Notes from Ezekiel 32

Still we are upon the destruction of Pharaoh and Egypt, which is wonderfully enlarged upon, and with a great deal of emphasis. When we read so very much of Egypt's ruin, no less than six several prophecies at divers times delivered concerning it, we are ready to think, Surely there is some special reason for it. And,

I. Perhaps it may look as far back as the book of Genesis, where we find (15:14) that God determined to judge Egypt for oppressing his people; and, though that was in part fulfilled in the plagues of Egypt and the drowning of Pharaoh, yet, in this destruction, here foretold, those old scores were reckoned for, and that was to have its full accomplishment.
II. Perhaps it may look as far forward as the book of the Revelation, where we find that the great enemy of the gospel-church, that makes war with the Lamb, is spiritually called Egypt, Rev. 11:8. And, if so, the destruction of Egypt and its Pharaoh was a type of the destruction of that proud enemy; and between this prophecy of the ruin of Egypt and the prophecy of the destruction of the antichristian generation there is some analogy. We have two distinct prophecies in this chapter relating to Egypt, both in the same month, one on the 1st day, the other that day fortnight, probably both on the sabbath day. They are both lamentations, not only to signify how lamentable the fall of Egypt should be, but to intimate how much the prophet himself should lament it, from a generous principle of love to mankind. The destruction of Egypt is here represented under two similitudes:-
1. The killing of a lion, or a whale, or some such devouring creature (v. 1-16).
2. The funeral of a great commander or captain-general (v. 17-32).
The two prophecies of this chapter are much of the same length.

Notes from Ezekiel 31

The prophecy of this chapter, as the two chapters before, is against Egypt, and designed for the humbling and mortifying of Pharaoh. In passing sentence upon great criminals it is usual to consult precedents, and to see what has been done to others in the like case, which serves both to direct and to justify the proceedings. Pharaoh stands indicted at the bar of divine justice for his pride and haughtiness, and the injuries he had done to God's people; but he thinks himself so high, so great, as not to be accountable to any authority, so strong, and so well guarded, as not to be conquerable by any force. The prophet is therefore directed to make a report to him of the case of the king of Assyria, whose head city was Nineveh.

I. He must show him how great a monarch the king of Assyria had been, what a vast empire he had, what a mighty sway he bore; the king of Egypt, great as he was could not go beyond him (v. 3-9).
II. He must then show him how like he was to the king of Assyria in pride and carnal security (v. 10).
III. He must next read him the history of the fall and ruin of the king of Assyria, what a noise it made among the nations and what a warning it gave to all potent princes to take heed of pride (v. 11-17).
IV. He must leave the king of Egypt to apply all this to himself, to see his own face in the looking-glass of the king of Assyria's sin, and to foresee his own fall through the perspective glass of his ruin (v. 18).

Notes from Ezekiel 30

In this chapter we have,

I. A continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, which we had in the latter part of the foregoing chapter, just before the desolation of that once flourishing kingdom was completed by Nebuchadnezzar, in which is foretold the destruction of all her allies and confederates, all her interests and concerns, and the several steps which the king of Babylon should take in pushing on this destruction (v. 1-19).
II. A repetition of a former prophecy against Egypt, just before the desolation of it begun by their own bad conduct, which gradually weakened them and prepared the way for the king of Babylon (v. 20-26).
It is all much to the same purport with what we had before.

Notes from Ezekiel 29

Three chapters we had concerning Tyre and its king; next follow four chapters concerning Egypt and its king. This is the first of them. Egypt had formerly been a house of bondage to God's people; of late they had had but too friendly a correspondence with it, and had depended too much upon it; and therefore, whether the prediction reached Egypt or no, it would be of use to Israel, to take them off from their confidence in their alliance with it. The prophecies against Egypt, which are all laid together in these four chapters, were of five several dates; the first in the 10th year of the captivity (v. 1), the second in the 27th (v. 17), the third in the 11th year and the first month (30:20), the fourth in the 11th year and the third month (31:1), the fifth in the 12th year (32:1), and another in the same year (v. 17). In this chapter we have,

I. The destruction of Pharaoh foretold, for his dealing deceitfully with Israel (v. 1-7).
II. The desolation of the land of Egypt foretold (v. 8-12).
III. A promise of the restoration thereof, in part, after forty years (v. 13-16).
IV. The possession that should be given to Nebuchadnezzar of the land of Egypt (v. 17-20).
V. A promise of mercy to Israel (v. 21).

Notes from Ezekiel 28

In this chapter we have,

I. A prediction of the fall and ruin of the king of Tyre, who, in the destruction of that city, is particularly set up as a mark for God's arrows (v. 1-10).
II. A lamentation for the king of Tyre, when he has thus fallen, though he falls by his own iniquity (v. 11-19).
III. A prophecy of the destruction of Zidon, which as in the neighbourhood of Tyre and had a dependence upon it (v. 20-23).
IV. A promise of the restoration of the Israel of God, though in the day of their calamity they were insulted over by their neighbours (v. 24-26).

Notes from Ezekiel 27

Still we are attending the funeral of Tyre and the lamentations made for the fall of that renowned city. In this chapter we have,

I. A large account of the dignity, wealth, and splendour of Tyre, while it was in its strength, the vast trade it drove, and the interest it had among the nations (v. 1-25), which is designed to make its ruin the more lamentable.
II. A prediction of its fall and ruin, and the confusion and consternation which all its neighbours shall thereby be put into (v. 26-36).
And this is intended to stain the pride of all worldly glory, and, by setting the one over-against the other, to let us see the vanity and uncertainty of the riches, honours, and pleasures of the world, and what little reason we have to place our happiness in them or to be confident of the continuance of them; so that all this is written for our learning.

Notes from Ezekiel 26

The prophet had soon done with those four nations that he set his face against in the foregoing chapters; for they were not at that time very considerable in the world, nor would their fall make any great noise among the nations nor any figure in history. But the city of Tyre is next set to the bar; this, being a place of vast trade, was known all the world over; and therefore here are three whole chapters, this and the two that follow, spent in the prediction of the destruction of Tyre. We have "the burden of Tyre,' Isa. 23. It is but just mentioned in Jeremiah, as sharing with the natives in the common calamity, 25:22; 27:3; 47:4. But Ezekiel is ordered to be copious upon that head. In this chapter we have,

I. The sin charged upon Tyre, which was triumphing in the destruction of Jerusalem (v. 2).
II. The destruction of Tyrus itself foretold.
1. The extremity of this destruction: it shall be utterly ruined (v. 4-6, 12-14).
2. The instruments of this destruction, many nations (v. 3), and the king of Babylon by name with his vast victorious army (v. 7-11).
3. The great surprise that this should give to the neighbouring nations, who would all wonder at the fall of so great a city and be alarmed at it (v. 15-21).

Notes from Ezekiel 25

Judgment began at the house of God, and therefore with them the prophets began, who were the judges; but it must not end there, and therefore they must not. Ezekiel had finished his testimony which related to the destruction of Jerusalem. As to that he was ordered to say no more, but stand upon his watch-tower and wait the issue; and yet he must not be silent; there are divers nations bordering upon the land of Israel, which he must prophesy against, as Isaiah and Jeremiah had done before; and must proclaim God's controversy with them, chiefly for the injuries and indignities which they had done to the people of God in the day of their calamity. In this chapter we have his prophecy,

I. Against the Ammonites (v. 1-7).
II. Against the Moabites (v. 8-11).
III. Against the Edomites (v. 11-14).
IV. Against the Philistines (v. 15-17).
That which is laid to the charge of each of them is their barbarous and insolent conduct towards God's Israel, for which God threatens to put the same cup of trembling into their hand. God's resenting it thus would be an encouragement to Israel to believe that though he had dealt thus severely with them yet he had not cast them off, but would still own them and plead their cause.

Notes from Ezekiel 24

Here are two sermons in this chapter, preached on a particular occasion, and they are both from Mount Sinai, the mount of terror, both from Mount Ebal, the mount of curses; both speak the approaching fate of Jerusalem. The occasion of them was the king of Babylon's laying siege to Jerusalem, and the design of them is to show that in the issue of that siege he should be not only master of the place, but destroyer of it.

I. By the sign of flesh boiling in a pot over the fire are shown the miseries that Jerusalem should suffer during the siege, and justly, for her filthiness (v. 1-14).

II. By the sign of Ezekiel's not mourning for the death of his wife is shown that the calamities coming upon Jerusalem were too great to be lamented, so great that they should sink down under them into a silent despair (v. 15-27).

Notes from Ezekiel 23

This long chapter (as before ch. 16 and 20) is a history of the apostasies of God's people from him and the aggravations of those apostasies under the similitude of corporal whoredom and adultery. Here the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the ten tribes and the two, with their capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, are considered distinctly. Here is,

I. The apostasy of Israel and Samaria from God (v. 1-8) and their ruin for it (v. 9, 10).
II. The apostasy of Judah and Jerusalem from God (v. 11-21) and sentence passed upon them, that they shall in like manner be destroyed for it (v. 22-35).
III. The joint wickedness of them both together (v. 36-44) and the joint ruin of them both (v. 45-49).
And all that is written for warning against the sins of idolatry, and confidence in an arm of flesh, and sinful leagues and confederacies with wicked people (which are the sins here meant by committing whoredom), is that others may hear and fear, and not sin after the similitude of the transgressions of Israel and Judah.

Notes from Ezekiel 22

Here are three separate messages which God entrusts the prophet to deliver concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and all to the same purport, to show them their sins and the judgments that were coming upon them for those sins.

I. Here is a catalogue of their sins, by which they had exposed themselves to shame and for which God would bring them to ruin (v. 1-16).
II. They are here compared to dross, and are condemned as dross to the fire (v. 17-22).
III. All orders and degrees of men among them are here found guilty of the neglect of the duty of their place and of having contributed to the national guilt, which therefore, since none appeared as intercessors, they must all expect to share in the punishment of (v. 23-31).

Notes from Ezekiel 21

In this chapter we have,

I. An explication of the prophecy in the close of the foregoing chapter concerning the fire in the forest, which the people complained they could not understand (v. 1-5), with directions to the prophet to show himself deeply affected with it (v. 6, 7).
II. A further prediction of the sword that was coming upon the land, by which all should be laid waste; and this expressed very emphatically (v. 8-17).
III. A prospect given of the king of Babylon's approach to Jerusalem, to which he was determined by divination (v. 18-24).
IV. Sentence passed upon Zedekiah king of Judah (v. 25-27).
V. The destruction of the Ammonites by the sword foretold (v. 28-32).
Thus is this chapter all threatenings.

Notes from Ezekiel 20

In this chapter,

I. The prophet is consulted by some of the elders of Israel (v. 1).
II. He is instructed by his God what answer to give them. He must,
1. Signify God's displeasure against them (v. 2, 3). And,
2. He must show them what just cause he had for that displeasure, by giving them a history of God's grateful dealings with their fathers and their treacherous dealings with God.
(1.) In Egypt (v. 5-9).
(2.) In the wilderness (v. 10-26).
(3.) In Canaan (v. 27-32).
3. He must denounce the judgments of God against them (v. 33-36).
4. He must tell them likewise what mercy God had in store for them, when he would bring a remnant of them to repentance, re-establish them in their own land, and set up his sanctuary among them again (v. 37-44).
5. Here is another word dropped towards Jerusalem, which is explained and enlarged upon in the next chapter (v. 45-49).

Notes from Ezekiel 19

The scope of this chapter is much the same with that of the 17th, to foretel and lament the ruin of the house of David, the royal family of Judah, in the calamitous exit of the four sons and grandsons of Josiah-Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, in whom that illustrious line of kings was cut off, which the prophet is here ordered to lament (v. 1). And he does it by similitudes.

I. The kingdom of Judah and house of David are here compared to a lioness, and those princes to lions, that were fierce and ravenous, but were hunted down and taken in nets (v. 2-9).
II. That kingdom and that house are here compared to a vine, and these princes to branches, which had been strong and flourishing, but were now broken off and burnt (v. 10-14).
This ruin of that monarchy was now in the doing, and this lamentation of it was intended to affect the people with it, that they might not flatter themselves with vain hopes of the lengthening out of their tranquility.

Notes from Ezekiel 18

Perhaps, in reading some of the foregoing chapters, we may have been tempted to think ourselves not much concerned in them (though they also were written for our learning); but this chapter, at first view, appears highly and nearly to concern us all, very highly, very nearly; for, without particular reference to Judah and Jerusalem, it lays down the rule of judgment according to which God will deal with the children of men in determining them to their everlasting state, and it agrees with that very ancient rule laid down, Gen. 4:7, "If though doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?' But, "if not, sin,' the punishment of sin,"lies at the door.' Here is,

I. The corrupt proverb used by the profane Jews, which gave occasion to the message here sent them, and made it necessary for the justifying of God in his dealings with them (v. 1-3).
II. The reply given to this proverb, in which God asserts in general his own sovereignty and justice (v. 4). Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with them (v. 4, 20). But say to the righteous, It shall be ill with them (v. 4, 20). But say to the righteous, It shall be well with them (v. 5-9). In particular, as to the case complained of, he assures us,
1. That it shall be ill with a wicked man, though he had a good father (v. 10-13).
2. That it shall be well with a good man, though he had a wicked father (v. 14-18). And therefore in this God is righteous (v. 19, 20).
3. That it shall be well with penitents, though they began ever so ill (v. 21-23 and 27, 28).
4. That it shall be ill with apostates, though they began ever so well (v. 24, 26). And the use of all this is,
(1.) To justify God and clear the equity of all his proceedings (v. 25, 29).
(2.) To engage and encourage us to repent of our sins and turn to God (v. 30-32).
And these are things which belong to our everlasting peace. O that we may understand and regard them before they be hidden from our eyes!

Notes from Ezekiel 17

God was, in the foregoing chapter, reckoning with the people of Judah, and bringing ruin upon them for their treachery in breaking covenant with him; in this chapter he is reckoning with the king of Judah for his treachery in breaking covenant with the king of Babylon; for when God came to contend with them he found many grounds of his controversy. The thing was now in doing: Zedekiah was practising with the king of Egypt underhand for assistance in a treacherous project he had formed to shake off the yoke of the king of Babylon, and violate the homage and fealty he had sworn to him. For this God by the prophet here,

I. Threatens the ruin of him and his kingdom, by a parable of two eagles and a vine (v. 1-10), and the explanation of that parable (v. 11-21). But, in the close,
II. He promises hereafter to raise the royal family of Judah again, the house of David, in the Messiah and his kingdom (v. 22-24).

Notes from Ezekiel 16

Still God is justifying himself in the desolations he is about to bring upon Jerusalem; and very largely, in this chapter, he shows the prophet, and orders him to show the people, that he did but punish them as their sins deserved. In the foregoing chapter he had compared Jerusalem to an unfruitful vine, that was fit for nothing but the fire; in this chapter he compares it to an adulteress, that, in justice, ought to be abandoned and exposed, and he must therefore show the people their abominations, that they might see how little reason they had to complain of the judgments they were under. In this long discourse are set forth,

I. The despicable and deplorable beginnings of that church and nation (v. 3-5).
II. The many honours and favours God had bestowed upon them (v. 6-14).
III. Their treacherous and ungrateful departures from him to the services and worship of idols, here represented by the most impudent whoredom (v. 15-34).
IV. A threatening of terrible destroying judgments, which God would bring upon them for this sin (v. 35-43).
V. An aggravation both of their sin and of their punishment, by comparison with Sodom and Samaria (v. 44-59).
VI. A promise of mercy in the close, which God would show to a penitent remnant (v. 60-63). And this is designed for admonition to us.

Notes from Ezekiel 15

Ezekiel has again and again, in God's name, foretold the utter ruin of Jerusalem; but, it should seem, he finds it hard to reconcile himself to it, and to acquiesce in the will of God in this severe dispensation; and therefore God takes various methods to satisfy him not only that it shall be so, but that there is no remedy: it must be so; it is fit that it should be so. Here, in this short chapter, he shows him (probably with design that he should tell the people) that it was as requisite Jerusalem should be destroyed as that the dead and withered branches of a vine should be cut off and thrown into the fire.

I. The similitude is very elegant (v. 1-5), but,
II. The explanation of the similitude is very dreadful (v. 6-8).

Notes from Ezekiel 14

Hearing the word, and prayer, are two great ordinances of God, in which we are to give honour to him and may hope to find favour and acceptance with him; and yet in this chapter, to our great surprise, we find some waiting upon God in the one and some in the other and yet not meeting with success as they expected.

I. The elders of Israel come to hear the word, and enquire of the prophet, but, because they are not duly qualified, they meet with a rebuke instead of acceptance (v. 1-5) and are called upon to repent of their sins and reform their lives, else it is at their peril to enquire of God (v. 6-11).
II. Noah, Daniel, and Job, are supposed to pray for this people, and yet, because the decree has gone forth, and the destruction of them is determined by a variety of judgments, their prayers shall not be answered (v. 12-21). And yet it is promised, in the close, that a remnant shall escape (v. 22, 23).

Notes from Ezekiel 13

Mention had been made, in the chapter before, of the vain visions and flattering divinations with which the people of Israel suffered themselves to be imposed upon (v. 24); now this whole chapter is levelled against them. God's faithful prophets are nowhere so sharp upon any sort of sinners as upon the false prophets, not because they were the most spiteful enemies to them, but because the put the highest affront upon God and did the greatest mischief to his people. The prophet here shows the sin and punishment,

I. Of the false prophets (v. 1-16).
II. Of the false prophetesses (v. 17-23).
Both agreed to sooth men up in their sins, and, under pretence of comforting God's people, to flatter them with hopes that they should yet have peace; but the prophets shall be proved liars, their prophecies mere shams, and the expectations of the people illusions; for God will let them know that "the deceived and the deceiver are his,' are both accountable to him, Job 12:16.

Notes from Ezekiel 12

Though the vision of God's glory had gone up from the prophet, yet his word comes to him still, and is by him sent to the people, and to the same purport with that which was discovered to him in the vision, namely, to set forth the terrible judgments that were coming upon Jerusalem, by which the city and temple should be entirely laid waste. In this chapter,

I. The prophet, by removing his stuff, and quitting his lodgings, must be a sign to set forth Zedekiah's flight out of Jerusalem in the utmost confusion when the Chaldeans took the city (v. 1-16).
II. The prophet, by eating his meat with trembling, must be a sign to set forth the famine in the city during the siege, and the consternation that the inhabitants should be in (v. 17-20).
III. A message is sent from God to the people, to assure them that all these predictions should have their accomplishment very shortly, and not be deferred, as they flattered themselves they would be (v. 21-28).

Notes from Ezekiel 11

This chapter concludes the vision which Ezekiel saw, and this part of it furnished him with two messages:-

I. A message of wrath against those who continued still at Jerusalem, and were there in the height of presumption, thinking they should never fall (v. 1-13).
II. A message of comfort to those who were carried captives into Babylon and were there in the depth of despondency, thinking they should never rise. And, as the former are assured that God has judgments in store for them notwithstanding their present security, so the later are assured that God has mercy in store for them notwithstanding their present distress (v. 14-21). And so the glory of God removes further (v. 22, 23). The vision disappears (v. 24), and Ezekiel faithfully gives his hearers an account of it (v. 25).

Notes from Ezekiel 10

The prophet had observed to us (8:4) that when he was in vision at Jerusalem he saw the same appearance of the glory of God there that he had seen by the river Chebar; now, in this chapter, he gives us some account of the appearance there, as far as was requisite for the clearing up of two further indications of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, which God here gave the prophet:-

I. The scattering of the coals of fire upon the city, which were taken from between the cherubim (v. 1-7).
II. The removal of the glory of God from the temple, and its being upon the wing to be gone (v. 8-22).
When God goes out from a people all judgments break in upon them.

Notes from Ezekiel 9

The prophet had, in vision, seen the wickedness that was committed at Jerusalem, in the foregoing chapter, and we may be sure that it was not represented to him worse than really it was; now here follows, of course, a representation of their ruin approaching; for when sin goes before judgments come next. Here is,

I. Preparation made of instruments that were to be employed in the destruction of the city (v. 1, 2).
II. The removal of the Shechinah from the cherubim to the threshold of the temple (v. 3).
III. Orders given to one of the persons employed, who is distinguished from the rest, for the marking of a remnant to be preserved from the common destruction (v. 3, 4).
IV. The warrant signed for the execution of those that were not marked, and the execution begun accordingly (v. 5-7).
V. The prophet's intercession for the mitigation of the sentence, and a denial of any mitigation, the decree having now gone forth (v. 8-10).
VI. The report made by him that was to mark the pious remnant of what he had done in that matter (v. 11). And this shows a usual method of Providence in the government of the world.

Notes from Ezekiel 8

God, having given the prophet a clear foresight of the people's miseries that were hastening on, here gives him a clear insight into the people's wickedness, by which God was provoked to bring these miseries upon them, that he might justify God in all his judgments, might the more particularly reprove the sins of the people, and with the more satisfaction foretel their ruin. Here God, in vision, brings him to Jerusalem, to show him the sins that were committed there, though God had begun to contend with them (v. 1-4), and there he sees,

I. The image of jealousy set up at the gate of the altar (v. 5, 6).
II. The elders of Israel worshipping all manner of images in a secret chamber (v. 7-12).
III. The women weeping for Tammuz (v. 13, 14).
IV. The men worshipping the sun (v. 15, 16). And then appeals to him whether such a provoking people should have any pity shown them (v. 17, 18).

Notes from Ezekiel 7

In this chapter the approaching ruin of the land of Israel is most particularly foretold in affecting expressions often repeated, that if possible they might be awakened by repentance to prevent it. The prophet must tell them,

I. That it will be a final ruin, a complete utter destruction, which would make an end of them, a miserable end (v. 1-6).
II. That it is an approaching ruin, just at the door (v. 7-10).
III. That it is an unavoidable ruin, because they had by sin brought it upon themselves (v. 10-15).
IV. That their strength and wealth should be no fence against it (v. 16-19).
V. That the temple, which they trusted in, should itself be ruined (v. 20-22).
VI. That it should be a universal ruin, the sin that brought it having been universal (v. 23-27).

Notes from Ezekiel 6

In this chapter we have,

I. A threatening of the destruction of Israel for their idolatry, and the destruction of their idols with them (v. 1-7).
II. A promise of the gracious return of a remnant of them to God, by true repentance and reformation (v. 8-10).
III. Directions given to the prophet and others, the Lord's servants, to lament both the iniquities and the calamities of Israel (v. 11-14).

Notes from Ezekiel 5

In this chapter we have a further, and no less terrible, denunciation of the judgments of God, which were coming with all speed and force upon the Jewish nation, which would utterly ruin it; for when God judges he will overcome. This destruction of Judah and Jerusalem is here,

I. Represented by a sign, the cutting, and burning, and scattering of hair (v. 1-4).
II. That sign is expounded, and applied to Jerusalem.
1. Sin is charged upon Jerusalem as the cause of this desolation-contempt of God's law (v. 5-7) and profanation of his sanctuary (v. 11).
2. Wrath is threatened, great wrath (v. 8-10), a variety of miseries (v. 12, 16, 17), such as should be their reproach and ruin (v. 13-15).

Notes from Ezekiel 4

Ezekiel was now among the captives in Babylon, but they there had Jerusalem still upon their hearts; the pious captives looked towards it with an eye of faith (as Daniel 6:10), the presumptuous ones looked towards it with an eye of pride, and flattered themselves with a conceit that they should shortly return thither again; those that remained corresponded with the captives, and, it is likely, bouyed them up with hopes that all would be well yet, as long as Jerusalem was standing in its strength, and perhaps upbraided those with their folly who had surrendered at first; therefore, to take down this presumption, God gives the prophet, in this chapter, a very clear and affecting foresight of the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army and the calamities which would attend that siege. Two things are here represented to him in vision:-

I. The fortifications that should be raised against the city; this is signified by the prophet's laying siege to the portraiture of Jerusalem (v. 1-3) and laying first on one side and then on the other side before it (v. 4-8).
II. The famine that should rage within the city; this is signified by his eating very coarse fare, and confining himself to a little of it, so long as this typical representation lasted (v. 9-17).