EXEGETICAL NOTES. The destruction of Jerusalem under the image of a forest devoured by fire.
A comparison of these verses with Ezekiel 21:2-5, shows that they belong properly to Ch. 21. They form the commencement of that chapter in the Hebrew Bible.
Ezekiel 20:46. “Set thy face towards the south.” “There are three words in the Hebrew text of this verse to empress south. They are merely used as synonyms for the sake of varying the expression. The first signifies to be on the right, honoured with reference to the position of the quarter of the heavens when facing the east. The word is used both for the right hand and the south. The second word is of less frequent occurrence, and besides in our prophet, and once in the Pentateuch, is found only in Job and Ecclesiastes. The third word signifies to be dry, dried up: hence the south, where the heat of the sun is most severely felt. All the three terms specially apply here to the southern division of the Holy Land, of which at the time Jerusalem was the capital.”—(Henderson) “Drop thy word.” “A very common expression for prophetic discourse (Deuteronomy 32:2). It is suggested by the rain or the dew, and points to the place of its origin,—above, and also to the beneficial influence which it is intended to exert, and is used even when the discourse does not contain promises merely, but also threatening and judgment, as is the case here exclusively, and to a large extent also in Deuteronomy 32. May it not also hint at the concise, abrupt style of composition adopted in this chapter?”—(Lange) “The forest of the south field.” Forest is used figuratively to denote dense masses of people. The densely populated country of Judea 246 is intended. Ezekiel here declares the doom of the Southern kingdom, as Amos had declared the doom of the Northern kingdom (Amos 7:9; Amos 7:11; Amos 7:17).
Ezekiel 20:47. “Every green tree in thee, and every dry tree.” The righteous and the wicked (Ezekiel 21:3-4) Our Lord probably refers to this passage in St. Luke 23:31. “The flaming fire shall not be quenched.” The fierce flame of God’s jealousy (Song of Solomon 8:6). “All faces.” “Every single thing in the forest, which is caught at once by the flame. From south to north, i.e., through the whole length of the land. From the terrible fierceness of the fire, which cannot be extinguished, every one will know that God has kindled it, that it has been sent in judgment.”—(Keil.)
Ezekiel 20:49. “They say of Me, doth he not speak parables?” They wish to get rid of the application of the prophecy to themselves by describing it as obscure. They pretend not to understand it. “At the same time, it contains within itself a request that they may be explained. This request is granted; and the simile is first of all interpreted in Ezekiel 21:1-7; and then still further explained in Ezekiel 20:8, etc.”—(Keil.) “The riddle is easy to solve, and the prophet has to do with a sharp-witted people; but the hearers will not understand, because the truth is unpleasant to them, and retire with a certain irony behind the difficulty of the form, and make as if they did not understand. To take away this miserable excuse from them, to punish them for their ironical hardness of hearing, he expresses the same in clear and plain terms in the following passage.”—(Hengstenberg.)
HOMILETICS
“Drop thy word towards the south.” Heb. Drop towards the south. The word properly signifies the dropping of the clouds, or rain, and is metaphorically put for prophesying and preaching. These are likened unto rain or the droppings thereof.
1. In respect of the flowing and succession of one drop after another. “The heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water” (Judges 5:4). So in prophesying, there is one word, one truth after another.
2. In respect to the influence thereof. The drops soak into the earth; so words have influence into men’s ears and hearts (Deuteronomy 32:2). As the rains and dews insinuate themselves into the grass and ground, so do words into the heads and hearts of men (Psalms 119:130).
3. In respect to the trouble and hurt that oft rains and droppings produce. “A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike” (Proverbs 27:15), alike grievous, troublesome, wasting, and wearying; so prophesying of judgments and destruction is grievous and troubles much; it is like great rains and drops (2 Chronicles 34:25). The Hebrew is, “shall drop upon this place.” There should be a storm, and such great drops of God’s wrath as should consume it. (Greenhill.)
The word of God is rightly likened to rain. Like rain, it descends from above, and not according to man’s will; it is also, like it, useful and beneficial; as rain flows down from rocks upon the fields, so the word of God upon the godless, and, on the other hand, into pious hearts; and, like the rain, it is not equally acceptable to all. (Fessel.)
THE PROPHECY OF JERUSALEM’S DESTRUCTION
Consider this prophecy—
I. As to its form. This prophecy is uttered in a poetical form, most wild and rugged. The awful and the terrible, as well as the beautiful and tender, find their expression in poetry. The imagery here is that of a forest on fire, and its devouring flame raging beyond the control of man. The boldness of the image will account for the strange and wild forms of the expressions used, and the rapid transitions from one thought to another. We can only understand the style of the Bible, in its prophetic writings, when we consider the intensity and depth of those feelings which possessed the minds of the prophets.
II. As to its substance. The “forests” signify multitudes—the great masses of the population upon whom terrible judgments are about to fall.
1. The judgments are irresistible. The power of God, which is a righteous power, would be at work in them. The storms of the Almighty rush over the forest, and the trees must bend. Moreover, God sends fire, against which nothing can prevail. “The flaming fire shall not be quenched.”
2. The judgments fall even upon the righteous. “And it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree.” The “dry tree” would be fuel for the flame, but so great would be the destruction that even the “green tree” could not escape. Judgment would come even upon the house of God. Even the people of God have sins enough to bring upon them great calamities. “I will kindle a fire in thee,” in Jerusalem, the centre of religious life, of Church privileges. Like a raging fire, God’s judgments devour all before them.
3. The ungodly are admonished by the afflictions of the righteous. The prophet Zechariah warns the people that, when the great and noble among their countrymen fall, they cannot possibly escape, “Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen” (Zechariah 11:2.) This is but another form of the Apostle’s statement; “If judgment first begin at the house of God, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of Christ?” It is the very truth which the same apostle puts in the form of a question, “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” When our Lord bids the daughters of Jerusalem to weep for themselves for the destruction which was about to come upon their devoted city, He adds, “For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (St. Luke 23:31). When the green tree cannot stand before the flame, how can the dry tree hope to escape! Christ was righteous, yet He did not escape the judgments of sin. He suffered for sin. “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him and to put Him to grief.” “He was numbered with the transgressors.” We can see how real a thing sin is, and how hateful in the sight of God, when we reflect how terribly the effects of it were visited upon Jesus Christ, the Righteous. And God employs judgments to purify His people; yet, even in their case, these are truly chastisements. God is specially severe in His judgments upon the chosen people, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.” His very intimacy with them is put forward as a reason for leaving no iniquity unpunished. In all His dealings with His chosen, God has ever acted upon this principle. Witness the wanderings and sufferings of the patriarchs—the dispersions and captivities of Israel—the untimely death of Moses and of Aaron—the troubles of Eli—the sorrows of David—the present afflictions of the righteous. If the green trees thus suffer, the dry cannot be spared.
III. As to its reception. The prophecy is objected to as obscure, as a dark and mysterious saying. “Then said I, Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?” As if they said, “He is a speaker of parables, a mere utterer of dark sayings.” There is probably a vein of irony in these words with which the hearers received the prophet’s message; as if they would thus speak, “It is a clever saying of things which sound very terrible, if we could only understand it.” Sinners never want excuses for neglecting the prophet’s message. Either the message is too dark and mysterious, or else it is too simple. If the prophet announces unwelcome truths, and touches their conscience, they cry out against him. If he threatens God’s judgments, he is not to their mind. They will have none but those who prophesy smooth things. Thus men find fault now with God’s revelation. If He says what we already know, we think it is superfluous: we do not want a revelation to teach us that. If He says one word beyond what nature or reason might have taught us, we say it is irrational. One plain declaration of the Bible we pronounce as inconsistent with probability, another as inconsistent with some human authority, another as inconsistent with God’s justice, and another as inconsistent, with Christian charity. And in the same way men treat the proofs and evidences of religion. One does not like miracles, and another objects to the very idea of prophecy. The one saying, that it is altogether unworthy of God to suspend His own laws; and the other, that it is unworthy of God to dignify human persons by the prediction of their names and deeds. Another will hear of nothing but the internal evidence of the truth, the goodness of the word spoken, the comfort conveyed to his own heart. And what each man does not personally like, he casts aside as of no value. Objections of this kind are often but mere excuses. The real repugnance is to the idea of being taught anything from God or His prophets. Neither the ministry of John the Baptist nor even of Christ Himself could please the evil generation of their day. “But wisdom is justified of her children.”