabernacle was also made of material "from Egypt"], blue and purple (<a href='B:20 25:4'>Exo 25:4</a>; <a href='B:20 26:1'>Exo 26:1</a>; <a href='B:20 26:31'>Exo 26:31</a>). The ballad of the ship "Tyre" presents her as a floating, but fake, tabernacle.</p>


text:
<p>The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your wise men, Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots- The reference is to Tyre as a great ship (:3), captained by their own "wise men", with the local peoples as their "rowers". Tyre was famed for her wisdom, and her destruction reflects God’s desire to judge and bring down all human pride. See on :28 for the connection of "rowers" with the ship of Tarshish used by Jonah.</p>


text:
<p>The old men of Gebal and the wise men of it were in you, your repairers of ship seams. All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise- As noted on :8, all human wisdom comes to nothing before God’s judgment. "Gebal" is LXX "Byblus", between Beirut and Tripoli. The latter day fulfilment of all this seems to be that the 30 or so nations listed here as confederate with Tyre will all be involved again in the final desolation of Israel and will be finally judged at the Lord’s return. Thus Gebal is mentioned in <a href='B:230 83:7'>Psa 83:7</a> as one of the ten nations confederated under the aim of destroying Israel.</p>


text:
<p>Persia, Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they set forth your beauty- "Put" is LXX "Libya", and this and "Persia" are listed in <a href='B:330 38:5'>Eze 38:5</a> as members of the final alliance which will be judged in the last days. That is the point when these prophecies have their final fulfilment.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and heroic men were in your towers; they hung their shields on your walls all around; they have perfected your beauty- This is the sight that greeted Alexander the Great as he approached the island Tyre; but the seeming impregnability was destroyed by the Divine judgment at his hands.</p>


text:
<p>Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin and lead they traded for yourwares- Tarshish is not the source of these metals, but rather the merchant in them, the "caravans" or transporters of them (:25). Any attempt to claim that tin from Cornwall in the UK therefore makes Tarshish equal Britain is desperate in the extreme. "Tarshish" traded directly with Tyre and there is no evidence that Britain every did so:&nbsp; Tarshish was noted for its silver not its lead (<a href='B:300 10:9'>Jer 10:9</a>), and the only place where these metals occur together in close proximity is at the site of Tartessus on the coast of Spain. For "Tarshish" both the LXX. and the Vulgate give "Carthaginians". Tartessus was one of the chief Phoenician colonies in Spain, called Carthago Nova, because it was a colony of Carthage. They were famed for their large trading vessels, which were used to trade with Tyre; and thus "ships of Tarshish" became a generic term for merchant ships.</p>


text:
<p>Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise- Javan is Greece, and <a href='B:360 3:6'>Joe 3:6</a> mentions Tyre as selling Israelite slaves ["the persons of men"] to Greece. Tubal and Meshech were clearly not Tobolsk in Siberia and Moscow in northern Russia, as has been claimed by russophobic wishful thinkers; there is no evidence Tyre traded with those areas. They clearly refer to areas with which Tyre traded by sea. All the other areas listed are "coastlands", accessible to sea transport, and this consideration would make Tubal and Meshech probably refer to areas on the Black Sea coast or possibly southern Turkey.</p>


text:
<p>They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses and war horses and mules- The identification of Togarmah with Armenia is difficult in that the current Armenia was not then noted for its horses, and it was landlocked, whereas this is a list of the coastal areas which Tyre traded with by sea. The identification with parts of modern coastal Turkey&nbsp; is therefore to be preferred.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Dedan were your traffickers; many islands were the market under your control. They brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony- Dedan would therefore likely be somewhere in the south with access to elephant tusks and "ebony" from India and Ethiopia. Solomon used ships to get these things via Ezion Geber (<a href='B:110 9:26'>1Ki 9:26</a>; <a href='B:110 10:22'>1Ki 10:22</a>). So the "islands" or coastlands in view could be on the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea. But the problem with that view is that one ship could not travel directly from Tyre to those places, seeing there was no Suez Canal then built. The description of the nations here is in an intentional order. It begins in the far west at Tartessus in Spain, goes east through Javan [Greece], to the north west corner of Turkey (Tubal, Meshech) and it would make sense if the circular description now moves down to the islands of the Aegean. These were the "islands... under your control", and the men of Dedan [even if we insist Dedan was in the Persian Gulf] were the merchants. That is not quite the same as saying that Tyre’s ships sailed to Dedan itself.</p>


text:
<p>Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks. They traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies- Again we find here the things used in the tabernacle, priestly clothing and breastplate (<a href='B:20 28:7'>Exo 28:7</a>; <a href='B:20 28:13'>Exo 28:13</a>; <a href='B:20 28:18-19'>Exo 28:18-19</a>; <a href='B:20 39:12'>Exo 39:12</a>). This confirms the impression that the ballad of the good ship Tyre presents her as a fake, floating tabernacle. We are being set up to expect the utter destruction of this false system, which we indeed find in Ezekiel 28.</p>


text:
<p>Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers. They traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, honey, oil and balm- Here Judah and Israel, the special people of God, are mentioned as if they were treated by Tyre as just some other Gentile nations with whom they traded. And the style of the record here reflects that perspective. This too was to be a reason for Tyre’s destruction; for God’s people are special, and we too should treat them as such and not in the way we would relate to standard secular unbelievers. Tyre as a city state was always in need of food, and Palestine was a logical source for this.</p>


text:
<p>Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon and white wool- This doesn’t have to mean that the ships of Tyre went to Damascus, which is landlocked. Rather we can read as with GNB "The people of Damascus bought your merchandise and your products, payingfor them with wine from Helbon and wool from Sahar".</p>


text:
<p>Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia and calamus were among your merchandise- Cassia and calamus were used in the tabernacle rituals (<a href='B:20 30:23-24'>Exo 30:23-24</a>; it is the "sweet cane" to be offered to Yahweh in <a href='B:290 43:24'>Isa 43:24</a>; <a href='B:300 6:20'>Jer 6:20</a>). See on :16.</p>


text:
<p>Dedan was your trafficker in precious cloths for riding- They "traded saddle blankets for your goods" (GNB).</p>


text:
<p>Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand. In lambs, rams, goats, in these were they your merchants- These three animals were part of the tabernacle rituals; again we have the impression that Tyre is being presented as a fake tabernacle, a conscious imitation of Yahweh’s shrine in Jerusalem. See on :16. We also find these three animals listed in the same order in <a href='B:330 39:18'>Eze 39:18</a>, as the possessions of the confederacy of nations who will invade Israel in the last days under Gog, and be destroyed. The idea would be that the final fulfilment of this prophecy is at the Lord’s return, although "Tyre" may be reapplied to "Babylon" or whoever leads that latter day confederacy. Such reapplication and shifting of fulfilment from one to another is common in Bible prophecy; we noted on Ezekiel 26 how the destruction of Tyre was intended to be done by Nebuchadnezzar, but this prophecy was reapplied and shifted to Alexander the Great. Likewise prophecies which have one context in the Old Testament are applied in a different context in the New Testament. Thus Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah is shifted to apply to the women weeping for their children at the time of Herod’s massacre. See on :27.</p>


text:
<p>The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers. They traded for your wares with the chief of all spices and with all precious stones and gold- Again this doesn’t require the ships of Tyre to have gone to Sheba, the idea is that men from Sheba traded with Tyre. And again, these were all used in the tabernacle construction and rituals; spices (s:w. <a href='B:20 25:6'>Exo 25:6</a>; <a href='B:20 35:8'>Exo 35:8</a>), "precious stones" is the term used for the "costly stones" brought from Tyre and Lebanon for the foundation of the temple (<a href='B:110 5:17'>1Ki 5:17</a>; <a href='B:110 7:9-11'>1Ki 7:9-11</a>); and gold was likewise throughout the sanctuary.</p>


text:
<p>Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were your traffickers- Men from throughout the eretz promised to Abraham worked for Tyre; she is presented as having relationships and economic control over the entire territory. This may be somewhat exaggerated, as Babylon was the greater power in the area; but the picture is thus painted because Tyre stands as representative of the latter day entity which shall be judged at the Lord’s return.</p>


text:
<p>These were your traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise- Again, this is all the language of the priestly robes and the tabernacle and temple construction- the words and ideas are all used elsewhere in that context: wrappings, blue, embroidered work, cords, cedar. As noted on :16, Tyre is presented as an imitation tabernacle which is to be judged.</p>


text:
<p>The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise, and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas- As explained on :12, the people of Tartessus [Tarshish] in pain were famed for their large trading vessels, which were used to trade with Tyre; and thus "ships of Tarshish" became a generic term for merchant ships. They were the maritime equivalent of desert "caravans". "Very glorious" is the phrase translated "very grievous" about the sin of Sodom (<a href='B:10 18:20'>Gen 18:20</a>). A parallel is being drawn because this proud, immoral system and city is about to likewise fall in judgment.</p>


text:
<p>Your rowers have brought you into great waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas- This verse suddenly interrupts the description of her greatness and all the good thinks packed onto the good ship Tyre. The sudden east wind from God will destroy her; clearly there are similarities with the Jonah story, see on :28.</p>


text:
<p>Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, your pilots, your repairers of ship hulls and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin- See on :28 for the connections with Jonah. The good ship Tyre, loaded with wealth and sailors from throughout the eretz promised to Abraham, was to capsize and sink to the bottom of the seas under Divine judgment. This is the punishment of Babylon and those confederate with her. It seems that what was here threatened upon Tyre didn’t fully come to pass; but the essence of the prophecy will do, in that the prophecy is to be reapplied and transferred to Babylon. See on :21.</p>


text:
<p>At the sound of the cry of your pilots the suburbs shall shake- "Pilots" is the word translated "captain" in <a href='B:390 1:6'>Jon 1:6</a>, the only other usage of the word outside Ezekiel 27. The ship of Tarshish or Tyre was rowed into deep waters, "the heart of the seas" (:27), which is where Jonah was plunged into (<a href='B:390 2:3'>Jon 2:3</a>). The connection with the Jonah story is perhaps the implication that Tyre could have repented as those sailors did, and the ship of Tyre would not have been wrecked as it was going to be. And of course the book of Jonah is the great example of where Divine judgment was stated but not carried out because of Gentile repentance. And this was exactly why Ezekiel is making this appeal to Tyre.</p>


text:
<p>All who handled the oar, the mariners and all the pilots of the sea shall come down from their ships. They shall stand on the land- This is the very picture of Babylon’s supporters, portrayed as mariners, ’standing’ in mourning over her (<a href='B:730 18:17'>Rev 18:17</a>). If we enquire why the judgments of latter day Babylon are portrayed in terms of Tyre’s fall as described here in Ezekiel, I suggest the answer is as explained on :21. The prophecies of Tyre’s fall could have happened in Ezekiel’s time, within the context of the intended repentance of the exiles and the nations, and the reestablishment of a kingdom of God in Israel. But this didn’t happen, and so the prophecies about Tyre have been transferred and reapplied to Babylon, to come to total fulfilment in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>And shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes- This is the bitter lamentation over Babylon of <a href='B:730 18:8-10'>Rev 18:8-10</a>; casting dust on their heads is quoted and applied to the mourners for latter day Babylon in <a href='B:730 18:19'>Rev 18:19</a>; see on :29. Wallowing in ashes was Zion’s judgment (<a href='B:300 6:26'>Jer 6:26</a>; <a href='B:300 25:34'>Jer 25:34</a>); they had rejoiced at Zion’s fall, but were to come to the same.</p>


text:
<p>And they shall makethemselves bald for you, and clothe them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning- This is the language of the exiles mourning for the destruction of Zion (<a href='B:300 4:8'>Jer 4:8</a>; <a href='B:300 6:26'>Jer 6:26</a> and throughout Lamentations). The implication is that Zion was but a fake sanctuary of Yahweh, just as Tyre was. They would meet the same end.</p>


text:
<p>In their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you and lament over you, saying, Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?- Babylon likewise is to be cast into the seas in the last days (<a href='B:730 18:21'>Rev 18:21</a>), and those who traded with her shall wail and lament (<a href='B:730 18:11'>Rev 18:11</a>); see on :21,29.</p>


text:
<p>When your wares went forth out of the seas, you filled many peoples; you enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise- The list of Babylon’s merchandise in Revelation 18 is based upon the "wares" which are listed here as Tyre’s trade. See on :29.</p>


text:
<p>In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell in your midst- The seas refer to the confederated nations who were to break her, and cause all her wealth and supporters to drown in the depths. Again we see the similarities with the ship of Tarshish in which Jonah was placed, which averted this catastrophe by repentance; see on :28.</p>


text:
<p>All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face- This suggests shock. The fall of Tyre is portrayed as coming suddenly and unexpectedly. But even in Alexander’s time, she only fell after an extended siege. The impression of a sudden fall, akin to Babylon’s plagues coming suddenly and being like a famine which came in one day (see on <a href='B:730 18:8'>Rev 18:8</a>), means that we must look to the last days for the total fulfilment of the prophecy.</p>


text:
<p>The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you are become a terror- This could imply that the merchants who initially lamented the fall of Tyre because of their own personal loss therefrom, now change and hate her. For "hiss" suggests scorn. In the transference to Babylon, this would be the horns hating the whore (<a href='B:730 17:16'>Rev 17:16</a>).</p><p>And you shall never again have any being- Tyre did revive, and suffered many more sieges and invasions, right up to the time of the crusades. So the prophecy didn’t come fully true at the time, but it will do in its reapplied form in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came again to me saying- This prophecy is specifically intended to be given to the prince of Tyre (:2). We noted in Ezekiel 27 the allusions to Jonah. The ship of Tyre was to sink, but repentance was possible to avert this.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God- For an asylum seeking exile like Ezekiel in Babylon to tell the king of Tyre that he was going to perish unless he repented... was a hard mission. And our witness is likewise not so easy, in the proud, secular world in which we are to make it. We note that the primary issue with the king of Tyre was not his idolatry, but his pride and playing God. This is what is so utterly abhorrent to God. And we must have that same perspective. Throughout this chapter and on Ezekiel 27 we note that Tyre is portrayed as having a fake tabernacle and temple, an imitation Zion; and her prince was therefore enthroned there as if he were Yahweh. He consciously "set his heart" on this fantasy. The Ugaritic documents reveal that the kings of that time considered themselves to be Divine, the human reincarnation of a god who had died and was now rising again. But this king, perhaps Itobaal II or Azemilcus, was consciously impersonating the Yahweh religion of Zion.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you- He was not in fact wiser than Daniel nor did he know all secrets [which in Daniel’s context referred to his understanding of the prophecies]. But this is how the prince of Tyre thought of himself, and so he is addressed in his own terms. The reference to his supposed wisdom is no proof that a super-human being is referred to; this is an illustration of <a href='B:490 16:8'>Luk 16:8</a>: “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”.</p>


text:
<p>By your wisdom and by your understanding you have become rich, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasures- This is another way of saying that the prince’s wisdom was not actually that of Daniel (:3). For this was all the result of secular wisdom rather than spiritual. It has been suggested that these verses here are alluding to or even quoting a hymn to the prince of Tyre. The later allusions to a story of Adam’s fall may likewise be alluding not so much to the Genesis account but to some Tyrian religious myth. For God likes to speak to people within the terms of their own reference, as we should in our sharing of the Gospel.</p>


text:
<p>By your great wisdom and by your traffic you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches- Wealth and pride go together. God wants us to be humble, and that is likely the reason why "to the poor the Gospel is preached", and wealthy people find the humility required by the Gospel so difficult.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have set your heart as the heart of God- For all the things that the prince of Tyre could have been condemned for, his state of heart was the essential issue. And this is typical of the prophets- to focus, as did the Lord Jesus, upon the state of human hearts as the critical issue in God’s judgment of men.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness- The language of brightness recalls the cherubim vision of Ezekiel 1. Tyre was a fake Zion, appearing to even have the cherubim presence around their central temple and prince. Perhaps he is called "the prince" rather than the king to draw a similarity with how the true Zion is to have a "prince". His beauty and brightness may refer to the temple in the centre of Tyre which was the obsessive pride and joy of her prince. This was to be desecrated by strangers. "The terrible of the nations" refers to the Babylonian confederacy in <a href='B:330 30:11'>Eze 30:11</a>; <a href='B:330 31:12'>Eze 31:12</a>. But ultimately it was the Greeks and not Babylonians who brought Tyre down. Again we see how the prophecies about Tyre were transferred from one possible fulfilment to another, and the ultimate, final transference will be to the destruction of the last days.</p>


text:
<p>They shall bring you down to the pit; and you shall die the death of those who are slain, in the heart of the seas- This particularly refers to the prince of Tyre personally, who claimed he was God (:9). But Azemilcus, the king of Tyre when the city finally fell to Alexander the Great, was spared by Alexander. Again we see that the prophecy didn’t come true exactly. The ultimate best fit fulfilment will therefore be in the last days. See on <a href='B:330 27:21'>Eze 27:21</a>; <a href='B:330 27:29'>Eze 27:29</a>. The predictions in Ezekiel 26-28 about the king of Tyre personally are one of the biggest reasons to think that they did not come true as intended at the hands of the Babylonians or Greeks; and therefore these prophecies are to be transferred for their final fulfilment to some other figure.</p>


text:
<p>Will you yet say before him who kills you, I am God? But you are man and not God in the hand of him who stabs you- The Babylonians besieged Tyre for 13 years under Nebuchadnezzar and failed to capture island Tyre. This didn’t happen, as noted on :8. The ultimate best fit fulfilment will therefore be in the last days. See on <a href='B:330 27:21'>Eze 27:21</a>; <a href='B:330 27:29'>Eze 27:29</a>.</p>


text:
<p>You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh- The person was to “die the deaths of the uncircumcised” (Ezekiel 28; Ezekiel 10), but angels cannot die (<a href='B:490 20:35-36'>Luk 20:35-36</a>). There is no reference here therefore to any sinful Angel in Eden. He was a man (:9). The reference to death by the uncircumcised could suggest that Tyre in their mock imitation of Yahweh worship also practiced circumcision.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me saying- The words “devil” , “satan” and “angel” do not occur in this chapter, nor in the rest of Ezekiel. The context shows this is a prophecy about the King of Tyre; the preceding chapter 27 is an oracle against Tyre, and now chapter 28 speaks specifically about the King of Tyre. Ezekiel chapters 27 and 28 clearly hold together as a literary unit. The city of Tyre and the King of Tyre are described in similar terms, e.g. "perfect in beauty" (compare <a href='B:330 27:3'>Eze 27:3</a> and <a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>; <a href='B:330 27:16-17'>Eze 27:16-17</a> with <a href='B:330 28:13'>Eze 28:13</a>; <a href='B:330 27:33'>Eze 27:33</a> with <a href='B:330 28:16'>Eze 28:16</a>). The passage plainly speaks of the King of Tyre, not anything that happened at the beginning of the world.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and tell him- As noted on :7-10, no king of Tyre was actually killed neither by Nebuchadnezzar nor Alexander. This funeral lamentation over him therefore looks ahead to the last days; see on <a href='B:330 27:21'>Eze 27:21</a>; <a href='B:330 27:29'>Eze 27:29</a>. There must therefore arise an individual similar to some historical king of Tyre who sets himself up as if he is in Zion, sitting in the throne of God. This is the latter day antichrist figure of <a href='B:600 2:4'>2Th 2:4</a> who sits as God in the temple.</p><p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You seal up the imitation, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty- The same phrase "perfect in beauty" is used of Jerusalem (<a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:14'>Eze 16:14</a>). Clearly Tyre considered herself as the holy city of God, and in the next verses there are many allusions to the tabernacle. It seems Tyre was envious of Jerusalem’s claim to be Yahweh’s holy city, and rejoiced at the demise of Jerusalem and its temple, thinking that she would then replace it. She considered herself the "imitation" of Zion and Yahweh worship; but the simple message was that Tyre was to be destroyed, and God’s plan was to restore Zion rather than transfer Zion to Tyre. I have explained above that the final fulfilment of the destruction of the "prince of Tyre" will be in the last days, when it will be as it were transferred to the destruction of Babylon and her "man of sin" leader who will likewise create a false sanctuary in imitation of Yahweh worship, perhaps literally in Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<p>You were in Eden, the garden of God- I suggested on :4 that this section may be part of an allusion to a Tyrian religious myth rather than to the Hebrew account in Genesis 2. But the text here refers to where the king of Tyre was in place, not in time. Pharaoh and Assyria are similarly described as being a “cedar in Lebanon”, no “tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty... all the trees of Eden envied him... yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised” (<a href='B:330 31:2-3'>Eze 31:2-3</a>; <a href='B:330 31:8-9'>Eze 31:8-9</a>; <a href='B:330 31:16'>Eze 31:16</a>; <a href='B:330 31:18'>Eze 31:18</a>). Thus "You have been in Eden" has similarities with the language used by Ezekiel about Egypt in Ezekiel 31. Egypt is described in language which recalls the trees in the garden of Eden, watered by many waters- and then cut down. In the same way as the Garden of Eden was ended, so would Egypt be.</p><p>The trees in Eden are not to be taken literally, they represent the nations whom Pharaoh and Assyria conquered, possibly referring to the fact that they were all within the old geographical boundaries of the garden of Eden. Pharaoh being the greatest of the trees in Eden and the most appealing maybe, suggests that he was taking to himself the place of the tree of knowledge, which was in the midst of Eden and probably the most attractive of them all, seeing that it fascinated Eve so much with its tempting fruit. Pharaoh was not literally that tree, but in the parable he was making himself like it. Similarly the king of Tyre is likened in this parable to the cherubim in Eden.</p><p>Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold workmanship of tambourines and of pipes was yours. In the day that you were created they were prepared- These were the stones in the high priestly breastplate; as noted on :12, Tyre pretended to being an "imitation" of Zion, Yahweh’s holy city. David and Hiram of Tyre&nbsp; had been close friends (<a href='B:100 5:11'>2Sa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:110 5:1'>1Ki 5:1</a>; <a href='B:110 5:6-7'>1Ki 5:6-7</a>; <a href='B:110 5:10'>1Ki 5:10</a>), and Hiram and Solomon had made a league in which Hiram supplied materials for the building of the temple (<a href='B:110 5:12'>1Ki 5:12</a>; <a href='B:110 5:17-18'>1Ki 5:17-18</a>). But this was now abused by Tyre in creating an imitation sanctuary in Tyre rather than Zion.</p><p>With Hiram’s knowledge of the true God, it seems that subsequent Kings of Tyre came to put themselves in the position of God, presenting themselves as seated between the cherubim on Mount Zion, in the same way as the king of Assyria effectively aspired to the same thing - Phoenician inscriptions have been uncovered calling the king of Tyre “Lord of the Heavens”. Even more amazingly, the jewels described in :13 were all found embedded in the sphinx-cherubim unearthed in Tyre. The three jewels of the breastplate missing from the list in :13 were also missing from the sphinx. Inscriptions also describe Tyre as the “garden of God”, and reliefs of cherubim guarding Tyre as they did Eden have been found. Thus the king of Tyre had set up a blasphemous system of worship copying that of the temple and of Eden, with himself as God in the midst of it. Harry Whittaker makes a distinction between "the prince of Tyre" (<a href='B:330 28:2'>Eze 28:2</a>) and "the king of Tyre" (<a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>). which he sees as a reference to the Tyrian god Melkart ("King of the city"). He suggests that Tyre had installed a system of Yahweh worship similar to that which was in Jerusalem (perhaps a result of Hiram’s relationship with Solomon and assistance in building Yahweh’s temple)- but this had become mixed with the worship of Melkart (H:A. Whittaker, The Very Devil (Wigan: Biblia, 1991) p. 33:). God is saying that He is aware that this replica ["imitation", :12] of His system of worship has been pushed by the king of Tyre as far as it can go - no wonder a prophecy like Ezekiel 28 was necessary to expose his sin!</p><p>According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: "This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king of Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on which Tyre stood was called"the holy island"[Sanconiathon], being sacred to Hercules and Melkart, so much so that the colonies looked up to Tyre as the mother city of their religion". "The city was thought of as rising from the waters like the rock-throne of God" (Ralph Woodrow, Was Satan Once An Angel In Heaven? (Riverside, CA: Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association, 1968) p. 7. Woodrow was one of the few, if not the only, popular American Evangelical preacher of the 20th century who spoke out against the popular view of Satan). This would explain why the King of Tyre is criticized for saying "I am a God, I sit in the seat of God" (<a href='B:330 28:2'>Eze 28:2</a>). It would also explain all the allusions to Israelite worship- he was setting himself up as a rival to Zion, dressing himself in clothing featuring all the jewels in the High Priestly breastplate (<a href='B:20 28:15-20'>Exo 28:15-20</a>); the word used for his "workmanship" with those jewels in <a href='B:330 28:13'>Eze 28:13</a> is used in <a href='B:20 31:3'>Exo 31:3</a>; <a href='B:20 31:5'>Exo 31:5</a>; <a href='B:20 35:31'>Exo 35:31</a> of the workmanship of the tabernacle and associated garments. Note how <a href='B:330 27:22'>Eze 27:22</a> says that Tyre traded in "all precious stones". The King of Tyre claimed to be "perfect in beauty" (<a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>)- just as Zion was described earlier in Ezekiel in the same terms (<a href='B:330 16:14'>Eze 16:14</a>).</p>


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<p>I put a terrifying messenger there to guard you- "Guard" is related to the term used for the cherubim overshadowing the ark. The suggestion may be that Tyre as a great mercantile power was privileged to cast its ‘wings’ over Israel. It was the abuse of this exalted position that was a factor in the ruin of Tyre (: 4,5). God is clearly superior to the prince of Tyre. God was in control of the cherub.</p><p>The king of Tyre is likened to a cherub dwelling in Eden, the garden of God. However, the Genesis record stresses that the cherubim dwelt not in the garden, but east of it. It would therefore seem that <a href='B:330 28:11-19'>Eze 28:11-19</a> is alluding to some pagan story of the garden of Eden (see on :4), and re-focusing the myth upon a real, known human being on earth- i:e. the king of Tyre.</p><p>Cassuto points out that the Ezekiel reference to the cherub ’walking in the midst of the stones of fire’ is an allusion to Ugaritic poetry which speaks of ’stones of fire’. Ezekiel does the same thing in <a href='B:330 31:8-9'>Eze 31:8-9</a>, where he references pagan ideas about Eden, the cherubim etc:, and re-focuses them upon Pharaoh, king of Egypt. It could even be argued that Ezekiel’s detailed visions of the cherubim in Ezekiel 1, 10 are a deconstruction of Babylonian and underlying Canaanite myths about the cherubim- showing who the cherubim really are.</p><p>A number of sphinx have been discovered, which appear to be a Canaanite pagan rendition of the cherubim described earlier in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10. “A sphinx is merely a pagan cherub. The sphinx often depicted a king’s head, and an animal’s body—the animal was usually regarded as a god. Head and body were a composite god: the deification of the king” (Arthur Gibson, “The Diabolical Prince of Tyre”, The Testimony Vol. 46 (1976) p. 174).</p><p>A large cherub-sphinx with a king’s head and animal’s body set on a base of sculptured mountains was discovered in nearby Sidon, apparently a deification of a king of Tyre who is here described as being “upon the holy mountain of God” (<a href='B:330 28:14'>Eze 28:14</a>). Phoenician and Ugaritic texts record the King of Tyre pronouncing that “I am El”- exactly what we read him doing in <a href='B:330 28:2'>Eze 28:2</a>, proclaiming that “I am God, I sit in the seat of God” (Descriptions of the sphinx-cherubim discovered and the references to the King of Tyre’s claim to be “El” are to be found in R. D. Barnett, "Ezekiel and Tyre", Eretz-Israel Vol. 9 &nbsp;(1969), p. 9 (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society). The King of Tyre claiming to be El is also referenced in W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (London: Athlone Press, 1968) p. 49).</p><p>You lived on My holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems- This holy mountain is Mt. Zion, on the earth, not symbolically in heaven as the Watchtower asserts (see <a href='B:330 20:40'>Eze 20:40</a>). This is an allusion to the stones set in the breastplate of the high priest of Israel (<a href='B:20 39:10-14'>Exo 39:10-14</a>):They were ‘stones of fire’ because of the way they would shine when exposed to the brilliance of the Shekinah glory of the sanctuary. They symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel (<a href='B:20 39:14'>Exo 39:14</a>). Hiram the earlier king of Tyre walked in the midst of these stones of fire when he moved among the children of Israel (as in the preparation of the materials for the temple). But now Tyre had as it were created a similar sanctuary and breastplate in Tyre.</p>


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<p>You were perfect in your ways- “You were perfect in your ways” is no proof that a super-human person is being spoken of, seeing that the word is applied to Noah, Abraham, Job and David (<a href='B:10 6:9'>Gen 6:9</a>; <a href='B:10 17:1'>Gen 17:1</a>; <a href='B:220 1:1'>Job 1:1</a>; <a href='B:230 18:23'>Psa 18:23</a>; <a href='B:230 18:25'>Psa 18:25</a>). Those who believe in a personal devil are faced with a contradiction- was the devil originally a sinner, or, was he once perfect but fell?</p><p>From the day that you were created- “Perfect” (upright) from the time of his spiritual birth - which is how the word “created” is used in <a href='B:330 21:30'>Eze 21:30</a> and <a href='B:230 102:18'>Psa 102:18</a> (cp. <a href='B:540 5:17'>2Co 5:17</a>). Perhaps this refers to how under Hiram, Tyre had become a proselyte state of Israel.</p><p>Until unrighteousness was found in you- There may be allusion to the falling out between Hiram and Solomon.</p>


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<p>By the abundance of your trading they filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the midst of the stones of fire- Tyre was no longer accepted by God as a proselyte state with the right to worship at the Jerusalem temple; and perhaps in protest at this, Tyre had created their own imitation temple and Yahweh cult in Tyre. “The king of Tyre” (:12) is the subject of this prophecy. Verses 4 and 5 describe him as getting rich by his trading in silver and gold, and getting proud because of this - much more applicable to a human king than to an angel. His sin is defined in <a href='B:330 28:15-16'>Eze 28:15-16</a>: "The iniquity of your trading... by the multitude of your trading... you have sinned". The sin in view wasn’t some Angelic rebellion against God; it was specifically his trading and avarice, which have been described in detail in the last two chapters, and refer to the king of Tyre rather than to anything in the garden of Eden. I suggested on :4 that this section may be part of an allusion to a Tyrian religious myth rather than to the Hebrew account in Genesis 2.</p>


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<p>Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you- It appears that the prophecy of the fall of Tyre is being consciously framed to mirror the fall of Adam, e.g. :2: “you are a man”; “man” is Adam in Hebrew, as if God is saying to the prince of Tyre, “You are like Adam in this parable”. Verse 17 tells how he will be brought to the ground - as Adam had to return to the dust. The passage is often skim read, leading to the assumption that the King of Tyre is being likened to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or to some Satan figure who fell from Heaven at that time. But careful reading shows that the King of Tyre is being likened to Adam in Eden, not to the serpent.</p>


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<p>By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trading, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you- As noted on :16, the sin of the prince was his trading, which has been explained in the previous two chapters. This is what was in view rather than the sin of some supposed angel in Eden. Like Adam, the prince of Tyre was to return to the dust.</p><p>This verse may imply that Tyre had set up forms of worship similar to that of Israel. Hiram was ‘ever a lover of David’ and rejoiced with Solomon in the building of the temple( <a href='B:110 5:1-12'>1Ki 5:1-12</a>). The king of Tyre would so doubt have learned about God’s kingdom in Israel from these two kings of Israel. Or, the verse may be interpreted this way: Tyre’s sanctuaries were in Israel when the divine presence and favour were manifest. But Tyre failed to appreciate its privileged association with Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar came down into Jerusalem (586 B:C:), the prince of Tyrus said: ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste’ (<a href='B:330 26:2'>Eze 26:2</a> R:S:V:). In so saying, Tyre had spoken her own nemesis according to the decree of <a href='B:10 12:3'>Gen 12:3</a>: ‘I will... curse him that curseth thee’. Tyre, in her self-centred, mercantile interests, had profaned the sanctuaries and was herself to be reduced to ashes.</p><p>Tyre could not with impunity violate her privileged relationship with Israel. When Nadab and Abihu treated the sacred as secular, ‘there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD’ (<a href='B:30 10:2'>Lev 10:2</a>). Similarly, Tyre had failed to make a difference between the holy and unholy. It was, therefore, to be reduced to ashes - devoured like Sodom and Gomorrah (<a href='B:10 19:24-25'>Gen 19:24-25</a>).</p>


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<p>All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you. You have become a terror, and your life shall end evermore- This would be axiomatic if it spoke simply of the personal prince of Tyre. Clearly enough Tyre politically is in view. She revived many times after the Babylonian and Greek attacks upon her. So the final fulfilment is yet future, in the last days.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- Now we have a brief judgment upon Sidon, a neighbour of Tyre. This underlines how the previous passage concerns Tyre, a literal entity on earth, and has no reference to the fall of any angel in Eden.</p>


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<p>Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it- Whilst Tyre was in ruins after the surrender to Babylon and lost power, nearby Sidon apparently revived in power. This prophecy was therefore to preclude any conclusion that Tyre was reviving in the form of Sidon nearby. She too was to fall.</p>


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<p>And say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you Sidon. I will be glorified in the midst of you; and they shall know that I am Yahweh when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her- Again we have the Divine hope that the judged nations around Judah would repent and sanctify Yahweh as their God. This didn’t happen, and so the prophecies have been transferred and reapplied to the last days.</p>


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<p>For I will send plague into her and blood into her streets. The wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword on her on every side; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- This repeats the language concerning Judah’s judgment (<a href='B:330 5:12'>Eze 5:12</a>; <a href='B:330 6:12'>Eze 6:12</a>). Judah was to be punished like the Gentiles because of her Gentile heart; that was the immediate lesson for the first audience of these words as they sat in Babylonian captivity.</p>


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<p>There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them, that scorned them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh- As noted on :22, we see here Yahweh’s intention that the judged nations around Judah would repent and sanctify Yahweh as their God. This didn’t happen, and so the prophecies have been transferred and reapplied to the last days. Sidon was clearly a thorn and brier to Israel, alluding to the calamity upon Eden which happened due to Adam’s sin:This prophecy will only be fulfilled when paradise is restored at the Lord’s return to earth.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob- They were gathered back [although they resisted this in that many preferred to stay in the soft life of Babylon], but they hardly dwelt safely or confidently in their land. They planted vineyards, but received a poor harvest due to their lack of attention to God’s house; their enemies destroyed their fruits, and their vine “cast her fruit before the time” (<a href='B:440 1:6'>Hag 1:6</a>; <a href='B:460 3:10-11'>Mal 3:10-11</a>). Haggai and Malachi criticized Israel for this, saying it could be rectified by their obedience: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (<a href='B:460 3:10'>Mal 3:10</a>). Yet in Nehemiah’s time, Judah refused to pay tithes properly; but even then, if they had thoroughly repented, the Kingdom conditions were still possible. Such was God’s desire to continue working with His hopeless people.</p><p>Consider the use of the word pus, ’scatter’. It was God’s intention that mankind should scatter abroad in the earth and subdue it (<a href='B:10 1:28'>Gen 1:28</a>); but it required the judgment of the tower of Babel to actually make them ’scatter’ (<a href='B:10 11:4'>Gen 11:4</a>). Thus even in judgment, God worked out His positive ultimate intentions with humanity. And this word pus is the same word used with reference to Judah’s ’scattering’ from the land into Babylonian captivity (<a href='B:330 11:17'>Eze 11:17</a>; <a href='B:330 20:34'>Eze 20:34</a>; <a href='B:330 20:41'>Eze 20:41</a>; <a href='B:330 28:25'>Eze 28:25</a>). The intention, surely, was to show the captives that they had been scattered as the people had at the judgment of Babel / Babylon, but even in this, God was working out His purpose with His people and giving them the opportunity to fulfil His original intentions for them.</p>


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<p>They shall dwell securely therein; yes, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgments on all those who do them despite all around them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh their God- After Tyre and Sidon would be judged, then Israel would plant vineyards and dwell “securely”. It seems that this was potentially possible; Judah could have become Yahweh’s battle axe against Tyre, the nations brought to fear Him, and then the Kingdom conditions would have begun. This would then have led to the Ezekiel 38 invasion with Israel dwelling "securely". But all these things have been reapplied to the last days.</p>


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<p>In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying- The relevance of the date is that this was during the siege of Jerusalem, six months before the final fall of the city; and all Judah’s hopes were on salvation from the Babylonians by the Egyptians. And so at that time Ezekiel warns that Egypt shall fall. The prophecies about Egypt are given on different dates, a year before and after the fall of Jerusalem.</p>


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<p>Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against allEgypt- The judgments upon Tyre and Egypt are far longer than those upon the other five of the seven surrounding nations condemned by Ezekiel in this section. This is because of their relative size and importance, and their attraction to Judah as defenders against Babylon.</p>


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<p>Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is My own, and I have made it for Myself’- The dragon or crocodile was also a symbol of Egypt in <a href='B:290 27:1'>Isa 27:1</a>; <a href='B:290 51:9'>Isa 51:9</a>; <a href='B:230 74:13'>Psa 74:13</a>. The "rivers" refer to the various branches of the Nile at the Nile delta. As with the prince of Tyre, the king of Egypt considered himself God and the creator of the Nile. It was this arrogance and playing God which was so offensive to God. For He values humility above all.</p>


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<p>I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales- This describes how a crocodile would be captured (the "monster" of :3). The fish stuck to its scales refer to the various smaller peoples confederate with Egypt.</p>


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<p>I’ll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be bound together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky- This may refer to the destruction of the Egyptian army in the wilderness whilst attacking Cyrene. This meant they were unable to help Judah as Judah hoped.</p>


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<p>All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel- The crocodile lived amongst reeds in the Nile marshlands, so the reed is an appropriate symbol to use. Egypt had been a staff of reed to Judah during the earlier Assyrian invasion 100 years earlier (<a href='B:290 36:6'>Isa 36:6</a>); but they failed to learn the lesson, and were desperately trusting them again. Circumstances repeat in our lives, in order to test us and develop our learning in the life of faith. Judah should have learnt from the failure of Egypt to stop the Assyrians; but they didn’t. The situation repeated quite accurately, in that the Egyptians appeared to give some support against Assyria, leading to a withdrawal from Jerusalem for a short while; just as happened during the Babylonian siege (<a href='B:300 37:5'>Jer 37:5</a>).</p>


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<p>When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs- To take by the hand speaks of entering a covenant. The idea seems to be that the covenant was mutually destructive to both Judah and Egypt. The wrath of Babylon was upon both parties, seeing they had also made agreements with them. It was God who broke the arm of Egypt (<a href='B:330 30:21'>Eze 30:21</a> s:w. "you broke..."). God worked through these dishonest covenants in order to break both parties.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you- As with the prophecies against Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, these prophecies about Egypt didn’t come totally true; man and animal were not cut off from Egypt in totality. Perhaps some repented and so the full brunt of the destruction was averted. Or more likely, these prophecies are part of the wider potential scenario, whereby the remnant of Judah would repent along with the nations judged by Babylon, and together they would reestablish Yahweh’s kingdom in Israel. This didn’t happen, because God will not force human freewill decisions. And so the essence of the prophecies will come true in the last days</p>


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<p>The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste- This along with many phrases used in this condemnation of Egypt were in fact descriptions of what God had threatened to do to Judah at the hands of the Babylonians (e.g. <a href='B:330 12:20'>Eze 12:20</a>). But instead of Egypt averting the fulfilment of those prophecies, as Judah hoped, Egypt would itself suffer them as well.</p><p>And they shall know that I am Yahweh- As explained on :8 this didn’t come totally true. The Divine hope and intention was that Egypt would come to know Him, i:e. to have relationship with Him.</p><p>Because you have said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it- Pharaoh believed that the river Nile was his own creation. This playing of God is cited repeatedly as the reason for their destruction. And we too can so easily do the same in our attitudes and judgments.</p>


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<p>Therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia- "Syene" as the modern Asswan. The idea is from the northern border to the southern border of Egypt. This never completely happened; see on :8.</p>


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<p>No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years- Throughout Ezekiel 26-28 I have noted that the promised judgments upon Tyre didn’t come about exactly as predicted. There was the possibility of transference of the prophetic words from one context to another; e.g. the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was delayed and transferred to Alexander the Great. But the final fulfilment will be in the last days. But that fulfilment will be in essence and not necessarily to the letter. There will be reapplication as well as rescheduling and transference. These forty years of desolation would have come true within the wider possible prophetic vision, of Judah and the judged nations all repenting and turning to Yahweh, and His Kingdom being reestablished in Israel. But this was not to be because the human freewill preconditions didn’t come about- e.g. Judah didn’t repent and many of the exiles preferred to stay in Babylon. And so likewise this forty years desolation unto repentance of Egypt didn’t happen. Although the essence of it will come true in the last days.</p>


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<p>I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries- As noted on :11, this is not recorded as having happened. The nations around Egypt were likewise not completely desolated. There was no invading army which systematically destroyed all the cities of Egypt as required here. And so we look to a latter fulfilment. However the language of a desolate land and cities is taken from <a href='B:30 26:33'>Lev 26:33</a>, the curses upon Israel for breaking the covenant. It seems that Egypt could have entered a covenant with Yahweh and so were punished for breaking it in that they refused that covenant.</p>


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<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered- As explained on :11, this is all part of a potential scenario which could have come about if Judah had repented and allowed themselves to be restored. Had they done so, then the Egyptians and others would also have been restored. Had Egypt accepted unity with God’s people and with Yahweh, then the restoration of Judah would have been theirs; for the language of restoration, just like the language of their judgments (see on :9), is identical to that used about Judah’s restoration.</p>


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<p>And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom- To ’bring back the captivity’ means to ’restore the fortunes’, to lift up or exalt. And this is the phrase used about the restoration of Israel, in which Egypt potentially could have had a part. And yet this idea is apparently juxtaposed with that of her being "a base kingdom". But there is no contradiction, once we appreciate that the word for "base" is often used of how a person or nation must be abased, brought down, so that they may be exalted. Ezekiel has used the term exactly in this sense, to describe how Judah shall be base or abased, so that she may be exalted (<a href='B:330 17:24'>Eze 17:24</a>; <a href='B:330 21:26'>Eze 21:26</a>). And it is the teaching of other scriptures too; the abased Jewish remnant were to be exalted (s:w. <a href='B:290 57:15'>Isa 57:15</a>), the abased ["humble"] in spirit are to be lifted up (<a href='B:240 29:23'>Pro 29:23</a>; <a href='B:220 5:11'>Job 5:11</a>). This is why the idea of Egypt being an abased kingdom is mentioned in the same breath, as it were, as the promise of her revival. But this would happen only if she identified with the restoration of Israel, accepted Yahweh as her God, and repented.</p>


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<p>It shall be the most base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations; and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations- As with the permanent destruction of Tyre never to rise again, this didn’t happen. The Seleucid kingdom was powerful in Egypt, it became "the king of the South", and has at times been a powerful nation. So the final fulfilment is to be in the last days. But as explained on :14, the idea was that Egypt would be "most base" so that she might be exalted, in God’s sight. She would no longer be "above the nations" because in the new system envisaged, God would be the king and if any particular nation was to be lifted up above other nations, it would be Israel. The same Hebrew term translated here "lift itself up above the nations" is used in <a href='B:290 2:2'>Isa 2:2</a>; <a href='B:290 11:12'>Isa 11:12</a> of how in the Messianic kingdom, Zion [and therefore, not Egypt] would be exalted / lifted up above the nations.</p>


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<p>It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn to look after them- So often Yahweh is portrayed as the only "confidence" or trust of His people. Judah’s confidence in nations like Egypt was therefore a betrayal of their relationship with Yahweh. This rejection of trust / hope in foreign alliances was behind Jeremiah’s comment that the man who hoped / had confidence in Yahweh alone would be blessed (<a href='B:300 17:7'>Jer 17:7</a> s:w:). The immediate context referred to having Egypt and other nations as their hope / confidence.</p><p>And they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh- The Divine hope was that the repentance of Israel and that of Egypt would happen at the same time, and they would come into relationship with ["know"] Yahweh. This didn’t happen as it could have done, and so the fulfilment is deferred until the last days.</p>


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<p>It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying- This was 17 years after the prophecies given either side of it. it is inserted here to make the powerful point that years later, Ezekiel reminded God’s people that the help they had expected from Egypt at the time, 17 years before, hadn’t come. Only Yahweh would be their help, even 17 years later.</p>


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<p>Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyre, for the service that he had served against it- Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years, and as noted on Ezekiel 26-28, he didn’t achieve all that was prophesied, and much of it was transferred to Alexander the Great to fulfill; indeed much of it will only have a total fulfilment in the last days. Babylon didn’t even plunder Tyre, and so was not as it were paid any wages for her efforts. But all the same, God noticed the efforts and wanted to reward him. The reference to the suffering of the heads and shoulders would refer to the unsuccessful efforts of the Babylonians to build a causeway out to the island Tyre using the rubble of the destroyed city</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude and take her a spoil and take her a prey; and it shall be the wages for his army- We note God’s sensitivity to even pagan Gentiles. The 13 year unsuccessful siege of Tyre by Babylon had not even yielded the Babylonians any plunder from Tyre. And so God wanted to recompense them somehow, so He would give them Egypt. But how much more eager to recompense is God when it comes to the feeble attempts of us His servants to please Him!</p>


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<p>I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for Me, says the Lord Yahweh- This happened only to a limited extent; it was to be at the time when a Messiah figure would appear in Judah, and the Egyptians would know Yahweh, i:e. enter relationship with Him (:21). This scenario didn’t work out at the time of the restoration, which could potentially have occurred at the same time Babylon took Egypt (:21 "in that day"). In some form, the essence of these things must therefore come true in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel- This budding forth of a shoot or horn speaks of the possibility of a Messiah figure arising (<a href='B:230 132:17'>Psa 132:17</a>) in the likes of Zerubbabel. Again, this was the scenario which could have happened at the restoration, but it didn’t. The final fulfilment will be in the Lord Jesus in the last days.</p><p>And I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- At the Lord’s return, God will use a repentant Israel to achieve great things in terms of converting this world unto Himself. They will walk up and down in His Name, witnessing to Him as He had originally intended them to (<a href='B:450 10:12'>Zec 10:12</a>); men will cling to their skirts in order to find the knowledge of their God (<a href='B:450 8:23'>Zec 8:23</a>). “In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee (Israel) the opening of the mouth in the midst of them (the surrounding nations, see context); and they shall know that I am the LORD”, in that Israel will preach to them from their own experience of having recently come to know Yahweh (<a href='B:330 29:21'>Eze 29:21</a>). But at the time of the Lord’s return, when Israel repent and enter the new covenant with Him, they will remember all their past sins “and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame... for all that thou hast done” (<a href='B:330 16:63'>Eze 16:63</a>). They will be so ashamed that they will feel as if they can never open their mouth. But Yahweh will open their mouth, and they will witness. In some anticipation of this, Ezekiel as the “son of man” prophet, a representative of his people just as the Lord was to be, had his mouth shut in dumbness, and he only had his mouth opened when Israel came to know [to some degree] that “I am the LORD” (<a href='B:330 24:27'>Eze 24:27</a>). In all these evident connections something marvellous presents itself. Those who feel as if they just cannot open their mouths in witness are the very ones whom the Father will use; He will open their mouths and use them exactly because they are ashamed of their sins! And so it should be with us.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came again to me saying- The continued trust of the people in Egypt as their last minute saviour from Babylon called for repeated appeals at different times and perhaps to different groups.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day!- The fall of Egypt was seen as a tragedy; for Ezekiel too was human, "son of man", and the death of any man diminishes each of us. This lamentation may also have even been an appeal for Egypt to repent.</p>


text:
<p>For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations- This is the language of the latter day judgment upon all the nations arounderetz Israel (<a href='B:360 1:15'>Joe 1:15</a>; <a href='B:360 2:1-2'>Joe 2:1-2</a>; <a href='B:380 1:15'>Oba 1:15</a>). I have explained from Ezekiel 26 onwards that much of the scenario presented of the judgment of Tyre and Egypt didn’t come true as planned. It was God’s intention that Judah would repent, and the nations judged by Babylon would likewise, and together they would reestablish God’s Kingdom in Israel. But they didn’t repent, and so the prophecies will have their final fulfilment in the last days. This explains why we read here language which is elsewhere used about the final judgment of all nations around the time of the return of the Lord Jesus. That will be the ultimate coming of the day of clouds (<a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a>).</p>


text:
<p>A sword shall come on Egypt and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down- "Anguish" is the word for birth pangs; the implication could be that out of the agony of Babylonian judgment there was to be brought forth something new, a repentant remnant. Life was to come out of death.</p>


text:
<p>Ethiopia, Put and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub- These were the nations confederate with Egypt whom the Jews hoped would help them.</p><p>And the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword- The reference appears to be to the Jews who had already gone down into Egypt, trusting in the alliance made with her. They were the children of their own land in that they were not in their own land but still associated with her. <a href='B:300 42:22'>Jer 42:22</a>; <a href='B:300 44:14'>Jer 44:14</a> were clear that these Jews would fall by the sword along with the Egyptians. And so appears the timeless lesson- that Egypt, the world, is no safe haven and will not save us in the end.</p>


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<p>Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall- "Uphold" is the same word translated "lean" in <a href='B:290 36:6'>Isa 36:6</a>; whoever leaned upon the staff of Egypt would fall, and Egypt herself would "come down" as a result of this. Her attempt to help Judah would be her downfall rather than her blessing, as the false prophets of Judah perhaps claimed.</p><p>And the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh- The tower of Syene was the border of Egypt, and as noted on <a href='B:330 29:10'>Eze 29:10</a>, the idea is ’All of Egypt from the north to the south’.</p>


text:
<p>They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted- As noted on <a href='B:330 29:11'>Eze 29:11</a>, this is not recorded as having happened. The nations around Egypt were likewise not completely desolated. There was no invading army which systematically destroyed all the cities of Egypt as required here. And so we look to a latter fulfilment. However the language of a desolate land and cities is taken from <a href='B:30 26:33'>Lev 26:33</a>, the curses upon Israel for breaking the covenant. It seems that Egypt could have entered a covenant with Yahweh and so were punished for breaking it in that they refused that covenant.</p>


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<p>They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed- The Divine hope was that the repentance of Israel and that of Egypt and the other surrounding nations would happen at the same time, and they would come into relationship with ["know"] Yahweh. This didn’t happen as it could have done, and so the fulfilment is deferred until the last days. And so the destruction of Egypt by fire likewise didn’t happen exactly as envisaged here, because the wider potential scenario of repentance didn’t come about. "Set a fire" is the phrase used about putting fire on the altar (<a href='B:30 1:7'>Lev 1:7</a>), so again we have a hint that Egypt was to become an acceptable sacrifice, through the fire of Babylonian judgment. But it is also used of how Zion was to be put or set into the fire (<a href='B:330 15:4'>Eze 15:4</a>; <a href='B:330 15:6'>Eze 15:6</a>). Far from saving her from this judgment as Judah hoped, Egypt was to share her condemnation.</p>


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<p>In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes- "Messengers" is malak, the word also translated "Angels". As taught in the opening vision of the cherubim in Ezekiel 1, the Angels were behind the movements of Gentile nations as well as of Israel. All that happens on earth is not random, but a reflection of the vast system of Divine operation and control spoken of in the cherubim. The primary reference is to messengers going from Egypt along the Nile to tell the Ethiopians of the arrival of the Babylonians, just as they had told them about the Assyrians in this way in <a href='B:290 18:1-2'>Isa 18:1-2</a>. But Angels were propelling those messengers on their skiffs.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon- The idea seems to be that Egypt’s large population would be noticeably reduced by the invasion, but this didn’t quite happen at the hands of the Babylonians. The scenario that was potentially possible didn’t come about at this time, although the essence of it will in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain- Such mass destruction didn’t actually happen. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian army at Carchemish on the Euphrates, quite far from Egypt itself (<a href='B:300 46:2'>Jer 46:2</a>). Egypt was then placed under tribute and in this way, the Babylonians received their "wages" for besieging Tyre. But there is no record of any major Babylonian incursion into Egypt; Herodotus doesn’t mention it whilst providing an otherwise detailed history of these times.</p>


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<p>I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it- This is the idea of <a href='B:290 19:6'>Isa 19:6</a>, that the "brooks of defence shall be emptied", the artificial canals would dry up. But as noted on :11, the Babylonians didn’t completely do this to Egypt; and so the essence must be seen in the last days. Or it may be that just as the prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar conquering Tyre was transferred to Alexander the Great, and the prophecies about Tyre become transferred to Babylon in the last days, so these words about Egypt were to be transferred for fulfilment to Babylon or some other power. For Babylon also fell as a result of her rivers being dried up. The selling of the land may allude to how earlier the Egyptians had been forced by famine to sell their land, but to Joseph, a good man (<a href='B:10 47:20'>Gen 47:20</a>); now famine would dry their rivers and force them to sell their land to wicked men.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt- As explained on :11, the immediate prophetic potential for Egypt was precluded from fulfilment by the lack of repentance. And so the idols continued in Egypt. And likewise the idea that Egypt would never have a prince was not immediately fulfilled; Egypt has had plenty of local rulers in its long history. The idea is more as in GNB, speaking of that immediate generation: "There will be no one to rule Egypt, and I will terrify all the people". Or we could read with the LXX: "I will also destroy the nobles from Memphis, and the princes of Memphis out of the land of Egypt; and they shall be no more".</p>


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<p>I will make Pathros desolate, will set a fire in Zoan and will execute judgments on No- The destruction of Egypt by fire likewise didn’t happen exactly as envisaged here, because the wider potential scenario of repentance didn’t come about. "Set a fire" is the phrase used about putting fire on the altar (<a href='B:30 1:7'>Lev 1:7</a>), so again we have a hint that Egypt was to become an acceptable sacrifice, through the fire of Babylonian judgment. But it is also used of how Zion was to be put or set into the fire (<a href='B:330 15:4'>Eze 15:4</a>; <a href='B:330 15:6'>Eze 15:6</a>). Far from saving her from this judgment as Judah hoped, Egypt was to share her condemnation.</p>


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<p>I will pour My wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No- "Sin" is LXX "Syene". We wonder why all these details are given when the potential scenario wasn’t to come about. But that is the same question as to why we have Ezekiel 40-48 recorded. This is the whole tragedy- that such detailed plans are laid by God, but human lack of response and repentance precludes so much potential from coming about. Divine volumes could likewise be written about our own lives and wasted potentials. And yet in essence, all these things shall come true albeit in a different application and time.</p>


text:
<p>I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great anguish, No shall be broken up and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime- The destruction of Egypt by fire likewise didn’t happen exactly as envisaged here, because the wider potential scenario of repentance didn’t come about. "Set a fire" is the phrase used about putting fire on the altar (<a href='B:30 1:7'>Lev 1:7</a>), so again we have a hint that Egypt was to become an acceptable sacrifice, through the fire of Babylonian judgment. But it is also used of how Zion was to be put or set into the fire (<a href='B:330 15:4'>Eze 15:4</a>; <a href='B:330 15:6'>Eze 15:6</a>). Far from saving her from this judgment as Judah hoped, Egypt was to share her condemnation.</p>


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<p>The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity- "Aven" is On. And the idols of On were accepted by Judah (<a href='B:350 4:15'>Hos 4:15</a>; <a href='B:350 10:5'>Hos 10:5</a> LXX). The record of the destruction of Egypt’s idols and the cities in which they were enshrined was directly relevant to the Judah of Ezekiel’s day, who had accepted the worship of these idols in return for Egypt’s military support. That is the implication of the passages describing Judah’s adultery in Ezekiel 16, 23.</p>


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<p>At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity- The day withdrawing itself is language used about the latter day time of judgment (<a href='B:370 5:20'>Amo 5:20</a>; <a href='B:370 8:9'>Amo 8:9</a>; <a href='B:290 5:30'>Isa 5:30</a>; <a href='B:300 13:16'>Jer 13:16</a>). This will be the time when the spirit of these prophecies comes to its final fulfilment. We note the connection between pride and power. God’s hatred of pride, and desire to save us the humble, is one reason He doesn’t give secular "power" to many of His children lest they be lifted up in pride.</p>


text:
<p>Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I amYahweh- The purpose of Divine judgment is not simply punishment, nor merely the expression of His anger and irritation. It is designed ultimately to restore and to bring the likes of Egypt to "know" Him, to walk in relationship with Him. This is and was His intention for Egypt. The link between His judgments and positive human response to them may be one reason why not all these judgments were actually carried out upon Egypt.</p>


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<p>It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying- This was at or about the time of the abortive attempt of Pharaoh-Hophra to come to save Jerusalem from the Babylonians (<a href='B:300 34:21'>Jer 34:21</a>; <a href='B:300 37:5-7'>Jer 37:5-7</a>).</p>


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<p>Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it that it be strong to hold the sword- This again suggests that God had worked to bring about the healing of Egypt in her repentance after her first defeat by the Babylonians. But she didn’t respond. <a href='B:300 46:17'>Jer 46:17</a> therefore says of Pharaoh: "he has let the appointed time pass by". He was given a window of repentance but he refused it. The breaking of Pharaoh’s arm was in fact by being a staff of reed to Judah which collapsed. This was all the very opposite narrative to that which the faithless Jews at the time wished to believe- that the strong arm of Pharaoh would save them from the Babylonians. Instead, both Judah and Egypt would collapse as it were in a heap together before the Babylonians. And from this debased state they were both intended to arise as repentant, knowing Yahweh. But they didn’t.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand- One arm had already been broken by the first Egyptian conflict with the Babylonians. They ought to have repented and turned to Yahweh as a result of this. But as a result of that, they would now again be punished, and left with no strength, no arm, and no ability to hold a sword in their own defence, let alone in that of Judah.</p>


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<p>I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries- Scattering and dispersal was the judgment threatened upon Judah (<a href='B:330 12:15'>Eze 12:15</a>; <a href='B:330 20:23'>Eze 20:23</a>; <a href='B:330 22:15'>Eze 22:15</a>). This didn’t literally happen to the Egyptians to the same extent, but the idea was that they would suffer Judah’s judgment rather than save Judah from that judgment.</p>


text:
<p>I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man- As noted on <a href='B:330 29:11'>Eze 29:11</a>, this is not recorded as having happened. Just as the king of Tyre was never dealt with as prophesied, neither was the Pharaoh. And so we look to a latter fulfilment.</p>


text:
<p>I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt- This was absolutely not what the initial audience of Ezekiel wanted to hear; that God would hold up the arms of Babylon and make the arms of Pharaoh, their hoped for saviour, to wax feeble. God would put His sword in Babylon’s strengthened arms. Our message too is unpopular and counter instinctive to what our society wants to hear.</p>


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<p>I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh Scattering and dispersal was the judgment threatened upon Judah (<a href='B:330 12:15'>Eze 12:15</a>; <a href='B:330 20:23'>Eze 20:23</a>; <a href='B:330 22:15'>Eze 22:15</a>). This didn’t literally happen to the Egyptians to the same extent, but the idea was that they would suffer Judah’s judgment rather than save Judah from that judgment. But the final Divine intention was that Egyptians and perhaps also Babylonians [for the grammar is purposefully ambiguous here] could come to know / have relationship with Yahweh. This didn’t happen, and so the final fulfilment of the essence of all this must be in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying- Two months after the previous pronouncement of woe upon Egypt. The length of these prophecies against Egypt may appear to us a mere droning on, but there was an urgent need for God’s people to realize that Egypt was not to be their help; and we need the same message repeated.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt and his multitude: Whom are you like in your greatness?- Presumably this prophecy was to be taken to Pharaoh. This involved no small effort for an exile and asylum seeker in Babylon to achieve. The reason for commanding Ezekiel to go this effort was presumably because like Nineveh, had Pharaoh repented, the threatened judgments need not have happened. Perhaps the fact they did not all work out as stated could reflect some degree of repentance in Egypt. See on :10.</p>


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<p>Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs- We may wonder why Egypt is addressed (:2) through a description of Assyria’s fall some time previously. We have here a classic idea of what I term ’prophetic transference’, whereby the prophetic words about a certain person or entity at one stage of history are transferred or reapplied to another person or entity at another point. Thus we noted on Ezekiel 26-28 that the prophecies about the fall of Tyre and her king never came exactly true, but they are quoted in Revelation 18 about the fall of latter day Babylon. The fulfilment of the words about Tyre was reapplied or transferred to Babylon. Likewise the specific prophecy that Tyre would fall to Nebuchadnezzar was reapplied or transferred to the victory of Alexander the Great against Tyre. This feature also explains why the New Testament appears to quote Old Testament prophecies quite out of context. This makes perfect sense once we understand this ability of God to transfer prophetic burdens from the initially intended person or entity to another, perhaps at another time- often in the last days. In the first year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had declared himself master of Nineveh (Assyria), and so the allusion to Assyria’s fall was to remind Egypt that they would likewise fall before Babylon.</p>


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<p>The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow. Its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field- The reference is to the Nile being the source of Egypt’s prosperity. But the reference is to how rivers, especially the Tigris, were also the source of Nineveh’s strong position, although rivers giving nourishment to other trees also suggests military support for the "trees" under her dominion. But Assyria’s fall was to be that of Egypt. And Judah were to believe this and therefore not trust in Egypt.</p>


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<p>Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth- Assyria like Egypt appeared to have influence far beyond its home area, represented by the long branches. And Judah were tempted to take refuge in it. But like Assyria, Egypt would fall.</p>


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<p>All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow- This is exactly the language of <a href='B:330 17:23'>Eze 17:23</a> and <a href='B:470 13:32'>Mat 13:32</a> about the Kingdom of God, which will be, and could then have been, the Kingdom of Israel reestablished as God’s Kingdom on earth. Instead of trusting in the kingdom of Egypt as their salvation, they were to raise their spiritual horizons and believe that if they repented, then they would not only survive Babylon’s threat but would become the reestablished Kingdom of God on earth, under whose branches all the nations would come to live in fellowship with Yahweh- including Babylon and Egypt.</p>


text:
<p>Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters- The beauty and strength of the tree is associated with its root being by "many waters"; referring to the Tigris for Nineveh, and the Nile for Egypt. But Ezekiel will go on to describe a situation when living waters flow out from Zion and water the entire area, bringing life from the God of Israel to all the surrounding nations. This was where they should have been focused, on the promised restoration of the Kingdom of God in Israel, rather than trusting in the kingdom of Egypt. Like Assyria, this was to fall; see on :6.</p>


text:
<p>The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty- The nations around Assyria are defined as the other trees in Eden, the garden of God. This confirms my suggestions on Genesis 2 that Eden was in fact the eretz promised to Abraham. The same idea is found in describing Tyre as having been in Eden (<a href='B:330 28:13'>Eze 28:13</a>). The language of unequalled beauty however is applied to Zion in <a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:14'>Eze 16:14</a>. It is also used of Tyre in <a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>; <a href='B:330 28:17'>Eze 28:17</a>. So we conclude that as often in the Bible, we are reading things from how they seemed to men at the time. Hence the language of demon possession in the New Testament. Tyre considered herself the perfection of beauty, and so did Egypt and so did Assyria. But the true perfection of beauty from God’s viewpoint was Zion.</p>


text:
<p>I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it- The beauty and power of the nations was given by God. The God of Israel, Yahweh, who was using all the nations towards the possible reestablishment of His Kingdom in Israel. It was for Israel to cooperate with this rather than resist it by trusting in Egypt as if it were Assyria.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature and he has set your top among the thick boughs and his heart is lifted up in his height- Again, pride is identified as the prime reason for the judgment to come. We note the change of pronouns. Now the individual, "you", is addressed. This whole prophecy was directed to Pharaoh personally (see on :2). The similarity with the language of Daniel about Nebuchadnezzar as a great tree was because Daniel was using this kind of parable to urgently appeal for that man’s repentance, lest he be cut down. And so Ezekiel was appealing for Pharaoh’s.</p>


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<p>I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with him. I have driven him out for his wickedness- The tenses vary here between future and past (:12). This is because the allusion is to the past downfall of Nineveh and Assyria, but that is being used as a warning to Egypt. The singular "mighty one of the nations" is not named, because we are intended to see the term as referring to God. But "mighty one" is the same word translated "ram", and this same word in this sense is used as a symbol of the Medes, who along with the Babylonians destroyed Assyria (<a href='B:340 8:20'>Dan 8:20</a>):And the fall of Assyria is being here transferred to Egypt.</p>


text:
<p>Gentiles, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone away from his shadow, and have left him- All the big powers were only powerful by reason of the other nations who were under them, and whose mercenaries formed the bulk of their military strength. The collapse of support for Assyria was to be seen for Egypt too. And it was this apparent strength which was so attractive to Judah. "The terrible of the nations" is the word used for how Assyria appeared to Judah at the time of Hezekiah; but they were destroyed by just one Angel (<a href='B:290 25:3-5'>Isa 25:3-5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:5'>Isa 29:5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:20'>Isa 29:20</a>). And now, other nations appeared "terrible" to Assyria and had destroyed her; and the same cycle was about to happen to Egypt. Yet somehow human nature doesn’t think that the inevitable cycle will reach us personally, and so Pharaoh and his supporters in Judah didn’t want to see that in fact Egypt was set to follow the path of Assyria, and all apparent strength would evaporate. In the end, Yahweh would be the "terrible one" (<a href='B:300 20:11'>Jer 20:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches- In the parable of the tree, the birds and animals which once lived in its branches will now prowl around over those dead branches once they are fallen to the earth. This was how fickle were the supporters of the superpowers; and so Judah should not consider that Egyptian military might was that great, because it depended upon the tribes and smaller nations who supported her. And such support was unreliable and fickle at best.</p>


text:
<p>So that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs. Their mighty ones shall not stand up on their height, even all who drink water; for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit- The GNB clarifies: "And so from now on, no tree, no matter how well-watered it is, will grow that tall again or push its top through the clouds and reach such a height. All of them are doomed to die like mortals, doomed to join those who go down to the world of the dead". The prophetic scenario envisaged was that the Babylonian judgments of the nations would lead to their repentance and ’knowing Yahweh’, coming into relationship with Him. The judgment of Assyria had been intended to teach all the trees, the nations, the utter folly of pride. But this lesson wasn’t learnt, there wasn’t repentance, Egypt didn’t learn the lesson from Assyria and neither did Judah and the other nations. And so the potential scenario just didn’t happen, which explains why not everything predicted in these prophecies came strictly true. It was a potential scenario.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him- I suggested on :14 that the intention of the fall of Assyria as that of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 was in order to elicit repentance amongst the nations. But this didn’t happen. Even though God arranged things to provoke sorrow and mourning amongst the nations, it seems they didn’t mourn Nineveh’s fall, and neither would they mourn that of Egypt nor Judah. Because the hoped for repentance hadn’t been elicited.</p>


text:
<p>I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth- I suggested on :14 that the intention of the fall of Assyria as that of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 was in order to elicit repentance amongst the nations. But this didn’t happen. The nations didn’t tremble and fear because Assyria had been cast down by God because of her pride. The image of comforting doesn’t have to mean that the previous nations in the eretz promised to Abraham, "Eden", were conscious after death. The idea is that they would all alike be unconscious in sheol, they would all meet the same end. And the purpose was that Judah would realize that Egypt would go the way of Assyria and of all earth’s proud empires and pass away. And therefore they would not trust in them, but in God.</p>


text:
<p>They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations- The arm or strength of Assyria as of Egypt was not God, but rather her associated, supportive nations. And this was the arm or strength which Judah was tempted to depend upon rather than the revealed arm of Yahweh their God. Death is presented here as the great equalizer; the minions of Assyria [and Egypt] came to the same end in death. Appreciating the mortality of Egypt ought to have helped God’s people realize the futility of trusting in Egypt rather than Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh- As explained on :18, Pharaoh and her supporting nations were revealed as sharing the same fate. It is emphasized that all the trees of Eden, the nations in the eretz promised to Abraham, all went to the same place in death. Those who had been the minions or colonies of Egypt and Assyria were the same as their masters in death; Pharaoh himself would lie in the midst of the other nations. In death they were all alike, and the ideas that a Pharaoh went to live somewhere else were just fiction. Judah were being invited to share this perspective and therefore not trust in their apparent strength. And for us too, appreciating the fundamental mortality of man helps us realize the folly of trusting in man. For Pharaoh, to whom this message was personally addressed (:2), this would have been a very hard message. Because death was a major theme if not obsession with the Egyptians. The pyramids reveal how much of life was spent preparing for the death of the Pharaoh, involving detailed claims about the journeys of the Pharaoh after death. But Ezekiel is turning all that on its head, and asking Pharaoh to accept that death is death, and he will be amongst the uncircumcised, and all go unto one place- the grave. The only way out was through relationship with Israel’s God and the hope of bodily resurrection at the last day.</p>


text:
<p>It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying- About a year and a half after the destruction of Jerusalem. In that time many of the Jews left in the land had fled into Egypt, although in Jeremiah 44 Jeremiah had foretold their judgment there. That prophecy was probably given at about this time, and is another example of Jeremiah and Ezekiel being used by the Spirit in parallel to say the same things at the same time to different audiences of the Jews.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet and fouled their rivers- The Jews considered Egypt to be like a lion, a strong alternative to the Babylonian lion threatening them, But instead of being a lion, Egypt was to be revealed as a flabby water monster of the rivers who would be dragged out of them and slain. And this monster does nothing good for other rivers / peoples; he muddies their waters. The dragon was intended to remain in the Nile, where he was; any attempt by Egypt to extend influence beyond that was ’breaking out’ from where God had placed Egypt, and would not prosper. And Judah should take warning from that and not look to Egypt for help against Babylon.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out My net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in My net- Egypt’s judgment at the hand of a coalition of peoples clearly looks to her defeat by the Babylonians, whose army was comprised of mercenaries from many nations. These "many nations" were animals "of the whole earth" / eretz promised to Abraham (:4) who were in coalition with Babylon. The defeat in view is clearly that of the Egyptian army at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar. But the further desolation of Egypt itself is not recorded as having happened at the hands of the Babylonians. This was part of the prophetic scenario which didn’t then happen; see on :15.</p>


text:
<p>I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you- Being cast out into the open field in the desert was exactly what happened to the infant Israel (<a href='B:330 16:5'>Eze 16:5</a>), and she was saved from that state by Divine grace alone. The parallel is because God intended Judah to perceive that Egypt was going to share her judgment, and would not save Judah from it but rather herself experience it. And yet as God sought to save Israel from that situation in the "open field", so He sought to save Egypt if they repented.</p>


text:
<p>I will lay your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your height- This is the language of the final destruction ofIsrael’s enemies in <a href='B:330 39:17'>Eze 39:17</a>. The connection is because the prophetic scenario here described didn’t completely come about. The threatened judgments were intended to elicit repentance (see on :15), but because God foresaw that repentance would not be forthcoming, He didn’t bring about the full judgments. And yet the prophetic word is to come ultimately true. This will be achieved by what I have elsewhere called ’transference’. The judgment of Egypt will be transferred to the nations of Ezekiel 38, several of whom are also mentioned later in this chapter 32 (Meshech, Tubal etc:) as sharing the same judgment as Egypt.</p>


text:
<p>I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you- As often observed in this commentary, there is no historical evidence that the land of Egypt itself was desolated like this. See on :5.</p>


text:
<p>When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the sky and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give its light- This is language elsewhere used (notably in the Olivet prophecy, see on :9) about the last days judgment of the nations around Israel. I have explained on :5 that the judgments on Egypt didn’t fully come about, but they will in essence in the last days, and the specific judgments upon her will be transferred to other entities and situations. Just as the judgments upon Tyre and her king didn’t come about completely, but the language used is then reapplied in Revelation 18 to Babylon’s judgments in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh- Darkness upon Egypt recalls the plague of darkness. the impression given thereby is that these judgments are a lead up to another Passover deliverance- during which many repentant Egyptians identified with Israel and made the journey out of Egypt towards the promised land. And this was the Divine intention for Ezekiel’s time and the restoration. See on :13.</p>


text:
<p>I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples- As explained on :7, the Olivet prophecy picks up some of the language used here and applies it to the latter day judgment of Israel’s enemies. In this case the connection is with <a href='B:490 21:26'>Luk 21:26</a>.</p><p>When I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known- This simply didn’t happen to the Egyptians as a result of their conflict with Babylon. There would have been historical testament to this if it had happened. The whole situation looks ahead therefore to the last days, bearing in mind the concept of transference of prophecy outlined in :5 and elsewhere.</p>


text:
<p>Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall- ’Trembling at the fall’ of Egypt is the same phrase used about Tyre (<a href='B:330 26:18'>Eze 26:18</a>). The similarity is in that the same hallmark of Yahweh’s judgment is seen upon all who are judged by Him. They were not mere victims of random event; the Divine hand was in the fall of all in whom His wayward people had trusted. The sword God would brandish was that of Babylon (:11); they were being used by Him, and it was futile for Judah to think that Babylon and other nations could save them from this sword. The Jerusalem temple was full of the idols of various nations who were aligned with Egypt, whom Judah hoped would save them from Babylon. But these nations were to crumble once Egyptian power was destroyed by Babylon.</p>


text:
<p>For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you- Earlier prophecies inEzekiel had spoken of the sword coming upon Jerusalem. Judah were to realize that their destruction by Babylon was connected with the wider judgment of Egypt and other nations.</p>


text:
<p>By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; they are all the terrible of the nations; and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed- All the big powers were only powerful by reason of the other nations who were under them, and whose mercenaries formed the bulk of their military strength. The collapse of support for Assyria was to be seen for Egypt too. And it was this apparent strength which was so attractive to Judah. "The terrible of the nations" is the word used for how Assyria appeared to Judah at the time of Hezekiah; but they were destroyed by just one Angel (<a href='B:290 25:3-5'>Isa 25:3-5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:5'>Isa 29:5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:20'>Isa 29:20</a>). And now, other nations appeared "terrible" to Assyria and had destroyed her; and the same cycle was about to happen to Egypt. Yet somehow human nature doesn’t think that the inevitable cycle will reach us personally, and so Pharaoh and his supporters in Judah didn’t want to see that in fact Egypt was set to follow the path of Assyria, and all apparent strength would evaporate. In the end, Yahweh would be the "terrible one" (<a href='B:300 20:11'>Jer 20:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them- This scenario didn’t come about, just as the complete destruction of all persons in Judah didn’t. The Nile flood lands were not abandoned, all animals weren’t destroyed. But the allusion is to the earlier plagues upon Egypt which targeted their livestock (see on :8). These judgments were to be seen as a lead up to another Passover deliverance- during which many repentant Egyptians identified with Israel and made the journey out of Egypt towards the promised land. And this was the Divine intention for Ezekiel’s time and the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh- This promise of rivers of oil sounds like the blessings of the Messianic kingdom and the reward for obedience to the covenant (<a href='B:50 32:13'>Deu 32:13</a>; <a href='B:50 33:24'>Deu 33:24</a>). Again there is a hint that Egypt like Judah were intended to repent as a result of the Babylonian judgments, and then come into relationship with God, "to know Yahweh", and experience His blessings.</p>


text:
<p>When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was once full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh- This didn’t totally happen. Egypt was defeated militarily at Carchemish, far from the borders of Egypt; there is little evidence of desolation within Egypt and certainly not to this extent. The connection is between "When..." the desolation happens, then "they will know Yahweh", entering relationship with Him. This wasn’t chosen by them, and so the desolation which could have brought that about didn’t happen. God perhaps foresaw that they wouldn’t repent, and so He didn’t bring that desolation which could potentially have brought about their repentance.</p>


text:
<p>This is the lamentation with which they shall lament, with which the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt and over all her multitude shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh- As noted on :16, Ezekiel was asked to do the work of the lamenting women and make this lamentation. Jeremiah’s lamentations over Jerusalem had already begun (see on :1), and they were to be seen as part of a wider lamentation over the other nations to be judged at the same time as Judah. The "multitude" of Egypt, the nations of her coalition, would not save Judah. Their hope was only in Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying- The two weeks which elapsed since :1 were perhaps to give both Judah and Egypt a chance to repent. Two weeks was perhaps a reasonable time to allow communication from Chebar in Babylon to reach Judah and Egypt.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt- This is asking Ezekiel to do the work of women, just spoken of in :16: "This solemn warning will become a funeral song. The women of the nations will sing it to mourn for Egypt and all its people" (GNB). Such challenges of gender roles are common in the Bible, thousands of years before this kind of thing was on the secular agenda.</p><p>And cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit- Here we see the power of the prophetic word. Ezekiel’s word had cast down Egypt. The nations of her coalition are called her daughters because they had as it were acted in whoredom toward Jerusalem. The casting down is another connection with the casting down of Babylon spoken of in Isaiah 14. Absolutely all the superpowers were to come down, it was just a question of when. And instead of seeking salvation from whichever one seemed strongest, Judah were instead to throw themselves upon Yahweh their God.</p>


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<p>Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised- The language of unequalled beauty however is applied to Zion in <a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:14'>Eze 16:14</a>. It is also used of Tyre in <a href='B:330 28:12'>Eze 28:12</a>; <a href='B:330 28:17'>Eze 28:17</a>. So we conclude that as often in the Bible, we are reading things from how they seemed to men at the time. Hence the language of demon possession in the New Testament. Therefore GNB gives: "Say to them:"Do you think you are more beautiful than anyone else?". Tyre considered herself the perfection of beauty, and so did Egypt and so did Assyria. But the true perfection of beauty from God’s viewpoint was Zion.</p>


text:
<p>They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword, she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes- The picture is of the mass execution of the Egyptian soldiers along with the foreign mercenaries who supported them, their bodies falling into a pit already filled with dead bodies, and then the corpses being dragged away.</p>


text:
<p>The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him. They are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword- Judah were reminded that Egypt was not strong of herself; her military might was due to"those who help him". Death was a major theme if not obsession with the Egyptians. The pyramids reveal how much of life was spent preparing for death, involving detailed claims about the journeys after death. But Ezekiel is turning all that on its head, and asking the Egyptians to accept that death is death, and they will be amongst the uncircumcised, and all go unto one place- the grave. The only way out was through relationship with Israel’s God and the hope of bodily resurrection at the last day.</p>


text:
<p>Assyria is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword- The fall of Assyria has been presented as representative of Egypt’s fall in Ezekiel 31. Assyria too once seemed indomitable, and she too had a"company"of nations who gave her strength. They would go to the same death as Egypt and her coalition. Egypt was allied with the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit II, and marched in 609 BC to his aid against the Babylonians. But Assyria like Egypt was to come to its end.</p>


text:
<p>Their graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living- This land of the living may refer specifically to Israel; see on :26. Throughout these prophecies of condemnation of Gentile nations, we have noted constant hints of redemption, if they wished to avail of it."Company"translates a Hebrew word often used of the company of nations associated with Egypt or Babylon. But the promises to Abraham were that a"company"(s:w:) of nations would and could become part of Abraham’s seed (<a href='B:10 28:3'>Gen 28:3</a>; Gen 3511; <a href='B:10 48:4'>Gen 48:4</a>). The"great company"who were to participate in the restoration of God’s Kingdom in Israel was intended to include this great company of nations, who for now were judged (<a href='B:300 31:8'>Jer 31:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p>There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth. They who caused their terror in the land of the living have now borne their shame with those who go down to the pit-"The land of the living"may refer specifically to Israel; see on :26. For"multitude"or ’company’, see on :23.</p>


text:
<p>They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put in the midst of those who are slain- The only honour for Pharaoh would be that he would be at the centre of those who were also ashamed. For the Egyptians, the afterlife was all about glory. But death was to be shame for them. These messages were intended to be taken to the Egyptians in the hope they would repent; see on <a href='B:330 31:2'>Eze 31:2</a>. It was a hard message for them to accept, just as our teaching of conditional immortality and no immortal soul is hard for many to accept.</p>


text:
<p>There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword- These nations are mentioned in Ezekiel 38 as participating in the final invasion of Israel in the last days. But the allusion is to how they and the other Scythians invaded the land in the time of Josiah, and the majority of whom then&nbsp; miserably perished (Herodotus i. 106):&nbsp;The Ezekiel 38 invasion is therefore described in terms of a revival of the nations who had recently invaded and been destroyed.</p><p>For they caused their terror in the land of the living-"The land of the living"in :26,32 can too easily be skim read as meaning ’the world of the living’; and indeed it can mean just this. But the land of life is later defined in <a href='B:330 47:7-12'>Eze 47:7-12</a> as Israel. Perhaps the idea is that Egypt was a force respected in Judah, but it was to come to nothing. And if Judah had stopped looking to Egypt for help, they could have been restored as God’s kingdom and indeed become the land of the living.</p>


text:
<p>They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living- The Egyptians liked to believe that the dead would go to the afterlife with all their favourite swords and domestic possessions; hence the pyramids were found full of such things. But the Egyptians were to have a most dishonourable burial; they would not even have the honour of the warriors of some previous uncircumcised nations, who were buried with their swords under their heads."Their iniquities are on their bones"is hard to understand; the GNB offers"their shields over their bodies". The bones of Israel were also to be dishonourably discarded (<a href='B:330 6:5'>Eze 6:5</a>; <a href='B:330 24:10'>Eze 24:10</a>), but those dishonoured bones were to be resurrected and revived according to the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. The idea may be that such revival was possible for the Egyptians if before their death they repented.</p>


text:
<p>But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword- This prophecy is an intentional attack upon Egyptian views of the afterlife, whereby preservation of bones unbroken was thought to be extremely important; see on :27. They would get no special treatment, but would lie together with all the dead, with them and"in the midst of"the other nations.</p>


text:
<p>There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit- Edom had just been rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem (<a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>). So this is to be seen as a prophecy of the future. Perhaps Edom like the Egyptians liked to think that their practice of circumcision gave them some special status; which is what the Jews also believed. This passage is a clear expose of that position. Circumcision alone would not save; covenant relationship with Yahweh involved far more than the mere token of the covenant, just as the baptism which circumcision points forward to (<a href='B:580 2:12-13'>Col 2:12-13</a>) will not alone save anyone.</p>


text:
<p>There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit-"Laid to rest"(GNB) confirms the general impression we get here in this insight into"the world of the dead". They lay at rest, dead, silent, doing nothing, and all the nationalities go to the same place and lay still and powerless together. This is quite different to the ideas beloved of the Egyptians, that death was an endless active adventure and journey, and they as the superior nation would be separate from the uncircumcised and other nationalities. Death is presented as a place of silence and unconsciousness, with no division between nationalities. This likewise contradicts the picture of death held by those who believe in the myth of an immortal soul and punishments for the soul after death.</p>


text:
<p>When Pharaoh sees them, he will take comfort in his hordes. Pharaoh and all his army will die violently, says the Lord Yahweh- This is almost sarcasm; the only comfort for Pharaoh would be that he had not died alone. However there is no record of Pharaoh being killed at Carchemish, although the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, now housed in the British Museum, claims that Nebuchadnezzar"crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army which lay in Karchemish. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat, decisively. As for the rest of the Egyptian army which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of Hamath the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them so that not a single man escaped to his own country". We would expect a mention of the death of Pharaoh but there is none. And the account of the battle of Carchemish in <a href='B:300 46:3-12'>Jer 46:3-12</a> doesn’t mention it either. Again we see that the prophetic scenario envisaged didn’t completely come about, although the essence of it will in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>For I have put his terror in the land of the living-"The land of the living"in :26,32 can too easily be skim read as meaning ’the world of the living’; and indeed it can mean just this. But the land of life is later defined in <a href='B:330 47:7-12'>Eze 47:7-12</a> as Israel. Perhaps the idea is that Egypt was a force respected in Judah, but it was to come to nothing. And if Judah had stopped looking to Egypt for help, they could have been restored as God’s kingdom and indeed become the land of the living.</p><p>And he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes, says the Lord Yahweh- Whether or not Egyptians were circumcised is an open question, but the idea that circumcised and uncircumcised will come to the same end in death is a reminder to the Jews that their circumcision would not of itself save them. It was the token of the covenant, but they had broken that covenant.</p>


text:
<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- Ezekiel’s prophecies had now been fulfilled about the fall of Jerusalem and the inability of Egypt to save. Now it is his duty in the rest of the prophecy to persuade the Jews in exile and in the land of the need for repentance in order to bring about the reestablishment of the Kingdom God had prepared in potential.</p>


text:
<p>Son of man, speak to the children of your people and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman- Ezekiel personally was the watchman of Israel (<a href='B:330 3:17'>Eze 3:17</a>). This could be read as an encouragement to Ezekiel to keep on in his duty of witnessing as a watchman, and to remember that his own salvation depended upon it. It would seem, as noted on <a href='B:330 3:17'>Eze 3:17</a>, that he at times flagged in the work. The people of the land hadn’t appointed a watchman, but God had- taking the initiative by grace.</p>


text:
<p>If, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people- The men of Judah blew the trumpet to call their soldiers (<a href='B:330 7:14'>Eze 7:14</a>), but Ezekiel and Jeremiah were blowing God’s trumpet of repentance (<a href='B:300 6:1'>Jer 6:1</a>; <a href='B:330 33:3'>Eze 33:3</a>; <a href='B:330 33:6'>Eze 33:6</a>). There was a total mismatch between God and His people.</p>


text:
<p>Then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and doesn’t take warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head- This is a metaphor from the animals sacrifices, on the heads of which they laid their hands, to symbolize that their guilt should be upon the sacrifice. Animal sacrifice was therefore not going to take away their guilt; and now with the temple in ruins and in exile, this was impossible anyway.</p>


text:
<p>He heard the sound of the trumpet and didn’t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul- Ezekiel had been a watchman and had warned them, as Ezekiel 3 has recorded. Perhaps the exiles were complaining that the death of their relatives at the hands of the Babylonians was somehow unfair. But the point was that Ezekiel had given them warning, as had Jeremiah. Their deaths were completely their own fault.</p>


text:
<p>But if the watchman sees the sword come and doesn’t blow the trumpet and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes away any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand- There has been a wrong emphasis being placed on the passages in Ezekiel which state that the duty of the prophet was to warn Israel of impending judgment, and if they did that, they would be free of their responsibility. The impression is given that the prophets therefore said" Look out Israel, judgment day is coming!"and then walked away breathing a sigh of relief that they wouldn’t be condemned themselves for failing in their duty. But the purpose of the prophets was to plead with Israel to repent, to describe the judgments for sin with the earnest hope that this would bring about repentance among those who heard. If they didn’t do this&nbsp; they would be condemned. The Lord says that we are all&nbsp; the watchers of the door of the house of the ecclesia (<a href='B:480 13:34-35'>Mar 13:34-35</a>; <a href='B:490 12:39-40'>Luk 12:39-40</a>),&nbsp; as the prophets were the watchmen over the city of Zion, God’s Old Testament ecclesia. We all&nbsp; therefore have a responsibility to guide and warn the ecclesia, not just to scrape out of condemnation for ourselves, but from a genuine, earnest desire to help others to the Kingdom road. This sin of the watchman in not pleading with the sinner would therefore be that of a sin of omission- and most of our sins are likely in that category rather than cold blooded sins of commission.</p>


text:
<p>So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me- This suggests that although the nation hadn’t set him as a watchman, God, by grace- see on :2. Ezekiel was still to act as a watchman; judgment was still threatened. After all, God had intended destroying every man and animal in the land, and by grace alone had not done so. Yet instead of being moved by that to repentance, the people remaining in the land and the exiles were continuing in sin.</p>


text:
<p>When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, if you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand- Not only our salvation but that of others can be limited by our exercise of freewill. Ifothers’ salvation is not dependent upon our preaching, then there is no meaning to the very concept of preaching. This is true to the extent that a watchman can occasion the death of those he could warn, if he doesn’t do it. And their blood [for they will die] will be required at his hand (<a href='B:330 33:8'>Eze 33:8</a>; <a href='B:330 33:13'>Eze 33:13</a>). The wicked will only turn from their ways if the watchmen warns them- and Ezekiel 33 shows clearly enough that the watchman can be lazy to fulfil his commission, with the result that some will die eternally who need not have done so. It’s not that another watchman is raised up to do the job- it is his responsibility, which he can discharge or not. God’s word has been delegated to us; to not speak it forth is therefore in a sense to diminish His word. Hence Jeremiah is told to"keep not back a word"of all God’s words (<a href='B:300 26:2'>Jer 26:2</a> AV; RV:"Diminish not a word"):&nbsp;The requiring of blood at our hands suggests that there will to some degree be a ’going through’ of all the sins of the rejected at judgment day. For the Hebrew word translated"require"implies some kind of inquisition / explanation.</p>


text:
<p>Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul- Jerusalem had by now fallen, they had not turned from their way, they had died in their iniquity. But it seems that more judgment was threatened to the Jews who remained in the land and also those in exile, and Ezekiel must continue to warn about it. <a href='B:340 12:3'>Dan 12:3</a> says, in a restoration context, that those who turn people to righteousness shall"shine"for ever."Shine"is the same word as"warn"here. If we are shining beacons to others, we shall eternally be so. Our attitudes in this life will be eternally established; in this sense we save our souls or personalities.</p>


text:
<p>You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them- The pining away meant that they had broken the covenant (<a href='B:30 26:39'>Lev 26:39</a>). The AV puts this as a question from them:"If... our sins be upon us...", as Ezekiel had claimed, and as they still denied."Sins"is put for"punishment for our sins". They still insisted they were suffering unjustly for the sins of their fathers and not for their own sins, despite Ezekiel rebuking this attitude in Ezekiel 18.</p><p>How then can we live?- Their attitude was that if indeed they were guilty of their sins, well, how could they live further?"How shall we live?"is the question answered by the vision of the dry bones reviving (<a href='B:330 37:11'>Eze 37:11</a> cp. <a href='B:290 49:14'>Isa 49:14</a>). Although they were suffering the punishment of death for sin, yet by grace there could be a revival from that death by allowing God’s Spirit to operate.</p>


text:
<p>Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?- The desire of God for repentance is stronger than His need to punish sin. Hence LXX"Shall I at all desire the death of the sinner, saith the Lord, as I desire that he should turn from his evil way, and live?". This is why He hangs on so long with sinful people, and Israel are the parade example. His desire for repentance, His passion for human reformation, is active and huge. It’s not that He has set a bar which must be jumped over, and is passive toward us until that is achieved. God is not passive to human repentance. He wants us to repent and&nbsp; wills us to do so. Those who refuse to turn or repent will die, and He has no satisfaction or pleasure or will for that to happen. The exiles could have repented, both individually and collectively ["turn yourselves"in Hebrew carries that collective implication], and averted the death which was otherwise planned for them and their brethren back in Judah at the hand of the Babylonians. Peter alludes to these words in saying that for all time, God is not willing ["pleasure"in Hebrew can mean ’will’] that any should perish but that all should repent (<a href='B:680 3:9'>2Pe 3:9</a>). His work of judging insistent sinners is in this sense for Him a"strange act... a strange work"(<a href='B:290 28:21'>Isa 28:21</a>). His passion is for ourrepentance and salvation, not our condemnation.</p>


text:
<p>You, son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins- The"disobedience"in view is not a single act of moral failure. Rather does it seem that the tiny remnant of the righteous at this point were tempted to now break covenant with God as it were in protest at what they saw as unfair treatment of their people. It was the"transgression"of divorce from God, of the adultery which broke the covenant (<a href='B:290 50:1'>Isa 50:1</a>; <a href='B:330 21:24'>Eze 21:24</a> s:w:). The singular"disobedience"of Judah is specifically defined as their idol worship in the name of Yahweh (<a href='B:400 1:5'>Mic 1:5</a> s:w:). And this kind of thing has been seen so often when previously righteous folk encounter the ’problem of suffering’. Ezekiel had explained the justness of the judgments and revealed the seriousness of sin. But that inspired argumentation was apparently not accepted by them, and that had led them to break covenant with Yahweh.</p>


