Ezekiel 33:21-33

Word of Jerusalem's Capture

21 Now ¹in the ²twelfth * year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "³The city has been taken."

22 Now the ⁴hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He ⁵opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ⁶opened and I was no longer speechless.

23 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,

24 "Son of man, they who ⁷live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, '⁸Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ⁹us who are many the land has been given as a possession.'

25 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the ¹⁰blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ¹¹Should you then possess the land?

26 "You ¹²rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?"'

27 "Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely * those who are in the waste places will ¹³fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ¹⁴caves will die of pestilence.

28 "I will ¹⁵make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ¹⁶pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through.

29 "Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed."'

30 "But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, '¹⁷Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.'

31 "They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their ¹⁸mouth, and their heart goes after their ¹⁹gain.

32 "Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a ²⁰beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

33 "So when it ²¹comes to pass -as surely it will-then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst."

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Ezekiel 33:21-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 33

This chapter treats of the prophet's duty, and the people's sins; contains a vindication of the justice of God; a threatening of destruction to those who remained in the land after the taking of the city; and a detection of the hypocrisy of the prophet's hearers. The duty of a watchman in general is declared, Eze 33:1-6, an application of this to the prophet, Eze 33:7: the sum of whose business is to warn the wicked man of his wickedness; and the consequence of doing, or not doing it, is expressed, Eze 33:8,9, an objection of the people, and the prophet's answer to it, Eze 33:10,11, who is bid to acquaint them, that a righteous man trusting to his righteousness, and sinning, should not live; and that a sinner repenting of his sins should not die, Eze 33:12-16, the people's charge of inequality in the ways of God is retorted upon them, and removed from the Lord, and proved against them, Eze 33:17-20, then follows a prophecy, delivered out after the news was brought of the taking of the city, threatening with ruin those that remained in the land, confident of safety, and that for their sins, which are particularly enumerated, Eze 33:21-29, and the chapter is closed with a discovery of the hypocrisy of those that attended the prophet's ministry, Eze 33:30-33.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 21

1. Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1, 17
2. Jeremiah 39:1, 2; Jeremiah 40:1; Jeremiah 52:4-7; Ezekiel 24:1, 2
3. 2 Kings 25:10; Jeremiah 39:8
4. Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 37:1
5. Ezekiel 3:26, 27; Ezekiel 24:27
6. Luke 1:64
7. Jeremiah 39:10; Jeremiah 40:7; Ezekiel 33:27
8. Isaiah 51:2; Luke 3:8; Acts 7:5; Romans 4:12
9. Ezekiel 11:15
10. Lev 17:10, 12, 14; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23; Deuteronomy 15:23
11. Jeremiah 7:9, 10
12. Micah 2:1, 2; Zephaniah 3:3
13. Jeremiah 15:2, 3; Jeremiah 42:22; Ezekiel 5:12
14. 1 Samuel 13:6; Isaiah 2:19
15. Ezekiel 5:14; Ezekiel 6:14; Micah 7:13
16. Ezekiel 7:24; Ezekiel 24:21; Ezekiel 30:6
17. Isaiah 29:13; Isaiah 58:2; Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 20:3, 31
18. Psalms 78:36, 37; Isaiah 29:13; 1 John 3:18
19. Ezekiel 22:13, 27; Luke 12:15
20. Mark 6:20
21. Jeremiah 28:9; Ezekiel 33:29

Footnotes 10

[a]. Or "refugee"
[b]. Lit "smitten"
[c]. Lit "refugee"
[d]. Lit "until he came"
[e]. Or "mute"
[f]. Lit "stand"
[g]. Lit "surface of the field"
[h]. Lit "the sons of your people"
[i]. Lit "word"
[j]. Lit "behold, it is coming"