6<\/strong>. The verse refers to the prophet’s going out through the city wall, bearing on his shoulder the bundle of articles he carried with him in his flight.<\/p>\n in the twilight<\/em> ] in the darkness.<\/strong> So Eze 12:7<\/em><\/span>. The word again only Gen 15:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n cover thy face<\/em> ] This might be to disguise himself, but the next words “thou shalt not see the land” (ground) seem to require a different sense. Cf. Eze 12:12-13<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n a sign unto Israel<\/em> ] A typical sign, as explained Eze 12:11<\/em><\/span>, “As I have done so shall it be done unto them.” Comp. ch. Eze 24:24<\/span>; Eze 24:27<\/span>; Isa 8:18<\/span>; Isa 20:3<\/span>; Zec 3:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n Thou shalt cover thy face – <\/B>A sign of mourning (see Eze 24:17<\/span>); also of Zedekiahs blindness Eze 12:12<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n Eze 12:6<\/span><\/p>\n I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Men and ministers<\/strong><\/p>\n Ideas may be communicated quite as effectively through the eye as through the ear, by visible signs as by audible words. Thus our cemeteries display a profusion of emblems which eloquently, though silently, express the sentiments both of grief and of hope. Thus our sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper express the fundamental ideas of purification, brotherhood, and life through Christ, by symbols, or signs, as a visible Gospel. In like manner, a truth may be embodied, as it were in a person, who stands before his fellow men as the representative sign of an idea. This is the function of the Christian ministry today. The words applied to Ezekiel may be applied to every individual member of the Christian ministry: I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In purity, he must be the man above suspicion, pure even to the verge of being puritanical, forbidding himself some things in which his fellow Church members indulge themselves without rebuke.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>In unselfishness, he must be the man who never spares himself in doing good, never discriminating between rich and poor in an all-serving helpfulness; patient under provocation, conciliating in speech and in temper, the first to deny himself, a liberal giver, a prompt, unstinting paymaster, owing no man anything but unlimited love.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>In truth, he must be the mirror of sincerity, both in private study and in public speech and action, aiming ever at the reality of things, not the paid advocate of a creed, not the hired mouthpiece of a church or denomination, not the echo of other mens voices, not a professionalist in any way, but transparently representing the real and conscientiously formed convictions which he cherishes in his own heart and mind.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>In courage, he must be no time server, or flatterer, never failing to ask, Is it right? before asking, Is it safe?–as bold for an unpopular truth as for a popular one, as plain spoken to rich sinners as to poor ones, willing, if need be, to lose a place by doing a duty, just as ready to be counted in a minority as in a majority, if only on the side of truth and right.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>In piety is required the Christian ministers central and vital characteristic. Together with every other required quality, men will insist on that peculiar quality in a Christian minister which is called spirituality, and which I may call other-worldliness–an unaffected recognition of interests that lie beyond the grave, and of the Being in whom we must trust for the hereafter.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The danger of the clerical profession to society. What this danger is, may be illustrated by the answer which I dare say many a person would give, if asked why a Christian minister should pray, Why, it is his business to. The subtle fallacy in that word, his business, is no small drawback to a ministers influence for good, and the only way he can offset it is by that high personal character which the most unspiritual men must admit to be everybodys business.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The Divine end in the institution of the Christian ministry is the formation of right character. What we need most is to take our grand and beautiful and vital truths out of showcases, and put them on as everyday clothing. Let us insist that those shall do this whose privilege it is to make these truths their especial study, and to exhibit them to others. But remember, that in so doing they are but a sign of that which is required of all.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The alleged decline of the influence of the Christian ministry is a real gain be its influence on character. A fallacy has gone out and a truth has come in. When the Christian minister has been brought down from his former fictitious elevation to his proper level of a man among men, then the spiritual rule by which he is judged is brought down to be the rule for all. This is a solid gain for the power of conscience, when the high expectations which the congregation press upon their minister are perceived to declare the obligations which press equally upon every one of them as the servant of God. (J. M. Whiten, Ph. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sign making lost among modern prophets<\/strong><\/p>\n He was to be performing a very singular act, and to be so constantly doing it that people would say, What is he doing now? He is moving things: what is the madman after today? Watch him:–he brings forth his stuff in their sight; he goes forth at even in their sight; he digs through the wall in their sight; in their sight he bears the burden upon his shoulders and carries it forth in the twilight (i.e. <\/em>in the dark)<\/p>\n ; he covers his face that he may not see the ground. The Lord makes this use of the man that by an act singular, absurd, irrational, unaccountable, he may attract attention, so that the people may say, What is it? It is thus the preachers would do if they dare. The preacher has lost his power of sign making, and he has taken now to sentence making. The preacher should always be doing something that attracts the religious attention of mankind. He should be praying so unexpectedly and vehemently as to cause people to say, What is this? But he dare not. Quietness has been patented, and indifference has been gazetted respectable. They are right who beat drums, sound trumpets, fly flags, tramp the streets like soldiers taking a fortress, so that people shall say, looking out of high windows and round the street corners, What is this? what are these men doing now? It may be, saith the Lord,–it may be they will consider. But they can only be brought to consideration by sign and token, by madness on the part of the Church. Trust the Church for going mad today! The Church now locks up its premises six days out of seven, and blesses the man who occupies it as little as possible on the seventh day. Rebelliousness overfloods the fading energy and zeal of the Church. (J. Parker.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 6<\/span>. Thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the<\/B><\/I> <\/B>ground<\/B><\/I>] Referring to the blinding of Zedekiah: even the covering<\/I> of the face<\/I> might be intended to signify that in this way Zedekiah should be carried to Babylon on men’s shoulders<\/I> in some sort of palanquin<\/I>, with a cloth tied over his eyes<\/I>, because of the recent wounds made by extracting them. All the prophecies from this to the twentieth<\/I> chapter are supposed to have been delivered in the sixth<\/I> year of Zedekiah, five<\/I> years before the taking of Jerusalem. How accurate the prediction! and how exactly fulfilled!<\/P> <\/p>\n Upon thy shoulders; <\/B>in testimony of the servitude they shall be reduced to, who then must do what servants or beasts were wont to be employed in. <\/P> Carry it forth; <\/B>either the stuff or thyself; thou shalt go forth in the twilight, when there is a little light to guide thy way, but more darkness to conceal thy person and thy flight. <\/P> Cover thy face; <\/B>as full of shame, and exceeding unwilling to be seen or known. <\/P> For I have set thee:<\/B> there is good reason why thou shouldst do this, how strange, unmanly, or ridiculous soever this may seem; the moral concerns the house of Israel and its king; I have set thee for a sign to them, and thou shalt tell them the meaning of these hieroglyphics in due time. <\/P> <\/p>\n 6. in . . . twilight<\/B>rather,”in the dark.” So in Ge15:17<\/span>, “it” refers to “thy stuff.” <\/P> cover thy face<\/B>as onewho muffles his face, afraid of being recognized by anyone meetinghim. So the Jews and Zedekiah should make their exit stealthily andafraid to look around, so hurried should be their fight [CALVIN].<\/P> sign<\/B>rather, “aportent,” namely, for evil.<\/P><\/p>\n In their sight shall thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders<\/strong>,…. The bundle, packed up for his use and service, carried out through the wall dug by him. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, as if he himself was to be carried out upon the shoulders of another, thus: “in their sight, upon the shoulders, thou shall be carried”; but the former sense is best:<\/p>\n [and] carry [it] forth in the twilight<\/strong>; signifying the same as before:<\/p>\n thou shall cover thy face, that thou see not the ground<\/strong>; or “land”; not the land of Israel, but the land of Chaldea, where the prophet was: this shows that great shame and confusion which should attend the king of Judah when he fled, and great fear and terror also; and likewise his regard to his eyes being put out by the king of Babylon; so that he saw not the land into which he was carried captive, Jer 52:11<\/span>;<\/p>\n for I have set thee [for] a sign unto the house of Israel<\/strong>; to show unto them by deeds, as well as by words, what should befall them; see Isa 8:18<\/span>.<\/p>\n (6) Bear it . . . carry it.<\/strong>The pronouns are not in the original, and are better omitted. Otherwise, the it might seem to refer to the stuff already carried out during the day. Read, Thou shalt bear upon thy shoulders, and carry forth in the dark. The word rendered twilight is used only here and in Eze. 12:12<\/span>, and in Gen. 15:17<\/span>, and means dark.<\/em><\/p>\n That thou see not the ground.<\/strong>This covering of the face might primarily be a token of grief; <\/em>but as the whole action is distinctly prophetic (and is so interpreted; see Eze. 12:11-14<\/span>), so especially was this sign. (See the account of the capture of Zedekiah in 2Ki. 25:4-7<\/span>; Jer. 39:4-7<\/span>; Jer. 52:7-11<\/span>.) The king, with his men of war, escaped from the city secretly by night, was pursued and captured, and carried to Riblah, where his eyes were put out, and he was then taken in chains to Babylon.<\/p>\n Eze 12:6<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>I have set thee for a sign<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> That is, “as a man whose ways, words, and actions, shall be signs and figures to them of what is to happen: all in your person shall be significative and prophetical.” <\/p>\n Eze 12:6 In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders, [and] carry [it] forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee [for] a sign unto the house of Israel.<\/p>\n Ver. 6. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders.<\/strong> ] To show that King Zedekiah himself should carry out some of his most precious things upon his shoulders when he fled. See Eze 12:12<\/span> . This was a base thing for a king to do. King Alphonsus indeed is renowned for drawing a poor perishing man out of a ditch, and bearing him on his back to a place of relief. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thou shalt cover thy face.<\/strong> ] In token that Zedekiah should be made blind. A just hand of God upon him who had eyes and saw not, Eze 12:2 like as it was upon Muleasses King of Tunis, who had those eyes of his dug out which had been inlets of lust, and which he oft covered with his hat pulled over them, that he might listen the better to wanton ditties and profane music. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For I have set thee for a sign.<\/strong> ] Portentum,<\/em> a sign portending their going into captivity.<\/p>\n cover thy face. The sign (Eze 12:11) that Zedekiah would disguise himself. <\/p>\n the ground = the land: i.e. the land Zedekish was going forth from and would never see again. Hebrew. eth haerez. <\/p>\n a sign. Hebrew. ‘oth. Compare Gen 1:14. Divine portents as to things that were to come. <\/p>\n thou shalt: This intimated that Zedekiah should steal out of the city in the twilight, carrying on his shoulders some of his property, with his head covered, not only as in distress but to escape detection. These prophecies, which were accurately fulfilled, are supposed to have been delivered in the sixth year of Zedekiah, five years before the taking of Jerusalem. <\/p>\n cover: 1Sa 28:8, 2Sa 15:30, Job 24:17 <\/p>\n for I: Eze 12:11, Eze 4:3, Eze 24:24, Isa 8:18, Isa 20:2-4 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Jos 5:10 – kept the passover 2Ki 7:5 – in the twilight Eze 12:12 – General<\/p>\n Eze 12:6. Covering Ills face while going through this performance would indicate that the prophet was not seeing his own way in it, but was being directed by an unseen force. This would serve as a sign to the Israelites: the word Is from MOPHETH which Strong defines. A token or omen.” By such an unusual performance of the prophet it was hoped to impress the people that something important was about to take place.<\/p>\n 12:6 In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders, [and] carry [it] forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou mayest not see the ground: for I have set thee [for] a {b} sign to the house of Israel.<\/p>\n (b) That as you do, so shall they do, and therefore in you they will see their own plague and punishment.<\/p>\n In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders, [and] carry [it] forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee [for] a sign unto the house of Israel. 6. The verse refers to the prophet’s going out through the city wall, bearing … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 12:6”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>A sign of what? To answer, we must analyse the convictions generally entertained as to the duties of the Christian ministry. These convictions, so far as reasonable, are the judgment of the conscience of the community in concurrence with the teaching of the Scriptures.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>But why does the general conscience require this purity, unselfishness, truth, courage, piety, in the Christian minister? Certainly not by reason of any contract between him and his brethren. He has simply contracted to be their teacher. He has not contracted to furnish a model of all the virtues at so much a year. Neither is it by virtue of any profession he has made as a Christian man. The profession that every Christian man makes is a profession of a purpose and endeavour–rather than of an actual attainment–and whatever any man professes or does not profess in the way of good endeavour, to that good endeavour he is bound whether professing it or not. Why, then, this demand of the public conscience upon the Christian minister, except that, simply as a man teaching men, he in his position must be what every man in any position should be; must stand as a sign of the character that God requires of all? I ask you, then, my friends, to exalt your requirements of character in Christian ministers to the very highest, insisting only on those real excellences, which are displayed in that one only pattern of a perfect human life which God has given us in Jesus Christ. When you have done it, and formed a true and high ideal of the character that the Christian ministry should possess, then you have simply figured to yourself what a true man should be among men, independently of any contract, or profession, or endeavour after consistency. And the minister whom you expect to live up to that ideal is set to be Gods sign to you for your own living. Whatever would spot his skirts in Gods sight, will spot yours. Whatever you would be sorry to see him do, you should be sorry to see yourself do.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Further suggestions.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"