who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’
Parallel Translations
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who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’
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Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
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that say: The time is not near to build houses! this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 11:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’
- Ezekiel 12:27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.’
- Isaiah 5:19 who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Jeremiah 1:11-13 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.” Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.”
- Ezekiel 7:7 Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land! The time has come! The day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains.
- Ezekiel 11:7-11 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you will be brought out of the middle of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will bring you out of the middle of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. You will fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. This will not be your cauldron, neither will you be the meat in the middle of it. I will judge you in the border of Israel.
- Ezekiel 24:3-14 Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says, “Put the cauldron on the fire. Put it on, and also pour water into it. Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece: the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the cauldron. Make it boil well. Yes, let its bones be boiled within it.” “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece. No lot is fallen on it. “ ‘ “For her blood is in the middle of her. She set it on the bare rock. She didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust. That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.” “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood. Make the fire hot. Boil the meat well. Make the broth thick, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty on its coals, that it may be hot, and its bronze may burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in it, that its rust may be consumed. She is weary with toil; yet her great rust, rust by fire, doesn’t leave her. “ ‘ “In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you won’t be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken it. It will happen, and I will do it. I won’t go back. I won’t spare. I won’t repent. According to your ways, and according to your doings, they will judge you,” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Amos 6:5 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
- 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet explains what might be obscure through…
Here the Prophet explains what might be obscure through their perverseness. He brings forward, therefore, what the impious thought could be covered by many fallacies. For we know that hypocrites endeavor to fix their eyes on God, and when they scatter their own clouds before themselves, they think that he is blinded. For this reason Isaiah says, that God also is wise, (Isaiah 31:2,) and derides their cunning, since they think that they blind God’s eyes whilst they conceal their sins with various coverings. Since, therefore, the obstinacy of these men was so great., the Prophet here strips off their mask; for they could be turned aside by perverse counsels to deny that they deserved anything of the kind. But the Prophet here cuts away their pretenses, because, in truth, their impiety was more than sufficiently evident, since they boast that the time is not yet at hand, and, therefore, that they might build houses at Jerusalem as in a time of ease and peace. As we saw in Jeremiah, the time of the last destruction was approaching; everything remaining in the city had now been destined to final ruin: and for this reason Jeremiah advised houses to be built in Chaldea and in foreign lands, since the captives must spend a long period there, even seventy years. (Jeremiah 29:5.) Since then the predicted time was now drawing on, it became extreme folly in the people to oppose themselves, and to treat God’s threats as a laughing-stock, and to boast that it was a time for building. Now, therefore, we see what the Prophet blames and condemns in the five and twenty men who were princes of the people, namely, that they hardened the people in obstinate wickedness, and encouraged torpor, so that the Prophet’s threats were unheeded. Since, therefore, they so stupified the people by their enticements, and took away all sense of repentance, they also set aside all fear of God’s wrath which had been denounced against them. The Prophet condemns this depravity in their counsels.
But, in the second clause, this contempt appears more detestable when they say, that Jerusalem is the caldron, and they are the flesh I do not doubt their allusion to Jeremiah; for in the first chapter the pot was shown, but the fire was from the north, (Jeremiah 1:13;) so then the Spirit wished to teach us, that the Chaldeans would come like a fire to consume Jerusalem, as if a pot is placed on a large and constant fire, even if it be full of water and flesh, yet its contents are consumed, and the juice of the flesh is dried up by too long cooking. God had demonstrated this by his servant Jeremiah: here the Jews deride and factiously elude what ought to strike them with no light fear, unless they had been too slothful: behold, say they, we are the flesh and Jerusalem is the caldron: So they seem to rate the Prophet Jeremiah, as if he were inconsistent, — “What? do you threaten us with captivity? and meanwhile you say that this city will be the pot and the Chaldeans the fire. If God wishes to consume us, therefore let us remain within: thus we may build houses.” Now we understand how they sought some appearance of inconsistency in the words of the Prophet: as reprobate and profane men always take up arguments by which they may diminish and extenuate all faith in heavenly doctrine, nay, even reduce it to nothing if they could. The Prophet, therefore, provides a remedy for this evil, as we have seen. But before he proceeds to it, he repeats their impious saying, that Jerusalem is a caldron, and the people flesh They turned what had been said to a meaning directly contrary, for the Prophet said that they should burn since the Chaldeans would be like fire’ but they said — well, we shall be scorched, but that will be done lightly, so that we shall remain safe to a good old age. Hence we understand how diabolical was their audacity, who were so blinded by the just judgments of God, that they did not scruple petulantly to blame even God himself, and to make a laughingstock of the authority of his teaching. Thus we see in another way how faithfully Ezekiel had discharged his duty: he had been created a Prophet: he had not to discharge his office by himself, but was an assistant to Jeremiah. And we cannot otherwise discharge our duty to God and his Church unless we mutually extend our hands to each other, when ministers are mutually united and one studies to assist the other. Ezekiel now signifies this when he professes himself the ally and assistant of Jeremiah.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thus the wicked derided the Prophets, as though they…
Thus the wicked derided the Prophets, as though they preached but errors, and therefore gave themselves still to their pleasures.
We shall not be pulled out of Jerusalem, till the hour of our death come, as the flesh is not taken out of the caldron till it be sod.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 11:3 Which say, [It is] not near; let…
Eze 11:3 Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses: this [city is] the caldron, and we [be] the flesh.
Ver. 3. Which say, It is not near,] sc., The evil day is not. The vision that he seeth is for many days to come; and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. {Eze 12:22; Eze 12:27} See Amo 6:3 Isa 29:1 2Pe 3:4. And this was likely the evil counsel they gave the king and people, lulling them asleep in the cradle of carnal security.
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Let us build houses.] Though Jeremiah hath counselled us to the contrary, {Jer 29:5} though he, with all the wit he hath, hath told us that this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. {Jer 1:13} Some such thing Jeremiah had indeed foretold, and these profane scoffers made a jeer at it. Captant argutias quibus elevant omnem fidem doctrinae coelestis. This made good Jeremiah complain heavily: Jer 20:7-8, "I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me," &c. Our prophet Ezekiel, though he name him not, yet confirmeth his holy sayings, and threateneth his scurrilous adversaries. Ministers should stand by and for one another.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain What counsel was by these men given appears by…
What counsel was by these men given appears by their words.
It is not near; either the threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans; or else, build, but not in the suburbs, not near, but in the city, that your houses may not shelter the enemy.
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This city is the caldron: this is an impious scoff, yet mixed with some fear, of the prophets, Jer 1:13; Eze 24:6. They deride the prophets, yet secretly dread the thing. Jerusalem is the pot, we the flesh that are to be boiled therein; but this will take up some time however, we were better be so destroyed than to fall by the hands of the Chaldeans, who perhaps may roast what is not boiled here.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Which say it is not near, let us build…
Which say it is not near, let us build houses,.... Meaning that the destruction of the city was not near, as the prophet had foretold, Eze 7:3; and therefore encourage the people to build houses, and rest themselves secure, as being safe from all danger, and having nothing to fear from the Chaldean army; and so putting away the evil day far from them, which was just at hand: though the words may be rendered, "it is not proper to build houses near" (e); near the city of Jerusalem, in the suburbs of it, since they would be liable to be destroyed by the enemy; but this would not be condemned as wicked counsel, but must be judged very prudent and advisable: and the same may be objected to another rendering of the word, which might be offered, "not in the midst to build houses"; or it is not proper to build houses in the midst of the city, in order to receive the multitude that flock out of the country, through fear of the enemy, to Jerusalem for safety; since by this means, as the number of the inhabitants would be increased, so provisions in time would become scarce, and a famine must ensue, which would oblige to deliver up the city into the hands of the besiegers; wherefore the first sense seems best. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render them, "are not the houses lately built?" and so not easily demolished, and are like to continue long, and we in them;
this city is the cauldron, and we be the flesh; referring to, and laughing at, what one of the prophets, namely Jeremiah, had said of them, comparing them to a boiling pot, Jer 1:13; and it is as if they should say, be it so, that this city is as a cauldron or boiling pot, then we are the flesh in it; and as flesh is not taken out of a pot until it is boiled, no more shall we be removed from hence till we die; we shall live and die in this city; and as it is difficult and dangerous to take hot boiling meat out of a cauldron, so it, is unlikely we should be taken out of this city, and carried captive; what a cauldron or brasen pot is to the flesh, it holds and keeps it from falling into the fire; that the walls of Jerusalem are to us, our safety and preservation; nor need we fear captivity.
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(e) "non in propinque aedificandae domus", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Polanus; "non in propinquo aedificare domos", Montanus, Piscator, Starckius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain It - The threatened danger and ruin by the…
It - The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans. The caldron - This is an impious scoff, yet mixt with some fear of the prophet, Jer. i, 13.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. It is not near] That is, the…
Verse 3. It is not near] That is, the threatened invasion.
This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.] See the vision of the seething pot, Jer 1:13. These infidels seem to say: "We will run all risks, we will abide in the city. Though it be the caldron, and we the flesh, yet we will share its fate: if it perish, we will perish with it." Or they may allude to the above prediction of Jeremiah, in order to ridicule it: "We were to have been boiled long ago: but the fulfilment of that prediction is not near yet."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain It is not near - In contradiction to Eze…
It is not near - In contradiction to Eze 7:2.
Let us build houses - “To build houses” implies a sense of security. Jeremiah bade the exiles “build houses” in a foreign land because they would not soon quit it Jer 29:5; Jer 35:7. These false counselors promised to their countrymen a sure and permanent abode in the city which God had doomed to destruction. No need, they said, to go far for safety; you are perfectly safe at home. The Hebrew, however, is, difficult: literally it means, “It is not near to build houses,” which may be explained as spoken in mockery of such counsel as that of Jeremiah: matters have not gone so far as to necessitate “house-building” in a foreign land. The same idea is expressed by the image of the “caldron:” whatever devastation may rage around the city, we are safe within its walls, as flesh within a caldron is unburned by the surrounding fire (compare Eze 24:6).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Built, &c. These men despised the predictions and threats…
Built, &c. These men despised the predictions and threats of the prophets; who declared them to be from God, that the city should be destroyed and the inhabitants carried into captivity: and they made use of this kind of argument against the prophets, that the city so far from being like to be destroyed, had lately be augmented by the building of new houses; from whence they further inferred, by way of a proverb, using the similitude of a cauldron, out of which the flesh is not taken till it is thoroughly boiled and fit to be eaten, that they should not be carried away out of thier city, but there end their days in peace. (Challoner) --- They thought themselves secure, (Worthington) and laughed at the menaces of Jeremias, i. 15. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "The destruction is not soon coming. Let us build;" (Pagnin; Menochius) or, "It is not time to build." (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain It is not near--namely, the destruction of the city;…
It is not near--namely, the destruction of the city; therefore "let us build houses," as if there was no fear. But the Hebrew opposes English Version, which would require the infinitive absolute. Rather, "Not at hand is the building of houses." They sneer at Jeremiah's letter to the captives, among whom Ezekiel lived (Jer 29:5). "Build ye houses, and dwell in them," that is, do not fancy, as many persuade you, that your sojourn in Babylon is to be short; it will be for seventy years (Jer 25:11-12; Jer 29:10); therefore build houses and settle quietly there. The scorners in Jerusalem reply, Those far off in exile may build if they please, but it is too remote a concern for us to trouble ourselves about [FAIRBAIRN], (Compare Eze 12:22, Eze 12:27; Pe2 3:4).
this city . . . caldron . . . we . . . flesh--sneering at Jer 1:13, when he compared the city to a caldron with its mouth towards the north. "Let Jerusalem be so if you will, and we the flesh, exposed to the raging foe from the north, still its fortifications will secure us from the flame of war outside; the city must stand for our sakes, just as the pot exists for the safety of the flesh in it." In opposition to this God says (Eze 11:11), "This city shall not be your caldron, to defend you in it from the foe outside: nay, ye shall be driven out of your imaginary sanctuary and slain in the border of the land. "But," says God, in Eze 11:7, "your slain are the flesh, and this city the caldron; but (not as you fancy, shall ye be kept safe inside) I will bring you forth out of the midst of it"; and again, in Eze 24:3, "Though not a caldron in your sense, Jerusalem shall be so in the sense of its being exposed to a consuming foe, and you yourselves in it and with it."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. It is not near; let us build houses…
3. It is not near; let us build houses — Rather, the time to build houses is not near. The meaning is obscure, but seems to be this: It is no time now for peaceful occupations (Eze_28:26; Isa_65:21; Jer_29:5; Jer_29:28). Jeremiah had called Jerusalem a seething “pot” — the same word as caldron in Hebrew (Jer_1:13) — and so it might become if they did not arouse from their lethargy. But even the walls of an iron pot protect the flesh within it, and it was the part of patriots to strengthen their defenses rather than to give up to despair or leap into the Babylonian fires; therefore they will stay behind the walls, and, if they must die, they will die there. This was the answer of the war party to the prophets who counseled submission to Babylon, and it struck a popular chord.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. It is not near; let us build] Rather…
3. It is not near; let us build] Rather as R.V. The time to build houses is not near, lit. the building of houses is not near. The phrase “to build houses” is to be taken as in ch. Eze_28:26, “And they shall dwell with confidence therein, and shall build houses and plant vineyards and shall dwell with confidence.” To build houses is a sign and a consequence of a time of peace and security (Isa_65:21; Jer_29:5; Jer_29:28). These agitators desire to turn men’s minds away from peaceful occupations, and make them contemplate other measures, assuring them that when war comes the strong city will be their salvation—it is the pot which will protect the flesh from the fire around it. Others, e.g. Ew., take the phrase interrogatively: Is not the building of houses near? This, however, hardly corresponds to the situation, which is not one of war which it is hoped will speedily pass over, but one of contemplated rebellion. LXX. renders: Have not the houses been recently built? it is the pot &c.; so Corn. This gives a closer connexion to the two halves of the verse, but “houses” could hardly have the sense of fortifications, nor does the phrase naturally express the meaning that the damage done to the city when last captured (under Jehoiachin) had been fully repaired.
this city is the caldron] lit. it is the caldron or pot. The phrase implies two things, the danger of fire around, and that the strong city will prove a protection to those within it. These revolutionary spirits are aware of the risks they run, but with a certain grimness of humour they make light of them. The figure here is somewhat different from that of the boiling pot for war common in the Arabic poets.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) It is not near; let us build houses.…
(3) It is not near; let us build houses. -Neither the text nor the marginal reading of the Authorised Version quite accurately represent the original. The expression is literally not near to build houses; and it is to be explained by the prophecy and narrative of Jeremiah 29. After the 10,000 (among whom was Ezekiel) had been carried captive—and apparently shortly after—Jeremiah had sent word to the captives to build houses and make themselves comfortable. because the captivity would be long (Eze_11:5-10). This greatly offended the captives; and Shemaiah, a false prophet among them, had consequently sent letters to Jerusalem asking that Jeremiah might be punished for thus prophesying (Eze_11:24-25). The princes of the people now appear in Ezekiel’s vision as taking up this prophecy of Jeremiah’s and contradicting it: “this need of building houses for a long captivity is not near!” In Eze_7:2-3; Eze_7:12; Eze_12:23, Ezekiel expressly declares that it is very near. The princes further confirmed the people in their fancied security by comparing the city to a caldron, the strong walls of which should protect the flesh within it, i.e., the people, from the fire of all hostile attack. In the prophecy of Eze_24:6 this figure is taken up, and a very different application given to it; it is also turned against them immediately in Eze_11:7. In consequence of this attitude and these sayings of the princes, the prophecy of Eze_11:5-12 is now directed against them.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain It is not near, etc. The words take their…
It is not near, etc. The words take their place among the popular, half-proverbial sayings of which we have other examples in Eze_8:12 Eze_9:9; and Eze_18:2. As in most proverbs of this kind, the thought is condensed to the very verge of obscurity, and the words have received very different interpretations.
(1) That suggested by the Authorized Version. "It (the judgment of which the true prophets spoke) is not near. Let us build houses, not, as Jeremiah bids (39:5), in the land of exile, but here in Jerusalem, where we shall remain in safety. Are we threatened with the imagery of the "seething pot"? (Jer_1:13) Let us remember that the caldron protects the meat in it from the fire. The walls of the city will protect us from the army of the Chaldeans." The temper which clothed itself in this language was that of the self-confident boastful security of Jer_28:3; and the death of Hananiah, the son of Azur, in that history presents a parallel to that of Pelatiah in this.
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(2) Grammatically, however, the rendering of the Revised Version is preferable: The time is not near for building houses; probably, as before, with a reference to Jeremiah"s advice. "We," they seem to say, "are not come to that plaint yet. We will trust, as in (1), in our interpretation of the caldron.
(3) On the whole, I incline, while adopting the Revised Version rendering, to interpret the words, as Smend takes them, as the defiant utterance of despair: "It is no time for building houses, here or elsewhere. We are doomed. We are destined (I borrow the nearest analogue of modern proverbial speech) "to stew in our own juice." Well, let us meet it as we best may.
I find what suggests this view
(1) in the improbability that the thought of the caldron could ever have been received as a message of safety; (comp. Eze_24:3, Eze_24:6) and
(2) in the despairing tone of most of the sayings that Ezekiel records. (Eze_18:2 Eze_37:11) Probably there were, as in other like crises in the history of nations (say, e.g., in those of the Franco-German War) rapid alternations between the two moods of boastful security and defiant despair the galgenhumor, the courage of the gallows, as Smend calls it; and the same words might be uttered now in this temper, and now in that. In either case, there was the root element of the absence of repentance and submission.
Ver. 3. The false confidence of unbelief.
Jeremiah told the captives to settle in the land of exile and build houses there, because the Captivity was to last for generations. (Jer_29:5) But the frivolous people have rejected that wise counsel, and they declare that such provision for exile is not necessary. "It is not time to build these houses the prophet spoke of," they say; "we will stay in the city, like the flesh in the cauldron.
I IMPENITENCE CREATES FALSE CONFIDENCE. This is to be expected, just as we see, on the other hand, that a deep sense of guilt brings with it a fear of judgment to come. When we feel and own our sin, we must admit that we deserve punishment, and we must see that the ground of assurance is cut from beneath our feet. What right have we to believe that God will shield us from harm, while we are bidding defiance to his Law? But while a soul is impenitent the ill desert and threatening doom are not perceived. It does not own that it should be punished. It defends itself and shelters itself behind innumerable excuses. Moreover, the moral sense is now blunt, and the faculty of spiritual insight blind. The messenger of God, too, is regarded as an enemy, and therefore little attention is given to his word. Thus arises a meretricious faith, the opposite of true faith, the confidence of unbelief.
II FALSE CONFIDENCE POSTPONES AND MINIMIZES THE PROSPECT OF CALAMITY.
1. It postpones. Possibly the evil day may lie in the future. This much is tacitly admitted, But it is so far away that we need not give any consideration to it. While the prophet declares that it is at the door, the reckless unbeliever relegates it to a region of dim futurity beyond the horizon of practical considerations.
2. It minimizes. Even if it is admitted that the dreadful day is near, the evil of it is mane little of. "There is no need to build houses," these "Jerusalem sinners" exclaim. The storm may come soon, but it will quickly pass. Thus men make the least of the prospect of future punishment. False confidence first postpones the consideration of it, and then softens its terrors. To the impenitent sinner hell is first a far off possibility; then, though it is a, nearer future, it is not thought to be so unendurable as the preachers declare.
III THERE IS GREAT DANGER IN FALSE CONFIDENCE. The Jews were simply deceiving themselves. Their very language should have revealed their folly to them. They described the city as a cauldron in which they were as the flesh. Their only application of this metaphor was to represent themselves as well inside the city, and therefore as not needing to build other houses. But the prophet did not have to go far afield to find another very obvious application of the same metaphor. The cauldron is to be set on a fire, and the flesh is only placed in it to be seethed. The cauldron, therefore, symbolizes a very dreadful fate (ver. 7). The danger is not the less because we close our eyes to it. Meanwhile a false confidence hinders the impenitent from fleeing from the impending calamity and seeking a place of refuge. Light views of sin and judgment to come lull the careless into a fatal sleep.
Judgment deferred.
The evil counsellors of Jerusalem did their worst to counteract the effect of the message which the Lord"s prophets were commissioned to communicate. Thus it came to pass that the inhabitants of the city were encouraged to neglect the obvious duties of repentance and supplication; and, when the time of judgment came, were found unprepared. The means by which the devisers of mischief brought about this result are described in this passage. They induced the citizens to believe that, if the threatened judgment were ever to come, it would not be yet, not probably in their time; and encouraged the citizens to build houses, and to live as if no catastrophe were about to befall them. If the ruin of Jerusalem were appointed, at all events that ruin was "not near.
I THE WAY IN WHICH SINNERS TREAT THE THREATS OF GOD"S AUTHORIZED MINISTERS.
1. It is often the bounden duty of faithful messengers of God to foretell the approach of chastisement and judgment. A painful duty it always is; and it is to be leaped that on this account many shrink from discharging it. Even the tender and gracious Jesus now and again denounced the sins of the self-righteous and hypocritical, and warned such that condemnation awaited them. No one can carry out the office of a minister of righteousness who does not remind the unbelieving and impenitent that "the wages of sin is death.
2. It is observable that such admonitions are often treated with neglect andcontempt. It has been thus from the time of Noah, whose warnings were unheeded and ridiculed by his contemporaries. The admonitions of Christ himself in some instances only embittered the hostility of those whom he reproached. Every servant of God has had occasion to exclaim, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
II THE ERROR WHICH SINNERS COMMIT IN SO TREATING GOD"S MESSAGE.
1. Many who hear the warnings and threats addressed to them give nocredit to what they hear, and do not expect the predictions to be fulfilled. They have more confidence in their own judgment and in their own good fortune than in the Word of the Lord. They do not wish to believe, and they will not bellow.
2. Many who do not absolutely disbelieve and reject the message,nevertheless persuade themselves that its fulfilment will be indefinitely deferred, and indeed is altogether uncertain. Such seems to have been the case with the evil counsellors, whose guidance was accepted in Jerusalem. Their answer to every prediction of calamity was this: "It is not near!" It is with the same excuse that the Word of God is so constantly encountered in our own days; and there are those who may not make this excuse in words, who yet cherish it in their hearts and act upon it in their conduct. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
III THE FOLLY AND WICKEDNESS OF SUCH TREATMENT OF GOD"S MESSAGE. What shall be said of the attitude of those whose one reply is this: "It is not near"?
1. They must be reminded that time, after all, is of comparatively littleimportance. The main question for us is this Is God angry with the wicked? Is his wrath to be revealed against the ungodly? If it is so, then how can we attach great importance to the question Will this be made manifest this year or next year; now or at some future time?
2. They must be reminded that the judgment foretold may be actuallynearer than is supposed or believed. It was so in the case of Jerusalem in the time of Ezekiel. It has often been so. Men have been eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, when sudden destruction has come upon them.
3. They must be reminded that, near or far, the judgment of the SupremeRuler is inevitable. "Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.