Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying ,.... In answer to his prayer. The Targum calls it, "the word of prophecy from the Lord;' this was by way of comfort to the captives in Babylon, as the former was by way of threatening to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. read more
Verse 14 Here God seems to rebuke the thoughtlessness of his servant, or rather the error of the people, because we said that the Prophet announced not what he privately thought, but what was commonly received. Whatever it is, God answers his complaint as we saw, and shows that even if he takes away from the midst the eminent and conspicuous, and those who seem to be the supports of a city and kingdom, yet the Church does not perish on that account, because he has hidden reasons why he... read more
The answer to that question comes as by a new inspiration from the word of the Lord. read more
A suffering people scorned by man and comforted by God. "Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, thy brethren," etc. I. A SUFFERING PEOPLE SCORNED BY THEIR BRETHREN WHO THOUGHT THEMSELVES SECURE . ( Ezekiel 11:15 .) A considerable number of the fellow countrymen of Ezekiel were, like him, suffering the privations and sorrows of exile; and the people that still remained in Jerusalem, instead of pitying the exiles, despised and insulted them.... read more
Ezekiel 11:14-15. Again the word of the Lord came unto me A seasonable word, to stop the mouths of the insulting Jerusalemites, and to encourage the captives at Babylon. Son of man, thy brethren The men of thy kindred, or, of thy redemption, as גאלתן may be rendered: that is, thy fellow-captives, as Bishop Newcome reads it; unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get ye far from the Lord, &c. The Jews who were left in Judea thought themselves more the favourites of God... read more
Hope for the future (11:14-25)Those left in Jerusalem thought they were God’s favoured people. They thought their security was guaranteed because they lived in the city where his temple was situated. They looked upon the exiles as having been cast off by God, forsaken and unclean in a foreign land (14-15). To the contrary, Ezekiel points out that the exiles are God’s favoured people, the remnant whom he has preserved. When they repent of their idolatry and rebellion, he will bring them back to... read more
"And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Jehovah; unto us is this land given for a possession. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the... read more
The Lord then replied that many of the Jews in Jerusalem were saying that the Judahites who had gone into captivity were the ones that God was judging. They believed that the Jews left in Jerusalem were the remnant that God would preserve and bless. They incorrectly believed that Israel’s future lay with the Jews in Jerusalem rather than with the Jews in exile. read more
The assurance of restoration in the future 11:14-21Block entitled this modified disputation speech "The Gospel according to Ezekiel." [Note: Block, The Book . . ., p. 341.] read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 11:14-21
Prophecy was designed to exalt every valley as well as to bring low every mountain and hill (Isa. 40:4), and prophets were to speak not only conviction to the presumptuous and secure, but comfort to the despised and desponding that trembled at God's word. The prophet Ezekiel, having in the former part of this chapter received instructions for the awakening of those that were at ease in Zion, is in these verses furnished with comfortable words for those that mourned in Babylon and by the rivers... read more