Читать книгу The Prophet Ezekiel: An Analytical Exposition - Arno Clemens Gaebelein - Страница 14

Two judgment messages follow. Each message is a direct communication from Jehovah to the Prophet. "And the Word of the Lord came unto me." Both messages end in the same way: "And they shall know that I am the Lord." In the first message the judgment of the whole land is announced. The second message announces the completeness of the judgment. The predicted end is described with its accompanying perplexities and sufferings.

I. The Coming Judgment against the Mountains and the Land.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set they face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places; and your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (chapter vi:1-7).

The denunciation against the mountains of Israel stands in the first place. Jerusalem was mostly in view in the preceding chapters, but now the Lord announces that the whole land is to become desolate through His wrath. The mountains of Israel's land were used as places for idolatry; they are called "the high places." Images and shrines were erected upon these heights where the vile and idolatrous worship of heathen gods was practiced. These images were idols dedicated to sun-worship. That Israel would become idolatrous had been revealed to Moses, who also announced the judgment which should ultimately fall upon Israel for their idolatry. "And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. And I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished. And I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste" (Lev. xxvi:30-33). This remarkable prophetic statement was made to Moses, who wrote it hundreds of years before. And now the time for its fulfillment had at last come. God in His patience had delayed the judgment, but when the time had come He remembered all that Moses heard from His lips and executed His own Word. A careful comparison of the passage in Leviticus with verses 3-6 of this chapter shows the literal fulfillment.

Yet will I leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I shall have broken their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations, 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. Thus saith the Lord God: Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine; thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate; yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 8-14).

The Lord promised that in mercy He would leave a remnant. That remnant would acknowledge the evil they had done. "They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations." This is the result of Jehovah's action towards themselves. The words "because I am broken with their whorish heart" are literally translated "when I shall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from me." No judgment which came upon God's peculiar people ever made a complete end of the nation. A remnant always remained and turned to the Lord. During the greatest and longest judgment which has ever befallen the people Israel, their world-wide dispersion in the present age, there is also a remnant amongst them (Romans xi:5). And when Jehovah resumes His dealings with them during the last seven years of the Times of the Gentiles, the time of their greatest trouble, a remnant will turn to Him and be converted. That remnant will be carried through the mighty judgments of the end time and receive the blessings and the glory of the promised kingdom.

Ezekiel was also commanded to smite with his hand and to stamp with his foot. Clapping the hands and stamping with the feet may denote exultation (chapter xxv:6). But here it is more an outward expression of the vehemence of the judgment. In chapter xxi:7 we read of the Lord smiting His hands. "I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest, I the Lord have said it." A repetition of the impending judgments forms the conclusion of this first message.