13. staff of . . . bread—on which man's existence is supported as on a staff (Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16; Leviticus 26:26; Psalms 104:15; Isaiah 3:1). I will send a famine. read more
The Lord spoke to Ezekiel again. He revealed that Jerusalem’s great sins had made deliverance from divine punishment impossible. Evidently some of the exiled Jews were remembering God’s promise to Abraham that He would deliver Sodom if there were enough righteous people in it (Genesis 18:22-33). Surely, they thought, there were enough righteous people in Jerusalem that God would not destroy it."This attitude is nothing less than using the saints as an insurance policy to cover the sinners. It... read more
5. The need of personal righteousness for deliverance 14:12-23This prophecy continues the emphasis on judgment from the previous one and stresses the irrevocability of Jerusalem’s destruction (cf. Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 15:1-4). read more
§ 4. Further Prophecies of Israel's Guilt and approaching Punishment (Ezekiel 12-19)This is a somewhat miscellaneous group of prophecies intermediate in date between the preceding (August-September, 591 b.c.) and succeeding (July-August, 590 b.c.) sections. It includes fresh symbols of exile, flight, and famine (Eze 12:1-20), a doctrine of prophecy, true and false (Eze 12:21 to Eze 14:11), an explanation of God's exceptional treatment of Jerusalem in sparing a remnant (Eze 14:12-23), Ezekiel's... read more
A Divine Principle and an apparent ExceptionAs a rule when God punishes a land for its wickedness by such judgments as famine, wild beasts, sword, or pestilence, the presence in it of the most eminently righteous men will not save the wicked, not even the members of their own families. They will only escape themselves. Jerusalem will be a seeming exception to this principle, since a remnant of its wicked sons and daughters will be spared when the city is taken, and will escape into exile. But... read more
(13) When the land sinneth.—The definite article is not in the Hebrew, and should be omitted, as the proposition is a general one. Also the future tenses throughout the verse should be rendered as present, in accordance with this character of a general statement: “When a land sinneth . . . and I stretch out . . . and break the staff . . . and send famine . . . and cut off.” The particular judgment of famine was threatened in the warnings of the law (Leviticus 26:26; Deuteronomy 28:38-40), and... read more
Ezekiel 14:3 'Sin,'says Baxter ( Saints' Rest, chap. viii.), 'obscures that which it destroys not; for it bears such sway, that grace is not in action. It puts out or dims the eye of the soul, and stupefies it, that it can neither see nor feel its own condition. But especially it provokes God to withdraw Himself, His comforts, and the assistance of His spirit. As long as thou dost cherish thy pride, thy love of the world, the desires of the flesh, or any unchristian practice, thou expectest... read more
Ezekiel 14:1-23 . These inquiring elders, with wickedness in their hearts, give another illustration of the depth of degradation in which the people had sunk. He who searches the hearts knew what was in them. They came with pious, religious pretensions. It sounded well to inquire of the Lord and seek the prophet-priest for that purpose. Their hearts were full of evil. While their lips spoke of asking the Lord, their hearts were full of idolatry. They liked idolatry. Their hearts were in it and... read more
14:13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, {h} and will break the staff of its bread, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:(h) Read Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:17, Isaiah 3:1 . read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ezekiel 14:13-14
Ezekiel 14:13-14. When the land sinneth against me— The design of this and the following verses is, to shew that when the inhabitants of a land have filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God ariseth to execute judgment upon them, the few righteous among them shall not be able to deliver the nation from the judgments determined against it. They shall deliver but their own souls, as we see in the case of Sodom, where there were none righteous except Lot and his family; those just persons... read more