38<\/strong>. the holy flock<\/em> ] i.e. the sacrificial sheep. The solemn feasts (where solemn has its proper sense of “customary,” appointed) may be the three great yearly festivals, though in point of fact Ezek. does not refer to Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, in his concluding chapters. The comparison shews that already in pre-exile times enormous numbers of sacrificial animals were brought to Jerusalem for offerings at the feasts.<\/p>\n flocks of men<\/em> ] lit. sheep-flocks in men<\/em>. The word “flock” in Heb. is not generalized so as to express a great number it means a sheep-flock, and is explained by “men.”<\/p>\n Probably no passage in the Old Testament of the same extent offers so complete a parallel to New Testament doctrine, particularly to that of St Paul. It is doubtful if the Apostle quotes Ezek. anywhere, but his line of thought entirely coincides with his. The same conceptions and in the same order belong to both forgiveness ( Eze 36:25<\/em><\/span>); regeneration, a new heart and spirit ( Eze 36:26<\/em><\/span>); the spirit of God as the ruling power in the new life ( Eze 36:27<\/em><\/span>); the issue of this, the keeping of the requirements of God’s law ( Eze 36:27<\/em><\/span>; Rom 8:4<\/span>); the effect of being “under grace” in softening the human heart and leading to obedience ( Eze 36:31<\/em><\/span>; Romans 6, 7<\/span>); and the organic connexion of Israel’s history with Jehovah’s revelation of himself to the nations ( Eze 36:33-36<\/em><\/span>; Romans 11<\/span>). The prophet’s idea of the divine pedagogic is not precisely the same as that of the Apostle, and the present passage has in some particulars to be supplemented from ch. 16. As put here it is Israel’s historical experiences, their dispersion and restoration, with the thoughts which these suggest, that impress the nations and teach them what Jehovah is.<\/p>\n As the holy flock – <\/B>A reference to the flocks and herds brought up to Jerusalem to be consecrated and offered unto the Lord 2Ch 35:7<\/span>. Thus, the idea is brought out:<\/P> (1) of the multiplication of the people,<\/P> (2) of their dedication to the service of God.<\/P> Verse 38<\/span>. As the holy flock<\/B><\/I>] The Church of Christ<\/I>, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.<\/P> <\/P> The flock of Jerusalem<\/B><\/I>] The Jerusalem that is from above, the<\/I> city of the living God<\/I>, the place<\/I> where his Majesty dwells<\/I>. As they came in ancient times to the solemn national feasts so shall they come when they have fully returned unto the Lord, and received his salvation by Christ Jesus.<\/P> <\/P> I do not ask my reader’s pardon for having considered this most beautiful chapter as relating, not to the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, but to the redemption under the new covenant by Jesus Christ. There is no period of the Jewish history from that time until now, to which it can be applied. It must belong to the Gospel dispensation<\/I>; and if the Jews<\/I> will still refuse, contradict, and blaspheme, let no Christian<\/I> have any fellowship with them in their opposition to this Almighty Saviour<\/I>. Let none be indifferent<\/I> to his salvation<\/I>; let all plead<\/I> his promises<\/I>; and let the messengers of the Churches<\/I> proclaim to the Christian world a FREE, a FULL, and a PRESENT SALVATION! And may great grace rest upon themselves, and upon all their flocks!<\/P> <\/p>\n The holy flock; <\/B>flocks designed to holy uses, as sacrifices, and therefore further described by the place where they are, Jerusalem. <\/P> Her solemn feasts; <\/B>the occasion and time, solemn feasts, either the three annual great feasts, or you may hake in the daily sacrifices. These flocks were for quality the best of all, and for numbers very great, on the solemn feasts; thirty thousand at once of lambs and kids in Josiahs time, and many more at the passover in aftertimes. Thus should men multiply, and fill the cities of replanted Judea. <\/P> <\/p>\n 38. As the holy flock<\/B>thegreat flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalemat the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, andfeast of the tabernacles.<\/P><\/p>\n As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts<\/strong>,…. Like flocks of sheep, which were consecrated and set apart for holy uses, for sacrifices; even like the flocks of sheep, which were brought to Jerusalem to be offered in sacrifice at the three solemn festivals in the year; especially at the passover, when the Jews came from all parts of the country to slay and eat their passover; and every family had a lamb, which in all must be a great number: we read of thirty thousand lambs and three thousand bullocks given at one time for this service by King Josiah, besides what was given by the princes,<\/p>\n 2Ch 35:7<\/span>. The Targum is,<\/p>\n “as the holy people, as a people that is cleansed, and comes to Jerusalem at the feasts of the passover:”<\/p>\n or, “as the flock of the Holy Ones” q; either of the holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit; or of holy men, who are made holy or sanctified by the Spirit of God:<\/p>\n so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men<\/strong>; or with men that are like sheep for meekness, harmlessness, patience, cleanness, society, and usefulness; and not with such as are comparable to unclean beasts, or beasts of prey; so it denotes both the quantity of persons that shall inhabit Judea, and dwelt both in the cities and churches there, and the quality of them.<\/p>\n q “sicut oves sanctorum”, Vatablus, Gussetius, Starckius.<\/p>\n (38) The flock of Jerusalem.<\/strong>The comparison is with the vast flocks of sacrificial animals accustomed to be carried to Jerusalem at the great annual feasts. The object is to give a vivid idea of the numbers of the people, but there is an especial appropriateness in the simile from the fact that these flocks were devoted to the Lord.<\/p>\n Eze 36:38<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>As the holy flock<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The sheep and the lambs designed for the sacrifice at the three solemn festivals was very numerous, and at the same time the best of their kind. This also refers to Gospel-grace and blessings: and this whole prophesy will be fully accomplished at the general conversion and final restoration of the Jews. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>1st, The land of Israel was now desolate and depopulated; but God still thought upon the dust thereof. We have, <\/p>\n 1. His compassionate regard towards this miserable country. It was become a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen. <\/em>Their neighbours insulted them, and every tongue was ready to spread their infamy, to upbraid them with their sins, and mock at their suffering; while the nations around them, the residue, <\/em>who had survived the judgments threatened, chap. Ezekiel 25-26; each seized that part of Judaea which bordered upon their own country, as their prey. <\/p>\n 2. His jealousy for his believing people. Because with spiteful joy their enemies exulted in their miseries, and with daring intrusion entered the inheritance of the Lord, he hath spoken in the fire of his jealousy, and in his fury, <\/em>that he will severely avenge their wrongs, and cover with shame and confusion these inveterate and malicious foes. Note; <\/em>They who make God’s people the subject of derision, will shortly be themselves exposed to everlasting shame and contempt. <\/p>\n 3. God gives his believing people assurance of a happy restoration, and plenty of all good things in their own land; and the time is at hand. The mountains shall yield abundant fruit; though now uncultivated, they shall be tilled and sown; the cities that lie in ruins shall be replenished with inhabitants, and all the house of Israel, even all of it, <\/em>not the two tribes only, but the ten tribes who went before into captivity, shall settle <\/em>on their old estates, <\/em>and see their flocks and herds multiplying under the divine blessing; and God will do better <\/em>for them than at their beginnings; <\/em>particularly with regard to the spiritual blessings bestowed in the days of the Messiah. Then should the mountains again become the abode of men, instead of wild beasts which had dwelt therein; the idolatries committed in them should cease, nor provoke God any more to bereave them <\/em>of inhabitants; and the reproach which had been laid on the mountains of Israel by the heathen, as if they had devoured all who dwelt in them, shall for ever be at an end. Probably this prophesy looks to future times; and whatever fulfilment it received in the return of the Jews from Babylon, the perfect accomplishment of it is yet to come. <\/p>\n 2nd, The chief end that God proposes is, the advancement of his own glory. 2. God will glorify his great name and the riches of his grace in their deliverance. They had no reason to expect any thing from him but wrath to the uttermost, their provocations were so aggravated; but then the heathen would blaspheme the more: therefore, not for their sake, but for his own glory, he will interpose, and gather them from among the nations, and bring them to their own land. Many interpreters suppose, that all these promises are yet to receive their accomplishment in the latter day, in the recovery of the Jews from their present state of dispersion. 3. God intends his own glory in what he does for them, they being utterly unworthy of the least regard; yet, though it is a matter of pure grace, he expects that they shall seek it in the way of prayer, and be confounded for their former evil ways; and he will give the answer of mercy, increasing them as a flock, the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, <\/em>immense numbers of sheep being driven on these occasions to Jerusalem for sacrifice, and vast multitudes of worshippers assembled in the courts of the Lord’s house; so numerous and populous should their desolate land and cities become; since he hath spoken it, the accomplishment is sure. Note; <\/em>(1.) Salvation is of grace; our righteousness and deserts are utterly excluded in regard to merit: God alone must be exalted in mercy. (2.) God’s promises do not supersede, but encourage our prayers. They who restrain prayer before God, sin against their own mercies. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n EVER blessed and ever gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! help every poor sinner that reads this Chapter, on whom these sweet promises come, and for whom they are from all eternity designed; help him to adore the riches of that free and sovereign grace, by which they are bestowed upon the Church, in and through the finished salvation that is in Christ Jesus! Surely, O Lord! the Gospel was never more fully preached than it is here done, by thy servant the Prophet. Let the enemies of the cross fancy they have triumphed in thy people’s humiliation by reason of their sin. Thy people, O Lord, have reason indeed in the view of their transgressions, to be ashamed and confounded for all their ways, and to loath themselves in their own sight. But in the sovereign salvation of God and the Lamb, they may and will rejoice. It is for thine own name’s sake, O Lord, that mercy is shown to thine Israel: yea, Lord, thou hast wrought for thy name’s sake, and hast had pity for thine holy name: though thy rebellious children have profaned it by reason of their transgressions in the sight of the heathen, among whom they dwell. But, praises forever to thy redeeming love and grace, thou hast, in thy dear Son’s merits, blood, and righteousness, procured more glory and honour to thy great name, than could have been done by the everlasting and unsinning obedience of men and angels to all eternity. And oh! thou gracious Lord, Jehovah! is not thy Church more lovely when sprinkled from all her filthiness, and from all her idols, by the blood of the Lamb, than could have been done for her had she never been polluted? Is not the Church more beautiful when beheld by our God in the holy garments of Christ’s righteousness, than ever she could have appeared in his sight in any righteousness of her own: even had she never polluted herself from the original righteousness in which she was first created! Surely, Lord, the holiness of the Church in Jesus, her glorious head, is more blessed to thy view, now washed, cleansed, and adorned, as a bride for her husband, than in any garment short of Jesus’s robe of salvation, men or angels could have found to appear in before Jehovah. Oh then, fulfil those sweet and precious promises in Christ to all thy redeemed. Yea, Lord! cause the heathen that are left round about to know, that it is the Lord that hath built the ruined places of his people, and planted that which was desolate. And do thou, Lord, by the sovereignty of thy grace in the hearts of thy people, as thou hast thus wrought by thy mercy, salvation for thy people, cause ever redeemed true Israelite of thine to be continually enquiring of the Lord for those blessings, that the Lord may do what he hath promised for them. Yea, make known thy great name both far and near; and let all the earth know that thou art the Lord our God.<\/p>\n Eze 36:38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.<\/p>\n Ver. 38. As the holy flock.<\/strong> ] The sheep that come up for sacrifice, at the passover especially; so will I multiply the sheep of Christ, the true shepherd.<\/p>\n As the holy flock = Like a flock of holy offerings. <\/p>\n solemn feasts = appointed seasons. <\/p>\n holy flock: Heb. flock of holy things <\/p>\n as the flock: Exo 23:17, Exo 34:23, Deu 16:16, 2Ch 7:8, 2Ch 30:21-27, 2Ch 35:7-19, Zec 8:19-23, Act 2:5-11 <\/p>\n the waste: Eze 36:33-35, Eze 34:31, Jer 30:19, Jer 31:27, Jer 31:28, Joh 10:16, Rev 7:4-9 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Lev 26:12 – will be Jer 13:17 – because Zec 10:8 – and they Act 27:23 – whose<\/p>\n Eze 36:38. The flocks that would appear at Jerusalem at the time of the solemn feasts would be the best in quality, because no other kind was accepted for that service. This is a comparison to the condition of things after the return from Babylonian captivity and settlement in the home land.<\/p>\n As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD. 38. the holy flock ] i.e. the sacrificial sheep. The solemn feasts (where solemn has its proper sense of “customary,” appointed) may … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 36:38”<\/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-21408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21408","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=21408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P> <\/p>\nFuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/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
1. They had, indeed, forfeited all title to favour. By their sins they had dishonoured God, and defiled the land: so totally corrupted were they, that every thing they touched became in some sense unclean. Murder and idolatry marked their way, and provoked God to pour out his fury upon them, and to scatter them for their abominations into heathen lands. Yet even there all their sufferings were still ineffectual; they sinned yet more, and gave the adversaries of the Lord occasion to blaspheme. Their wicked lives brought a scandal on that name which they professed to reverence and serve, and the very heathen treated them with scorn. These are the people of the Lord: <\/em>they mocked at their pretended relation to him; their conduct gave the lie to their professions; or it implied an insult on their God, as if, notwithstanding all the Jewish boasts, he were unable to save them from the hand of their enemies. Note; <\/em>The sins of professors are the greatest scandal to religion, and give just occasion to the adversaries of the Lord to blaspheme: but woe unto him by whom the offence cometh! <\/p>\n
3rdly, Whatever accomplishment this prophesy had in the return of the Jewish people from captivity when they were for ever cured of all inclination to idolatry, it seems to have a more especial regard to Gospel times. We have,
1. Many great and precious promises given to God’s faithful people. [1.] God will cleanse them from all their sins, by the blood of sprinkling removing their guilt, and by the efficacy of his grace delivering them from the power of their iniquities. [2.] He will give them a new heart, a heart changed by his divine energy from its former state of corruption, hardness, and unbelief; another spirit shall influence and guide them; the stony heart, <\/em>insensible and obdurate, shall be taken away, and in its stead a heart of flesh <\/em>shall be given them, tender and susceptible of every gracious impression. [3.] Having made new their hearts, he will make straight paths for their feet, and enable them to walk therein. [4.] He will take them into covenant with himself: Ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. <\/em>[5.] He will give them plenty of all such good things as they need; particularly, what the Jews counted the greatest earthly blessing, they shall return to their own land; have abundance of corn and fruit; shall know no more famine as before; nor be reproached by the heathen, as forced to seek their bread from other countries; when, to the wonder and surprise of the surrounding nations, the land of Judaea, lately so desolate, shall be tilled, and become like the garden of Eden <\/em>for fruitfulness; and the cities in ruins shall be fortified, and replenished with inhabitants. So soon can God’s blessing make a barren land fruitful, as his curse makes the most fruitful land barren. <\/p>\n
2. The effect of God’s rich grace extended to them would be the unfeigned repentance of multitudes. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for your abominations. <\/em>Nothing brings the soul so soon to true humiliation, and to such a sense of the baseness and ingratitude of sin, as a view of God’s pardoning love: then we begin indeed to loath ourselves; sin appears the abominable thing that God hates, and therefore we hate it too: every remembrance of the past covers us with genuine shame; and, though God hath forgiven us, we can never forgive ourselves for having ever offended a God so gracious. <\/p>\nFuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"