A. C. 591.

* Or, heap.

e Nah. iii, 1. Hab. ii. 12.

SECTION VII.

Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, delivered at the commencement of the Siege.

EZEKIEL XXIV 27.

1 Under the parable of a boiling pot, 6 is shewed the irrevocable destruction of Jerusalem. 15 By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife, 19 is shewed the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow.

1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto

me, saying,

2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

3. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

5 Take the choice of the flock, and * burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.

6¶Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;

8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.

e

9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

"The date of this prophecy (ver. 1.) shews that it was written on the banks of the Euphrates on the very same day in which Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. On that day the prophet, by a singular, yet appropriate figure of a boiling pot, shews to the Jews the total destruction of their city and brethren. To represent the greatness of their calamity, the prophet is suddenly bereaved of his wife, the desire of his eyes, and is commanded not to mourn for her. Thus Ezekiel becomes a sign unto the Jews at Babylon, ver. 24; thereby foreshewing them the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple, which was the desire of their eyes, and signifying that their afflictions and sorrows would exceed all expression.

10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and A.C. 591. spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.

13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

14 I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15¶ Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears *run down.

17 +Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was com

manded.

19¶And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord

GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency

*Heb. go.

Heb. Be si

lent.

Heb. upper

lip: And so ver. 22.

of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and § that which Heb. the pity your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom of your soul." ye have left shall fall by the sword.

22 And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

25 Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the

A.C. 591. desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

* Heb. the lifting up of their soul.

589.

26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?

27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb : and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

SECTION VIII.

Prophecy against Egypt.

EZEKIEL XXIX. VER. 1-17 29.

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

28 This chapter is inserted after the 24th, on the authority of the date mentioned in ver. 1. The prophecy contained in it was spoken before the capture of Jerusalem; whereas those contained in the 25th and following chapters, were delivered after that event. The probable reason of its receiving the place it now holds in our Bibles, is, that the prophecies against Egypt might be all read together. There is reason to suppose, that this prophecy was delivered immediately after Pharaoh's retreat from before Nebuchadnezzar. On this very occasion, Jeremiah uttered, at Jerusalem, similar predictions to those of Ezekiel, at Babylon. Both prophets, at the same time, in two distant countries, predicted the same events. The circumstances thus prophesied by them, respecting Egypt, were of the most improbable kind. Pharaoh Hophra, the Apries of Herodotus, boasted that his kingdom was so firmly established, that nothing could overthrow it. The greatness and magnificence of Egypt have been celebrated from the most remote antiquity: the splendid monuments still remaining, and the additional discoveries which are frequently made by the enterprising travellers of our own days, are existing records of its former wealth and power. Its situation is favourable to commerce, it possesses every natural advantage; yet, wonderful to relate, after predicting the more immediate distresses which should fall upon Egypt, the prophet predicts, that it shall become an utter and complete desolation, (Ezek. xxix. 14, 15.) "Egypt shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations." And in the next chapter, ver. 12, 13. "I will make the land waste, and all that is therein; and there shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt." Such general prophecies, Bishop Newton justly observes, like general rules, are not to be understood so strictly and absolutely, as if they could not possibly admit of any kind of limitation or exception whatever. It is sufficient if they hold good for the most part, and are confirmed by the experience of many ages, though perhaps not without the exception of a few years. The Bishop then proceeds to show in what manner the prophecy was fulfilled, by the various conquests of Egypt, till it was reduced to its present degraded condition:

There are many who consider every attempt to discover the actual fulfilment of prophecy in the events of our own day, as a proof of an utter deficiency in

2 Son of man, set thy face a Egypt, and prophesy against him,

that sobriety of judgment, which ought ever t Scripture. Certain it is, the utmost caution sh to trace the mighty plan of that Providence cannot but think that it will appear evident to them), that we have seen in our own day a wor ment of this prophecy of Ezekiel. Egypt h years, the meanest and basest of kingdoms: of the earth, none have been found powerful degradation. Within the memory of the pres attempted, which, if crowned with success, i among the nations, and afforded to infidelity ar

Egypt, and A. c. 589.

anto the

base Or, birth. + Heb. low.

3

am agg

14. Is. xxvii. that

1. & li. 9.

of Scripture. Twenty years have now elapsed since Napoleon, who at that time knew not what it was to be defeated, led a powerful army into Egypt. The experience of history has sufficiently proved, that when a large military force has gained possession of a country, it frequently raises that nation to an equality with those surrounding it; and it was ever the policy of France, during the revolutionary war, to embody among its own armies the inhabitants of the conquered countries. Had this attack upon Egypt succeeded, its people might have been made a military body: they would have had a chief, active, powerful, and enterprising, to govern them: their ancient character, contrary to the prophecies of God, might have been raised; and their renovated energies, under such a ruler, directed against the peace and happiness of Europe, or of India. But what was the event? For a long time, every bold effort had succeeded: the whole extent of Egypt, and the territories immediately adjacent to it, might be considered as conquered; till the progress of the French army, hitherto invincible, was suddenly and wonderfully checked by a small and weak fortress, protected by the sword of Britain. The triumph of the resistless army of France was ended. The ferocious legions in vain dashed themselves, as the waves of the ocean, on the small yet immovable rock. The broken remnant of the dispirited and discomfited army was abandoned by their leader; and the land of Egypt is still "the basest of kingdoms." The Scripture is fulfilled.

In all these things the man of the world discovers only the usual course of things, and smiles with derision at the discoverer of the accomplishment of prophecy, in the events of history. Yet every prophecy has been accomplished by a train of events, that appear to be the natural and unavoidable result of a connected series of consequences. The circumstances that occasioned this defeat in Egypt were so peculiar and extraordinary, that when their result is compared with this prophecy of Ezekiel, the Christian is compelled to look higher than to any human power. He cannot but see "God in the whirlwind; God directing the storm." Amidst all the changes of empires, the revolutions of states, the rise and fall of dynasties; amidst all the revolutions of this world, the Christian sees a controlling Providence guiding the violence and ambition of men to the accomplishment of his own purposes. It is possible that this country may be the great maritime people, that shall be elected to further the designs of this mighty Providence; and we may justly hope, that we are destined to fulfil many of the remaining prophecies of God: so long as this splendid destiny is allotted to us,

f

A.C. 591. desire of ak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I minds, ainst thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon 26 lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My tbrer is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

* Heb. the lifting up of their soul.

4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee Heb. face of and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the * open

the field.

g 2 Kings

xviii. 21. Is. xxxvi. 6.

fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy + Heb. wastes rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt + utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of § Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

of waste.

Or, from

Migdol to
Syene.

Heb. Sevench.

h Is. xix. 23.

Jer. xlvi. 26.

11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty

years.

12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

we must continue, under the protection of this God, great and powerful. Prophecy, whether we observe it or not, is still accomplishing. The declarations and promises of Scripture are ever fulfilling; for the same Almighty Being, who is too great to be resisted, and too wise to err, has said, and both history and experience confirm the truth of the declaration, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."