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Ezekiel Chapter
Twenty-three
Ezekiel 23
Chapter Contents
A history of the apostacy of God's people from him
and
the aggravation thereof.
In this parable
Samaria and Israel bear the name Aholah
"her own tabernacle;" because the places of worship those kingdoms
had
were of their own devising. Jerusalem and Judah bear the name of Aholibah
"my tabernacle is in her
" because their temple was the place which
God himself had chosen
to put his name there. The language and figures are
according to those times. Will not such humbling representations of nature keep
open perpetual repentance and sorrow in the soul
hiding pride from our eyes
and taking us from self-righteousness? Will it not also prompt the soul to look
to God continually for grace
that by his Holy Spirit we may mortify the deeds
of the body
and live in holy conversation and godliness?
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
Ezekiel 23
Verse 2
[2] Son of man
there were two women
the daughters of one
mother:
Two women — Judah
and Israel
two kingdoms.
Verse 3
[3] And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed
whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed
and there they
bruised the teats of their virginity.
Whoredoms — Idolatry.
Verse 4
[4] And the names of them were Aholah the elder
and
Aholibah her sister: and they were mine
and they bare sons and daughters. Thus
were their names; Samaria is Aholah
and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Aholah — That is
his own tabernacle; for Israel falling off
from the house of David
fell off from the tabernacle
or temple of God; so
that all the temple they had was of their own making.
The elder — Greater for number of tribes
and
for power
wealth
and for multitudes of people.
Aholibah — That is
my tabernacle in her: the two tribes had the
temple of God with them.
Mine — By solemn marriage-covenant.
Bare sons — Were fruitful and brought forth
children to me; they increased in numbers of people; and among these
some
there were that were children of God by faith
love
and obedience.
Verse 5
[5] And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she
doted on her lovers
on the Assyrians her neighbours
Played the harlot — United in idolatry
with the Assyrians.
Mine — When under my government
and protection.
Verse 6
[6] Which were clothed with blue
captains and rulers
all
of them desirable young men
horsemen riding upon horses.
Horsemen — Skillful in riding
and well furnished with choice
horses.
Verse 7
[7] Thus she committed her whoredoms with them
with all
them that were the chosen men of Assyria
and with all on whom she doted: with
all their idols she defiled herself.
With all — Other nations
with whom she had commerce.
Verse 10
[10] These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and
her daughters
and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women;
for they had executed judgment upon her.
Discovered — Stript her naked
and exposed her
to shame.
Took her sons — Captives.
Slew her — The kingdom of Israel
under Hoshea
was by Salmanesar
utterly destroyed.
They — The Assyrians
had executed God's just displeasure
upon her.
Verse 15
[15] Girded with girdles upon their loins
exceeding in dyed
attire upon their heads
all of them princes to look to
after the manner of
the Babylonians of Chaldea
the land of their nativity:
Girded — With soldiers belts
which includes the rest of the
habit of soldiers.
In dyed attire — Both rich
comely
large
and of
divers colours.
Princes — Of princely aspect and majesty.
Verse 17
[17] And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love
and they defiled her with their whoredom
and she was polluted with them
and
her mind was alienated from them.
Alienated — She grew weary of the Chaldeans.
Verse 18
[18] So she discovered her whoredoms
and discovered her
nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her
like as my mind was alienated
from her sister.
Discovered — Made it appear to all
far and
near.
Verse 19
[19] Yet she multiplied her whoredoms
in calling to
remembrance the days of her youth
wherein she had played the harlot in the
land of Egypt.
By — Remembering her idolatries in Egypt
her alliance with
it in days past
which she now resolved to act over again.
Verse 20
[20] For she doted upon their paramours
whose flesh is as
the flesh of asses
and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
Paramours — The nations
that were
confederate with the Egyptians.
Verse 23
[23] The Babylonians
and all the Chaldeans
Pekod
and Shoa
and Koa
and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men
captains and rulers
great lords and renowned
all of them riding upon horses.
Pekod — Pekod is the province between Tigris
and Lycus; in
this was old Nineveh.
Shoa — Either Sia in Armenia
or the Sohia
among which were
the Adiabeni
and this contained the middle part of the kingdom of Babylon.
Koa — This bordered upon Media
the inhabitants were called
Kohai
and dwelt about Arbela.
And all — All subjects of the Assyrian monarchy.
Verse 24
[24] And they shall come against thee with chariots
wagons
and wheels
and with an assembly of people
which shall set against thee
buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them
and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
And wheels — Lest in their march the carriage
wheels should break
a store of these were provided.
An assembly — A mighty confluence of people.
I will set — Give them a power in right of
conquest over their rebels
as well as mine
and I will give them a spirit of
judgment to discern the greatness of this people's sins.
Judge — Condemn
and execute sentence upon thee.
According — To their will
power
wrath
and
custom
against rebels; for these are their rules of judgment.
Verse 25
[25] And I will set my jealousy against thee
and they shall
deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy
remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters;
and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
I will set my jealousy — As a jealous provoked
husband
I will be as much against thee as they are.
Thy residue — Either the people
who hid
themselves in vaults and cellars
or what the Chaldeans cannot carry away
all
this shall be devoured by fire.
Verse 29
[29] And they shall deal with thee hatefully
and shall take
away all thy labour
and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of
thy whoredoms shall be discovered
both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
Take away — Deprive thee of the comfortable
use of all thy labour
which they will exact of thee in captivity.
Verse 32
[32] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy
sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in
derision; it containeth much.
It — Is large
and contains what will last many years
even
'till the seventy years be expired.
Verse 34
[34] Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out
and thou shalt
break the sherds thereof
and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken
it
saith the Lord GOD.
Thou — Shalt stagger with sorrows
that shall intoxicate
and
astonish.
Suck it out — The dregs shalt thou drink
and
multiply thine own sorrows.
Break the sheards — To suck out what
remains.
And pluck — Revenging thyself upon thyself.
Verse 35
[35] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast
forgotten me
and cast me behind thy back
therefore bear thou also thy
lewdness and thy whoredoms.
Bear thou — The guilt
I will impute it
the
punishment
I will not pardon it.
Verse 38
[38] Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled
my sanctuary in the same day
and have profaned my sabbaths.
In the same day — When they had newly polluted
themselves with idolatry and murder
they thrust into the temple.
Verse 39
[39] For when they had slain their children to their idols
then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and
lo
thus have
they done in the midst of mine house.
My house — Nay
these things have been in my house.
Verse 40
[40] And furthermore
that ye have sent for men to come from
far
unto whom a messenger was sent; and
lo
they came: for whom thou didst
wash thyself
paintedst thy eyes
and deckedst thyself with ornaments
Wash thyself — After the manner of harlots.
Verse 41
[41] And satest upon a stately bed
and a table prepared
before it
whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
Sattest — Prepared to feast them.
A stately bed — A magnificent bed
on which women
sat to feast
when men leaned on their sides.
Incense — Offered to their idols.
Verse 42
[42] And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her:
and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness
which put bracelets upon their hands
and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
A voice — A shout for joy
that there was a treaty of peace
between the Jews
and the Chaldeans.
Verse 45
[45] And the righteous men
they shall judge them after the
manner of adulteresses
and after the manner of women that shed blood; because
they are adulteresses
and blood is in their hands.
Righteous men — Men that keep the law of their
God.
Verse 46
[46] For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company
upon them
and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
Upon them — Against the Jews
the children of
this Aholibah.
Verse 47
[47] And the company shall stone them with stones
and
dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their
daughters
and burn up their houses with fire.
The company — The Babylonian army.
Verse 48
[48] Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land
that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
Lewdness — Idolatry. And indeed we do not read of any after their
return out of this captivity.
Verse 49
[49] And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you
and ye
shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
They — The Babylonians.
The sins — The guilt of worshipping idols; and you shall bear the
punishment of idolaters.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezekiel》
23 Chapter 23
Verses 1-49
Samaria is Aholah and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Aholah and Aholibah
I. Sin is
self-polluting and therefore self-destroying. Constant contact with sin will
pollute the conscience
and render it powerless to fulfil the end for which it
has been implanted in the man. It will destroy the understanding in the sense
that it renders it unable to see and know the things of God (Ephesians 4:18-19). Sin persisted in
defiles the will
and makes it like a palsied limb which has no power to
perform its functions. It pollutes the affections by bringing them in contact
with debasing objects
until their power to love goodness is gone. And so the
man
having destroyed all the forces of his being
stands before the universe
with nothing left but his identity
which he cannot destroy.
II. Those who
depart from God shall be punished by the world for changing their master.
(Verse 22.) The deserter who comes over from the enemy’s camp is often regarded
with suspicion and sometimes meets with contempt where he expected to find
reward. His zeal in the service of his new master is looked upon as simply an
effort to ingratiate himself for his own ends and he very often finds
punishment instead of welcome. So the world to which the apostate from God
returns becomes the instrument of his punishment. He must become a greater
sinner than those to whom he joins himself in order to convince his new master
that he is entirely with him.
III. When sinners
can serve no other purpose in the world
they may render a service by being a
warning to others. We have shadows here of the truth that Hell has its use in
the universe
and that men beyond reach of recovery may be of this use.
Convicts have their sphere of usefulness
though it is of such a nature as to
send a shudder through the mind of other men. The chained eagle is a warning to
those whose wings are free. (A London Minister.)
Samaria is Aholah and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Aholah and Aholibah
I. Sin is
self-polluting and therefore self-destroying. Constant contact with sin will
pollute the conscience
and render it powerless to fulfil the end for which it
has been implanted in the man. It will destroy the understanding in the sense
that it renders it unable to see and know the things of God (Ephesians 4:18-19). Sin persisted in
defiles the will
and makes it like a palsied limb which has no power to
perform its functions. It pollutes the affections by bringing them in contact
with debasing objects
until their power to love goodness is gone. And so the
man
having destroyed all the forces of his being
stands before the universe
with nothing left but his identity
which he cannot destroy.
II. Those who
depart from God shall be punished by the world for changing their master.
(Verse 22.) The deserter who comes over from the enemy’s camp is often regarded
with suspicion and sometimes meets with contempt where he expected to find
reward. His zeal in the service of his new master is looked upon as simply an
effort to ingratiate himself for his own ends and he very often finds
punishment instead of welcome. So the world to which the apostate from God
returns becomes the instrument of his punishment. He must become a greater sinner
than those to whom he joins himself in order to convince his new master that he
is entirely with him.
III. When sinners
can serve no other purpose in the world
they may render a service by being a
warning to others. We have shadows here of the truth that Hell has its use in
the universe
and that men beyond reach of recovery may be of this use.
Convicts have their sphere of usefulness
though it is of such a nature as to
send a shudder through the mind of other men. The chained eagle is a warning to
those whose wings are free. (A London Minister.)
Verse 13
Then I saw that she was defiled
that they took both one way.
Infection easy
Manton says: “We easily catch an infectious disease from
one another
but no man receiveth health from another’s company.” Too true.
Evil communications inevitably corrupt good manners; but good communications do
not so necessarily improve evil manners. We more readily learn evil than good
and we are also more forcible in communicating sin than virtue. Both as to the
giving out and the receiving
the aptness lies on the wrong side. What a proof
of our natural depravity! What a change must grace work in us before we shall
be fully like our Lord Jesus
who was incapable of being inoculated by sin
but
abundantly able to communicate goodness; for healing virtue proceeded from Him.
When shall we become disseminators of holiness by our very presence? (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 23
Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup.
The cup of wrath
I. the symbol
suggested.
1. The “cup” is sometimes the emblem of joy and gladness (Psalms 23:5); but here of indignation and
wrath
in allusion probably to a very ancient method of punishing criminals--a
poisoned cup.
2. The cup is sometimes afflictive dispensations (Psalms 73:10); and though the Lord’s
people are made to drink deeply of it
yet the dregs only are reserved for the
wicked (Psalms 75:8).
3. The cup is significant of future and eternal misery
hence called
“the cup of wrath” (Revelation 16:19). The wrath of God and
of the Lamb is put into it; the cup has been filling for many years; it will
never be emptied. It is also called “the cup of fury
” as containing the
inexpressible fierceness of Divine indignation (Jeremiah 25:15).
II. The description
afforded--“Much.”
1. It contains all the sins that we have ever committed
and these
if not now repented of
will fill us with ceaseless remorse.
2. It contains all the curses of that law which we have violated.
3. It is the everlasting vengeance of God. A lost estate
lost
liberty
or lost friends may be regained; but the loss of the soul is
irreparable. (Homilist.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》