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Ezekiel Chapter
Thirteen
Ezekiel 13
Chapter Contents
Heavy judgments against lying prophets. (1-9) The
insufficiency of their work. (10-16) Woes against false prophetesses. (17-23)
Commentary on Ezekiel 13:1-9
(Read Ezekiel 13:1-9)
Where God gives a warrant to do any thing
he gives
wisdom. What they delivered was not what they had seen or heard
as that is
which the ministers of Christ deliver. They were not praying prophets
had no
intercourse with Heaven; they contrived how to please people
not how to do
them good; they stood not against sin. They flattered people into vain hopes.
Such widen the breach
by causing men to think themselves deserving of eternal
life
when the wrath of God abides upon them.
Commentary on Ezekiel 13:10-16
(Read Ezekiel 13:10-16)
One false prophet built the wall
set up the notion that
Jerusalem should be victorious
and made himself acceptable by it. Others made
the matter yet more plausible and promising; they daubed the wall which the
first had built; but they would
ere long
be undeceived when their work was
beaten down by the storm of God's just wrath; when the Chaldean army desolated
the land. Hopes of peace and happiness
not warranted by the word of God
will
cheat men; like a wall well daubed
but ill built.
Commentary on Ezekiel 13:17-23
(Read Ezekiel 13:17-23)
It is ill with those who had rather hear pleasing lies
than unpleasing truths. The false prophetesses tried to make people secure
signified by laying them at ease
and to make them proud
signified by the
finery laid on their heads. They shall be confounded in their attempts
and
God's people shall be delivered out of their hands. It behoves Christians to
keep close to the word of God
and in every thing to seek the teaching of the
Holy Spirit. Let us so trust the promises of God as to keep his commandments.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
Ezekiel 13
Verse 2
[2] Son
of man
prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy
and say thou
unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts
Hear ye the word of the LORD;
That prophesy —
Out of their own deceiving hearts
not from God.
Verse 3
[3] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets
that follow their
own spirit
and have seen nothing!
Foolish prophets —
Foolish prophets are not of God's sending: for whom he sends
he either finds
fit
or makes fit. Where he gives warrant
he gives wisdom.
Their own spirit —
Not the spirit of God.
Seen nothing —
God hath shewed them no vision.
Verse 4
[4] O
Israel
thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
Thy prophets —
Thy prophets
not mine.
Like the foxes —
Hungry
and ravening
crafty
and guileful.
In the deserts —
Where want makes them more eager after their prey.
Verse 5
[5] Ye
have not gone up into the gaps
neither made up the hedge for the house of
Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
Ye — Vain prophets.
Gone up — As
in a besieged city
whose wall is broken down
a valiant soldier would run up
into the breach to repel the enemy; so true prophets partly by prayer
and
partly by doctrine
labour to preserve God's people.
Hedge —
The house of Israel is the Lord's vineyard
through the hedge whereof many
breaches are made.
To stand —
Not with arms
but with fasting
prayer
and repentance.
Verse 6
[6] They have seen vanity and lying divination
saying
The LORD saith: and
the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would
confirm the word.
Vanity —
Things that have no foundation.
Verse 9
[9] And
mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity
and that divine lies:
they shall not be in the assembly of my people
neither shall they be written
in the writing of the house of Israel
neither shall they enter into the land
of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Mine hand — My
power striking them.
In the assembly —
Have no seat among the rulers
nor voice among the counsellors.
Written —
Not registered among those that return
Ezra 2:1
2.
Enter —
They shall never come into the land of Israel. They shall not be written in the
book of eternal life
which is written for the just ones of the house of
Israel
saith the Chaldea paraphrast.
Verse 10
[10]
Because
even because they have seduced my people
saying
Peace; and there was
no peace; and one built up a wall
and
lo
others daubed it with untempered
morter:
Peace —
They told sinners
no harm would happen to them. And those are the most
dangerous seducers
who suggest to sinners that which tends to lessen their
dread of sin
or their fear of God. These are compared to men who build a
slight tottering wall
which others daub with untempered mortar; sorry stuff
that will not bind
nor hold the bricks together: doctrines not grounded on the
word of God.
Verse 14
[14] So
will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter
and
bring it down to the ground
so that the foundation thereof shall be
discovered
and it shall fall
and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof:
and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Ye shall know —
Those that deceived others
will in the end be found to have deceived
themselves. And no doom will be more fearful
than that of unfaithful
ministers.
Verse 15
[15] Thus
will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall
and upon them that have daubed it
with untempered morter
and will say unto you
The wall is no more
neither
they that daubed it;
Accomplish —
Fulfil what my prophets foretold.
Verse 18
[18] And
say
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all
armholes
and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will
ye hunt the souls of my people
and will ye save the souls alive that come unto
you?
Sew pillows — A
figurative speech
expressing the security
which they promised to every one
that came to them.
Kerchiefs —
Triumphal caps
which were made by these prophetesses
and put upon the head of
every who one consulted them
and by these they were to interpret
as a promise
of victory over the Babylonians.
Stature —
That is
of every age
whether younger or elder
which usually is seen by their
stature.
To hunt —
All this is really spreading a net
as hunters do
to catch the prey.
Will ye save —
Can you preserve them alive
whom you deceive by your promises?
Verse 19
[19] And
will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of
bread
to slay the souls that should not die
and to save the souls alive that
should not live
by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
Pollute me —
Pretending my name for what I never spake.
My people — My
own people.
Handfuls of barley —
For a mean reward.
To slay —
You denounce evil to the best
whom God wilt keep alive.
To save — Declaring
safety
to the worst
whom God will destroy.
Verse 20
[20]
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold
I am against your pillows
wherewith
ye there hunt the souls to make them fly
and I will tear them from your arms
and will let the souls go
even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
There — At
Jerusalem.
Grow —
You promise a flourishing
growing
state to all enquirers; and this is the net
with which you hunt souls.
Tear them —
With violence
and suddenness.
Verse 23
[23]
Therefore ye shall see no more vanity
nor divine divinations: for I will
deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
See no more vanity|-They shall see all their
predictions vanish
which shall so confound them
that they shall pretend no
more to visions.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezekiel》
13 Chapter 13
Verses 1-23
Verses 1-3
Them that prophesy out of their own hearts.
The false prophet
To be a false prophet seems to us
indeed
an enormity. To have
the great gift and trust of prophecy
and then to misuse it; to be admitted
if
we may so speak
of God’s council
and then to sink that heavenly teaching in
earthly and sensual thoughts
--this seems so high a measure of guilt
that we
wonder not at the “woe” pronounced against it. Nay
as we read
we set our
“amen” to it
little thinking that in so doing we may be
in truth
sealing our
own condemnation. We see not that this very sin is that which doth most
constantly beset us also; that many a ministry which seems to man’s eye without
reproach is indeed stained with the self-same guilt as that wherewith these
prophets were defiled; that
in spite of its fair outline
the “woe” of the
Almighty is gone forth against it. If we examine the testimonies against these
false prophets which abound throughout the Books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel
we
shall find that God does not charge them with altering His message wilfully and
of set purpose to deceive. The charges are rather
that they are themselves
deceived (Jeremiah 5:13; Jeremiah 10:9; Jeremiah 14:14; Jeremiah 23:16; Lamentations 2:14; Ezekiel 13:3; Ezekiel 13:7; Ezekiel 13:9). It was not
apparently
that the false prophet knowingly altered the message he had received
but that
for some cause or other there was this peril incident to his office
that he
might be deceived and become a deceiver in some sense unconsciously; and then
if we look closer
we shall see that various causes are given for the fearful
fall of the false prophet
and that they are all of one complexion--that they
are what we call moral causes. Uncleanness of life
covetousness
softness of
spirit
luxury
fondness for the pleasures of this life
these and many such
like moral faults are expressly mentioned as the causes of this spirit of error
and lies which filled these men and brought on them God’s fearful “woe.” The
prophets prophesied lies
because they “followed their own spirit
and had seen
nothing.” And now
if from the case of false prophets we turn to that of those
who were faithful
we shall be brought to the same conclusion: we shall see
that is
that the distinction between them and the prophets of lies consisted
not in their exclusive possession of those supernatural illapses of knowledge
to which we are apt to look
as making all the difference between one and
another
but in the use which
from their spiritual and moral condition
they
were able to make of these gifts. Look at the prophet who never “prophesied
good” of the wicked king
but always “evil”; and see whether it was not in that
noble gift of venturing all for the truth of God
wherein in very deed he
differed from the earthly-minded sycophants
who made horns of iron
and
prophesied
that as with them the Syrians should be pushed unto entire
destruction. Or take
as a sufficient proof
the case of the prophet Jeremiah.
To him was opened
by a special revelation
the speedy coming of God’s judgments
upon Judah
which nothing but the absolute submission of Jerusalem to the King
of Babylon could turn aside. So far he learned by revelation; but having
learned thus much
mark his after history; see the constantly recurring moral
temptation to tamper with this truth
to which he was subjected: the violence
of the princes--the rage of the people--the feebleness of the king--their
private interviews--the bribes offered to buy off his faithfulness--the miry
dungeon of Malchiah; each of these was a temptation to lower down his message;
to utter it less boldly
less frequently; less simply--to suppress it
to alter
it. But against them all he stood firm
and why? Because a deep and abiding
sense of God’s greatness and truth and awfulness lay beneath all other things
as the very foundation of his mind; and this kept him ever firm and constant.
In an utterly unfaithful age and nation
remaining faithful when well-nigh
everyone around him failed
he preserved untainted
amidst the crowd of lying
seers
the truth of God’s anointed prophet. So that here we are brought to the
same point: the blindness of the false prophet was the fruit of failing in his
moral probation; the ghostly insight of the true prophet was kept quick and
piercing
by his faithful cleaving to God amidst the ordinary temptations of
life. And if this be so
surely this is exactly our condition
as far as
concerns the ministry of the Word; and these woes against deceived prophets
stand written on high
in their characters of fire
to warn us upon our
ordinary way. For we also have our message: that which was given to the old
prophets by special revelation we have plainly written for us in the page of
Holy Scripture. Nor can we doubt that
if this message be delivered faithfully
and wisely
it will produce an evident result in awakening sinners and building
up the saints. We may see
moreover
that in our case the cause of failure is
in fact
the same as in the prophets of old. First
our own perceptions become
obscured. For it is only by the teaching of the Holy Spirit that we can really
enter into the deep mysteries of redemption. Impurity cannot lay hold upon
purity. There are many doors of holy teaching
which open only to the key of
love; and there is in love a marvellous power of understanding
a wonderful
forecasting of the future; for love is a great reader of secrets. Even in
earthly things
which are but a shadow of the true
we may see this. What an
interpreter of hidden meanings is a loving spirit! how quick and piercing is it
in reaching to the inner wishes
feeling
and intentions of another! And so
doubtless it is where the love of God dwells in an earthly heart. The man is
free
as it were
of the counsels of God. He reaches on to great things at
unawares. In doing common duties
as they seem to him
he is sowing good seed
for a distant day; he is reaching out far beyond the present
anticipating
God’s future doings. Nor
secondly
can our own views of God’s truth become
thus obscured without their impairing in an equal degree our power of conveying
the message to others. First
this state of heart must destroy the reality of
our teaching. We shall prophesy a lie; for we shall prophesy of truth itself as
if it were a lie. There is nothing that our people feel more readily than this
unreal declaration of God’s message. There is no close work with the heart or
the life; but all is exhausted in mere form
or else in general appeals to the
feelings
or in yet more fruitless addresses to the understanding
as the case
may be. What.
then
is this but to prophesy a lie? And this is not all. There
can be little of a true loving earnestness in such ministry. There may be an
apparent zeal as to forms
or as to preaching
and its other more external
parts; but there can be little true sympathy with the wants and sufferings of
man’s heart
because there is little knowledge of them. There can be little of
that deep earnest casting forth of the inmost spirit to meet another’s wants
which oftentimes makes silent sympathy in one man far more expressive than a
multitude of words in another; and which
as by some heavenly influence
soothes and opens and wins the sufferer’s heart. I may not detain you to trace
out all the characters of that earnest seeking after God’s truth to which we
are bound; its faintest sketch may supply us with much ground for profitable
thought. First
then
if we would attain to it
we must live in the habitual
and devotional study of God’s Word. The great importance of this habit is not
so much that we may understand obscure passages
still less that we may be
discoverers of new truths
as that our whole tone of thinking and feeling may
be attuned to things Divine. But then
to this we must add an humble use of
every means that God has given us for understanding His Word rightly. By the
ordinances of the Church; the testimony of succeeding generations; the judgment
of humble and holy men; the witness borne to various truths by all the saints
living and departed
reformers
fathers
and antiquity; by each of these in
their place
we humbly hope that God may teach us better how to understand His
Word. Secondly
we must watch earnestly for the leading of the Spirit of the
Lord. We must believe that this gift is in the Church
and seek to use it
lawfully; we must remember how the Spirit of God does teach us
not by
conveying to our minds direct propositions
but by clearing off those moral
clouds which would dim all our perceptions of truth; by teaching our hearts
by
giving us reality
earnestness
love
and a bold humility
--those mighty
masters of the secret things of God. We shall therefore cooperate with Him by
watching diligently our own hearts; by guarding them against the beginnings of
worldliness; by seeking after a deeper humility of spirit; knowing that pride
above all things breaks and distorts the images of heavenly truth which are
cast forth upon our minds; that pride in the heart of the learner makes all
teaching vain; that humility can learn great lessons from any teacher. And
lastly
as the bond which is to hold together all these various elements
we
must
if we would be faithful prophets
seek after eminent holiness of life.
This will give us an insight into God’s truth in its reality; this will open to
us our own hearts
and so the hearts of our brethren; this will set us in the
way of those blessed breathings of the Holy Spirit which fall ever upon the
still waters of holiness
and waft on most noiselessly those who always haunt
them into the secrets of the Lord. This will enable us to live ever with Him
even in this world of shadows. (Bishop S. Wilberforce.)
False prophesying
1. What is the specific charge made against false prophets? That they
speak out of their own hearts
and that they follow their own spirit. How prone
are all men to do this!
2. Every man now prophesies out of himself. Let us beware how we
degrade a right into a perversion of liberty and a mischievous use of
independence. There is a right of private judgment
there is an individuality
of conscience: but no judgment is complete that does not measure itself with
other judgments
and no conscience is complete that is not in touch with other
consciences; for the last conscience is the result and expression of spiritual
chemistry
combination
intermixture
divinely conducted. There may come a time
when personal testimony must be delivered with burning emphasis
and when a man
is compelled to enclose himself within a solitary altar; all these concessions
do not interfere with the central and dominant truth that no prophecy is of
private interpretation
and that all secret prayer needs to be brought out into
the open air of the Church
that there it may bloom in its completest beauty.
3. False prophets excite false hopes: what other could they do? “They
have made others to hope that they would confirm the Word.” A liar is very
careful to maintain some foothold upon the confidence of society. He who is all
false himself can only live upon the trustfulness of others. So
then
the
false prophet is the creator of false hopes; and if there be counterfeit coin
makers in our neighbourhood
it would not be an unwise thing to put out our
coin upon the table and look at it very carefully; and as there are false
prophets who have excited false hopes
it would not be unwise to take our hopes
one by one
and conduct upon each of them an unsparing analysis
saying
What
is it? what is its reason? what is its purpose? what is its value? what is its
origin? how is it supported by evidence? how is it ennobled by sacrifice? Any
hope that will not accept the test of sacrifice is a false hope.
4. False prophets had
however
some little ground to work upon: they
mistook the imaginary for the real: “Have ye not seen a vain vision?” That is
the difficulty. If there was absolutely nothing
we should have a clear course;
but we have lying definitions
we have occasional dreams
and peculiar
impressions; and people who resent the idea of accepting a theology made by the
Church adopt an astrology or a theology of their own
founded upon cobwebs
built upon mist
and pointing to nothing. Let us pray God to cleanse our
vision
lest
seeing men as trees walking
or trees as men walking
we confound
the reality of things; and above all
let us say to one another
Brother
help
me
and I will help some weaker man
Let us have our strength common.
5. What course does the Lord pursue against such falsity? “I am
against you
saith the Lord God.” We know
then
exactly what strength we have
to encounter. It is only omnipotence. We have sometimes wondered how it is we
do not succeed. There need not be any wonder about it; for our failure arises
from one of two causes: either
first
that God is against us
in the sense of
judging us to be false; or God is trying us to develop our strength. Let us
adopt the second conclusion where we can
for it will cheer us and help us on
many a weary day.
6. What further course will the Lord take against these false
prophets? He will destroy them. They build a wall; He sends hail down upon it
and brings the wall all to pieces. We need not go to the Prophet Ezekiel to
know if this is true. What walls we have built! What strength we were going to
have! We had already drawn out a hundred programmes
every one of which ended
in pounds
shillings
and pence; and a hundred more
ending in honour
fame
influence; and another hundred
ending in herds and flocks
and abundance of
family connections and great peace
and long days: and whilst we were filling
our mouth with the wind the Lord touched us
and we fell down as dead men. If
the Lord
then
is so set against falsehood
what will He do for us? He will
speak the truth
He will send angels of truth
messengers of mercy and love.
Beware lest we have all our truth on paper
in propositions
innumerable and
well detailed dogmas: we must first have it in our souls
hearts
lives; we
must be prepared to live for it and to die for it
and then it will grow
accumulate
multiply; and we shall begin to see
with the ever excellent
because ever modest philosopher
Sir Isaac Newton
that we have only gathered a
few shells on the shore
while the great ocean of truth lies all undiscovered
before us. Such modesty well becomes men who were born yesterday and may be
forgotten tomorrow. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 4
Thy prophets are like the foxes in the desert.
False prophets like foxes
1. These creatures are lovers of grapes
as we know by a common
proverb; and consequently they did much damage in such countries as Judea
which abounded with vineyards
as is noted in Song of Solomon 2:15
not only by
devouring the grapes but also by making holes in the walls and fences
whereby
they laid open the vineyards to other ravenous beasts as well as to themselves.
Just so did the false prophets to the cities of Judah: they did not only
beguile people of their substance
by the character which they assumed
and the
figure which they made among them; but by their false doctrines and subversions
of the genuine will and Word of God they broke down the walls and fences from
about them; I mean that blessing and protection of the Almighty which was
annexed to the obedience of His own laws.
2. In another respect did these prophets resemble the foxes in the
deserts
that they could make breaches
but had not the faculty of stopping
them up again. They did not call the people to repentance; or if they did
it
was but such a superficial fast as we read of (Jeremiah 36:1-32)
at which they read his
prophecy
and then cut it in pieces and threw it into the fire. Their making up
of their breaches this way was but like the labour of unfaithful builders; one
laid the stones in the wall
and others daubed it with untempered mortar.
3. These false prophets resembled foxes in their fraudulent
practices. By crafty speeches and cunningly devised fables they misled the
hearts of the simple. They studied how to suit their discourses to the various
tempers of the people whom they conversed with; to prophesy smooth things to
the stout-hearted
and terrible things to the timorous
that they might keep
them all in the way which they would have them to walk in.
4. These false prophets had another property of foxes
which was a
prowling ravenous appetite. When they came out of their colleges into the
vineyard
they resolved that the making of their fortune
the arriving at a
plentiful condition
a goodly heritage
should be the first and greatest of all
their cares. So little were they concerned for the welfare of the people over
whom they pretended to be guardians and spiritual watchmen
that they would
sell their souls
as God complains here
for handfuls of barley and morsels of
bread.
5. As foxes are of the number of unclean beasts
so these prophets
were men of corrupt minds and loose morals. How prone they were to prevaricate
with God
and seduce the people
to counterfeit a Divine mission
to run when
they were not sent
to prophesy out of their own heart without a revelation
to
proclaim their visions of peace when there was no peace
is abundantly set
forth in this chapter. (W. Reading
M. A.)
False prophets like foxes
The prophets are like foxes: ruins are congenial to them; a
condition of decay is their proper sphere; there they can burrow as their
instincts prompt them. The main idea
however
is that their operations only
increase the devastation
and Undermine and bring down anything that may yet be
standing. In a declining and disastrous time the minds of men are excited and
feed on the wildest schemes; and
feeling themselves helpless
they readily
turn to those who pretend to speak to them in God’s name. And it only adds to
their ruin when those to whom they turn have no higher wisdom than themselves.
(A. B. Davidson
D. D.)
Verses 10-12
One built up a wall
and lo
others daubed it with untempered
mortar.
The wall daubed with untempered mortar
I. The text speaks
of a wall. Men look about them to discover some sort of wall or other behind
which to shelter from conscience and Divine threatening. I suppose this is
because conscience is not quite dead in any man. In some men it has been so
drugged and chloroformed that it never seems to act with anything like vigour
and when it speaks it is only with a still small voice
and not at all with the
thunder which its voice ought to have to the mind of men; yet that little relic
of conscience
which with a microscope you can detect in all men
needs to be
pacified
and men are glad if by any lie
however barefaced
they can create an
excuse by which they may go on quietly in their sins.
1. Perhaps the greatest wall behind which men shelter themselves is
that of utter indifference to anything like Divine truth. Some silly dancer at
the opera
some new invention
some novel trick of legerdemain
some fresh
anything or nothing
and the world is all agog; but as to things which will
outlast sun and moon
and stand fast when yon blue heaven
like a scroll
has
been rolled up and put away--these all-important things our wiseacres think but
trifles
and they continue trampling God’s eternal truth beneath their feet
as
swine do trample pearls
and rushing madly after the bubbles of this world
as
though they were all that men were made to hunt after.
2. Numbers
however
are not quite so stupid
so besotted
so blind
so brutalised as to put up with this. Like a crying child
their conscience
will be heard. Like a horse leech
it ever cries “Give
give
” and will not be
content. Who comes next? Who is the anointed one of Satan to quiet this spirit?
Who will yield a quietus to a mind alarmed? See the wall of ceremonies behind
which many rest so contentedly.
3. You may be building another wall
namely
that of
self-righteousness. How many have been piling up their wall
and gathering
their wood
their hay
their stubble
with which to erect a defence to screen
themselves from God by their own doings?
II. Whenever a man
tries to build a wall behind which to shelter
he always finds a volunteer band
of ready assistants.
1. For instance
a man who is easy in his pleasures
how many will
help him to continue at his ease! “He is right
” says one; “You are a good
fellow
” says another; and they both try to keep him in countenance by their
company.
2. Another company of scoffers will loudly boast themselves
and cry
“Yes
you are all right in continuing in neglect of God and of Divine truth
because the saints are no better than they should be. I remember what So-and-so
did once--he was a deacon; and I know the inconsistencies of Mr. Zealous
and
he is one of the parsons.”
3. A numerous body of daubers gather at the sign of the “Sneerer
” in
Atheist Street; and with their doubts
or their supposed doubts
of inspiration
and biblical authenticity
are ready to daub and plaster any amount of wall an
inch thick.
4. If the wall be built of ceremonies
how many are busy daubing
that! What multitudes of books are streaming from the press
books of ability
too
all going to show that salvation is infallibly connected with a mechanical
process
conducted by specified officials
and not a spiritual work independent
of all outward performances!
III. The Word of God
declares that this wall will not stand. The wall to which Ezekiel alludes is
one of the cob walls in the East
daubed with bad mortar
which had not been
well tempered
that is to say
not well mixed with the straw which they use in
place of the hair which we use in England; when the rain comes
it softens the
whole structure of such a wall
melts it
and washes it quite away. Such a
deluge as that is coming ere long to try and test every human hope.
1. It comes to some men when they enter upon times of spiritual
trial.
2. But if the test come not thus it will usually come at death.
3. And if death does not do it--for some men die like lambs
and like
sheep are they laid in the grave; but the worm shall feed upon them--if death
does not do it
the judgment shall.
IV. If we shall be
found lost at the last
it will be an everlasting reproach to us that we once
accepted the false helps of our friends. “Where is the daubing wherewith ye
have daubed it?” That voice may proceed from many lips.
1. It may come from the lips of Jesus. “I said unto you
‘Come unto
Me and live
’ but you would not come; you refused the refuge which I presented
to you
and you chose your own works
and rested in ceremonies of your own
devising
and now where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?”
2. I could imagine such a voice as that coming from a faithful
minister
or other Christian labourer
who may have honestly pointed out to you
the one and only way of salvation.
3. And there shall come another voice
with quite another tone-a
hoarse and horrible voice--a voice full of malice and grim laughter
which
shall say
“Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?” You shall
understand it to be the voice of him who once deceived you--the fallen spirit
the devil.
4. There shall be heard amidst that thick darkness and horrid gloom
that never shall be broken by a ray of light
another voice which once you
knew. Perhaps the husband shall hear the voice of the wife
who shall say
“Ah!
where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? You would not let me go to
the house of God; you laughed me out of my religion. I was once a young woman
unmarried
who cared for the things of God in some respects; you courted me and
enticed me away from my father’s God
and then you laughed me out of my prayers
and Sabbath worship; you have laughed me into hell
but you cannot laugh me out
of it again.”
5. And then
last of all
your own conscience
from which you never
can escape
which is
perhaps
the worm that never dies
and the flame which
kindles the fire of remorse that never shall be quenched
your conscience will
say to you
“Where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed it?” (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Prophets feeble and yielding
The figure incisively describes the futile projects of the people
and the feeble flattery and approval of the prophets. When a weak man cannot
originate anything himself
he acquires a certain credit (at least in his own
eyes) by strong approval of the schemes of others
saying
“Right! I give it my
cordial approval
and
indeed
would have suggested it.” What made the prophets
whitewash the wall which the people built was partly the feeling that from the
place they occupied they must do something
and maintain their credit as
leaders even when being led; and partly
perhaps
that
having no higher wisdom
than the mass
they quite honestly approved their policy. Being sharers with
them in the spirit of the time
they readily acquiesced in their enterprises. (A.
B. Davidson
D. D.)
False hopes
I. What are the
foundations of this fabric?
1. It is built upon falsehood. Observe
it is here imputed to these
false prophets that they led the people to suppose that their state by nature
was not one of enmity with God
--that
in fact
they were at peace with Him.
Now
this falsehood is manifest. We are not at peace by nature. We all know
that God has a strife with man
a righteous ground of controversy with every
man born into the world. Our first conscious thoughts are those of disaffection
and dislike to holiness; and our first voluntary actions are to take up arms
against God. We
then
are not at peace
but at enmity with God. How was this
breach to be made up? Usually
a vanquished foe expects to buy peace at a large
price; but we had nothing to pay. It remained
therefore
that the benignant
Being with whom we had been carrying on this fruitless and ungrateful warfare
should Himself originate a scheme of reconciliation. We know that Christ is our
peace
and our only peace. He brings peace
He preaches peace
He bestows
peace. “To as many as received Him
gave He power to become the sons of God.”
“Being justified by faith
we have peace with God.” This is the foundation
and
other can no man lay. He who shall dare to build on any other shall see the
fabric perish before the overflowing shower
and the stormy wind shall rend it.
2. It is not laid deeply enough. In the fourteenth verse it is said
with regard to this foundation
“The foundation thereof shall be discovered
”
laid bare
open to the sight of the beholder. The image is commonly used in
Scripture to denote that which is superficial and unsound. Everything that is
to be firm strikes deeply into the ground. Job speaks of having “the root of
the matter” in himself; and the stony ground
hearer
fell
we are told
because there was in him no depth of earth. What is the kind of foundation here
spoken of? Doubtless
we must take it as applying here to a religion which
rests upon slight convictions of sin
--little sense of its heinousness and
guilt. The Spirit convinces of sin
to lead to Him that shall take all sin
away. The Spirit of God opens no wounds
except with a view the more
effectually and kindly to bind them up.
3. Another element of this unstable foundation is presumption
an
unwarrantable appropriation of the promises; as if the benefit of an amnesty could
be extended to those who were still in an attitude of rebellion; as if the
promises of salvation could still be held out to those who continued in
unrepented sin. This is strongly marked in the latter part of the twenty-second
verse. It may be a grievous error in a teacher
according to the first part of
that verse
to make the hearts of the righteous sad
whom God hath not made
sad; but surely it is a much more grievous error to hold out the promise of
life to those to whom
as yet
God has not given peace. Our Lord must be our
example here.
II. What are the
walls of this fabric? In other words
by what supports and excuses do men keep
this unsound and unscriptural hope together? “One built up a wall
and others
daubed it with untempered mortar.” The meaning of the prophet’s allusion will
be best explained by a reference to Jewish domestic architecture. Although hewn
stones were employed for the purpose of very large buildings
for small houses
a tile was commonly used
formed of white clay and baked in the sun. These
tiles were cemented together by mortar
which
as among ourselves
was made to
acquire a certain adhesive property by means of straw and chaff. Travellers
tell us that whole villages are formed of houses built with this white clay or
tile
and they tell us
further
that after rain the filth occasioned by the
dissolving of the cement will make the ways in front of the houses perfectly
impassable; whilst
if the mortar which has been used has been very badly
tempered
that is
very imperfectly mixed with the straw or the chaff
it is no
uncommon thing to see the house fall down entirely
under the violence or
dissolving action of the rain
the very effect which we see alluded to in the
text. What a picture have we here of the refuges which worldly men make for
themselves against that day
when judgment shall be laid to the line and
righteousness to the plummet! Oh
how many of these slight walls are people
running up every day! There is the wall of evil example
by which a man
fortifies himself in his low standard of personal and practical godliness by
what he sees in someone around him. There is the wall of pretended necessity;
the urgent claims of daily life making it
as he alleges
impossible for him to
attend to the cares of his family and the interests of his soul. There is the
wall of constitutional impediment
the pretence that something in our peculiar
temperament and constitution or circumstances makes it so difficult for us to
attend to the things of our salvation. There is the wall of perverted doctrine
where men
waiting for some impulse from above
knowing that Divine grace must
begin the work
say
they can do nothing themselves
they must wait till God by
His Spirit changes their hearts. And then there is the wall of good intentions
the purpose of serving God
but not now
the miserable promise that we will
give to God the remnant of our days
that He shall have the reversion of our
“convenient season.” Oh
how many of these flimsy fabrics will fall
and do
fall daily
before the first breath of the Divine displeasure. But observe
further
it is said that when one built the wall
another daubed it with
untempered mortar. This seems to intimate to us that foolish and unconverted
men are in the habit of encouraging each other in their foolish hopes:
justifying one another in their vain excuses; each confirming the
reasonableness of the other’s pretences
and then going away confirmed and
strengthened in his own.
III. These false
hopes shall be thrown down. This false builder shall wake and see the crumbling
of his own wretched wall; this mere dauber shall see the melting and dissolving
of his own untempered mortar
that God alone may be exalted in that day
and
that every unscriptural and unauthorised
unsanctioned hope may perish. And oh
will not the weakness and instability of this wall appear before this hurricane
of Divine indignation comes upon us? When the silver cord is loosed
and the
golden bowl is broken; when the pitcher is broken at the fountain
shall we not
then perceive that we have been building upon a treacherous foundation? But
then
if we feel it in that day
what shall we feel in that remoter time
when
the storm of the Divine indignation shall come upon the whole world? (D.
Moore
M. A.)
The false prophet
The false prophets are much in evidence up to the point of the
fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel accuses them of the crime of the hireling shepherd:
they used the flock to make wages
and so became the type for all time of those
who make
“The
symbols of atoning grace
An
office key.”
The
false prophet gained favour with the military party in the nation
by his
telling advocacy of a vast and well-prepared army and of brilliant foreign
alliances
he won favour with the clerical party by not demanding too much
virtue
either from the individual or from the State. As a class they had a
ready apology for every shifting policy. True
the apology
although always
ready
was only an apology--or
to use the prophet’s own figure
it was only a
daubing of the ill-built wall with untempered mortar (Ezekiel 13:8-16)--“that is to say
when
any project or scheme of policy is being promoted
they stand by glozing it
over with fine words
flattering its promoters
and uttering profuse assurances
of its success.” The daub
in hiding the infamy
hurries the disaster. “Ye
O
great hailstones
shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.” When the scheme
has failed
when God has suddenly intercepted a people’s mad pride
the false
prophet may be--may be--called to account: “Lo
when the wall is fallen
shall it not be said unto you
Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed
it?” But it may happen
in a nation’s downfall and the daze of its calamity
that the moral collapse is so complete that the man who daubed the wall escapes
unblamed--but not the man who was honest enough to say plainly from the first
that it was a mere daub! But
blamed or not of the men he has misled
the false
prophet shall not go unpunished. “I the Lord will answer him by Myself.” Above
all things
may God’s mercy save us from having
under such conditions
to bear
God’s answer
by Himself! (H. E. Lewis.)
Verse 16
Which see visions of peace for her
and there is no peace.
Peace
and there is no peace
I. They “see
visions of peace” who preach and speak what is pleasing rather than what is of
truth and of God. A people’s folly will find exponents. But truth perverted
will be avenged. False doctrine is but untempered mortar.
II. They “see
visions of peace
” and “there is no peace.” Who neglect duty and still hope for
reward. Foolish dreamers are they who look for fortune
or learning
or piety
without careful attention and unremitting diligence.
III. They “see
visions of peace” when “there is no peace” who live in sin and worldliness
and
hope for everlasting salvation. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Verse 18
Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes.
Pillows for all elbows
There is often something very quaint and forcible about the
imagery of the old prophets. It lays hold upon you and impresses you much more
effectually than if they had delivered their message in plain though powerful
language. The image of the text is easily understood. Ezekiel has been
commissioned to lift up his voice against the many false prophets who both in
Jerusalem and among the exiles are misleading the people by announcing
salvation without repentance
and grace without judgment. He is so indignant at
their feebleness and effeminacy
that he describes as women
and pronounces his
woe upon the persistency of their endeavours to accommodate themselves and
their teaching to the wishes and desires of the community. A true peace
real
security
genuine tranquillity
could be obtained only by fearlessly and
bravely laying bare the truth
however stern and uncomfortable it might be
and
not by covering it up with devices calculated to hide its hideousness and
soften its painfulness. Now
this old trade of sewing pillows
of making
cushions for all elbows that feel the hardness and uncomfortableness of
unwelcome facts
is not yet extinct. In truth
it is specially prosperous at
the present time. Let me
however
not be misunderstood. Discomfort has no
merit in itself. You come across people occasionally who evidently think it
has--irritating
troublesome people
with certainly nothing in them of the
spirit of Ezekiel’s false prophets. They glory in making you uncomfortable.
Every painful incident or troublesome piece of news that comes to their
knowledge is seized upon with avidity
eagerly communicated
and secretly
gloated over. Your distress and anxiety is meat and drink to them. The only
excuse for the infliction of pain
whether of body or mind
is the sincere
desire to bring about thereby a more thorough and lasting immunity from it; the
earnest wish to show a man that the position he is occupying may for the time
be pleasant
but
being deceptive
it can end at last only in trouble more
serious than that which you unwillingly bring upon him. Our times
I have said
are effeminate. We dislike everything that disturbs our peace of mind
or
ruffles the serenity of our conscience. We are adepts at hiding unwelcome
facts
and toning down unpleasant truths. Let me just indicate one or two
directions in which we are specially ingenious and industrious in sewing
pillows for our elbows. We are so
I think
in regard to the doctrines of our
Christian faith. The Christianity taught and professed nowadays is
it seems to
me
often of a very emasculated character. I very much doubt if the great mass
of professing Christians have any other creed than a vague trust in the mercy
of God
which they hope will save them from all ill in the world to come
but
which allows them to go on with comparative comfort
satisfying their desires
in the world that now is. If Christ had anything to do with their salvation
they do not see clearly what it is; they may believe He was a good man
more
than a man
perhaps
whose words they gladly accept
so far as they are
agreeable and comforting
and whose example they cannot but admire
though they
make no serious effort to imitate it. Just let a man live a fairly decent and
respectable life
outraging in no gross manner the properties and standards of
civilised society
and they believe all will be well with him; God will not be
hard on him. They know little or nothing of a complete surrender of the soul to
God as their Father
to Christ as their Saviour
to the Holy Ghost as their
Sanctifier; of the necessity of that new birth which gives an entire change to
the bias of the will
and which makes life henceforth one long endeavour
even
amid failure and weakness
to conform to the pattern of the perfect Christ;
they do not apprehend the bearing upon human life and destiny of the momentous
facts of our Lord’s incarnation
death
resurrection
and ascension. Life would
scarcely be one whir poorer to them if these events had never taken place
This
being so
they have none of the Lord’s anxiety
nor the anxiety of His
apostles
to bring the world into the kingdom of God. There is another
direction in which our love of ease and comfort continually shows itself--the
manner in which we persistently hide from ourselves the misery of the world
around us. Everywhere pain is racking fair human bodies; secret anguish is
tormenting human souls; sin in its hydra-headed forms
through drunkenness and
lust and anger and godlessness
is working ruin incalculable. At our very doors
it is so; in every city of the empire it is so; in distant lands it is so. The
cry of perpetual torment rises to heaven; the wail of woe ascends day and night
from the trampled and despairing
from the suffering and the dying
from the
sinning and sinking of our kind
our brethren and sisters for whom Christ died.
You know this; secretly you know it; but you do not want to know it
so you
lock up the knowledge of it
like the gaunt skeleton it is
in the inmost
chamber of your mind
and act as if you were aware of no such hateful presence.
It is marvellous what power we have of putting out of sight
and even out of
mind for a time
what is disagreeable to us
of shutting our ears to what we do
not wish to hear
of persuading ourselves that
after all
things are not so
bad as some would have us believe
of settling down comfortably on our
cushions
and taking our ease. But the skeleton will not always remain in its
inner chamber; it will stalk abroad in due season
whatever we do
and
overwhelm us with fear and shame. And there is one other direction in which we
are in constant danger of weakly sewing pillows for our elbows
of concealing
from ourselves painful facts--that is
as regards our present condition and
future prospects in the sight of God. We quieten ourselves by saying
“Let not
your heart be troubled
all is right; sin cannot be the dreadful thing it is
made out to be; do as well as you can; God is merciful.” As for the inevitable
and dreaded future
we shut it off from view. Nothing is to be gained by
concealment but temporary peace of the most delusive kind. If we were so
hopelessly sunk in sin that there was no rescue from it
if death were for us
the end of all things
if at the last judgment we had no Advocate with the
Father
then there might be some reason for seeking to bury out of sight facts
so hateful and irremediable; but with the blessed Gospel of our Lord
proclaiming salvation from sin
with the great fact of the resurrection of
Christ from the dead attesting that death is but the gate into a higher and
nobler life
with the promise of His perpetual intercession at the right hand
of the Eternal Judge
why should we hesitate to know the worst that can be
known? It is not incurable. The quicker and the better we know it
the more
curable it will be
and the sooner will come our true peace. (James Thomson
M. A.)
Pillows for armholes
The people of the East are generally indolent and voluptuous. The
art which they most study is the art of making themselves comfortable. Enter an
Eastern divan
or the saloon of the more aristocratic mansions
and you will be
struck with the ingenuity and expense with which provision is made for bodily
ease and sensual enjoyment. Odours and perfumes of sweetest fragrance are
diffused through the room; fountains or vases of coldest water help to cool the
heated air of the tropics. The sides and corners of the room are cushioned all
round
whilst movable cushions of every form and size
richly embroidered and
ornamented
are spread on the couches and chairs
and even on the carpet. When
this love of ease and luxury was carried to excess
cushions were provided not
only for the head and shoulders and back
but for the arms and for every joint
that every part of the body might lie softly and feel comfortable. The words of
our text might be rendered “pillows for all arm joints”--including the
armholes
the elbows
and wrists. And their use is significant of the greatest
ease and luxury. Some suppose that Ezekiel refers to the abandoned women whose
vile and detestable ways are graphically described in the Book of Proverbs
(chaps. 6
7). These interpret the words of the prophet almost literally; they
regard these “pillows and kerchiefs” as literal pillows and kerchiefs with
which they furnished their chambers and decked their persons to allure souls
into their snares
and ruin them. They represent these women as of the class
who
for a pittance of remuneration
sell themselves to the lowest vice. But
whilst
no doubt
some were of this dissolute character
I do not think that
the passage is to be interpreted literally; I believe it is best interpreted
figuratively. The meaning is almost identical with the “wall of untempered
mortar.” The prophets predicted safety when there was none. The prophetesses
predicted ease
prosperity
and luxury when there should be none. They did
as
it were
sew beautifully soft pillows and cushions
to put under every limb and
joint of the sleepers
to make their repose more undisturbed and their sleep
more profound; and
singing their lullaby o’er the lethargic people
they
said
--“Peace
peace
when there was no peace.” Therefore
saith God
--“Woe to
the women who sew pillows to all armholes.” We may vary the figure a little
to
adapt it to modem times and this Western region. Activity and motion
characterise our times and country. Let us
then
change the figure
and adapt
it to our customs. We do not lounge in luxurious divans and voluptuous saloons:
we are in the hurry of business
bustling hither and thither. A large
proportion of the people are always on the roads and thoroughfares of the land.
And what an accommodation to us are these ever-multiplying railways
linking
together not only the larger towns
but even the populous villages
into a
network of iron roads. And what a comfort
to those who can afford it
are our
first-class carriages
with their softly cushioned seats
their resting plates
for the arms
and “pillows for all armholes.” One could almost sleep there as in
his own bed
and travel hundreds of miles without seeing the inside of a house.
Now
all this is very well
when one can afford it
and the place of
destination is such as you desire. But supposing you were allured and enticed
into such a conveyance by fair speeches and flattering promises; supposing it
were made so comfortable on purpose to allay your fears and deceive you as to
the probable end of your journey
--would all this comfort satisfy you
were you
apprised by some kind angel that you were in that easy
smooth fashion to be
conveyed to a lunatic asylum or a prison
to end your days amongst madmen or
felons
or to be launched headlong over a steep precipice to sudden
destruction? I trow not. No; you would one and all start up
and indignantly seek
to be set down
if possible; feeling that for such an end
the ease of the
conveyance and the smoothness of the path were no compensation whatever. “Ah
yes
” I think I hear someone say
--“yes
I see; you mean the rich sinners
who
fare sumptuously every day
--who never know what it is to want a luxury or a
comfort
--who have little work and much pay
--who spend on an article of fancy
more than would keep a poor family for twelve months
--who can commit great and
many sins
and cover them over with gold and silver
so that they shall never
be mentioned
--who pacify conscience with wine or alms
and appease society by
their high social standing.” No! I rather mean you than them. Those you have
mentioned may be included in the list; but so
in all probability
are you. Of
course you may be startled
you may be offended when I say so
--mean you. The
rich sinner may have his pillow
--you have yours. There is no more common
pillow for sinful and fatal lethargy than the one you are sleeping on
which
has this inscription: “It is not I.” “I am not the person meant; it is the rich
man; it is the hypocrite; it is my neighbour; anybody but me.” In other words
thousands are continuing in their sins and vicious career
because they never
apply the warnings and descriptions of God’s Word and servants to themselves.
Tell them
“Except ye repent and be converted
ye shall all perish
” they say
“It does not mean me; I have nothing to repent of
or if ever I had
I have
long ago repented; it must be some other sinner.” You will now see what I mean
by the use of pillows
after a figurative sense. I mean the various devices and
delusions by which sinning is rendered easy
and the way to perdition made
smooth. So common are these pillows
that it is rare indeed for any person to
be without one of some kind
and many have more than one. I have already
described one. A second is a misappropriation of heavenly material to earthly
and wicked purposes. It is made from a perversion of the eternal decrees of
God
and mistaken notions of Divine sovereignty. This is a pillow on which many
a sinner has slept soundly and fatally. The cushion has two sides: on the one
side is Election
and on the other is Reprobation. And nosy they lie on one
side
and now on the other
and all your preaching and warning cannot rouse
them. Where shall we look for a third pillow? There is the pillow of
Procrastination. I speak of this in general; no pillow is more frequently used
more comfortable to lie upon
and sin upon
than this: “I admit the Bible is true
the minister is right; I am a sinner; Christ is a Saviour; I am a dying man; I
must stand before the judgment seat of God; I must go to heaven or hell
according to my faith and character here. But then
the trump is not yet to be
sounded; I am not expecting to die at present; I hope to live a good while
longer; I should like to enjoy the pleasures of life as long as possible
and
at some more convenient season I will repent; I will seek Jesus as my Saviour
and I hope through Him to die happily
and ultimately reach heaven.” But what
if your sleep become heavier and deeper every day
so that the voice of warning
or mercy no longer can reach your heart
and you perish in your sins? A fourth
pillow is the hope of escaping detection. “No eye saw me; it will never be
known.” This is a most wretched
yet common delusion
Sin will out. You cannot
long tamper with the intoxicating cup
and not give evidence of intemperance.
You cannot long prove unfaithful to your marriage vows
and not be looked down
upon as a base and abandoned man. You cannot long embezzle the money entrusted
to your care and rob your master
but soon suspicion will be excited
and proof
sufficient to convict you transpire. You cannot long live inconsistently with
your Christian profession as a member of Christ’s Church and keep up the
semblance of godliness
but soon some act of dishonesty or immorality will
declare that you are but a whited sepulchre and a vile hypocrite. Or if you do
escape the detection and chastisement of your fellowmen
you cannot escape from
the omniscience of God
who will judge everyone according to the deeds done in
the body. (R. Bruce
M. A.)
Judgments denied none the less sure
The Chaldeans were to capture Jerusalem. God said so. False
prophetesses denied it
and to quell the anxieties of the people employed a
significant symbol by sewing little pillows under the arms
as much as to say:
“Whenever you feel these soft pads at the arm sleeve
bethink yourselves all
shall be easy and well.” But alas for the delusion: Notwithstanding all the
smoothness of the prophecy
Jerusalem went down in darkness and fire and blood.
It is not more certain that you are here this morning
not more certain that
that is a window
not more certain that that is a ceiling
not more certain that
that is a chair
not more certain that that is a carpet
than it is certain
that God has declared destruction to the finally impenitent. Universalism comes
out and tries to quell this fear
and wants to sew two pillows under my arm
sleeves
and wants to sew two pillows under your arm sleeves. (T. De Witt
Talmage.)
Verse 22
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad.
The baleful influence of infidelity
I. Infidelity
exerts a baleful influence upon the righteous. Note the charge
“Because
” etc.
1. It casts a shadow upon his pathway. It is the shadow of midnight.
Leaves him to grope his way in darkness. Ignoring God’s Word
it points to “the
light of nature
” and says
“This is sufficient
walk here!” But these are
questions that the voice of the winds
the hills
the stars do not answer
“Can
sins be forgiven? If so
how?” In the hour of trial nature’s light grows dim.
The mariner may follow the stars till the storm at midnight; then the
lighthouse.
2. It is a blight to his sweetest joys. “Because with lies ye have
made the heart of the righteous sad
whom I have not made sad.” God makes the
righteous glad
not sad. True religion is as the oil of joy to the heart. The
righteous have “songs in the night.” But as frost is to the flower
so is
unbelief to the better impulses of the heart. What ray of hope
what ground for
rejoicing does infidelity afford? Ah! it is the ruthless hand that snatches
away the staff upon which the struggling soul rests.
3. It seeks to undermine his hopes--strikes at the very foundation of
them (Psalms 11:3). Ah! he may sit down in
sadness and heave an unending sigh. He may hang his “harp upon the willows.”
II. Infidelity
exerts a baleful influence upon the wicked.
1. It encourages him to follow his own inclinations as his guide. The
false prophets are described as those “that follow their own spirit
and have
seen nothing.” So they taught all to do. And so is the spirit of infidelity in
all ages of the world. The depraved heart is its criterion.
2. It encourages him to continue in sin--“That he should not return
from his wicked way.” It advocates no such return. Nothing to turn
from--nothing to turn to. Nay
it rather “strengthens his hands.”
3. It encourages him to dismiss from his mind all thought of the
future. It cries to the sin-stricken soul
“Peace
peace. Think not of the
hereafter; there may be none
no heaven to gain
no hell to shun. Be at peace!”
It is opposed to God
good men
and bad men. It must be destroyed--Wall of
bulrushes must fall--“There shall be an overflowing shower.” “And ye shall know
that I am the Lord.” (M. L. Bibb.)
Making the righteous sad
That is a severe indictment. It was brought by God
and was
addressed to the false prophets
and especially to the lying prophetess
who
exercised their evil ministry in the days of Ezekiel. In holy wrath
the Lord
hurls this flaming impeachment upon these cruel and deceitful ministrants
“Ye
have grieved the heart of the righteous: whom I have not made sad.” (Revised
Version.) We are here introduced to sad people. They were righteous--God
declares them such. But they were full of grief. Grief and righteousness are
often associated. But the sadness of these grieved ones was not imposed by God.
He recognises the sorrow
but disavows it. “I have not made” them “sad” is His
express word of repudiation. Sometimes sadness is from God. He doth not willingly
grieve the children of men. Especially reluctant is He to grieve those who are
covenanted unto Him. But anon He does it. Sadness is one of God’s methods of
education for His righteous ones. “Thou didst it
” the saddened righteous can
confidently and resignedly say in certain of life’s calamitous hours. Let all
the sad inquire whence cometh their sadness. From what fountain does the dark
and turbid stream arise? It may spring from yourself. Has some strong besetting
sin wrecked your gladness? Sadness often originates in temperament. Do not
blame God if you are melancholic; blame your yielding to your temperament.
Grace can enable a man to rise above his temperament. If self makes a man
presumptuous
it full as often makes him despondent. The worry of these worrying
days frequently issues in sadness. O righteous one! Thy sadness is not the
frown of thy God. Thou art cumbered with much serving. The pace of life is
exhausting thee. God has not made you sad. Nerve and body and brain are
overwrought. Sadness is wrought
all too often
by our fellow men. Why are you
sad? “An enemy hath done this.” An ingrate friend is responsible. A prodigal
child. A remorseless creditor. A thankless debtor. Oh
the inhumanity of
humanity! Charge not God foolishly because of sadness. Asperse not the kind
Lord. Satan often seeks to ruin us by sadness. Quite as often as by pleasure he
seeks to spoil us by grief. Sadness is one of the fiercest of his “fiery
darts.” Beware of Giant Despair
O pilgrim. I am sure we far too often charge God
with our sadness. It is well we should weigh this ancient disclaimer of His:
“Whom I have not made sad.” Trace your sadness to its true source. It may be
that God has done it. But it may be He is in no wise responsible. Some impose
sadness upon the righteous in God’s name. That is exactly what these false
prophetesses did. The Almighty charges them with the high crime. He says
“Ye
have made the heart of the righteous sad.” They had spoken in Jehovah’s name.
They professed to be His forthtellers
but they lied. They spake “out of their
own hearts.” What awful things have been done in God’s name! Men have stolen
the livery of heaven to serve the devil in. In the name of God mankind has
accomplished its worst infamies. Men have lied and persecuted and slain
claiming the while that they thereby fulfilled the counsel of God. Let us see
if this wrong-doing is not perpetrated even in our time. Do not some confound
religion and sadness? Assuredly they do. But
thank God
they are not
synonymous. Religion and seriousness are essentially allied
but not so
religion and sadness. “Say ye to the righteous
It shall be well with him.” The
work of righteousness is not sadness
but peace and assurance. Do not measure
the depth of a man’s piety by the length of his face. Sadness is far oftener
the consequence of a disordered liver than of a righteous heart. Beware
above
all things
of prophet or prophetess representing righteousness as essential
sadness! Here is a great test of a ministry. Is it generally saddening to the
righteous? Then it is undivine. They are no true prophets who make the heart of
the righteous sad. Sadden the evil-doer by all means. Make him to pierce
himself through with many sorrows. But do not sadden the righteous. Dr. A.B.
Davidson renders my text
“Ye have discouraged the righteous.” So they showed
how essentially ungodlike was their ministry. God never discourages the
righteous. He is “the God of all encouragement.” He ministers every form of
legitimate encouragement. God is the supreme encourager. Fellow servant of God
is yours a saddening ministry to the saint? Then there is surely a grave
wrongness in it. Let all whose ideal and endeavour it is to be righteous be of
good cheer. Refuse to be loaded with sadness in God’s name. “Be glad in the Lord
ye righteous
and shout for joy
all ye that are upright in heart.” How had
these godless prophetesses accomplished their beglooming ministry? The Lord
supplies the answer
and in no measured terms: “With lies ye have made the
heart of the righteous sad.” They had uttered false predictions of calamities
which were to descend upon the godly. False teaching usually has a saddening
effect upon the righteous. Truth sometimes makes God’s people sad
but it is
not intended to do so. But “lies” palmed off as religious truth make the heart
of the righteous sad. They often encourage and delight the evil-doer. They give
him warrant to take his licence. Today
as in days past
we can readily see
false teaching working upon the righteous its unkindly work. This is true of
teaching which is intrinsically false. Inveracious theologies sadden the
righteous. What evil presentations we sometimes hear and read! He is
represented now as a despot
and now as morally indifferent. A false theology
makes the heart of the righteous sad. Has not erroneous teaching concerning the
Bible the same effect? If its inspiration were the dubious thing it is
sometimes declared to be
it would indeed be a miserable estate in which the
righteous are found. When the Word of God is described as a farago of myths and
legends and forgeries
is not the heart of the righteous sad? False teaching
regarding the atonement works kindred sorrow. Paul said
“We joy in God
by
whom we have received the atonement.” Destroy that cardinal truth
and you make
the heart of the righteous sad. Resolve the death of Christ into a martyrdom
an ethical example
the supreme historic instance of altruism
and you dry up
the freshest spring of gladness which humanity knows. Preach the doleful
tidings that our moral chains must weight us long as we live beneath. And by
such erroneous teaching the heart of the righteous is fatally saddened.
Proclaim that there is no privilege of assurance for God’s children. And again
you plunge the righteous in nocturnal gloom. But this sadness is evoked not
alone by indoctrination which is inherently false
but by that which is such
relatively. When true teaching is perverted in its application
it has the
value of false teaching. This was the fallacy of which Job’s comforters were
guilty. They were capable theologians. Their theology was true in its essence
but false in its application. Thereby they made Job’s heart sad with sore
sadness. We must study the relativity of truth. Truth misapplied is as untruth.
Assurance is a glorious truth
and a radiant possibility for all
but preach it
as essential to salvation
and you must make the heart of the righteous sad.
There is a Divine retribution for such as give sadness to the righteous. In the
two verses which precede the text
the particular punishment of these false
prophetesses is described. And the verse of my text adds that it is “because
with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad.” In the verse which
follows the threat of God is repeated. All who effect this saddening of the saints
shall suffer for their deed. This principle has worldwide application. Let
ministers and teachers of religion beware lest God judge them for this
disservice to His people. Oh
the delicacy of our office who speak God’s
messages! Masters and mistresses need to watch their ways in this regard. Take
heed lest inadvertently you make the heart of a righteous servant sad. Friends
and acquaintances should be alert to prevent this evil. A thoughtless word may
arouse the anger of God by creating sadness in His righteous ones. Restrain
unkind speech. Parents may grieve right-doing children. Oh
pray that the
judgment of God may never light on us because we have made the heart of the
righteous sad! We do a godly deed when we cheer the righteous. Is not that plainly
implied in this word of Jehovah which we are studying? We are never more
clearly “God’s fellow workers” than when we hearten God’s people. Be sure you
are a true minister of Christ if you encourage the righteous. They greatly need
good cheer in these strenuous days. They have grievous burdens to bear. Covet
to be an encourager! Strive to uplift the heart of God’s people. Do you ask how
you can accomplish this grateful ministry? Speak cheering words. We can hearten
the righteous by kindly acts. Eloquent deeds have a sonority which no eloquent
speech can attain. A timely gift may fill a sad heart with melody sweeter than
an angel’s song. Our very deportment may accomplish the service of God upon sad
souls. There is a Gospel in some men’s smile. Faces may be benedictions.
Righteousness is the ultimate cure of sadness. Does not this text proclaim that
gospel? Character is the final secret of gladness. They who hate evil and do
righteousness are anointed with gladness above their fellows. The righteous
have a right of gladness. This is especially true in the Christian
dispensation. Christian righteousness is realised by faith in the crucified and
risen Lord. Such as believe rejoice in the Lord
and this joy none can take
from them. (D. T. Young.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》