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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 20:45 - 20:49
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The Picture of the Forest Fire
v. 45. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, in a message of verbal inspiration, as always, saying,
v. 46. Son of man, set thy face toward the South, literally, toward the right hand, for the Jew always considered himself facing east, and drop thy word toward the South, in a constant dripping, more or less violently, and prophesy against the forest of the south field, where dryness and heat prevailed, namely, the southern part of Palestine, specifically of Judah,
v. 47. and say to the forest of the South, the densely populated districts of that section of the country, Hear the word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord God, whose power and sovereignty is unquestioned, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, in the form of the various judgments which He would send upon them, and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree, fit and unfit, righteous and wicked alike, in an unsparing punishment; the flaming flame, the burst of fire kindled by His anger, shall not be quenched and all faces from the South to the North, all the inhabitants of the entire country included, shall be burned therein, struck by the punishment of the Lord in some manner.
v. 48. And all flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched; no earthly power could stop the vengeance of the Lord, it would endure until it had accomplished His purpose.
v. 49. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! They say of me, Doth he not speak parables? Ezekiel thus complaining that his countrymen could not understand this form of message and therefore despised and rejected his warnings. When men do not want to understand the message of the Lord, they manage to find excuses of various kinds or, failing in this, ridicule His servants and their preaching.