John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 5:13

"Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath upon them." — Ezekiel 5:13 (ASV)

In this verse, the Prophet only teaches what he had said before, but by way of confirmation: specifically, that God’s vengeance would be horrible and unceasing until the destruction and extinction of the people. Some think that this was inserted so that God might lessen the severity of His vengeance, and so this verse, according to them, contains a promise of pardon; but it is rather a threat.

For what they assert—that God would cause His anger to cease—cannot be supported. For it later says, they shall know that I Jehovah have said it, when I shall have filled up my wrath or anger against them. And the context, as we will see later, will refute that interpretation. Therefore, let it be firmly understood that the Prophet does not here promise the people any lessening of their punishment, but continues to denounce the vengeance he previously mentioned.

First He says, it shall be filled up: כלה , keleh, sometimes signifies “to finish,” but also, “to be accomplished,” “to consume,” and also, “to be consumed.” In this place, God signifies that there would be no end to the punishments until He was satisfied. The image is taken from men desirous of vengeance, whose eagerness does not cease until they satisfy themselves with revenge.

God, therefore, here compares Himself to men when He speaks of the end or fulfillment of His anger. Now He adds, I will cause my fury to rest upon them, that is, His fury will be, as it were, fixed upon them. For “rest” is not to be understood here as “cease,” for wrath is said to rest when it has exhausted itself; but God wishes here, through His Prophet, to mark the persistence or relentless course of His vengeance.

My wrath, therefore, shall rest upon them—that is, it will not be removed or pass away. For God is said to withdraw His hand when He ceases to punish us, but here the “rest” of His wrath signifies its unceasing continuation.

He adds, I will take comfort. Here God attributes to Himself what does not properly belong to Him, for He does not take delight in the same way humans do when He executes vengeance on wickedness. We know that God’s judgment cannot be comprehended unless He assumes human characteristics and, in a way, transforms Himself.

Hence He is said to receive comfort in upholding just judgment. This comfort signifies that God cannot tolerate contempt for His law. It also signifies that human malice is so desperate that the Judge must finally appear in His true character—not that He indulges in any passions, as is well known. Rather, it is because we cannot otherwise conceive of Him as a just judge unless He declares Himself pleased with vengeance when He sees people so utterly abandoned and unrestrained that they cannot be recalled to repentance in any other way.

He later adds, and they shall know that I Jehovah have spoken it. Here God indirectly criticizes the foolishness of the people, because they not only despised all prophecies but also proudly laughed at His threats.

So, whenever the Prophets declared the vengeance and judgments of God, they provided material for laughter to a perverse and ungodly people. Their obstinacy so blinded them that they did not believe it was God who spoke, for they supposed that only humans would be their adversaries, and this explains their rage against the Prophets.

For if they had believed that the Prophets spoke by divine inspiration, they would never have dared to oppose them so furiously; but because they thought that the Prophets publicly declared their own opinions, they therefore contended with them, forgetting God. Therefore, the Jews did not acknowledge Him.

But let us note the source of their ignorance: they willfully turned their minds away from God, just as today many do not believe God is speaking when His truth is clearly shown from the Scriptures. Why do they not think so? Because they are unwilling.

Hence, this blindness in the ancient people was voluntary and, so to speak, feigned, since they imagined that the prophecies would have no effect. This is the reason why the Prophet says, then they shall know that I have spoken, because, as the proverb says, experience is the teacher of fools. Therefore, since they rejected all threats, it happened that through the lesson of calamity, they realized too late that God was the speaker.

And so there is a contrast between experiential knowledge and the blindness that arises from an evil disposition and contempt for God. For when He says, they shall know when he has fulfilled his wrath, that knowledge will be too late and fruitless. Lastly, God here declares that He would inflict just punishment on their voluntary ignorance, so that the Jews would know, whether they wanted to or not, that the prophecies to which they had closed their eyes had proceeded from Him alone.

He also says that He had spoken in His zeal, or jealousy, because the Prophets were thought to be very furious when they thundered so strongly against the ungodly.

God, therefore, here acquits those whom we know were commonly regarded as fanatics. He says that He spoke in His zeal because the ungodly, when they wish to discredit God's servants, object that God is mild and merciful and that it does not suit His character to speak so harshly and sharply.

God therefore says that He also uses zeal, or anger, so that the Jews might not think His Prophets were carried away by reckless zeal and fervor, since we know that they fell into that serious error.