A severe judgment and its satisfactory consequences.
"Thus will! make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt," etc. The sin referred to in this verse is the idolatry of the people. Two of its clauses make this quite clear. "Thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt;… thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them." The form of the idols which Jeroboam set up he derived from Egypt, where he had resided for some time. In setting up the golden calves at Bethel and Dan he "translated to Israelitish soil the worship which he had seen at Memphis and Heliopolis" (1 Kings 12:26 -36). And, what is more important for the elucidation of our text, which is addressed to the people of Judah, the whole Israelitish people brought with them their deep-rooted tendency to idolatry when they came out of Egypt. Two chief points are presented to our notice.
I. A JUDGMENT OF GREAT SEVERITY FOLLOWED BY SATISFACTORY CONSEQUENCES. God had already visited the kingdom of Israel with his judgments because of their idolatries. He had sent famine upon them (1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1, 1 Kings 18:2); he had allowed them to suffer by the invasions of their enemies (2 Kings 6:24-29; 2 Kings 10:32, 2 Kings 10:33; 2 Kings 13:3, 2 Kings 13:4, 2 Kings 13:7). Amos the prophet forcibly sets forth these visitations of Israel by reason of their sins (Amos 4:6-11). And as all these judgments failed to turn them from idolatry, the Lord suffered them to be carried captive into Assyria (2 Kings 17:3-6). These things should have been a warning to the people of Judah to keep clear of idolatry; yet they frequently lapsed into it. God had caused them also to suffer by reason of it (2 Kings 18:13-16; 2 Kings 21:1-15; 2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Kings 24:1-4, 2 Kings 24:10-16). But these judgments did not cleanse the kingdom of Judah of idolatry. Checked for a time, the- sinful practice broke out vigorously again. And in consequence, the complete destruction of Jerusalem, the utter overthrow of the kingdom, and the captivity of the people, are declared to be at hand. And the text asserts that, by means of this severe judgment, the people would be finally and forever freed from idolatry. And the result has proved the prophetic assertion true. One effect of the Captivity was the complete eradication of the tendency of the Jews to idolatry; "so that whereas, before the Captivity, no nation (all things considered) was more impetuously bent upon idols and idolatry than they were, after that Captivity no nation was more vehemently set against idols and idolatry than they were." The sin of idolatry is not limited to those who are called heathen. Dr. Thomas Guthrie says truly, "In a sense all men are idolaters. In the days of old, it is said that Egypt had more gods than men. Elsewhere than in Egypt, everywhere, as the Bible says, 'there be lords many and gods many.' The Hindu reckons his divinities by thousands and tens of thousands; yet the world has a larger pantheon—as many gods as it has objects, be they innocent or guilty, which usurp the place of Jehovah, and dethrone him in the creature's heart. Nor are men less idolaters if drunkards, though they pour out no libation to Bacchus, the god of wine; nor less idolaters, if impure, that they burn no incense at the shrine of Venus; nor less idolaters, if lovers of wealth, that they do not mould their god into an image of Plutus, and, giving a shrine to what lies hoarded in their coffers, offer it their morning and evening prayers. He has been an idolater, who, rebelling against Providence, follows the hearse of a coffined god; he made an idol of wife or child; and now, when the robber of all our homes has stolen these his gods away, and bears off his plunder to the grave, the feelings of that man's heart may be expressed in Micah's complaint to the Danite robbers, 'Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?' 'Let no one deem it strange if God should visit him for his idolatries. He may do so by forcibly removing the idol, by depriving the idolater of the riches which he has worshipped, or by taking to himself the child or other relative which has been made an idol. Or he may visit those who sin thus by making the idol the occasion of sharp sorrow or bitter trial, as when a child has been idolized by his parents, and grows up to "bring down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." Blessed will it be if such visitation leads to the turning of the heart entirely to God.
II. A PROPHETIC PREDICTION WHICH WAS REMARKABLY FULFILLED. "Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee," etc. "This prediction is frequently repeated; and the accomplishment of it has been most wonderful. It might have been expected that a nation, ever prone to idolatry in a country where the worship of the true God was established and none else tolerated, would have readily conformed to the idolatrous usages of the nations among whom they were scattered by the Captivity, and so have been incorporated with them. Yet neither the authority, the frowns, the examples, or the favor of their conquerors or powerful neighbors; nor their own fears, hopes, interests, or predilection for the sensual, jovial worship of idols, could prevail with them to run into gross idolatry, during the Captivity or afterwards! Nay, they were instrumental to the proselyting of numbers of idolaters to the worship of Jehovah, in the countries where they were dispersed" (Scott). This is certainly a remarkable fulfillment of prophetic prediction; and it furnishes:
1. Evidence of the omniscience of God. He clearly and certainly foresaw what the result of the Captivity would be in this respect. Such foreknowledge points to the omniscience of him who possesses it. "O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me," etc. (Psalms 139:1-4). This knowledge should prove:
2. Evidence of the Divine inspiration of the prophet. The influence of past judgments upon the people could not have led Ezekiel to have predicted such a result of the Captivity, but one of an opposite character. The character of the people and the circumstances of their captivity were not calculated to inspire a declaration like this. It could not have been the product of mere human genius in an exalted mood, or human foresight in a condition of intense activity. Such a prediction must have been communicated to the prophet by him to whom all things are known.
CONCLUSION. "Guard yourselves from idols."—W.J.
The exclusiveness of the worship of the Lord God.
"Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day," etc. The chief practical suggestions of our text may be arranged under three heads.
I. MEN INSTRUCTED IN THE TRUE RELIGION PRACTISING THE GREATEST ABOMINATIONS OF HEATHENISM. "They had slain their children to their idols" (Ezekiel 23:39). "They have caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured" (Ezekiel 23:37). We have already noticed the offering of children to Moloch (on Ezekiel 16:20, Ezekiel 16:21). And in this age and in this professedly Christian land people make sacrifices which bear some resemblance to these in spirit. How many respectable and avowedly Christian parents sacrifice their daughters in marriage to mammon l The man may be unsuitable in age, uncongenial in temper, immoral in character and conduct; but, if he be rich, he is welcomed as a suitor. How frequently, too, are the best and the abiding interests of children—their intellectual, spiritual, and eternal interests—risked, or even sacrificed, by their parents, in order that they may attain unto higher social status or gain worldly honors and distinctions! And in other ways practices which are worthy only of heathen intelligence and morality are at work amongst us.
II. MEN PASSING AT ONCE FROM THE PRACTICE OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF HEATHENISM INTO THE SANCTUARY AND SERVICE OF THE LIVING GOD. "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." The Prophet Jeremiah complains of a similar sin: "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my Name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?" (Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 7:10). The sin is not unknown amongst us in these days. Men are on the racecourse, with its cruelty, profanity, and gambling, on the weekday, and on Sunday they enter the sanctuary of God, and take part in its services. There are those who, during the week, visit scenes of drunkenness and profligacy, and on the Lord's day they go to church and unite in the forms of worship. It is an ill preparation for the sacred engagements of the house of God to spend the Saturday evening in the public house, worshipping Bacchus. Nor is the character of the case much altered when persons attend church on Sunday morning, and spend the remainder of the day in social festivity and dissipation.
III. THAT SUCH CONDUCT IS A PROFANATION BOTH OF THE SABBATH AND THE SANCTUARY OF GOD. "Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols," etc. We may show this by noticing:
1. That these things should be held in reverence.
2. The conduct exhibited and condemned in the text is most irreverent in relation to these things.
CONCLUSION. The worship of God is exclusive. "Thou shalt have none other gods before me;" "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve;" "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Let us cultivate decision and thoroughness in his service. How different from the conduct condemned in the text was that of Cyprian! On his way to martyrdom he was told by the emperor that he would give him time to consider if he had not better cast a grain of incense into the fire in honor of the idol-gods than die so ignominiously. Cyprian replied, "There needs no deliberation in the case." John Huss, at the stake, was offered a pardon if he would recant. His reply was, "I am here, ready to suffer death." Thomas Hawkes, in like circumstances, said, "If I had a hundred bodies, I would suffer them all to be torn in pieces, rather than recant." Let us seek to be alike true, whole-hearted, and firm in our allegiance to our Lord.—W.J.
Ezekiel 22
Ezekiel
Ezekiel 24
Ezekiel 23 - ezekiel-23 - worlddic.com