Ezekiel 14:16

“[Though] these three men [were] in it, &c.] Above named, Noah, Daniel, and Job; as they were not, two of them not being in the land of the living, and the other in Babylon; but if all three had been in a land so threatened, and used all the interest they had with God, by fervent prayer and supplication, to have called in the wild beasts, and chained them up, and to preserve the people from being destroyed by them, it would have been all in vain; the Lord was determined upon the destruction of them, and by means of these, as one of his sore judgments: [as] I live, saith the Lord God; or by my life; for it is an oath with which God swears by himself, who has life in himself, and is the author…”

“Jeremiah 14:0; Jeremiah 15:0 is a remarkable parallel to this prophecy. Here, as elsewhere, Ezekiel is commissioned to deliver to the exiles the same message which Jeremiah conveys to the inhabitants of Judaea. The answer discovers the nature of the questions which had been expressed or implied. (1) Can God cast out a people who are holy unto Himself? (2) Is it just to punish them with utter desolation? The prophet answers: (1) That when a people is so corrupt as to call down national judgment, individual piety shall save none but the individuals themselves. (2) The corrupt condition of the people shall be made so manifest, that none will question the justice of God in dealing thus severely…”

“these: Eze 14:14, Eze 14:18; Mat 18:19, Mat 18:20; Jam 5:16 in it: Heb. in the midst of it as I live: Eze 14:20, Eze 33:11; Num 14:28, Num 14:29 they shall: Gen 18:23-33, Gen 19:29; Job 22:20; Act 27:24; Heb 11:7 Ezekiel 14:17”