Ezekiel 5:13 - Exposition

I will cause my fury to rest upon them, etc.; Revised Version, I will satisfy, etc. The phrase meets us again in Ezekiel 16:42 ; Ezekiel 21:17 ; Ezekiel 24:13 . To "rest" here is to "repose" rather than to "abide." The thought is that a righteous anger, like that of Jehovah, rests ( i.e. is quieted) when it has done its work, and that in this sense God is "comforted," either as rejoicing in the punishment of evil for its own sake (as in Deuteronomy 28:63 ; Isaiah 1:24 ), or because the punishment does its work in leading men to repentance. Israel may be comforted, because God is comforted as he sees that his judgments have done their work, and that his wrath can find repose. Have spoken in my zeal . The thought implied is that what is spoken in the earnest purpose of "zeal" will assuredly be carried into execution (comp. Isaiah 9:7 ; Isaiah 37:32 ). Men might deride the prophet's warning as an idle threat. It would prove itself to have come from God.