Chapter 4 — The Siege
HERE the judgment of God is pronounced upon Jerusalem itself, and not only upon Israel generally. None had been more highly favored, and none more guilty in the sight of God. With what astonishment must the captives by the river Chebar have watched Ezekiel’s movements as he portrayed the siege of that city of solemnities, and as day by day, first for 390 days, and then for 40, he bore the iniquity of the houses of Israel and Judah.
The dates here alluded to have given rise to much controversy, but it is clear at any rate that from the death of Solomon to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar is a period of 390 years, or almost exactly so. The 40 years would seem to refer to the reign of Solomon himself, when that idolatry commenced, which, in spite of abundant prophetic warning, resulted in the deportation to Babylon of both the ten tribes and the two. There seems no reason to doubt that this is what the Spirit of God had in view in this remarkable command, for clearly it was for the sin of idolatry that this judgment fell upon the people: “I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever” (1 Kings 11:30-4030And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: 31And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: 32(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) 33Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. 34Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: 35But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. 36And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. 37And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. 38And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. 39And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 40Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. (1 Kings 11:30‑40)).
But still more must the prophet enter into the terrible reality of Israel’s low estate. A faithful Daniel refused to defile himself with the Gentile monarch’s meat; even in Babylon’s court he maintained the strictest separation from all that the law of Moses forbade. But here at the bidding of the Lord Himself, Ezekiel, no less faithful than Daniel, though in different circumstances, is made to eat the most revolting food, thus illustrating in his own person the degraded condition of the children of Israel eating their defiled bread among the Gentiles. Ezekiel, though personally well-pleasing to the Lord, is thus made to taste the sorrow and the shame of the nation’s guilt. None but the perfect One, the true Son of man, could enter into it in all its depth, drinking to its deepest dregs the cup of divine judgment, when He who knew no sin was made sin, that not only repentant Israel but any and every contrite sinner might be eternally blessed. He only could offer a complete atonement, and thus satisfy the infinite righteousness of a thrice holy God. Yet is it not beautiful to see Ezekiel in his measure following in his blessed Master’s footsteps, not, we need hardly add, in any sense whatever bearing their sin atoningly, for this the Lord of glory alone could do, but identifying himself with the nation of Israel in their low estate. Ezekiel might be shielded from what he most shrank from, but not so our adorable and blessed Lord and Saviour. “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,” was immediately followed by those words of eternal and infinite obedience to the Father and love to us, “nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.” Eternal praises to His peerless name!
Chapter 5 — The Barber’s Razor
By means of another type the prophet is led to set forth the almost total destruction of the population of Jerusalem. A third part was to perish in the city by fire, pestilence, and famine; a third part, by the sword; and a third part, to be scattered to the winds (vers. 1-5, 12).
The sorrowful reason is then given: Jerusalem, set in the midst of the nations to be a witness for the true God in opposition to idols, had exceeded those very nations in wickedness (vers. 5-8). Long and patiently had Jehovah dealt with them; now there was no remedy: the heathen around would witness with astonishment the unprecedented sight of a nation visited with such unsparing judgment by the very God they professed to worship.
In passing, we may notice this unanswerable evidence of the inspiration of the Scriptures. The historical and religious records of the Jewish nation condemn them at every turn. The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms are one continuous exposure of their sin and disobedience. Would any nation have composed or collected evidence so condemnatory of itself? And this is what Scripture is from first to last, so far as man is concerned — a sorrowful record of sin and failure, commencing with that first act of disobedience in the garden of Eden, and culminating in that crowning act of wickedness at Calvary. The first man’s sin and ruin is complete; but God has been glorified by the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, who by His death has not only vindicated His character and majesty, but brings rebel sinners who believe right home to God.
In God’s government of His earthly people, they were to be scattered and their city laid waste. In the pride of their hearts they still imagine that they are dispersed among the nations to be a witness of the truth, though guilty now of an infinitely greater crime than that which necessitated the Babylonian captivity, even the rejection and murder of their Messiah. No; God’s judgments are upon them for their sin, and worse trials are yet to come: “I the Lord have spoken it” (vers. 13, 15, 17).
Chapter 6 — The Mountains of Israel
The judgment would not be confined to Jerusalem; it would reach to the mountains, hills, and valleys, and thus “ye shall know that I am the Lord.” But a little remnant would be spared, who with broken hearts would loathe themselves and repent of all the evils they had committed: “And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them” (ver. 10). None would be able to hide from the eyes of Jehovah. If the sword should fall upon those that were near, the pestilence would as certainly overtake those far off.
Chapter 7 — The Four Corners of the Land
This chapter closes this first series of prophetic woes. The judgment which was to commence at Jerusalem (chap. 5), and to spread to the mountains of Israel (chap. 6.), is here seen reaching to every corner of the land. The sinful idolatry of the people had reached its climax: there was no remedy possible; the end was come, and the morning of their day of trouble had dawned. All that is here so graphically described has been fulfilled to the very letter in the history of the guilty nation. Only we must notice that the prophet confines himself to the results of the sin of idolatry, and terrible as all the suffering of the past has been, worse, even hitherto unparalleled trial, is yet to be theirs, because of the far greater sin of the rejection and murder of their Messiah.
The time, then, for Jehovah’s judgment of the guilty people was come. “Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee; and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations (i.e., idolatry)” (ver. 8). So great would be the pressure of sorrow and desolation, that all that naturally and usually engages the attention of man would be paralyzed; trade would be at a standstill, “Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof” (ver. 12.). Their seasons of national rejoicing would be blighted; the year of jubilee (Lev. 23.), with all its social and family joys, would lapse: “The seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive” (ver. 13). The trumpet’s blast, that in days gone by had summoned the people to the worship of Jehovah would sound in vain; nor would its rallying notes inspire them with confidence in the outstretched arm of Jehovah (see Num. 10:99And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)): “They have blown the trumpets, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for My wrath is upon all the multitude thereof” (ver. 14). So far were they from being remembered before the Lord their God for deliverance and salvation from their enemies as in days of yore, now because of their abominable transgressions there would be “the sword without, and the pestilence and famine within” (ver. 13). The few that should escape these strokes of divine judgment, would be like doves of the valley, lost amidst the desolate mountains, mourning in their solitude; “they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity” (ver. 16).
Sorrowful indeed is the contrast between all this and those bright and joyous scenes of Miriam’s exultation, “Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea” (Exod. 15:2121And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. (Exodus 15:21)). But then Jehovah had been their defender, and had they not abandoned Him for idols? And what could they do for them now in the extremity of their distress? “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as uncleanness: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it was the stumbling-block of their iniquity” (ver. 19). Yes, their idols were nothing but material silver and gold: eyes they might have, but they could not see; and ears, but they could not hear. Idolatry was indeed the stumbling-block of Jewish iniquity.
But this was not all. There was a spot where God had chosen to place His name — a palace built “not for man, but for the Lord God;” there the glory of the Lord had shone in earlier times, but now it was polluted with idols: “As for the beauty of His ornament, He set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations, and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from me” (ver. 20). If idolatry was so intolerable in guilty Israel, will God endure it in still more guilty Christendom? Let the judgment about to fall on Babylon the Great, that mother of ecclesiastical “harlots and abominations of the earth,” give the solemn answer (Rev. 17,18,19).
Finally, the desperate condition of the people is graphically described — the land full of bloody crimes, the city full of violence, the worst of the heathen in possession of their houses, the holy places defiled: “Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor” (vers. 25, 26). Worse than all, the heavens are now as brass above their heads, and all refuge on the part of God fails them: “Then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord” (vers. 26, 27).
Solemn indeed is the thought that the Lord should be known by the judgments which He would execute, not upon the heathen merely, but even upon His own people! How literally all was fulfilled! Here closes this first series of prophetic warnings.