Ezekiel 20

CHAPTER 20:45-49, 21.

THE VISION OF THE LORD'S FIRE AND SWORD.

THE five concluding verses in Ezekiel 20:45-49, as already noticed, should evidently have been connected with Ezekiel 21, and are justly regarded by interpreters as a kind of general introduction to what follows, or a brief delineation under one aspect of what is afterwards more fully and explicitly described under another. The leading import of the vision is plain enough; but it is written throughout in a style so singularly abrupt, and in some parts so utterly enigmatical, that it may certainly be considered, as a whole, one of the darkest portions of Ezekiel's writings. Even Horsley, who was not scrupulous in forcing a way where none naturally presented itself, has here simply left a record of his inability to proceed, in the brief note, “The difficulties of this passage are to me insuperable.” For once, at least, his ready resort to a change in the text proved insufficient to bring the necessary relief. Various emendations of the text have been suggested by late authors; but these, being of an entirely arbitrary and conjectural character, are incapable of yielding satisfaction, and are seldom even deserving of notice. I cannot, certainly, pretend to say that I see my way through all the obscurities of the passage, as it stands, and shall not hesitate to state my doubts as to the real meaning, where I have failed to get them removed. But the portions of this kind are not, after all, very numerous, and will be found to interfere comparatively little with the general import of the prophet's communication.

For the greater facility and clearness of interpretation, we shall take the passage in successive portions.

Ezekiel 20:45. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Ezekiel 20:46. Son of man, set thy face by the way on the right (south), and pour forth toward the south, and prophesy towards the forest of the field in the south.

Ezekiel 20:47. And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in thee; and it will devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree; the glowing flame (The two words here used, לַהֶבֶת שַׁלְחֶבֶת are very like in sound, and also not very different in meaning, although they are not quite so synonymous as our translators have taken them to be. The second rather means ardent, glowing heat, than flame in the ordinary sense. What is meant is evidently a flame of intense fervency.) shall not be quenched, and all faces shall be scorched by it, (Here, as not unfrequently with Ezekiel, the figure is dropt, or rather, figure and reality are mingled together. He lets out the secret, that men are represented by the trees, when he speaks of all faces being burnt. (See similar violations in Ezekiel 19:7, and various passages in Ezekiel 21.)) from the south to the north.

Ezekiel 20:48. And all flesh shall see that I Jehovah have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

Ezekiel 20:49. And I said, Ah! Lord God, they say of me, Does he not speak in parables?

In this portion there is an obscurity, but it is an obscurity that arises simply from the want of precision in defining the exact sphere of the vision. That it indicates a severe and consuming judgment from the Lord upon some land and people, situated somewhere to the south of the prophet, admits of no doubt. For the substitution in one place of faces instead of trees, as the subjects of the burning, renders it manifest that the vision has respect to the inhabitants of a country. And when the conflagration is represented as falling upon every tree, the green as well as the dry, those that were apparently not fit as well as those that were fit fuel for the flame, this could only be meant to express the fearfully comprehensive character of the coming judgment, as not sparing even the better part, who might seem undeserving of such a visitation. It is in the same way, and with reference, doubtless, to this part of the vision, that our Lord, pointing from the troubles that were befalling himself, to those which were soon to befall the Jewish people, said, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:31); if such things befall one who has done nothing to provoke them, what may be expected for those who are the fit objects of Heaven's vengeance? or, if the righteous suffer thus, what must be the measure of severity that is preparing to overtake the wicked? So that by the green trees can only be understood the more righteous, and by the dry trees the more wicked portions of the community; they were all alike to be involved in the coming desolation. But who precisely were the people thus to be visited, or by what kind of instrumentality the desolation was to be brought upon them, the vision so far is entirely silent; and it might truly be said in this respect, that the prophet was speaking in parables. He notices the complaint that was sometimes made respecting the parabolical character of his communications, as if on this occasion, at least, it might justly be complained of. And he presently obtains from the Lord what may be called a duplicate of the vision, only of such a kind as served to make perfectly intelligible both who the objects of the foreseen calamity were, and who also were to be the instruments of inflicting these upon them.

Ezekiel 21:1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 20:2. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and pour forth toward the holy places, and prophesy toward the land of Israel.

Ezekiel 20:3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its scabbard, and will cut off from thee righteous and wicked.

Ezekiel 20:4. Because I cut off from thee righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall go forth out of its scabbard against all flesh from south to north.

Ezekiel 20:5. And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah do make my sword to go forth out of its scabbard; nor shall it return again.

Ezekiel 20:6. And thou, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

Ezekiel 20:7. And it shall be, when they say to thee, Wherefore dost thou sigh? that thou shalt say, For the tidings; because it comes, and every heart melts, and all hands hang down, and every spirit faints, and all knees become water; lo! it comes, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Here the darkness and ambiguity that hung over the earlier part of the vision, so far as the precise locality is concerned, is entirely removed. The region of judgment and desolation is now expressly determined to be the land of Israel, and more especially Jerusalem and its holy places. And if any doubt had remained as to the extent of meaning indicated in the former vision by the burning up of “every green and every dry tree,” the declaration that the sword to be presently drawn was to cut off both “the righteous and the wicked,” must have set it completely at rest. But the announcement that there was going to be such an indiscriminate and unsparing execution of judgment in Judea is startling, and presents an apparent contrariety to the command given in an earlier vision (Ezekiel 9:4), to seal the fore heads of the righteous, as persons set apart and entrusted to the safe custody of God against the coming evil. It was, no doubt, the stumbling-block of this seeming contrariety which prompted the translator in the Septuagint to make a violent change in the text, so as to express the sense,” I will destroy out of thee the lawless and unjust” (ἐξολεθρεύσω ἐκ σοῦ ἄδικον καὶ ἄνομον.). But it is only on a superficial consideration that the one passage will appear at all contradictory to the other. For here, as is manifest from the whole nature of the representation, it is the merely external aspect of the visitation which the prophet has in his eye. The sword of the Lord's judgment, he announced, was to pass through the land, and accomplish such a sweeping overthrow, that all, without exception, would be made to suffer in the fearful catastrophe. This did not prevent, however, but that there might be, in the midst of the outward calamities which were thus to burst like a mighty tempest over the land, a vigilant oversight maintained, and special interpositions of Providence exercised, in behalf of the pious remnant who still continued faithful to the covenant of God. It was this distinguishing goodness to some, even amid the horrors of a general desolation, which, as we showed before, was the real object of that sealing of God's servants on the forehead in a former vision; while here, on the other hand, it is merely the general desolation itself which is contemplated by the prophet. And the very circumstance that he should now have looked so exclusively on the outward scene of carnage and distress, which he descried in the approaching future, seemed to say that this was to be the grand feature of the time, and that the special interpositions which were to be put forth in behalf of the better portion would be so few that they scarcely required to be taken into account. It is obvious, too, that the description given even of the general desolation must be understood with some limitation. For, that the sword should literally be unsheathed against all flesh from north to south in the land, and should cut off or destroy all within its borders, whether righteous or wicked, would not only be at variance with the other prophecies of Ezekiel, but would even not consist with the sequel of this prediction itself, which, as we shall see, still speaks of a purpose of mercy in behalf of the covenant-people. But undoubtedly he wished to convey the impression of a very fearful and overwhelming destruction. The immediate prospect of this national disaster had called his mind back again from the bright vision of distant glory he had unfolded at the close of the preceding communication, and as seeing all now overshadowed with gloom, his soul was filled with the deepest trouble and anguish. Agitated and rent, as he thus was, with the most painful and violent emotions, he naturally proceeds to give utterance to his feelings in abrupt sentences and plaintive reiterations.