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英文原文
Hearing the word, and prayer, are two great ordinances of God, in which we are to give honour to him and may hope to find favour and acceptance with him; and yet in this chapter, to our great surprise, we find some waiting upon God in the one and some in the other and yet not meeting with success as they expected. I. The elders of Israel come to hear the word, and enquire of the prophet, but, because they are not duly qualified, they meet with a rebuke instead of acceptance (Eze 14:1-5) and are called upon to repent of their sins and reform their lives, else it is at their peril to enquire of God, Eze 14:6-11. II. Noah, Daniel, and Job, are supposed to pray for this people, and yet, because the decree has gone forth, and the destruction of them is determined by a variety of judgments, their prayers shall not be answered, Eze 14:12-21. And yet it is promised, in the close, that a remnant shall escape, Eze 14:22,23.
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The Elders of Israel Rebuked; The Prophet's Address to the Elders (593 BC)
以色列长老受责；先知对长老的宣告（主前593年）
¹ 有几个以色列的长老来到我这里，坐在我面前。
² 耶和华的话就临到我说：
³ 人子啊，这些人将他们的假神接到心里，把陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石放在脸前；我岂可任凭他们求问呢？
⁴ 所以你要告诉他们说：主耶和华如此说：以色列家中凡将他的假神接到心里、把陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石放在脸前、又来到先知面前的，我耶和华必按他众多假神的数目回答他；
⁵ 好在以色列家的心事上捉住他们，因为他们都因假神与我生疏。
⁶ 所以你要对以色列家说：主耶和华如此说：回头吧！离开你们的偶像，转脸莫从你们一切可憎的物。
⁷ 因为以色列家中的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡与自己分离、将假神接到心里、把陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石放在脸前、又来到先知面前要为我求问什么的，我耶和华必亲自回答他。
⁸ 我必向那人变脸，使他作了警戒和笑谈，又从他百姓中剪除他；你们就知道我是耶和华。
⁹ 先知若受了迷惑说一句话，是我耶和华迷惑了那先知；我必伸手攻击他，将他从我百姓以色列中除灭。
¹⁰ 他们必担当自己的罪孽；先知的罪孽和求问之人的罪孽都是一样。
¹¹ 好使以色列家不再走迷离开我，不再因各样的过犯犯罪；只使他们作我的子民，我作他们的神。这是主耶和华说的。
这里有：一、几位以色列长老像对待神谕一样，到先知这里来求问耶和华。他们「来，坐在」他面前（结14:1）。他们大概不是那些如今与他同作俘虏、常听他讲道的人（如我们在结8:1所读到的那类），而是一些偶然的听众，是耶路撒冷的一些要员因公事来到巴比伦——也许是奉王命出使——途中拜访先知，因听见他的大名，想知道他是否有从神而来的信息，可在他们的交涉中作些指引。从所给他们的严厉答复看来，人会怀疑他们是设计要陷害先知，或要试试能否抓住什么看来与耶利米的预言相抵触的话，借此有机会羞辱他们二人。然而，他们却装作正人君子，奉承先知，又足够庄重地坐在他面前，如同神的百姓常做的那样。请留意：恶人被发现参与宗教外在的礼仪，并非罕见之事。
二、神私下向先知论及他们的陈述。他们对先知来说是陌生人；他只知道他们是「以色列的长老」；那是他们所戴的头衔，他也照样恭敬地接待他们，很可能很高兴看见他们如此存心寻求。但神把他们的真实品格告诉他（结14:3）：他们是拜偶像的，他们咨询以西结，不过像他们会咨询任何虚构的神明之神谕一样，只为满足自己的好奇心；因此神质问先知本人，他们是否配得着任何眷顾或鼓励：「「我岂可任凭他们求问呢？」我岂可悦纳他们的求问、算为我尊荣，又岂可回答他们以满足他们呢？不；他们无理由指望这些」；因为：1. 他们「将他们的假神接到心里」；他们不仅有偶像，还爱慕偶像，恋慕它们，与它们结亲，把它们放在心里最贴近的位置，让它们在他们的情感中占据极大的地位，以致无法与它们分离。他们在自己家中所立的偶像，虽如今远离「他们画像的密室」，却仍在他们心里，他们时刻在想象和幻想中敬拜它们。「他们使他们的偶像升上他们的心」（原文如此）；他们使自己的心服于偶像之下，偶像在那里坐在宝座上。或者，当他们来求问先知时，他们假装丢弃偶像，其实只是装假；他们仍暗暗为偶像有所保留。他们「把偶像接到心里」；他们若暂时离开偶像，那是「存着再归向它们的心意」，并非最终的告别。或者，这话也可指属灵的拜偶像：那些把情感置于世界之财富和感官之享乐上的人，他们的神就是他们的钱财，「他们的神就是自己的肚腹」，他们正是「将他们的假神接到心里」。许多人在圣所里没有偶像，心里却有偶像，这同样是对神宝座的窃夺，是对他名的亵渎。「小子们哪，你们要自守，远避」这些「偶像」。2. 他们「把陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石放在脸前」。他们的「金银」被称为「陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石」（结7:19），他们的「金银偶像」之美吸引他们陷入拜偶像，所以它是他们绊跌其上、堕入那罪的石头；或者「他们的罪孽」就是他们的「绊脚石」，将他们摔倒，使他们坠入毁灭。请留意：罪人是自己的试探者（「各人被试探，乃是被自己的私欲牵引诱惑」），因此他们也是自己的毁灭者。「你若轻慢，你独自担当」；他们如此「把陷自己于罪孽的绊脚石放在自己的脸前」，虽明明看见，却仍绊跌在其上。这表明他们决意要在罪中前行，不论后果如何。「我爱慕陌生人，随从他们而去」——这就是他们心中的话。神「岂可」被这样的恶人「求问」呢？他们这样做，岂不是羞辱神过于尊荣他，如同那些戏弄着向基督「屈膝」的人一样吗？那些如此持续对神行敌对之事的人，岂能指望从神得着平安的答复呢？「以西结，你对此怎么看？」
三、神在义怒中吩咐以西结回答他们的话（结14:4）。当让他们知道，神拒绝回答他们，并非因轻看他们的身分，而是立下了一条适用于「以色列家每一个人」的准则：无论何人，只要他仍恋慕偶像、与偶像联合，又来求问神，神就必视之为对他尊严的冒犯，并要按他真正的罪孽回答他，不按他假装的敬虔回答他。他「来到先知面前」，指望先知待他客气；但神要给他答复，就是因他的无耻而刑罚他：「我耶和华」，一发言事就成了，「必按他众多偶像的数目回答他」。请留意，那些「将偶像接到心里」、又把心系于偶像的人，通常偶像众多。谦卑的敬拜者，神「按他丰盛的怜悯」回答；放肆的闯入者，神「按他们众多偶像的数目」回答，即：1. 按他们偶像所愿的；他要任凭他们「随自己心中的情欲」，将他们交在自己手中，让他们随心所欲地败坏下去，直到他们「填满罪孽的量」。人的败坏是「他们心里的偶像」，是他们自己设立的；他们的试探是「他们罪孽的绊脚石」，是他们自己放的；神要照样回答他们；让他们自行其道吧。2. 按他们偶像所当得的；他们所得的答复，要像拜偶像者所当得的那样。神要像惯常刑罚拜偶像者那样刑罚他们，即：当他们需要他帮助时，他要「打发他们到他们所拣选的神那里去」（士10:13,14）。请留意：神的审判必按人真实的所是（即按他们的心）临到他们，不按他们表面和所宣称的所是。这事结局如何？这所威吓的答复要成为什么？他告诉他们（结14:5）：「好在以色列家的心事上捉住他们」，将他们向世人显明，使他们蒙羞；不，更要将他们交于咒诅之下，使他们灭亡。请留意：罪人的罪与羞、痛苦与毁灭，全都来自他们自己；他们自己的心就是捉住他们的网罗；他们的心诱惑他们，出卖他们；他们自己的良心作证控告他们，定他们的罪，并成为他们的惊吓。神若捉住他们，若揭露他们，若定他们的罪，若将他们拘押在他审判之下，这一切都是借着「他们自己的心」。「以色列啊，你自取灭亡。」「以色列家」是因自己的手而灭亡，「因为他们都因假神与我生疏」。请留意：（1）罪人的毁灭，当归因于他们与神生疏。（2）人的心之所以与神生疏，正是借这某种或那某种偶像；某个受造物得着了那本当属于神、在心中作王掌权的地位。
四、神所给他们的这答复的适用范围——适用于「以色列全家」（结14:7,8）。同一件事被重述，这表明神对假冒为善者——他们只用敬虔的表象和礼仪来戏弄神，心却与他生疏、与他为敌——怀有正当的不悦。请留意：1. 这宣告适用于谁。它不仅关乎以色列家的每一个人（如前文结14:4所言），也关乎「在以色列中寄居的外人」；他不可以为自己是以色列中的客旅、寄居者，只是敬拜他列祖所事奉、他自己从小所受教导去事奉的神明，就可作为拜偶像的借口；不，他休想从以色列的神谕或先知那里得着什么益处，除非他彻底弃绝他的偶像。请留意：即使是归信的人，若不真诚，也不蒙眷顾：假冒的归信并非归信。2. 此处对假冒为善者的描述：他们借着与偶像相交而「与自己（神）分离」；他们切断自己与神的关系和在他里面的利益；他们断绝与神的认识和交往，并故意远离他。请留意：凡与偶像联合的，就与神分离；凡永远与神的异象和享受分离的，也唯有那些如今故意从他的事奉中分离、故意撤回对他效忠的人。然而有些人是这样与神分离的，却仍怀着对先知职分的似乎恭敬而来，「求问他们关乎神的事」，只为满足虚浮的好奇心，或止息喧嚣良心的声音，或在人中间得着或保全名声，却全无意与神相熟，也全无受他治理的心意。3. 这样戏弄神、想要欺骗神之人的厄运：「「我耶和华必亲自回答他」；任我独自对付他；我给他的答复要叫他满心羞愧，要叫他为他的狂妄不敬后悔。」他要得的答复，不是借先知的话，而是借神的审判。「我必向那人变脸」，这表明神对他极大的不悦，以及定意要毁灭他。神能直面最不悔改的罪人。假冒为善者本想保全自己的名声，甚至博得称赞；恰恰相反，神「必使他作了警戒和笑谈」，必降灾在他身上，使他在四围众人眼中成为显著而可鄙的；他的惨况要被用来形容最大的不幸，正如最坏的罪人被说成是「与假冒为善的人同业」，在那里「哀哭切齿」（太24:51）。神要使他成为鉴戒；他对他的审判要警戒别人小心不可戏弄神：「因为那与神分离、却又假装「求问」他的人，必遭这样的事。」假冒为善者本想混作神的百姓之一，要在他们中间挤进天堂；但神「必从他百姓中间剪除他」，要揭露他，从他们最密集之处把他拔出；借此，神说，「你们就知道我是耶和华」。借着假冒为善者被揭露，显明神是无所不知的：传道人不知道人到他们面前听道时存着怎样的心，神却知道。借着假冒为善者受罚，显明他是忌邪的神，是不能也不会被蒙骗的。
五、那些装作先知、又袒护这些装作敬虔者之人的厄运（结14:9,10）。这些假冒为善的求问者，虽然以西结不愿给他们令人安慰的答复，却指望遇到其他先知会给他们；他们若真遇到（也许会），当让他们知道，神容许那些说谎的先知欺骗他们，部分是作为刑罚：「那奉承他们的「先知若受了迷惑」，给了他们毫无根据的盼望，「是我耶和华迷惑了那先知」；是我容许试探摆在他面前，容许他向试探屈服，并借此使那些决意行恶的人更加刚硬。」我们确知神不是罪的创始者，但我们确知他是万有的主，是罪人的审判者，他常常利用一个恶人去毁灭另一个恶人，又利用一个恶人去欺骗另一个恶人。两者在行者而言都是罪，所以「不」是出于神；两者在受者而言都是刑罚，所以「是」出于神。我们在亚哈先知的故事中有一个完整的实例：他们受了说谎之灵的欺骗，那灵是神放进他们口中的（王上22:23）；另一个实例是那些被神「交给生发的错误，叫他们信从虚谎」的人，「因他们不爱慕真理」（帖后2:10,11）。但请读那说谎先知可怕的厄运：「我必伸手攻击他，将他除灭。」当神借着他成就了自己公义的目的之后，他必为他不义的目的受报。正如神利用迦勒底人毁灭有罪的百姓之后，又公正地刑罚他们的暴怒；照样当他利用「假先知」、后来又利用「假基督」欺骗有罪的百姓之后，也必公正地刑罚他们的虚假。但在这一点上我们必须承认（如加尔文在此处所提醒），神的「判断如同深渊」，我们对之无审判之能；虽然我们无法向一切吹毛求疵者说明神作为的公正，使他们满足而缄默，却有一日将到，那时他要在全世界面前得称为义，特别是在这件事上：那时「那奉承假冒为善者行恶路的先知」所受的刑罚，要和「那求问他、只吩咐他说「柔和的话」的假冒为善者」所受的一样（赛30:10）。对瞎眼的领路者和瞎眼的跟从者而言，那坑是一样的。
六、为避免这可怕厄运而给他们的好劝勉（结14:6）：「「所以回头吧，离开你们的偶像。」让「这个」使你们与偶像分离，因为偶像使你们与神分离；因为偶像使神的脸与你们为敌，所以你们要「转脸莫从它们」」——这不仅表示离弃它们，更表示怀着厌恶和憎嫌离弃它们：「要从你们所厌弃的可憎之物中转离；这样，你们就必蒙悦纳来求问耶和华。「来吧，我们彼此辩论。」」
七、这一切对以色列家而言的美好结局；「所以」那些假冒的先知和假冒的圣徒要一同因神的审判灭亡，使一些人成为鉴戒之后，百姓整体得以复兴，「好使以色列家不再走迷离开我」（结14:11）。请留意：刑罚一些人，是为了防止犯罪，使别人听见而惧怕，并受警戒。当我们看见那些走迷离开神的人结局如何，就当受激励紧紧跟随他。以色列家若「不走迷」，就「不再被玷污」。请留意：罪是玷污人之物；它使罪人在纯洁圣洁的神眼中、并在他自己良心苏醒时在他自己眼中都成为可憎；因此他们必「不再被玷污，使他们作我的子民，我作他们的神」。请留意：神所接纳与自己立约的人，必先得洁净脱离罪的玷污；如此洁净的人，不仅必蒙拯救脱离毁灭，还必有权得享神百姓的一切特权。
英文原文
The Elders of Israel Rebuked; The Prophet's Address to the Elders (593 BC)
¹ Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
² And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
³ Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
⁴ Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
⁵ That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
⁶ Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
⁷ For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
⁸ And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
⁹ And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
¹⁰ And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
¹¹ That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
Here is, I. The address which some of the elders of Israel made to the prophet, as an oracle, to enquire of the Lord by him. They came, and sat before him, Eze 14:1. It is probable that they were not of those who were now his fellow-captives, and constantly attended his ministry (such as those we read of Eze 8:1), but some occasional hearers, some of the grandees of Jerusalem who had come upon business to Babylon, perhaps public business, on an embassy from the king, and in their way called on the prophet, having heard much of him and being desirous to know if he had any message from God, which might be some guide to them in their negotiation. By the severe answer given them one would suspect they had a design to ensnare the prophet, or to try if they could catch hold of any thing that might look like a contradiction to Jeremiah's prophecies, and so they might have occasion to reproach them both. However, they feigned themselves just men, complimented the prophet, and sat before him gravely enough, as God's people used to sit. Note, It is no new thing for bad men to be found employed in the external performances of religion.
II. The account which God gave the prophet privately concerning them. They were strangers to him; he only knew that they were elders of Israel; that was the character they wore, and as such he received them with respect, and, it is likely, was glad to see them so well disposed. But God gives him their real character (Eze 14:3); they were idolaters, and did only consult Ezekiel as they would any oracle of a pretended deity, to gratify their curiosity, and therefore he appeals to the prophet himself whether they deserved to have any countenance or encouragement given them: "Should I be enquired of at all by them? Should I accept their enquiries as an honour to myself, or answer them for satisfaction to them? No; they have no reason to expect it;" for, 1. They have set up their idols in their heart; they not only have idols, but they are in love with them, they dote upon them, are wedded to them, and have laid them so near their hearts, and have given them so great a room in their affections, that there is no parting with them. The idols they have set up in their houses, though they are now at a distance from the chambers of their imagery, yet they have them in their hearts, and they are ever and anon worshipping them in their fancies and imaginations. They have made their idols to ascend upon their hearts (so the word is); they have subjected their hearts to their idols, they are upon the throne there. Or when they came to enquire of the prophet they pretended to put away their idols, but it was in pretence only; they still had a secret reserve for them. They kept them up in their hearts; and, if they left them for a while, it was cum animo revertendi—with an intention to return to them, not a final farewell. Or it may be understood of spiritual idolatry; those whose affections are placed upon the wealth of the world and the pleasures of sense, whose god is their money, whose god is their belly, they set up their idols in their heart. Many who have no idols in their sanctuary have idols in their hearts, which is no less a usurpation of God's throne and a profanation of his name. Little children, keep yourselves from those idols. 2. They put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face. Their silver and gold were called the stumbling-block of their iniquity (Eze 7:19), their idols of silver and gold, by the beauty of which they were allured to idolatry, and so it was the block at which they stumbled, and fell into that sin; or their iniquity is their stumbling-block, which throws them down, so that they fall into ruin. Note, Sinners are their own tempters (every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust), and so they are their own destroyers. If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it; and thus they put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their own faces, and stumble upon it though they see it before their eyes. It intimates that they are resolved to go on in sin, whatever comes of it. I have loved strangers, and after them I will go; that is the language of their hearts. And should God be enquired of by such wretches? Do they not hereby rather put an affront upon him than do him any honour, as those did who bowed the knee to Christ in mockery? Can those expect an answer of peace from God who thus continue their acts of hostility against him? "Ezekiel, what thinkest thou of it?"
III. The answer which God, in just displeasure, orders Ezekiel to give them, Eze 14:4. Let them know that it is not out of any disrespect to their persons that God refuses to give them an answer, but it is laid down as a rule for every man of the house of Israel, whoever he be, that if he continue in love and league with his idols, and come to enquire of God, God will resent it as an indignity done to him, and will answer him according to his real iniquity, not according to his pretended piety. He comes to the prophet, who, he expects, will be civil to him, but God will give him his answer, by punishing him for his impudence: I the Lord, who speak and it is done, I will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols. Observe, Those who set up idols in their hearts, and set their hearts upon their idols, commonly have a multitude of them. Humble worshippers God answers according to the multitude of his mercies, but bold intruders he answers according to the multitude of their idols, that is, 1. According to the desire of their idols; he will give them up to their own hearts' lust, and leave them to themselves to be as bad as they have a mind to be, till they have filled up the measure of their iniquity. Men's corruptions are idols in their hearts, and they are of their own setting up; their temptations are the stumbling-block of their iniquity, and they are of their own putting, and God will answer them accordingly; let them take their course. 2. According to the desert of their idols; they shall have such an answer as it is just that such idolaters should have. God will punish them as he usually punishes idolaters, that is, when they stand in need of his help he will send them to the gods whom they have chosen, Jdg 10:13,14. Note, The judgment of God will dwell with men according to what they are really (that is, according to what their hearts are), not according to what they are in show and profession. And what will be the end of this? What will this threatened answer amount to? He tells them (Eze 14:5): That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, may lay them open to the world, that they may be ashamed; nay, lay them open to the curse, that they may be ruined. Note, The sin and shame, and pain and ruin, of sinners, are all from themselves, and their own hearts are the snares in which they are taken; they seduce them, they betray them; their own consciences witness against them, condemn them, and are a terror to them. If God take them, if he discover them, if he convict them, if he bind them over to his judgment, it is all by their own hearts. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself. The house of Israel is ruined by its own hands, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Note, (1.) The ruin of sinners is owing to their estrangement from God. (2.) It is through some idol or other that the hearts of men are estranged from God; some creature has gained that place and dominion in the heart that God should have.
IV. The extent of this answer which God had given them—to all the house of Israel, Eze 14:7,8. The same thing is repeated, which intimates God's just displeasure against hypocrites, who mock him with the shows and forms of devotion, while their hearts are estranged from him and at war with him. Observe, 1. To whom this declaration belongs. It concerns not only every one of the house of Israel (as before, Eze 14:4), but the stranger that sojourns in Israel; let him not think it will be an excuse for him in his idolatries that he is but a stranger and a sojourner in Israel, and does but worship the gods that his father served and that he himself was bred up in the service of; no, let him not expect any benefit from Israel's oracles or prophets unless he thoroughly renounce his idolatry. Note, Even proselytes shall not be countenanced if they be not sincere: a dissembled conversion is no conversion. 2. The description here given of hypocrites: They separate themselves from God by their fellowship with idols; they cut themselves off from their relation to God and their interest in him; they break off their acquaintance and intercourse with him, and set themselves at a distance from him. Note, Those that join themselves to idols separate themselves from God; nor shall any be for ever separated from the vision and fruition of God, but such as now separate themselves from his service and wilfully withdraw their allegiance from him. But there are those who thus separate themselves from God, and yet come to the prophets with a seeming respect and deference to their office, to enquire of them concerning God, in order to satisfy a vain curiosity, to stop the mouth of a clamorous conscience, or to get or save a reputation among men, but without any desire to be acquainted with God or any design to be ruled by him. 3. The doom of those who thus trifle with God and think to impose upon him: "I the Lord will answer him by myself; let me alone to deal with him; I will give him an answer that shall fill him with confusion, that shall make him repent of his daring impiety." He shall have his answer, not by the words of the prophet, but by the judgments of God. And I will set my face against that man, which denotes great displeasure against him and a fixed resolution to ruin him. God can outface the most impenitent sinner. The hypocrite thought to save his credit, nay, and to gain applause, but, on the contrary, God will make him a sign and a proverb, will inflict such judgments upon him as shall make him remarkable and contemptible in the eyes of all about him; his misery shall be made use of to express the greatest misery, as when the worst of sinners are said to have their portion appointed them with hypocrites, Mt 24:51. God will make him an example; his judgments upon him shall be for warning to others to take heed of mocking God: for thus shall it be done to the man that separates himself from God, and yet pretends to enquire concerning him. The hypocrite thought to pass for one of God's people, and to crowd into heaven among them; but God will cut him off from the midst of his people, will discover him, and pluck him out from the thickest of them; and by this, says God, you shall know that I am the Lord. By the discovery of hypocrites it appears that God is omniscient: ministers know not how people stand affected when they come to hear the word, but God does. And by the punishment of hypocrites it appears that he is a jealous God, and one that cannot and will not be imposed upon.
V. The doom of those pretenders to prophecy who give countenance to these pretenders to piety, Eze 14:9,10. These hypocritical enquirers, though Ezekiel will not give them a comfortable answer, yet hope to meet with some other prophets that will; and if they do, as perhaps they may, let them know that God permits those lying prophets to deceive them in part of punishment: "If the prophet that flatters them be deceived, and gives them hopes which there is no ground for, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, have suffered the temptation to be laid before him, and suffered him to yield to it, and overruled it for the hardening of those in their wicked courses who were resolved to go on in them." We are sure that God is not the author of sin, but we are sure that he is the Lord of all and the Judge of sinners, and that he often makes use of one wicked man to destroy another, and so of one wicked man to deceive another. Both are sins in him who does them, and so they are not from God; both are punishments to him to whom they are done, and so they are from God. We have a full instance of this in the story of Ahab's prophets, who were deceived by a lying spirit, which God put into their mouths (1Ki 22:23), and another in those whom God gives up to strong delusions, to believe a lie, because they received not the love of the truth, 2Th 2:10,11. But read the fearful doom of the lying prophet: I will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him. When God has served his own righteous purposes by him he shall be reckoned with for his unrighteous purposes. As, when God had made use of the Chaldeans for the wasting of a sinful people, he justly punished them for their rage, so when he had made use of false prophets, and afterwards of false Christs, for the deceiving of a sinful people, he justly punished them for their falsehood. But herein we must acknowledge (as Calvin upon this place reminds us) that God's judgments are a great deep, that we are incompetent judges of them, and that, though we cannot account for the equity of God's proceedings to the satisfying and silencing of every caviller, yet there is a day coming when he will be justified before all the world, and particularly in this instance, when the punishment of the prophet that flattereth the hypocrite in his evil way shall be as the punishment of the hypocrite that seeketh to him and bespeaks smooth things only, Isa 30:10. The ditch shall be the same to the blind leader and the blind followers.
VI. The good counsel that is given them for the preventing of this fearful doom (Eze 14:6): "Therefore repent, and turn yourselves from your idols. Let this separate between you and them, that they separate between you and God; because they set God's face against you, do you turn away your faces from them," which denotes, not only forsaking them, but forsaking them with loathing and detestation: "Turn from them as from abominations that you are sick of; and then you will be welcome to enquire of the Lord. Come now, and let us reason together."
VII. The good issue of all this as to the house of Israel; therefore the pretending prophets, and the pretending saints, shall perish together by the judgments of God, that, some being made examples, the body of the people may be reformed, that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, Eze 14:11. Note, The punishments of some are designed for the prevention of sin, that others may hear, and fear, and take warning. When we see what becomes of those that go astray from God we should thereby be engaged to keep close to him. And, if the house of Israel go not astray, they will not be polluted any more. Note, Sin is a polluting thing; it renders the sinner odious in the eyes of the pure and holy God, and in his own eyes too whenever conscience is awakened; and therefore they shall no more be polluted, that they may be my people and I may be their God. Note, Those whom God takes into covenant with himself must first be cleansed from the pollutions of sin; and those who are so cleansed shall not only be saved from ruin, but be entitled to all the privileges of God's people.
12-23
Destruction of the People Determined; The Variety of the Divine Judgment; A Remnant Preserved (593 BC)
百姓的毁灭已定；神圣审判的多样；余民蒙存留（公元前593年）
¹² 耶和华的话又临到我说：
¹³ 「人子啊，若有一国犯罪干犯我，我也向他伸出我的手，折断他们的粮杖，使饥荒临到那地，将人与牲畜从其中剪除；
¹⁴ 虽有挪亚、但以理、约伯这三人在其中，他们只能因自己的义救自己的性命。这是主耶和华说的。
¹⁵ 我若使恶兽经过那地，蹂躏它，使它荒凉，以致因兽的缘故无人经过；
¹⁶ 虽有这三人在其中，我指着我的永生起誓，这是主耶和华说的，他们连儿子女儿都不能救，只能自己得救，那地却要荒凉。
¹⁷ 我若使刀剑临到那地，说：『刀剑啊，你要经过那地；』以致我从其中剪除人与牲畜；
¹⁸ 虽有这三人在其中，我指着我的永生起誓，这是主耶和华说的，他们连儿子女儿都不能救，只能自己得救。
¹⁹ 我若使瘟疫流行那地，使我的烈怒倾倒其上以致流血，要从其中剪除人与牲畜；
²⁰ 虽有挪亚、但以理、约伯在其中，我指着我的永生起誓，这是主耶和华说的，他们连儿子女儿都不能救，只能因自己的义救自己的性命。
²¹ 主耶和华如此说：我将这四样大灾——刀剑、饥荒、恶兽、瘟疫——降在耶路撒冷，从其中剪除人与牲畜，那时更当怎样呢？
²² 然而其中必有剩下的逃脱的人被带出来，就是儿子女儿。看哪，他们要出来到你们这里，你们要看见他们的道路和作为；你们因我所降在耶路撒冷的一切灾祸，便得了安慰。
²³ 你们看见他们的道路和作为，他们必使你们得安慰；你们就知道我在这地上所行的并非无故。这是主耶和华说的。」
这些经文的要旨是表明：
一、国民的罪招致国民的审判。德行若被毁坏荒废，其他一切不久也必被毁坏荒废（结14:13）：「那地若犯罪干犯我」，当邪恶败坏成为流行病，「那地若犯罪大大干犯我」，当罪人变得极其众多、其罪极其重大，当亵渎神与不道德普遍盛行之时，「我就向那地伸手」加以刑罚。神圣的能力必显然有力地施展；审判必延伸扩张到那地的各角落，到那国的各项事务与利益。重大的罪必招致重大的灾殃。
二、神有各样严重的审判可用来惩罚犯罪的列国，他这一切都掌握在命令之中，随意降下他所喜悦的那一样。他确实曾给大卫选择，要他因数点百姓之罪受哪一样审判；因为任何一样都足以达成那目的，即减少他所夸耀的人数；但大卫实际上是重新把这事交托给神：「「我们愿落在耶和华的手里」；让他选择我们要受什么杖责打。」但他使用多样的审判，为要显明他拥有普遍的主权，并使我们在一切事务上看见我们对他的倚靠。此处指明了「四样大灾」：1. 「饥荒」（结14:13）。拒绝并收回普通的恩惠，本身已是足够的审判，无需别的就能使一民悲惨。神无需使用压迫之杖，只要「折断粮杖」，事就速成；他「剪除人与牲畜」，是借剪除大地每年出产中为两者所预备的供应。当我们虽有饼却不得其中滋养之力时，神就「折断粮杖」。该1:6「你们吃，却不得饱。」2. 有害的「野兽」，恶毒有害的，或因其有毒，或因其凶猛。神能使这些「经过那地」（结14:15），使之在各地增多，并使那地丧失，不仅家畜遭殃——其牛群羊群被吞食——人也遭殃，吞噬男女孩童，以致「因兽的缘故无人经过」；无人敢在大路上行走，唯恐被狮子或其他猛兽撕碎，正如伯特利的孩童被两只熊所撕裂。注意，当人背弃对神的效忠、反叛他时，神叫低等的受造之物向人武装起来，是公义的（利26:22）。3. 战争。神常借刀剑临到一国之罪加以惩罚，就是外敌的刀剑，他赐其使命，并命令它当行怎样的杀戮（结14:17）：他说：「刀剑啊，你要经过那地。」刀剑若仅进入一国之边境已够糟，若穿越一国的腹地则更糟。借此神「剪除人与牲畜」，骑兵步兵。刀剑所行的杀戮，是神借它行的；因为这是他的刀剑，并照他的指挥行事。4. 「瘟疫」（结14:19），一种可怕的疾病，曾使若干城市人口灭绝；借此神「在血中倾倒他的烈怒」（即在死亡中）；瘟疫杀人如同流血于刀剑之下一般有效，因为血被疾病所毒化，就是我们所说的「病」。请看人类落在如此各种形状之死亡威胁下的处境何等悲惨。请看罪人抵挡那有如此众多争战之道的神，其处境何等危险；即便他们逃脱了一样审判，神还有另一样等候着他们。
三、当自称属神的百姓背离他、反叛他时，他们理当预期必有复合的审判临到。神以多种方式与有罪之国相争；但耶路撒冷这圣城若「成为淫妇」，神必将他「四样大灾」全部降于她（结14:21）；因为人越在名义和信仰上接近神，他若羞辱了他所称为名的尊名、并使那信仰成为虚谎，神就越严厉地与他们算账。他们必受「七倍」的刑罚。
四、即使在那因罪成熟而临近毁灭之地，也可能有、而且通常有少数极好的人。即便在「大大干犯」之地上，也可能有「三人」如挪亚、但以理、约伯，这并非不切实际的假设。但以理当时仍在世，此时几乎尚未达到其声誉的巅峰，但他已经出名（至少神这一句关于他的话必不落空地使他出名）；然而他是头一批被掳之人中的一个（但1:6）。耶路撒冷中较好的一等人或许想，倘若但以理（他们在巴比伦王宫中关于他的名声已多有耳闻）留在耶路撒冷，那城必因他的缘故得以幸免，正如巴比伦的术士一样。「不然，」神说，「即便你们有他——他在恶劣的时地如挪亚在古世界、约伯在乌斯地一样以善著称——也得不到暂缓执行。」在最腐败之地、在最败坏之时代，「还有余民」，是神为自己保留的，他们「仍持守自己的正直」，并有资格得「拯救那地」的尊荣，如「清白的人」所要作的（伯22:30）。
五、神常因其中少数敬虔人之故，而宽容极恶之地。此处暗示这是耶路撒冷的朋友在患难之日所期盼的：「神必止息他与我们的争辩；因为我们中间岂不是有些人正以祷告倒空国民罪责的量器，正如别人以罪充满它么？与其神「将义人与恶人同杀」，他宁可「保全恶人与义人」。倘若所多玛可因十个义人之故得免，耶路撒冷当然更可如此。」
六、如挪亚、但以理、约伯这样的人，若有人能，必能有效地转消神对有罪之民的忿怒。挪亚是个完全人，在凡属血气之人都败坏了自己道路之时仍持守正直；因他的缘故，他的全家——虽然其中一人（含）是恶的——在方舟中得救。约伯是敬虔的伟大典范，为他的儿女、为他的朋友大有能力地祷告；他祷告时神就使他被掳的转回。这些都是很古老的榜样，早于那伟大的代求者摩西；所以神提到他们，为要暗示早在犹太民族形成或建立之前，他已有若干极为特别的宠儿，并且在这民族灭亡之后仍将有这样的人，似乎正因这缘故，这些名字才被使用，而不用摩西、亚伦或撒母耳；然而，免得有人以为神在古日有所偏袒，这里便有一个近代的实例，一个活的实例，被置于那两位古代荣耀者之间，而此人如今却是被掳之人，那就是但以理——为要教导我们，不可因过分推崇古人而轻看我们当代那些有用的善人。让被掳之民知道，他们的邻舍、与他们「在患难中同受苦楚的同伴」但以理，既大有谦卑、敬虔、为神发热心，又恳切恒切地祷告，他在天上也有如挪亚或约伯那样的地位。神为何不能在今日兴起如古时一样伟大善良的人，并为他们成就同样的事呢？
七、当一民之罪达到极点，灭亡的命令已经发出，最好的人的敬虔与祷告也不能使这争辩得以止息。此处一而再地断言，虽然此时「这三人在」耶路撒冷，他们却「连儿子女儿都不能救」；连小孩子也不能因他们之故而得免，正如以色列的小孩子因摩西的祷告而得免一样（民14:31）。不；「那地必荒凉」，神也不听他们为那地的祷告，即使「摩西和撒母耳站在他面前」（耶15:1）。注意，被滥用的忍耐终必变为不可挽回的忿怒；并且在耶路撒冷的事上，似乎神比在别的事上更不可挽回（结14:6），因为除了神圣的忍耐之外，他们所享受的特权也比任何别的民都多，这些都是他们犯罪的加重情节。
八、敬虔祷告的人虽未必能救别人，却「必因自己的义救自己的性命」，所以尽管他们可能在共同的灾难中受苦，但对他们的关系而言，其性质已经改变；这灾难对他们不再如对恶人那样；它已被解开毒钩，不能害他们；它已被分别为圣，反而使他们得益。有时他们的「性命」（他们的生命）显著地「得救」，并「作为掠物赐给他们」；至少他们的「性命」（他们属灵的益处）是稳妥的。他们的身体若不得「拯救」，他们的「性命」却必得救。「财宝」「在发怒的日子毫无益处」，但「公义能救人脱离死亡」，脱离这里所威胁的如此大的死、如许多的死。这应当鼓励我们在普遍背道的时代持守正直，因为我们若如此行，在耶和华发怒的日子必「被隐藏」。
九、即便神借审判造成最大的荒凉，他仍保留一些人作他怜悯的记念（结14:22,23）。在耶路撒冷本身，虽被定为全然毁灭，却「必有剩下的余民」，不被前述任何「大灾」所剪除，而要被掳去，就是「儿子女儿」，他们要作新一代的种子。这些尚未成长到如他们父亲那样顽固犯罪的少年人——其父辈因此被视为无可救药而被剪除——他们要被得胜的仇敌从耶路撒冷的废墟中「带出来」，「看哪，他们要出来到你们这里」，就是你们这些被掳的人那里；他们要把无奈变为美德，更甘心乐意地来到巴比伦，因为他们的许多亲友在他们以先已经到了那里，并预备好接待他们；他们来的时候，「你们要看见他们的道路和作为」；你们要听见他们坦白而诚恳地承认他们从前所犯的罪，并谦卑地表明为此悔改，应许改正；你们又要看见他们改正的实例，看见他们的苦难为他们成就了什么善，以及他们在其中行事何等谨慎忍耐。他们的大难不死对他们产生了良好的效果；改变了他们的性情和言行，使他们成为新人。这将要归于：1. 他们弟兄的满足：「你们看见他们的道路，他们必使你们得安慰。」注意，看见人在受责打之时悔改谦卑，称义神并接受自己罪孽的刑罚，是极其令人得安慰的景象。当我们（如我们所当行的）为别人的苦难忧愁时，在我们忧愁中得着大安慰的，是看见他们善用苦难、把苦难变为益处。当那些被掳的人告诉他们的朋友他们从前何等败坏，神降这些审判在他们身上何等公义，这就使他们十分安心，有助于使他们与耶路撒冷的灾难相和，与神如此惩罚自己百姓的公义相和，并与神的良善相和——如今看来，神在这一切之中都有仁慈的用意；这样，「你们因我所降在耶路撒冷的一切灾祸，便得了安慰」，你们既更明白这事，就不再如先前那样有可怕的预感。注意，我们若因受苦得了益处，就有责任借告知弟兄来安慰他们，这是我们欠弟兄的债。2. 这要归于神的荣耀：「你们就知道我并非无故……行了这一切。」并非没有正当的惹动，也并非没有恩惠的用意。注意，苦难完成其工作、成就了所差来要成就的事之后，那时差遣苦难之神的智慧与良善就要显明；神不仅要在其中称义，更要在其中得荣耀。
英文原文
Destruction of the People Determined; The Variety of the Divine Judgment; A Remnant Preserved (593 BC)
¹² The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
¹³ Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
¹⁴ Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
¹⁵ If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
¹⁶ Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
¹⁸ Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
²⁰ Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
²¹ For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
²² Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
²³ And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.
The scope of these verses is to show,
I. That national sins bring national judgments. When virtue is ruined and laid waste every thing else will soon be ruined and laid waste too (Eze 14:13): When the land sins against me, when vice and wickedness become epidemical, when the land sins by trespassing grievously, when the sinners have become very numerous and their sins very heinous, when gross impieties and immoralities universally prevail, then will I stretch forth my hand upon it, for the punishment of it. The divine power shall be vigorously and openly exerted; the judgments shall be extended and stretched forth to all the corners of the land, to all the concerns and interests of the nation. Grievous sins bring grievous plagues.
II. That God has a variety of sore judgments wherewith to punish sinful nations, and he has them all at command and inflicts which he pleases. He did indeed give David his choice what judgment he would be punished with for his sin in numbering the people; for any of them would serve to answer the end, which was to lessen the numbers he was proud of; but David, in effect, referred it to God again: "Let us fall into the hands of the Lord; let him choose with what rod we shall be beaten." But he uses a variety of judgments that it may appear he has a universal dominion, and that in all our concerns we may see our dependence on him. Four sore judgments are here specified:— 1. Famine, Eze 14:13. The denying and withholding of common mercies is itself judgment enough, there needs no more to make a people miserable. God needs not bring the staff of oppression, it is but breaking the staff of bread and the work is soon done; he cuts off man and beast by cutting off the provisions which nature makes for both in the annual products of the earth. God breaks the staff of bread when, though we have bread, yet we are not nourished and strengthened by it. Hag 1:6, You eat, but you have not enough. 2. Hurtful beasts, noisome and noxious, either as poisonous or as ravenous. God can make these to pass through the land (Eze 14:15), to increase in all parts of it, and to bereave it, not only of the tame cattle, preying upon their flocks and herds, but of their people, devouring men, women, and children, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts; none dare travel even in the high roads for fear of being pulled in pieces by lions, or other beasts of prey, as the children of Beth-el by two bears. Note, When men revolt from their allegiance to God, and rebel against him, it is just with God that the inferior creatures should rise up in arms against men, Le 26:22. 3. War. God often chastises sinful nations by bringing a sword upon them, the sword of a foreign enemy, and he gives it its commission and orders what execution it shall do (Eze 14:17): he says, Sword, go through the land. It is bad enough if the sword do but enter into the borders of a land, but much worse when it goes through the bowels of a land. By it God cuts off man and beast, horse and foot. What execution the sword does God does by it; for it is his sword, and it acts as he directs. 4. Pestilence (Eze 14:19), a dreadful disease, which has sometimes depopulated cities; by it God pours out his fury in blood (that is, in death); the pestilence kills as effectually as if the blood were shed by the sword, for it is poisoned by the disease, the sickness we call it. See how miserable the case of mankind is that lies thus exposed to deaths in various shapes. See how dangerous the case of sinners is against whom God has so many ways of fighting, so that, though they escape one judgment, God has another waiting for them.
III. That when God's professing people revolt from him, and rebel against him, they may justly expect a complication of judgments to fall upon them. God has various ways of contending with a sinful nation; but if Jerusalem, the holy city, become a harlot, God will send upon her all his four sore judgments (Eze 14:21); for the nearer any are to God in name and profession the more severely will he reckon with them if they reproach that worthy name by which they are called and give the lie to that profession. They shall be punished seven times more.
IV. That there may be, and commonly are, some few very good men, even in those places that by sin are ripened for ruin. It is no foreign supposition that, even in a land that has trespassed grievously, there may be three such men as Noah, Daniel, and Job. Daniel was now living, and at this time had scarcely arrived at the prime of his eminency, but he was already famous (at least this word of God concerning him would without fail make him so); yet he was carried away into captivity with the first of all, Da 1:6. Some of the better sort of people in Jerusalem might perhaps think that, if Daniel (of whose fame in the king of Babylon's court they had heard much) had but continued in Jerusalem, it would have been spared for his sake, as the magicians in Babylon were. "No," says God, "though you had him, who was as eminently good in bad times and places as Noah in the old world and Job in the land of Uz, yet a reprieve should not be obtained." In the places that are most corrupt, and in the ages that are most degenerate, there is a remnant which God reserves to himself, and which still hold fast their integrity and stand fair for the honour of delivering the land, as the innocent are said to do, Job 22:30.
V. That God often spares very wicked places for the sake of a few godly people in them. This is implied here as the expectation of Jerusalem's friends in the day of its distress: "Surely God will stay his controversy with us; for are there not some among us that are emptying the measure of national guilt by their prayers, as others are filling it by their sins? And, rather than God will destroy the righteous with the wicked, he will preserve the wicked with the righteous. If Sodom might have been spared for the sake of ten good men, surely Jerusalem may."
VI. That such men as Noah, Daniel, and Job, will prevail, if any can, to turn away the wrath of God from a sinful people. Noah was a perfect man, and kept his integrity when all flesh had corrupted their way; and, for his sake, his family, though one of them was wicked (Ham), was saved in the ark. Job was a great example of piety, and mighty in prayer for his children, for his friends; and God turned his captivity when he prayed. Those were very ancient examples, before Moses, that great intercessor; and therefore God mentions them, to intimate that he had some very peculiar favourites long before the Jewish nation was formed or founded, and would have such when it was ruined, for which reason, it should seem, those names were made use of, rather than Moses, Aaron, or Samuel; and yet, lest any should think that God was partial in his respects to the ancient days, here is a modern instance, a living one, placed between those two that were the glories of antiquity, and he now a captive, and that is Daniel, to teach us not to lessen the useful good men of our own day by over-magnifying the ancients. Let the children of the captivity know that Daniel, their neighbour, and companion in tribulation, being a man of great humility, piety, and zeal for God, and instant and constant in prayer, had as good an interest in heaven as Noah or Job had. Why may not God raise up as great and good men now as he did formerly, and do as much for them?
VII. That when the sin of a people has come to its height, and the decree has gone forth for their ruin, the piety and prayers of the best men shall not prevail to finish the controversy. This is here asserted again and again, that, though these three men were in Jerusalem at this time, yet they should deliver neither son nor daughter; not so much as the little ones should be spared for their sakes, as the little ones of Israel were upon the prayer of Moses, Nu 14:31. No; the land shall be desolate, and God would not hear their prayers for it, though Moses and Samuel stood before him, Jer 15:1. Note, Abused patience will turn at last into inexorable wrath; and it should seem as if God would be more inexorable in Jerusalem's case than in another (Eze 14:6), because, besides the divine patience, they had enjoyed greater privileges than any other people, which were the aggravations of their sin.
VIII. That, though pious praying men may not prevail to deliver others, yet they shall deliver their own souls by their righteousness, so that, though they may suffer in the common calamity, yet to them the property of it is altered; it is not to them what it is to the wicked; it is unstrung, and does them no hurt; it is sanctified, and does them good. Sometimes their souls (their lives) are remarkably delivered, and given them for a prey; at least their souls (their spiritual interests) are secured. If their bodies be not delivered, yet their souls are. Riches indeed profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death, from so great a death, so many deaths as are here threatened. This should encourage us to keep our integrity in times of common apostasy, that, if we do so, we shall be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.
IX. That, even when God makes the greatest desolations by his judgments, he reserves some to be the monuments of his mercy, Eze 14:22,23. In Jerusalem itself, though marked for utter ruin, yet there shall be left a remnant, who shall not be cut off by any of those sore judgments before mentioned, but shall be carried into captivity, both sons and daughters, who shall be the seed of a new generation. The young ones, who had not grown up to such an obstinacy in sin as their fathers had who were therefore cut off as incurable, these shall be brought forth out of the ruins of Jerusalem by the victorious enemy, and behold they shall come forth to you that are in captivity, they shall make a virtue of a necessity, and shall come the more willingly to Babylon because so many of their friends have gone thither before them and are there ready to receive them; and, when they come, you shall see their ways and their doing; you shall hear them make a free and ingenuous confession of the sins they had formerly been guilty of, and a humble profession of repentance for them, with promises of reformation; and you shall see instances of their reformation, shall see what good their affliction has done them, and how prudently and patiently they conduct themselves under it. Their narrow escape shall have a good effect upon them; it shall change their temper and conversation, and make them new men. And this will redound, 1. To the satisfaction of their brethren: They shall comfort you when you see their ways. Note, It is a very comfortable sight to see people, when they are under the rod, repenting and humbling themselves, justifying God and accepting the punishment of their iniquity. When we sorrow (as we ought to do) for the afflictions of others, it is a great comfort to us in our sorrow to see them improving their afflictions and making a good use of them. When those captives told their friends how bad they had been, and how righteous God was in bringing these judgments upon them, it made them very easy, and helped to reconcile them to the calamities of Jerusalem, to the justice of God in punishing his own people so, and to the goodness of God, which now appeared to have had kind intentions in all; and thus "You shall be comforted concerning all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and, when you better understand the thing, shall not have such direful apprehensions concerning it as you have had." Note, It is a debt we owe to our brethren, if we have got good by our afflictions, to comfort them by letting them know it. 2. It will redound to the honour of God: "You shall know that I have not done without cause, not without a just provocation, and yet not without a gracious design, all that I have done in it." Note, When afflictions have done their work, and have accomplished that for which they were sent, then will appear the wisdom and goodness of God in sending them, and God will be not only justified, but glorified in them.
听道和祷告，是神的两大典章，我们借以尊荣他，也可盼望在他面前蒙恩得悦纳；然而在本章中，令我们大为惊奇的是，我们看见有人在一样上、有人在另一样上事奉神，却没有如预期那样得着成功。一、以色列的长老来听道、求问先知，却因他们未具备当有的资格，非但未蒙悦纳，反受了责备（结14:1-5）；他们被呼召要为罪悔改、改革生活，否则求问神便是自招危险（结14:6-11）。二、即使挪亚、但以理、约伯为这百姓祷告，因判语已经发出，并已定意以多种审判毁灭他们，他们的祷告也不蒙应允（结14:12-21）。然而末了应许说，必有余民逃脱（结14:22-23）。