Ezekiel 7:4

Eze 7:4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Ver. 4. And mine eye shall not spare thee.] Eze 5:11. See on Jer 13:14.

And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee.] Ut quae antea latuerant, in aperture prodeant.

And ye shall know that I am the Lord.] That smiteth you. {Eze 7:9}

An evil, an only evil,] viz., Without mixture of mercy, or that shall smite thee down at one only blow. {as 1Sa 26:8 Nah 1:9} The Vulgate, after the Chaldee, rendereth it, An evil after an evil - q.d., Lighter and lesser judgments have done no good upon thee. Now I will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness. {Rom 9:28} Ruinam praecedunt stillicidia. Drops precede disaster.

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.

thine abominations--the punishment of thine abominations.

shall be in the midst of thee--shall be manifest to all. They and thou shall recognize the fact of thine abominations by thy punishment which shall everywhere befall thee, and that manifestly.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee] They shall ever stare thee in the face, upbraid thee with thy ingratitude and disobedience, and be witnesses against thee.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In other words he confines his own sentence, that God will not spare them, nor will he be entreated. For when hypocrites hear the praises of God which are assigned to him in scripture, namely, that he is merciful and long-suffering, (Numbers 14:18; Psalm 103:8,) they seize upon them and fabricate for themselves the material of foolish and perverse confidence. God here pronounces that his pity would not be accessible to the wicked, who do not cease to repel it far from them. And this is worthy of notice, because nothing is more natural than to be intoxicated with false hope when we hear that God is merciful, unless we know for what purpose he testifies this concerning himself, namely, that sinners may betake themselves to him, and may fearlessly call upon him, and implore his mercy, of which they have such remarkable testimony. But hypocrites always become worse, meanwhile they wish God to be propitious to them. Hence when he says, his eye will not spare, neither would he pity them, his intention must be observed, that. wicked and ungodly men should not think his clemency prepared for them against which they have previously shut the door. Because I will put thy ways upon thee — that is, I will cast thy wickedness against thee. We see then that the people’s sins were placed before them, and as it were lay there as long as God spared them. Now, therefore, he first signifies that they should have no cause of quarrel or complaint, because he will cast against them the iniquities which they had heaped upon him. Then also he silently accuses them of too much security, because they never could be brought to repentance, while God sustained and tolerated their sins. And thy abominations, he says, shall be in the midst of thee They were so from the first as far as their guilt was concerned, but God had not yet poured forth his anger. He says, therefore, thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee, because it should really appear that they were not obstinate against God without punishment. Again he repeats, ye shall know that I am Jehovah It is quite clear, that by their obstinacy they compelled God to speak thus, since they despised Ezekiel. But although they pretended to some piety, it cannot be doubted that they would despise God himself.

Therefore he reproves their impiety so sharply, because they denied that God was God as often as they withdrew their confidence from the teaching of the holy man. It follows —

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.

4. mine eye shall not spare] So Eze_7:9, ch. Eze_5:11, Eze_8:18, Eze_9:10. From their calamities the people shall learn not only that he that inflicts them is their God, whom they called Jehovah (a thing which they were slow to learn, Amo_3:2; Amo_5:18), but also what the nature of that God is—that he is Jehovah, the true and righteous God (a thing which they were even slower to learn), cf. Eze_7:27, ch. Eze_6:7, Eze_12:20, &c.

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.

Thus saith the Lord God,.... Here should be a stop, a colon, requiring attention to what follows, it being something awful and terrible:

an evil, an only evil, behold, it cometh; meaning the destruction of the city and temple; which, though but one, was such an one as was never known before nor was there any like it. The Targum is,

"evil after evil, lo, it cometh;''

one evil after another; when one evil is gone, another comes, as in Eze 7:26. The Syriac version is, "behold, evil for evil comes"; the evil of punishment for the evil of sin.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mine eye: see Eze 5:11.

Thine abominations, not only the punishment and smart, but the vileness, loathsomeness, and hatefulness of thy sins, shall be,

in the midst of thee; ever before thee, and openly known to others also, or shall reach thy very heart. See Eze 6:10,13.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity — Although Jehovah is “merciful and gracious,” there comes a time when he must not spare the guilty (Exo_34:7). The pity which will not execute a promised and deserved punishment has little regard for the majesty of the law and the possible reformation of the offenders. (See Eze_5:11; Eze_7:9; Eze_8:18; Eze_9:10.) These judgments are redemptive. God’s wrath is the anger of love, and there is a divine compassion in his refusal to avert the just punishment of sin. I will recompense thy ways upon thee, etc. — “Sin, when it is full-grown, gendereth death” (Jas_1:15). Death is the legitimate child of persistent sin. The worst thing that can happen to a man or a nation is to have their evil ways fall upon them and their abominations bring forth their natural fruitage. When a nation which has sown to the wind begins to reap the whirlwind it begins also to think that there may be a God in Israel.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee, etc. These are, of course, primarily the idolatries of Israel. The people are to reap what they have sown. Their sins should be recognized in their punishment.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 4. Recompense.

All earthly government presumes the ideas of responsibility and retribution. Human nature itself contains what may be regarded as their conditions and elements. The welfare, and indeed in certain stages the very existence, of society renders recompense a necessity. What is true of human relations has truth also in reference to those that are Divine. The parallel, indeed, is not complete, but it is real.

I RECOMPENSE IMPLIES A FREE AND RESPONSIBLE NATURE ON THE PART OF MAN. There can be no recompense where there is no accountability; and there can be no accountability where there is no intelligence, no freedom. Natural objects, Kant tells us, act according to laws; spiritual beings, according to representation of laws. Man is capable of apprehending and approving moral ordinances prescribed for his guidance and control; he can recognize moral authority. And he is distinguished from unintelligent and involuntary natures in that he can obey or disobey the laws which he apprehends. If this were not so, consequences might indeed ensue from action; but recompense would be an impossibility.

II RECOMPENSE PRESUMES THAT THERE IS ON THE PART OF GOD NO INDIFFERENCE, BUT DEEP CONCERN, WITH REGARD TO MAN"S MORAL CHARACTER AND CONDUCT. If We think chiefly of law, or uniformity of action, we cannot but remember that law does not account for itself; if we think of the Lawgiver, we are constrained to recognize purpose in all his proceedings and provisions. It cannot be imagined that the great Ruler of all inflicts suffering for any delight in seeing his creatures suffer, or even that he regards their sufferings with perfect indifference. There must be a governmental, a moral end to be secured. The Lawgiver and Judge has what, in the case of a man, we should call a deep interest in the condition and action of the children of men.

III RECOMPENSE IMPLIES THE POSSESSION BY THE SUPREME GOVERNOR OF THE ATTRIBUTES WHICH QUALIFY FOR THE EXERCISE OF JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS. None but an omniscient Ruler can be acquainted with all the secret springs of action, as well as with all the varied circumstances of life; yet without such knowledge, how can recompense be other than imperfect and uncertain? None but a perfectly impartial Ruler can administer justice which shall be undisputed and indisputable: who but God is stainlessly and conspicuously just? All earthly retribution is open to suspicion, for the simple reason that every human judge acts upon partial knowledge, and is liable to be influenced by prejudice. But as from the Divine tribunal there is no appeal, so with the Divine decisions can no fault be found. The Judge of all the earth will surely and in every case do right.

IV RECOMPENSE AS A PRACTICAL PRINCIPLE OPERATING IN HIS LIFE WAS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. The Old Testament has been written to little purpose for those who do not recognize the action of retributive Providence; the narrative would be meaningless apart from this moral significance. The position of Ezekiel compelled him to trace the hand of God in the life and fortunes of his nation. For the Captivity in the East was an unmistakable instance of God"s judicial interposition. And if this was the most striking instance, others occur in abundance, witnessing to the fact that this earthly state is a scene of moral government, incomplete, indeed, yet not to be denied as real.

V RECOMPENSE IS A PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL PREVALENCE IN GOD"S ADMINISTRATION OF THE AFFAIRS OF MANKIND. Doubtless the history of the children of Israel is intended to teach, among other lessons, in a very especial manner, the lesson of Divine government and human responsibility. Not only is the story told, but its moral significance is expressly.set forth. Yet the great principles which are explicit in Old Testament history are Implied in all history in the history of every nation which exists upon earth. Go where we may, we do not and cannot go beyond the sphere of Divine retribution. Everywhere "the way of transgressors is hard," and "the wages of sin is death.

VI RECOMPENSE IS A PRINCIPLE OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT WHICH, WHEN ITS ENDS ARE ANSWERED, ADMITS OF BEING TEMPERED WITH MERCY. It is observable that, in the prophetic writings, we find no unqualified denunciation. Threats of severe punishment are met with; but they are followed by offers of mercy and promises of pardon to the penitent. The gates of hope are not closed upon the sinner. And if the most complete and glorious manifestation of God"s character is to be found in the gospel of Christ, it must be remembered that, whilst that gospel was occasioned by man"s ruin by sin and his liability to punishment, it was intended to secure man"s salvation and deliverance "from the wrath to come. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Recompense - The punishment of them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.