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Gracious promises of

A. M. cir. 3417. Ol. XLVIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir, annum 30.

B. C. eir. 587.

EZEKIEL.

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14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.

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16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak funto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, & Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my "sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice i upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

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19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

-a Ver. 12. Rev.

y Chap. xxviii. 22.- -z Heb. men of continuance.b Heb. build.- That is, the multitude. d Ver. 12. xix. 17.- Heb. to the fowl of every wing.- - Isa. xviii. 6; xxxiv. 6; Jer. xii. 9; Zeph. i. 7.—Or, slaughter.- - Ver. 4. Rev. xix. 18.-Heb. great goats.- Deut. xxxii. 14; Psa. xxii. 12.- Psa. lxxvi. 6; chap. xxxviii. 4.

found by a passenger, the place was marked, that, the buriers might see and inter it. Seven months was little time enough for all this work; and in that country putrescency does not easily take place; the scorching winds serving to desiccate the flesh, and preserve it from decomposition.

Verse 17. Gather yourselves—to my sacrifice] This is an allusion to a custom common in the east when a sacrifice is made, the friends and neighbours of the party sacrificing are invited to come and feast on the sacrifice. Verse 18. Ye shall—drink the blood of the princes of the earth] I need not mention the custom of the Scandinavians: they were accustomed to drink the ́blood of their enemies out of the skulls of the dead. But this is spoken of fowls and beasts here-rams, lambs, and goats. The feast shall be as grateful and as plenteous to the fowls and beasts, as one made of the above animals, the fattest and best of their kind, (because fed in the fertile fields of Bashan,) would be to the guests of him who makes a sacrifice.

Verse 19. And ye shall eat fat-and drink blood]

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restoration to the Jews.

A. M. cir. 3417.

B. C. cir. 587.

Ol. XLVIII. 2.

Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman.,

cir. annum 30. among the

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD. 21 P And I will set my glory heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judg ment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and "gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them...

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27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their Rev. xix. 18.- Chap. xxxviii. 16, 23.- Exod. vii. 4. r Ver. 7, 28.- Chap. xxxvi. 18, 19, 20, 23. Deut. xxxi. 17; Isa. lix. 2. Lev. xxvi. 25. --5 Chap. xxxvi. 19.- . Jer. xxx. 3, 18; chap. xxxiv. 13; xxxvi. 21.- Chap. xx. 40; Hos. i, 11.—y Dan. ix. 16.—2 Lev. xxvi. 5, 6,—a Chap. xxviii. 25, 26. Who shall eat and drink, &c.? Not the Jews; though Voltaire says they ate human flesh, and are invited here by the prophet to eat the flesh and drink the blood of their enemies; which is a most unprincipled falsehood. It is the fowls and the beasts that God invites, ver. 17: "Speak to every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, assemble yourselves-that ye may eat flesh and drink blood;" nor are the persons altered in all these verses, 17, 18, 19, 20: so the assertion of Voltaire is either through brutish ignorance or Satanic malice.

Verse 25. Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob] Both they and the heathen shall know that it was for their iniquity that I gave them into the hands of their enemies and now I will redeem them from those hands in such a way as to prove that I am a merciful God, as well as a just God.

| Verse 26. After that they have borne their shame] After they shall have borne the punishment due to a line of conduct which is their shame and reproach, viz. idolatry. Verse 27. When I have―gathered them] Antiochus

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enemies' lands, and bam sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

28 Then shall they know that I am the Lord their GoD, d which caused them to be led into captivity among the heaChap. xxxvi. 23, 24; xxxviii. 16.- Chap. xxxiv. 30; had before captured many of the Jews, and sold them for slaves; see Dan. xi. 33.

ver. 22.

Verse 28. And have left none of them any more there.] All that chose had liberty to return; but many remained behind. This promise may therefore refer to a greater restoration, when not a Jew shall be left behind. This, the next verse intimates, will be in the Gospel dispensation,

restoration to the Jews.

then but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

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4. M. cir. 3417.

B. C. cir. 587.

ol. XLVIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman.,

cir. annum 30.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel,saith the LordGOD.

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Heb. by my causing of them, &c.- Isa. liv. 8.-f Joel ii. 28; Zech. xii. 10; Acts ii. 17.

Verse 29. For I have poured out my Spirit] That is, I will pour out my Spirit; see the notes on chap. xxxvi. 25-29, where this subject is largely considered. This Spirit is to enlighten, quicken, purify, and cleanse their hearts; so that, being completely changed, they shall become God's people, and be a praise in the earth. Now, they are a proverb of reproach; then, they shall be eminently distinguished.

A NEW PLAN OF THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM.

[For an explanation of this plan, and of the accompanying map of the division of the Land of Canaan, see at the end of chap. xlviii.]

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534

DIVISION OF THE LAND OF CANAAN,

The description of

CHAP. XL.

the new temple.

CHAPTER XL.

The prophecy or vision, which begins here, continues to the end of the Book. The Temple of Jerusalem lying in ruins when Ezekiel had this vision, (for its date is the fourteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,) the Jews needed consolation. If they were not promised a restoration of the temple, they would not feel so great an interest in returning home. It is thought by some that no model of Solomon's Temple had remained. To direct them, therefore, in the dimensions, parts, order, and rules of their new temple might be one reason why Ezekiel is so particular in the description of the old; to which the new was conformable in figure and parts, though inferior in magnificence, on account of the poverty of the nation at the time. Whatever was dugust or illustrious in the prophetic figures, and not literally fulfilled in or near their own times, the ancient Jews properly considered as belonging to the time of the Messiah. Accordingly, upon finding that the latter temple fell short of the model of the temple here described by Ezekiel, they supposed the prophecy to refer, at least in part, to the period now mentioned. And we, who live under the Gospel dispensation, have apostolical authority for the assertion that the temple and temple worship were emblematic of Christ's Church, frequently represented in the New Testament under the metaphor of a temple, in allusion to the symmetry, beauty, and firmness of that of Solomon; to its orderly worship; and to the manifestations it had of the Divine Presence. This chapter commences with the time, manner, and end of the vision, 1-5. We have next a description of the east gate, 6-19, the north' gate, 20-22, and the south gate, 24-31. 4 farther description of the east gate, 32–34, and of the north gate, 35-38, Account of the eight tables, 39-43; of the chambers, 44-47; and of the porch of the temple, 48, 49..

A. M. 3430.
B. C. 574.. -.
Olymp. LI. 3.
Anno

Servii Tullii,

R. Roman., 5.

IN the five and twentieth year

teenth year after that the city of our captivity, in the be- was smitten, in the selfsame day ginning of the year, in the tenth the hand of the LORD was upon day of the month, in the four-me, and brought me thither.

a Chap. xxxiii. 21.

› NOTES ON CHAP. XL.

Verse 1. In the five and twentieth year of our captivity] According to the date here given, this prophecy was delivered on Tuesday, April 20, A. M. 3430, in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, and fourteen years after the taking of Jerusalem.

The temple here described by Ezekiel is, in all pròbability, the same which he saw before his captivity, and which had been burned by the Chaldeans fourteen years before this vision. On comparing the Books of Kings and Chronicles with this prophet, we shall find the same dimensions in the parts described by both; for instance, the temple, or place which comprehended the sanctuary, the holy place, and the vestibule or porch before the temple, is found to measure equally the same both in Ezekiel and the Kings. Compare 1 Kings vi. 3-16, with chap. xli. 2, &c. The inside ornaments of the temple are entirely the same; in both we see two courts; an inner one for the priests, and an outer one for the people. Compare 1 Kings vi. 29-36; 2 Chron, iv. 9, and Ezek. xli. 16, 17, and xlviii. 7-10. So that there is room to suppose that, in all the rest, the temple of Ezekiel resembled the old one; and that God's design in retracing these ideas in the prophet's memory was to preserve the remembrance of the plan, the dimensions, the ornaments, and whole structure of this Divine edifice; and that at the return from captivity the people might more easily repair it, agreeably to this model. The prophet's applying himself to describe this edifice was a motive of hope to the Jews of seeing themselves one day delivered from captivity, the temple rebuilt, and their nation restored to its ancient inheritance. Ezekiel touches very slightly upon the description of the temple or house of the

b Chap. i. 3.

A. M. 3430. Olymp. LI. 3.

B. C. 574.

Anno Servii Tullii, R. Roman., 5.

Lord, which comprehended the holy place or sanctuary, and which are so exactly described in the Books of Kings. He dwells more largely upon the gates, the galleries, and apartments, of the temple, concerning which the history of the kings had not spoken, or only just taken notice of by the way.

This is the judgment of Calmet; and although every Biblical critic is of the same opinion, yet more labour is spent on rebuilding this temple of Ezekiel than was spent on that built by Solomon! The Jesuits, Prada and Villalpand, have given three folio volumes on this temple, with abundance of cuts,, where the different parts are exhibited after the finest models of Grecian and Roman architecture! But still the building is incomplete. Now, of what consequence is all this to the Christian, or to any other reader? I confess I see not. While, then, we have the exact dimensions and accurate description in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, of that built by Solomon, in imitation of whịch this plan bý Ezekiel was drawn, we need not be very solicitous about the manner of measuring and describing used by the prophet; as, when we have laboured through the whole, we have only the measurements and description of that built by Solomon, and delineated by a hand not less faithful in the First Book of Kings, chap. vi., and 2 Chron. ii., iii., iv., v., and vi.

As the prophet knew that the Chaldeans had utterly destroyed the temple, he thought it necessary to preserve an exact description of it, that on their restoration the people might build one on the same model. As to allegorical meanings relative to this temple, I can say nothing: God has given no data by which any thing of this kind can be known or applied; and as to those who have laboured in this way, perhaps "Solomon's

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EZEKIEL.

the new temple.

A. M. 3430.
B. C. 574.

God little chambers were five cubits; land and the threshold of the gate by Olymp. LI. 3. upon the porch of the gate within was by one reed.

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which was south. 3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

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4 And the man said unto me, i Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for to the intent that I might show them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

5 And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and a hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

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6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad.

7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the C Chap. viii. 3.- d Rev. xxi. 10, ▬▬e Or, upon which, -Chap. i. 7; Dan. x. 6. Chap. xlvii. 3.- Rev. xi. 1; xxi. 15. Temple Spiritualized, by John Bunyan," is equally good with their well-intended inventions. Those who wish to enter much into the particulars of this temple must have recourse to the more voluminous expositors, who on this subject seem to have thought that they could never say enough. See also the accompanying map. Verse 2. Set me upon a very high mountain] Mount Moriah, the mount on which Solomon's temple was built, 2 Chron. iii. 1.

Verse 3. A man, whose appearance was like-brass] Like bright polished brass, which strongly reflected the rays of light. Probably he had what we would term a nimbus or glory round his head. This was either an angel; or, as some think, a personal appearance of our blessed Lord.

Verse 4. Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel] That they may know how to build the second temple, when they shall be restored from their captivity. Verse 5. A measuring reed of six cubits long] The Hebrew cubit is supposed to be about twenty and a half inches; and a palm, about three inches more; the length of the rod about ten feet six inches.

Anno Servii Tullii, R. Roman., 5.

8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.

9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits: and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.

10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.

11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.

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12 The space also before the little cham bers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.

13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door,

14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the posts of the court round about the gate.

15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.

iChap. xliv. 5.

Chap, xliii. 10. Chap. xlii. 20.—— Heb. whose face was the way toward the east.—n Heb. limit, or bound. The breadth one reed; and the height, one reed.] As this wall was as broad as it was high, it must have been a kind of parapet, which was carried, of the same dimensions, all round the temple. See AAAA in the plan.

Verse 6. Went up the stairs thereof] As the temple was built upon an eminence, there must have been steps on the outside, opposite to each door, to ascend by. And it appears there were steps to go up from one court to another, see ver. 22, 26, 34, 37; and also from the court of the priests to the sanctuary, ver. 49. See MMMMM in the plan.

Verse 7. And every little chamber was one reed] These were the chambers of the buildings which were within the inclosure of the temple round the court, and these chambers appear to have been numerous. See the map, which has been carefully copied from that of Calmet.

Verse 9. The porch of the gate] See account of the gates in the plan.

Verse 15. Fifty cubits.] The length of the building, See MMMMM in the plan.

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