Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 33:30
Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
30. are talking against thee ] the children of thy people who talk of thee. The construction has a certain inconsequence in it. On “talk” cf. Mal 3:16. The “walls” afforded a shade, under which men gathered for conversation.
one to another ] The form “one” is Chaldee rather than Heb. The clause says the same thing as next clause and is wanting in LXX.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
30 33. Demeanour of the people towards the prophet
The confirmation which the fall of the city gave to the prophet’s past predictions awakened the interest of his fellow exiles in him and his words. They congregated together in knots under the shadow of the walls and in the doors of the houses discussing his sayings. Recent events had given him a more prominent place in their thoughts. There was something also in the new truths he was uttering, in his outlook into the future and in his appeals to the individual mind, causing each to turn his eyes inward upon himself, that touched them and awakened a certain reality of concern. Still it was in the main curiosity rather than genuine seriousness that led them to listen to him. There was a certain charm, more perhaps in the kind of future presented by the prophet than in his manner of presenting it, which was like sweet music; but though they listened the drift of their minds was too steadily set in another direction to be changed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Eze 33:30-33
They hear Thy words, but they will not do them.
The religion of a formalist
I. The extent of a formal religion. There is unquestionably much about the characters here described worthy of respect and admiration. The pity is, so fair a form should conceal so vile a heart.
1. They entertained a high respect for the truth, and the messenger whom God had commissioned to proclaim it. How many treat the message and the messenger with respect, who have no share in the Divine and saving power they are appointed to convey! They have caught a feeble ray of light; it has something of beauty and lustre about it; but it is the cold moonbeam reflected from the church, and not the healing and life-giving ray of the Sun of Righteousness.
2. To respect, may be added a compliance with religious ordinances and duties. Custom, or education, or pride, or respect for the preacher, or the desire to see, and be seen, brought them here. Even their demeanour in the very presence of the eternal God, is not free from hypocrisy.
3. Further, there may be an apparent love for religion, and the doctrines it inculcates; for with their mouth they show much love. Religion is talked about and recommended. While it is the topic of conversation you observe an unusual glow of animation, a seeming zeal for its interests. Its doctrines and duties are defended against the cavils and objections of all opposers.
4. There may be the experience of deep and powerful emotions, under the preaching of the truth. The preacher is to them as a very lovely song, etc. A thrill of indescribable pleasure vibrates on the chords of feeling as he proceeds; but it is only the excitement of passions which would have been aroused with equal intensity and delight by the harmonies of a concert, or the representations of the stage. Yet is it unusual to mistake these emotions for religious feeling? or, can any impression be more delusive?
II. The deficiencies of a formal religion. The heart is the seat of the defect. It has never been the subject of Divine and regenerating grace; and, where this is the case, there may be every semblance of true religion, but reality there is none. See the objections which a heart-searching God prefers against the characters in consideration. They are these: they hear Thy words, but they will not do them. Here the will is at fault. The prime and governing power of the heart does not yield a just submission to the authority of Divine law. A little further on is a second charge: their heart goeth after their covetousness. The deficiency is here at once referred to the heart, whose affections have never been surrendered to Him who justly demands them. They remain fixed, with unchanging tenacity, to the creature, but the Creator is forgotten. Again, the first charge is reiterated, though in an altered form of expression: They hear Thy words, but they do them not. Wherefore, but because there is no heart to them? The understanding and affections must be renewed; the will become subject; the whole man be created anew in Christ Jesus, until the old nature is trampled under foot, and the love of God alone holds supremacy. If religion is designed to correct the evils and perversities of our nature, to what point should its influence be directed rather than the heart, which is the seat of mans depravity, and out of which proceeds every thing that is capable of moral or religious impress?
III. The danger of a formal religion. The publication of the Gospel, with its riches of promise, implies the sad alternative, which must overtake all who do not heartily receive and obey its doctrines. No one can seriously imagine a religion of hollow compliments and specious disguises to be acceptable in the sight of God: to offer it in the place of a loving heart is to superadd mockery to rebellion. (John Lyth.)
The formalist and the Christian
I. There is a resemblance between the formalist and the Christian in the spirit of hearing and in the respect which is felt for the temple and the minister of the temple. So marvellous has been the spread of Christianity; so thoroughly has it leavened society with its influence, that that which was formerly a badge of shame has become at once a talisman of safety, and a certificate of honour, and the cross, formerly dishonoured and reproachful, is now the sign beneath which armies march to battle. It glitters as the symbol of our faith on the domes of Christian temples, and is traced in baptismal beauty on the foreheads of kings. The sort of respect which conventionalism bears to Christianity affords indirect encouragement to its formal profession. If there yawned the dungeon before every confessor–if the sword flashed over the head of every saint, as over the head of Damocles at the banquet, there might, perhaps, be fewer professors of Christianity, but they would be braver and more sincere. Men would be chary of entering upon their vows, but constant in their adhesion to the faith of their espousal. But now that the earth has taken upon itself to help the woman–now that a prayerless family, or a churchless household has a kind of disgrace affixed to it, it is not at all an uncommon thing that there should be an attachment to the temple and an eager hearkening to its message, in hearts that are as impervious as granite to the reception of the truth, and as set against its vital and quickening power as the most flippant witling who sits in the seat of the scornful.
II. The second point of resemblance between the formalist and the Christian is that the former complies with and has attachment to the ordinances of religion. And they come unto thee as the people cometh. They come into the sanctuary with a religious feeling. There is devotion in their responses; there is for the time sincerity in their approach to God. They come and sit just as the people sit–equally decorous, equally interested, equally attentive, equally impressible, and with their mouth they show much love. They pay homage to religion, to godliness, they regard it as the chief thing; they are not ashamed to talk about it as they pass down to the business of the day. They are fluent in its praise and in its advocacy. They talk glibly about a life of piety and the charms and hopes of religion, and the unparalleled attractiveness of the heaven to which it leads. They are ready-handed and open-hearted when distress pleads or benevolence prefers her claims. Oh, there are so many excellences about them that it wrings our hearts to think that they lack the one thing which alone can make those excellences of avail.
III. The resemblance between the formalist and the Christian is that the former feels under the ministers discourse. They are neither heedless nor dissatisfied hearers. They hang upon the ministers lips, they feast upon his discourse in all the luxury of intellectual pleasure. They have a delight in listening to him as great as when they were enraptured by the tones of some enchantress of song, or as when they sat breathless while the organ swelled out some psalmists inner soul. And I think when you consider the sort of ministry under which these people sat you will find there was a deeper emotion roused within them than ever mere elocutionary gratification produced. Ezekiel certainly was no carpet wizard, he was no dealer in literary millinery. He had a soul too brave and a purpose too strong to labour for tropes or to be content with platitudes. Under such a preacher there must have been the stirring of conscience, the convulsions of the heart, the agitation of the whole moral nature, as he brought home conviction of guilt, and launched against them the threatenings of doom. Yes, and so it is now. So it may be now. There may be, or there may not be, connected with the administration of the truth a refinement of intellectual pleasure. Paul may argue forcibly, or Barnabas tenderly win; Elijah may be imperial in his irony, and Ezekiel scorching in his rebuke, for there are diversities of gifts yet, and God hath given to everyone as it hath pleased Him. But there must be–it is inevitable–there must be wherever the Gospel is faithfully and evangelically preached–and I am bold to affirm that there has been faithful preaching, and preaching of the pure Gospel here–there must be impression and conviction–all the works of the accompanying Spirit. If you have felt the song to be sweet and the player to be skilful, you have felt the burning words, the power of the thoughts that have been expressed and impressed by the power of the Spirit upon your heart.
IV. The difference is that in the formalist the heart is not right in the sight of God. They are conscious that while they listen, and that while they are impressed, there is within them a stubborn and a resisting soul which has not been renewed by the washing of regeneration, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. They are not only attentive to the Word, but they acknowledge its reality and its momentousness, and yet there is a stubborn will that refuses submission, and an imagination that revels in the unclean chambers of its guilt. And the man, alas, is only beautiful outwardly, like a fair damsel whose cheek rivals the peach bloom, but in whose heart the pale fires burn, or like a gothic sepulchre whose gorgeous architecture conceals the habitations of death. You may alter the pointers and touch the regulators of a watch without ceasing, but if the mainspring is broken you can have no accurate note of time. Every stone in an arch may be proportioned and in its place, but if the keystone is wanting you will never rear it in strength. Bone may come to his bone, and skin may cover them, and it may be fenced with sinew and covered with flesh as the skeleton, but unless the quick pulses are alive with the flowing blood there will be no lighted house of life. Religion is a thing of the heart; it is not a mere dogmatism of creed; it is not a mere timorous morality; it is not even a flatteringly faultless observance of devotion: it is a warm life welling up from a renewed heart; it is a new affection expelling or controlling the old; it is the embodiment of a passion which is neither sordid nor servile, but which in deep gratitude for its deliverance offers itself a living sacrifice, and in the generosity of its ungrudging service can never say, It is enough. Do you see the point of difference now? How is it with yourselves? Have you turned to the Lord with full purpose of heart? (W. M. Punshon.)
A false people and a true prophet; or, an old picture of modern life
1. Some people have true prophets. What is it that constitutes a true prophet? Is it superiority of native power? This we hold to be a necessary element. A man must have more brain and heart force than I before he can become my prophet. The man in the pulpit, whose mind is constitutionally inferior to his congregation, is not their true prophet. But although this is necessary, it is not all. There must be, in connection with this, a reigning sympathy with Gods truth, character, and will. This is the inspiration of the true prophet.
2. Some true prophets have false people. People in all ages have wrongly treated the true prophets. Jewish history abounds with examples; and even now, I think, we shall find men treating Gods ministers as Ezekiel was treated by his hearers.
I. They conversed much concerning their prophet.
1. This practice is very common now. To church-going people the minister is one of their most constant themes of conversation.
(1) In some cases this habit implies ignorance.
(2) In some cases it implies depreciation–to find fault with his reasoning, or impugn his motives. By doing so they blunt the edge of his appeal to their conscience.
(3) In some cases it implies pride. Their minister, perhaps, has won some sort of fame.
(4) In some cases it implies superstition. The ministers virtues and talents are exaggerated. There is no one like him. He has bewitched them.
2. This practice is frequently very injurious. It tends to neutralise the power of the ministry. A minister of God is not an individual who is to appear before people merely to be looked at, admired, and talked about; or who is to utter opinions which are to be submitted to criticism, or become points of social converse and debate. But he is an ambassador from God; in Christs stead he is to beseech men to be reconciled to their Maker.
II. They were interested in the ministry of their prophet They invited each other to his ministrations. Come, I pray you, etc. Strangers, observing them pressing their way to the scenes of devotion, or sitting with solemn face and rapt attention in the assembly, or hearing them speak so lovingly and admiringly of the servant of God, might infer that they were saints of the first type. A deep interest in the ministry of a true and talented prophet is no proof of piety. There are many things in such a ministry to interest a man. It meets many of the native cravings of the soul. It meets the desire for excitement. It meets the desire for knowledge. A desire for information and intellectual exercise is common to us all. It meets the desire for happiness. Who will show us any good? This is the most vehement cry of humanity, and it is the cry of an impulse that keeps the world in action. The ministry of Divine truth meets it. Its every aim is to reveal the way of life.
III. They were spiritually unreformed by the ministry of their prophet.
1. Divine truth is preached, that it may be practised. Unless ideas lead to actions, they have no influence upon character; and unless our character is changed we can never reach happiness, nor obtain the approbation of God.
2. It will never be practised, if the heart go after covetousness.
IV. They were destined to discover, when too late, their terrible mistake in relation to the ministry of their prophet. All attendants on a true ministry will one day feel this–feel that a true prophet had been amongst them. This will be felt by all, in one of three ways–
1. in the reproaches of a guilty conscience.
2. In the felicities of experimental religion.
3. In the mysterious horrors of retribution.
All true prophets will one day be valued; their words will burn in the experience of every soul to whom they have spoken. (Homilist.)
The prophet and the people
I. A beautiful picture. Man is saying to man, Come, let us hear the word of the Lord. That is the only thing worth doing. All other things derive their value and importance from that central thought, that vital action. How charming, then, is the idea that man is saying to man, Come, and hear what God the Lord will say; come, and listen to the true music, the only music, and your hearts will be made glad. This invitation expresses the action of a very profound instinct in human nature; not only so, it expresses a need, an aching yearning need of the heart. The heart needs a voice other than human; the soul says, I have not seen all my relatives: I hear their voices, and I like them; some of the tones are good: but the tones are more suggestive than final: I hear the ocean in the shell. Where is that ocean? Where is that mighty roar? I am not content with the shell; I want to go and see the instrument out of which there comes such thunderous, solemn music. So give the soul fair play, let it talk itself right out in all its native frankness, under the inspiration of necessity, rather than under the force of merely mechanical instruction, and the soul cries out for the living God. When the soul is no longer conscious of an aching, a gnawing hunger, the man is dead: he may try to talk himself into a kind of spasmodic life, but in the secret of him he is dead; when the earth satisfies him, when time is enough, when the senses alone bring him all the contentment or all the joy he needs, he is a dead man.
II. A distressing possibility (verse 31). The people come to hear the letter only, and there is no letter so disappointing as the letter of the Bible. If you stop at a certain point you miss everything; you are surrounded by mountains, but they are so high that you cannot see any sky beyond them, and therefore they become by their very hugeness prison walls. Ezekiels hearers were formal, not vital. With their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. This is not ancient history, whatever else it may be. If Ezekiel could have lived upon loud cheers he would have been living now; if he could have satisfied himself with popular applause, he would have reigned as a king: but he said, I do not want your mouth worship, I want to find you at the Cross.
III. Misdirected admiration (verse 32). What is wanted in every congregation is earnestness. No man should come to church except to hear Gods word, and so to hear it as to be compelled to do it. Many men who cannot understand Christian metaphysics can do Christian charities, can exemplify Christian tempers, and so can interpret concretely the subtlest, profoundest metaphysics of Divine thinking. The true metaphysician will by the degree of his truthfulness be compelled to be earnest as well as subtle, and the hero who knows nothing about spiritual metaphysics will see that in doing Gods will he is becoming a great scholar in Gods school.
IV. A too late discovery (verse 33). Who has not heard men complain that they have neglected their educational advantages? They played truant when they were children; they did not attend to the instruction that was given to them; they had an opportunity of becoming really well informed and highly instructed, but they allowed the opportunity to pass by without improvement. Too late! the greatest realisation of loss is that a prophet has vanished, a prophet has been here and gone. Will he not return? Never. Foolish are they who stretch their necks to look over the horizon to see if the prophet is not coming. The prophet is never far away if you really want him. Your mother could be a prophetess to you if you wanted to pray; your father, who is probably not a great scholar in the literal sense, could speak things to you that would open your imagination to new universes if you really wanted to be guided in upward thinking and heavenly action. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. The people still are talking against thee] bach should be rather translated, “concerning thee,” than “against thee;” for the following verses show that the prophet was much respected. The Vulgate translates, de te; the Septuagint, , “concerning thee,” both right.
Talking by the walls and in the doors of the houses is not a custom peculiar to the Copts, mentioned by Bp. Pococke, it is a practice among idle people, and among those who are resting from their work, in every country, when the weather permits. Gossiping in the inside of the house is not less frequent, and much more blamable.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The children; captives in Babylon.
Thy people; thy, not my people; God doth debase, degrade, and disown them.
By the walls; as men now do in cities or towns, so then they stood up to the wall, when, meeting in the streets, they would talk together.
In the doors of the houses; others got into the porches or doors of their houses, this they did to tell each other what news of their country.
Speak one to another: and all ends in this at last: Come, I pray, let us go up to the prophet, the true prophet, and inquire what God hath revealed to him, and what he may reveal unto us, whether any, or when will that end of our sorrows be.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. Not only the remnant inJudea, but those at the Chebar, though less flagrantly, betrayed thesame unbelieving spirit.
talking against theeThoughgoing to the prophet to hear the word of the Lord, they criticised,in an unfriendly spirit, his peculiarities of manner and hisenigmatical style (Eze 20:49);making these the excuse for their impenitence. Their talking was notdirectly “against” Ezekiel, for they professed tolike his ministrations; but God’s word speaks of things as theyreally are, not as they appear.
by the wallsin thepublic haunts. In the East groups assemble under the walls of theirhouses in winter for conversation.
in the doorsprivately.
what is the wordTheirmotive was curiosity, seeking pastime and gratification of the ear(2Ti 4:3); not reformation ofthe heart. Compare Johanan’s consultation of Jeremiah, to hear theword of the Lord without desiring to do it (Jer42:1-43:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Also, thou son of man,…. I have something to say to thee, and inform thee of, not only concerning the Jews in Judea, what they say, and what will befall them; but concerning those that are with thee, and what they say of thee, and what will be the issue of it:
the children of thy people still are talking against thee; not the Lord’s people, but his own people, which was the more cutting to him to hear of, and the more ungrateful in them; though indeed they were but children, who acted a weak part, and the less to be regarded; these spake against the prophet: they could not say he was no prophet, he had his credentials and commission from the Lord, which were well known, and many of his prophecies had been fulfilled; they could not speak against his doctrine, which was of God; nor against his conversation, which was agreeable to his character and office; but they said some things in a ludicrous and jocose manner, in a slighting and contemptuous way, as showed they had little reverence and respect for him, and were careless and indifferent about hearing him; at least had little regard to this matter, or the subject of his ministry, which they had no great value for: and this they did still; they had been long at it; it was their common talk and constant business, though the prophet knew nothing of it, and thought they had the greatest respect for him, speaking fair to his face, and behaving with decency towards him; but the Lord knew it, and resented it, and informs him of it: and this they did continually, from time to time,
by the walls, and in the doors of the houses; privately and secretly; “by the walls”, where they used to get together and sun themselves, and pass away their time, by talking against the prophet; and, when they did, would place themselves against the walls, that nobody might overhear them; and they would sometimes stand in the porches of their houses, and, as their neighbours and acquaintance passed by, would call them in, and hold a chat about the prophet; and jeer and laugh at him, and what he had said: and speak one to another,
every man to his brother, saying, come, l pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord; let us go and amuse ourselves for an hour or two with what the prophet says; perhaps we shall hear some new thing, which may be pleasing and diverting: for, not their spiritual profit did they seek, but to have their ears tickled, and their fancies pleased.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Hypocritical Professions. | B. C. 587. |
30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. 31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
The foregoing verses spoke conviction to the Jews who remained in the land of Israel, who were monuments of sparing mercy and yet returned not to the Lord; in these verses those are reproved who were now in captivity in Babylon, under divine rebukes, and yet were not reformed by them. They are not indeed charged with the same gross enormities that the others are charged with. They made some show of religion and devotion; but their hearts were not right with God. The thing they are here accused of is mocking the messengers of the lord, one of their measure-filling sins, which brought this ruin upon them, and yet they were not cured of it. Two ways they mocked the prophet Ezekiel:–
I. By invidious ill natured reflections upon him, privately among themselves, endeavouring by all means possible to render him despicable. The prophet did not know it, but charitably thought that those who spoke so well to him to his face, with so much seeming respect and deference, would surely not speak ill of him behind his back. But God comes and tells him, The children of thy people are still talking against thee (v. 30), or talking of thee, no good, I doubt. Note, Public persons are a common theme or subject of discourse; every one takes a liberty to censure them at pleasure. Faithful ministers know not how much ill is said of them every day; it is well that they do not; for, if they did, it might prove a discouragement to them in their work not to be easily got over. God takes notice of all that is said against his ministers, not only what is decreed against them, or sworn against them, not only what is written against them, or spoken with solemnity and deliberation, but of what is said against them in common talk, among neighbours when they meet in an evening, by the walls and in the doors of their houses, where whatever freedom of speech they use, if they reproach and slander any of God’s ministers, God will reckon with them for it; his prophets shall not be made the song of the drunkards always. They had no crime to lay to the prophet’s charge, but they loved to talk of him in a careless, scornful, bantering way; they said, jokingly, “Come, and let us hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord; perhaps it will be something new, and will entertain us, and furnish us with matter for discourse.” Note, Those have arrived as a great pitch of profaneness who can make so great a privilege, and so great a duty, as the preaching and hearing of the word of God, a matter of sport and ridicule, yea though it be not done publicly, but in private conversation among themselves. Serious things should be spoken of seriously.
II. By dissembling with him in their attendance upon his ministry. Hypocrites mock God and mock his prophets. But their hypocrisy is open before God, and the day is coming when, as here, it will be laid open. Observe here,
1. The plausible profession which these people made and the speciousness of their pretensions. They are like those (Matt. xv. 8) who draw nigh to God with their mouths and honour him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. (1.) They were diligent and constant in their attendance upon the means of grace: They come unto thee as the people come. In Babylon they had no temple or synagogue, but they went to the prophet’s house (ch. viii. 1), and there, it is probable, they spent their new moons and their sabbaths in religious exercises, 2 Kings iv. 23. When the prophet was bound the word of the Lord was not bound; and the people, when they had not the help for their souls that they wished for, were thankful for what they had; it was a reviving in their bondage. Now these hypocrites came, according to the coming of the people, as duly and as early as any of the prophet’s hearers. Their being said to come as the people came seems to intimate that the reason why they came was because other people came; they did not come out of conscience towards God, but only for company, for fashion-sake, and because it was now the custom of their countrymen. Note, Those that have no inward principle of love to God’s ordinances may yet be found much in the external observance of them. Cain brought his sacrifice as well as Abel; and the Pharisee went up to the temple to pray as well as the publican. (2.) They behaved themselves very decently and reverently in the public assembly; there were none of them whispering, or laughing, or gazing about them, or sleeping. But they sit before thee as my people, with all the shows of gravity, and sereneness, and composure of mind. They sit out the time, without weariness, or wishing the sermon done. (3.) They were very attentive to the word preached: “They are not thinking of something else, but they hear thy words, and take notice of what thou sayest.” (4.) They pretended to have a great kindness and respect for the prophet. Though, behind his back, they could not give him a good word, yet, to his face, they showed much love to him and his doctrine; they pretended to have a great concern lest he should spend himself too much in preaching or expose himself to the Chaldeans, for they would be thought to be some of his best friends and well-wishers. (5.) They took a great deal of pleasure in the word; they delighted to know God’s word, Isa. lviii. 2. Herod heard John Baptist gladly, Mark vi. 20. Thou art unto them as a very lovely song. Ezekiel’s matter was surprising, his language fine, his expressions elegant, his similitudes apt, his voice melodious, and his delivery graceful; so that they could sit with as much pleasure to hear him preach as (if I may speak in the language of our times) to see a play or an opera, or to hear a concert of music. Ezekiel was to them as one that had a pleasant voice and could sing well, or play well on an instrument. Note, Men may have their fancies pleased by the word, and yet not have their consciences touched nor their hearts changed, the itching ear gratified and yet not the corrupt nature sanctified.
2. The hypocrisy of these professions and pretensions; it is all a sham, it is all a jest. (1.) They have no cordial affection for the word of God. While they show much love it is only with the mouth, from the teeth outward, but their heart goes after their covetousness; they are as much set upon the world as ever, as much in love and league with it as ever. Hearing the word is only their diversion and recreation, a pretty amusement now and then for an hour or two. But still their main business is with their farm and merchandise; the bent and bias of their souls are towards them, and their inward thoughts are employed in projects about them. Note, Covetousness is the ruining sin of multitudes that make a great profession of religion; it is the love of the world that secretly eats the love of God out of their hearts. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are the thorns that choke the seed, and choke the soul too. And those neither please God nor profit themselves who, when they are hearing the word of God, are musing upon their worldly affairs. God has his eye on the hearts that do so. (2.) They yield no subjection to it. They hear thy words, but it is only a hearing that they give thee, for they will not do them, v. 31. And again (v. 32), they do them not. They will not be persuaded by all the prophet can say, either by authority or argument, to cross themselves in any instance, to part with any one beloved sin, or apply themselves to any one duty that is against the grain to flesh and blood. Note, There are many who take pleasure in hearing the word, but make no conscience of doing it; and so they build upon the sand, and deceive themselves.
3. Let us see what will be in the end hereof: Shall their unbelief and carelessness make the word of God of no effect? By no means. (1.) God will confirm the prophet’s word, though they contemn it, and make light of it, v. 33. What he says will come to pass, and not one jot or one tittle shall fall to the ground. Note, The curses of the law, though they may be bantered by profane wits, cannot be baffled. (2.) They themselves shall rue their folly when it is too late. When it comes to pass they shall know, shall know to their cost, know to their confusion, that a prophet has been among them, though they made no more of him than as one that had a pleasant voice. Note, Those who will not consider that a prophet is among them, and who improve not the day of their visitation while it is continued, will be made to remember that a prophet has been among them when the things that belong to their peace are hidden from their eyes. The day is coming when vain and worldly men will have other thoughts of things than now they have, and will feel a weight in that which they made light of. They shall know that a prophet has been among them when they see the event exactly answer the prediction, and the prophet himself shall be a witness against them that they had fair warning given them, but would not take it. When Ezekiel is gone, whom now they speak against, and there is no more any prophet, nor any to show them how long, then they will remember that once they had a prophet, but knew not how to use him well. Note, Those who will not know the worth of mercies by the improvement of them will justly be made to know the worth of them by the want of them, as those who should desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, which now they slighted, and might not see it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
THE PREACHER AND THE PEOPLE
Eze 33:30-33
THE thing that impresses the thoughtful student of the Bible is the immutability of mankind. Darwins theories to the contrary, the people of twenty-five hundred years ago were not only something like those of this moment, but exactly like them. This text of Scripture might have been written yesterday, or even this morning, without the change of a single verse, line, or even letter. If it was once adapted to the Jew it only illustrates that between Jew and Gentile there is no difference; and if it once applied to the Prophet and the people, it applies now no less to the preacher and the people.
Dr. Adamson, speaking of Joseph Parker, says: He was sometimes asked what was the best book on Inspiration. He had but one answer to the inquiry, The only Book that absolutely proves the inspiration of the Bible is the Bible itself. Other books get out of date but this volume, dealing as it does with human life, remains ever up-to-date; time never stales its suggestions nor renders its obligations obsolete, nor even diminishes its message of truth, nor shaves down its accuracy of statement; this is inspiration!
The thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel is one of the great chapters in Gods Word. That portion of it which relates to the Prophets obligation to warn against the sword coming upon the land is fairly familiar.
I want, if I may, to make these verses live at least in the memories of them that hear me, and we can naturally relate them to The Preachers Popularity: The Preachers Impotence: and The Preachers Praise.
THE PREACHERS POPULARITY
The thirtieth verse shows that the ancient Prophet Ezekiel had an experience paralleling that of certain modern preachers.
First of all He was the special subject of popular conversation. The Lord calls him Son of man and tells him the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses.
The word translated against is better expressed by about. Ezekiel was not in ill favor with the people at this time; on the contrary, he was more often spoken of than any living minister. On the part of preachers that is a coveted experience. The minister who can sit in a street car or railway train and hear his own name called without interest, and hear his ministry praised without pride or condemned without anger, is altogether exceptional. Charles Spurgeon, great and glorious man that he was, once expressed regret that the newspapers were now saying less about him, and declared that while at the time they were excoriating and abusing him, he felt annoyed, he would prefer to go back to any kind of abuse they might heap upon him, or any sort of persecution they might stir up against him, than that they remain silent concerning his ministry.
While it is not true that the minister who is most talked about is always and everywhere accomplishing the most eminent spiritual results, it seems to be an established certainty that the man of whom nobody speaks is himself well nigh a nonentity. That is why certain brethren possessed of no great amount of mental strength, or spiritual enduement, resort to the sensational in subjects, manners, and morals. They believe it better to be montebanks than blanks!
The highest type of ministry, however, is that type which compels itself to be talked about without either effort or desire in that direction, and Ezekiel enjoyed it. There were no newspapers in his day. Had there been he would have had a leading place on the religious page, and men passing one another in the street, would have added to their salutation, the question, Have you heard the latest from Ezekiel, the Prophet? And the I. W. Ws, gathered on a summer afternoon, in the shade of a big tree, and the bums from the saloon, meeting on the benches in Gateway Park, would have discussed him, and denounced as the Son of a gun; the very minister God called the son of man.
In the next place neighbor urged neighbor to come and hear him.
They * * speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the Word that cometh forth from the Lord.
It is not for this service the people stand condemned; it was a noble service to render. In the judgment of some of us, the opportunity of the hour is at this very point. The problem of the present is not that of another theology; the new Evangel has no illustration of his success, or even necessity. The difficulty is not that the old Word has lost its power; the trouble is that the people are not now hearing it.
A commercial traveler, named Rigby, was compelled to spend a week-end every quarter in Edinburg. He always worshiped in Dr. Alexander Whytes church and always tried to persuade some other visitor at the hotel to accompany him. On one occasion, having taken a Roman Catholic traveler there who thereby accepted Christ, he called on Dr. Whyte to tell him of the conversion.
The doctor then asked his name, and on being told that it was Rigby, he exclaimed: Why, you are the man Ive been looking for for years.
He then went to his study and returned with a bundle of letters from which he read such extracts as these:
I was spending a week-end in Edinburg some weeks ago, and a fellow-commercial traveler named Rigby invited me to accompany him to St. Georges. The message of that service changed my life.
And another read: I am a young man, and the other day I came to hear you preach at the invitation of a man called Rigby, and in that service I decided to dedicate my life to Christ.
Dr. Whyte went on to say that twelve of the letters were from young men, of whom four had since entered the ministry.
To invite a man or woman to the place where the mighty Gospel is preached is to render to that one a most important service, and to God, a most pleasant and acceptable work. To bring sinners under the sound of the true prophets speech is the utter essential: to bring the backslider into the sanctuary where Gods Word is spoken, is an invaluable service; to bring the true saint where the Bread of Life is broken, and thereby keep him from false prophets,scorpions, is a solemn obligation.
On this subject the followers of Mrs. Eddy give the followers of Jesus a commendable example. They seldom meet a friend, or make the acquaintance of a stranger without an invitation to their seances. The dumb silence of thousands of church-members concerning the whole subject of religious services and assemblies is the shame of their profession. Humboldt tells us that a bee never makes a rich find of honey without flying back to its hive and by crossing antenae with its kind, telling them of the same, and straightway leading them forth that they might find the same blossoming flower. Any considerable church in America could, mark a growth that would astound alike its pastor and the people at large if only its members became everyone diligent agents of invitation.
To me it is a most inconceivable thing that people will fill a pew with glad regularity, and delight their own souls in the true prophets preaching, and then move in the midst of the multitudes and never make mention of it, or say to any brother, Come, I pray you, and hear what Gods man has to say.
There are those who feel their inability to deal with the convicted sinner and join him to Christ; but surely every man or woman who has a tongue is capable of inviting others to the house of God; and if it should once become the practice of church members, the results would amaze men and mightily honor God. Why say you not a word to your brother and neighbor about the sanctuary, the service, the sermon, the servant, the Saviour?
He was also famed as a conservative theologian. The people who sat in the shadow of the walls and in the doors of the houses and talked about him, declared that he had retained the faith once for all delivered and was giving to the people the very Word of God. That is the reputation any minister might well covet. Paul boasted no new gospel, but proudly confessed himself a copyist, saying, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Truly, as the great Joseph Parker said, The Word of the Lord is the only thing worth while. All other things derive their value and importance from that. There is no other worth listening to; it is true every whit and syllable, every tone and whisper, just as true in the undertones as in the mighty thunders and tempest blasts of its power. Paul must have been thinking of that fact when to the Galatians (Gal 1:8) he wrote
Though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
There has never been an hour in the history of the church when it meant sp much to be able to say of any man that, he is Gods true prophet, and proclaims Gods own Word, as it means to-day. In fact, the only men whose ministry is worth anything to the world are those men. The only preaching that has in it any moral or spiritual power is the preaching of the Word. The only man wearing the name of Gods prophet whose ministry will be remembered in a hundred years is the man who brings no message of his own but makes known what God has spoken. For over a third of a century Gordon, Spurgeon and Moody have slept and for thirty years and more, the lips of Joseph Parker have been silent, and yet their memories are more green to-day than when the freshly cut sod was returned again to their graves. Centuries lengthen since John Wesley, John Calvin and John Knox slept, and longer yet since Huss and Luther and Savonarola ceased to speak; but who has forgotten them, and who ever can? They ministered in no new-fangled philosophy of life, as ephemeral as fashion; but rather, in the Word of the Lord that standeth fast. They linked their names with the Name of the Eternal, and voiced themselves in the Word-everlasting. Such men live!
And yet
THE PREACHERS IMPOTENCE
as herein described, well nigh appalls us. The blame of it is not put upon Ezekiel, but upon the people instead.
His crowds were but superficially concerned. They came and sat before him as demurely as Gods people ever did anything, and they heard his words with perfect decorum; but, the sermon over, they soon forgot.
There are ministers whose ambitions would be perfectly gratified if only the place where they minister was packed with people. To be able to boast crowds is now regarded as the biggest feather in the clerics cap. The explanation of sensational, if not even sensual subjects, announced for the pulpit, the hits at the false inconsistencies of weak church-members, the sarcasm about musty creeds, the jokes at the expense of hypocritical professions, the worn out phrase of horned deacons and clerical delinquents, they all are attempts at calling a crowd, and the minister is not altogether to blame. The very fact that such things bring a ready response, while the preaching of the Word of God in plain simple speech has in it no elements of popular appeal, gives proof of the fact that the people of our day and the people of Ezekiels day are kinsfolk in spirit and cousins in conduct.
If it is a reflection upon the ministry that they are willing to try to meet the public demand as it is, it is none the less a serious indictment upon the people, and especially upon the people of Christ, that they will pack the place where full-grown man in knee trousers palms himself off as a boy preacher, reciting sermons written by another, and jam the one where a man capable of preaching in simple, and even elegant English, descends to slang, suggestive to say the least, and intersperses every discourse with jokes enough to make him a successful competitor of the end men in the theater.
It has always seemed to me a strange lack of spirituality when people who seldom ever darken the door of a sanctuary to hear Gods prophet, will travel a hundred miles to give audience to a sensation.
To patronize the ministry that descends to the level of the vaudeville, is to criticise themselves; and while seeking to lay blame upon the true preacher, they practically confess that they belong to the company of those who have either demanded of the minister that he do these things, or go his way without any audience from them.
I said such conduct is superficial; I am almost ready to say that it is sensual. We must all admit it is not spiritual, and the admission applies just as perfectly to the indifferent church-members whose presence in Gods house depends upon a sensation as it applies to the sinner who makes no pretense of religion, but meets the church-member alike in the salacious theater and the tabernacle where the big crowds, slang and somersaults combine to create a sensation equally popular.
Do not misunderstand me! It is better to get some truth into the ears of sinners by any permissible method, than for them never to hear the Word of God; but the professors of religion who have no interest in the same, unless a sensation is on, are spiritually deceived, and in spite of the fact that they call themselves Gods people, that profession is a pretense.
The very next sentence of this text is their censure They hear thy words, but they do them not.
The test of ones profit by preaching is not in consent to it, but in service as the result of it. I have had men pay me the highest possible compliment on my preaching, but perform not one whit better after I had finished. Their moral conduct was not improved, their spirit of generosity grew not a whit under the Word of the Lord; their interest in the unsaved was increased in nothing, their readiness to undertake service for the church was not quickened.
To them the preaching seemed to be a matter of homiletics, of quotations, of felicitous illustrations, rounded sentences, eloquent utterances! In other words, it is only a question of art. There is a sense in which preaching is an art; but it is also true that the sermon is not merely a work of art. Phillips Brooks once said that Phidias, before a savage people, might go on creating his Minervas, but not so the preacher. A sermon is not to be something, but to do something. It becomes a tool, and when it becomes an idol, it is as impotent as idols of wood or stone.
The story is told of DaVinci that when he had finished painting The Last Supper he asked a friend to come and see it. As the painter withdrew the cloth the friend exclaimed, How wonderful the cup in the hands of the Christ! Whereupon DaVinci impulsively threw his brush across the cup, saying, Nothing shall hide the face of the Christ!
That sermon is not the best which calls attention to itself. That sermon is the best which calls attention to Jesus. That sermon is not the best which sends men away praising its eloquence; that sermon is the best which sends men away saying, What more can we do for God and for men?
I confess to you frankly that my soul sickens when some professed church-member, who never put in a week of time in Gods work, and from whose pocket the Lords tithe could not be extracted with a pair of pinchers, and upon whose service the preacher cannot depend, praises my preaching.
He is like the new moons and Sabbaths, that we cannot away with. He is like a kettle of boiling soup; his pretense smells to Heaven. The more we multiply him in the Church of God the more we weaken it.
The end is not yet. The Prophet Ezekiel adds a sentence and shows the source of the true trouble with many.
He affirms as his paralyzing opponent, prosperity.
For with then mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousnessunlawful gain.
God forbid that the preacher should speak a word against the subject of the justly gained success that is lawful, against gold begotten by Gods good stewards; but alas for the truth, the greed of gain is in this twentieth century, as it was twenty-five hundred years ago, Gods special opponent. The greed of gain, so often at the bottom of sin, shears the professed saint of all strength. The greed of gain so far tempts the true saint to turn from the plain statement of Scripture and the loud whispers of the Spirit, that we cannot pass it over in silence.
One never thinks how men and women alike are selling themselves body and soul for silver, but he is brought into sympathy with Pauls statement: The love of money is the root of all evil. In that very circumstance we find an interpretation of that Scripture, covetousness, which is idolatry.
The peril of the age for preacher and people alike is the passion for gain. A writer tells us that down South some years since some Second Adventists got up a large excursion to Screemersville,
Ga., declaring that they were going down to celebrate the end of the world; but they advertised return tickets. There are not a few who preach the future, but are profoundly interested in laying up treasures on earth, and seem to take scant stock in the treasure of Heaven. American millionaires are a multitude; their company increases. The aspirants to be rich we sometimes fear exceed the company determined to be right.
Andrew Mellon and his two brothers were recently reported as owning $7,600,000,000. If Andrew and his brothers had been born as triplets the day Adam was formed, 7,000 years ago say, and had commenced their financial careers before they suckled, they would have accomplished the somewhat remarkable feat of gathering in the neat sum of $276,455.00 a day; or $92,151.66$, per day each. Some babes! Yet the Word of the Lord remains, Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
The moment a mans interest in silver destroys his interest in Scripture, and the moment a degree of success keeps him away from the sanctuary, he is spiritually dead; and it can be as truly said of him as of Saul, the first king of Israel, or of Samson when he sinned, that the Spirit of the Lord has departed from him, and he wist it not.
I think there are people that imagine that the reason preaching has no power with them is because it has no power in itself, but the truth is that the soul that refuses sacrificial response to the Word of God, soon reaches the point where that soul sleeps; and no whisper of the Spirit or thundering sentence from Scripture disturbs its slumbers.
But this text concludes with
THE PROPHETS PRAISE
and here again the Prophet is modern enough.
The auditors pay compliment to the preachers voice.
Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.
Some of us supposed that that was a modern trick, but again we are reminded that there is nothing new under the sun. The most doubtful compliment a preacher ever gets is a personal one. Some years since when Reginald Campbell was in this country preaching a theology that was a travesty of terms, some women in Duluth fell to discussing his non-biblical views, and some of them rather severely criticised the same; whereupon one sister broke in with the phrase, But, oh ladies; think of what beautiful hair he has!
More often, however, it is either Hes handsome; have you seen him? or, Hes eloquent; have you heard him?
There are those who seem to think that Scripture knows no sarcasm, but it would be difficult to find a more biting sarcasm than is expressed in this text, Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice.
A pleasant voice is a gift from God. For an eloquent utterance one ought to be grateful; but, if it get no further than that, God pity the preacher and also the people. Billie Sundays voice is like a file, Dewitt Talmages voice was ragged and torn, but by the mouth of the former the Gospel is preached and at the lips of the latter it was preached, and in both cases with saving power.
These are days when the trend of religion is distinctly in the ornamental and artistic direction; lovely sounds, pleasant voices, instruments of music, ornamental services, these make up the religious tendency of the times!
Dr. Henry Van Dyke, as Chairman of the Service Committee, on forms of service, submitted at Winona some years since his report, saying that it gave Presbyterians no annoyance that in many Presbyterian services antiphony singing was the order of the day; that many of their preachers were gowned in the pulpit. The same report could have been made in practically every evangelical denomination. I do not belong to the company of those to whom the sight of a robe is a red flag. I have never had any strenuous objection to the recitation of the Lords Prayer in concert. I believe chants might be as devoutly rendered as hymns, and that even a processional and recessional might possibly be employed without the utter destruction of spiritual power; and yet, I confess frankly that to me the New Testament Scriptures present plainer and simpler plans and processes, and suggest salvation and consecration, rather than artistic services and ceremonies, as the chief ends to be accomplished by the assembly of the saints.
In this connection I quite often think of the old sailor who had just returned from a whaling voyage and was taken by a friend to hear an eloquent preacher. When they came out of church the friend said, Jack, wasnt that a fine sermon? Yes, it was shipshape; the water lines were graceful; the masts rigged just high enough; the sails were all right, but I didnt see any harpoons. When a vessel goes on a whaling voyage the main thing is to get the whales. But they dont come to you because you have a fine ship. Now it seems to me that a preacher is sent, not to amuse the fish by sailing among them, but to catch them. Jesus said to His disciples I will make you fishers of men. Now, how many sermons like that do you think it would take to convict a sinner and make him cry out, What must I do to be saved?
His friend replied, Jack, people nowadays dont like to be harpooned. They like to listen. Surely its a grand thing to attract such an audience to hear the Gospel.
To hear about the Gospel you meanthe old sailor interposed.
And I suspect his criticism was justified. On this very day there will be thousands of services held in American sanctuaries where nothing other than a pleasing impression will be attempted, and where pastor and people will likely be content if the departing crowds say, Werent the songs lovely? Wasnt the preacher eloquent? Didnt the orchestra play superbly?
The true prophet is praised after he has passed.
And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a Prophet hath been among them.
But, as the great Joseph Parker said, The man is dead. It is little use of praising him now.
It is no special pleasure to him that you build a great monument. He doesnt know what you are doing. If you had shaken hands with him warmly while he lived, you might have helped him in his work. If you had spoken a kindly word while he was living you would have cheered him in the time of his trouble; better yet, if you had put your shoulder underneath and lifted a side and taken your share, it would have been worth something.
George Lorimer went into Chicago and spent ten years there, and tried desperately to establish a great work, and finally gave it up and went back to his charge in Boston. Years later they dedicated a church known as The Lorimer Memorial. Had Chicago Christians and Baptists given him the co-operation he ought to have had, he would have left even a greater memorial than Immanuel, and while the other wears his name, the pile that marks the place and power of his life, for full ten years, is Immanuel. English Christians have a custom almost universal of memorializing their pastors in plaster and brass and marble. In ten missions, in the Spurgeon College, and in the tabernacle you will see these images of the mighty minister. They are meant to memorialize him. There is no need; the missions themselves, the great school, the plain but splendid church, talk more eloquently of Spurgeon than any model of features in face and form will ever do.
In America the average church has a picture, sometimes a life size one, portrait of its ex-pastors. They are put up to remind the worshipers of these Prophets of the past. But the Prophets know it not; and if they do, some of them might say, as a friend of mine said concerning his pastorate in Illinois. At a meeting of the local association, he was invited back, and a parishioner came up and said, Arent you coming over to see us? The people in our city just swear by you. To which he replied; Do they now; well, they swore at me when I was there!
You remember what John the Baptist said in answer to the cry of the people for a true prophet,
There standeth one among you whom you know not; He it is!
Truly, as the great Joseph Parker has said, To an earnest people the prophet is never very far away. Your mother could be a prophetess to you if you wanted to pray; your father, who is probably not a great scholar in the literal sense, could speak things to you that would open your imagination to new universes, if you really wanted to be guided in upward thinking and Heavenly action. There is no prophet, however poorly gifted, who cannot hand you the key of the Kingdom of Heaven if you want to go in; and no Ezekiel that ever flamed in the prophetic heavens can help you if you do not want him.
There is a listless audience that kills the preacher, and the people who make it up perish in soul; there is an eager listening that makes every prophets work a benediction and brings life and light to them that lend it! Come, I pray you, and hear what is the Word that cometh forth from the Lord. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
And let the saved present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
D. The Attitude of the Exiles Toward Ezekiel
33:3033
TRANSLATION
(30) And as for you, son of man, the children of your people who talk about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word which comes forth from the LORD; (31) and come unto you as the people come, and sit before you as My people, and hear your words, but do not do them for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness; (32) and behold you are to them a love song of one who has a beautiful voice and who can play an instrument well; so they hear your words, but they do them not (33) when this comes to pass (behold it shall come) then shall they know that a prophet has been in their midst.
COMMENTS
When the news of Jerusalems fall reached Babylon, Ezekiel and his prophecies became the topic of general conversation. Now for the first time in his ministry the exiles were anxious to hear the word of the Lord from the lips of Gods accredited prophet (Eze. 33:30). But while they were now eager to hear Ezekiels word, they still had not surrendered their hearts to follow the commandments of the Lord. With their mouths they were very complimentary to the prophet; but their hearts were full of covetousness, i.e., their own selfish concerns. To those unspiritual souls Ezekiel was like a musical entertainer the crooner of love songs. They enjoyed listening to him, but were unmoved by his passionate exhortations (verse 34). But when all his predictions came to pass and they surely would come to pass they would know that a true prophet had been among them (Eze. 33:33).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(30) The children of thy people.The few remaining verses of this chapter are concerned with those in exileperhaps not so much those who had been with Ezekiel all along as fresh captives of a worse moral character now just brought from Jerusalem. Yet of them all alike it was still true that they were much more ready to listen with deferential air to the words of the prophet than to take them to their hearts and act upon them in their life. The prophet is here warned (Eze. 33:30-33) not to be misled by the apparent compliance of the people, as he had been before strengthened against their opposition (Eze. 3:8-9); but it must have carried a pang deep into his heart to know how superficial was the effect of those labours to which he had devoted himself with such faithfulness.
Against thee.Rather, of thee. The people are not represented as opposed to Ezekiel, but rather as enjoying his eloquence, and talking about him as they met one another, but without any serious effort to follow his counselsmuch like the treatment of a popular preacher by his people at the present day.
By the walls and in the doors.Better, within the walls. The meaning is, both privately and publicly.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30-33. The startling fulfillment of Ezekiel’s last prophecy had aroused special interest in his every word. Everybody was now talking about him, but not against him (Eze 33:30). They come in crowds “according to the coming of a people,” and sit with seeming reverence (compare Eze 20:1-4) and speak words of love and appreciation, but “their heart goeth after their gain.” (Compare Eze 33:31 and 2Ti 4:10.) They listen to the music of his words as he speaks of the new Israel, explains the principles of God’s government and calls them to repent and cast out all idols from their hearts, that they may once again enjoy a true spiritual and national life and not everlastingly perish; but they listen as if it were merely a sweet song (compare Psa 137:3) without any appreciation of its profound truth and personal application to themselves (Eze 33:32). Some day, when these judgments shall fall upon them, they shall know! (Eze 33:33.) Adam Clarke says of the congregation who gathered to hear this now popular preacher, “They admired the fine voice and correct delivery of the prophet; this was their religion; and this is the whole of the religion of thousands to the present day; for never were itching ears so multiplied as now.” (Compare Expositor’s Bible, pp. 293-303, and Whittier’s poem, “Ezekiel.”)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And as for you, son of man, the children of your people speak of you by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak to each other, every one to his brother, saying, ‘Come I pray you and hear what word there is that comes from Yahweh’. And they come to you, as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words. But they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after profit. And lo you are to them as a love song by one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument, for they hear your words. But they do not do them.”
The people in exile were little better. They had now fully recognised that Ezekiel had bought the authentic word of Yahweh, they spoke of him with admiration, they discussed him, they came to hear him, declaring themselves the people of Yahweh, they exalted him, they enjoyed his messages like men enjoying a beautiful singer who sings of love, but they did not do what he told them. They were hearers but not doers. Their real love was mammon. Their hearts were fixed on profits and worldly gain. Thus the word fell on barren ground.
How many modern Christian campaigns follow the same pattern. Great outward response, enjoyment of the music and the preaching, but no genuine response. Lives are not changed. Men do not become doers. Their hearts are still set on mammon (often even the preachers’ hearts). By their fruits they must be known.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 33:30. Also, thou son of man Bishop Pococke informs us, that the Coptics spend their holy days in sauntering about and sitting under their walls in winter, and under the shady trees in summer. This, doubtless, is to be understood of those of the poorer sort, who have no places more proper for conversation with their friends: the better sort of houses in the East having porches or gateways, according to Dr. Shaw, with benches on each side, where the master of the family receives visits, and dispatches business; few persons, not even the nearest relations, having farther admission, except upon extraordinary occasions. Now will not these two circumstances greatly illustrate the passage before us? It is somewhat strange, that our translators should have rendered the word beka, against thee; when the LXX rendered it, of, or concerning thee; it is the same Hebrew particle that is used, Psa 87:3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God! and the following words incontestably shew, that they were speaking honourably of Ezekiel, and indeed assuming the appearance of those whom Malachi mentions, chap. Eze 3:16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, &c. It was winter, in the tenth month, answering to the latter end of December and first part of January, when these things were transacted; therefore they sat under the walls for the benefit of the sun, rather than under trees to avoid its heat, while they talked concerning Ezekiel; while persons among them in better circumstances sat in their porches or gateways. That they use their porches or gateways in winter as well as summer, appears from Bishop Pococke, who, waiting on a person of distinction in Upper Egypt [an aga of the Janizaries], found him sitting, according to their custom, under the gateway of his house, when he made him this visit on the 29th or 30th of December. The explication, therefore, of those commentators must appear something like inadvertency, who make this talking of Ezekiel by the walls, and in the doors of their houses, to signify the same thing with their talking of him in their public places of concourse, and in their private meetings. As this sitting and talking under the walls is particularly practised by the Coptics in their holy-days, may not these words of Ezekiel be supposed also to refer to such times? And if so, will they not shew that the Israelites observed their sabbaths in their captivity? And that so early as the time of the first destruction of Jerusalem, they used to assemble to the prophets on those days, to hear if they had received any messages from the Lord the preceding week, and to receive those advices which their calamitous circumstances made peculiarly seasonable? Those assemblies might be more ancient, but of this antiquity at least the passage here seems to make them. Such another assembly, it may be, was that mentioned in chap. Eze 8:1. See the Observations, p. 16.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Had the Prophet Ezekiel lived in the present day of the Church, it is highly probable he would have experienced much the same treatment now as then. Who so abused behind his back, as a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? What bitterness can equal the gall of the carnal heart, against the distinguishing truths of the gospel? Men may preach anything, yea everything, if they keep in the back ground Christ and his cross; Christ and his glory. But all hell is up in arms, when the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ are insisted upon as the only means of salvation. Reader! make your own observation of this, as you go through life, and you will find it universally true. Do observe, however, though the talk both by walls and in houses, was all against the poor Prophet; yet they still find it necessary to attend his preaching. It is probable Ezekiel did not know that they were so ill disposed as to talk against him, but the Lord will show him of it. Sweet thought to a faithful servant of Jesus! To such an one. I would say, from this scripture, remember Jesus knows all you go through, and observes all the conduct of your opposers! And, Reader! observe further, this very people were obliged to confess, that there was great power, and great sweetness, in the Prophet’s discourses. Is it not to be concluded in the last day, that the condemnation of mere professors will arise from this very circumstance, and God’s own word will be their own condemnation? Joh 12:47-48 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 33:30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
Ver. 30. The children of thy people. ] These captives in Babylon, no whit better than those in Jewry.
Still are talking.
By the walls.
Come, I pray you, and hear.
a Uti otiosi et sauniones in foro facere solent.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 33:30-33
30But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ 31They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. 32Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33So when it comes to pass as surely it will then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.
Eze 33:30 Ezekiel’s fellow exiles were talking about (his prophecies) what happened to Jerusalem and what would happen to the few who remained. In this context the prophet is commanded to address their concerns.
1. come BDB 97, KB 112, Qal IMPERATIVE PLURAL
2. hear BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE PLURAL
God still wants to speak to His people. The ones in exile are the people He will begin again with.
Eze 33:31 They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people but they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain There was outward, religious show, but no true piety. To them Ezekiel was the best show in town (cf. Eze 33:32), but they had no real desire to turn to God (cf. Isa 6:9-13; Isa 29:13).
Eze 33:32 for they hear your words but they do not practice them They hear, but they do not do (i.e., the opposite of shema). This is the condemnation of religious people (see Special Topic: Keep , cf. Mat 7:24-27; Jas 1:23-25).
The exiles loved to come hear or observe Ezekiel’s messages, but they did not really believe them. He was the only show in town. This would all change with the news brought by an exiled survivor of Jerusalem that indeed all that Ezekiel had predicted had occurred (cf. Eze 33:33).
Eze 33:33 The mark of a true prophet, see Special Topic: Prophecy (OT) , is that what they predict (unless repentance occurs, i.e., Jonah) comes to pass (cf. Eze 33:29; Eze 13:6; Deu 18:22; Jer 28:9). Ezekiel had been right about Judah and Jerusalem and he would be right about the destruction of the nations! He would also be right about the forgiveness and restoration to come!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. What is the significance of chapters 18 and 33?
2. What is the difference between the attitude of the people in chapters 18 and 33?
3. Explain the spiritual relationship described in Eze 33:12-13.
4. What is repentance?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
against = about.
doors = entrances.
to = with.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 33:30-31
Eze 33:30-31
“And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh from Jehovah. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain.”
EZEKIEL WARNED AGAINST
THE PEOPLE’S HYPOCRISY
“They sit before thee as my people …” (Eze 33:31) This means that they sat before Ezekiel pretending to be God’s people, whereas they had no intention whatever of obeying the Lord’s commandments. “Their motive was simply that of curiosity, or entertainment, certainly not reformation of their evil hearts.” With some of them there might also have been the hope that God would confirm the things they already desired to do. Such indeed may be seen in the example of Johanan’s seeking the word of Jehovah of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42-43).
We should not overlook the fact that, “These verses carry a vivid picture of Ezekiel’s popularity at that time. His prophecies had been literally and circumstantially fulfilled in all of the things he had foretold. In a sense, he was the literal lion of that social community among the captives. God, knowing the fickle insincerity of the people gave this stern warning to Ezekiel that he might really know what could be expected of them.
“With their mouth they show much love …” (Eze 33:31). “The Septuagint (LXX) reads this as, `Lies are in their mouth.’ The Septuagint (LXX) here may be poor translation, but it is excellent commentary.
“Their heart goeth after their gain …” (Eze 33:31) “The Hebrew word here carries the implication of gain through violence or dishonesty. There also appears to be grounds in these verses for supposing that the captivity of Israel in Babylon was not as rigorous as it might have been. Apparently the Jews possessed many opportunities to exercise themselves in the pursuit of gain.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the children: Jer 11:18, Jer 11:19, Jer 18:18
against thee: or, of thee
Come: Isa 29:13, Isa 58:2, Jer 23:35, Jer 42:1-6, Jer 42:20, Mat 15:8, Mat 22:16, Mat 22:17
Reciprocal: Jer 12:6 – thy brethren Eze 3:11 – the children Eze 14:7 – and cometh Eze 20:1 – that certain Eze 33:2 – speak Rom 2:13 – For not 2Ti 3:5 – a form
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 33:30. The Jews who were in exile in Babylon were more curious than sincere in their pretended inquiry for information. They would come to the prophet as if they really longed for instruction (chapter 8:1; 14:1; 20: 1). but after receiving it they refused to abide by it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 33:30-32. The children of thy people Those of the captivity; still are talking against thee Or rather, of thee, as the LXX. rightly render it; for with their mouths they showed much love, as it follows in the next verse. By the walls and in the doors of their houses Both in their public places of concourse, and in their private meetings. And speak one to another, saying, Come, &c. These were such as drew nigh to God with their mouths, but their hearts were far from him, as Isaiah describes their hypocrisy, Isa 29:13; and they come unto thee as the people cometh Or, as disciples flock to their teachers: so the Chaldee paraphrase explains it. They make a profession of great regard to piety and virtue, and express a great esteem for thee, but at the same time they indulge themselves in sin and wickedness. And lo! thou art unto them as a very lovely song, &c. They come to hear thee for their entertainment, not for their edification, in the spirit in which many go to hear noted and eloquent preachers. St. Austin tells us, that he himself was such an auditor of St. Ambrose before he was converted, Confess., 50. 5. c. 12; I heard him diligently when he discoursed in the congregation, but not with that application of mind which I ought to have done; but I came rather out of curiosity, to know whether his eloquence was answerable to the opinion which the world had of him. I was very attentive to his style, and charmed with the sweetness of his delivery, but had little value or concern for the subjects he treated of.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are {p} talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
(p) In derision.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The attitude of the Jews in Babylon 33:30-33
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
God also told Ezekiel that the exiles were speaking to one another about him privately and publicly. They were saying, Let’s go and hear what Yahweh has to say to us through Ezekiel. So they came and sat before the prophet and listened to what he said, but their heart remained bent on pursuing their lustful desires and personal gain.