Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 20:49
Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
49. speak parables ] or, similitudes with the suggested idea that there lies no reality behind them (Eze 12:21-28). The prophet, indeed, cannot utter a statement plainly, he must throw it first into a figure; the same is true also of Isaiah, though the figures of the latter prophet are brief and pointed, while those of Ezek. are overloaded with details. The words shew how the people took notice of the prophet’s peculiarities, and how he himself was conscious of the impression his manner made. Cf. Eze 24:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Eze 20:49
Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables.
Mystery and dogma in religion
There is a tone of remonstrance and expostulation in these words of the prophet. He is evidently conscious that because of something in the nature of his message, that message will be unpopular with his hearers. There is in that which God has given him to speak, something that for this reason he would fain have altered–something, not in the substance, but in the style and form of his address, which he fain would phrase otherwise. Ah Lord God, that which I have to say to these people comes to them in an unacceptable form; they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? Whatever this stumbling block was, in the manner and form of the message, that lay in the way of its acceptance, he would fain remove it if possible. And so in his entreaty is implied a petition that he might be allowed and enabled to explain his parable. Ah Lord God, if it may be so, may I but utter plainer speech; they say of me, Doth he not speak parables. Most natural was the objection of the hearers?; most natural was the desire of the teacher to accommodate himself and his message to that objection, and yet distinctly sinful was the desire on both parts, for these words that the prophet had to speak were not his words to alter as he pleased; they were Gods words. What, then, was the demand of Israel, and what was the admission of the prophet? Was it not this, to doubt whether the form in which the Lord had cast His own message was the most perfect one, to doubt whether, in some way, He or they might not improve, or have it improved upon? And what was this but of the very essence of unbelief? The message of the Church to the world is like the message of the prophets of old, in part plain, in part mysterious, and as it were in parables. Very plain and very simple words has the Church of Christ, in the name of her Master, to speak to men when she tells us that in the midst of life we are in death; when she tells us that we have erred and strayed from the right way like lost sheep; when she bids us Wash and make clean, and put away the evil of our doings, and seek to do justice, relieve the oppressed, and plead the cause of the fatherless and widow. But then, she has other words to speak that are not so plain, and not so easily intelligible, words that are full of mystery, words that sound like parables in the ears of those who listen to them. She has to speak of a Father who sent an incarnate Son into the world to die for men. She has to speak of the mystery of the Incarnation, and the Resurrection, and the Atonement, and the Ascension, and the descending of the Spirit, the eternal life of man and the eternal life to come. And as she speaks these mysteries, and as she speaks them dogmatically in the name of Him who has commissioned her by His authority to press them, on that authority, for the acceptance of man, she meets the answer from the world the prophet met of old, We will accept your plainer truths, but we revolt from your darker sayings; speak to us plainly, and in no proverb. Is not that the difficulty that the Church encounters again and again? Is it not the difficulty which she encounters at this moment as she faces what is called the spirit of the age, and the century in which she lives? How often do we hear and read in almost familiar forms of modern literature expressing the heart and thought of the age: Give us natural religion, but give us less of your dogma; we care not for your theology and its mysteries, give us religion only. And the temptation of the Church is now, as of old, to yield to that cry, not for her own sake, but for the sake of her message, to soften down some of its difficulties, to explain away some of its strange sayings, in the hope that it may be more acceptable to men–in the vain and the utterly delusive hope that it will be so accepted. No, not so can we save our creed, and yet the temptation to do so is a sore one. Our duty is to say plainly to those who thus speak to us, The words that you will have us alter, and the very form of those words–and we dare not distinguish between the form and the essence, for we believe the form to be Divine–are not our words to change, even to win your faith and your assent; they are Gods words. Mysterious they may be, but we are the stewards of the manifold mysteries of God, and we dare not for our own sakes, and we need not for yours, add to or diminish aught from the words of the message of our Lord. But while the Church is thus sternly faithful to her mission; while she speaks and must ever speak the dogma or parables that our Lord has given her to speak; while she cannot give to men what they ask for from her, a religion without mystery,–she may at least strive to show to men the reasonableness of mystery and the necessity of dogma. We may not alter the parable we have to speak, but we may at least show them that there is some reasonableness in listening to that parable. Let us, for a moment or two, consider the attitude of the Church in the present day to those who denounce in her teaching its dogma and its mystery, and let us see if we can find something to help the difficulty of the objectors, and something at the same time to lead us ourselves to a deeper faith, and therefore to a real and bolder utterance of all the mysteries of our religion. And now, if we look at the objections that are commonly made on this ground in our popular literature or otherwise, to Christianity, we will find, I think, that they divide themselves under two heads. One is the objection to the mysteriousness and difficulty of Christian dogma, and another to what is described as the unreality of the language respecting Christian experience. Now a word or two upon each of these, and in the first we may just, in passing, remind the most scientific and logical of the objectors to dogma and mystery of this fact, that very much of the belief, the scientific belief, of mankind in their own teachings is, for the mass of those who receive it, nothing but dogmatism. Is it then altogether so inconceivable a thing, and so strange, that the all-wise and infinite intelligence of the Author of this world should deal with us, even the most learned and wisest of us, as the most learned and wise of us deal with inferior intelligences, and that He should give us in form of a dogmatic utterance that which we could never have discovered for ourselves? But passing on from this, let us ask next, is it possible for us to comply with this request that we should eliminate all dogma and all mystery from religion? Let us try to do it for one moment. Let us suppose that we have banished from Christianity, and from the word that Christianity has to speak to men, all those technical and mysterious terms about the Trinity and incarnation and atonement and regeneration, and that we have simplified our message. To what shall we reduce it? We may reduce it at least to two words, and beyond these it will not bear any reduction, if it is to be a religion at all. We must speak of God, and we must speak of man. For what is religion but the joining together of God and man? And when we name these two words–and these words must make part of all or any religion–have we got rid of mystery? Are there two words more fraught with mystery than these two? And for this reason, that God and man are not words, are not notions; they are facts. They are the facts of our life and of our being, and the difficulties that arise–the difficult thoughts of God and man–and the mysteries, parables, and dogmas that underlie these thoughts have vexed the hearts and souls of men before Christ was born, and they would vex them still if the name of Christ was forgotten. There are not merely difficulties and mysteries and parables in religion, but there are difficulties, mysteries, and parables in philosophy, and fact, and in human nature; you cannot escape them. The awful shadows of these mysteries wrap us round wherever we go; we cannot avoid them, we cannot escape them merely by bidding those who talk about them not to speak parables about them. Parables are in our hearts and souls and nature, and in the worm around us; in the very air, as it were, of our intellectual breath and thought, and we cannot cease to feel them without ceasing to exist, any more than we can live our natural life or cease to draw the vital air of the atmosphere without ceasing to live our natural life. We cannot, then, you see, escape from dogma, and parable, and we cannot escape from them in our speech or in our religion. It must and ought to be so. Can we escape from cant? What is the meaning of the word cant? Cant in its strictly etymological and historical meaning is this–the language of the initiated: a language known to those engaged in any business or occupation, the terms of which are terms of art, technical terms, and as such are only known and understood by those who practise the art. It means the technical language of any business, or art, or science. Religion is a science, and it is an art,–the science of the knowledge of God, and the art of holy living. And therefore it must necessarily have cant. But there is no more unreality in the cant of religion than there is unreality in the cant of medicine, or of law, or of trade, and the most offensive of all cant is the cant of irreligion and of scepticism. But although we have seen that Christianity must thus be mysterious in its doctrine at times, and must be peculiar at others, though we know that there is something apparently unreal and unmeaning in the words that describe its life, and although we must not shrink from dogma, nor shrink again from the accusation of religious cant, there is a warning for us Christians and us teachers of Christianity in this objection of the world and of the age that we do well to listen and give solemn heed to. It is quite true that men may be guilty of religious cant in a bad sense, and not in a good sense. And they are so whenever the words of their religious life–however true and important in themselves–are used by them without some corresponding emotion and experience in their own hearts; whenever the words that describe the Christian life become unreal upon our lips, that is to say, in other words, whenever our life falls below the level of our religious speech or our religious prayer. Then are we speaking cant, and cant that is mischievous and deadly to our own spiritual life. In the last place, we thank God for this–there is the power of bringing a better reality, a nobler life, into our speech by living our creed. Our creed becomes for us real. Men may so live that their prayers and their creeds are the living utterances of the new life that is day by day stealing into their very heart and life. And as the man becomes child-like, he is able to understand the meaning of the creed in which he expresses his belief in the Father. As the man becomes Christ-like, he can understand the meaning of the word Christ. As the man becomes spiritual, more and more does he understand the sentence in his creed which speaks of the giving of Gods Holy Spirit to dwell amongst us; and prayer and repentance, and conversion and approach to God, and assurance and hope, and every other word of Christian experience, become for him new words, because they become for him new facts in his fife. As he dwells more and more in the heavenly land, he learns more and more of the heavenly speech, and so the creed fills the life with light, and the life reflects back that light upon the creed. We are not to be as children, simply listening to parables of our faith, as children listen to nursery stories. We are not merely children crying in the night, we are not merely children crying for the light. Rather we are to live as Christian men, rather as brave and strong men, with patient and quiet and trusting hearts–walking along the hard ways of life: ways that are chequered by shadow of the Cross, and lightened with the glory of the crowned Christ; and it may be that, bent and bowed beneath the weight of difficulty and trial, and the weariness of life, our eyes rest upon the path lust where our feet can stand, and see even there such pure light from our creed that it becomes a great revelation from the Father in heaven, who has given us our lot to walk and work in life. (Abp. Magee.)
Infidel hearers
I. The too prevalent disposition in hearers to make light of what they hear, to turn sermons into fiction, and to put such flexible and accommodating constructions upon the heavenly message as shall divest it of all its point and application and purpose. Prove the moral sincerity of your faith in Gods Word, in the same way as you would prove your sincerity of your faith in any other word; in the word of a friend, for example, who had put some written instructions into your hands as to the path to be chosen and the dangers to be avoided, in some new expedition you were undertaking. If those instructions of your friend were scarcely looked at, or seldom read, or never studied, with a view to determine what you should do, or what you should not do, would any profession of trust in such guidance be entitled to the least credit? Would it not be evident that your course was shaped by other influences, and that you had no more respect for the instructions of your friend than for the counsels of one who had a love for the extravagant, and whose very truths were darkened by parables? Well, of this subtle and unacknowledged infidelity, it is to be feared very much will be found among us. Whenever they hear anything tending to disturb their settled opinions, it is always some extravagance or straining of metaphor, or licence of rhetoric, or trick of declamation to keep drowsy audience awake.
II. Some of those doctrines and statements with regard to which there seems to be a strong conviction in the minds of many, either that the Bible deals in designedly poetic representations, or else that ministers of the Gospel overstate their case. Parable, in the sense of fiction, invented conceits, fond imagination, it is plain there must be somewhere. Teachers and hearers cannot interpret the same book so differently, and yet both be right. Which speaks in parables? For example, which speaks in the language of parable, as to the moral dangers of our probation, whether from temptations without or from a treacherous heart within? Has the preacher needlessly magnified these dangers, in exhorting you to incessant watchfulness, to a jealous vigilance over the first springs of thought, to a sacred custody of the hearts entrances and outgoings, as feeling that life and immortality were suspended on the issue? You demur perhaps to some of his descriptions of what that heart is, as the nursery of all evil, the fountain of all that is hateful and vile in human character, the ready slave to the purpose of Satan, whenever he has a design to accomplish against God and man; but strong as this language seems, is it stronger than saying, The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, or Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, blasphemies, and such like? Or perhaps he who speaks to you has given some dark sketches of an unseen and malignant foe, subtle in his plans, watchful for his opportunities, dreadful for the number of his emissaries, and fierce even unto the death. Doth not the Word that cannot lie declare of this enemy, that his name is Legion, and that your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour? Or, once more, the preacher has spoken disparagingly of the world. Dear as it is to you who have happy associations, happy friendships, happy thoughts, he has exhorted you to beware of it, to have as little to do with it as you can, to make it the servant of your necessities, and not the master of your hearts. But on this point do the law and the testimony speak a more guarded language? Far otherwise; they have affirmed that the whole world lieth in wickedness, and that he who will be a friend of the world must consent to be considered as an enemy of God. Another topic on which men must suppose we use an unnecessary strictness, or they could not live as they do, is with respect to the proper moral signs of their being in a state of reconciliation with God–of their being partakers of a genuine repentance and a saving faith. Surely on such subjects we ought to speak in very faithfulness, for neither to our own souls nor to yours could anything be more perilous than fiction–than an extravagance which should outdo itself. Oh, then, is it our fault if, on reading in the solemn commission given to us, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, we pronounce as banished from the everlasting presence the man who does not even desire that holiness,–whose habits are utterly at variance with the temper and spirit of holiness,–whose converse with God is restricted to the service of lip and knee,–who neither knows, nor cares to know, what is meant by the believers struggles with sin, or conflicts with the law in his members, or aspirations, so broken and so feeble, after the purities of the heavenly state? There is yet one other topic on which, unless ministers of the Gospel be thought to speak in the most extravagant parables, the life of three-fourths of professing Christians is one continued mystery. I mean the retributions which await the Christless soul in another world. On this subject, to go in excess of the awful and thrilling description of the Word of God is not possible. No uninspired imagination could ever attain to such heights–the worm and the fire and the outer darkness and the separation ever widening between repentance and God, and hope. These, if they are parables, at least are not our parables, but the parables of One who must have chosen such a medium of illustration because the intense and overwhelming majesty of the subject could not be described in any other way. And yet, how are we to explain the fact–for fact you know it is–that if we were to collect all those revelations of Holy Writ together, and were to arrange them in such order that they who run might read, many would listen, would seem to be impressed, would profess entire belief in all that had been said, and yet afterwards they would neither love sin the less, nor fear God the more, nor examine their state more closely; but as they came so would they go away, unchanged, unresolved, unreconciled, unforgiven? Surely the fact admits of but one solution. Say what they will, they do not believe these things. Whatever the delusion be, certain it is that each one has sonic lulling process by which the penalties of the eternal world become stripped of their terribleness, insomuch that the words are all but uttered in regard to the man who preaches of them: What doth this babbler say? Then said I, O Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak in parables? (D. Moore, M. A.)
The mysterious aspect of the Gospel to the men of the world
1. There are certain experiences of human life so oft repeated, and so familiar to all our recollections, that when we perceive, or think we perceive, an analogy between them and the matters of religion, then religion does not appear to us to be mysterious. There is not a more familiar exhibition in society than that of a servant who performs his allotted work, and who obtains his stipulated reward; and we are all servants, and one is our Master, even God. There is nothing more common than that a son should acquit himself to the satisfaction of his parents–and we are all the children of a universal Parent, whom it is our part to please in all things. Now, so long as the work of religious instruction can be upheld by such analogies as these,–so long as the relations of civil or of domestic society can be employed to illustrate the relation between God and the creatures whom He has formed,–a vein of perspicuity will appear to run through the clear and rational exposition of him who has put all the mists and all the technicals of an obscure theology away from him. All his lessons will run in an easy and direct train. Can anything be more evident than that there is a line of separation between the sensual and the temperate, between the selfish and the disinterested, between the sordid and the honourable; or, if we require a distinction more strictly religious, between the profane and the decent keeper of all the ordinances? Here then at once we witness the two grand divisions of human society, in a state of real and visible exemplification; and what more is necessary than just to employ the most direct and intelligible motives of conduct for persuading men to withdraw from one of these divisions, and pass over to the other of them? It is needless to say how much this process is reversed by many a teacher of Christianity. It is true that they hold out most prominently the need of some great transition; but it is a transition most mysteriously different from the act of crossing that line of separation to which we have just been adverting. They reduce the men of all casts, and of all characters, to the same footing of worthlessness in the sight of God; and speak of the evil of the human heart in such terms as will sound to many a mysterious exaggeration–and, like the hearers of Ezekiel, will these not be able to comprehend the argument of the preacher when he tells them, though in the very language of the Bible, that they are the heirs of wrath; that none of them is righteous, no, not one; that all flesh have corrupted their ways, and have fallen short of the glory of God; that the world at large is a lost and a fallen world, and that the natural inheritance of all who live in it is the inheritance of a temporal death and a ruined eternity. When the preacher goes on in this strain, those hearers whom the Spirit has not convinced of sin will be utterly at a loss to understand him; nor are we to wonder if he seem to speak to them in a parable when he speaks to the disease,–that all the darkness of a parable should still seem to hang over his demonstrations when, as a faithful expounder of the revealed will and counsel of God, he proceeds to tell them of the remedy. Now, it is when the preacher is unfolding this scheme of salvation,–it is when he is practically applying it to the conscience and the conduct of his hearers,–it is when the terms of grace and faith and sanctification are pressed into frequent employment for the work of these very peculiar explanations,–it is when, instead of illustrating his subject by those analogies of common life, which might have done for men of an untainted nature, but which will not do for the men of this corrupt world, he faithfully unfolds that economy of redemption which God hath actually set up for the recovery of our degenerate species,–it is then that, to a hearer still in darkness, the whole argument sounds as strangely and as obscurely as if it were conveyed to him in an unknown language,–it is then that the repulsion of his nature to the truth as it is in Jesus finds a willing excuse in the utter mysteriousness of its articles and its terms; and gladly does he put away from him the unwelcome message, with the remark that he who delivers it is a speaker of parables, and there is no comprehending him.
2. Now, if there be any hearers present who feel that we have spoken to them, when we spoke of the resistance which is held out against peculiar Christianity on the ground of that mysteriousness in which it appears to be concealed from all ordinary discernment, we should like to take our leave of them at present with two observations. We ask them, in the first place, if they have ever, to the satisfaction of their own minds, disproved the Bible?–and if not, we ask them how they can sit at ease, should all the mysteriousness which they charge upon evangelical truth, and by which they would attempt to justify their contempt for it, be found to attach to the very language and to the very doctrine of Gods own communication? He actually does say that no man cometh unto the Father but by the Son–and that His is the only name given under heaven whereby men can be saved–and that He will be magnified only in the appointed Mediator–and that Christ is all and all–and that there is no other foundation on which man can lay–and that he who believeth on Him shall not be confounded. He further speaks of our personal preparation for heaven; and here, too, may His utterance sound mysteriously in your hearing, as He tells that without holiness no man can see God–and that we are without strength while we are without the Spirit to make us holy–and that unless a man be born again he shall not enter into the kingdom of God–and that he should wrestle in prayer for the washing of regeneration–and that he should watch for the Holy Ghost with all perseverance–and that he should aspire at being perfect through Christ strengthening him–and that be should, under the operation of those great provisions which are set up in the New Testament for creating us anew unto good works, conform himself unto that doctrine of grace by which he is brought to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present evil world. Secondly, let us assure the men who at this moment bid the stoutest defiance to the message of the Gospel, that the time may yet come when they shall render to this very gospel the most striking of all acknowledgments, even by sending to the door of its most faithful ministers, and humbly craving from them their explanations and their prayers. We never saw the expiring mortal who could look with an undaunted eye on God as his Lawgiver; but often has all its languor been lighted up with joy at the name of Christ as his Saviour. We never saw the dying acquaintance who, upon the retrospect of his virtues and of his doings, could prop the tranquillity of his spirit on the expectation of a legal reward. Oh no; this is not the element which sustains the tranquillity of deathbeds: it is the hope of forgiveness. It is a believing sense of the efficacy of the atonement. It is the prayer of faith, offered up in the name of Him who is the Captain of all our salvation. It is a dependence on that power which can alone impart a meetness for the inheritance of the saints, and present the spirit holy and unreprovable and unblamable in the sight of God. Now, what we have to urge is, that if these be the topics which, on the last half hour of your life, are the only ones that will possess, in your judgment, any value or substantial importance, why put them away from you now? (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
Obscurities in revelation
I. God may at times reveal His truth in a manner somewhat obscure. Much of His truth in nature is enigmatic and mystical In Providence the same. What confusion there seems to be in His moral government of mankind. In the Bible the same. I have no notion of telling people that the Bible is an exceedingly easy and simple book.
II. The obscurity in which truth is sometimes revealed is often felt to be painful by the teacher. They say of me, Doth he not speak parables? Preachers have to take great subjects, but how little they know of them; and they who know most of them are most conscious of their ignorance, and they speak with hesitation.
III. Sceptically disposed minds use the obscurity of the revelation as an objection against the truth. It cannot be, says the objector; if God did condescend to reveal truth, no one can suppose that He would reveal it thus. No one could imagine that He would communicate it in that way: the thing on the face of it bears its own condemnation. They say of me, Doth he not speak parables? They, who? All sceptically disposed men.
IV. However common the objection to Christianity on account of its obscurity, the objection is by no means valid.
1. Truth coming in this form is adapted to our condition in this state of probation and trial.
2. Truth coming in this form serves many useful purposes. It challenges inquiry and stimulates thought.
(1) Preachers should learn that it is for them to preach the truth of God in whatever form it comes to them, regardless of the objections of their hearers.
(2) Hearers should be cautious not to impose upon themselves by raising paltry objections to the truth.
(3) All should learn that religious truth should be reached, not so much by a reasoning process, as by a moral state of the heart. It is to be understood rather by the heart than the head. Looked at through the eyes of moral sympathy, rather than through the eyes of reason or logic. (Thomas Binney.)
Preachers
I. The charge brought against the preachers of the gospel.
1. That they preach what is unreal;
2. What is unintelligible;
3. What is allegorical.
II. Some of the statements of preachers of the gospel on which this charge against them is founded.
1. Those which relate to the natural condition of mankind.
2. To the evidences of conversion.
3. To the happiness of religion.
4. To the future punishment of the finally impenitent. (G. Brooks.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 49. Ah Lord God] O my God, consider my situation; who will believe what I shall say? They put the evil day far from them.
Doth he not speak parables?] halo memashshel meshalim hu, “Is not he a maker of parables?” Is it not his custom to deal in enigmas? His figures are not to be understood; we should not trouble ourselves with them. We are not obliged to fathom his meaning; and perhaps after all it does not refer to us, or will not be accomplished in our time, if it even respect the land. Thus they turned aside what might have done them good, and rejected the counsel of God against themselves.
By dividing the word with our neighbour we often lose the benefit both of threatenings and promises. They voluntarily shut their own eyes; and then God, in judgment, sealed them up in darkness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When the prophet had done his duty, and prophesied, and they should have heard and understood, he returns with a complaint of their quarrelling, censuring, flouting, and reproaching him for it: one while they account him mad, out of his wits, taken up with raptures and ecstasies, or else doting and dreaming; thus they fortify themselves in their atheism, infidelity, idolatry, and all other sins, and fear not thy word, but contemn thy servant.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
49. Ezekiel complains that bythis parabolic form of prophecy he only makes himself and it a jestto his countrymen. God therefore in Eze21:1-32 permits him to express the same prophecy more plainly.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said I, ah Lord God!…. The Septuagint version is, “by no means, Lord, Lord”; that is, let me not be sent on such an errand; at least, let it not be delivered in such figurative terms; or let not such a general calamity befall the people. The Targum is,
“receive my prayer, O Lord God;”
the prophet here either complains of the usage he had met with after delivering the above prophecy; or rather of what he had met with before, and which he expected again; and therefore desired either that he might be excused delivering the prophecy; or, however, that it might be delivered not in obscure and enigmatical terms, but in plain and easy ones:
they say of me, doth he not speak parables? as before, of a lion and her whelps; and of a vine, and its rods and branches, Eze 19:1 and now here again, of a fire, and a forest, and trees of it, green and dry; things not easily understood, and so not attended to and regarded; as if they should say, this man brings us nothing but parables, riddles, and enigmas, and such sort of unintelligible stuff, not worth minding; and rather appears as a man delirious and mad than a prophet. Wherefore Ezekiel seems to desire that he might be sent to them with a message more plainly expressed; and which might excite their attention and regard, and not expose him to their ridicule and contempt; and accordingly we find it is explained and expressed in clearer terms in the next chapter.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(49) Doth he not speak parables?Or enigmasthings that we cannot understand. This the prophet did designedly, as he had done in other cases, to awaken the attention of the people to the explanation he was about to give.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
49. Doth he not speak parables Declaim poems (Kautzsch). The interest of the people has been excited, but they profess not to be able to understand the meaning of this story of the forest fire without explanation. “Do these words have any meaning? Is the prophet not drawing largely upon his imagination?” There may be a touch of scorn in their question. Ezekiel proceeds immediately to explain his meaning by giving another vivid picture.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then said I, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, they say of me, is he not one who tells stories (or ‘a riddler of riddles’)?” ’
Here we have a very human touch. In spite of being the mouthpiece of Yahweh Ezekiel is still conscious of what his listeners feel about him. He is disconcerted once again to have to speak to them in parables, for they have clearly begun to criticise him for it and to accuse him of being ‘the riddler of riddles’ (memashel meshalim).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 20:49. Doth he not speak parables? Though these prophesies were clear enough, if they would have given themselves the trouble to have considered and compared them with the state of things; yet, as the understanding of them would have obliged the people to a change of conduct, the source of their obscurity is very discernible therein. It was hence that the Jews, dazzled with the evidence of what Jesus said to them, and surprised with the splendour of his miracles, demanded of him with importunity, and with a spirit of malice, that he would tell them plainly who he was; as if his doctrine and his actions did not sufficiently declare it. How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Joh 10:24. See Calmet.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The date of this prophesy is in the seventh year of Jeconiah’s captivity and Zedekiah’s reign, the fifth month, the tenth day; and it was delivered on occasion of the elders of Israel, whether of the captivity or from Jerusalem, coming to consult the prophet, as some suppose, whether they might not, to ingratiate themselves with their heathen masters, conform to their heathen worship: certain it is, that whatever was the cause of their coming, their hearts were hypocritical, and the answer of God to them is full of wrath.
1. God refuses to be required of by them; for they who draw near to God hypocritically, can expect no mercy at his hands; their very prayers will be turned into sin.
2. The prophet must arraign and condemn them; no more their advocate, but their accuser; and now constituted their judge to pronounce sentence upon them for all their own and their fathers’ abominations.
2nd, God begins to recapitulate the provocations of Israel; and they commenced from the day when he began to form them into a people.
1. He reminds them of the wonders of his grace shewn to them above all nations. He chose them for a peculiar people, in the time of their deepest affliction, and most abject wretchedness, in the land of Egypt; he made himself known unto them, by his name JEHOVAH, and by the miracles that he wrought for their deliverance; confirming his favour towards them by an oath, and assuring them of the inheritance that he had provided for them in a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands, which he espied for them, singled out with peculiar care, as the happy spot appointed for their abode. Note; None truly know God, but those in whom he is revealed.
2. The commands that he gave them were most reasonable and easy. They were enjoined to cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and not defile themselves with the idols of Egypt. And this he enforces with the most cogent reason, I am the Lord your God, the only worthy object of worship, and to whom they were bound by unnumbered obligations.
3. They notwithstanding wilfully rebelled, and refused to hearken to God’s commands, continuing in their abominations, and cleaving to the idols of Egypt; not deterred by all the plagues which they beheld.
4. By his prophets he threatened to destroy them with the Egyptians. As they had joined in their idolatry, they deserved to share their ruin. But,
5. For his name’s sake he wrought, that the heathen might not blaspheme, as if he was unfaithful to his promises, or unable to accomplish them.
3rdly, The mercies of God, and the ingratitude and disobedience of the Jewish people, are displayed.
1. God’s mercies toward them were amazingly great and singular. He brought them forth from Egypt with a high hand; led them into the wilderness, where they lived by daily miracles; and gave them his law, with the statutes and judgments of his worship, by the observance of which they might expect to live long, and enjoy the promised inheritance: he gave them also his sabbaths, the weekly sabbath, and the sabbatical and jubilee years, signs of his favour towards them, memorials of their deliverance from Egypt, pledges of their entrance into the rest of Canaan, and figures of the eternal rest which remains for the faithful in a better world: thus God distinguished them from all nations, and intended to make them know that he their Lord sanctified them; these holy days appointed for his immediate service, having then, as they still have, the most blessed influence upon the souls of those, who conscientiously sanctify their sabbaths to keep them holy.
2. Their ingratitude and undutifulness were most provoking. In the wilderness, where they were surrounded with mercies and miracles, they rebelled, cast off God’s government, despised his ordinances, polluted his sabbaths, and sunk into idolatry.
3. Offended with such baseness, God threatened utterly to consume them in his fury. But for his own glory, that the heathen might not dishonour his name, as if he was unable to bring his people into the land of Canaan, he resolved to fulfil his promise: yet, not to leave such wickedness without a mark of his severe displeasure, he sware in his wrath concerning the men of that generation, that they should never enter into his rest; and, in consequence thereof, their carcases fell in the wilderness. Let us therefore fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should come short of it, and perish after the same example of unbelief and disobedience.
4. God did not make an utter end of them, but spared their children, and solemnly warned them, by their fathers’ ruin, against their sins, not to walk in their statutes, or copy their worship or manners, but to flee from idolatry, to know the Lord to be their God, to worship him according to his own prescription, observant of his sabbaths, and obedient to his laws. Note; Children should take warning by their parents’ ill example, and be peculiarly careful to abstain from their sins.
5. They notwithstanding rebelled against God, and trod in the steps of their ungodly fathers; sabbath-breakers, disobedient, idolaters; rejecting their own mercies, they provoked that wrath which would have destroyed them, had not God for his own glory restrained his arm, after making them feel some heavy strokes of his displeasure in the wilderness. And though, according to his promise, he brought them into the land of Canaan, he foretold the fearful dispersion to which at last they would be doomed for their transgressions. Note; (1.) Sinners are self-murderers: they might have lived, if they would have been obedient; but they prefer sin and death. (2.) They who walk in the ways of their wicked ancestors, must expect their judgments.
6. He gave them up to their own inventions. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. He gave them up to the idolatrous customs of the nations, and suffered them to follow the vain traditions of their apostate forefathers. Though some interpret this of the judgments that he sent upon them; others of the rites of the ceremonial law, on which depending for acceptance with God without any reference to the Messiah, they became a stumbling-block to them, instead of leading them to Christ, &c. (See the Annotations.) And I polluted them in their own gifts, suffering them to offer sacrifices to idols, even the inhuman oblations of the first-born to Moloch, to make them desolate: thus weakened by their own more than savage conduct, they became an easy prey to their enemies: to the end that they might know that I am the Lord, righteous in the punishments inflicted upon them. Note; (1.) A greater curse cannot fall upon the sinner, than to be left of God to the wickedness of his own heart. (2.) God will make himself known to sinners: if they will not receive him as their Lord and Saviour, they shall prove him to be God the avenger.
4thly, Their provocation ceased not in the wilderness; but when they came into the land of Canaan the same abominations were practised.
1. When God had fulfilled his promise to them, and brought them into the good land, they trespassed yet more and more. Instead of confining themselves to God’s altar, they, in conformity to the customs of the heathen, chose hills and groves for their places of worship, and offered there their sacrifices, incense and libations, which, if offered to the God of Israel, were contrary to his precept: but probably they rather there served their idols, which made the provocation of their offering greater. And, though warned of the folly and sin of their idolatrous services, when they had God’s altar to go to, they persisted in their perverseness; and the high places were to the last frequented: it is called Bamah, that is, the high place, unto this day. So inveterately rooted is the love of sin in the heart of the sinner.
2. Even after all the judgments executed upon them, the present generation committed the same abominations, polluting themselves with idols, and causing their children to pass through the fire to Moloch; with the folly and wickedness of which God justly upbraids them; and how then could they dare inquire of him? or what answer of peace could they expect from him? he swears by himself, that neither their persons nor petitions should be regarded; and their schemes of currying favour with their heathen masters, by compliances with their worship, and incorporating with them by intermarriages, he will blast: either they shall refuse to admit them to join with them, or despise them for their perfidy. Note; (1.) Little is ever got by sinful compliances: the very enemies of religion will honour those who shew steadiness and integrity; while they treat apostates with contempt. (2.) They who by a religious profession have once forfeited the world’s favour, may despair of ever recovering it again.
5thly, Since they would not bow to the sceptre of his righteous government, God threatens,
1. To rule them with a rod of iron, disappointing their schemes, and pouring out his fury upon them: they shall not be suffered to mingle with the heathen, among whom they are scattered, but thence will God collect them: when the Babylonians shall have subdued these nations, they shall be brought into the wilderness of the people, be carried captives into Chaldea, and there God will judge and punish them, as he had punished their fathers in the wilderness, after they came out of Egypt. Note; They strive in vain, who seek to frustrate God’s holy counsels.
2. There is mercy in reserve for a remnant, when the rebels are purged out by his judgments.
[1.] The rebels shall be for ever cut off from the congregation of the Lord; shall never more enter the land of Israel, given up to their idolatries, and totally excluded from God’s worship; so that they shall pollute his holy name no more, by joining him with their idols; and at the same time that they pretended to honour him with their gifts, still continuing in their idolatry. Note; (1.) The rebellious sinner will be eternally separated at last from the congregation of the just, and never enter the rest of glory. (2.) That soul is completely miserable, which God abandons. (3.) Pretences to religion, when the heart is enslaved by idol lusts, do but add profaneness and hypocrisy to iniquity.
[2.] The faithful shall be separated, and blessed with God’s regard. They shall pass under the rod, visited with corrections; and recovered in the furnace of affliction. They shall be brought again into the bond of the covenant, be acknowledged as God’s people, be restored again from their dispersion to their own land, and serve God in his Zion, his holy mountain. Their oblations and their worship shall be accepted, they penitently acknowledging, bewailing, and abhorring themselves for their former transgressions; and God will be sanctified in them before the heathen, who will confess his faithfulness to his promises, his power and grace displayed in their recovery; and they shall know that he is the Lord, by experience of these his dispensations of mercy towards them, wrought not for their sakes, who deserved nothing but to perish in their iniquities, but for his own name’s sake, most eminently to display his glory, as the promise-keeping and sin-pardoning God. Note; (1.) Afflictions are blessed means of good to those who are not incorrigibly impenitent. (2.) When God accepts our persons in Christ Jesus, then our poor services become a sweet savour through the Beloved. (3.) The sinner that returns to God and finds favour, sees in the glass of God’s love the baseness, malignity, and ingratitude of sin, and loaths himself for all his abominations. (4.) We never know God truly, till by experience, coming to him as lost sinners, we prove the wonders of his pardoning love. (5.) All our salvation flows, not from our deserts, but God’s rich mercy; and as he designs his own glory herein, to the praise of the glory of his grace it must be wholly ascribed.
6thly, We have in this chapter another prophesy, which would most properly have begun the next chapter. The subject of both is the same, the threatened ruin of Judah and Jerusalem.
1. The forest of the south field, toward which the prophet is commanded to set his face and drop his word, is the city of Jerusalem, full of inhabitants, unfruitful as the trees of the wood, and the haunt of wicked men fierce and ravenous as the beasts of the forest.
2. God threatens to kindle a fire in it, a fire of wrath; and the conflagration shall be universal, devouring and destroying all ranks, young and old without distinction, from one end of the land to the other; and none can quench it; a destruction so terrible shall mark the finger of divine vengeance, and even the surrounding heathens shall acknowledge that this is Jehovah’s doing.
3. Ezekiel makes his complaint to God. Ah! Lord God, they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? they scoffed at the message that he brought them, as unintelligible; and counted it not worth their attention. Note; They who have no inclination to profit by the word of God, will always have some fault to find with the delivery of it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1110
MENS TREATMENT OF THE GOSPEL
Eze 20:49. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
THE word of God, by whomsoever spoken, should be received with reverence and godly fear. Great care indeed should be taken to examine whether the word which is spoken in his name be agreeable to the sacred oracles; but when that point is ascertained, then we should bow before it, and submit ourselves wholly and cheerfully to its directions. This is the plain dictate of reason and common sense: but yet it is far from being the regulating principle of mens actions; for at the very time that men acknowledge the divine authority of the word delivered, they set themselves in a variety of ways to invalidate its force, and to withstand its influence. The Jews who came to inquire of Ezekiel had no doubt of his being a prophet, inspired of God to declare unto them his holy will. Yet when he did deliver to them the messages sent by his divine Master, they poured contempt upon them, and said, Doth he not speak parables?
From hence we shall take occasion to shew,
I.
How the messages of God are treated
The import of the observation made by the Jews on Ezekiels ministrations seems to have been, that his word was altogether so figurative and unintelligible as to be unworthy of any serious attention. It may be thought perhaps that this was a singular case; but it is, in fact, a just specimen of the way in which the messages of God have been treated from the beginning of the world
[When Noah preached to the antediluvian world, he was regarded as a weak alarmist, who merited only their pity and their scorn. When Lot warned his family of the impending judgments that would soon fall on Sodom and Gomorrha, he seemed, we are told, as one that mocked to his sons-in-law. When Jehu was informed by a prophet that God had destined him to assume the royal authority, the messenger was designated by the title, that mad fellow; What said that mad fellow unto thee? If we come to the New-Testament dispensation, we find our blessed Lord himself, who spake as never man spake, treated in the same contemptuous manner: many of the Jews said of him, He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear ye him [Note: Joh 10:20.]? and again, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil [Note: Joh 8:48.]? The name, that deceiver, seems to have been given him by his enemies as a common appellation [Note: Mat 27:63.]. His Apostles met with precisely the same reception. St. Paul was accounted a babbler; and when speaking most unquestionably the words of truth and sober ness, was thus reviled; Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning hath made thee mad [Note: Act 17:18; Act 26:24.]. And is it not thus at the present day? Is not every one who delivers the word of God with fidelity and boldness represented as a fanatic, and a deceiver? Some condemn the matter of his discourses, as visionary, as erroneous, as unnecessarily strict, or as lax even to licentiousness. Others condemn the manner: if it be firm, it is harsh; if affectionate, it is canting; if written, it is dull; if unwritten, it is enthusiastic, and devoid of sense. In a word, it is now as in the days of old: when John came, neither eating nor drinking, it was said he had a devil; and when our Lord came with condescending freedom, eating and drinking, it was said of him, Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners: and in like manner we, whether we pipe or mourn, are equally unacceptable to our hearers, and obnoxious to their censure [Note: Mat 11:16-19.].
It is worthy of observation too, that the opposers of the Gospel seem never to entertain a doubt but that they are quite correct in all the censures which they pass upon those who minister the word unto them. Doth he not speak parables? was in the apprehension of Ezekiels hearers an obvious fact; and the inference which they drew from it, namely, That he was unworthy to be regarded, was in their estimate perfectly legitimate and undeniable. So now the folly of all who preach the Gospel, and the consequent propriety of disregarding every thing they say, are considered as so plain, that none but persons equally weak with themselves can entertain a doubt upon the subject.]
If such be indeed the treatment generally given to the Lords messages, it will be useful to inquire,
II.
Whence it is they are so treated
Doubtless persons who mean well may both speak and act with considerable indiscretion, and may by their injudicious conduct cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of. But as the treatment of Gods messages is the same by whomsoever they are delivered, we must look for the reason of it, not so much in the messengers, as in those to whom they are sent. There are then in the hearers of the Gospel many obstacles to a just reception of it;
1.
A pride of understanding
[Men think themselves qualified to sit in judgment upon the word of God, just as much as upon any human composition; and, when it accords not with their pre-conceived opinions, they do not hesitate to pronounce it foolishness [Note: 1Co 1:18; 1Co 1:23; 1Co 2:14.]. To receive it with the docility of little children they would consider as a degradation to them. They account it not indeed a degradation to children to receive instruction from their parents, or their authorized instructors; but they see not any such distance between the mind of God and theirs, as to call for any such submission to him on their part, though they are born like a wild asss colt. Hence it must necessarily arise that they will stumble, and be offended, at the great mysteries of redemption.]
2.
An independent spirit
[Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? is the reply, which, not Pharaoh only, but the whole host of rebels, make to the commands of God. It is awful to observe how little weight the authority of God has in influencing the conduct of the world. Tell them how much their interest will be affected by this or that line of conduct, and they will give a patient attention to your advice: but speak of Gods judgments, and they will puff at them with sovereign contempt [Note: Psa 10:5.]. Such treatment they themselves would not endure, for a moment, from a child or servant of their own: but they offer it to God without any self-reproach, or any fear of his displeasure. They will not indeed confess that they thus oppose themselves to their Maker: they will maintain, that the word spoken to them is no just expression of his will: but this is a mere cover to their rebellion: they will not comply with his commands, and therefore they will deny altogether that they proceed from him, or else wall so interpret them as altogether to change their import, and evade their force.]
3.
An inveterate aversion to holiness
[To a formal and external righteousness many are not at all averse; they rather love it, as a substitute for spiritual obedience. But bring to their view the requisitions of Gods law, and they cry out against them, as unreasonably severe, yea, as utterly impracticable and absurd. Our Lord himself informs us, that this is the true source of their rejection of his word: They love darkness rather than light: they even hate the light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved. No wonder that they cry, Doth he not speak parables? when they are determined beforehand not to understand the plainest declarations.]
Before any determine thus to reject the messages of Heaven, it will be well for them to consider,
III.
What consequences must ensue from this treatment of them
Certainly,
1.
All the ends of our ministry among them must be defeated
[It is in vain to speak to those who will not hear: the invitations, the promises, the threatenings of Scripture can be of no avail to those who will not acknowledge the authority of God in them. What a melancholy reflection is this, that God should send ambassadors to men with messages of peace and love, and that men should make light of them, and recompense with hatred and contempt every effort that is made for their salvation. Well might Paul have continual heaviness and sorrow in his heart, when he reflected on the state of such persons, and that, instead of having to present them to God as his joy and crown, he should have to appear as a swift witness against them in the day of judgment,]
2.
Their guilt and condemnation must be greatly aggravated
[No man leaves the house of God as he came into it: the ordinance which he has attended has either brought him nearer to heaven, or prepared him more as fuel for the tire of hell. If the word be not a savour of life unto life, it is savour of death unto death. Our blessed Lord told his hearers, that if he had never come and spoken unto them, they would comparatively have had no sin: but that in consequence of their rejection of his proffered mercies, the state of Sodom and Gomorrha would be more tolerable in the day of judgment than theirs. In like manner we must say to our hearers, that every opportunity of instruction which they have enjoyed is a talent to be accounted for; and that their hiding of it in a napkin will be a ground of their condemnation [Note: Joh 3:19.].]
Application
[And now what account must we carry to our God concerning you? He has sent us to deliver his messages; and he will require of us some account of the manner in which they have been received amongst you. And what shall we say? Must we not, in reference to the greater part of you, say, Ah! Lord God, we come with a painful report: we would have rejoiced to have told thee, that thy word had had a free course, and been glorified amongst them; but we are constrained to declare, that, if not in word, yet at least in spirit, they say of us, Doth he not speak parables? Some do really think that the message we deliver is no other than a cunningly-devised fable; whilst others, acquiescing in it as coming from thee, are too busy, or too careless, to pay any respect to it. Some, it is true, take a pleasure in hearing thy word, just as Ezekiels hearers did; but, like them, they will not comply with any one of thy commands: their cares, their pleasures, their desire of earthly things, carry them away, and entirely engross their minds: they are hearers of thy word, but not doers of it: and though they sometimes are made to see their face as in a glass, they go away, and presently forget what manner of men they are. Thus, though they differ from one another in many things, they agree in this, namely, to refuse subjection to thy blessed word, and to follow the imaginations of their own hearts.
This however is not the case with all: there are some who receive the word, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God. Some there are that say of us, We have been messengers of glad tidings to their souls, and instruments in thy hands for their eternal welfare. The Saviour whom we have announced to them is precious to their souls; they look to him; they trust in him; they rejoice and glory in his salvation; and they shew forth their faith by their works. O Lord God, what thanks can we render unto thee for all the joy where with we joy before thee on their account! truly they are our glory and joy. O blessed Lord, increase their number a hundred fold; and establish all their hearts unblameable in holiness unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! that when we shall be summoned to thy judgmentseat to give up our account to thee, we may do it with joy and not with grief. Let not one of them turn back again to perdition; but keep them all steadfast in faith and love and holiness, that we may have the joy of presenting them perfect before thee in that day, saying, Here am I, and the children thou hast given me!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
READER! what an awful account is here given, and by the Lord Himself, of a congregation of worshippers. Are there any such in the present hour? Alas! it is to be feared but too many; for, in every age, there are multitudes who draw nigh to God to honour Him with their lips, while their hearts are far from Him. Thou art ever in their mouth (saith the Lord by the Prophet,) and far from their reins.
It will be no unprofitable improvement of this chapter, if, from beholding the deception of the heart, in this instance, of the elders of Israel before the Prophet, you and I, Reader, bring home the subject to ourselves. In how many ways, and by how many avenues, evil enters into the soul. Corruption within and temptation without, rob the soul of sweet communion and fellowship with the Lord, even where a work of grace hath passed upon the soul; so that every true believer in Jesus finds but too often cause to complain with the Apostle, When I would do good, evil is present with me. And if so, what must it be in the heart wholly unawakened by grace, unregenerated by the Holy Spirit, and uninterested by any sense of the divine goodness? Precious Lord Jesus! how eminently here, as in a thousand other instances of grace and mercy, is the recollection of Thy High Priestly office, in bearing away the iniquity of our most holy things! Thy one offering once offered, and the everlasting and eternal efficacy of it, pleaded in Thine unceasing intercession, become the only cause of Thy Church’s acceptance. Yea, Lord our very prayers, but for this, would seal our condemnation, Reader! let us both beg of God the Holy Ghost to impress these soul-reviving considerations upon the mind and heart of each. While you and I but too often, in the great congregation, hear as though we heard not, and pray or sing as though we felt not, oh! what a relief to my poor soul is the conviction; that in the same moment there is one with the Father whom the Father heareth alway, and Who is the propitiation for our sins. His glorious person and His finished work become the security and sanctity of all His redeemed. And while the Lord Jehovah hath respect to Him, and the Church in Him, in all the purposes of grace, so the everlasting acceptance and joy of the Church will only arise out of the same, in all the manifestations of glory.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
Ver. 49. Doth he not speak parables? ] Nonne artifex est parabolarum iste? Qui erga non vult intelligi, vult negligi. a He is so high that we cannot take him, and shall therefore slight him as a madman, or not much better. A preacher shall have much ado to please a profane people. Neither maketh it much to the matter; but it is grievous, ah, Lord.
a Davus sum non Oedipus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
parables. Thus intended to have the same purpose as the Lord’s parables. See Mat 13:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Doth: Is it not his usual custom to deal in enigmas? His figures are not to be understood; we should not trouble ourselves with them. God therefore commands the prophet to declare, in the next chapter, the same things in the plainest terms, so that they should not complain of his parables. Mat 13:13, Mat 13:14, Joh 16:25, Act 17:18
Reciprocal: Gen 19:14 – as one Num 12:8 – dark speeches Num 23:7 – he took Jdg 14:12 – a riddle 2Ki 14:9 – The thistle Psa 49:4 – parable Eze 4:14 – Ah Eze 12:9 – What Eze 17:2 – General Eze 21:7 – Wherefore Eze 24:3 – utter Eze 24:19 – General Eze 37:18 – Wilt Hos 12:10 – used Mat 13:3 – in Mar 12:1 – he began Gal 4:24 – an allegory
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 20:49. Ezekiel expressed a fear that this form of speech would not be taken seriously by his people; that they might, think he was speaking with no end in view.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak {z} parables?
(z) The people said that the prophet spoke darkly: therefore he desires the Lord to give them a plain declaration of it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Ezekiel replied to the Lord that the people were not taking what he said seriously; they were explaining away his announcement of judgment as only a parable or fictional story, not as a symbolic message of real judgment to come.