And will cut off from thee] The land of Judea.

The righteous and the wicked.] All shall be removed from thee. Some shall be cut off-removed by the sword; shall be slain in battle, or by the pestilence; and some shall be cut off-die by the famine; and some shall be cut off-removed from the land by captivity. Now, among the two latter classes there might be many righteous as well as wicked. And when all the provisions were consumed, so that there was no more bread in the city, during the siege by Nebuchadnezzar, the righteous must have suffered as well as the wicked; for they could not be preserved alive, but by miracle, when there was no bread; nor was their perishing for want any loss to them, because the Lord would take them straight to his glory. And however men in general are unwilling to die, yet there is no instance, nor can there be, of any man's complaint that he got to heaven too soon.

Again, if God had permitted none to be carried off captive but the wicked, the case of these would be utterly hopeless, as there would be none to set a good example, to preach repentance, to reprove sin, or to show God's willingness to forgive sinners. But God, in his mercy, permitted many of the righteous to be carried off also, that the wicked might not be totally abandoned, or put beyond the reach of being saved. Hence, both Ezekiel and Daniel, and indeed several others, prophets and righteous men, were thus cut off from the land, and carried into captivity. And how much was God's glory and the good of men promoted by this! What a seed of salvation was sown, even in the heathen countries, by thus cutting off the righteous with the wicked! To this we owe, under God, many of the Psalms, the whole of the Book of Ezekiel, all the prophecies of Daniel, the bright example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, the decrees passed in favour of the religion of the true God by Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, &c. And to this dispensation of God's merciful providence we owe the Books and example of Ezra and Nehemiah. Where then is the injustice, so loudly declaimed against, of God's thus cutting off from the land of Judea the righteous with the wicked? The righteous were not cut off for the crimes of the wicked, (see chap. xviii.,) nor were these crimes visited upon them, yet several of them shared in the common calamity, but none perished. Those that were removed by a violent death, (and I believe we shall find few such,) got a speedier entrance into eternal glory.

Ezek. 21:1-17 Here is an explanation of the parable in the las chapter. It is declared that the Lord was about to cut off Jerusale and the whole land, that all might know it was his decree against wicked and rebellious people. It behoves those who denounce the awfu wrath of God against sinners, to show that they do not desire the wofu day. The example of Christ teaches us to lament over those whose rui we declare. Whatever instruments God uses in executing his judgments he will strengthen them according to the service they are employed in The sword glitters to the terror of those against whom it is drawn. It is a sword to others, a rod to the people of the Lord. God is in earnest in pronouncing this sentence, and the prophet must show himsel in earnest in publishing it.

Ezek. 21:18-27 By the Spirit of prophecy Ezekiel foresa Nebuchadnezzar's march from Babylon, which he would determine by divination. The Lord would overturn the government of Judah, till the coming of Him whose right it is. This seems to foretell the overturnings of the Jewish nation to the present day, and the trouble of states and kingdoms, which shall make way for establishing the Messiah's kingdom throughout the earth. The Lord secretly leads all to adopt his wise designs. And in the midst of the most tremendou warnings of wrath, we still hear of mercy, and some mention of Hi through whom mercy is shown to sinful men.

Ezek. 21:28-32 The diviners of the Ammonites made false prophecies of victory. They would never recover their power, but in time would be wholly forgotten. Let us be thankful to be employed as instruments of mercy; let us use our understandings in doing good; and let us stan aloof from men who are only skilful to destroy __________________________________________________________________

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