endeavoured to put a stop to the wrath of God, which was ready to fall upon that people.

Reflections.

THERE are two things chiefly to be observed in this chapter: I. An enumeration of the crimes that reigned in Jerusalem, a little before it was taken and destroyed by the Babylonians. The Jews had given themselves up to idolatry, injustice, uncleanness, and to abominations of every kind, and had profaned religion, and the service of God in the most shocking manner. This it was that deprived them of the divine protection, and obliged God to put his threatenings in execution. These sins, no doubt, God does still abhor, and much more in Christians, and will never fail to punish those who do such things. II. The next thing to be observed here is, that God does particularly complain of persons in a public character; that the prophet seduced the people; that the priests broke the law, and profaned holy things; and that the magistrates were addicted to injustice, dishonest gain, fraud, and violence. From these complaints, which God so frequently makes, we may learn, that when the rulers of the Church and the civil magistrates are without religion and virtue, impiety and corruption must needs make great havoc, and we can expect nothing but the utmost misery. Pastors and governors ought seriously to consider this, that they may not be the authors of corruption, and of public calamities, nor occasion the eternal perdition of those that God has set them over.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THIS chapter contains the parable of two sisters that lived in whoredom, who represent the two kingdoms of Israel; that is, the kingdom of Samaria, or of the ten tribes, which had first forsaken the worship of God and set up idolatry, and the kingdom of Judah, which had herein imitated the ten tribes. The

Lord declares, that as those tribes had been given into the hands of the Assyrians for their idolatry; so the men of Judah, who had been witnesses of the punishment of their brethren, and instead of taking warning by it, had surpassed them in wickedness, should shortly be laid waste by the Chaldeans.

Reflections.

THE Complaints which God makes in this chapter, both against the Israelites of the ten tribes, and the men of Judah, leave us no room to doubt but he is particularly offended, when those to whom he has made himself known, corrupt his worship, and rebel against him. What is here said, under the similitude of adultery, shows, that they who are thus unfaithful to God, break his covenant, and expose themselves to the most dreadful effects of his wrath; and since God declares himself much more incensed against the Jews of Jerusalem, among whom his worship had been preserved, than against those of the ten tribes; we may from hence learn, that rebellion against God, in those who have been distinguished by peculiar privileges, is still more odious than in others.

CHAPTER XXIV.

I. GOD reveals to Ezekiel, who was then in Chaldea, that upon that very day the king of Babylon had laid siege to Jerusalem, and orders him to represent the destruction of that city by the type of a caldron, in which flesh was boiled, and afterwards made red-hot. II. That same day Ezekiel's wife died, but God forbids him to weep, or to use any tokens of mourning, to show, that the desolation of Jerusalem would be so great and general, that husbands and wives, parents and children, and all the nearest relations, could not be able to lament the death of each other.

Reflections.

WHAT We are to consider in this chapter is, I. That although Ezekiel was in Chaldea, and very far from Jerusalem, God made known to him the very day in which the king of Babylon had begun the siege of Jerusalem; by which it appears, that God perfectly knows all that passes in the world. II. The type of a caldron in which flesh is boiled, and which when empty was put upon the fire again to take away its scum, signified, according to the explanation God gave of that similitude, that the wrath of God was going to be poured upon Jerusalem, and upon all its inhabitants, and that his wrath is a consuming fire. III. We must observe, that Jerusalem was treated in this manner, because it was defiled and full of abominations; in it blood had been spilt, and its inhabitants committed all manner of wickedness, and remained utterly incorrigible. God proportions men's punishments to their sins, and to the condition they are in, and proceeds to extremities, and makes use of the most severe punishments, when their obstinacy is insurmountable. IV. God's forbidding the prophet to weep for the death of his wife, though she was dear to him, was to show the captive Jews how dreadful the ruin of their brethren in Judea would be, since their dead should not be so much as lamented; and Ezekiel's obedience to the command, which must needs be grievous to him, shows that we must sacrifice what is dearest to us when God commands; and that the interest of his glory should more nearly concern us than our own private interest.

CHAPTER XXV.

Ezekiel foretells, that the Ammonites, the Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, who were neighbours and enemies to the Jews, should be soon destroyed, because they had rejoiced at the ruin of Jerusalem.

Reflections.

THESE three things are to be considered in this chapter I. That Ezekiel, after he had foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jews, denounces the divine vengeance against their enemies. This shows that God is righteous, and if he punishes and corrects his own people, neither will he spare the enemies of his church. II. That the destruction of the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, happened soon after the taking of Jerusalem, those people being subdued by the king of Babylon, agreeably to the threatenings denounced against them by Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. III. The next consideration is, that God displayed his judgments against those people, because they had provoked him, and to punish their pride and inhumanity in insulting the Jews in the time of their calamity. It is a great sin to rejoice at the miseries of other men, and to be hard and cruel to such as are in affliction; and God severely and justly punishes those who are so; as, on the contrary, he blesses those who are affected with the sufferings of others, and that comfort them.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THIS chapter, and the two following, are a prophecy against the Tyrians. In this Ezekiel foretells the destruction of the city of Tyre. He says, that that city, which had rejoiced to see Jerusalem laid waste by king Nebuchadnezzar, should be taken, plundered, and destroyed by the same king.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Ezekiel describes the great commerce of the Tyrians with other nations, their immense riches, and how astonished every one would be at their destruction.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Ezekiel represents the pride of the king of Tyre; he says, that Zidon, a city bordering upon Tyre, should likewise be destroyed; and he promises the Jews, that they should return from their captivity, and dwell again in their own land.

Reflections on chap. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii.

On the twenty-sixth and two following chapters, observe, that though the city of Tyre was exceeding powerful, by reason of its situation on the sea-shore, its extensive commerce, its immense riches, and its alliance with almost all the nations of the world, as we read in the twenty-seventh chapter; yet it was very soon to be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, who would take it, and spoil it of all its glory. In truth, a little after this prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar took the city of Tyre, after a siege of thirteen years, and destroyed it in such a manner, that it was not rebuilt; for the new city of Tyre was not built in the same place where the ancient city stood. One cannot avoid considering this event as the work of God; especially if we reflect, that it had been foretold, with all its circumstances, not only by the prophet Ezekiel, eighteen years beforehand; but also by Isaiah, above an hundred and twenty years before. Moreover, we are to ascribe this destruction of Tyre to the idolatry that prevailed in it, to the pride and luxury which great riches had introduced, and to the hatred which the Tyrians bore to the Jews. Thus Providence humbles the most powerful states, and the most flourishing cities, to restrain the impiety, pride, injustice, luxury, dissoluteness, and other crimes, which usually attend plenty and prosperity. Lastly, we are to take notice, that when Ezekiel denounces the judgments of God against the idolatrous nations, as well as against the Jews, he does not promise that they should be restored, as the people of God had reason to hope. This must administer com