Ezekiel 11:1-13 - Homilies By W. Jones

The presumptuous security of sinners exhibited and condemned.

"Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord's house," etc.

I. THE PRESUMPTUOUS AND FALSE SECURITY OF SINNERS EXHIBITED . ( Ezekiel 11:1-3 .) The twenty-live men here mentioned are not the same as those mentioned in Ezekiel 8:16 ; for already they have been slain in vision. In both places the number is a round one. And in this place it is clear that they were leaders of the people; for they gave counsel unto them, and two princes of the people were in the midst of them. Their conduct shows to us:

1 . Sinners boasting their security in defiance of the declarations of the Lord by his prophets. Some of the exiles in Babylon had looked forward to a speedy return to their own land. Jeremiah the prophet sent to them a letter to correct this error, saying, "Build ye houses, and dwell in them;" and assuring them that not until they had accomplished seventy years of exile would they be permitted to return to the land of their fathers ( Jeremiah 29:1-14 ). In the same letter he threatened those that were loft at Jerusalem with "the sword, the famine, and the pestilence." And these five and twenty men, in mockery of the words of the prophet, said, "It is not near to build houses." They encouraged themselves and others in the opinion that, however it might be with the captives in Babylon, they were safe enough in Jerusalem, and need not trouble themselves about building houses. Moreover, Jeremiah had seen in vision a seething pot, or cauldron, with its face toward the north, which symbolized the coming of the kingdoms of the north against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah, and taking them ( Jeremiah 1:13-16 ). And in derision of this prophecy these twenty-five men said," This is the cauldron, and we a, e the flesh." As the flesh within the cauldron is safe from the surrounding fire, so they regarded themselves as safe within their city wails, whatever forces may rage outside them. They deemed their position a secure one, and would trust to their city walls and defensive arrangements, rather than heed the words of the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In most ages there have been presumptuous and profane scoffers at the threatenings of Divine judgments (cf. 2 Peter 3:3 , 2 Peter 3:4 ). And in our own age there are many who persist in sin, notwithstanding the warnings addressed to them in the sacred Scriptures. And if their own conscience also remonstrates with and warns them, they make light of its admonitions. They seem to think that they can sin on with impunity, that somehow they will escape the natural consequences of their trangressions (cf. Jeremiah 5:12 ).

2 . Sinners in influential positions forming wicked plans and proffering wicked counsel, and so misleading others. "These are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city." They entered into political intrigues, and formed plans of resistance against the enemy in direct opposition to the will of God expressed by Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 21:8-10 ; Jeremiah 27:8-18 ; Jeremiah 38:17-23 ). By following this course, these five and twenty men had brought calamity and slaughter upon many whom they had misled (verse 6). Sin, mischievous in any one, is especially mischievous in those who, by reason of their position and influence, lead others astray. When leaders in society by evil and perilous examples, or politicians or statesmen by unwise or unrighteous speeches or measures, or authors by injurious books, mislead or corrupt others, it is unspeakably pernicious. Great is the responsibility attached to great influence, and great is the guilt when that influence is exerted for evil.

II. THE PRESUMPTUOUS AND FALSE SECURITY OF SINNERS CONDEMNED . (Verses 4-13.) Notice:

1 . The Divine knowledge of their evil designs. "Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them;" or, as Hengstenberg translates, "And that which riseth up in your mind I know." To the Omniscient all their thoughts and purposes were fully known (cf. Deuteronomy 31:21 ; Psalms 139:1-6 ; John 2:24 , John 2:25 ; Acts 1:24 ; and see a homily on this verse which appears below).

2 . The disastrous consequences of their evil designs. "Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain." At this time bloodshed and murder were terribly prevalent in Jerusalem, and were amongst the chief crimes mentioned by Ezekiel as calling for the Divine judgment upon the city and its guilty inhabitants (cf. Ezekiel 8:17 ; Ezekiel 9:9 ). And in addition, "the slain" includes those who would be killed "by the Chaldeans, already slain from the standpoint taken up in the discourse of God." And they are said to be the slain of" the men that devise mischief," because their deaths were a consequence of their evil counsels. Who can gauge the miseries that arise in every age from the evil counsels of incompetent, unprincipled, or wicked leaders of men?

3 . The fatal issue of their evil designs. (Verses 8-13.) Here are several points which call for brief notice.

III. THE SORROW OF A GODLY MAN IN VIEW OF GOD 'S JUDGMENTS UPON THE WICKED , "Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?" To Ezekiel the death of Pelatiah was an awful pledge of the death of all the others against whom he had prophesied; and it so deeply affected his spirit as to cause him to cry out thus to God (we have noticed these words on Ezekiel 9:8 ). "Sudden or great judgments do put the saints and servants of God upon humble, earnest, and argumentative prayer. Humble, 'Then fell! down upon my face;' earnest, 'and cried with a loud voice;' argumentative, 'Ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?'" (Greenhill).

CONCLUSION . Learn:

1 . The peril of presumption in any course which is opposed to the will of God.

2 . The great worth to a people of wise and upright leaders.— W.J.