Ezekiel 14:22,23 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Yet, behold, therein In Jerusalem itself, though marked for utter ruin; in Judea, though condemned to suffer unexampled desolations; shall be left a remnant That shall not be cut off by any of those sore judgments before mentioned, but shall escape and be brought forth into Chaldea, to be your companions in captivity; both sons and daughters That shall be the seed of a new generation. And ye shall see their ways and their doings “Ye shall be made sensible of their guilt and reformation.” Their sufferings shall be made instrumental in bringing them to a due sense of the greatness and aggravations of their former iniquities, and you shall hear them make a free and ingenuous confession of them, and an humble profession of repentance for them, with promises of amendment, and you shall see instances of this amendment, and be witnesses of the good their affliction has done them, and how prudently and patiently they carry themselves under it. And ye shall be comforted “By their confession of their idolatries, by a conviction of my justice, and by the spirit of allegiance to me, which they shall propagate.” Bishop Newcome. Concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem Ye shall the less grieve when you are made sensible they were not punished beyond what their sins deserved, and that their sufferings have had a salutary influence on their spirit and conduct. This consideration will compose your minds, and make you give glory to God, and acknowledge his judgments to be righteous, though they touch you very nearly in the destruction of your friends and country. And they shall comfort you when ye see their ways, &c. When you see them repenting of their sins and reforming their lives, humbling themselves before God, justifying his conduct toward them, and quietly accepting the punishment of their iniquity. And ye shall know that I have not done without cause Not without a just provocation, and yet not without a gracious design; all that I have done in it In Jerusalem and among its inhabitants. When afflictions have done their work, and have accomplished that for which they were sent, then will appear the wisdom and goodness of God in sending them, and God will not only be justified, but glorified in them.