{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36857/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36857","id":"gutenberg_36857","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36857","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Ezekiel -- Commentaries","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and\nbold text by =equal signs=.\n\n\n\n\n THE PROPHET EZEKIEL\n\n AN ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION\n\n By ARNO C. GAEBELEIN\n\n Author of Commentaries on Daniel, Joel, Zechariah,\n Matthew, Acts, Revelation, etc.,\n Editor of \"Our Hope.\"\n\n [Illustration: Logo]\n\n NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO\n FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY\n LONDON AND EDINBURGH\n\n\n\n\n Copyright 1918\n BY A. C. GAEBELEIN.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n Introduction by JAMES M. GRAY 3\n\n The Prophet Ezekiel 5\n\n Analysis of the Book 11\n\n Predictions Before the Fall of Jerusalem 15\n\n Predictions After the Fall of Jerusalem 215\n\n Map of Ground Plan of the Temple 269\n\n Map of The Division of the Land 338\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nI know of no expounder of Holy Scripture on this side of the Atlantic in\nthe same class as Mr. Gaebelein. His work on the Old Testament prophets\nespecially is unique. To understand and expound them not for scholars\nbut for the people, calls for a combination of gifts bestowed upon very\nfew.\n\nSuch a teacher must believe in the inerrancy of the autographs of\nScripture. He must interpret it literally except where it clearly\nindicates to the contrary. He must apprehend the dispensational scope of\nits teaching. He must know and rely upon the Holy Spirit as the revealer\nof the truth whose record He has inspired. He must have a working\nknowledge of the Hebrew text and be able to pass intelligently on\nquestions of Biblical Criticism. He must be familiar with the writings\nof others who have preceded him. He must be a platform man in constant\ncommunication with the people whom he would instruct. He must be no\ndreamer, but wide-awake to current events and capable of looking upon\nand dealing with them in a practical way. He must use simple terms and\nexpress himself in plain speech.\n\nMr. Gaebelein meets all these demands, for which we who reap the\nbenefits give God the praise.\n\nCircumstances have prevented my reading all the chapters of this present\nvolume on Ezekiel, and hence I do not undertake to endorse every detail\nof interpretation it contains, but a general acquaintance with the\nauthor's point of view as expressed in his volumes on Daniel, Joel,\nZechariah, Matthew and Revelation leads me to commend it strongly.\n\nPastors, evangelists, Bible teachers and Christians generally who would\nbe counted among the wise who understand, need such helps as this as an\nantidote to the false teaching flooding the church today, and to enable\nthem to stand up against the wiles of Satan on every hand. Familiarity\nwith the revelation of God in the Old Testament is simply indispensable\nto the Christian witness in this twentieth century, and to the soldiers\nof Christ in this crucial hour of spiritual combat.\n\n JAMES M. GRAY\n\n The Moody Bible Institute,\n Chicago, Ill.\n\n\n\n\nThe Prophet Ezekiel.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nFrom the opening verses of the Book, which bears the name of the prophet\nEzekiel, we learn that he was the son of Buzi the priest, and belonged\nconsequently to the much honored Zadok family. That he knew the nobility\nof Jerusalem well and was intimate with them may be indirectly learned\nfrom the eleventh chapter. Rabbinical tradition identifies Buzi (which\nmeans \"contempt\") with Jeremiah and makes him a son of that prophet.\nThere is, however, no positive evidence for this. Eleven years before\nthe complete ruin of the city and the temple was effected by the King of\nBabylon, Ezekiel was carried away into the captivity. This deportation\nis recorded in 2 Kings xxiv:14. \"And he carried away all Jerusalem, and\nall the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand\ncaptives, and all the craftsmen and smiths, none remained save the\npoorest sort of the people of the land.\" Before Ezekiel with the princes\nand the mighty men were taken into captivity, others had been removed to\nBabylon, notably Daniel and his three companions. This was in\nfulfillment of Isaiah xxxiv:6-7. Ezekiel must have known Daniel\npersonally. His name is found three times in this book (chapters xiv:14,\n20; xxviii:3).\n\nEzekiel was not a youth, as generally supposed, when he was deported to\nBabylon, for the matured character of a priest which appears in his\nwritings and his full and intimate acquaintance with the temple service,\nrender such a supposition highly improbable. Jewish tradition declares\nthat he exercised already the prophetic office before he was carried\naway. The much disputed phrase \"in the thirtieth year\" (chapter i:1) we\nhope to examine more closely in our exposition.\n\nThe name Ezekiel means \"strengthened by God.\" It has been stated by some\nthat this is not the original name of the prophet, but his official\ntitle, which he adopted on account of his ministry among the people.\nVery interesting on this controverted point is the statement of a\nrabbinical comment. The declaration is made that the prophets of God\nreceived their significant names, so closely linked with and expressive\nof the character of their messages, from above and not according to the\nwill of their earthly parents. God called them to their work and had\nthem named accordingly before they ever entered upon their offices as\nprophets. We believe this may be correct, especially in view of Jeremiah\ni:5.\n\nThe place where we find Ezekiel is the river Chebar. This river is now\nknown by the name _Kabour_. It emptied into the Euphrates north of\nBabylon and was also called _Nar-Kabari_, the great canal. Here\nNebuchadnezzar had started a colony of captives. In chapter iii:15, the\nname of the place is given, it was at Tel-abib. In this settlement the\nprophet seems to have lived. Two passages in the book tell us that he\nhad his own house (iii:24; viii:1). We also know that he was married\n(xxiv:16-18). The death of his wife is the only event he mentions of his\npersonal history and that would probably have not been recorded if it\nwere not connected with his prophetic office. The prophecies he uttered\namong the captives are carefully dated. The first date is found in\nchapter i:1-2. He began his prophetic office on the fifth day of the\nfourth month (Tammuz) in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.\nThe latest date is recorded in chapter xxix:17. Here we have the\ntwenty-seventh year, so that the prophecies of Ezekiel cover a period of\nabout twenty-two years.\n\nEzekiel's great prophetic ministry is closely connected with that of\nJeremiah. When Ezekiel had his first great vision on the banks of the\nriver Chebar, Jeremiah had already been a prophet for thirty-five\nyears. Only a few years more remained for this great man of God. That\nEzekiel must have been acquainted with Jeremiah and his messages of\nwarning and exhortation is more than likely. Yet it is strange there is\nnot a single reference to Jeremiah in the entire book of Ezekiel. It is\nstrange in view of the fact that the messages of these two men have so\nmuch in common. Critics make the assertion that Ezekiel as a prophet was\nmoulded by the teaching of Jeremiah. Kuenen claims that Ezekiel must\nhave been for many years the close student of Jeremiah's writings.\nBefore Ezekiel proceeded to write his own prophecies, his mind, it is\nclaimed, had become so saturated with the ideas and language of Jeremiah\nthat every part of his book betrays the influence of his predecessor.\nThis view would make Ezekiel an enthusiastic admirer and copyist of\nJeremiah. But in the book of Ezekiel the phrases \"Thus saith the Lord\nGod\"--\"The Word of the Lord came unto me\"--occur over and over again.\nThe words he spoke, the mighty messages he delivered, were not produced\nby the influence of Jeremiah nor by his example, but by the Spirit of\nGod. Other critics have even done greater dishonor to this chosen\ninstrument of the Lord and to the Word he preached. We quote from _The\nNew Century Bible_: \"It would appear that there runs through all the\nprophet's activities, at least in the earlier period, a strain of mental\nabnormality--perhaps of actual malady. By some writers this has been\nsupposed to be a form of catalepsy. Probably Ezekiel was no more a\ncataleptic than Paul; with equal probability he was what would now be\ncalled a 'psychical subject,' and as such liable to trances--and perhaps\na clairvoyant.\" Such are the ridiculous things invented by men, who\nclaim scholarship, and whose aim is to deny the supernatural origin of\nthe words and the visions of the prophets of God.\n\nThe fact is that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were called by Jehovah to specific\nministries. In their character and natural temperament they differed\ngreatly. Jeremiah assuming, as a very young man, his prophetic office\nduring the reign of Josiah, was called to deliver the messages of the\nawful judgments which were to come upon Jerusalem and he had to witness\nthese in their execution. He was an extremely kind, gentle and\ntender-hearted man. Jeremiah is the prophet of a dying nation; the agony\nof Judah's prolonged death struggle is reproduced with ten-fold\nintensity in the inward conflict which rends the heart of the prophet.\nEzekiel was of a different temperament. The deep soul exercise we find\nso often in Jeremiah, his tender, loving sympathies are almost entirely\nabsent in Ezekiel. He lacked the emotional character of Jeremiah. He was\na man of great energy and vigor; he was stern and had a deep sense of\nhis human responsibility. Both prophets uncover the corrupt conditions\nof Judah and condemn them. The condemnations in Ezekiel are far more\nsevere than those of Jeremiah. The style of Ezekiel is also different\nfrom that employed by his contemporary.\n\n\"The whole of his writings show how admirably he was fitted, as well by\nnatural disposition as by spiritual endowment, to oppose the 'rebellious\nhouse,' the 'people of stubborn front and hard heart,' to whom he was\nsent. The figurative representations which abound throughout his\nwritings, whether drawn out into lengthened allegory, or expressing\nmatters of fact by means of symbols, or clothing truths in the garb of\nenigma, all testify by their definiteness the vigor of his conceptions.\nThings seen in vision are described with all the minuteness of detail\nand sharpness of outline which belong to real existence. But this\ncharacteristic is shown most remarkably in the entire subordination of\nhis whole life to the great work to which he was called.\"[1]\n\n[1] F. W. Gotch.\n\nIn all this he differs from Jeremiah; and more so in the greater and\nmore complete visions concerning the future.\n\nThere is an evident connection between the communication which Jeremiah\nsent from Jerusalem unto the captives in Babylon and the beginning of\nEzekiel's ministry. The letter of Jeremiah is found in chapter xxix of\nthe Book of Jeremiah. It is an interesting document. It seems to have\nbeen occasioned by a number of false prophets who had appeared among the\ncaptives, and who encouraged the rebellious and disobedient spirit which\nprevailed among the exiles. They prophesied falsely, led the people away\nand awakened the delusive hope of an early return from the captivity.\nWhile Jeremiah continued to minister to the feeble few and the poor, who\nwere left behind, Ezekiel was engaged among the captives and contended\nagainst these false prophets and against the false hopes of the people\nwho gave no evidences of repentance. Inasmuch as Jerusalem had not yet\nbeen completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the captives, who had\nlistened to the false prophets, expected a speedy return to their own\nland. To dispel this false hope Jeremiah had sent them the message, \"For\nthus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon\nI will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to\nreturn to this place\" (Jere. xxix:10). Ezekiel then labored also to\ndispel this false hope preached by the prophets, whom the Lord had not\nsent. By his stern and solemn words, by divinely commanded actions and\nsymbols, he had to deliver the message that there was no hope for\nJerusalem. When the catastrophe came at last his ministry changed. He\ncomforts the disappointed and heartbroken people and delivers his great\nrestoration messages.\n\nThis great prophet had to do certain divinely commanded things in the\npresence of the people who were living in deception after having\nlistened to the false prophets.\n\nIn chapter iii:24-26 he had to shut himself up, bind himself and then he\nwas made dumb.\n\nThen he was commanded to lie upon his right side and upon his left for\n430 days (chapter iv:4-8).\n\nIn chapter iv:9 he had to eat unclean bread. Then he had to shave his\nhead and beard (chapter v:1); to carry a captive's baggage (chapter\nxxii:3-7); when his wife died he was not to mourn (chapter xxiv:15-20);\nand again he lost his speech (chapter xxiv:27). The key to all this is\nfound in chapter xxiv:24.\n\nThe visions of glory Ezekiel had belong to some of the greatest recorded\nin the Word of God. Much in the beginning of the book reminds of the\nlast book of the Bible, the Revelation. We mention a few passages to be\ncompared: Ezekiel i with Rev. iv and v. Ezekiel iii:3 with Rev. x:10.\nEzekiel viii:3 with Rev. xiii:14, 15. Ezekiel ix with Rev. vii. Ezekiel\nx with Rev. viii:1-5. The critics declare upon this striking\ncorrespondency that \"much of the imagery of Revelation is borrowed from\nEzekiel.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK.\n\n\nA careful reading of the Book of Ezekiel shows, in the first place, that\nthe Prophet received messages and saw visions before the final\ndestruction of Jerusalem, and after that catastrophe had taken place in\nfulfillment of his inspired predictions he received other prophecies.\nThe predictions preceding the fall of Jerusalem are the predictions of\nthe judgment to fall upon the city and upon Gentile nations, the enemies\nof Israel. The predictions Ezekiel received after the city had been\ndestroyed are the predictions of blessing and glory for Israel and\nJerusalem in the future. The first part of the book has found a\nfulfillment in the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar. The second\npart is awaiting its fulfillment at the close of the times of the\nGentiles, when Israel will be regathered, restored and the glory of the\nLord returns to another temple, which Ezekiel beheld in a magnificent\nvision. All will be accomplished when the Lord returns to dwell in the\nmidst of His people, so that the name of the city will be\n\"Jehovah-Shammah\"--\"the Lord is there\" (chapter xlviii:35). These two\nmain divisions are clearly marked in the book itself. In chapter\nxxxiii:21, after the Prophet had received a renewed call as watchman. We\nread: \"And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the\ntenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped\nout of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.\" This\ndetermines the two parts.\n\n=Part I. Predictions before the Destruction of Jerusalem.= (Chapters\ni-xxxii.)\n\n=Part II. Predictions after the Destruction of Jerusalem.= (Chapters\nxxxiii-xlviii).\n\nTo show the perfect and orderly arrangement of the whole Book of Ezekiel\nwe shall give a complete analysis.\n\n=Part I. Predictions before the Destruction of Jerusalem. Chapters\ni-xxxii.=\n\n=Section A. Judgment Predictions concerning Jerusalem. Chapters i-xxiv.=\n\n_1. The Vision of the Glory of the Lord and the Call of the Prophet_\n(i-iii:14).\n\n_2. The Judgment announced. Four signs and their meaning. The two\nmessages. (\"The Word of the Lord came unto me,\" chapters vi and vii;\nchapters iii:15-vii:27)._\n\n_3. Visions in relation to Jerusalem (chapters viii-xi)._\n\n a. The vision of abomination in the Temple. Chapter viii.\n\n b. The vision of the man clothed in linen with the inkhorn. Chapter\n ix.\n\n c. The vision of the coals of fire. Chapter x.\n\n d. The vision concerning the leaders. The Glory departs. Chapter\n xi.\n\n_4. Signs, Messages and Parables (chapters xii-xix)._\n\n a. Signs given through the Prophet. Chapter xii:1-20.\n\n b. The Message concerning a speedy judgment. Chapter xii:21-28.\n\n c. The Message against false prophets and prophetesses. Chapter\n xiii.\n\n d. The Message against the idolatrous elders. Chapter xiv.\n\n e. The Parable of the Vine given to the fire. Chapter xv.\n\n f. The Parable of abandoned child and Jerusalem's harlotry.\n Chapter xvi.\n\n g. The Parable and Riddle of the two eagles and the vine. Chapter\n xvii.\n\n h. The Message concerning the righteous judgments of God. Chapter\n xviii.\n\n i. The Lamentations for the Princes of Israel. Chapter xix.\n\n_5. Further and Final Predictions concerning the Judgment of Jerusalem\n(chapter xx-xxiv)._\n\n a. Jehovah rehearses His mercies bestowed upon Israel. Chapter xx.\n\n b. The impending Judgment announced. Chapter xxi.\n\n c. Jerusalem's sins and whoredoms. Chapter xxii-xxiii.\n\n d. The Parable of the boiling pot. The last word. Chapter xxiv.\n\n=Section B. Predictions of Judgments against the Nations. Chapters\nxxv-xxxii.=\n\n_1. Against Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines (chapter xxv)._\n\n_2. Against Tyrus and Zidon (chapters xxvi-xxviii)._\n\n_3. Against Egypt (chapters xxix-xxxii)._\n\n\n=Part II. Predictions after the Destruction of Jerusalem. Chapters\nxxxiii-xlviii.=\n\n=Section A. The Watchman and the Shepherds. Chapters xxxiii-xxxiv.=\n\n_1. The renewed call of Ezekiel as Watchman (chapter xxxiii:1-20)._\n\n_2. Ezekiel's mouth opened after Jerusalem's fall (chapter\nxxxiii:21-33)._\n\n_3. Message against the Shepherds of Israel (chapter xxxiv:1-19)._\n\n_4. The true Shepherd and Restoration promised (chapter xxxiv:20-26)._\n\n=Section B. Judgment announced against Mount Seir and Israel's final\nRestoration promised. Chapters xxxv-xxxvi.=\n\n_1. The Message against Seir and Idumea (chapter xxxv)._\n\n_2. The Message of Comfort for Israel (chapter xxxvi)._\n\n=Section C. The Future Blessings of Israel. The Nation regathered. Their\nenemies overthrown. The Millennial Temple. Chapters xxxvii-xlviii.=\n\n_1. The Vision of the Dry Bones. Judah and Israel reunited (chapter\nxxxvii)._\n\n_2. The last enemies Gog and Magog and their destruction (chapters\nxxxviii-xxxix)._\n\n_3. The Millennial Temple and its Worship (chapter xl-xlvii:12)._\n\n_4. The Division of the Land (chapter xlvii:13-xlviii)._\n\nTo this Analysis of the entire Book of Ezekiel we add a brief table,\ngiving the different dates mentioned in the Book.\n\n Year of\n the Captivity\n Month Day of Jehoiakin Chapter\n ------+-----+-------------+--------------------\n 4 5 5 Chapt. i-vii\n 6 5 6 \" viii-xix\n 5 10 7 \" xx-xxiii\n 10 10 9 \" xxiv-xxv\n 10 12 10 \" xxix-xxx\n 11 1 11 \" xxvi-xxviii\n 1 7 11 \" xxx\n 3 1 11 \" xxxi\n 10 5 12 \" xxxiii\n 12 1 12 \" xxxii:1-16\n 12 15 12 \" xxxii:17-32\n 1 10 25 \" xl-xlviii\n 1 1 27 \" xxix:17-21\n\n\n\n\nI. PREDICTIONS BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM\n\nChapter I-xxxii.\n\n\nTHE VISION OF THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH AND THE CALL OF THE PROPHET.\n\nChapter I-iii:14.\n\n\nI. The Introduction.\n\n Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in\n the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river\n Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the\n fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's\n captivity, The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the\n priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river\n Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.\n\nThe book of Ezekiel starts with the description of a great vision, which\nthe prophet had among the captives of the river Chebar. The first word\n\"now,\" which really means \"and,\" connects the book with Jeremiah, as\nJoshua is connected in the same way with Deuteronomy. The two statements\n\"I was\" and \"I saw\" in the first verse make it clear that Ezekiel is the\nauthor of this book. The third verse has been marked by the critics as\nan addition by some person, who edited the book later. There is no\nevidence for that. In describing his own person and descent, he no\nlonger uses the personal pronoun. When he describes the vision itself,\ngiving his experience, he resumes the \"I\"--\"I looked.\" The \"thirtieth\nyear\" has often been taken as the age of Ezekiel and upon this a\nparallel has been drawn between Ezekiel and our Lord. As Ezekiel was\nthirty years old and saw heaven open at the banks of a river, so, it is\ntaught, the Lord Jesus was thirty years of age, when He saw heaven open\nat His baptism in Jordan (Matt. iii:16; Luke iii:21). There is nothing\nin the text to warrant this application. The thirtieth year must be\nreckoned according to the Babylonian era, beginning with Nabopolassar,\nfather of Nebuchadnezzar, who became King of Babylon 625 B. C. This was\nthe date when Hilkiah found the book of the law in the eighteenth year\nof King Josiah. This was the thirtieth year before the fifth year of the\ncaptivity.\n\nFour things are mentioned by Ezekiel in the introduction of his book. 1.\nThe Heavens were opened. 2. He saw visions of God. 3. The Word of the\nLord came upon him. 4. The hand of the Lord was upon him. The opened\nheavens are not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Ezekiel, the\npriest, is the only prophet of whom it is said that he saw the heavens\nopened. Four times this phrase is found in the New Testament. In Matthew\niii:16 heaven was opened at the Baptism of our Lord. In John i:51 the\nLord speaks of the heavens opened and the manifestation of angels, which\nis still future and refers to His Coming in power and glory. In\nRevelations iv:1 a door was opened in heaven and John heard the words\n\"Come up hither\"; it is symbolical of the time, when the true church is\ntaken into the presence of the Lord. The last time opened heavens are\nmentioned is in Revelations xix:11. It will be when our Lord comes as\nKing of kings and Lord of lords.\n\nThe opened heavens brought for Ezekiel visions of God and the Word of\nthe Jehovah. Not visions of Jehovah and the Word of God. He saw the\nvisions of God in His governmental dealings with Israel, but the\ncommission to him is the commission of Jehovah, the name which denotes\nthe closer covenant relationship with His people. The vision of opened\nheavens in the New Testament sense was not given to Ezekiel. New\nTestament believers behold heaven opened and have a vision. In the\nlanguage of the Scriptures, \"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower\nthan the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and\nhonor, that He by the grace of God should taste death of every man\"\n(Heb. ii:9). Our vision in the opened heavens is the glorified Son of\nMan, in whom we are saved and seated in the Heavenlies, in Whom we are\naccepted and Whose glory we shall share. And when the Word of Jehovah\ncame to him, calling the priest to the prophetic office, the hand of the\nLord came also upon him. Opened heavens, visions, direct call and\nenablement by the power of God. Such is still the order for God's\nservants. And after the great vision is passed, the seer is upon his\nface (verse 28). Then Jehovah lifts him up and the Spirit entered into\nhim (ii:2).\n\nThe phrase \"the hand of the Lord was upon him\" or \"came upon me\" is\nfound exactly seven times in the Book of Ezekiel i:3; iii:14 and 22;\nviii:1; xxxiii:22; xxxvii:1 and xl:1.\n\n\nII. The Vision of Glory.\n\n And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a\n great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about\n it, and out of the midst thereof as the look of glowing brass out of\n the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the\n likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance;\n they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and\n every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the\n sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they\n sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands\n of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had\n their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another;\n they turned not when they went; they went every one straight\n forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face\n of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four\n had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face\n of an eagle. And their faces and their wings were parted above; two\n wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their\n bodies. And they went every one straight forward: whither the\n spirit was to go, they went; they turned not when they went. As for\n the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like\n burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: it went up\n and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and\n out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran\n and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.\n\n And I looked at the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the\n earth by the living creatures, toward their four faces. The\n appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of\n a chrysolite: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance\n and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When\n they went, they went upon their four sides: they turned not when\n they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and their\n rims were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living\n creatures went, the wheels went beside them: and when the living\n creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.\n Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither would their\n spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for\n the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those\n went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those\n were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over\n against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the\n wheels. And there was the likeness of an expanse upon the heads of\n the living creature as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched\n forth over their heads above. And under the expanse their wings\n straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered\n on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side\n their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings,\n like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, a\n tumultous voice, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let\n down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was\n over their heads, when they stood, they let down their wings.\n\n And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of\n a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the\n likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man\n above upon it. And I saw as the look of glowing brass, as the\n appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his\n loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even\n downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had\n brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the\n cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness\n round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of\n the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a\n voice of one that spake.\n\nEzekiel describes the vision of God which he saw. It is one of the\ngreatest visions of the Bible. To explain all in this vision is beyond\nany expositor. Much has been written on it which is extremely fanciful\nand ridiculous. The vision is mentioned repeatedly in the book. In the\ntenth chapter we meet it again. In chapter xi:22-23 the prophet beholds\nthe cherubim and the wheels and the glory of the Lord God above them.\nThe glory of Jehovah is seen departing from Jerusalem by way of the\nmountain which is on the east side of the city (the Mount of Olives).\nThe last time this great vision is mentioned is in chapter xliii. \"And\nbehold, the Glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East;\nand His voice was like the voice of many waters; and the earth was lit\nup with His glory. And the appearance of the vision that I saw was\naccording to the vision that I had seen when I came to destroy the city;\nand the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar, and\nI fell upon my face\" (verses 2-4). We learn therefore that the vision\nEzekiel had was the vision of the glory of Jehovah. This much is clear.\nThe first chapter confirms this, for at the end of the vision the\nstatement is made: \"This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory\nof Jehovah\" (i:28). That it meant judgment upon the unfaithful city is\nlearned from the tenth chapter, where one is commanded to take coals of\nfire from between the cherubim and to scatter them over the city\n(compare this with Rev. viii:5). Then the Glory of Jehovah, Ezekiel had\nseen, departed from the city. It left Jerusalem and the land by the East\n(chapter xi:22-23). Ultimately that glory will return and cover the land\nonce more (chapter xliii:2-4).\n\nThe vision was seen coming from the North. This is generally applied to\nmean the threatened judgment against Judea from Babylon. A storm cloud\nof divine indignation was about to burst on Judea out of the North, that\nis, from Babylon. However, another meaning is more than likely, inasmuch\nas Babylon was not directly north of Jerusalem. In Psalm lxxv:6 we read:\n\"For promotion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from\nthe South.\" It is from the North, that is from above, that promotion, or\nhelp comes. In Isaiah xiv:13 the North is also given as the place of the\nthrone of God. From out of the opened heavens from above, this great\nvision was sweeping before the eyes of the priest-prophet. The\nwhirlwind, the cloud and the fire Ezekiel beholds first of all are\nsymbols of the divine glory and often mentioned in connection with His\nmanifestation. The Lord repeatedly appeared in a cloud. He led His\npeople by a pillar of cloud and of fire. Sinai was enveloped in a thick\ncloud and Jehovah descended upon it in fire. David in describing a\ntheophany mentions the wind, clouds and fire (Ps. xviii:8-13). Read also\nHabakkuk's great vision (Hab. iii). The whirlwind symbolizes Jehovah's\nindignation. Jeremiah had announced the coming judgment under the figure\nof the wind (Jere. iv:12-13). All Ezekiel saw as he looked up indicated\nthe presence of the God of Israel and His glory, ready to deal in\njudgment with His unfaithful people.\n\nThen the vision unfolds itself. First the living creatures are seen. The\ntenth chapter calls them by the name of cherubim. They are the same\nbeings as described in Revelation iv:6-9. The cherubim are not\nsymbolical figures but real beings, for they are called \"living\ncreatures.\" They are not angels but belong to another class. Four\ncherubim Ezekiel beheld with faces of the lion, the ox, the eagle and\nthe face of man. Their position is beneath the Throne. But while they\nhad these four faces (representing God's creation) they had the likeness\nof a man.\n\nThe likeness of a man as mentioned in Ezekiel's vision is significant.\nFirst, the cherubim had \"the likeness of a man\" (verse 5). Then the\nhands of a man were seen under their wings (verse 8). When Ezekiel\nbeheld the throne itself, the throne of God, he saw upon the throne \"the\nlikeness as the appearance of a man.\" And this man upon the throne was\nenshrouded in glory, with the rainbow about him. \"And I saw as the color\nof amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the\nappearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his\nloins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had\nbrightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the\ncloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round\nabout\" (verse 27-28). That all this anticipates the Lord Jesus Christ,\nand His exaltation upon the throne, government and judgment being given\ninto His hands, who is the glorified Man, cannot be questioned. The\napplication of the faces of the cherubim to the fourfold character of\nour Lord as King, Servant, Man and Son of God is well known. However,\njudgment in the government of God is in Ezekiel's vision the leading\nreason of the prominence of these celestial beings. They occupy the same\nposition in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. When the\nLamb opens the first four seals, one of the cherubim speaks. These seals\nare judgments. In Rev. xv:7 one of these living creatures hands to the\nseven judgment angels the seven vials in which the wrath of God is\ncompleted. \"And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven\nangels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever\nand ever.\" In this solemn capacity they appear in Ezekiel's vision as\nthe attendants of Jehovah's chariot and Jehovah's throne, which Ezekiel\nbeholds above the expanse above their heads. All indicates that this is\nthe right interpretation. For instance, verse 13. There we read of coals\nof fire, as they appeared; lamps, or as it ought to be rendered, flaming\ntorches, and out of the bright fire came forth lightning. These are all\nsymbols of judgment. \"And the living creatures ran and returned as the\nappearance of a flash of lightning\" (verse 14). It denotes the swiftness\nof the threatened judgment.\n\nAnd then the wheels and their work, the wheels in which there was the\nspirit of these beings, their rims (not rings) full of eyes, the orderly\nmovements of these wheels under the direction of the spirit, is seen in\nthis vision. Much has been made of this. The most ridiculous\ninterpretation was made several years ago when some teacher declared\nthat Ezekiel had the vision of an--airship! The wheels are the wheels of\nthe chariot upon which rests the throne of God. They are representing\nthe purposes of God in His inerrant governmental dealings with the\nearth. God controls it all and His Spirit directs every movement.\n\n\"Intelligence, strength, stability, and swiftness in judgment, and,\nwithal, the movement of the whole course of earthly events, depended on\nthe throne. This living energy animated the whole. The cherubic\nsupporters of the throne, full of eyes themselves, moved by it; the\nwheels of God's government moved by the same spirit, and went straight\nforward. All was subservient to the will and purpose of Him who sat on\nthe throne judging right. Majesty, government and providence united to\nform the throne of His glory. But all the instruments of His glory were\nbelow the firmament; He whom they glorified was above.[2]\"\n\n[2] Synopsis J. N. D.\n\nThat \"the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain\" is mentioned in\nconnection with the Throne itself and mentioned last in the vision has\na blessed meaning. It reminds us of Genesis ix:13-16. \"I do set My bow\nin the cloud and it shall be for a token of my covenant between Me and\nthe earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the\nearth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.... And the bow shall be\nin the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the\neverlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh\nthat is upon the earth.\" The judgment by water was past, and upon the\ndark storm-cloud, which had retreated, the beautiful bow, the sign of\nGod's mercy, appeared. God always remembers mercy in His wrath. Israel's\nhour of judgment had come, but the bow about the throne promised mercy\nto His people according to \"His everlasting covenant.\" Judgment-vision\nand predictions of judgment stand first in Ezekiel's prophecy; mercy,\nrestoration and glory are revealed after the storm-cloud has passed.\nThus Ezekiel beheld the Glory of Jehovah as He himself was commissioned\nby the Word of Jehovah to make it known to the people.\n\n\nChapter ii-iii:14.\n\nI. Ezekiel's Commission.\n\n And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will\n speak unto thee. And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto\n me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.\n And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of\n Israel, to rebellious nations which have rebelled against me: they\n and their fathers have transgressed against me, unto this very day.\n For they are impudent and hard hearted. I do send thee unto them;\n and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith The Lord Jehovah. And they,\n whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear (for they are a\n rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet\n among them.\n\n And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of\n their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost\n dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be\n dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou\n shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether\n they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of\n man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that\n rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee (chapter\n ii:1-8).\n\nThe great vision left Ezekiel prostrate upon his face. He was affected\nby it in the same way as Daniel and others were. Then the voice spoke.\nIt was not one of the Cherubim whose voice the Prophet heard. The\nCherubim speak in the book of Revelation; in Ezekiel they are silent. It\nwas Jehovah Himself, who in the vision appeared in the likeness of a\nman, and addressed Ezekiel. Jehovah addressed him as \"Son of Man.\" This\ntitle is found exactly one hundred times in the book. Only Daniel,\nbesides Ezekiel, is called by that name in the Old Testament (Dan.\nviii:17). Our Lord called Himself by that title. Eighty-six times we\nfind Him using this title of Himself, as the rejected One. In Suffering,\nin Exaltation, in Glory and in His Second Coming He is the the Son of\nMan. Ezekiel passed through much suffering. As we shall find in our\nexposition he had to bear in his person symbolically what was to come\nupon the nation. Suffering and shame was connected with it which he\nendured and despised. He must have, therefore, been called by the title\n\"Son of Man,\" because he is a type of the rejected Messiah, who took\nIsrael's sin and shame upon Himself.\n\nThe voice commanded that the Prophet was to stand upon his feet, and He,\nwho spoke the word supplied the power to do it. \"And the Spirit entered\ninto me _when He spoke unto me_.\" Thus the Spirit and the Word are\nintimately connected. After the Spirit had entered into him the Prophet\ndistinguished the words which Jehovah spoke, \"and I heard Him that spake\nunto me.\" Hearing and knowing the Word is made possible by the Spirit.\n\nThen Ezekiel received his commission. A comparison with Isaiah's and\nJeremiah's commission shows them to be like Ezekiel's. Isaiah had a\ngreat vision. He too saw the Lord of Glory and the Seraphim, which\ndiffer from the Cherubim, crying their three-fold \"Holy.\" Then follows\nthe effect upon him, and the commission. \"And He said, Go, and tell this\npeople, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed and\nperceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears\nheavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and\nunderstand with their heart, and be converted and healed\" (Isaiah\nvi:1-11). He was chosen to pronounce hardening judgments upon the\nnation. Jeremiah had no vision at all; but he also was chosen to declare\nunto God's people their wicked ways and the impending judgments\n(Jeremiah i). And so Ezekiel. He is sent by Jehovah to the children of\nIsrael, to a rebellious nation. The word used here in Hebrew for nation\nis the same, which has been translated \"heathen.\" It is \"gojim\";\nindicating that the children of Israel had sunken as low as the heathen,\nwho surrounded them. It is noteworthy that the word \"rebellious\" and\n\"rebelled\" is found seven times. This had become the leading\ncharacteristic of the favored people. They had turned away from Jehovah\nand His Word, and now the time had come when, ripe for judgment, God was\nto deal with them. May we think here of that solemn warning given to\nChristendom in Romans xi:21: \"For if God spared not the natural\nbranches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.\" God dealt with Israel\non account of their unbelief and rebellious spirit. And now Gentile\nChristians are plunging into the same unbelief and apostasy; nominal\nChristendom is rebellious. A greater judgment is therefore coming upon\nChristendom than that which came upon the rebellious people.\n\nTo this impudent and hard-hearted people Ezekiel was sent. The very\nfirst thing he was to say to them was that great statement which appears\nhundreds of times in the Old Testament scriptures, \"Thus saith Jehovah\nGod.\" The sender is Jehovah-God; the commission and the message are from\nHim. In the days of the darkest apostasy with judgment about to come,\nthe Lord told the prophet to face these conditions and to stand in the\nmidst of the rebellious nation with a positive \"Thus saith Jehovah God.\"\nHe was His mouthpiece. Such positiveness is demanded to-day. Oh! for men\nwho, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, speak to-day the Word, \"Thus saith\nJehovah God.\"\n\nAnd Jehovah who calls and sends forth His servant gives also assurance\nand encouragement. He told Ezekiel not to be afraid of them or of their\nwords. Even so the Lord had encouraged Jeremiah (chapter i:7-8). Every\nservant of the Lord can rest in this assurance that if he is faithful\nand obedient the Lord will strengthen and keep him. \"Speak my words unto\nthem;\" not his own words, but Jehovah's words. Thus he heard the same\ncommand, which is given to the Lord's servants in the days when sound\ndoctrine is no longer endured: \"Preach the Word\" (2 Tim. iv:1-3).\n\n\nII. The Roll Eaten and the Repeated Commission.\n\n And when I looked, behold, an hand was put forth unto me; and, lo, a\n roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was\n written within and without: and there was written therein\n lamentations, and mourning, and woe.\n\n And he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this\n roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth,\n and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man,\n cause thy belly to eat, and fill they bowels with this roll that I\n give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for\n sweetness.\n\n And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of\n Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to\n a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the\n house of Israel; Not to any people of a strange speech and of an\n hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I\n sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the\n house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not\n hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and\n hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their\n faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an\n adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not,\n neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious\n house. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I\n shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine\n ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children\n of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the\n Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Then\n the spirit took me up and I heard behind me a voice of a great\n rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. I\n heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that\n touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them,\n and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took\n me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the\n hand of the Lord was strong upon me (chapter ii:9; iii:14).\n\nHe is commanded to open his mouth and to eat, after the warning not to\nbe rebellious. He then received a scroll from a hand, no doubt, the hand\nhe had seen in the vision. It was written within and without with\nlamentations, mourning and awe. He was commanded to eat and it was like\nhoney in his mouth. We are reminded at once of Zechariah's flying scroll\n(Zech. v:1-4); of the scroll written within and on the backside, sealed\nwith seven seals, which in John's vision the Lamb of God received to\nopen the seals (Rev. v and vi); and of the little book (or scroll) which\nJohn received and ate, which was sweet in his mouth but bitter in his\nbelly (Rev. x:9-10). These scrolls have all one meaning. They are\nsymbolical of the Word itself, the message of judgment and tribulation\nwhich are written therein. All is symbolical and contains many\nspiritual and helpful lessons. The Word must be received; it must be\neaten. The prophet obeyed and ate. It was self-surrender and therefore,\nthough the message he was to bear was a hard message, it was sweet to\nhim. Jeremiah too speaks of a similar experience. \"When Thy words were\nfound, I did eat them; and Thy Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of\nmine heart\" (Jer. xv:16). No servant of God can speak thus unless he\nreceives the Word, feeds on it himself, eats what the Lord has given and\nfinds out the sweetness of obedience and self-surrender. The Word to be\nspoken, the message to be given, must come from Jehovah. \"I have put my\nwords in thy mouth\" was spoken to Jeremiah (chapter i:9); and Ezekiel\nmakes the same experience. And our Lord, the true Son of Man, said that\nHis meat and drink was to do the will of His Father. He too fed on His\nWord and was obedient to it.\n\nIn Ezekiel's experience there is a definition of divine inspiration. The\nprophet received, accepted, took it in and then gave it out. \"Son of\nMan, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, _and speak with my words\nunto them_.\" This is inspiration. The Messages of God were given to the\nprophets in the words of God. Such is the definition of inspiration in\nthe New Testament. \"Which things also we speak,\" saith the Apostle, \"not\nin the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit\nteacheth\" (1 Cor. ii:13). May all the Lord's people receive His Word,\neat His Word, speak forth His Word and find that it is indeed sweeter\nthan honey and the honeycomb.\n\nJehovah predicts failure for the message and the messenger. The house of\nIsrael will not hearken unto _thee_; for they will not hearken unto\n_Me_. It was to make no difference with the prophet. His commission was\nto speak Jehovah's words, whether they heard or not. All this would be\nbranded by our own generation as extremely \"pessimistic.\" That the\nmessage and the messenger should not be successful is an unpalatable\nstatement to well-meaning and enthusiastic Christians. Yet this very\nfact is predicted for the last days. \"The time will come when they shall\nnot endure sound doctrine.\" Then the prophet was taken up by the Spirit.\nBehind him a voice was heard, \"Blessed be the Glory of Jehovah from this\nplace.\"\n\nCherubim and wheels are in motion. He is lifted up and Jehovah's hand\nwas strong upon him.\n\n\nJUDGMENT ANNOUNCED. FOUR SIGNS AND TWO MESSAGES.\n\nChapter iii:15-vii:27.\n\nThe next section of the Book of Ezekiel extends from chapter iii:15 to\nthe close of the seventh chapter. Here we find that the Lord laid upon\nthe Prophet the great responsibilities as the watchman over the house of\nIsrael and gave him the message. Then the Prophet had to enact four\nsigns. The signs of the tile upon which he pictured Jerusalem (iv:1-3);\nthe sign of the Prophet's posture, laying 390 days upon his left side\nand forty days on his right and prophesying during this time against the\ndoomed city (verses 4-8); the sign of the food he was to eat, and its\npreparation; this covers the same period of 390 days (verses 9-17); the\nlast sign was that of shaving the hair from head and face, and dividing\nit into three parts. This fourth sign (chapter v) is minutely explained\nand symbolizes like the other signs the judgments against Jerusalem. Two\nsolemn messages of denunciations close this section, the first message\npredicts the sword to fall upon the land and the people and their\nsubsequent dispersion (chapter vi). The second message predicts the end\nwhich was to come upon the four corners of the land. The great\ndesolation is described in a marvellous way. The seventh chapter, which\ncontains this second message is one of the sublimest in the book. Both\nmessages end in the same way: \"And they shall know that I am Jehovah.\"\n\n\nChapter iii:15-27.\n\nI. The new charge and Ezekiel's new experience.\n\n Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the\n river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there\n astonished among them seven days. And it came to pass at the end of\n seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of\n man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore\n hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say\n unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not\n warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to\n save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but\n his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked,\n and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he\n shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again,\n When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit\n iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die:\n because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin,\n and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered;\n but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou\n warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not\n sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast\n delivered thy soul.\n\n And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me,\n Arise go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then\n I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of\n the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of\n Chebar: and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me, and\n set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut\n thyself within thine house. But thou, O son of man, behold, they\n shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou\n shalt not go out among them: And I will make thy tongue cleave to\n the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to\n them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak\n with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus\n saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that\n forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house\n (chapter iii: 15-27).\n\nThe Prophet had been transported from the place mentioned in chapter i:1\nto Tel-abib, which was also on the river Chebar. Here a number of\ncaptives dwelt. For seven days he sat in their presence astonished and\ndid not open his lips. Was it their sad condition, or the knowledge of\ntheir rebellious spirit, or the threatening judgments which produced\nthis silence? Most likely these things filled the Priest-Prophet with\nunspeakable sorrow and sadness, so that he could not find words. And the\ncaptives must have read the burden of his soul in his countenance. The\nscene reminds us of Job and his three friends, who \"sat down with him\nupon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto\nhim, for they saw that his grief was very great\" (Job ii:13). Job broke\nthe silence by cursing his day. But the silence of Ezekiel's seven days\nwas broken by the Lord Himself. He addressed the Prophet and told him\nthat He had made him \"a watchman unto the house of Israel.\" His duty and\nresponsibility in that capacity was twofold; first to hear the Lord's\nWord from His own lips, then to give the warning from Him. Warning is\nthe important call of a watchman (chapter xxxiii:2, 6, 7; Isaiah lii:8;\nlvi:10; Jer. vi:17). If the appointed watchman does not hear the Word as\nit comes from Jehovah, he cannot sound the alarm. The false prophets in\nIsrael, who did not warn the people, but said, \"Peace, peace!\" when\nthere was no peace, followed their own dreams instead of the Word. They\ndid not believe the solemn messages God had given through former\nprophets. That was the curse among the professing people of God then. It\nproduced a false security, decline and apostasy; it hastened the\nimpending judgments of God. It is the curse to-day in the professing\nchurch. His Word is rejected. The solemn truths concerning \"judgment to\ncome\" upon an ungodly age and apostate \"church\" are not heeded and\nmostly rejected. The man who sounds the warning and stands by the\ndeclarations of God's Word is as unpopular with the people to-day as\nJeremiah and Ezekiel were in their days.\n\nThe Prophet was commissioned not to warn the nation as such, but to warn\nindividuals. The wicked and the righteous are mentioned and the\nProphet's responsibility in delivering the message. If he does not warn\nthe wicked to turn from his wicked way to save his life, his blood will\nbe required from his hands. If he is faithful and the wicked does not\nhear the warning, the wicked shall die, but the faithful messenger\ndelivers his own soul. And so with the righteous, who turns from his\nrighteous acts and commits iniquity. He is threatened with death; but if\nhe sins not and is warned he shall live. After hearing the warning Word\neach is to bear the consequences of his own conduct. The nation as such\nwas rebellious. Its doom could not be averted. Yet God in His\nlong-suffering still gave the individual an opportunity to escape the\nthreatening judgment, that by hearing the Word he might live. This\ngracious offer concerned the wicked. The righteous one in Israel, who\nobeyed the law and did acts of righteousness had to continue in\nobedience; if he failed in the midst of the great national crisis when\njudgment was about to fall, his former righteous deeds could not save\nhis life. He also would be swept away and die in his sins. The first\npart of the third chapter reveals the hardened condition of the nation;\nthere was no remedy. The second part reveals the possibility of the\ndeliverance of all who harkened to the divine warning and turned from\ntheir evil ways.\n\nThe passage, as well as the corresponding one in chapter xxxiii:1-20,\nhas been often used in the defence of what is termed \"falling from\nGrace,\" that a true believer, who is saved by Grace, may by sinning\nbecome unsaved again and then perish in his sins like the wicked. The\nwords \"fallen from Grace\" are found only once in the Bible, that is in\nGal. v:4. The context shows what they mean. If a believer goes to the\nlaw to be justified before God, if he tries by his own works, and by\nordinances, to be righteous before God, he abandons the ground of Grace.\nThe dispensation in which we live is the dispensation of Grace; Grace\nreigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our\nLord. (Rom. v:21). The message delivered by God to Ezekiel is in fullest\nkeeping with the character of the law-covenant, though Grace is also\nmanifested in it. Righteousness has not the meaning here as in the New\nTestament. We are constituted righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. It is\nnow not the question of doing righteous deeds in order to be saved and\nlive. We are saved by Grace through faith. \"Now to him that worketh is\nthe reward not reckoned as of grace but as of debt. But to him that\nworketh not, but believeth on Him, who justifieth the ungodly, his faith\nis reckoned for righteousness\" (Romans iv:4). And he who is justified by\nfaith has peace with God. The true believer may sin, but he does not\ndeliberately practice and live in sin, for \"he that is born of God doth\nnot commit (practice) sin\" (1 John iii:9). If he falls in sin a gracious\nprovision is made. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous, and therefore we can confess our sins; forgiveness and\ncleansing follow according to the divine promise (1 John i:9;\nii:1-2).[3]\n\n[3] The responsibility of Ezekiel in delivering the message was great.\nEvery servant of the Lord Jesus Christ with a far greater message than\nEzekiel's should also feel that responsibility. If it were felt more,\nthere would be more earnestness, more prayer and greater results.\n\nAfter this solemn charge the hand of the Lord rested upon Ezekiel and he\nwas commanded to go into the plain, where Jehovah would talk with him.\nHe obeyed and beheld again the Glory of the Lord, which he had seen by\nthe river of Chebar. Once more he fell on his face. Then the Spirit\nentered into him and said unto him: \"Go, shut thyself within thy house.\"\nHe had no opportunity to exercise his office as watchman and deliver the\nwarning message. Immediately after the charge he was commanded to\nseparate himself from the captives and then became a prisoner in his\nhouse. But more than that. They were to put bands upon him and bind him\nwith them.\n\nDoes this mean that the people would bind him so that he could not leave\nthe house? It probably meant the opposite. He was to shut himself in the\nhouse and they came with bands and bound him, to get him out of the\nhouse by force. But he was not to go among them. Then God Himself made\nthe Prophet dumb. \"And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy\nmouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover, for\nthey are a rebellious house (verses 25-26). First he was to be bound so\nthat he could not go amongst them, and then God Himself would make him\ndumb so that he could not reprove the people. Different suggestions have\nbeen made about the meaning of the condition in which the Prophet was\nput. Some have even declared that there is a contradiction in all this,\nin view of verses 16-21, while rationalistic expositors think that the\nProphet suffered from some nervous disorder which deprived him\ntemporarily of the power of speech. That the Prophet was unfitted by God\nto go amongst the people and deliver the message in public was a\ntestimony against the nation. They were beyond hope, therefore, on\naccount of their rebelliousness; he was not to be a reprover to them. It\nwitnessed to the fact that judgment upon the nation could not now be\narrested. And yet his dumbness was not complete nor constant. The last\nverse of the chapter makes this clear. \"But when I speak with thee, I\nwill open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord\nGod; he that heareth let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him\nforbear; for they are a rebellious house.\" Thus the Prophet was\ncompletely cast upon Jehovah. Jehovah directed him in being silent or in\nuttering His message. Blessed are all servants of the Lord, who know the\nsame path of dependence and who declare the Word of the Lord, \"Thus\nsaith the Lord,\" whenever they speak.\n\nThe Prophet's mouth was opened completely and his power of speech\npermanently restored after Jerusalem had fallen. \"And it came to pass in\nthe twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth day, in the fifth day of\nthe month, that all that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me,\nsaying, the city is smitten. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the\nevening, before he that escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he\ncame to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more\ndumb\" (chapter xxxiii:21-22). This had been previously announced. \"In\nthat day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou\nshalt speak, and be no more dumb; and thou shalt be a sign unto them,\nand they shall know that I am the Lord\" (chapter xxiv:27). Thus\nEzekiel's dumbness was a sign to the nation; the sign of God's\ndispleasure and the coming judgment upon Jerusalem.\n\n\nTHE FOUR SYMBOLICAL SIGNS.\n\nChapters iv and v.\n\nThe divine predictions of the impending doom for Jerusalem was not\nbelieved by the exiles. The messages of the false prophets who moved\namong them encouraged the rebellious spirit and therefore the threatened\ndisaster was thought incredible by the captives. The mission of Ezekiel\nwas to dispel the false hope of a speedy return to the land. After he\nhad received his solemn commission and the message he was to deliver to\nthe rebellious people, he is commanded to enact four signs, which were\nto teach the captives that which would speedily come upon their beloved\ncity Jerusalem.\n\n=I. The Sign of the Tile.= The first symbolical sign is that of the\ntile, which the Prophet was to use to picture the coming siege of\nJerusalem.\n\n Thou also, son of man, take thee a brick, and lay it before thee,\n and portray upon it the city, Jerusalem; And lay siege against it,\n and build forts against it, and cast a mound against it; set the\n camps also against it, and set battering-rams against it round about.\n Moreover take thou unto thee an iron plate, and set it for a wall of\n iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it\n shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall\n be a sign to the house of Israel (verses 1-3).\n\nThe word translated \"tile\" means a brick. The Babylonians used clay\nbricks to keep their records; whole libraries consisting of a very large\nnumber of such bricks have been uncovered by the spade of the excavator.\nThese bricks were almost square, fourteen by twelve inches. Many have\nbeen found which have engraven upon them various building plans and\nastrological figures. Such a brick Ezekiel was commanded to take and\ndraw upon the soft clay surface a city, which was to represent\nJerusalem. The second verse shows Jerusalem in the state of siege. The\ncoming calamity was vividly pictured in this first sign. The Prophet was\nalso to take an iron pan (literally: plate) and use it for a wall of\niron between him and the city and set his face against it. In all this\nthe Prophet was to show Jehovah's action against Jerusalem. He\nimpersonated Jehovah in laying siege against it in marking the clay\nbrick and raising the iron-plate between himself and the city. In\nconnection with the latter sign we may well think of Isaiah lix:2: \"Your\niniquities have separated between you and your God.\" Thus in this first\nsign the certainty of the successful siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans\nwas set forth in plain view of the captives. Yet they heard not and\ncontinued their foolish dreams and believed rather the false prophets.\nGod has everywhere set forth in His Word coming judgments. Our age, so\nself-secure and boasting in many of its godless achievements, will end\nin a great judgment-catastrophe. Every portion of God's Word testifies\nof this fact. God will fulfil the prophecies of His servants the\nprophets. The past fulfilment of God's threatened judgments vouch for\nthe literal fulfilment of those still future. Yet our blinded age (2\nCor. iv:4) heeds it not. More than ever they say, \"Peace and safety,\"\nand ridicule God's message and God's messengers, who give a faithful\nwarning.\n\n=II. The Sign of the Prophet's Physical Position.= While in the first\nsign Jehovah's action against Jerusalem was pictured, in the next signs\na portrayal is given of the punishments which should come upon the\npeople. The Prophet's divinely commanded actions witnessed beforehand\nwhat should come upon the disobedient, rebellious nation. In his own\nperson Ezekiel had to taste the great degradation and judgment which was\nabout to become the portion of the people.\n\n Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house\n of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou\n shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid\n upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of\n the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear them,\n lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity\n of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie\n again on the right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the\n house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a\n year. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of\n Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt\n prophesy against it. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and\n thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another till thou hast\n ended the days of thy siege (verses 4-8).\n\nExpositors and critics have interpreted this and the other signs in\nvarious ways. Higher Criticism maintains that the whole description is\npurely ideal and that the Prophet never did in person what was asked of\nhim. They point to the fact that nowhere is a statement made that he did\nthese things. We quote from the \"Expositor's Bible\":\n\n\"It is clear that these signs could never have been enacted, either in\nview of the people or in solitude, as they are here described. It may be\ndoubted whether the whole description is not purely ideal, representing\na process which passed through the prophet's mind, or was suggested to\nhim in the visionary state but never actually performed.\"\n\nOther critics have tried to explain the Prophet's actions by some kind\nof a catalepsy, from which, they claim, he suffered. All these theories\nare pure inventions, springing from a denial of inspiration. They make\nmuch of the physical impossibility of this command to lie continuously\nfor 390 days on the left side and for 40 days on the right side. But it\ndoes not say that the Prophet should be in that position day and night\nduring that allotted time. The fact that he was to prepare food to eat\nduring these days excludes this extreme view. The Prophet no doubt\ncarried out the divine command as he understood it, and thereby gave the\npeople a sign concerning their iniquity and the deserved punishment. But\nwhat do the 390 days of Israel and 40 days of Judah mean? The text shows\nthat the days here mean years.[4] The 390 and 40 days make 430 days.\nThis reminds us of Exodus xii:40-41, where the sojourning of the\nchildren of Israel who dwelt in Egypt is given as 430 years. The 40\nyears of Judah recall the years of wandering in the wilderness. The 390\ndays apply to the period of Israel's unfaithfulness, which lead up to\ntheir punishment. These 390 years must be reckoned from Jeroboam, who\nwas the first King of the house of Israel by divine appointment as\nrevealed through Ahijah, the Prophet (1 Kings xi:31). The 40 years of\nJudah, for which Ezekiel was to lie upon his right side for 40 days must\nmean the 40 years of Solomon's reign. Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the\nvile goddess of the Zidonians. Judah worshipped besides Ashtoreth,\nChemosh, the god of the Moabites and Milcom, the god of Ammon (1 Kings\nxi:33). Thus the captives were reminded by the Prophet's painful\nposition of the shameful history of the long years of apostasy of their\nnation. But more than that. The Lord said expressly to Ezekiel: \"I have\nlaid upon thee the years of their iniquity ... so shalt thou bear the\niniquity of the house of Israel.\" By consulting other passages in the\nOld Testament, especially in Exodus and Leviticus,[5] it will be found\nthat the phrase \"bear their iniquity\" always means to endure the\npunishment due to sin or iniquity. Ezekiel's sign therefore pictured the\nactual results in punishment, which was now to fall upon the people for\ntheir sins. The 390 years and the 40 years therefore must be primarily\napplied to the period of their punishment. The Prophet, therefore, had\nput upon him suffering typical of the nation's punishment. He is in this\na blessed type of the great Sinbearer, who bore our sins in His own body\non the tree. Of Him it is written, \"He shall bear their iniquities.\" And\nthe believing remnant of Israel in a future day, looking upon Him, whom\nthey pierced, will yet confess \"He was wounded for our transgressions,\nHe was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was\nupon Him and with His stripes we are healed\" (Isaiah liii:5).\n\n[4] Some have concluded on account of this passage, that throughout the\nprophetic word wherever \"days\" are mentioned, they mean \"years.\" This is\nincorrect. The \"year-day\" theory is not a scriptural one. Where we find\ndays, it means days unless the text itself, as it is here in Ezekiel,\nexplains the days as years.\n\n[5] Exod. xxviii:38-43; Lev. v:1, 17, vii:8, x:17, etc.\n\n=III. The Sign of the Famine and the Defiled Bread.= The siege of\nJerusalem had been portrayed in the tile sign; the hardships in divine\njudgments in the second and the third sign describes additional\npunishments to come upon Jerusalem.\n\n Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils,\n and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee\n bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt\n lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat\n thereof. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight,\n twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall thou eat it. Thou\n shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from\n time to time shalt thou drink. And thou shalt eat it as barley\n cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in\n their sight. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of\n Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will\n drive them (verses 9-13).\n\nThen the Priest-Prophet, horrified at the defilement he was to be\nsubjected to, spoke to Jehovah and received an answer from Him granting\nhis request and giving further instructions about the sign.\n\n Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted:\n for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which\n dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable\n flesh into my mouth. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee\n cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread\n therewith. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will\n break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by\n weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and\n with astonishment: That they may want bread and water, and be\n astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity\n (verses 14-17).\n\nThis sign then shows the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and what was\nto come upon the people during the period of their punishment. The\nwheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and fitches[6] were to be put into\none vessel, because a little of each was available. To eat things by\nweight and not to be satisfied with it, was announced through Moses as\none of the threatened judgments. \"And when I have broken the staff of\nyour bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall\ndeliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be\nsatisfied\" (Lev. xxvi:26). The sign meant famine as the Lord told\nEzekiel (verse 16).\n\n[6] Or spelt, a kind of corn.\n\nThen uncleanness, defilement, is added. The famine stands connected with\nthe siege, the defilement refers more to that, which was to come upon\nthem in their captivity among the Gentiles. It pictured the unclean\nreligious conditions into which the people were to be plunged during the\nexile. \"Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread\namong the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.\" The same judgment was\nannounced by Hosea. \"They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but\nEphraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in\nAssyria. They shall not offer wine to the Lord, neither shall they be\npleasing unto Him; their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of\nmourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted\" (Hosea ix:3-4). And\nEzekiel baked the bread in the prescribed way, while no doubt, the\ncaptives looked on in horror, that a Priest like Ezekiel could act thus.\nThe sign found its fulfillment. God's predicted judgments were always\nliterally fulfilled. God means what He has declared in His Word. The\nfuture will yet witness to it.\n\n\nIV. The Sign of the Shaving of the Head and the Face.\n\n And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's\n razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then\n take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt burn\n with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of\n the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite\n about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the\n wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. Thou shalt also take\n thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of\n them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them\n in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house\n of Israel (chapter v:1-4).\n\nIn this final sign we have the symbol of what was to befall the nation\nas such. Through the Prophet Isaiah a prediction had been given\nconcerning the King of Assyria, which explains the meaning of the sharp\nknife. \"In the same day shalt the Lord shave with a razor that is hired,\nnamely, by them beyond the river, by the King of Assyria, the head, and\nthe hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard\" (Isa.\nvii:20). The sharp knife[7] represents in Ezekiel's sign the King of\nBabylon. He was Jehovah's instrument executing His wrath. The people are\nrepresented by the hairs. The sharp knife, the sword of justice, was to\ncut them off. The third part of the hair burned with fire pictured the\nfate of a part of the people during the siege. Besides the fire, the\npestilence and the famine were to consume them (verse 12). Another part\nwas to be destroyed by the sword round about Jerusalem, while still\nanother part should be scattered unto all the winds, that is dispersed\namong the Gentiles, where the sword would also follow the fugitives.\nOnly a few in number, a small remnant were to be preserved which was\nsymbolically enacted when Ezekiel took a few hairs and bound them in his\nskirt. But even some of them should be put into the fire. Such a\nremnant, saved and preserved and ultimately blessed, is often mentioned\nin the prophetic Word. See Isaiah vi:13; x:22; Jere. xxiii:3; Ezek.\nvi:8; Zech. xiii:8-9. All these judgments came upon the city and upon\nthe nation. A remnant also was saved and in due time returned.\n\n[7] The literal meaning is sword, the same as in verse 12.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the\n midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she\n hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and\n my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for\n they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked\n in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye multiplied\n more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked\n in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done\n according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against\n thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight\n of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done,\n and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine\n abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst\n of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute\n judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into\n all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely,\n because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable\n things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also\n diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any\n pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with\n famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part\n shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third\n part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.\n Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to\n rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I,\n the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my\n fury in them. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among\n the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass\n by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an\n astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I\n shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious\n rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken it. When I shall send upon them\n the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and\n which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine\n upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon\n you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and\n pestilence and blood shall pass through thee: and I will bring the\n sword upon thee. I, the Lord, have spoken it (verses 5-17).\n\nAfter these few signs had announced to the captives what was to come\nupon the city and upon the people, Jehovah begins to speak. The solemn\nwords we have quoted need but little comment. He speaks of Jerusalem's\nexalted place, her wickedness, which had become greater than that of the\nnations, her disobedience and her judgments. One must read the\nLamentations of Jeremiah to find how all was fulfilled in the final\noverthrow of Jerusalem. Compare verse 10 with Lament. iv:10. How\nterrible are the judgments of a righteous and holy God! The calamity\nwhich fell upon Jerusalem and the land through the hands of\nNebuchadnezzar was repeated on a more fearful scale in the year 70,\nafter the greater One than Ezekiel, the Lord Jesus Christ, had given His\nsolemn warnings and had wept over the city. And once more will Jerusalem\ntaste of wrath and judgment in that end of the age, which is called the\ngreat tribulation. And after that the day-break, when Jerusalem will\nrise out of the dust and her history of shame and sorrow will be ended.\n\n\nTHE TWO JUDGMENT MESSAGES.\n\nChapter vi-vii.\n\nTwo judgment messages follow. Each message is a direct communication\nfrom Jehovah to the Prophet. \"And the Word of the Lord came unto me.\"\nBoth messages end in the same way: \"And they shall know that I am the\nLord.\" In the first message the judgment of the whole land is announced.\nThe second message announces the completeness of the judgment. The\npredicted end is described with its accompanying perplexities and\nsufferings.\n\n\nI. The Coming Judgment against the Mountains and the Land.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set they\n face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, And\n say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus\n saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the\n rivers, and to the valleys, Behold I, even I, will bring a sword\n upon you, and I will destroy your high places; and your altars shall\n be desolate, and your images shall be broken; and I will cast down\n your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcasses\n of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter\n your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling-places the\n cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate;\n that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols\n may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your\n works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of\n you; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (chapter vi:1-7).\n\nThe denunciation against the mountains of Israel stands in the first\nplace. Jerusalem was mostly in view in the preceding chapters, but now\nthe Lord announces that the whole land is to become desolate through His\nwrath. The mountains of Israel's land were used as places for idolatry;\nthey are called \"the high places.\" Images and shrines were erected upon\nthese heights where the vile and idolatrous worship of heathen gods was\npracticed. These images were idols dedicated to sun-worship. That Israel\nwould become idolatrous had been revealed to Moses, who also announced\nthe judgment which should ultimately fall upon Israel for their\nidolatry. \"And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your\nimages, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my\nsoul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your\nsanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your\nsweet odors. And I will bring the land into desolation, and your\nenemies which dwell therein shall be astonished. And I will scatter you\namong the nations and will draw out a sword after you and your land\nshall be desolate, and your cities waste\" (Lev. xxvi:30-33). This\nremarkable prophetic statement was made to Moses, who wrote it hundreds\nof years before. And now the time for its fulfillment had at last come.\nGod in His patience had delayed the judgment, but when the time had come\nHe remembered all that Moses heard from His lips and executed His own\nWord. A careful comparison of the passage in Leviticus with verses 3-6\nof this chapter shows the literal fulfillment.\n\n Yet will I leave a remnant that ye may have some that shall escape\n the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the\n countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the\n nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I shall have\n broken their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with\n their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall\n loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all\n their abominations, and they shall know that I am the Lord, and that\n I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. Thus\n saith the Lord God: Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot,\n and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel!\n for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the\n pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he\n that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is\n besieged shall die by the famine; thus will I accomplish my fury\n upon them. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain\n men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every\n high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green\n tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer\n sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon\n them, and make the land desolate; yea, more desolate than the\n wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall\n know that I am the Lord (verses 8-14).\n\nThe Lord promised that in mercy He would leave a remnant. That remnant\nwould acknowledge the evil they had done. \"They shall loathe themselves\nfor the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.\" This\nis the result of Jehovah's action towards themselves. The words \"because\nI am broken with their whorish heart\" are literally translated \"when I\nshall have broken their whorish heart which has departed from me.\" No\njudgment which came upon God's peculiar people ever made a complete end\nof the nation. A remnant always remained and turned to the Lord. During\nthe greatest and longest judgment which has ever befallen the people\nIsrael, their world-wide dispersion in the present age, there is also a\nremnant amongst them (Romans xi:5). And when Jehovah resumes His\ndealings with them during the last seven years of the Times of the\nGentiles, the time of their greatest trouble, a remnant will turn to Him\nand be converted. That remnant will be carried through the mighty\njudgments of the end time and receive the blessings and the glory of the\npromised kingdom.\n\nEzekiel was also commanded to smite with his hand and to stamp with his\nfoot. Clapping the hands and stamping with the feet may denote\nexultation (chapter xxv:6). But here it is more an outward expression of\nthe vehemence of the judgment. In chapter xxi:7 we read of the Lord\nsmiting His hands. \"I will also smite mine hands together, and I will\ncause my fury to rest, I the Lord have said it.\" A repetition of the\nimpending judgments forms the conclusion of this first message.\n\n\nChapter vii.\n\nII. The second Judgment Message. The End is at Hand. The Complete\nJudgment.\n\nThe seventh chapter which contains the second judgment message, closes\nthe first prophecy of Ezekiel. All the different elements and phases of\njudgment which had just been foretold by the Prophet are now gathered\nup in this final great utterance. As the chapter is written in a certain\nrythm and contains in the authorized version many incorrect renderings,\nwe give a corrected metrical translation.\n\n \"And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou Son of Man,\n thus saith Jehovah unto the land of Israel:\n\n An end cometh! The end\n Upon the four corners of the land.\n Now cometh the end upon thee\n And I will send mine anger upon thee,\n And I will judge thee according to thy ways;\n And I will bring upon thee all thine abominations.\n And mine eyes shall not spare thee,\n Neither will I have pity;\n Because I will bring thy ways upon thee\n And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee:\n And ye shall know that I am Jehovah.\n\n Thus saith the Lord Jehovah!\n An evil--an only evil!--behold it cometh.[8]\n An end is come--the end is come!\n It awaketh against thee. Behold it cometh!\n O inhabitant of the land, thy doom is come unto thee\n The set time is come, the day is near,\n The day of tumult.\n And not the joyous shouting upon the mountains;\n Now will I soon pour out my fury upon thee\n And accomplish mine anger against thee.\n I will judge thee according to thy ways,\n And will bring upon thee all thine abominations.\n Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity.\n According to thy ways will I render unto thee,\n And thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee,\n And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, who smiteth\n\n (chapter vii:1-9).\n\n[8] Another rendering is: \"Calamity after calamity!\"\n\nThis is the first section of this great and solemn portion of Ezekiel's\nprophecy. The end is announced to come upon the entire land. The set\ntime for judgment had come, it could no longer be averted. How merciful\nhad been Jehovah's dealing with His beloved people. \"But He, being full\nof compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea many\na time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath\" (Ps.\nlxxviii:38). But now the measure of their wickedness had come. The day\nof reckoning was at hand. Divine fury was to sweep now over the entire\nland. His eyes would no longer spare nor would He pity them any longer.\n\nThere is another day coming in which the Lord will deal in fearful\njudgments with this earth. Now is the day of salvation in which God\nspeaks in love through His Son. When wickedness and apostasy has reached\nits climax, the day of salvation will end and \"the day of vengeance of\nour God\" will begin. Then He will speak in His wrath and vex them in His\nsore displeasure (Ps. ii:5). Then will they say to the mountains and\nrocks, \"Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the\nthrone, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath\nis come; and who shall be able to stand?\" (Rev. vi:16-17). God's\njudgments for the future are as sure as were His judgments in the past.\nThere is a set time, the day of the Lord, when He, to whom the Father\nhas given all judgments, will tread \"the winepress of the fierceness of\nthe wrath of God, the Almighty\" (Rev. xix:15).\n\n Behold the Day! Behold it cometh!\n Thy doom advanceth:\n The rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.\n Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness;\n None of them shall remain; yea none of their multitude,\n Nor their wealth; neither shall there be eminency among them.\n The time is come, the day draweth near;\n Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn,\n For wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.\n For the seller shall not return to that which is sold,\n Even though he were yet amongst the living.\n In the vision touching the whole multitude thereof\n It shall not be revoked;\n And none shall through his iniquity assure his life.\n They have blown the trumpet and made all ready,\n But none goeth to the battle;\n For my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.\n The sword is without; the pestilence and the famine within;\n He that is in the field shall die by the sword;\n And he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.\n But they that escape of them shall escape,\n And be as the mountains like moaning doves,\n All of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.\n All hands shall be feeble, and every knee shall fail like water.\n They shall gird themselves with sackcloth,\n And horror shall cover them;\n Shame shall be upon all faces, baldness upon all heads\n\n (verses 10-18).\n\nWhat a solemn description of the doom which was now to fall upon\nJerusalem, the land and its inhabitants! The buyer and the seller as\nwell as all the multitude were to be affected by it. The decree of\njudgment which had gone forth could not be revoked. The blowing of the\ntrumpet, which is mentioned has generally been misunderstood by\nexpositors. It is said to picture \"the collapse of Judah's military\npreparations in the hour of danger, that when the siege of Jerusalem\ncame, none responded.\" The blowing of the trumpets among Israel had a\nspecial significance. It carried with it the assurance that Jehovah\nheard and would be ready to fight for His people against their enemies.\nBut as they knew their iniquities had separated them from God, His face\nbeing against them, none did go to the battle, for His wrath rested upon\nthem all. Sword, pestilence and famine would devour them all and the few\nfugitives would be upon the mountains mourning over their iniquities.\nThe rod mentioned which hath blossomed means Nebuchadnezzar, who\nexecuted this great judgment upon Jerusalem. The climax of the judgment\nprophecy is reached in the third part of the chapter.\n\n They shall cast their silver in the streets,\n And their gold shall be as an unclean thing;\n Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them\n In the day of Jehovah's wrath;\n They cannot satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowls,\n Because it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.\n And the beauty of their ornaments, they turned it to pride,\n And the images of their abominations, their detestable things made\n they of it.\n And I shall give it to the hands of strangers for a prey,\n And to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.\n For I will turn my face from them,\n And they shall defile my secret place,\n And robbers shall enter into it and profane it.\n Form a chain,\n For the land is full of bloody crimes,\n And the city full of violence.\n Therefore will I bring the worst of the nations,\n And they shall possess their houses;\n And I will make the pride of the mighty to cease,\n And their sanctuaries shall be defiled.\n Destruction cometh!\n They shall seek peace, but there shall be none.\n Calamity after calamity shall appear;\n And rumour shall be upon rumour;\n Then shall they seek a vision from a prophet;\n But the law shall perish from the priest,\n And counsel from the elders.\n The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with dismay,\n And the hands of the people of the land shall tremble:\n I will do unto them according to their way,\n When I shall judge them according to their deserts;\n And they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 19-27).\n\nHere we learn first of all that the stumbling block of their iniquity\n(verse 19) was the silver and gold. Prophets like Isaiah, Amos and\nothers bear witness to the fact that Jerusalem and the land enjoyed\ngreat prosperity and indulged in extravagant living before the judgment\novertook the nation. Said Isaiah, \"Their land also is full of silver and\ngold, neither is there an end of their treasures.\" In the third chapter\nof Isaiah the luxurious dress of the daughters of Zion is vividly\ndescribed, while Amos also gives the scenes of their riotous, wanton\nliving and emphasizes the oppression of the poor. Riches had increased\nand the prosperous conditions of the land produced vanity; they forgot\nJehovah and worshipped the idols of the Gentiles. And now as the day of\nwrath breaks, their eyes would be opened and they were to find out the\nabsolute worthlessness of their silver and gold. They would cast it into\nthe streets, for it was unable to deliver them. Zephaniah, in his great\nvision of the national calamity which was to fall upon the people, gives\na similar testimony. \"Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able\nto deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall\nbe devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy\nriddance of all them that dwell in the land\" (Zeph. i:18).\n\nThe Holy Spirit bears witness in the New Testament that similar\nconditions will exist in Christendom during the end of the present age.\n\"Men shall be lovers of their ownselves, lovers of money (covetous) and\nlovers of pleasure more than lovers of God\" (2 Tim. iii:1-5). The\nconditions of worldliness, apostasy, prosperity and luxurious living\nwhich prevailed in Jerusalem before the hand of God stripped the people\nand the land characterize our times. This will go on, and will culminate\nafter the Lord has taken His true church into glory. In view of the\nvisible coming of the Lord to deal with the earth in judgment the Spirit\nof God through James addresses especially the rich men. \"Go to now, ye\nrich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you....\nYe have heaped treasure together for the last days\" (James v:1-3).\n\nThe message of Ezekiel also announced that the Gentiles, the strangers,\nwere to come and defile the temple. The chain mentioned refers to their\ncondition as captives. Destruction was to come. There should be no\npeace; calamity was to follow calamity; according to what they had done\na righteous God would deal with them. And thus it came to pass when\nJerusalem fell and the people were taken away as captives.\n\n\nVISIONS CONCERNING JERUSALEM.\n\nChapter viii.\n\nWith this chapter begins a new section. It contains a series of visions.\nThe Prophet is shown first of all the awful abominations which were\ngoing on in the temple (chapter viii). Then the fact was made known to\nhim that destruction would overtake all who were left in Jerusalem,\nexcept the sighing, faithful remnant, marked by the man with the inkhorn\n(chapter xi). This is followed by the vision of the coals of fire and\nthe vision of glory (chapter x). The final vision in this section is the\nvision concerning the leaders of the people and the departure of the\nglory of the Lord (chapter xi).\n\nThese visions, which concern Jerusalem's history and condition in the\ndays of Ezekiel, also foreshadow Jerusalem's future. There is a\nremarkable correspondence with events revealed in the last book of the\nBible, the Book of Revelation. Another temple will be defiled by the\nabomination of the Anti-Christ during the coming great tribulation.\nEzekiel saw an image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. There\nwill be another image in Jerusalem on account of which judgment will\ncome upon the unbelieving Jews (Rev. xiii:14-15). Then there will be a\nremnant sealed and preserved (Rev. vii) as it was in the time of\nEzekiel. Coals of fire Ezekiel saw scattered over the city; it denoted\nan act of judgment. When the last chapter of Jerusalem's final trouble\npasseth into history, fire from the altar will be cast upon the earth\n(Rev. viii:5). But while Ezekiel saw the glory departing after these\njudgments, the glory will return to the city and to Israel's land, when\nthe great tribulation is ended. Ezekiel's vision of abominations among\nIsrael is first given.\n\n\nI. The Vision of the Image of Jealousy.\n\n And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the\n fifth of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah\n sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.\n Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the\n appearance of his loins, even downward; fire and from his loins even\n upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the look of glowing\n brass. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock\n of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the\n heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the\n door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the\n seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And,\n behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the\n vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man,\n lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine\n eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of\n the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore\n unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great\n abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, and I should\n go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou\n shalt see greater abominations (verses 1-6).\n\nIt was over a year after his first vision (i:1) when Ezekiel sat in his\nhouse surrounded by the elders of Judah. Perhaps they had come expecting\nsome new communication from the prophet. Suddenly the hand of the Lord\nfell again upon him. He beheld once more the glorious likeness of Him\nwho was the center of the first vision of glory.[9] The hand of the Lord\ntook the prophet by a lock of hair and the Spirit lifted him between the\nearth and the heaven and he was brought in the visions of God to\nJerusalem. Was this a real experience? Critics speak of a trance, that\nthe prophet was some kind of a psychic with the gift of clairvoyancy. It\nwas not a trance-vision, but an action by the Spirit and power of the\nLord. Elijah must have had frequently the same experience, for Obadiah\nsaid to him: \"And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee,\nthat the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not\" (1\nKings xviii:12). And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha after\nElijah departed: \"The Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him\nupon some mountain, or into some valley\" (2 Kings ii:16). The Spirit of\nthe Lord also caught away Philip (Acts viii:39).\n\n[9] The word \"fire\" is in the Septuagint (ancient Greek Version of the\nOld Testament) translated \"man\" so that it reads \"the appearance of a\nman.\" There is a similarity between the Hebrew words for \"man\" and\n\"fire.\" Fire is \"esh\" and man \"ish.\" Compare with chapter i:26, 17.\n\nIn the visions of God Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate\nthat looketh to the north. Here was the image of jealousy, which\nprovoketh to jealousy. Some have taken this and the following visions to\nbe retrospective. It has been said, \"It was as if he were translated\nback to Jerusalem, and to the time when these things were occurring.\"\nSuch is the view of some critics; however, it is untenable. These\nvisions would lose their meaning if the prophet only seemed to be\ntranslated back to Jerusalem and to the time when these abominations had\nhappened in Israel's past history. Later we find the names of persons\ngiven, whom he saw. They certainly were living persons known to Ezekiel\nand his contemporaries. One of them died while Ezekiel prophesied\n(xi:13).\n\nWhat was the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy? It was an\nidol. The word is used in Deut. iv:16, where it is translated \"graven\nimage.\" It is also found in 2 Chronicles xxxiii:7, 15, where it refers\nto the idol, which Manasseh had made and put up in the temple.\n\nAfter Manasseh's idolatry came Josiah's great reformation. After his\ndeath Judah plunged into greater wickedness under the reign of wicked\nkings and a revival of idolatry followed once more. Such a wrath\nprovoking idol was beheld by the prophet. This image they worshipped.\n\"Son of man, seest thou what they do?\" They must have lain prostrate\nbefore that idol. And yet the glory of the God of Israel was still\nthere. He had not yet abandoned the place. Idolatry will once more be\npracticed in Jerusalem. Our Lord speaks of it prophetically in Matthew\nxii:43-45. The unclean spirit is idolatry. The Jewish people are now\npurged from it. At some future time that spirit will return with seven\nothers. \"And the last state of that man is worse than the first.\" Then\nour Lord applied the parable: \"Even so shall it be also unto this wicked\ngeneration\" (literally: race). During the reign of the final\nAnti-Christ, idolatry in its worst form will be instituted once more in\nJerusalem (2 Thess. ii:3-4; Rev. xiii:11-18).\n\n\nII. The Worship of Creeping and Abominable Beasts.\n\n And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked,\n behold, a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig\n now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door.\n And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that\n they do here. So I went in and saw; and, behold, every form of\n creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the\n house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there\n stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of\n Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of\n Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of\n incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen\n what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man\n in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not;\n the Lord hath forsaken the earth\" (verses 7-12).\n\nThe prophet saw next a hole in the wall, and being commanded to dig into\nit he found a secret door through which he entered. In the chamber, upon\nthe wall round about, were pictured creeping things and abominable\nthings. A worship of these creeping things and beasts was in progress,\nfor the seventy ancients of Israel were swinging censers full of\nincense, so that a thick cloud went up. They were practising idolatry\nafter the order of Egypt and of the most degrading kind. The people of\nGod had sunk as deep, yea deeper, than the heathen round about them\n(Romans i:23). And the leaders of the nation, the seventy elders, were\nthere leading in this worship of abominations. Jaazaniah, the son of\nShaphan, is especially mentioned. Shaphan was the scribe, who received\nfrom the high-priest, Hilkiah, the book of the law, and who read it\nbefore King Josiah (2 Kings xxii:8-11; Jere. xxxix:14). The son of this\nillustrious and God-fearing scribe was the leader among the\nanimal-worshippers. It was an evidence of the great apostasy which had\nengulfed the nation. And these idol-worshippers, each in his chamber of\nimagery (probably individual cells) said: \"The Lord seeth us not; the\nLord hath forsaken the earth.\" They denied His omniscience and\nomnipresence. The apostasy in Christendom is going the same road.\n\n\nIII. The Women Weeping for Tammuz.\n\n He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see\n greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of\n the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and,\n behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me,\n Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou\n shalt see greater abominations than these (verses 13-15).\n\nTammuz, the Babylonian \"Dumuzi,\" was the god of spring vegetation, who\ndies, going down to Hades, and revives again with each returning summer.\nThe worship of this god became identified with Phoenicia, and from there\nthis wicked cult came to Greece, where Tammuz was known under the name\nof Adonis. The weeping woman celebrated the death of the god, an emblem\nof the decay of earth's productive powers. With it were connected some\nof the vilest, immoral ceremonies and licentious habits. Thus we see how\nfalse worship and immorality are closely, yea, inseparably, linked\ntogether. In our days the increase of licentiousness is but the result\nof having rejected the Truth of God.\n\n\nIV. The Greatest of all Abominations: Sun-Worship.\n\n And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and,\n behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and\n the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward\n the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they\n worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou\n seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah\n that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they\n have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me\n to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore,\n will I also deal in fury; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I\n have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet\n will I not hear them\" (verses 16-18).\n\nThe twenty-five men, who stood between the porch and the altar with\ntheir backs to the house of the Lord and their faces towards the sun,\nworshipping the sun, were the twenty-four priests, who constituted the\nappointed courses. Their attitude was one of defiance. They practiced\nthe abominable cult, openly showing by the turned backs against the\ntemple that they had wilfully rejected Jehovah and His worship. What\nelse was connected with sun-worship? One mysterious sentence appears at\nthe close of verse 17. \"And, lo, they put the branch to their nose.\"\nThis phrase is very obscure. Jewish commentators claim that the words\nconceal some shocking and wicked rite; and this may be the correct\nmeaning. Sun-worship and its attending lusts of the flesh are not\nunknown in our own times. A few months ago a great sun-festival was held\nin Paris.[10] Thousands participated in it. Hymns to the sun were sung\nand sun-dances held, while the nights were given over to all kinds of\nimmoralities. Bahaism, whose deceitful leader is a sun-worshipper, has\nhundreds of thousands of followers in the English speaking world. They\nturned their ears from the Truth and have been turned to fables.\n\n[10] This was three months before the war.\n\nElders, women and priests had turned from Jehovah and His worship. And\nnow Jehovah speaks and pronounces judgment upon them. \"Therefore will I\nalso deal in fury; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity;\nand though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear\nthem.\" Jehovah did according to His word. He did not spare; there was no\npity. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the people had to feel\nJehovah's fury. And judgment greater than Jerusalem's will surely\novertake this present evil age with its idolatries, its abominations,\nits rejection of God's Gospel and defiance of God.\n\n\nTHE VISION OF THE MAN WITH THE INKHORN.\n\nChapter ix.\n\nThe vision which follows is closely connected with the previous visions\nin which Ezekiel had seen the worship of idols, and of beasts, and of\nthe sun. Divine judgment must follow. It is a judgment vision the\nProphet now beholds. The judgment, however, is of a discriminating\ncharacter. The messengers are commissioned to mark the sorrowing,\nfaithful remnant. For the rest of the sinners in Jerusalem there is no\nmercy. They had defiled the temple and now the temple was to be defiled\nby their slain bodies.\n\n\nI. The Judgment Command Given.\n\n He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them\n that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his\n destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the\n way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man\n a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed\n with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in,\n and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of\n Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the\n threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen,\n which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto\n him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of\n Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh\n and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst\n thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him\n through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye\n pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children,\n and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and\n begin at my sanctuary (verses 1-6).\n\nWho are they who are called to execute the judgment? Six men came from\nthe way of the higher gate, one of them clothed in linen had a writer's\ninkhorn by his side, while the others had slaughter weapons in their\nhands. They were not human beings but angels. The city was given over\ninto their hands. Angels were therefore used in God's judgments of the\npast. They will be used in the coming judgments. \"The Son of Man shall\nsend forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all\nthings that offend and them which do iniquity\" (Matt. xiii:41). \"For the\nSon of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels\" (Matt.\nxvi:27). \"When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His\nmighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not\nGod, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ\" (2 Thess.\ni:7-8). Throughout the book of Revelation angels are seen carrying out\nthe judgments of God. Especially are we reminded here of the seventh\nchapter of the last book of the Bible. Four angels are seen there\nholding the four winds of the earth. Then there appeared a fifth angel\nhaving the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the\nfour angels: \"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till\nwe have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads\" (Rev.\nvii:1-3). One hundred and forty-four thousand were then sealed. The\nsealed ones in Revelation with the mark on the forehead constitute the\nfaithful remnant of Israel who witness during the tribulation. Those who\ndie the martyr's death will have part in the first resurrection, because\nthey did not worship the beast nor received his mark on their foreheads\n(Rev. xx:4). Those who will be kept through the tribulation will be the\nnucleus of the Kingdom on earth. We notice a striking correspondency\nwith this vision of Ezekiel. Judgment is to fall upon all the apostates\nin Jerusalem, but the men that sigh and cry on account of the\nabominations were to be marked by the angel with the inkhorn and escape\nthe impending judgment. Their sighing and weeping was the evidence that\nthey did not share the abominations of idolatry but were true to\nJehovah and His worship. And may we not forget that now in Christendom,\nin the midst of the dark days of apostasy and the soon coming\ntribulation and judgment, there is a faithful remnant, who sigh and cry\nand to whom the Lord has given a special promise: \"Because thou hast\nkept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of\ntrial, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell on\nthe earth\" (Rom. iii:10).\n\nThe word \"mark\" in the Hebrew is \"Tav,\" the last letter in the Hebrew\nalphabet. Its literal meaning is \"cross.\" This letter \"T\" was a cross in\nthe older Hebrew script as well as in the Phoenician and Samaritan. The\nEgyptians also used a cross in their language; with them it was a sign\nof life. Ancient Jewish tradition gives the information that the blood\nsprinkled in Egypt on the doorpost (Exodus xii:23) was in the form of a\ncross. All this is interesting. To this we may add that in Genesis\niv:15, the mark set upon Cain, an entirely different word is used.\n\n\"Begin at my sanctuary\" was the command. There the responsibility rested\nand there the judgment had to begin. 1 Peter iv:17 may here be\nconsidered. \"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house\nof God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that\nobey not the Gospel of God.\"\n\n\nII. The Command Executed.\n\n Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And\n he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the\n slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And\n it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that\n I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord God! wilt thou\n destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury\n upon Jerusalem? Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of\n Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood,\n and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath\n forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for me also,\n mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will\n recompense their way upon their head. And, behold, the man clothed\n with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter,\n saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me (verses 7-11).\n\nThe command is literally carried out. God's judgments are always carried\nout to the letter; there is no such thing as a \"spiritual\" fulfillment\nof a judgment of God. The world some day will find out the solemn truth\nof this fact. The temple where they had practised all the vileness of\nidolatry, where they worshipped creeping things, is now defiled by their\ndead bodies. To touch a dead body anywhere meant defilement for seven\ndays (Num. xix:11), but now the very place which they considered holy is\nmade a defiled place. The Priest-Prophet is shocked. He fell on his face\nand a cry of horror escaped his lips. \"Ah, Lord God! wilt Thou destroy\nall the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon\nJerusalem?\" Was it not contrary to God's holiness to defile the place\ndedicated to Himself? And would He not show mercy and destroy the\nresidue of His people? The despairing cry is answered at once. The\niniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah was filled up.\nGod could no longer pity nor spare. This is but a repetition of what\nJehovah had announced before. (See chapter v:11; vii:4; viii:18.)\n\n\"And behold, the man clothed in linen, which had the inkhorn by his\nside, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded\nme.\"\n\n\nTHE VISION OF THE COALS OF FIRE AND THE VISION OF THE DEPARTING GLORY.\n\nChapter x.\n\nAfter the Prophet had seen the marking of the faithful ones in the\ndoomed city, two other visions follow. They also relate to the impending\njudgment of the doomed city. The first vision indicates the fire by\nwhich the city would be consumed, and the second, another vision of the\nglory, shows how that glory was gradually departing from Jerusalem. The\ncomplete departure is recorded in the eleventh chapter.\n\n\nI. The Vision of the Coals of Fire.\n\n Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament of the cherubim there\n appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of\n the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed with\n linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even the under cherub,\n and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim,\n and scatter them over the city. And he went in my sight. Now the\n cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in;\n and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord\n went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house;\n and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of\n the brightness of the Lord's glory. And the sound of the cherubims'\n wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the\n Almighty God when he speaketh. And it came to pass, that when he had\n commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between\n the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood\n beside the wheels. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from\n between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim,\n and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed\n with linen; who took it, and went out (verses 1-7).\n\nOnce more the Prophet beholds in the firmament above the cherubim the\nlikeness of a throne. It is the throne of the Lord. However, the\noccupant of the throne is not seen; His voice only is heard. The man\nclothed with linen is commanded to go in between the wheels, under the\ncherub, to fill his hands with coals of fire and then to scatter them\nover the city. Who is this man clothed in linen? He appeared for the\nfirst time in the preceding chapter. With the inkhorn at his side, he\nset the mark upon the foreheads of the faithful ones. Here we see him\nagain executing the judgment upon Jerusalem. Judgment is given into his\nhands. That he is a supernatural being is clear. And he is more than an\nangel. He held the place of pre-eminence among the other angels (chapter\nix:2-4). This angel is the Angel of the Lord, the same who appeared to\nthe Patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah and to others. It is\nthe Son of God in the garb of an angel. In the same form he also\nappeared to Daniel on the banks of the river Hiddekel. \"Then I lifted up\nmine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose\nloins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the\nberyl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as\nlamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished\nbrass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude\" (Dan.\nx:5-6). Here we have a complete description of the same person whom\nEzekiel saw taking the coals of fire and scattering them over Jerusalem.\nJudgment upon the guilty city came from his hands.\n\nWhen we turn to the Book of Revelation, we find a similar scene which\nhas not yet been enacted. \"And another angel came and stood at the\naltar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense\nthat he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden\naltar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which\ncame with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the\nangel's hand. And the Angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of\nthe altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and\nthunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake\" (Rev. viii:3-5). This\nangel who presents the prayers before the throne and who casts the\njudgment fire into the earth is the One who received from God's hands\nthe seven sealed book (Rev. v:1), the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe\nof Judah. This Angel-Priest, into whose hands also judgment is\ncommitted, is the Son of God. John saw Him dealing in judgment with the\nearth, a judgment which has not yet come, and Ezekiel beheld Him as the\nexecutor of the judgment upon Jerusalem, which was carried out through\nNebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.\n\nEzekiel saw the man clothed in linen enter in between the wheels. As he\nwent in the cherubim, these majestic creatures of God, stood at the\nright side of the house, while the cloud filled the inner court. This\ncloud is the visible sign of Jehovah's presence (Exod. xix:9;\nxxiv:15-18; Numbers ix:19; xii:10; 1 Kings viii:10). Then the glory of\nthe Lord went up; the withdrawing from the city began. It stood over the\nthreshold of the house which was filled with the cloud and the whole\ncourt was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. From the hand of\nthe cherub, the man in linen cloth received the fire that was between\nthe cherubim. And he took it and went out.\n\n\nII. The Vision of the Departing Glory.\n\n And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under\n their wings. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the\n cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another\n cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a\n chrysolite stone. And as for their appearances, they four had one\n likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they\n went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went,\n but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they\n turned not as they went. And their whole body, and their backs and\n their hands and their wings and the wheels, were full of eyes round\n about, even the wheels that the four had. As for the wheels, it was\n cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. And every one had four\n faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face\n was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the\n fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were lifted up. This\n is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when\n the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubim\n lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels\n also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and\n when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the\n spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the\n Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over\n the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up\n from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were\n beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the\n Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them\n above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of\n Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the\n cherubim. Every one had four faces a piece, and every one four\n wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.\n And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by\n the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went\n every one straight forward (verses 8-22).\n\nOne would naturally expect after the man clothed in linen had taken the\ncoals of fire and gone out to scatter them over Jerusalem, that the next\nvision the Prophet had, would be the burning of the city itself. Instead\nof receiving a vision of the judgment work he beholds once more the\nglory of the Lord. The similarity with the great vision in the first\nchapter needs hardly to be pointed out. However, the order of the\ndescription differs from that of the opening vision of this book.\nCritics have seen in this fact the evidence of some other writer who\ninterpolated the repetition of the vision of the glory of the Lord. But\nif such were the case the person who did it would have not dared to make\nthese changes. The differences in the vision demonstrates that Ezekiel\nis the writer and not some other person. He beheld the same vision as in\nthe beginning by the river Chebar only from another viewpoint. Wheels\nand cherubim are seen first ready for the departure from the city. The\neyes are made more prominent than in the first vision. \"Full of eyes\" we\nread in chapter i:18. Here in this vision eyes are everywhere. \"And\ntheir whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and\nthe wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that the four\nhad.\" This symbolizes the omniscience of God. After the description of\nthe cherubim and the wheels, the solemn command is given for the start.\nVerse 13 may be rendered: \"In my hearing, unto the wheels, even unto\nthem, it was proclaimed: Whirl wheels.\" Once more the prophet beholds\nthe faces of the cherubim. And here is a striking change. In the opening\nvision Ezekiel saw their faces in the following order: The face of a\nman; the face of a lion; these were on the right side. The four had the\nface of an ox on the left side; these four also had the face of an eagle\n(chapter i:10). But now Ezekiel sees the face of the cherub first of\nall, then the face of a man, a lion and an eagle. The cherubim were\nbeheld by the prophet from a different angle and the face of the\ncherub[11] appears as identified with that of the ox. That the vision\ndid not differ at all from the first great vision Ezekiel expressly\naffirms at the close. \"And the likeness of their faces was the same\nfaces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves:\nThey went every one straight forward\" (verse 22).\n\n[11] The cherub who handed to the man clothed in linen the fire from\nbetween the cherubim.\n\nThen when the command had been given, \"Whirl wheels!\" everything is set\nin motion. The cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. The mighty\nwings of the cherubim were lifted up to mount up from the earth; the\nwheels never swerved from their side. When the cherubim stood, the\nwheels stood. The energizing Spirit was in all. The Glory of the Lord\ndeparted from the threshold of the temple; over its portals \"Ichabod\"\n(the glory is departed) was now to be written. Then in Ezekiel's sight\nthe cherubim mounted up from the earth. They halted at the door of the\neast gate of the Temple. Above it was the Glory of the Lord. Thus,\ngradually, in solemn majesty, the Glory of the Lord, which had dwelt\nvisibly in the Temple in the midst of His people, was departing. Verse\n22 of chapter xi connects with verse 19 of chapter x. The complete\ndeparture of the Glory of the Lord from the midst of the city we find\nrecorded there. Here in our chapter the cherubim with the Glory of the\nLord above them stood at the east gate of the Lord's house. From there\nits final departure took place. But the visions Ezekiel had seen were\nbeheld once more in his great vision of that temple which will yet be\nerected in Jerusalem. That departed glory will then return. \"And the\nGlory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose front\nwas toward the east\" (chapter xliii:4). It will return in the same way\nas it departed. And that will be when the King, our Lord, comes back to\nearth again. Then the Glory will cover Israel and Jerusalem (Is. iv:5;\nlx:1) and the knowledge of it covers the earth as the waters the deep.\n\n\nCONCERNING THE LEADERS. PROMISE OF RESTORATION. THE GLORY DEPARTS.\n\nChapter xi.\n\nThis chapter concludes the visions concerning the doom of Jerusalem. At\nthe close of the previous chapter we saw the Glory of the Lord getting\nready to leave the doomed city. The complete withdrawal is recorded now.\nHowever, before we reach this we find a prophecy uttered against the\nleaders of the people. Then the Prophet received a comforting message\nabout the future restoration and blessing of the nation. This is the\nfirst restoration promise in this book. It is repeated and enlarged in\nthe great predictions after the fall of Jerusalem.\n\n\nI. The Prophecy against the Leaders.\n\n Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate\n of the Lord's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door\n of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah, the son\n of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.\n Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise\n mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city; which say, It is not\n near; let us build houses; this city is the cauldron, and we be the\n flesh.\n\n Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. And the\n Spirit of the Lord fell upon men, and said unto me, Speak; Thus\n saith the Lord, Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the\n things that come into your mind, every one of them. Ye have\n multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets\n thereof with the slain. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Your\n slain, whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and\n this city is the cauldron: but I will bring you forth out of the\n midst of it. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon\n you, saith the Lord God. And I will bring you out of the midst\n thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will\n execute judgments among you. Ye shall fall by the sword: I will\n judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the\n Lord. This city shall not be your cauldron, neither shall ye be the\n flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of\n Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord: for ye have not walked\n in my statutes, neither executed my judgements, but have done after\n the manners of the heathen that are round about you.\n\n And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of\n Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud\n voice, and said, Ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the\n remnant of Israel? (verses 1-13).\n\nThe Prophet had watched the movements of the cherubim and the glory of\nthe Lord, and now he is again suddenly transported to the east gate of\nthe Lord's house. At the door of the gate he beholds twenty-five men. He\nrecognized among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of\nBenaiah, princes of the people. In the eighth chapter he had also seen,\nbetween the porch and the altar, twenty-five men with their backs\ntowards the temple (viii:16). In that chapter Jaazaniah is mentioned.\nThe question then arises, is this the same company Ezekiel sees once\nmore and against which he utters his denunciatory message? They cannot\nbe identical with the men in the previous chapter, for they belonged\nevidently to the priestly class, while the twenty-five men in this\nchapter are leaders, or princes, of the people. Nor is the Jaazaniah the\nsame as in the eighth chapter. Here is a Jaazaniah who was the son of\nAzur, while the other Jaazaniah was the son of Shaphan. These princes\nhere may be the same of whom we read in Jeremiah xxxviii:4.\n\nIt shows the complete corruption of Jerusalem. The priesthood and the\nleaders of the nation were steeped in wickedness and defied God and the\njudgment He had announced through Jeremiah, and now also through\nEzekiel. Interesting are the names of those mentioned, Jaazaniah (\"He\nwill be heard of the Lord\"); Azur (\"Helper\"); Pelatiah (\"Delivered of\nthe Lord\"); Benaiah (\"Built up of the Lord\"). Their names indicate that\nthey knew the Lord and His truth and yet they had turned deliberately\nfrom Him and from His Word. They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave\nwicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience against\nJehovah and His Word. In regard to the judgment they said, \"It is not\nthe time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh.\"\nThey knew of Jeremiah's letter which he had sent to the elders which\nwere carried away captives. In that letter, Jeremiah, believing God's\nWord concerning the long duration of the captivity, gave the advice,\n\"Build ye houses and dwell in them\" (Jere. xxix). They ridiculed that\ndivinely given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem.\nThe phrase \"this is the cauldron\" means the city of Jerusalem; and we\nare the \"flesh\" themselves. As the flesh in the cauldron is preserved\nfrom the fire by the cauldron itself, so they felt themselves secure in\nthe doomed city. That these wicked leaders were still in the city shows\nthat the judgment in chapter ix was not a complete judgment. It began at\nthe sanctuary, and the wicked worshippers Ezekiel saw in his vision were\nsmitten first of all, while the man with the inkhorn marked the entire\nremnant for preservation. Then the Spirit fell upon Ezekiel and he\nuttered Jehovah's message. Their proverb about the cauldron and the\nflesh is used to announce their own doom. Those whom they had slain were\nthe flesh, not they the living ones; the slain ones had the city for a\ncauldron. But the defiant leaders, who cast the judgment predictions to\nthe winds, would be brought forth out of the city, the place of their\nsupposed security. They feared the sword and it would come upon them.\nSolemnly the Lord declared, \"This city shall not be your cauldron,\nneither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in\nthe border of Israel.\" And thus it came true. Nebuchadnezzar received\nhis prisoners on the borders, the territory of the kingdom of Israel,\nat Riblah (2 Kings xxv:18-21; Jer. lii:24-27).\n\nAll this finds a repetition in the present age. God has spoken. Long ago\nHe has in His Word announced the judgment upon this present age. Men,\nreligious men, leaders among the people, like these twenty-five, reject\nHis Word and do not believe in the threatened judgments. \"Peace and\nsafety\" is their false hope. But the day is coming and not far off when\nall who reject the Word of God will find out, to their eternal shame and\nloss, that His Word is true.\n\nAnd while the Prophet delivered faithfully his message, the Lord touched\none of the men; Pelatiah suddenly died. He may have stood there with\nsneering lips, defying the Lord's mouthpiece, when sudden death was\nmeted out to him. It was a divine seal upon the words they had heard.\nThis act of judgment greatly impressed the Prophet and he prayed for the\npreservation of the remnant of Israel. Knowing the sad condition of the\npeople he loved so well, he feared that they all would be taken away.\nMay we also, in the days of impending judgments make use of the prayer\nof intercession. The next paragraph contains the answer Ezekiel\nreceived.\n\n\nII. The Message of Restoration and Blessing.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, thy\n brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the\n house of Israel, wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of\n Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land\n given in possession. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God:\n Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I\n have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a\n little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore\n say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the\n people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been\n scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall\n come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things\n thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will\n give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I\n will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an\n heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine\n ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be\n their God. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of\n their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense\n their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God (verses 14-21).\n\nIt is the first message of comfort Ezekiel received. They were to be\nscattered among the nations, yet Jehovah promises, \"I will be to them a\nlittle[12] sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.\" This\nrefers to the remnant who still clings to Him and hopes in the\nfulfilment of His promises. Then follows the great outlook into their\nfuture. Blessed promises! They are the hope of Israel. Their\nregathering, their return from exile is here definitely predicted by\nEzekiel. Moses before had announced the same future restoration. So did\nIsaiah and Jeremiah as well as the earlier prophets. The denial of the\nliteral regathering of Israel means the denial of the Word of the Lord.\nThey will receive the land of Israel. But greater things are promised to\nthe people. The stony heart is to be taken away; they are to receive a\nheart of flesh. This is the result of the new Spirit, His Spirit, which\nthey will receive. It means the new birth of that nation to enter into\nthe promised kingdom. Then the result will be an obedient people. \"They\nshall be my people and I will be their God.\" Has this been fulfilled in\nthe return of the feeble remnant from Babylon? Many believe that\nEzekiel's message found then its accomplishment. It is not so. The\nnation was not put into possession of the great blessings which are\neverywhere linked with their literal restoration and possession of the\nland. Ezekiel's great visions of the national restoration of Israel and\nthe greater spiritual blessings are still unfulfilled. They will be\nfulfilled when the Glory of the Lord, that is the Lord of Glory, their\nrejected King, the Son of David, the King of Israel, returns.\n\n[12] Or, \"for a little while.\"\n\nIII. The Glory Departs.\n\n Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels beside\n them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And\n the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood\n upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.\n\n Afterwards the Spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the\n Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision\n that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the\n captivity all the things that the Lord had shewed me (verses 22-25).\n\nAfter this comforting message of future blessing for the nation and\nrestoration to the land, the Glory of the Lord holds its departure. We\nsaw how it gradually withdrew from the temple, where it had dwelt. Now\nthe complete departure from the city has come. But it is a blessed\nthought, before that takes place, Jehovah gave His Word that He would\nreturn and be again with His people. \"The Glory of the Lord went up from\nthe midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east\nside of the city.\" That mountain is the Mount of Olives. Significant\nplace where the Shekinah, the Glory of the Lord with its cherubim and\nwheels was seen for the last time. Upon that mountain He stood, who is\nthe Glory Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. From there He went back to the\nFather. And in a coming day \"His feet will stand upon the Mount of\nOlives.\" And when He comes back in visible glory, Israel and Jerusalem\nwill behold the return of the Glory of the Lord, Ezekiel saw departing\nfrom temple and city. Then that will happen what has never been in\nIsrael's past history: \"All the earth will be filled with His Glory.\"\n\n\nMESSAGES AND PARABLES.\n\nChapter xii.\n\nA new section of this book begins with the twelfth chapter and ends with\nchapter xix. The judgments the Prophet had announced, the great visions\nhe had seen, all showing the impending doom of Jerusalem, were not\nbelieved nor heeded by the people. This is announced by a direct\ncommunication from the Lord in the beginning of this chapter. After he\nhad seen the departure of the Glory of the Lord, he spoke unto them of\nthe captivity all the things that the Lord had shown unto him (xi:25).\nPerhaps some time elapsed before the Word of the Lord came unto him\nrevealing the unbelieving, rebellious condition of the people. \"Son of\nman, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes\nto see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are\na rebellious house\" (verse 2). Therefore the speedy judgment is again\nannounced and the Prophet received a series of messages and parables.\n\"The Word of the Lord came,\" and \"Thus saith the Lord,\" are the\noft-repeated phrases in this most interesting chapter. We shall find\nmany solemn truths in this section, truths which have a meaning for our\ntimes as well. May we hear His voice in these words which the\nProphet-Priest heard from Jehovah. The first chapter of this section has\ntwo parts.\n\n\nI. The Symbolical Sign of the Certainty and Nearness of the Judgment.\n\n The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, Son of man, thou\n dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see,\n and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a\n rebellious house. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for\n removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove\n from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will\n consider, though they be a rebellious house. Then shalt thou bring\n forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and\n thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth\n into captivity. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry\n out thereby. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders,\n and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that\n thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign, unto the\n house of Israel. And I did so as I was commanded; I brought forth my\n stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged\n through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight,\n and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight (verses 1-7).\n\nIn the commission which the Prophet received (chapter ii) the rebellious\ncondition of the people had been declared by the Lord, and now once more\nthe fact that they were \"a rebellious house\" is mentioned. They had eyes\nand did not see, ears and they did not hear. Moses had spoken of that\n(Deut. xxix:1-4) and their past history up to the days of Ezekiel only\nconfirmed the truth of this statement. Isaiah had heard the same words\nfrom the Lord (Is. vi:9-10) and Jeremiah had to repeat them in his great\ncall to a backslidden people (Jere. v:21). Then our Lord used the same\nwords when the nation had rejected His testimony (Matt. xiii:13-15; Mark\nviii:18; John xii:39-40). The last time we find them applied is in Acts\nxxviii:26-27. Blindness is now upon Israel, but the day is also coming\nwhen that judicial blindness will be removed and they will be no longer\nthe rebellious house. Of this coming great miracle of the Grace of God\nEzekiel's later prophecies have much to say.\n\nHere the Prophet is told to act again in a symbolical sign. He was told\nto prepare stuff for removing. This meant that he should attire himself\nlike one who goes on a journey with sandals on his feet, a staff in his\nhand, a burden upon his shoulders. Then he was to remove from one place\nto another. He was also to bring forth his stuff in their sight, and\nthen with the captive's burden upon his back he was commanded to dig\nthrough the wall and carry it through the hole. Furthermore he was to\ncover his face so that he did not see the ground. All this the prophet\ndid in the sight of the people. In all this the Lord in His infinite\npatience, in making the Prophet a sign unto them, waited still for their\nrepentance; \"it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious\nhouse.\"\n\nWe find the meaning of all this explained in the verses which follow:\n\n And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of\n man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto\n thee, What doest thou? Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God;\n This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of\n Israel that are among them. Say, I am your sign; like as I have\n done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into\n captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his\n shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through\n the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see\n not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him,\n and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon\n to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he\n shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all that are\n about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the\n sword after them. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I\n shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the\n countries. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from\n the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their\n abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall\n know that I am the Lord (verses 8-16).\n\nThe actions of the Prophet were witnessed by the people and they said to\nhim, What doest thou? The answer to their inquiry is given by the Lord\nHimself. We have therefore the divine interpretation of what Ezekiel had\ndone in their presence. It is a prophecy and concerns mostly \"the\nprince in Jerusalem\"; Zedekiah is meant. His attempt to flee from\nJerusalem and his fate when the king of Babylon put out his eyes, his\ncaptivity in the land of the Chaldeans and death in that land are here\nclearly predicted. Jeremiah xxxix:4; lii:10-11 and 2 Kings xxv:1-7 must\nbe read in connection with the sign of Ezekiel and the interpretation as\ngiven by the Lord. Thus Ezekiel had enacted a prophecy before their eyes\nwhich came literally true. Certain critics have tried to explain that\nwhat Ezekiel did must have happened after the fall of Jerusalem and the\ncapture of Zedekiah. However, this attempt to disprove the passage as a\nreal prophecy has failed. Others have tried to explain it in still\nanother way. It has been said: \"Since we know that the book was written\nafter the event, it is a perfectly fair question whether in the\ninterpretation of the symbols Ezekiel may not have read into it a fuller\nmeaning than was present to his own mind at the time.\" This statement\nsets aside the fact that not Ezekiel gave the interpretation and read\nsomething into it, but the whole passage is the Word of the Lord,\nintroduced with \"Thus saith the Lord God.\" Predictions of any kind\nrevealing future events seems to be the unpalatable thing for the\ndestructive criticism, for it proves the fact of divine revelation. We\nhave followed step by step the different judgment messages and visions\nwhich the Prophet received and delivered, how Jerusalem was facing its\ncertain doom and now Zedekiah and his fate in trying to escape from\nJerusalem is especially mentioned. All these visions are closely\nconnected and were all given before the city fell.\n\nAnd what the Lord predicted here, not alone about Zedekiah, but also\nabout the people and their dispersion came true. They were scattered\namong the nations, but a full end of them was not made, a remnant was to\nbe left and to declare their abominations among the nations. Scattered\nin all countries they witness by their condition as a homeless nation to\ntheir own disobedience and shame.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, eat\n thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with\n carefulness; And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the\n Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel;\n They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water\n with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is\n therein because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And\n the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land\n shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord (verses\n 17-20).\n\nAn additional message is given. Ezekiel was to eat his bread with\nquaking and drink his water with dread and anxious care. It was another\nsign of the affliction which was to come upon them. The land also should\nbecome desolate and the cities be laid waste. Thus the Lord continued to\nwarn and plead with His people. Judgment is always his strange work (Is.\nxxxiii:21). \"For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children\nof men? (Lam. iii:33). The unheeded warnings were repeated over and over\nagain by Ezekiel and the other prophets; He waited in His infinite\npatience for the return of His people and, as we learn from the Book of\nJudges, if there is but a cry from the heart of His people, He is ready\nto respond. But Israel heard not. They made light of all the predictions\nof the rapidly nearing judgment. When we think of our own times and\ngeneration, and remember the deliberate rejection of God's Word, the\nimpenitence and worldliness prevalent in Christendom, and the judgments\nwhich are threatened and which must come some day, these opening\nmessages of Ezekiel and their fulfilment in the judgment of Jerusalem\nand the nation take on an additional meaning. God must needs do His\nstrange work, the work of judgment upon those who reject the best He\nhas given, the Gospel of His Grace. The condition of the people is now\nmore fully seen in the second part of this chapter.\n\n\nII. The False Hope. The Judgment not to be Delayed.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying Son of man, what is\n that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days\n are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them, therefore, Thus\n saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they\n shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The\n days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be\n no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house\n of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I\n shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for\n in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will\n perform it, saith the Lord God.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold,\n they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for\n many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.\n Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none\n of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken\n shall be done, saith the Lord God (verses 21-28).\n\nWe must again remember in reading these words that in the midst of\nIsrael false prophets deluded the people with their false messages. The\nrebellious spirit against the Lord was fostered by these men and the\nthreatening judgments announced by Jeremiah and by Ezekiel were not\nbelieved by the mass of the people. Of them we read elsewhere: \"Thy\nprophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, and they have not\ndiscovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity, but have seen for\nthee false burdens and causes of banishment\" (Lam. ii:14). Believing the\nfalse messages the people said, \"The days are prolonged, and every\nvision faileth.\" Had they really believed that the days were not to be\nprolonged and that the vision of judgment upon Jerusalem was about to be\naccomplished, they would have surely turned to the Lord and cried to\nHim for mercy. Unbelief was responsible for their condition, and in that\nunbelief they were sustained by the lying prophets. In the next chapter\nthe Prophet utters his God-given denunciation of these false prophets\nand prophetesses.\n\nAll this is present with us to-day. Blinded Israel then did not believe\nwhat the Lord had spoken. They thought themselves secure, that the days\nwould be prolonged and that the visions had failed. It is so to-day. The\nSpirit of God has predicted this for the end of the present age:\n\"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,\nwalking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his\ncoming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they\nwere from the beginning of the creation\" (2 Peter iii:3-4). This is the\nspirit to-day which has permeated the larger part of the professing\nchurch. What God has said concerning the future, the Coming again of His\nSon to judge the world in righteousness is either ignored or rejected,\nwhile many even ridicule these great predictions. It is the popular\nopinion that our age is constantly getting better, they dream of\nworld-peace, great advancement and prosperity. That God has written a\ndifferent program in His Word revealed by the Prophets of God in visions\nand confirmed by our Lord and His Apostles is completely forgotten. And\nthis setting aside of the Word of Prophecy has produced in Christendom\nsimilar conditions to those in unbelieving Israel. And there are others\nwho assent in a measure to the visions of the Prophets concerning things\nto come, but they are unconcerned about it. It has no meaning for them.\nLike Israel they say, \"The vision that he seeth is for many days to come\nand he prophesieth of the times that are afar off\" (verse 27). It\nreminds us of the language of the evil servant who said, \"My lord\ndelayeth his coming.\"\n\nBut what was God's answer? He would end this false hope and false\nsecurity. The lying proverb which the false prophets had them inspired\nto use would be changed into another. \"The days are at hand and the\neffect of every vision.\" All false visions, false divinations and false\nhopes which had become so widespread among Israel were to cease, for the\nburden of true Prophecy would now be fulfilled. Then solemnly He\ndeclared that His Word was to be done. The Word which He spoke would\ncome to pass. Even so every word which the Prophets had spoken\nconcerning the judgment of Jerusalem, the devastation of the land and\nthe dispersion of the people came to pass.\n\nMay we remember that when the world says \"Peace and safety,\" then sudden\ndestruction shall come upon them (1 Thess. v:1-5). The world and an\napostate church may dream of peace and safety, sneer at divine\ninterference in mighty judgments, laugh at a second, visible and\nglorious coming of the same Lord who died and was raised from the dead,\nridicule the establishment of His great kingdom on this earth and say\nevery vision faileth--yet we know that the vision will not fail. What\nGod has spoken will be done. The vision may yet be for an appointed\ntime, but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though it tarry, wait\nfor it; because it will surely come; it will not tarry (Hab. ii:3). \"Say\nunto them, The days are at hand.\" This was God's message to a people\ndeceived by false hopes of peace. And may this not be the Lord's message\nto us in these dark and solemn days, when the clouds of judgment are\ngathering, the days are at hand? May we as the children of light and of\nthe day wait for the fulfilment of the vision. It will surely come and\nnot tarry.\n\n\nTHE MESSAGE AGAINST THE FALSE PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES.\n\nChapter xiii.\n\nThe message which follows the preceding one on the certainty of the doom\nof Jerusalem is directed against the false prophets and prophetesses who\nwere at work among the people, and who antagonized the God-given\nutterances of the true messengers of the Lord. These men and women may\nwell be termed the curse of Israel, because all they did was a curse to\nthe people. Their words inspired the rebellious people with a false hope\nand kept them from turning to the Lord in true repentance. They\nadvocated a national alliance of Israel with Egypt and other empires,\nwhile the true prophets exhorted Israel to put their confidence\nexclusively in the Lord. The false prophets paid no heed to the moral\nand religious conditions of the people of God. They saw nothing alarming\nin the drift away from God, in the increasing immoralities, but in view\nof all this they continued to cry peace, peace; but the true prophets\nsounded the alarm and without mincing words uncovered the degenerating\nconditions of the people.\n\n\nI. The False Prophets: their Guilt and Condemnation.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man\n prophesying against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say\n thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the\n word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish\n prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O\n Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not\n gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of\n Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen\n vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord\n hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they\n would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye\n not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it,\n albeit I have not spoken? (verses 1-7).\n\nThe first charge brought against the false prophets is that they\nprophesy out of their own hearts. It has been also translated \"who\nprophesy from their own mind without having seen.\" Here we have a divine\ndefinition of the false prophets in a very concise form. Their words\ncame out of their own hearts, they were not founded upon the vision of\nthe Lord, the message He gives by His Spirit, but the product of their\nown minds. They gave expression to the thoughts of their own darkened\nhearts and paid no heed whatever to the revelation of God. And here let\nus be reminded of what is written in the New Testament concerning the\nsame class of men who are predicted to appear especially at the close of\nthe present age, doing a work in Christendom which fully corresponds to\nthe work of these false prophets in Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's day. \"But\nthere were false prophets also among the people (Israel), even as there\nshall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable\nheresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon\nthemselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious\nways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of\" (2\nPeter ii:1-2). Jude in his Epistle gives a more complete picture of\nthem. He speaks of these false teachers of Christendom as \"speaking evil\nof those things which they know not, but what they know naturally (as\nnatural men, unregenerated) as brute beasts, in those things they\ncorrupt themselves\" (verse 10). \"Their mouth speaketh great swelling\nwords (a divine definition of modern day 'pulpit oratory'), having men's\npersons in admiration because of advantage\" (verse 16). They were\nmockers who walk after their own lusts; having not the Spirit (verse\n19). The Apostle Paul speaks of them as wolves (Acts xx:29) and our Lord\nwarned of them. \"Beware of false Prophets, which come to you in sheep's\nclothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves\" (Matt. vii:15).\n\nAnd such false teachers, men who pose as religious leaders, are doing\ntheir dreadful and delusive work throughout the professing church. Every\nman who prophesies out of his own heart, who utters his own mind, whose\nteaching and preaching is not according to the oracles of God, who pays\nno heed to what the Lord has said is a false prophet. And such abound in\nthe closing days of the church on earth. Hundreds of men who are\naccredited religious teachers ignore the visions of God, have no heart\nand no ear for what the Lord has revealed, yea, more than that, they\nreject the inspiration and revelation of the Word of God and in its\nplace preach and teach the opinions of their own corrupt and darkened\nminds and the traditions of men. A true prophet of God and a true leader\nis altogether subject to the Word of God. His one business is to expound\nthe Word of God. He speaks as the oracles of God. He does what is\nwritten in 2 Cor. x:5: \"Casting down imaginations (the working of the\nmind apart from the Word of God) and every high thing that exalteth\nitself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every\nthought to the obedience of Christ.\" The Apostle Paul is a perfect\nexample of such a true mouthpiece of the Lord. Naturally gifted with a\nkeen mind, learned and cultured, yet he wrote to the Corinthians, \"And\nI, brethren, when I come to you, came not with excellency of speech or\nof wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not\nto know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified\"--\"And\nmy speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,\nbut in demonstration of the Spirit and of power\" (1 Cor. ii:1-4).\n\nAnd like the false prophets among Israel the false prophets and teachers\nin Christendom are responsible for the deplorable conditions of the\nprofessing people of God. Instead of sounding God's warning they cover\nup and lead the people into the dark, where they are themselves. The\nresponsibilities of those men who deny the authority of the Bible, who\nprophesy out of their own hearts is far greater than any pen can\ndescribe.\n\nAnd what else did the Lord say about them in Ezekiel's message? \"They\nhave seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith, and the\nLord hath not sent them.\" Here is the root of the matter. The Lord never\nsent them; He never called them into the office of a prophet or teacher.\nThey are self-called and self-sent. Being therefore not the chosen\ninstruments of the Lord, knowing not His Word nor obeying His Spirit,\nthey become the instruments of \"lying divination.\" Behind their messages\nof a false hope and false peace stands the father of lies. 1 Kings\nxxii:19-23 throws important light upon this. It was a lying spirit who\npossessed the false prophets in Ahab's times. Even so it is predicted of\nthe last days that the people will give heed to seducing spirits and\ndoctrines of demons (1 Tim. iv:1).\n\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity,\n and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord\n God. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and\n that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people,\n neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel,\n neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know\n that I am the Lord God. Because, even because they have seduced my\n people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a\n wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: Say unto\n them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there\n shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall\n fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen,\n shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye\n have daubed it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend\n it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing\n shower in mine anger, and great hailstone in my fury, to consume\n it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with\n untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the\n foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye\n shall be consumed in the midst thereof, and ye shall know that I am\n the Lord. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon\n them that have daubed it with untempered mortar and will say unto\n you: The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; to wit the\n prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which\n see visions of peace for them, and there is no peace saith the Lord\n God (verses 8-16).\n\nAnd next the message pronounces the condemnation and punishment of these\nfalse prophets. The Lord is against them. His hand is to be upon them\nfor punishment. Three things are mentioned in which their punishment is\ngoing to consist: they are to be excluded from the assembly of God's\npeople; they will be outcasts like lepers and such they were; their\nnames are not to be mentioned in the writings of Israel; their memory\nwill be blotted out, their names forgotten; finally they were not to\nenter into the land of Israel. This is not too severe if one thinks of\nthe souls these false prophets destroyed and the wicked work they did,\nfor it is wickedness to reject the Word of God and substitute for it\nhuman inventions.\n\nA more solemn word is pronounced in the New Testament against those who\ncontinue in Christendom the pernicious and deceiving work of these false\nteachers. It is written, \"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall\nGod destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are\" (1 Cor.\niii:17). That is, believers constitute the temple of God, that is, the\nchurch. The church has for its foundation the Truth of God, the doctrine\nof Christ. A rejection of the doctrine of Christ, so common in our day,\ndefiles this spiritual temple of God. It is the worst profanation. And\nthe false leader with his work corrupts the best, the holiest. \"Him\nshall God destroy!\" May God's people heed the warning to have no\nfellowship with such who as hirelings do the work of false prophets.\n\nAnd these false prophets seduced the people. The delusion consisted in\nsaying, Peace, and there was no peace. This is a characteristic of those\nwho follow not God's revelation but their own hearts. While God has\nthreatened a world which lieth in the wicked one, an age which is evil\nand which never can be anything but evil, with judgments to come, they\npreach peace and safety.\n\nHe describes them as building a wall and then putting some untempered\nstuff, a whitewash, upon the wall. The wall is for defence. They\ninvented all kinds of schemes and policies, political, religious and\nreligious-political. This was done to sustain their false messages and\nfalse hopes. Then to hide the defects, they whitewashed their walls,\nthey glazed it over with nice and high sounding phrases. Such is the\ncase to-day. Oh! the schemes, the religious-political combinations which\nare used to accomplish certain ends which are nowhere authorized by the\nWord of God. And the whitewash, the enticing, beautiful words which are\nused to cover it over and make it appear as being secure! And Ezekiel\nwas commanded to say to these whitewashes, \"It shall fall!\" A great\nstorm with wind and flood would strike it and the wall, the schemes and\ninventions of men were to collapse (see Matt. vii:26-27). Even so the\njudgment came upon Jerusalem and the land of Israel and swept away the\nfalse prophets and what they had built up. Another judgment will sweep\nover Christendom and sweep away the \"destructive critics,\" the false\nteachers and leaders of delusive movements which flourish everywhere.\nThen the divine mockery: \"Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be\nsaid unto you, where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?\" (verse\n12). When God fulfills His predictions written in the Word, when a\nboasting, Christless civilization, an apostate church are engulfed in\nthe judgment with which this present age ends, where will be the nice\nsounding whitewash of the false prophets?\n\n\nII. The False Prophetesses.\n\n Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy\n people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou\n against them, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women\n that sew pillows to all armholes, and make veils for the head of\n every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people,\n and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? And will ye\n pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of\n bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls\n alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear\n your lies? Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against\n your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly,\n and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even\n the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Your veils also will I\n tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no\n more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the\n Lord. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad,\n whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked,\n that he should not return from his wicked way by promising him life:\n Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I\n will deliver my people out of your hand, and ye shall know that I am\n the Lord (verses 17-23).\n\nAnd there were false women prophets among Israel likewise. This is a\nsignificant fact. Women became religious leaders and teachers in the\ndays of Jerusalem's downfall and the worst degradation followed upon\nthat. They also prophesied out of their own hearts and added other\nwicked things to it. They sewed pillows upon all elbows and made veils\nfor the head to hunt for souls. This has been interpreted in different\nways. It means that they used amulets, little idol images and other\nthings by which they practised the so-called divination--the\nsoothsaying. It is sorcery to which these women prophets gave\nthemselves up. The veils which they used were to give to it a priestly\nair of mysticism. They practised the sinister art of magic, or as we\ncall it nowadays, occultism. It was witchcraft, this binding on of\npillows and other things. This they did for hire and to slay souls which\nshould not be slain and to sustain the wicked in their wickedness. Here\nis also undoubtedly a hint about their wicked incantations, the spells\nthey claimed to cast that the innocent souls should die and the guilty\nshould live. But the Prophet declares now that the Lord will deal with\nthem, expose their wicked practises, tear off their devices and deliver\nHis people out of the snare.\n\nAll this is also done in the very midst of Christendom in the twentieth\ncentury. Women prophets, the most subtle instruments of Satan, are\nplentiful in these days. The fact has often been pointed out that the\nprominent leaders in the evil cults of the last days are women. There\nhas been a strange modern day revival of occult practices upon Christian\nground. Spiritualism, Theosophy and Christian Science belong to this\nclass. All three started with women. Spiritualism with its mediums,\nfortune-tellers and necromancers is almost entirely in the hands of\nwomen, who claim to be religious leaders. The same is true of Theosophy,\nwith its Hindu philosophy and occultism, surrounded with an air of\nunholy mysticism. Christian Science is closely related to these two\ncults. Its founder practised for a time the calling of a medium.\n\nSignificant is the description of the work of these false prophets and\nprophetesses in verse 22: \"Because with lies ye have made the heart of\nthe righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands\nof the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by\npromising him life.\" The righteous in Israel were saddened by their evil\nwork. To the wicked they promised life, that there was no future\npunishment for their sins. Hence the wicked continued in his wickedness.\n\nAnd is the work of the false teachers, the false women-cults, any\ndifferent? The righteous are saddened. Each one of the false teachers\nand movements like Spiritualism, Theosophy, Russellism, Christian\nScience and others deny the eternal punishment of the wicked. They\nstrengthen the hands of the wicked by promising him life.\n\n\nTHE MESSAGE AGAINST THE IDOLATROUS ELDERS.\n\nChapter xiv.\n\nThe elders now appear to inquire of the Lord through the prophet (verse\n3; xx:1). Though the prophet had faithfully uttered the messages of\njudgment and impending doom and the people and their leaders had heard\nthem, yet would they inquire of the Lord. The Word, the Lord had sent to\nthem, they rejected and now they expected some new kind of a message.\nWhen these inquiring elders were in the presence of Ezekiel, the Word of\nthe Lord came unto him. This chapter contains two sections; each is\nintroduced by the statement, \"And the Word of the Lord came unto me.\"\n\n\nI. The Idolatrous Elder. The Call to Repentance.\n\n Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before\n me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these\n men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the\n stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be\n enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto\n them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that\n setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block\n of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the\n Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his\n idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart,\n because they are all estranged from me through their idols.\n Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God;\n Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your\n faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of\n Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which\n separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart,\n and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and\n cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will\n answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man, and\n will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the\n midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And if the\n prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have\n deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and\n will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall\n bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet\n shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; That\n the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be\n polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may\n be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God (verses\n 1-11).\n\nThese inquiring elders with wickedness in their hearts, give another\nillustration of the depth of degradation in which the people had sunken.\nHe who searches the hearts knew what was in them. They came with pious,\nreligious pretensions. It sounded well to inquire of the Lord and seek\nthe prophet-priest for that purpose. Their hearts were full of evil.\nWhile their lips spoke of asking the Lord, their hearts were full of\nidolatry. They liked idolatry. Their hearts were in it and this\nstumbling-block of their iniquity they had put before their faces, which\nmeans they openly defied the Lord God of Israel by their doings. \"Should\nI be inquired of at all by them?\" To seek the Lord and inquire of Him in\nsuch a condition reveals a brazen spirit and the deepest depravity. Yet\nthis also belongs to the conditions in which the professing people of\nGod are when judgment overtakes them. We see much of it in our own days.\nThere is a great deal of so-called religious exercise and activity,\nattempts to produce more \"religiousness,\" as it is termed. There is,\nhowever, no real heart-turning to the Lord, but the idols are kept in\nheart and life. \"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not\nhear me\" (Ps. lxvi:18). Then the Lord tells them through the prophet,\n\"I, the Lord, will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of\ntheir idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart\nbecause they are all estranged from me through their idols.\" Estranged\nfrom Jehovah through idols; this described the spiritual condition of\nthese certain elders and the people. If God's people do not give the\nLord the place of pre-eminence and follow Him wholly they become\nestranged from Him. And such is the condition of thousands of professing\nChristians who walk in a carnal way, who follow their idols instead of\nthe Lord and who still maintain an outward religiousness. Then follows\nthe call to repentance. \"Repent and turn yourselves from your idols.\"\nNext is the announcement that the Lord Himself will deal with such\nmiserable hypocrites. He will answer the unrepenting, idol follower, who\nseparates himself from the Lord. No true prophet of Jehovah would\ncertainly encourage the men who inquire of the Lord and have evil in\ntheir hearts, for fellowship with Jehovah is impossible for such.\n\nThe ninth verse states more than a possibility. \"And if the prophet be\ndeceived when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord, have deceived the\nprophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and I will destroy him\nfrom the midst of my people Israel.\" As we learned in the previous\nprophetic message that such deceiving prophets were in abundance among\nIsrael. They were the curse of the nation. Little did they care about\nthe spiritual condition of the people. They prophesied for filthy\nlucre's sake and lived in sin like the rest of the apostates. To them\npeople came to inquire of the Lord and the deceiving prophets prophesied\nsmooth things. But the Lord Himself as a judgment had deceived their\nprophets to ripen the people for the deserved doom. It is the same what\nMicaiah declared in the presence of King Jehosaphat and King Ahab (1\nKings xxii:13-23). The four hundred prophets of Ahab were possessed by a\nlying spirit.\n\n\nII. Judgment is Unavoidable.\n\n The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the\n land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I\n stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread\n thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and\n beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in\n it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness,\n saith the Lord God. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the\n land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may\n pass through because of the beasts: Though these three men were in\n it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons\n nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be\n desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go\n through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: Though\n these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they\n shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be\n delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and\n pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:\n though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord\n God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but\n deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the\n Lord God; How much more when I send my fourscore judgments upon\n Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the\n pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? Yet, behold, therein\n shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and\n daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see\n their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the\n evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I\n have brought upon it. And they shall see their ways and their\n doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all\n that I have done in it, saith the Lord God (verses 12-23).\n\nThe Word of the Lord came again to Ezekiel. The previously announced\njudgment cannot be averted, it is unavoidable; this is the burden of the\nsecond message the inquiring elders heard from the prophet's lips.\nPerhaps this was on their minds when they came to the prophet and sat in\nhis presence. Famine is threatened first; it would come upon man and\nbeast. Then the noisome beasts would pass through the land, to spoil it\nand make it desolate. These beasts must not be understood in the literal\nsense; they symbolize the Gentiles, whom Daniel in his vision saw also\nas beasts (Dan. vii). These nations like the Chaldeans would overrun the\nland and waste it. The last two judgments were to be the sword (verse\n17) and the pestilence (verse 19). These four sore judgments were about\nto fall upon Jerusalem and the land--famine, noisome beasts, Gentile\ninvasion, the sword and pestilence. Twice in this address Noah, Daniel\nand Job are mentioned. They were righteous men, yet if they were all\nthree in Jerusalem they would deliver only their own souls by their\nrighteousness, which was the result of their faith in and obedience to\nJehovah. They were witnesses and men of prayer. Noah, the witness before\nthe great judgment by water swept over the earth; Daniel even then in\nBabylon, and Job of the patriarchal age. All their righteousness, and\nall their witnessing and prayers would not help in preventing these four\nsore judgments. Then there is a gracious promise for the remnant which\nis to be preserved in these judgments.\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE UNFRUITFUL VINE\n\nChapter xv.\n\nThe next three chapters contain divinely given parables. The object of\nthese parables is to expose still further the false hopes which the\npeople had during the reign of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah. He\nrebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar after the second invasion (2 Kings\nxxiv:20). He hoped, and the people with him, that deliverance would\ncome through the alliances Zedekiah had formed with Edom, Ammon, Tyre\nand Sidon. He also had sent to Egypt for help. \"But he rebelled against\nhim (the king of Babylon) in sending ambassadors into Egypt that they\nmight give him horses and much people\" (Ezek. xvii:15). In all this\nZedekiah and the remnant of people left in the land despised the Word of\nJehovah. Prophet after prophet had delivered the same message concerning\nthe ultimate and complete overthrow of Jerusalem. During Josiah's reign\nin the midst of the great reformation-revival, Hulda the prophetess, had\ngiven the warning, \"I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the\ninhabitants thereof\" (2 Kings xxii:16). The great reformation could not\nkeep back the decreed judgment. Nor can any reformation movement in the\nclose of our own age avert the judgment which is predicted upon an\nungodly world and an apostate church. Josiah's reign was followed by the\nreign of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. It went from bad to worse.\nTwice Nebuchadnezzar had come and spoiled Jerusalem. It was evident that\nJehovah's judgment was being gradually executed upon the land and the\ncity. We have learned from the preceding chapters how often and in how\nmany different ways the Lord had repeated through Ezekiel's visions and\nutterances that the judgment would surely do its complete work, and that\nnothing would be able to arrest it. Yet Zedekiah, in the awful blindness\ncharacteristic of all who deliberately reject the Word of God and\ncontinue in an impenitent state, hoped for better things. And the exiles\nalso shared more or less this false hope.\n\nThree parables were therefore given to Ezekiel to demonstrate still\nfurther the false and vain hope and the delusion that there would be\ndeliverance. The Parable of the unfruitful vine shows that the nation\nwas good for nothing, and burning awaited the city. This is followed by\na second parable, one of the most beautiful in the Word of God: the\nparable of the abandoned child in the field. That child, Jerusalem, had\nbestowed upon it all the mercy and grace a loving God could give. And\nafter all had been done she became a wanton harlot and turned from Him\nwho loved her so much. Linked with the second parable is the restoration\npromise, still unfulfilled. The third parable is the parable of the\ngreat eagles. Here judgment upon the nation is once more announced. And\nafter that Ezekiel spoke in Jehovah's name the final word: \"As I live,\nsaith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth\n(Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon) that made him king (Zedekiah was made king\nby Nebuchadnezzar), whose oath he despised (Zedekiah had sworn to\nNebuchadnezzar and then broke the oath), even with him in the midst of\nBabylon he shall die.\" \"And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall\nbe taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead\nwith him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me\"\n(Ezek. xvii:16, 20).\n\n\nI. The Parable of the Unfruitful Vine.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is\n the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among\n the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work,\n or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it\n is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of\n it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold,\n when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it\n be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is\n burned? Therefore, thus saith the Lord God; As the vine tree among\n the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so\n will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face\n against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire\n shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set\n my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because\n they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God (verses 1-8).\n\nThe vine is a type of the people Israel. Perhaps their confidence and\nboast was in the knowledge that they were the vine of Jehovah. Their\nfalse prophets may have quoted the words of Asaph in that beautiful\nprayer addressed to the Shepherd of Israel: \"Thou hast brought a vine\nout of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou\npreparedst room for it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it\nfilled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it and the\nboughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto\nthe sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down\nher hedges, so that all they that pass by the way do pluck her?\" (Psalm\nlxxx:8-12). But they forgot that judgment had been long ago pronounced\nagainst the vine and the vineyard of Israel. Isaiah has spoken of the\nvineyard and what Jehovah had done for His people. But the vine brought\nforth wild grapes. \"And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my\nvineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;\nand will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And\nI will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned or digged; but there shall\ncome up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain\nnot upon it\" (Isaiah v:1-6). And Hosea, too, had borne witness against\nthe vine: \"Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto\nhimself; according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the\naltars; according to the goodness of the land they have made goodly\nimages\" (Hosea x:1).\n\nTheir boast of being the vine and vineyard of Jehovah was an idle one.\nEzekiel's parable demonstrates this. The vine tree is only good for one\nthing and that is the bearing of fruit. Apart from fruit bearing the\nvine is worthless. The wood of it cannot be used for anything whatever.\nIs it meet for any work? Will men take a piece of it and hang a vessel\nthereon? It is good for nothing else but to be burned with fire. Cast\ninto the fire for fuel it is burned at both ends and in the midst. This\nwas to be the certain fate of Jerusalem. The process of the fiery\njudgment consuming the unfruitful vine tree had already begun. \"And I\nwill set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire and\nanother fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord,\nwhen I set my face against them.\" Even so it came upon the city when\nNebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem the third time. \"And he burnt the\nhouse of the Lord, and the King's house, and all the houses of\nJerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire\" (2 Kings\nxxv:9). And here we must also remember the statement our Lord made in\nthe parable of the vine and the branches. \"If a man abide not in me, he\nis cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and\ncast them into the fire, and they are burned\" (John xv:6). Some apply\nthis also to Israel. It means, however, the professing believer, who in\nan empty profession claims to be a branch in Him who is the true vine.\nSuch a one is a barren branch, good only for burning.\n\nOur Lord's parable of the vineyard (Matt. xxi:33, etc.) must here\nlikewise be considered. It brings together all the prophets had spoken\nconcerning Israel as the vineyard, as well as the crowning sin of the\npeople, in the rejection and death of the Lord Jesus, and the judgment\nwhich came upon Jerusalem and the nation.\n\nBut there is a day coming when the Lord will graciously visit the vine\nagain, when He will have mercy upon Zion. Of this the already quoted\neightieth Psalm bears a blessed testimony.\n\nThe prayer of the godly remnant of the Jewish people at the close of the\ntimes of the Gentiles is pre-written in that Psalm by the Holy Spirit.\nLet us listen to it. \"Return we beseech thee, O God of hosts; look down\nfrom heaven, and behold, and visit this vine and the vineyard which thy\nright hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for\nthyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the\nrebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right\nhand (the Lord Jesus Christ), upon the son of man, whom thou madest\nstrong for thyself. So will we not go back from thee; quicken us, and we\nwill call upon thy name\" (Psalm lxxx:14-18).\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE ABANDONED CHILD. JERUSALEM'S IDOLATRY. THE PROMISES\nOF RESTORATION.\n\nChapter xvi.\n\nAfter the parable of the unfruitful vine in which the vain hope and\nboast of Jerusalem is briefly exposed, another parable was uttered by\nthe Prophet, which more fully establishes Jerusalem's great wickedness.\nThe chapter before us is one of the greatest in the prophetic\nScriptures. It contains a wonderful history of Jerusalem, past, present\nand future, and God's dealings with her.\n\nWe give first a brief survey of this interesting chapter before we take\nup a more analytical study. The parable of the abandoned child and\nJehovah's love and mercy in taking her up, saving the perishing one from\ndeath and bestowing upon her such gracious labor and gifts, forms the\nfirst part of the chapter (verse 1-14). It is a most beautiful\ndescription of what Jehovah had done for Jerusalem. After this, the\nterrible ingratitude and fall of Jerusalem is uncovered. She, whom\nJehovah lifted so high, upon whom He bestowed such love and grace,\nturned against Jehovah and became an abandoned prostitute. The\nidolatries of Jerusalem and corresponding moral degradations are\nvividly pictured in this second section of the chapter (verses 15-34).\nThen follows the announcement of the doom of Jerusalem. In this third\nsection Samaria and her daughters, as well as Sodom and her daughters\nare introduced, and their return to the former estate with Jerusalem is\nannounced.\n\nThese restoration promises are frequently used by teachers of the\nso-called \"larger hope,\" who deny the eternal punishment of the wicked.\nIt is claimed that Sodom and her daughters, all the inhabitants of\nwicked Sodom, who perished in the great judgment, will be raised from\nthe dead and have another chance. We shall, in considering this portion\nof the chapter (verses 35-59), show the unscripturalness of this theory\nas well as the true meaning of the promise. The fourth section (verses\n59-63) promises the establishment of Jehovah's covenant with Jerusalem.\n\n\nI. The Parable of the Abandoned Child.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause\n Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, Thus saith the Lord God\n unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan;\n thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy\n nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither\n wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou was not salted at\n all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these\n unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in\n the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou\n wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine\n own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea,\n I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused\n thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased\n and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy\n breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast\n naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee,\n behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over\n thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, I sware unto thee, and entered\n into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest\n mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away\n thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee\n also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I\n girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I\n decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands,\n and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and\n earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus\n wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine\n linen and silk and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and\n honey and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst\n prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen\n for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I\n had put upon thee, saith the Lord God (verses 1-14).\n\nIn the beginning of the chapter the purpose of the parable is stated.\n\"Son of Man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.\" To convict\nJerusalem of all her guilt and wickedness the Lord shows first of all\nwhat He had done for her. While Jerusalem is specially mentioned, the\nparable has a wider application to the nation itself. The different\ndealings of the Lord with His people can be traced in this beautiful\nparable. First, Jerusalem's origin is mentioned. \"Thy birth and thy\nnativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite and thy\nmother a Hittite.\" This does not mean Abraham and Sarah, from which the\nnation sprang, but it refers to the origin of the city itself, which was\nCanaanitish. The Amorites were the original possessors of Palestine, as\nwe learn from Genesis xv:16. The name for Palestine in the cuneiform\ninscriptions is \"Land of the Amorites.\" The Hittites are also mentioned\nin Genesis as the inhabitants of the land. (Genesis xxiii:3, 10;\nxxvii:46). Thus Jerusalem is described as coming from a base and unclean\nparentage. The Lord had mercy on her whose condition was like an\nabandoned child cast out into an open field. He passed by and spoke the\nword, which He alone could speak--Live! Then He began His work of\nmercy. He caused her to multiply as the bud of the field. He made her to\nincrease. He entered into a covenant with her. \"Yea, I swear unto thee,\nand entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou\nbecamest mine.\" Furthermore we read, \"I washed thee with water\"; \"I\nanointed thee with oil\"; \"I clothed\"; \"I girded thee\"; \"I covered thee\nwith silk.\" Ornaments were bestowed upon the beloved one. Bracelets upon\nthe hands; a chain for the neck; a jewel for the forehead; earrings for\nthe ears; decked with gold and silver; arrayed in fine linen and silk\nand broidered work, feeding on fine flour, honey and oil--such were\nJehovah's gifts to Jerusalem. A beautiful crown was put upon her head.\nJerusalem became exceedingly beautiful and prospered into a kingdom. Her\nrenown went forth among the nations on account of her beauty. All this\nis a striking allegory of Jehovah's mercy to Jerusalem, and the\nculmination refers to the days of the glorious kingdom under Solomon.\nThere is no need of applying every statement to some historical fact in\nthe history of Jerusalem as it has been attempted by certain expositors.\nThe purpose, as already stated, is to convict Jerusalem of her\nabominations, and for this reason Jehovah's goodness to her is so\nvividly described. Jehovah had done all for her and not a word is said\nabout gratitude or love from the side of Jerusalem. All was done for her\nby Him. \"It was perfect through my comeliness (magnificence), which I\nhad put upon thee, saith the Lord God.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd this sweet parable illustrates, as few other portions in the Old\nTestament do, the grace which the Lord bestows upon the believer in the\nGospel. Thy father an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite reminds us of\nwhat is true of all men, so tersely expressed in David's confession,\n\"Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me\"\n(Psalm li:5). Like the child pictured in the parable, we are lost,\nperishing in the field (the world). What could that perishing child do\nto save itself? Even so we cannot do anything to save ourselves. The\nLord passing by had compassion and spoke His Word of power--Live. He\ncame from Heaven to this earth, into the field to seek and save what is\nlost. He found man in the vile and helpless condition so aptly pictured\nby the miserable child. And more than that, He died to save man. He gave\nHis life so that we might live. The first thing He does for the\nbelieving sinner is to give him life. When the spiritual dead hear His\nvoice they live. The washing with water, the anointing with oil (type of\nthe Holy Spirit), the announcement \"thou becamest mine,\" as well as the\nclothing, the beautifying and the crowning, all illustrates what His\nmarvelous grace does for the trusting, believing sinner. It is all grace\nfrom start to finish, from the impartation of life in the new birth to\nthe crowning in glory.\n\n\nII. Jerusalem's Idolatries and Moral Degradation.\n\n But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot\n because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every\n one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take,\n and deckedst thy high places with divers colors, and playedst the\n harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it\n be so. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my\n silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men,\n and didst commit whoredom with them. And tookest thy broidered\n garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine\n incense before them. My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and\n oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before\n them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, saith the Lord God.\n Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast\n borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be\n devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter. That thou has\n slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through\n the fire for them? And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms\n thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked\n and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. And it came to pass after\n all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God,) That\n thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee\n a high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at\n every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and\n hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy\n whoredoms. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians\n thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to\n provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore, I have stretched out my hand\n over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered\n thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the\n Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou hast played the\n whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea,\n thou hast played the harlot with them, and couldest not be\n satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land\n of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.\n How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all\n these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; in that thou\n buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest\n thine high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in\n that thou scornest hire; but as a wife that committeth adultery,\n which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to\n all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest\n them, that they may come unto thee on every side of thy whoredom.\n And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms,\n whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou\n givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou\n art contrary (verses 15-34).\n\nUpon the beautiful background of Jehovah's love and mercy, there is now\nwritten the dark picture of Jerusalem's whoredoms, symbolical of her\nwicked idolatries. \"But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and played\nthe harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on\nevery one that passed by; his it was\" (verse 15). It started all with\npride. Jerusalem did not acknowledge the giver, who had made her great.\nInstead of worshipping in Jehovah's appointed way, they established the\n\"high places\" and conformed to all the wicked Canaanitish practices. The\nwickedness of the Amorites and Hittites, from which she came, were\nreproduced in her. Their little ones were given to Moloch as a\nsacrifice. \"Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom\nthou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be\ndevoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain\nthy children, and delivered them to pass through the fire for them?\"\n(verses 20-21). From the Second Book of Kings we learn that Ahaz was the\nfirst king who committed this atrocity. \"He made his son pass through\nthe fire, according to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord\ncast out from before the children of Israel\" (2 Kings xvi:3). And\nManasseh, the wicked son of a pious father, also followed the same\nhorrible practice (2 Kings xxi:6). The historical books of Second Kings\nand Second Chronicles must be read to understand more fully the\nsymbolical language used by Ezekiel and to learn the idolatry and\ndegradation of Jerusalem. All Jehovah had given and bestowed upon her\nwas devoted to practice this spiritual fornication. What Jehovah had\ndone for her was forgotten.\n\n\"And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not\nremembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and\nwast polluted in thy blood\" (verse 22). But worse than that followed.\nNot enough that Jerusalem had her high places and revived the practices\nof the Canaanitish natives, she began to have also idolatrous\nintercourse with the idol-gods of Egypt, Assyria and Chaldea (verses\n23-34). She sought them out and courted them all to increase her\nharlotry. So great became Jerusalem's abominations that the daughters of\nthe Philistines became ashamed of her lewd way (verse 27). And while\nsuch was the religious degradation of Jerusalem in following the basest\nand most corrupt idolatries, a corresponding moral degradation was\nlinked with it. All the rites of the Canaanites and the other nations\nconsisted in the grossest immoralities. The most shameless and the\nvilest things of the flesh were practiced in the midst of the idolatrous\ncity. \"How is the faithful city become a harlot!\" (Isaiah i:21). In the\nnext section the Lord addresses her by that title and once more her\njudgment doom is announced. \"Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the\nLord\" (verse 35).\n\nThe spiritual adultery which characterizes the end of the present age is\neven greater than that of Jerusalem. The apostacy of Jerusalem is\novershadowed by the rising tide of an approaching, final apostasy in\nwhich Satan's man and masterpiece will demand and receive the worship\nwhich belongs to the Lord. Antichrist, yet to come, his shadow cast so\nsharply in our days, will be the consummation of the greatest departure\nfrom God and defiance of God the world has ever seen. And therefore the\ncoming judgment will also be greater.\n\nAfter the beautiful parable of the abandoned child, from which we\nlearned Jehovah's grace and mercy shown to Jerusalem, and the\ndescription of Jerusalem's idolatries and moral degradation, we find her\njudgment doom announced once more. In connection with this the prophet\nbeholds the time when Sodom and her daughters and Samaria and her\ndaughters, as well as Jerusalem and her daughters, will return to their\nformer estate.\n\n\nIII. The Doom of Jerusalem on account of Her Wickedness.\n\n Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord\n God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness\n discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the\n idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which\n thou didst give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all thy\n lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou\n hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather\n them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto\n them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge thee, as\n women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give\n thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into\n their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall\n break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy\n clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and\n bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they\n shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their\n swords. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute\n judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause\n thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no\n hire any more. So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my\n jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no\n more angry. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth,\n but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also\n will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and\n thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.\n\n Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against\n thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy\n mother's daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children; and\n thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and\n their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an\n Amorite. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters\n that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth\n at thy right hand is Sodom and her daughters. Yet hast thou not\n walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as\n if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they\n in all thy ways. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister\n hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and\n thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom,\n pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in\n her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and\n needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:\n therefore I took them away as I saw good. Neither hath Samaria\n committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine\n abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all\n thine abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which hast\n judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast\n committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than\n thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou\n hast justified thy sisters. When I shall bring again their\n captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the\n captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the\n captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: That thou mayest\n bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast\n done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, Sodom\n and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria\n and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and\n thy daughters shall return to your former estate. For thy sister\n Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride. Before\n thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the\n daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters\n of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne\n thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. For thus saith\n the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which\n hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant (verses 35-59).\n\nThe Word of the Lord is now addressed not to the beloved city, but to\nthe harlot. She had committed the most awful spiritual fornication, with\nwhich she had insulted Jehovah, and utterly rejected His love and mercy.\nAll the idols of abominations were found in her. The different nations\nwhich surrounded the land were given to the most degrading idolatries,\nand Jerusalem had not alone taken up this wicked idol worship, but she\nbecame worse than the heathen which practised these things. \"They did\nafter the abominations of the heathen which the Lord had cast out before\nthe children of Israel\" (2 Kings xxi:2). Graven images were set up in\nJerusalem. Moloch service (sacrifice of children) became general.\nSorceries and demon-cults flourished. The vilest immoralities were\nlinked with all this false worship. Jerusalem had become a harlot in the\nfullest sense of the word, a sink of iniquity. And her lovers, the\nnations, whose idolatries she had accepted, would now be gathered\nagainst her to be used in her judgment (verse 37). Her judgment would be\n\"as a woman that breaks wedlock,\" that is, an adulteress--\"and I will\ngive thy blood in fury and jealousy\" (verse 38). Stoning was the\njudgment for a woman who committed adultery (Lev. xx:10; John viii:5).\nTherefore the Lord said, \"They shall also bring up a company against\nthee, and they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with\ntheir swords\" (verse 40). The judgment would be exhaustive upon her and\nshe would be caused to cease playing the harlot--\"thou shalt also give\nno hire any more\" (verse 41). Without following the description of her\ndoom and Jehovah's scathing condemnation in detail, we turn to that\nwhich is of much importance and interest. Samaria is mentioned and her\ndaughters as the elder sister of Jerusalem, and Sodom and her daughters\nas her younger sister (verse 46). And though the corruption of Samaria\nand Sodom were so great, yet Jerusalem \"was corrupted more than they\" in\nall her ways. \"As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not\ndone, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters\"\n(verse 48). Samaria is called the elder sister, because the northern\nkingdom was the larger; and Sodom is called the younger, because her\nterritory was smaller. The daughters mentioned in connection with each\nhas reference to the allied towns of Jerusalem, Samaria and the region\nsouth of Jerusalem, where Sodom was the chief city. Then Sodom's sin is\nmentioned. Pride stands first (verse 49); luxurious living, and then\nfollowed abomination, and God took them away. After the sins of Samaria\nare briefly rehearsed we find in this chapter the following words: \"When\nI shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her\ndaughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I\nbring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them\" (verse\n53). And again we read: \"When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters,\nshall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall\nreturn to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return\nto your former estate\" (verse 55). These two statements are used by a\ncertain class of teachers to back up their unscriptural theory of a\nfuture restitution of the wicked dead. They say that these two passages\npredict a restoration of Sodom and the other wicked cities which\nperished in judgment by fire (Gen. xix), and also a restoration of\nSamaria as well as Jerusalem, and upon this they built their hope that\nall the wicked dead will be raised up and restored to a place of\nblessing. They make therefore much of a restoration of the wicked dead\nby resurrection.[13] Besides these two passages they also use the\nfollowing Old Testament scriptures to confirm their theory: Eze.\nxxxvii:1-14; Hosea xiii:14; Jere. xlviii:47; Is. xxv:7-8, and others.\nThese passages are applied by these teachers to a restitution of the\nwicked dead by resurrection. But this is the wrong interpretation. They\nhave nothing to do with the resurrection of the physical dead. They\nrefer to national resurrection and restoration. Three facts will show\nthe error of making the Old Testament teach the restoration of the\nwicked dead:\n\n_I. The Old Testament is not that part of the divine Revelation where\nteachings and doctrines about the future state are given._\n\n[13] Millennial Dawn, or Associated Bible Students, Restorationists,\netc., do this.\n\nThis is a most important fact. The Old Testament shows man as upon the\nearth, on this side of death, and not beyond death. The future of Israel\non the earth, their supremacy and destiny of glory amidst the nations\nof the earth, the judgments of God in the earth, as well as the future\nblessings for the nations inhabiting the earth during the coming age,\nare all clearly revealed in the Old Testament. The state after death,\nthat which is beyond this life, is shrouded in mystery in the Old\nTestament Scriptures. That great judgment, the great white throne\njudgment, is nowhere mentioned in the Old Testament, nor do we read a\nword there of \"the second death.\" Resurrection of the dead, no doubt,\nwas known to individual saints of Old Testament times; the Spirit of God\nrevealed it to their hearts, but as a doctrine, resurrection is not\nfound in the Old Testament. In Psalm xvi is revealed the hope of\nresurrection of the body, and there is a prophecy of the resurrection of\nour Lord.\n\n_II. Should we find anything in the Old Testament concerning the future\nstate, the state of the righteous and the unrighteous after death, such\na hint or statement can only be rightly understood and interpreted by\nthe great doctrine concerning the future state as revealed in the New\nTestament._\n\nBy this, of course, we do not say that the Old Testament needs\ncorrection by the revelation of the New, nor do we say that the Old is\ninferior to the New; all _is_ the Word of God. However, as the Old\nTestament does not show man's condition after death, any passage which\nappears to relate to such a condition must be interpreted by the full\nlight as given in the New Testament.\n\n_III. If such passages as Ezekiel xvi:53 and Ezekiel xxxvii:1-14, etc.,\nteach the restitution of the wicked by resurrection for another chance,\nwe must then find such a doctrine of the restoration of the wicked dead\nfor another chance to accept salvation most clearly and fully revealed\nas one of the great doctrines of the New Testament._\n\nIn vain, however, do we look in the New Testament for such a\nrestoration--second probation doctrine. Such a doctrine is not even\nhinted at in the New. However, the New Testament gives the fullest\nrevelation concerning resurrection and the future state. It tells us\nthat there is indeed a resurrection of the body for every human being.\nThis revelation of resurrection as contained in the New Testament leaves\nno room whatever for the Sodomites and all the wicked idolatrous\nIsraelites, to be raised up for another chance. Our Lord in John v:29\nreveals a two-fold resurrection, a resurrection unto life and a\nresurrection unto damnation. The human race, those who have died, are\ntherefore in resurrection divided into two classes: they must come forth\neither unto life or unto damnation; there is no middle class. Later the\nNew Testament teaches a first resurrection, an out resurrection from the\ndead. Only those who have believed and died in Christ will have a share\nin this resurrection. Both Old and New Testament saints belong to it,\nbut none have a part in it who died in their sins. The rest of the dead,\nmeaning of course, the wicked dead, are not raised up till after the\nthousand years. This is a second resurrection and this takes place not\nwhen the Lord comes the second time, but after His millennial reign\n(Rev. xx). The subjects of this second resurrection appear before the\ngreat white throne and are cast into the lake of fire. Now, these\nteachers claim that the return of Sodom and Samaria to their former\nestate means their resurrection for another chance when the Lord comes.\nBut as these departed wicked people are wicked still, how can they have\npart in the first resurrection when the Lord comes, which is the\nresurrection of the righteous?\n\nThey surely cannot belong to this resurrection. And there is nowhere in\nthe New Testament a word about another special resurrection in which all\nthe wicked are raised from dead for another chance. After the\nresurrection of the righteous dead there is but one more resurrection,\nthe resurrection of the wicked unto damnation. In the light of these\nfacts the flimsy theory built upon misapplied texts of the Old\nTestament, texts which relate to national restoration and blessing,\nbreaks down completely. And now having seen what the statements in this\nchapter of Ezekiel do not mean, let us see what is their meaning. While\nthese statements cannot mean the resurrection of individuals, they mean\na _national_ restoration. There is promised in many passages of the Old\nTestament a national restoration of Israel. The ten tribes are to be\nbrought back to their former possessions. Historically they have been\nlost.[14] But they are not lost to God. He knows where they are. He has\nkept track of them, and in His own time He will make good the promises\nof their restoration and will bring back the remnants of the house of\nIsrael, now scattered still among the nations. The Jews will also be\nrestored to their territory. Repeatedly this national restoration of the\nancient people is promised under the picture of a resurrection. But to\nother nations there is also promised such a national restoration in the\ndays to come, when the Lord comes and begins His Kingdom reign over the\nearth. Such a national revival is beyond a doubt promised for a future\nday to Moab, Ammon, Assyria and Egypt. Edom and Babylon, however, are\ndoomed as nations and no revival whatever is promised to them.\n\n[14] The so-called Anglo-Israel theory lacks all Scriptural and\nhistorical support.\n\nWe do not know of course how God will accomplish these promises of\nrestoration and national revivals, and how He will gather the remnants\nof these former nations from the great sea of nations. We can leave this\nand other difficulties with Him who will see to the fulfillment of all\nthese things.\n\nAnd so there is promised not alone a return of Samaria to her former\nestate, but also to Sodom and the cities which were wiped out by\njudgment. Here is the difficulty which is used to prove that a literal\nresurrection of the wicked Sodomites must be meant. Were they not all\ntotally destroyed? How then can there be a national restoration when\nthey all perished? But while it is true that all who were in Sodom and\nthe other cities perished, we do not know how many of the inhabitants of\nthese prosperous cities, thickly populated, no doubt, happened to be\naway from home, on journeys or outside of the doomed district, and thus\nescaped the fate of others. God knows all this and keeps track of all.\nThere is certainly promised a healing for the territory occupied by\nSodom and her sister cities. The vision of the stream issuing from the\ntemple (Ex. xlvii) is seen emptying into the sea, which is the Dead Sea,\n\"and the waters shall be healed and everything shall live whithersoever\nthe river cometh.\" See also Zechariah xiv:8. And what else it may mean\nwe do not know. But of one thing we can be assured, it does _not_ mean\nthe resurrection of the wicked Sodomites for a second chance, for we\nknow that they are \"suffering the vengeance of eternal fire\" (Jude 7).\n\n\nIV. The Covenant Remembered and Established.\n\nThe closing paragraph of this interesting chapter is the divine\nassurance that the covenant made in the days of Israel's youth is to be\nremembered.\n\n Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of\n thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.\n Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt\n receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give\n them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will\n establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the\n Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open\n thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward\n thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God (verses 60-63).\n\nThe covenant will be remembered and established as an everlasting\ncovenant. Then Jerusalem will receive the elder and younger sister,\nSamaria and Sodom, not as sisters, but as daughters. They will be added\nin the coming days of blessing to Jerusalem. This, however, will not be\ndone \"by thy covenant,\" which means the law covenant but by \"His\ncovenant,\" the covenant of promise and of grace (xvi:8). \"And I will\nestablish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the\nLord.\" Of this great restoration and blessing in store for Jerusalem we\nshall hear much in the closing visions of Ezekiel.\n\n\nTHE PARABLE OF THE TWO EAGLES. THE CEDAR AND THE VINE.\n\nChapter xvii.\n\nThe Prophet is once more commanded to speak in a parable to the house of\nIsrael. In this parable there is again portrayed the sin of Jerusalem,\nand the treacherous character of corrupt Zedekiah. Like the sixteenth\nchapter it ends with another restoration promise, which will find its\nfuture fulfilment when God in sovereign grace exalts the branch of\nDavid. This will take place when Messiah will be King and rules in\nrighteousness.\n\n\nI. The Parable of the Two Eagles.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth\n a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel: And say,\n Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings,\n long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto\n Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: He cropped off\n the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick;\n he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the\n land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great\n waters, and set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a\n spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and\n the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought\n forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great\n eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did\n bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him,\n that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. It was\n planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth\n branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly\n vine. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he\n not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that\n it wither? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even\n without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots\n thereof. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not\n utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in\n the furrows where it grew (verses 1-10).\n\nThe great eagle mentioned first is Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon.\n\"For thus saith the Lord: Behold he shall fly as an eagle, and shall\nspread his wings over Moab\" (Jer. xlviii:40). \"Behold, he shall come up\nand fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah\" (Jer. xlix:22).\nWhen Daniel saw the Babylonian Empire rising out of the sea it was in\nthe form of a lion with eagle's wings (Daniel vii:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar\nhad been constituted by God the first great monarch of the times of the\nGentiles after the complete apostasy of Israel. Thus Jeremiah had\nannounced it (Jer. xxvii:5, etc.), and Daniel also told the King, \"Thou,\nO King, art a King of Kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a\nKingdom, power, and strength and glory\" (Dan. ii:37). Ezekiel's parable\ndescribes him as a great eagle with great wings and long-winged,\ndenoting his great power and the vast dominion which belonged to him.\n\"Full of feathers\" pictures the multitude of his subjects and the\n\"divers colors\" the different nations of his empire.\n\nThis eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch\nof the cedar. He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it\ninto a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. The cedar of\nLebanon is the symbol of the royal house of David, which was conquered\nby the eagle. The top of his young twigs, whom Nebuchadnezzar cropped\noff and carried into the city of merchants, Babylon, describes Jehoiakim\nand his captivity (2 Kings xxiv:1-5) (2 Chron. xxxvi:6-7). Then\nNebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah, the youngest son of Josiah, King over\nJudah, and changed his name to Zedekiah. This action of the King of\nBabylon is described in verse 5. And Zedekiah might have done well if he\nhad held to the King who had set him into the place of authority. He was\nplaced like a willow tree beside great waters, so that he became a\nspreading vine of low stature; his roots were under him, which means, he\nwas dependent upon Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxiv:17). The other great\neagle, whom Ezekiel mentions in his parable, is Hophra, the King of\nEgypt. To this king Zedekiah turned for help: \"This vine bent her roots\ntowards him.\" Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 8\ndescribes the opportunity which had been given to Zedekiah and verses\n9-10 announces his judgment. The sin and treacherous dealings of\nZedekiah is shown in the next verses.\n\n\nII. The Interpretation and Application of the Parable.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Say now to the\n rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them,\n Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the\n king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to\n Babylon; and hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with\n him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of\n the land. That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift\n itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. But\n he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, \"that\n they might give him horses and much people. \"Shall he prosper? shall\n he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant and\n be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place\n where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised,\n and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon\n he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great\n company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts and building\n forts, to cut off many persons. Seeing he despised the oath by\n breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath\n done all these things he shall not escape. Therefore, thus saith the\n Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my\n covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own\n head. And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my\n snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him\n there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. And all\n his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they\n that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know\n that I the Lord have spoken it (verses 11-21).\n\nWe have next the divine interpretation and application of this parable.\nAfter the statement that the great eagle, the King of Babylon, had come\nto Jerusalem and taken the King and the princes captive, Zedekiah is\nmentioned. Nebuchadnezzar had made him King and had made a covenant with\nhim and had taken an oath of him. Nebuchadnezzar had made him swear by\nGod (2 Chron. xxxvi:13). Nebuchadnezzar had entered into a solemn\ncovenant with Zedekiah and the name of God was used to make that\ncovenant binding. Then Zedekiah, who had less regard for the name of God\nthan Nebuchadnezzar, rebelled. Ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre\nand Sidon, came to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah (Jere. xxvii:1-2). A\ncombined revolution was evidently contemplated. He also sent ambassadors\nto Egypt. He expected great help from Pharaoh, who was a grandson of\nNecho, named Hophra. He advanced through Phoenicia and obliged the\nChaldean army to abandon the siege of Jerusalem (Jere. xxxvii: 5-7). The\njoy over this event in Jerusalem was great, for the wicked, treacherous\nKing Zedekiah expected that the Egyptian army would be the deliverer.\nBut the relief was of a short duration. The Egyptian army had to retire\nand the Chaldeans resumed the siege. His great sin was that he had\ndespised the oath and broken the covenant. Ezekiel announced therefore\nin the name of Jehovah his coming doom. \"Therefore thus saith the Lord\nGod; as I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant\nthat he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. And I\nwill spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I\nwill bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his\ntrespass that he hath trespassed against me.\" He tried to escape from\nJerusalem, but he and his household were taken captives and carried to\nthe headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Zedekiah was arraigned and\nsentenced. His daughters were set free, while his sons were slain before\nhim. This was the last thing the oath-despising, covenant-breaking\nZedekiah saw. His eyes were put out and he was bound with double fetters\nof brass and carried to Babylon, where he died a prisoner (Jere.\nlii:11). He had despised the name of Jehovah and brought dishonor upon\nthe name by violating the covenant with Nebuchadnezzar. The Gentile King\nhad a higher esteem of that Name than the Jewish King. And then Jehovah\nin His righteous dealings used the Gentile to mete out the well-deserved\nretribution upon Zedekiah. Thus the Gentile King was used in punishing a\nfaithless Jew. It foreshadows the judgment which came upon the whole\nnation when they despised and rejected more than a covenant. Ever since\nthey rejected their own Messiah and King, the Lord Jesus Christ, the\nGentiles have trodden down Jerusalem and the nation is blinded.\n\n\nIII. The Promise of the Future.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of\n the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his\n young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain\n and eminent: In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant\n it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly\n cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the\n shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees\n of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high\n tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and\n have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have\n done it (verses 22-24).\n\nAnd now once more Israel's hope and Israel's future comes into view. The\nallegory of the parable is continued. The cedar is the royal house of\nDavid. God in His Sovereignty promises to take \"of its young shoots a\ntender one and I will plant it upon a high and eminent mountain.\" This\ntender one is the Messiah, the Son of David. It is the same promise as\ngiven in the Prophet Isaiah. \"And there shall come forth a rod out of\nthe stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots\" (Is. xi:1).\n\"For He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of\na dry ground\" (Is. liii:2). The high and eminent mountain typifies Mount\nZion and the Kingdom of Messiah is pictured in the closing verses of the\nchapter. The high tree which is brought low, the green tree which is\ndried up is the symbol of Gentile world-power. The low tree which is\nexalted and the dry tree which is made to flourish stands for the\nrestoration of the Kingdom to Israel when the Son of David, our Lord,\ncomes again. Then the high tree will be cut down and the now flourishing\nGentile dominion will dry up; Israel the low tree will be exalted and\nthe long, dry and barren nation will bring its blessed fruit.\n\n\nGOD'S JUDGMENTS ARE RIGHTEOUS.\n\nChapter xviii.\n\nAgain the Word of the Lord came unto the Prophet. The contents of this\nchapter are, therefore, not \"the reasonings and expostulations of\nEzekiel,\" but another great message to the stubborn nation, which\nconstantly tried to justify itself. Judgments heavy and severe had come\nupon them. Instead of bowing under them and confessing their guilt and\nthe justice of all these punitive dealings of a righteous God, they\naccused Him of injustice, as if He were punishing them, not for their\nown sins, but for the sins of their fathers. They said, \"the way of the\nLord is not equal\"; and the Lord proves to them that His way is equal,\nbut their way is unequal (verse 25). It is a great and interesting\ncontroversy, ending with the sublime declaration and appeal, \"I have no\npleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, wherefore\nturn yourselves and live.\"\n\n\nI. The False Accusation and the Divine Answer.\n\n The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. What mean ye, that\n ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The\n fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on\n edge. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any\n more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as\n the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the\n soul that sinneth, it shall die (verses 1-4).\n\nThe same proverb, \"the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the\nchildren's teeth are set on edge\" is also mentioned by the Prophet\nJeremiah. \"In those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a\nsour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge\" (Jer. xxxi:29). And Jeremiah\nadds in a brief sentence what is more fully given through Ezekiel: \"But\nevery one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eateth the sour\ngrape, his teeth shall be set on edge.\" What they meant by this proverb\nis that their forefathers had committed sin and now they were bearing\nthe results of their iniquities, while they, the children, were\ninnocent. \"Our fathers have sinned and are not; and we have borne their\niniquities\" (Lam. v:7). This was a false and unjust accusation. No doubt\nthey rested their proverb upon Exodus xx:5 and xxxiv:7. But doing this\nthey denied their own guilt and refused to repent and be converted. And\nnow the Lord answers the proverb to show its injustice so that it should\nno more be used in Israel: \"Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of\nthe father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth\nit shall die.\" He will judge the individual, father or son, according to\nconduct. All belong to Him, which means, He is the Creator of all and He\nwill deal with each individually. If the sins of the fathers come upon\nthe children, it is because the children follow the wickedness of the\nfathers. \"Every man shall be put to death for his own sin\" (Deut.\nxxiv:16). The person that sins shall die for his own sins. \"The soul\nthat sinneth it shall die.\"\n\n\nII. The Conditions of Life.\n\n But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right. And\n hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes\n to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his\n neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a woman in her\n separation. And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the\n debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his\n bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment: He\n that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any\n increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed\n true judgment between man and man. Hath walked in my statutes, and\n hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely\n live, saith the Lord God (verses 5-9).\n\nThis paragraph and the next two begin with an \"if.\" They are, therefore,\nsupposed cases \"if a man be just.\" It shows what God requires as the\nconditions for life. However, it must be understood that the promise of\nlife, \"he shall surely live,\" has nothing whatever to do with eternal\nlife. This is not at all in view in these paragraphs. It is the natural\nlife. Eternal life was never promised to be bestowed upon man as the\nresult of doing what is lawful and right. Neither righteousness nor\neternal life can come by the works of the law. Here negatively and\npositively God's demands are stated. In the sixth verse false worship is\nin view. Eating upon the mountains, the high places, was the false\nworship; the idols of the house of Israel were the calves which Jeroboam\nhad set up (1 Kings xii:25-33). This demand for true worship covers the\nfirst part of the decalogue, \"Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me.\"\nWith this spiritual fornication, an idolatrous worship, there was\nconnected the grossest lusts of the flesh. These are mentioned here as\nwell as sins against the neighbor. Thus the commandments in the second\npart of the decalogue are made prominent. \"Thou shalt not kill,\" \"Thou\nshalt not commit adultery,\" \"Thou shalt not steal.\" This is followed by\nthe divine demand of practical righteousness. He that hath withdrawn his\nhand from iniquity hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath\nwalked in God's statutes, to keep His judgments and deals truly, is\npronounced just and shall therefore surely live. His life would be\nspared.\n\n\nIII. The Conditions which bring Death.\n\n If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that\n doeth the like to any one of these things. And that doeth not any of\n those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled\n his neighbor's wife, Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled\n by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his\n eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, Hath given forth upon\n usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not\n live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his\n blood shall be upon him (verses 10-13).\n\nHere then is the second supposed case of a son who had a righteous\nfather. This son lives in wickedness and defies God's laws. He does not\nfollow his father's piety, but is unjust in every sense of the word. The\nquestion then is asked, \"Shall he live?\" Can the merits of his father\nsave him? And the divine answer is, \"He shall not live--he shall surely\ndie.\" Physical death would come upon him and he would be cut off in\njudgment.\n\n\nIV. The Son does not Die for his Father's Sins.\n\n Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins, which\n he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like. That hath\n not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the\n idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife.\n Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither\n hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry,\n and hath covered the naked with a garment. That hath taken off his\n hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath\n executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die\n for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his\n father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by\n violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even\n he shall die in his iniquity. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear\n the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is\n lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them,\n he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son\n shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father\n bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous\n shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon\n him (verses 14-20).\n\nStill another case is considered so that the proverb of the people might\nbe completely answered and refuted. A wicked father has a son who does\nrighteously and follows not in the wicked ways of his father. Such was\nthe case with several Kings of Judah. Ahaz was a wicked man and\nHezekiah, his son, was a God-fearing king; Josiah was also the pious son\nof a wicked father. In such a case \"the son shall not die for the\niniquity of his father; he shall surely live.\" The father dies on\naccount of his own iniquity. This statement was in answer to their\nquestion, \"Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?\" This\nfoolish reasoning from their side that the son could suffer for the\nfather's sin was a wicked invention to sustain them in their impenitent\nstate and in their sins. They claimed no guilt of their own, but charged\ntheir sufferings to the wickedness of the fathers. But we have seen how\nperfectly the proverb \"the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the\nchildren's teeth are set on edge,\" is answered in these paragraphs.\n\n\nV. The Perfect Equity of God.\n\n But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath\n committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and\n right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his\n transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned\n unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have\n I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord\n God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when\n the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth\n iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the\n wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath\n done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath\n trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he\n die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house\n of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a\n righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth\n iniquity, and dieth in them: for his iniquity that he hath done\n shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his\n wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful\n and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and\n turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he\n shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel,\n The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways\n equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O\n house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord\n God, Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so\n iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your\n transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new\n heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For\n I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord\n God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye (verses 21-32).\n\nThey had accused the Lord of injustice. \"The way of the Lord is not\nequal\" (verse 25). And Jehovah answers, \"Hear now, O house of Israel; Is\nnot my way equal? are not your ways unequal?\" He promises that the\nwicked is surely to live, if he turns from all his sins. Jehovah has no\npleasure in the death of the wicked. He desires his return so that he\nmight live. How then would He punish them for the sins of others, if He\nwas ready no longer to mention even their own transgressions? But if the\nrighteous abandons righteousness and committeth iniquity, then \"in his\nsin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.\" The latter case has\noften been used to defend the teaching that a truly converted and\ntherefore saved person, may, by sinning, be lost. If only the Word of\nTruth were rightly divided such, and other misinterpretations, would\ncease. Here we are on the ground of the law dispensation, and, as\nalready pointed out, the Lord answers Israel, who were in relation to\nHim through the law covenant and who refused to own their sins and their\nguilt. The dispensation of Grace, in which Grace reigns through\nrighteousness has a different message. This is fully illustrated if we\ncompare the call to repentance in verses 30-31 with the promise given in\nchapter xxxvi:26-17. The Lord pleads with them to acknowledge their\nsinfulness; He speaks to their conscience. \"Repent, and turn yourselves\nfrom all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast\naway from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and\nmake you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of\nIsrael?\" But in chapter xxxvi Grace speaks and promises to bestow, as a\ngift, what a righteous God demands. \"A new heart also will I give you\nand a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony\nheart of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will\nput my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye\nshall keep my judgments and do them.\" The result of this gift of grace,\na new heart and His Spirit, is true repentance. \"_Then_ shall ye\nremember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and\nshall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for\nyour abominations\" (chap. xxxvi:21). It was Augustine who said, \"Give\nwhat Thou requirest and then require what Thou will.\" All what God\nrequires He bestows in His infinite Grace through Jesus Christ our Lord\nand then in possession of what Grace gives we can be what God requires.\nBut the thirty-sixth chapter, where God no longer saith \"make you a new\nheart,\" but promises to give a new heart to His people, awaits, as\nregards God's chosen people, its fulfilment. Here God pleads with them\nto convince them that they were a sinful people and that He is a just\nGod.\n\nIn the last verse of this chapter the Lord answers the question of verse\n23, \"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?\" His own\nanswer is, \"For I have no pleasure in the death of Him that dieth, saith\nthe Lord God, wherefore turn yourselves and live.\" And yet all these\ngracious pleadings were not heeded.\n\n\nLAMENTATION OVER THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL.\n\nChapter xix.\n\nThis chapter ends that section of the book which began with the twelfth\nchapter. And it is a fitting conclusion, this great lamentation over the\nPrinces of Israel, and over the land of Judah. The English translation\ndoes not do justice to the original Hebrew; the outburst of lamentation\nis written in a poetic form, some kind of an elegy. The lamentation has\ntwo sections.\n\n\nI. The Lamentations over the Princes of Israel.\n\n Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel. And\n say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she\n nourished her whelps among young lions. And she brought up one of\n her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the\n prey; it devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he was taken\n in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of\n Egypt. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost,\n then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And\n he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and\n learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. And he knew their\n desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was\n desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. Then\n the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and\n spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. And they put\n him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they\n brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon\n the mountains of Israel (verses 1-9).\n\nThe lamentation is not the lamentation of Ezekiel, as so many expositors\nstate, but it is the lamentation of Jehovah, the same who later wept\nover the same city and lamented over her coming fate. The words of\ndivine lament were put into the mouth of the Prophet.\n\nThe Princes are Jehoahaz and Jehoachin. King Jehoahaz and his fate,\nbeing carried away captive into Egypt (2 Kings xxiii:33) is lamented in\nverses 1-4. King Jehoiachin who was taken as a captive to Babylon is\nlamented in verses 5-9. In Ezekiel, however, the word King is not used;\nthe Kings are always called princes. The second verse may be rendered as\nfollows:\n\n \"Thy mother was like a lioness, among lions.\n She couched amid the young lions, she reared the whelps.\"\n\nThe mother is Judah. Of this Jacob had spoken in his prophecy. \"Judah is\na lion's whelp\" (Gen. xlix:9). And Balaam in his prophetic utterances\nspeaks in the same tones of the nation. \"Behold, the people shall rise\nup as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion\" (Num. xxiv:14).\nThis prophecy will be fulfilled in the future when He appears in power\nand glory to receive the Kingdom, for He is called \"the lion of the\ntribe of Judah\" (Rev. v:5). And the people will then be as a converted\nand restored people the same, what the lion is among the animals, the\nKingly nation. In Isaiah xxix:1 Jerusalem is called \"Ariel,\" which means\n\"Lion of God.\" The whelps, the nations heard of, are the sons of the\nHouse of David. And Jehoahaz \"devoured men\" and did evil in the sight of\nthe Lord and was carried away by Pharaoh Necho as a captive into Egypt.\nSome expositors think that the lioness is the wife of Josiah the mother\nof Jehoahaz, because she was a woman of much importance and great\ninfluence (Jer. xiii:18; 2 Kings ii:9; xxiv:12).\n\nThe other one of her whelps mentioned in verse 5, whom the lioness,\nJudah, made a young lion, that is a King, was Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin was\nmade King, when all hope of a return of Jehoahaz was lost, and the new\nKing also \"devoured men,\" did evil in the sight of the Lord. \"And he did\nthat which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his\nfathers had done\" (2 Kings xxiv:90). In verse 7 the word \"palaces\" should\nbe changed to \"widows.\" The verse describes the cruelties and wicked\ndeeds of the King. Then judgment overtook him. Under him the first\ndeportation to Babylon took place, in which the Prophet Ezekiel was\nincluded. \"And he (Nebuchadnezzar) carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon,\nand the King's mother, and the King's wife, and his officers, and the\nmighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to\nBabylon\" (2 Kings xxiv:14). The correct rendering of the next part of\nverse 9 is: \"And they put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to\nthe King of Babylon.\" Both Kings deserved their fate. God had warned,\nand as they continued in wickedness judgment fell upon them. And it was\na warning to Zedekiah who was soon to share the same fate. In view of\nthe violence which is on the earth now, the wickedness which is seen on\nall sides, these judgments of the past may well be remembered. God is\nthe same to-day as He was of old. He must deal in judgment with sin; in\nmany parts of the holy Scriptures we read of the time when God will keep\nnot silence, but deal with conditions on the earth according to His\nrighteousness.\n\n\nII. The Lamentation over the Land of Judah.\n\n Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters; she\n was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. And she\n had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her\n stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in\n her height with the multitude of her branches. But she was plucked\n up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried\n up her fruit; her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire\n consumed them. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry\n and thirsty ground. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches,\n which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be\n a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a\n lamentation (verses 10-14).\n\nJudah typified by a vine is not a new figure in Ezekiel. See chapters\nxv:1-5; xvii:6-10. The statement here reminds us also of Psalm\nlxxx:8-11. Many were the blessings Judah enjoyed, like a vine planted by\nthe waters, fruitful and full of branches. The eleventh verse describes\nthe period of Judah's greatest prosperity under David and Solomon. Then\nthe judgment which comes upon the land, the east wind is typical of the\nChaldeans which swept from the East and spoiled the vine. The fire of\ndivine wrath burned in their midst. Her exilic judgment is pictured in\nthe next verse: \"And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and\nthirsty land.\" And the fire of judgment came out of a rod of her\nbranches, that is, the judgment came upon them on account of their\nwicked Kings. Thus ends the sorrowful lamentation over the princes and\nthe land of Judah. But there is a better future in store for the land\nand the people, a future which can only be realized in Him, who said, \"I\nam the true vine.\" Israel still is under the rod, but in God's own time\nthe curse will give way to the promised blessing, for God's gifts and\ncalling are without repentance.\n\n\nFURTHER AND FINAL PREDICTIONS CONCERNING THE JUDGMENT OF JERUSALEM.\n\nChapter xx.\n\nWith this chapter we enter upon the last prophecies given through the\nprophet before the fall of the City of Jerusalem. There is first an\narraignment of the unfaithful nation. This is followed by the divine\nannouncement that the sword of the Lord is now to be drawn to do its\njudgment work. The twenty-first chapter, in which this announcement is\nmade, has been called the sword-song. In chapter xxii another\narraignment of the people and the sins of Jerusalem is given and the\ncorruption of all classes, prophets, priests, princes and the mass of\npeople is described. Once more in chapter xxiii the wickedness and\nvileness of Samaria and Judah is uncovered, corresponding to the similar\nmessage in chapter xvi. The last prophetic message of this cycle was\ngiven on the day when the siege of Jerusalem began. On the same day\nEzekiel's wife died; the prophet was commanded not to mourn. All this\nhas a meaning in connection with Jerusalem's complete fall. Thus God\nwaited and waited for the repentance of His people and sent these\nburning messages to them till at last there was no remedy and judgment\nhad to come.\n\n\nI. A Retrospect of the Nation's Sins.\n\n And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the\n tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to\n enquire of the Lord and sat before me. Then came the word of the\n Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel,\n and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to enquire\n of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by\n you. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause\n them to know the abominations of their fathers: And say unto them,\n Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted\n up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself\n known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand\n unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God; In the day that I lifted\n up mine hand unto them to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into\n a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey,\n which is the glory of all lands; Then said I unto them, Cast ye away\n every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves\n with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled\n against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man\n cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake\n the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them,\n to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of\n Egypt. But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be\n polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I\n made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land\n of Egypt (verses 1-9).\n\nThere is first a review of the nation's sin in Egypt. At the time given\nin the first verse the elders came to the prophet to enquire of the\nLord. Outwardly it seemed as if these enquiring elders were sincere and\ncame in the spirit of humility acknowledging the prophet's authority.\nBut the Lord knoweth the heart; He read their innermost thoughts and\nknew that their inquiry was only a sham; the real heart exercise in true\nrepentance was lacking. So He tells them through the prophet, \"As I\nlive--I will not be inquired of by you. Wilt thou judge them, son of\nman, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their\nfathers.\" Instead of giving them a message of comfort and encouragement,\nEzekiel, here addressed again as son of man, is commanded to judge them,\nthat is to put before them their sins and to pronounce judgment upon the\nnation. The same phrase is found twice more in this section. \"Now, thou\nson of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea thou\nshalt show her all her abominations\" (xxii:2). See also xxiii:36. And\nfirst of all the prophet had to show them the nation's sins in Egypt. He\nhad chosen them as a nation; He had made Himself known to them in Egypt\nand had lifted up His hand unto them saying, \"I am the Lord your God.\"\nHe had entered into covenant relations with Israel and pledged Himself\nto bring them out of Egypt into the land, which here is called \"the\nglory of all lands.\" From verses 7 and 8 we learn that Israel was\ncontaminated by the idol worship of Egypt and a holy God was ready to\npour upon them His fury in the midst of the land of Egypt. But sovereign\nmercy prevailed and instead of making Himself known to the nation in\njudgment, He made Himself known in bringing them forth out of Egypt.\n\n Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and\n brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my statutes, and\n showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in\n them. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me\n and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify\n them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness:\n they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments,\n which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they\n greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in\n the wilderness, to consume them. But I wrought for my name's sake,\n that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I\n brought them out. Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the\n wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had\n given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all\n lands. Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my\n statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their\n idols. Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them,\n neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness (verses 10-17).\n\nIn these verses we have the history of the first generation in the\nwilderness. His hand brought them out of the land of Egypt into the\nwilderness and there He gave them the law and the different sabbaths,\nthe feasts of Jehovah. Their sins and failures in the wilderness are\nbriefly sketched. They rebelled; they were disobedient; they despised\nHis judgments and polluted His sabbaths. Then comes the statement that\nthis first generation was not to enter into the land promised unto them.\nAgain in sovereign mercy He spared them and did not make a complete end\nof them in the wilderness.\n\n But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the\n statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor\n defile yourselves with their idols: I am the Lord your God; walk in\n my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my\n sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may\n know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding the children\n rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my\n judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them;\n they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury\n upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.\n Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake,\n that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose\n sight I brought them forth. I lifted up mine hand unto them also in\n the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and\n disperse them through the countries; Because they had not executed\n my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my\n sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. Wherefore\n I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby\n they should not live; And I polluted them in their own gifts, in\n that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb,\n that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know\n that I am the Lord (verses 18-26).\n\nAnd now the record of the second generation in the wilderness is brought\nto their notice. They were just as rebellious as their fathers, who fell\nin the wilderness. They also were worshippers of idols in the\nwilderness, besides offering sacrifices and offerings unto Jehovah (Amos\nv:25-27). The statement in verse 25 \"wherefore I gave them also\nstatutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not\nlive,\" has been explained in different ways. It cannot mean the law, for\nthat is holy, just and good. \"The solution is due to the simple\nprinciple that God in His government chastens His guilty people\nretributively and calls the scourges His own, even when the instruments\nmay be wholly foreign to His mind and heart.\" They were disobedient to\nHis statutes and then in punishment for their sins He let them go into\nthe terrible worship of Moloch, in casting their first-born into the\nfire as a sacrifice to the idol-god. It is the same principle here as in\nRomans i:26-28. God gave them up in every way after they had turned away\nfrom Him. It was a punishment for their sins.\n\n\nII. Their Sins in the Land.\n\n Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto\n them. Thus saith the Lord God: Yet in this your fathers have\n blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.\n For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up\n mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all\n the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there\n they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they\n made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.\n Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And\n the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. Wherefore say unto\n the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after\n the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their\n abominations? For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons\n to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols,\n even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of\n Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by\n you. And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that\n ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries,\n to serve wood and stone (verses 27-32).\n\nAccording to His promise He brought them into the land. He did not go\nback on His Word, in spite of their failure, for God's gifts and calling\nare without repentance. And thus they continued in their evil ways,\ncommitting all manner of abominations. And therefore the Lord said to\nthe inquiring elders, \"And shall I be enquired of by you, O house of\nIsrael? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by\nyou.\" Verse 32 shows that in the iniquity of their heart they wanted to\nbe like the heathen to serve wood and stone; but God would take care\nthat this should not be, for He had chosen them to be His nation.\n\n\nIII. Judgment and Mercy in Future Restoration.\n\n As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a\n stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you.\n And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of\n the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with\n a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you\n into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you\n face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness\n of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.\n And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you\n into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you\n the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them\n forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not\n enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.\n As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve\n ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken\n unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and\n with your idols, For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the\n height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of\n Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them,\n and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of\n your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with\n your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather\n you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will\n be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am\n the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the\n country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your\n fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your\n doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves\n in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye\n shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my\n name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to\n your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God\n (verses 33-44).\n\nIn this paragraph we read of their future punishment and also of the\nmercy which is in store for the believing remnant of the nation in the\nfuture restoration, of which all the prophets of God have spoken. In the\nwilderness of people, their dispersion among all the nations of the\nworld, He will plead with them and bring them under the rod. The rebels\nwill be purged out from the nation and they shall not enter into the\nland of Israel. In verses 40-44 we have a prophecy concerning their true\nrestoration. They will be accepted, brought back and gathered out from\nall the countries and brought into the land of Israel, as God has\npromised them. Then the remnant of Israel will remember their ways and\nrepent of their evil.\n\n\nIV. The Forest Consumed by Fire.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set thy\n face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and\n prophesy against the forest of the south field; And say to the\n forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord\n God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every\n green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not\n be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be\n burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled\n it: it shall not be quenched. Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of\n me, Doth he not speak parables (verses 45-49).\n\nIt is a parable. The forest of the south field is Judea; its complete\nand terrible conquest is here again predicted. The fire of judgment is\nto sweep through it, like a mighty forest fire which cannot be quenched.\nAnd when Ezekiel had faithfully delivered his message, his hearers\nsaid, \"Doth he not speak in parables?\" They refused to understand.\n\n\nTHE IMPENDING JUDGMENT.\n\nChapter xxi.\n\n\"Then said I, Oh, Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak in\nparables?\" This is the last verse of the preceding chapter. It showed\nthe hardened conditions of their hearts, which rejected the Word of God,\nthe word of warning and the call to repentance. These sad conditions of\nthe people in Ezekiel's day are deeply significant for our times. We see\nthe outwardly professing people of God, the large numbers of unsaved,\nnominal Christians in the same hardened condition. Though God speaks\nloudly, the Word is not heeded. A stronger judgment message follows in\nwhich the sword of the Lord is prominent. Critics have acknowledged the\nmajestic character of the so-called \"Song of the Sword,\" and say that\nthe prophet now speaks in \"maddened frenzy,\" carried away by his own\npassion, breaking out, \"in a state of wild excitement,\" denouncing the\nnation. But it is not the prophet who gives way to his own feeling. The\nfirst verse dispels at once such a conception. \"And the Word of the Lord\ncame unto me, saying:\" It is the Lord who speaks through Ezekiel.\n\n\nI. The Sword to be Drawn.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy\n face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and\n prophesy against the land of Israel. And say to the land of Israel,\n Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth\n my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous\n and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the\n righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of\n his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: That all\n flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his\n sheath: it shall not return any more. Sigh, therefore, thou son of\n man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before\n their eyes. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore\n sighest thou? that thou shall answer, For the tidings, because it\n cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble,\n and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water:\n behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God\n (verses 1-7).\n\nA fearful word it is coming from the lips of Jehovah, who had yearned\nover Jerusalem and the nation, \"Behold, I am against thee, and will draw\nforth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the\nrighteous and the wicked.\" It was to be an indiscriminate execution of\nGod's judgment, those who claimed righteousness were to fall under the\nsword of vengeance like the wicked. It was to be a widespread judgment.\n\"My sword shall go forth out of its sheath against all flesh--that all\nflesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its\nsheath; it shall not return any more.\" While here it refers to all the\nnations, to Jerusalem as well as to Judea, there are other prophecies\nwhich include under the term \"all flesh\" the Gentile nations as well.\n\"For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and\nthe slain of the Lord shall be many\" (Isa. lxvi:16). Fear and the pit,\nand the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth\" (Isa. xxiv:17).\nThis will be at the close of the present age. And do not the events in\nthe world to-day indicate the rapid approach of the judgment sword?\n\nAnd God's servant was commanded to sigh with bitterness before their\neyes. He was to tell them the reason of his agony. \"Because it cometh;\nand my heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit\nshall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water. Behold it cometh and\nshall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.\" It was not the time for\nrejoicing, but for weeping and sighing. The prophet was called upon to\nshow forth in his behavior the solemn days which were now to come. And\nour Lord has predicted for our age upon earth distress of nations, with\nperplexity; the sea and the waves thereof roaring. \"Men's hearts failing\nthem for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on\nthe earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken\" (Luke xxi:25-26).\nBut how little sighing with bitterness there is to-day among God's\nservants in view of what is in store for an ungodly and unbelieving age!\n\n\nII. The Sharpening of the Sword.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\n prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is\n sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore\n slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make\n mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath\n given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is\n sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the\n slayer. Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be upon my people, it\n shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the\n sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.\n Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod?\n it shall be no more, saith the Lord God. Thou, therefore, son of\n man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be\n doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of\n the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy\n chambers. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,\n that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is\n made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. Go thee one way or\n other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy\n face is set. I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause\n my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it (verses 8-17).\n\nThe sword of judgment is now described as being prepared for the\nslaughter. How all this should have a meaning for us at the present\ntime. All the nations of the earth, who boasted but yesterday of a\ncivilization which makes for righteousness and peace, are either at war\nor are preparing for war. May we not see behind it all the sword of the\nLord? Has He not begun judgment among those nations? The threatening\nvengeance of the Lord will ere long fall upon this age which so long has\nturned a deaf ear to the wooings of His love. And the question here is\nasked, \"Should we then make mirth?\" Is this the time of mirth, worldly\nenjoyment and indifference? Not for God's people who discern the signs\nof the times and who know from the Word of God the coming events. The\nplace for us is in \"Bochim\" (Judges ii:4-5. \"Bochim\" means \"Weeping.\")\nThe time of the sharpening of the sword is the time for His people to\ntrim their lamps, for earnest heart-searching and prayer. The character\nof the unsaved, nominal \"Christian\" masses is also being clearly\nrevealed. They show what they are, \"lovers of pleasure more than lovers\nof God.\" Though the sword is being drawn and sharpened, they are given\nto mirth and pleasure, like the company described in 1 Sam. xxx:16. The\nsword of judgment will find them in their merry-making and will change\nall into weeping and gnashing of teeth.\n\nAgain the prophet is commanded to cry and to howl, to smite upon his\nthigh and to smite his hands together, in view of the coming terrors of\njudgment. And solemnly the Lord saith, \"I will also smite mine hands\ntogether, and I will satisfy my fury.\"\n\n\nIII. The King of Babylon and His Divination.\n\n The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of\n man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon\n may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose\n thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. Appoint\n a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to\n Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. For the king of Babylon stood at\n the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use\n divination: he shook his arrows to and fro, he consulted with\n images, he looked in the liver. At this right hand was the\n divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in\n the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint\n battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a\n fort. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their\n sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to\n remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. Therefore thus\n saith the Lord God: Because ye have made your iniquity to be\n remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in\n all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are\n come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand (verses 18-24).\n\nThe King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is the chosen instrument through\nwhom the drawn and sharpened sword does its judgment work. He is seen in\nthis paragraph using divination, to decide if he should go to Rabbath of\nthe Ammonites or to Judah in Jerusalem. The King is standing at the\nparting of the way, at the head of the two ways. First he used the\narrows. The authorized version is faulty in its translation; it is not,\n\"he made his arrows bright,\" but \"he shook his arrows to and fro.\" The\nBabylonians used all kinds of enchantments, sorceries, as well as\nstar-gazers, astrologers, etc., to be guided in their undertakings. (See\nIsa. xlvii:8-15). The King took two arrows and put upon each the name of\nthe two cities mentioned; they were then shaken in the quiver and one\nwas drawn out. He also used images (teraphim) which he consulted and\nlooked into the liver. They generally killed a sheep and imagined that\nthe different lines and formation of the liver gave them directions what\nto do. In the British Museum there is a Babylonian clay tablet with a\nsheep's liver covered with all kinds of lines and oracles. In the\ntwenty-second verse we see the result of his divinations. He has pulled\nout of the quiver the arrow which has on it the word \"Jerusalem.\" And so\nthe siege of Jerusalem was prepared. But the inhabitants of Jerusalem,\nwho heard of the King's divination, branded it as a false divination\n(verse 23). They still hoped that all attempts made by Nebuchadnezzar\nwould fail. But the hand of God was guiding all, and in the last verse\nof this paragraph (verse 25) the Lord announces the hopelessness of\ntheir expectations.\n\n\nIV. The Wicked Prince and the Coming One.\n\n And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when\n iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the\n diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt\n him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn,\n overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose\n right it is; and I will give it him (verses 25-27).\n\nAnd now follows a most interesting utterance of the prophet which has a\nfuture meaning. There can be no question that Zedekiah is first of all\nin view as the profane wicked[15] prince of Israel. But the prophecy\nlooks far beyond Zedekiah. It is the coming wicked prince, the one who\ncomes in his own name, the final Antichrist, the false Messiah, or, as\nhe is also called in Revelation, the false prophet. That verse 25 refers\nto the time of the end is seen by the words, \"in the time of the\niniquity of the end\" (correct translation). The same phrase appears in\nDan. xi:35-39, \"the time of the end,\" and the person described in that\npassage is the Antichrist, the wicked prince. It is the time of the\nfuture great tribulation \"when the transgressors are come to the full\"\n(Dan. viii:23). This false Christ will claim priestly and kingly honors.\nHe is the beast out of the earth (Rev. xiii) having two horns like a\nlamb, but speaking as a dragon. The two horns represent the priesthood\nand the kingship he assumes. And this we learn from verse 26 is the\ncharacter of the wicked prince of Israel of whom Ezekiel speaks. Again,\nwe must correct the faulty translation of the authorized version:\n\"Remove the mitre and take off the crown\"; the word \"diadem\" is mitre,\nthe head-dress of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii:4). He wears the mitre of\nthe priest and the crown of the king. He is Satan's final counterfeit\n(like the pope) of the Priest-King. In verse 27 the overturning times\nare mentioned. Thrice it is stated, \"I will overturn.\" Even so will it\nbe at the time of the end until He comes whose right it is. And the\ncoming One, who will exalt what is low and abase what is high, who will\nremove the mitre and the crown from the Antichrist, destroying him by\nthe brightness of His coming (2 Thess. ii) is the Lord Jesus Christ. It\nis interesting to see that there is in the Hebrew a word used which is\nvery suggestive. In Genesis xlix:10 we have Christ spoken of as Shiloh.\nThe word \"until He come\" in the Hebrew is almost the same as Shiloh; it\nis Shelloh. And surely the overturning times are almost upon us, and\nsoon that profane wicked Prince may arise. However, we do not wait for\nthat wicked one; we wait for the Lord.\n\n[15] Literal translation is, \"O deadly wounded wicked one, the Prince of\nIsrael.\"\n\n\nV. The Judgment to Fall Upon Ammon.\n\n And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God\n concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say\n thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is\n furbished, to consume because of the glittering: While they see\n vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee\n upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked whose day is\n come, when their iniquity shall have an end. Shall I cause it to\n return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou\n wast created, in the land of thy nativity. And I will pour out mine\n indignation upon thee; I will blow against thee in the fire of my\n wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skillful\n to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be\n in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more, for I the Lord have\n spoken it (verses 28-32).\n\nThe judgment came upon the Ammonites is threatened here. But it must not\nbe overlooked that this prophecy also has a further meaning, for the\nsame words \"in the time of the iniquity of the end\" (verse 29) appears\nhere. And yet there is also promised for the future a restoration of\nAmmon (Jer. xlix:6).\n\n\nJERUSALEM'S ABOMINATIONS.\n\nChapter xxii.\n\nThis chapter describes again the sins and abominations of Jerusalem.\nBefore the sharpened sword of divine justice and retribution does its\ndreadful work, the Lord uncovers the guilt and vileness of the city and\nlays bare the corruption of her prophets, priests and princes, as well\nas the people.\n\n\nI. The Violence and Abominations of Jerusalem.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of\n man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou\n shalt shew her all her abominations. Then say thou, Thus saith the\n Lord God; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time\n may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou\n art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled\n thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused\n thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore\n have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all\n countries. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee,\n shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the\n princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed\n blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the\n midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in\n thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast\n despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. In thee\n are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon\n the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. In thee\n have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they\n humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath committed\n abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly\n defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his\n sister, his father's daughter. In thee have they taken gifts to shed\n blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily\n gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith\n the Lord God. Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy\n dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath\n been in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine\n hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord\n have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter thee among the\n heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy\n filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in\n thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am\n the Lord (verses 1-16).\n\nJerusalem is called here a bloody city on account of the deeds of\nviolence which were committed in her midst. Once it was a faithful city,\nfull of judgment and righteousness; but she had become an harlot, and\nmurderers lodged in it (Isaiah i:21). The prophets and the righteous had\nbeen killed in her midst. And He who sent these messages of warning and\nimpending judgment, who waited so patiently for Jerusalem's repentance\nand the return of His people, came in the fullness of time, in the midst\nof His people and to that city. Before He went to the cross of Calvary,\nwhere He gave Himself and where also Jerusalem's bloodguiltiness was\nfearfully crowned by killing the Prince of Life (Acts iii:15), He stood\nbefore that city with tear-filled eyes and uttered those tender and\nnever to be forgotten words: \"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest\nthe prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would\nI have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her\nchickens under her wings, and ye would not\" (Matt. xxiii:37). And\nStephen said, \"Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?\nand they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just\nOne, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers\" (Acts\nvii:52). \"His blood be upon us and our children\" was their awful cry,\nwhen the bloody city delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles, and\never since they have been, Cain-like, the homeless wanderers among the\nnations, till some day they will acknowledge their bloodguiltiness and\nturn to Him. And in this chapter the Lord describes all her violence and\nabominations. All were guilty of violence and the shedding of blood,\nespecially the princes, the Kings of Judah. (See Jeremiah xxvi:21 and\nxxxviii:4, etc.). And inasmuch as they had turned away from Jehovah and\nworshipped idols, moral corruption and the vile things man is capable of\nwere likewise present.\n\nAnd such are also the conditions to-day among the nations, which profess\nto be Christian; violence and bloodshed, moral corruption and\nabomination. May we not forget that the Lord, who knew Jerusalem's guilt\nand judged her for it, is the same to-day, who will judge the violence\nand the abominations on the earth among nations whose privileges have\nbeen even greater than the privileges and blessings of Jerusalem. \"Thou\nhast forgotten Me,\" was Jehovah's accusation against the city. Had they\nremembered Jehovah's kindness, His gracious dealing with their fathers,\nhad they remembered His Word, these abominations would not have come to\npass. And the source of the violence, the bloodshed, the moral darkness\nin the world to-day, is, that the nations have forgotten God. The\njudgment of the city is again announced.\n\n\nII. The Smelting Furnace.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house\n of Israel is to me become dross; all they are brass and tin and\n iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross\n of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all\n become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of\n Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin\n into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it;\n so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave\n you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you\n in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst\n thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall\n ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord\n have poured out my fury upon you (verses 17-23).\n\nThe smelting furnace is the symbol of Jehovah's fiery indignation\nagainst Jerusalem and its inhabitants. A furnace is either for refining\nor for destruction. In the future the remnant of Israel will be refined\nby the fires of persecution and tribulation (Mal. iii:1-3). To the godly\npart of His earthly people He saith, \"Behold I have refined thee, but not\nas silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction\" (Isaiah\nxlviii:10). But here in Ezekiel's message it is not the question of\nrefining but of punishment by fire. Israel is dross. Brass, tin, iron,\nlead, dross of silver are mentioned, but gold is significantly omitted.\nIt stands for righteousness and that was lacking in Jerusalem. The fury\nof the Lord would fan the flame and all gathered together, like\nworthless metals would be melted by the wrath of the Lord.\n\n\nIII. The Corruption of the Prophets, the Priests and the Princes.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto\n her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the\n day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the\n midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have\n devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things;\n they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests\n have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have\n put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they\n shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid\n their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her\n princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to\n shed blood and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her\n prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and\n divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the\n Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression\n and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they\n have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among\n them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me\n for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.\n Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have\n consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I\n recompensed upon their head, saith the Lord God (verses 23-31).\n\nWhat corruption this additional message of the Lord reveals! The land\nhad already been cursed for the wicked deeds of its tenants. The\nreligious leaders, the prophets, these false prophets with their lying\nmessages, instead of saving souls and warning to flee from the wrath to\ncome, devoured souls. The priests, called to minister in holy things,\nwere as bad; they profaned the holy things. They were blasphemers\ninstead of worshippers. These characteristics of false prophets and\nfalse priests are repeated in our own times. Like these false prophets\nwhom Ezekiel describes, the modern day religious leaders, mislead the\npeople by giving lying messages and by glossing over men's sins and not\ngiving to them the Word of the Lord. Like priests, like people! The\npeople were lovers of money and oppressors of the poor. Jehovah looked\nfor a man to stand in the gap between Him and the land, but there was\nnone. There is no help and hope in man, for all have gone astray and\nthere is none that doeth good. But there is One--blessed be God!--who\nhas stood in the gap, our Lord Jesus Christ. \"And He saw that there was\nno man, and wondered that there was none to interpose, therefore His\nown arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness, it upheld Him\"\n(Isaiah lix:16). Through Him \"all Israel\" is yet to be saved and receive\nthe promised blessings.\n\n\nTHE TWO SISTERS AHOLAH AND AHOLIBAH.\n\nChapter xxiii.\n\nOnce more a parable is given to illustrate and expose the wickedness of\nSamaria and Jerusalem in their ungodly relationship with Assyria and\nChaldea. On the whole, this chapter bears a similar message as the one\ncontained in chapter xvi, however, with this difference that here the\nlater history of the two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom\nof Judah and their defilement with heathen nations is the prominent\nfeature. The chapter has five sections.\n\n\nI. The Two Sisters Aholah and Aholibah.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there\n were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed\n whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth: there\n were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of\n their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and\n Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and\n daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem\n Aholibah (verses 1-4).\n\nThe two daughters of one mother are Samaria and Jerusalem, called\nsisters in chapter xvi:46. They were sisters not only because they had\nthe same mother, the Jewish nation, but they were also sisters in their\nvile idolatry. Samaria is called Aholah. Aholah means \"her tent.\"\nJerusalem is named Aholibah, \"my tent is in her.\" The latter denotes the\nfact that the true sanctuary was in Judah, while the Kingdom of Israel,\nSamaria, practised a \"false worship.\" Yet Jehovah owned them both as His\npeople.\n\n\nII. Aholah's Wickedness.\n\n And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her\n lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, Which were clothed with\n blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen\n riding upon horses. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with\n all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom\n she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither left\n she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with\n her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their\n whoredom upon her. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of\n her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.\n These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her\n daughters, and slew her with the sword and she became famous among\n women; for they had executed judgment upon her (verses 5-10).\n\nAholah's, Samaria's, wickedness is described first. It began with\nJeroboam's idolatry (1 Kings xii:25) and became worse and worse. They\nwent to Assyria and shared their corruption in idolatry and made a\ncovenant with that nation (Hosea xii:2). Thus Samaria played the harlot\nby forsaking the Lord and turning to Assyria, trusting on Assyria\ninstead of on the Lord, and then she defiled herself with all their idols.\nHosea described their condition. \"Ephraim also is like a silly dove\nwithout heart; they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. When they shall\ngo I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls\nof the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.\nWoe unto them! for they have fled from me; destruction unto them!\nbecause they have transgressed against me, though I have redeemed them,\nyet they have spoken lies against me\" (Hosea vii:11-13). The judgment of\nSamaria is also mentioned. The Lord delivered the people into the hands\nof the nation with which they had become enamored, to discover their\nnakedness. \"Wherefore, I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers,\ninto the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.\" The historical\nrecord of this is found in 2 Kings xvii, when Hoshea, King of Samaria,\nbecame servant to Shalmaneser, King of Assyria. And when Hoshea acted\ntreacherously, Shalmaneser imprisoned Samaria's king and led the people\naway into Assyria.\n\n\nIII. The Wickedness of Aholibah.\n\n And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her\n inordinate love than she, and in her whoredom more than her sister\n in her whoredom. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours,\n captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon\n horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was\n defiled, that they took both one way, And that she increased her\n whoredom: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images\n of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermillion, Girded with girdles\n upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of\n them princes to look to, after the manner of their nativity: And as\n soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent\n messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her\n into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and\n she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So\n she discovered her whoredom, and discovered her nakedness: then my\n mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her\n sister. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance\n the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land\n of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the\n flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus\n thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising\n thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth (verses 11-21).\n\nAnd her sister Aholibah, Jerusalem, saw this, but did not profit by it.\nShe became even more corrupt than Samaria and increased her whoredoms.\nShe was enjoying greater privileges and blessings than Samaria and\ntherefore her wickedness and fall was greater. King Ahaz, when pressed\nby Rezin, the King of Syria and Remaliah, King of Israel, sent\nmessengers to Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, with the message, \"I am\nthy servant and thy son, come up and save me\" (2 Kings xvi:5-8.)\n\nHe also took the silver and gold in the house of the Lord and gave it as\na present to the Assyrian King. Isaiah's message and offer as described\nin Isaiah vii he refused. Then King Ahaz \"went to Damascus to meet\nTiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus.\nAnd King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest, the fashion of the altar, and\nthe patterns of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.\" This\nstrange altar was set up in Jerusalem, and the house of the Lord was\ndefiled by him (2 Kings xvi:10-20). Likewise, Jerusalem also followed\nthe Chaldeans and was inflamed by the pictures of the Chaldeans\nportrayed on walls in vermillion, the peculiar color used by the the\nChaldeans. She loved Chaldea, Babylon with her vile idolatry, and sent\nmessengers to the Chaldeans. And the Babylonians responded and came to\nher to corrupt Jerusalem. Then Jehovah says: \"My mind was alienated from\nher, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.\" Yet she continued\nin her evil ways. In all this we have a description of Jerusalem's\nhistory in becoming defiled by heathen nations, their idolatries and\ncorresponding immoralities.\n\n\nIV. Aholibah's Punishment.\n\n Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will raise\n up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I\n will bring them against thee on every side; the Babylonians, and all\n the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with\n them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great\n lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. And they shall\n come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an\n assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield\n and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and\n they shall judge thee according to their judgments. And I will set\n my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee:\n they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall\n fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and\n thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip\n thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Thus will I\n make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from\n the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto\n them, nor remember Egypt any more. For thus saith the Lord God;\n Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest,\n into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated: And they\n shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour,\n and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy\n whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.\n I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring\n after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.\n Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her\n cup into thine hand. Thus saith the Lord God; Thou shalt drink of\n thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and\n had in derision; it containeth much. Thou shalt be filled with\n drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation,\n with the cup of thy sister Samaria. Thou shalt even drink it and\n suck it out, and thou shalt break the shreds thereof, and pluck off\n thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten me,\n and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou thy lewdness and\n thy whoredoms (verses 22-35).\n\nAnd those with whom she had sinned were to be her chastisers. \"Behold I\nwill raise up thy lovers against thee.... I will bring them against thee\non every side.\" Her well-deserved judgment would be, as it was, in the\nhands of the Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, as well as the\nAssyrians.... And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons and\nwheels, with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler\nand shield and helmet round about, and I will set judgment before them,\nand they shall judge thee according to their judgment.\" A holy and\nrighteous God in His wrath moved these vile nations to heap upon this\ndisobedient and idolatrous people the worst punishments. \"They shall\ndeal furiously with thee, they shall take away thy nose and thine ears,\nand thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and\nthy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.\" The\nexplorations in Assyria have brought to light wall-sculptures in which\nsuch atrocities are depicted. God is righteous, and divine retribution\nwas thus manifested in Jerusalem's shameful history. And in our own\ntimes we behold similar judgments in the earth meted out upon nations,\nprofessedly Christian, who forgot God and rejected His holy Word.\nJerusalem had walked in the ways of her vile sister Samaria and had even\noutdone her in wickedness. She was, therefore, to drink her cup,\n\"because thou hast forgotten me and cast me behind thy back, therefore\nbear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.\" Jerusalem had seen all\nwhat happened to the northern kingdom when Shalmaneser had carried them\naway, yet she kept right on in her evil course and did not repent of her\nidolatries, her vile immoralities and wickedness. And so it is to-day.\nNations reap what they have sown, and other nations, like our own, do\nnot take the warning. They continue in the downward course, rejecting\nGod's holy Word and are guilty of the same sins as the nations who drink\nnow the cup of divine displeasure. Ere long the judgments of God will\nreach every nation for the evil they have done.\n\n\nV. Final Rehearsal of their Sins and Punishments.\n\n The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah\n and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they\n have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their\n idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons,\n whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour\n them. Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my\n sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when\n they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the\n same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they\n done in the midst of mine house. And furthermore, that ye have sent\n for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo,\n they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and\n deckedst thyself with ornaments, And satest upon a stately bed, and\n a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and\n mine oil. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and\n with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the\n wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful\n crowns upon their heads. Then said I unto her that was old in\n adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with\n them? Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that\n playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah,\n the lewd women.\n\n And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of\n adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because\n they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. For thus saith\n the Lord God; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give\n them to be removed and spoiled. And the company shall stone them\n with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay\n their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.\n Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women\n may be taught not to do after your lewdness. And they shall\n recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of\n your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord God (verses 36-49).\n\nLittle comment is needed on this final section; there is a\nrecapitulation of the sins of Aholah and Aholibah. They committed\nadultery with their idols, both in a spiritual way and also literally.\nTheir offspring were cast into the fiery arms of Moloch and thus slain\nto their idols. They profaned the sanctuary of the Lord. Adulterers they\nwere and blood was in their hands. What degradation! Licentiousness,\nviolence and child sacrifice were the leading sins of the nation and\nthese were produced by having forgotten God and by idolatry. The\npunishment of the adulterers, according to the law, stoning, awaited\nJerusalem. \"And the company shall stone them with stones and dispatch\nthem with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters,\nand burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease\nout of the land, that all women (surrounding nations who knew of\nJerusalem's vileness) be taught not to go after your lewdness. And they\n(the heathen nations) shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye\nshall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know that I am the\nLord.\" The Lord had manifested Himself to Jerusalem as a Lord of grace\nand power. He had dealt with that nation as He had not dealt with\nothers. \"You only have I known of all the families of the earth,\ntherefore I will punish you for all your iniquities\" (Amos iii:2). In\nawful judgments they were to learn that He is the Lord; what they should\nhave known through His mercies, they found out by the punishment from\nthe hands of a righteous Lord. All this will be repeated in future\nhistory. The time is not distant when still greater judgments will be\npoured out upon nations as well as upon the Jewish people. During that\ntime the world will find out that He is the Lord. \"For when thy\njudgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn\nrighteousness\" (Is. xxvi:9).\n\n\nTHE BOILING POT AND THE LAST WORD.\n\nChapter xxiv.\n\nWe have reached the final message of this great Prophet concerning the\njudgment and overthrow of Jerusalem. The fatal siege of the city which\nsealed its doom, so long announced, had started. Ezekiel receives the\ninformation directly from the Lord and then utters the solemn words of\nthe Lord in which for the last time the wickedness of the bloody city is\nmade known. First, he spoke in a parable and afterwards in the death of\nhis wife he was a sign unto them.\n\n\nI. The Parable of the Boiling Pot and its Significance.\n\n Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of\n the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,\n write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of\n Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. And utter a\n parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the\n Lord God; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:\n Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh,\n and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of\n the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well,\n and let them seethe the bones of it therein. Wherefore thus saith\n the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is\n therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it, bring it out piece by\n piece; let no lot fall upon it. For her blood is in the midst of\n her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the\n ground, to cover it with dust; That it might cause fury to come up\n to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that\n it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to\n the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. Heap on\n wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let\n the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that\n the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of\n it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. She\n hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth\n out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. In thy filthiness is\n lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou\n shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused\n my fury to rest upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come\n to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare,\n neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy\n doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God (verses 1-14).\n\nThe Prophet is instructed to note the exact date, the tenth day of the\ntenth month in the ninth year. The same date we find in 2 Kings xxv:1.\n\"And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month,\nin the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,\ncame, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it;\nand they built forts against it round about.\" The same statement is made\nby Jeremiah (chapter lii:4). But how did Ezekiel, far away from the\nscene of the siege, know the exact date when the king of Babylon began\nto carry out the threatened divine judgment? It was the Lord who gave\nhim this information. This is the statement of the second verse, \"Son of\nman, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day, the king\nof Babylon set himself (literally, leaned upon) against Jerusalem this\nsame day.\" Higher Criticism shows its teeth in connection with such\ndefinite statements which introduce the power of God. We quote the\nfollowing from a recent commentator: \"This verse (verse 2) forces on us\nin the clearest fashion the dilemma--either Ezekiel was a deliberate\ndeceiver, or he was possessed of some kind of second sight.\" According\nto these words Ezekiel was either an out-and-out deceiver, a wicked man,\nor, he was a clairvoyant. That the word of the Lord came to him and\nimparted unto him the news that on the same day Jerusalem's siege had\nbegun, is neither considered nor believed. Such is the blind unbelief of\nthe modern critics. The boiling pot or caldron mentioned in this parable\nis the symbol of Jerusalem. What is cast into this pot typifies the\nguilty people; the choice bones and the choice of the flock, the\nleaders. All are to be thrown in one common caldron to seethe therein,\nthe symbol of the fiery judgments which had now come upon the city. The\nscum[16] in the pot is symbolical of Jerusalem's sins. The woe is\npronounced upon the bloody city on account of the scum; it is to be\nconsumed. \"She hath wearied Me with lies, and her great scum went not\nforth out of her; her scum shall be in the fire.\" While the inhabitants\nof the city are thus described suffering for their sins, the city itself\nwill be dealt with (verse 11). This parable becomes still more\ninteresting if we compare it with the message of the eleventh chapter.\nThen the people of Jerusalem had said, \"This city is the caldron, and we\nbe the flesh\" (xi:3). The Lord had answered them, \"This city shall not\nbe your caldron, within shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof\"\n(xi:11). They gave the caldron a different meaning from the parable\nhere. As the flesh is preserved in a pot, a caldron, so they thought\nthemselves secure and safe in Jerusalem. And now the Lord tells them\nthat Jerusalem shall be a caldron, but not for their preservation, but\nfor their judgment. They had deceived themselves when they thought\nthemselves safe. His fury is now to be displayed upon bloody, filthy\nJerusalem. \"I the Lord have spoken it, it shall come to pass, and I will\ndo it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent;\naccording to thy ways, and according to thy doings shall they judge\nthee, saith the Lord God.\" What the Lord hath spoken will come to pass;\nHe will do it. This is a solemn word. Men ignore what God has spoken.\nOthers sneer at it and are unbelieving. The mass of professing\nChristians are indifferent and have no thought that God will do what He\nhas spoken about judgments to come. But they will as surely come upon\nour age, as the threatened judgments came upon Jerusalem.\n\n[16] Literally, Rust.\n\n\nII. The Death of the Wife of Ezekiel.\n\n Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold,\n I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet\n neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.\n Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of\n thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover\n not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the\n people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the\n morning as I was commanded (verses 15-18).\n\nThe second message which is given to Ezekiel in this chapter concerns\nhimself. He is to lose the desire of his eyes, his wife, with a stroke.\nAnd the Lord tells him that he is not to mourn or weep, nor is he to\nshed tears on account of the bereavement. All the customary signs of\ngrief are forbidden him. These were the taking off of the headdress, the\nturban, and putting ashes on the head; taking off the shoes, walking\nbarefooted (2 Sam. xv:30); the covering of the lips, the beard (Micah\niii:7; see also Lev. xiii:45), and the eating of certain food,\nmourning-food. All this he was not to do. And while he faithfully\ndelivered the Word of the Lord in the morning, at even his wife was\ntaken from him and faithfully he obeyed the commandment of the Lord.\nDeath had dissolved the marriage union and taken from the prophet the\nbeloved wife. Even so the relationship between Jehovah and Jerusalem was\nnow to be completely severed. And instead of a wild lamentation, a\nwailing cry, there should be a solemn silence. A similar message was\nalso given to Jeremiah, \"They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall\nnot be lamented.... For thus saith the Lord, Enter not in the house of\nmourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them\" (Jer. xvi:4-9).\n\n\nIII. The Question of the People and the Answer.\n\n And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things\n are to us, that thou doest so? Then I answered them, The word of the\n Lord came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus\n saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the\n excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which\n your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have\n left shall fall by the sword. And ye shall do as I have done; ye\n shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. And your tires\n shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall\n not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and\n mourn one toward another. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign; according\n to all that he hath done shall ye do; and when this cometh, ye shall\n know that I am the Lord God. Also, thou son of man, shall it not be,\n in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their\n glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their\n minds, their sons and their daughters. That he that escapeth in\n that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine\n ears? In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped,\n and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; and thou shalt be a sign\n unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 19-27).\n\nThe people then inquired of Ezekiel about the meaning of his actions.\nThey wanted to know about the caldron and about his strange behaviour in\nnot mourning over the death of his wife. The answer is again given by\nthe Word of the Lord. The captives on the river Chebar, who surrounded\nthe Prophet, hear now that the Lord is going to profane His own\nsanctuary. It was the object in which they boasted, the excellency of\ntheir strength and the desire of their eyes. Their sons and daughters\nwho had been left behind by them were now to fall by the sword. As\nsuddenly as the stroke bereft him of his wife, so should they lose their\nloved ones and they also were not to lament. Ezekiel was unto them a\nsign. As previously so now again he foreshadowed in his experience what\nwas the common lot of the people. But more than that should come upon\nthem. They were to pine away on account of their iniquities and moan one\ntoward another; their grief would be manifested in groans and moans of\ndeepest anguish. In all they were to know that He whom they rejected is\nthe Lord. And so the world will make the same discovery before long,\nperhaps even now this solemn fact is being demonstrated before our eyes.\nNations have forgotten God. They have rejected His Word. They trampled\nunder foot His truth and the best the Lord has given. The measure of\nwickedness is rapidly being filled up and God, a holy, righteous God,\nmust act in judgment and deal with man according to his ways and\naccording to his works. The moans and the groans are on the earth.\n\nAnd when all the prophet announced was accomplished, when Jerusalem had\nfallen, then one that escaped should come to Ezekiel and tell him about\nit. Even so it happened. \"And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our\ncaptivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one\nthat had escaped out of Jerusalem came into me, saying, The city is\nsmitten\" (xxxiii:21). It was also announced to the Prophet that when\nthis messenger came he should no more be dumb, but his mouth should be\nopened, and he would speak. Of this we read in chapter xxxiii:22; then\nhe would resume his public activities.\n\n\nPREDICTIONS OF JUDGMENT AGAINST THE NATIONS.\n\nChapters xxv-xxxii.\n\nPREDICTIONS AGAINST AMMON, MOAB, EDOM AND THE PHILISTINES.\n\nChapter xxv.\n\nA new section begins with this chapter. The prophet is now made the\nmouthpiece of Jehovah to utter prophecies concerning other nations. Two\nyears after the message of the preceding chapter, the news came to\nEzekiel announcing the fall of the city and after that, Ezekiel received\nthe greater messages concerning Israel and her glorious future. The\nprophecies contained in chapters xxv-xxxii concerning the nations which\ncame in touch with Israel were delivered at different times. See the\ndates in chapters xxvi:1, xxix:1, 17, xxx:20, xxxi:1 and xxxii:1, 17.\nThe predictions concern just seven nations, and these are divided into\nfour and three. The first four were the immediate neighbors of Israel.\nThen come larger prophecies against Tyre, with a message on the future\nreturn of Israel against Sidon and Egypt; Assyria is also mentioned.\nIsaiah, Jeremiah and Amos likewise received similar messages against the\nsame nations. Their guilt is uncovered and their judgment and overthrow\nmakes the way for Israel's blessing and peace. While these judgments\nhave had a partial, past fulfilment, the complete fulfilment is yet to\ncome, for the prophetic Word shows that the nations who have sinned\nagainst Jehovah and His people will be judged in a coming day, when\nIsrael will be restored and be blest. Such is evident when we read the\ngracious, still future promises to His earthly people. See chapters\nxxviii:24-26 and xxix:21. These unfulfilled promises concerning Israel's\nrestoration as well as spiritual prosperity make it clear that these\njudgments hold a definite relation to future events.\n\n\nI. The Prophecy Concerning Ammon.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy\n face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; And say unto\n the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord\n God; Because thou saidst; Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was\n profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and\n against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; Behold,\n therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the East for a\n possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their\n dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink\n thy milk. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the\n Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am\n the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped\n thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with\n all thy despite against the land of Israel; Behold, therefore I will\n stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil\n to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will\n cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and\n thou shalt know that I am the Lord (verses 1-7).\n\nA message concerning Ammon had been given before to Ezekiel (chapter\nxxi:28-32). The prophet Jeremiah also announced the coming judgment for\nthe Ammonites: \"It shall be a desolate heap and her daughters shall be\nburned with fire.\" But Jeremiah predicted a restoration of Ammon after\nthe judgment. \"And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the\nchildren of Ammon, saith the Lord\" (Jer. lxix:1-6). God will accomplish\nthis in His own time and way. We do not need to trouble ourselves how He\nwill fulfil His Word; He takes care of that. Still another prophet\nspeaks concerning them. Zephaniah (ii:8-11) shows that they reproached\nGod's people and were filled with pride. As we know, both Ammon and Moab\nhad a deeply humiliating origin (Gen. xix:37-38) and had a racial\nconnection with Israel. As the past history shows they were in constant\nconflict with Israel. When the sanctuary in the midst of God's people\nwas profaned, the land laid desolate and the house of Judah went into\ncaptivity, they greatly rejoiced. Their exultation over Israel's sin and\nGod's punishment revealed their own wicked, God-defying, unbelieving\ncharacter. Therefore God is going to punish them. The men of the East\nwere to conquer them and take them for a possession. The men of the East\nare the Bedouins. The word \"palaces\" must be translated \"encampments.\"\nThe Bedouins set up their tents in stone rings. And this prophecy has\nbeen fulfilled. The Bedouin nomads wander through Ammon's possession.\n\n\nII. Prophecy Concerning Moab.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold,\n the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; Therefore, behold,\n I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which\n are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth,\n Baal-meon and Kiriathaim, Unto the men of the east with the\n Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may\n not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute judgments\n upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 8-11).\n\nMoab was the kin of Ammon.[17] Their country lay east of the Dead Sea.\nOther interesting prophetic messages on Moab are contained in Isaiah xv\nand xvi; Jer. xlviii and Amos ii:1. Jeremiah also gives a promise of\nMoab's restoration. \"Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the\nlatter days, saith the Lord\" (Jer. xlviii:47). Here the time of Moab's\nblessing is stated; it will be \"in the latter days,\" the days still to\ncome connected with the day of the Lord, the second Coming of Christ.\nWhere Ammon and Moab are now, among what nations their descendants\nexist, is known to an omniscient God. How Moab will be brought back from\ncaptivity and installed in their territory in the latter days, we\nrepeat, will be accomplished by the wisdom and power of God. The\nteaching which one hears occasionally, that the Ammonites and Moabites\nwill be raised from the dead and restored physically is more than a\nfanciful speculation; it is an evil, unscriptural doctrine. The Word of\nGod nowhere teaches a physical resurrection of ungodly nations of the\npast for a second chance. Moab also sneered at the house of Judah and\nmockingly declared \"the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.\"\nThey were a proud and arrogant people. \"We have heard of the pride of\nMoab, he is exceedingly proud, his loftiness and his arrogancy and his\npride and the haughtiness of his heart\" (Jer. xlviii:29). Isaiah gives\nthe same description of their character (Isa. xvi:6). And the God of\nIsrael who governs the nations and deals with them in judgment humbled\nthem into the dust. The Bedouins are now likewise the possessors of\ntheir country. \"And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall\nknow that I am the Lord.\" And these judgments upon proud,\nself-exalting, God-forgetting nations, are not confined to the past.\nSome nations of Europe, who claimed to be nations of civilization and\nmaking for righteousness, so often called \"Christian nations,\" have been\nlifted up in pride, forgetting God in their prosperity, and now a\nrighteous God has put His hand upon them, so that they should find out\nthat He is the Lord.\n\n[17] Moab and Ammon were the incestuous offspring of Lot. (Genesis\nxix:37-38.)\n\n\nIII. Prophecy Concerning Edom.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the\n house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and\n revenged himself upon them; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I\n will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and\n beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of\n Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom\n by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according\n to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God\n (verses 12-14).\n\nEdom, the descendants of Esau, the son of Jacob, was more closely\nconnected with Israel than Ammon and Moab. And Edom's deeds were more\npronouncedly against the people of God, more wicked and defiant, than\nthe others. Israel was especially commanded not to abhor an Edomite.\n\"Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother\" (Deut.\nxxiii:7). They greatly offended and revenged themselves upon them. Amos\ndeclared their sin. \"He did pursue his brother with the sword, and did\ncast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his\nwrath forever\" (Amos i:11). Edom's pride is uncovered by Obadiah (Obd.\nverse 3-4), who also shows Edom's sin against his brother (verses\n10-14). And the cruel Herods, the types of Antichrist, were Edomites.\nEdom's judgment is to be executed by Israel. This is to take place in a\nfuture day. See Obadiah's prophecy (verses 17-21) and (Amos ix:11-12).\nYet judgment has long ago fallen upon Edom, as predicted in verse 14.\nWhat evidence that the words spoken by these prophets are the words of\nGod, supernatural in their origin and sure in their fulfilment! We shall\nfind some striking evidences in the predictions uttered by Ezekiel\nagainst Tyre and Egypt. There is a time coming when every prediction in\nthe Bible will be accomplished. Then the Bible is gloriously vindicated\nand all its enemies will forever disappear.\n\n\nIV. Prophecy Concerning the Philistines.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by\n revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to\n destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord God;\n Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I\n will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the\n sea-coast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious\n rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my\n vengeance upon them (verses 15-17).\n\nAnother \"thus saith the Lord.\" The Philistines dwelt on a narrow strip\non the seashore and were the long continued enemies of the people\nIsrael. Jeremiah speaks of them (chapter cxlvii). See also Amos i:6-9;\nJoel iii:4; Isa. xiv:29-32. The vengeance of the Lord fell upon the\ncoast of Palestina, the Philistines; and they experienced the fury of\nthe Lord. He dealt with them who had corrupted His people. And so God\nwill deal in due time with all His enemies.\n\n\nPROPHECIES CONCERNING TYRUS.\n\nChapter xxvi.\n\nA lengthy prophecy concerning Tyre is contained in this and the\nfollowing chapters. It is of much interest. The divinely given\npredictions against that once powerful city have seen a literal\nfulfillment; certain periods of Tyre's downfall and overthrow are made\nknown by the prophet. History confirms all that is written here. In\nsubsequent chapters we find much information on the riches and the\ngreatness of that ancient city, while the description of the King of\nTyre, which fits only the prince of this world, Satan, who governed\nTyre's King, is of intense interest and much importance. Here are also\nmany spiritual lessons, and a good deal which finds a ready application\nto present day world-conditions.\n\n\nI. The Overthrow of Tyrus Announced.\n\n And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the\n month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man,\n because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha! she is broken\n that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be\n replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the Lord\n God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations\n to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.\n And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her\n towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the\n top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the\n midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it\n shall become a spoil to the nations. And her daughters which are in\n the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am\n the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon\n Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the\n north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and\n companies, and much people. He shall slay with the sword thy\n daughters in the field; and he shall make a fort against thee, and\n cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. And\n he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he\n shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his\n horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the\n noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when\n he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is\n made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all\n thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong\n garrisons shall do down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil\n of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall\n break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they\n shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the\n water. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the\n sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like\n the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou\n shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the\n Lord God (verses 1-14).\n\nThe City of Tyrus (which means rock) was partly built upon an island off\nthe mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. It was an ancient Phoenician city\nand is mentioned in Scripture for the first time in Joshua xix:29, where\nit is called \"The strong city.\" It had a wonderful commerce, a\ndescription of which in its variety, we find in the twenty-seventh\nchapter. It was inhabited by seafaring men, and the prophet Isaiah\ndescribes this wealthy and influential city as \"the crowning city, whose\nmerchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth\"\n(Isaiah xxiii:8). We read in the next chapter how Syria, Persia, Egypt,\nSpain, Greece and every quarter of the ancient world laid their choicest\nand most precious things at the feet of Tyre, who sat enthroned on\nIvory, covered with blue and purple from the isles of Elishah. Her\nbeauty was perfect (Ez. xxvii:11). During the reign of David and\nSolomon, Tyre came into great prominence, playing an important role in\nthe commercial, political and religious history of Israel. Hiram, King\nof Tyrus sent cedar trees to Jerusalem, as well as workmen, who built\nDavid a house (2 Sam. v:11). How Tyrus aided in the construction of the\ntemple and the palace under Solomon's reign, may be learned by\nconsulting the following passages: 1 Kings v:1-12; vii:13-14; 1\nChronicles xiv:1; 2 Chronicles ii:3, 11. When the ships of Solomon\nsailed away to Ophir, \"Hiram sent in the navy his servants, ship-men\nthat had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon, and they\ncame to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty\ntalents, and brought it to King Solomon\" (1 Kings ix:27-28). The Tyrians\nwere great voyagers, the masters of the sea, and founded colonies,\namong them Carthage. Israel's close relations with Tyrus continued\nprobably for centuries. The wicked wife of King Ahab, Jezebel, was the\ndaughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre. She fostered successfully the vile\nPhoenician idolatry among Israel. Tyre also sent messengers to King\nZedekiah, probably to form an alliance against the approaching\nBabylonian conqueror (Jere. xxvii:3). She was a proud, luxurious and\nwicked city, which defied God. She sinned against Jerusalem and the\npeople Israel. Joel and Amos speak of her sins (Joel iii:4-6; Amos\ni:9-10) and announced her judgment. So did the prophet Isaiah (chapter\nxxiii) and Jeremiah (xlvii:4). Ezekiel gives us the completest\ndescription of this city, her resources, her luxuries and far reaching\ninfluence, her King under Satanic control and also the details of her\njudgment.\n\nIn the third verse of our chapter we read the divine announcement of\nTyre's fate. \"Behold I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many\nnations to come up against thee, as the sea causes its waves to come up.\nAnd they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I\nwill also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a\nrock.\" It was to become a place for the spreading of nets and a spoil to\nthe nations. This great judgment was not all at once carried out.\nNebuchadnezzar came first against her as predicted in verses 7-11. He\nbesieged the Tyre on the mainland and after thirteen years took the\ncity; while that part of Tyrus which was built upon the island in the\nsea, protected by the fleet of Tyrus, escaped. Then came for her seventy\nyears when she was forgotten, as predicted by Isaiah (xxiii:15). After\nthese years had passed Tyrus saw a startling revival. The island city\nbecame more powerful and wicked than before, \"she committed fornication\nwith all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth\" (Is.\nxxiii:17). The continental Tyrus, however, remained in ruins.\n\nCenturies passed and it seemed as if Ezekiel's prophecy concerning\nTyre's complete overthrow would remain unfulfilled. It was about 240\nyears after when the literal fulfillment of this prophecy was\naccomplished. Alexander the Great came against the city built on the\nisland. After seven months the city was taken by means of a mole, by\nwhich the forces of Alexander could enter the city. In constructing this\nmole, Alexander made use of the ruins of the old city. The stones,\ntimber and the very dust of the destroyed city was laid into the sea to\nerect the causeway which accomplished the utter ruin of the wealthy\ncity. And thus Ezekiel's prophecy was fulfilled. \"And they shall lay thy\nstones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.\" The\ncomplete end of Tyrus had come. \"And thou shalt be no more, though thou\nbe sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again\" (verse 21). So\ncompletely was the work done by Alexander, depositing the debris of the\nruins of Tyrus on the mainland into the sea, that its exact site will\nremain undeterminable. And Alexander the Great fulfilled still another\nprophecy. Before he came on his mission, directed by God, to make an end\nof the proud and wicked city, Zechariah, the great post-exilic prophet,\nhad once more announced the fate of Tyrus. \"And Tyrus,\" said the Lord\nthrough Zechariah, \"did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver\nas the dust, and fine gold as the ruin of the sheets.\" This was after\nNebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Tyrus on the mainland and she became\nthe great island city. \"Thus,\" said Zechariah, \"behold, the Lord will\ncast her out, and He will smite her power in the sea, and she shall be\ndevoured with fire\" (Zech. ix:3-4). Alexander did this; he laid proud\nTyrus in ashes.\n\nWhat an evidence that all these words are the Word of God! God looks to\nthe fulfillment of all He revealed to His prophets. It may appear often\nas if visions were in vain and prophecies remain unaccomplished. God\ndoes not need to be in a hurry; He can afford to take His time. But\nfinally every prophecy contained in the Holy Scriptures will be\nfulfilled. Proud and boasting, like Tyrus, are the great nations of our\nage. Wealth and luxuries are seen on all sides and with it moral evil\nand every form of wickedness. Judgment is surely in store for the\nnations that forget God. As we know from the book of Revelation this\npresent age will culminate in the formation of Babylon the Great. Much\nin Revelation xviii reminds us of Tyrus in this chapter of Ezekiel and\nthe next chapter.\n\n\nII. The Effect of Tyre's Fall and the Lamentation.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; shall not the isles shake at the\n sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made\n in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come\n down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their\n broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling;\n they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment,\n and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation for\n thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited\n of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea,\n she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that\n haunt it! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea,\n the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.\n For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city,\n like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the\n deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee. When I shall\n bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people\n of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in\n places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou\n be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; I\n will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; though thou be\n sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God\n (verses 15-21).\n\nThe isles and the princes of the sea were deeply affected by her fall\nand overthrow. The princes came down from their thrones and laid away\ntheir robes and trembled at every moment. The lamentation they took up\nis on account of the destruction of the renowned city. In Revelation\nxviii we have a similar lament over the final Babylon, the end in\njudgment of a godless, materialistic civilization. (See Rev.\nxviii:9-19). Verses 19-20 give a description of the descent of Tyre into\nthe pit. \"When I shall make thee desolate, like the cities that are not\ninhabited; when I shall bring up the deep unto thee, and great waters\nshall cover thee; when I shall bring thee down with them that descend\ninto the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low\nparts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to\nthe pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land\nof the living.\" The last sentence, which is a promise of glory, can only\nrefer to the coming glory of the earthly Zion, the glory in store for\nIsrael. Boasting, proud Tyrus is laid in the dust; her site completely\nblotted out. Other nations who hate Israel and continue in the\nwickedness of those ancient nations will also be broken to pieces, but\nZion has a future of glory. When the time of the judgment of the nations\ncomes God will set glory in Israel's land through the coming of the King\nof Glory. We have already pointed out the literal and startling\nfulfilment of the last verse of this chapter.\n\n\nGLORIOUS TYRUS AND HER FALL.\n\nChapter xxvii.\n\n\"The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, take\nup a lamentation for Tyrus.\" It is an interesting description of the\nworld-wide commerce and glory of this once-proud world-city, which is\ngiven in this chapter. \"_Sic transit gloria mundi_\"--thus passeth the\nglory of the world; nothing but ruins instead of the wicked mistress of\nthe sea; yea, her very site is no longer known. And what her glory was\nand how it passed away under divine displeasure is made known through\nthe inspired prophet. Ezekiel certainly never saw Tyrus, nor did he have\nprobably any knowledge of her grandeur, her great wealth and\nfar-reaching commerce. But he was Jehovah's mouthpiece who put into his\nlips and pen all these words.\n\n\nI. The Glory of Tyrus.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Now, thou Son of\n man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus. And say unto Tyrus, O thou\n that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of\n the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou\n hast said, \"I am of perfect beauty.\" Thy borders are in the midst of\n the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all\n thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from\n Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made\n thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of\n ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Fine linen with\n broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be\n thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elisha was that which\n covered thee. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners:\n thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The\n ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers;\n all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy\n thy merchandise. They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine\n army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee,\n they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad with thine army were\n upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers:\n they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made\n thy beauty perfect (verses 3-15).\n\nThe great city had her situation at the entry of the sea and was the\ntrader for the people of many isles. Lifted up with pride, the powerful\ncity boasted of perfect beauty. \"O Tyrus, thou has said, I am of perfect\nbeauty.\" Beginning with the fourth verse, we have a description of her\nas a monster ship. The borders in the midst of the seas, the builders\nperfecting her beauty. The shipboards, the masts and the oars from the\noaks of Bashan are mentioned. The Ashurites made benches of ivory for\nthis ship; the ivory was brought from the isles of Chittim (Cyprus,\netc.). Fine linen and broidered work from Egypt she spread for sail. The\ninhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were the sailors and her wise men pilots.\nIt is all in the form of an allegory. Tyrus also had an army gathered\nfrom different nations.\n\n Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of\n riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.\n Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the\n persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. They of the house\n of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.\n The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise\n of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and\n ebony. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the\n wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds,\n purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.\n Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded\n in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and\n balm. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy\n making for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and\n white wool. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy\n fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. Dedan\n was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Arabia, and all\n the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams,\n and goats: in these were they thy merchants. The merchandise of\n Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy\n fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and\n gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur,\n and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all\n sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests\n of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy\n merchandise. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market:\n and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of\n the seas (verses 16-25).\n\nThe commerce of Tyrus is next vividly described. The description begins\nwith Tarshish, then of great renown, and ends with mentioning the ships\nof Tarshish. And what are the articles of commerce mentioned? Silver,\niron, tin, lead, slaves, vessels of brass, horses and mules. Then there\nwere horns of ivory and ebony; emeralds, purple and broidered work, fine\nlinen, coral and agate. Wheat of Minni and Pannag, honey, oil and balm;\nwine of Helbon and white wool. Then follow other articles of commerce:\nbright iron, cassia, calamus and precious cloths for chariots. They also\ntraded in live stock: lambs and rams, and goats, besides spices,\nprecious stones, gold chests of rich apparel, etc. Thus she was\nreplenished and made glorious in the midst of the seas. Another\nworld-city or system is described in the last book of the Bible, Babylon\nthe great; the articles of her world-wide commerce are also given (Rev.\nxviii:12-13); it is much like the commerce of ancient Tyrus. Tyrus is a\npicture of a great world-city: rich, increased in goods, enjoying\nprosperity and filled with pride. As she passed away with all her glory,\nso others have crumbled into dust. Equally so will this present Godless\ncivilization, culminating in Babylon the great, pass away under the\njudgment-stroke of God (Rev. xviii:15-19).\n\n\nII. The Description of the Fall of Tyrus.\n\n Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath\n broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches, and thy fairs,\n thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the\n occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in\n thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall\n fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs\n shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that\n handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall\n come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; And\n shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry\n bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow\n themselves in the ashes: And they shall make themselves utterly bald\n for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee\n with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. And in their wailing\n they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee,\n saying. What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of\n the sea? When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst\n many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the\n multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. In the time when\n thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy\n merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fail. All\n the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their\n kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their\n countenance. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou\n shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more (verses 26-30).\n\nThe description of Tyrus as a ship as given in the first part of this\nchapter is here maintained. Tyrus is to be shipwrecked. The east wind is\nNebuchadnezzar, who came against the proud city to accomplish part of\nher ruin; and Alexander the Great, as we saw in our previous study,\ncompleted the work. A comparison with Revelation xviii will bring out\nthe striking correspondency. When finally Babylon the great falls, that\ncoming religious-commercial world-system, with Rome as a center, her\nfall and desolation, will surely be greater than the fall of Tyrus. For\nthis all is rapidly preparing.\n\n\nTHE PRINCE OF TYRUS.\n\nChapter xxviii.\n\nThe greater part of this chapter is also devoted to Tyrus. This\nconcluding prophecy about Tyrus is the most interesting. It concerns the\nproud ruler of that city, who is called Prince and also King. But this\nruler as Prince and King is typical of another and more sinister being\nas we learn from this chapter. Tyrus with its earthly glory, wealth and\npride, as pointed out in the previous expositions, is the type of the\nglory of the world, the commercial glory and all connected with it, and\nclearly foreshadows the final great commercial world-system, Babylon the\nGreat. Inasmuch then as Tyrus foreshadows this, its proud and wicked\nKing is typical of the prince of this world, the one who fell by pride\nand who is the ruler and god of this age. As the prince of this world he\nshowed to the Lord Jesus Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their\nglory, and offered all to the Lord. This sinister being and his coming\nmasterpiece, the Antichrist, who is to rule during the end of this age\non the earth, are foreshadowed in a striking way in the ruler of Tyrus.\n\n\nI. The Prince of Tyrus, his Pride and his Doom.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying: Son of man, say\n unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine\n heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the set\n of God, in the midst of the seas, yet thou art a man, and not God,\n though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold thou art\n wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.\n With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee\n riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures. By thy\n great wisdom and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy riches, and\n thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. Therefore thus saith\n the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;\n Behold therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of\n the nations, and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of\n thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring\n thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are\n slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that\n slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man and no god, in the\n hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the\n uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it, saith\n the Lord God (verses 1-10.)\n\nThe Prince of Tyrus who ruled in the days of Ezekiel was, according to\nthe Jewish historian Josephus, Ithobalus, called in the Phoenecian\nannals Ithobaal II. The description of this character tells us that he\nwas the consummation of the pride and wealth of Tyrus; the awful pride\nof that city was headed up in him. His heart was so lifted up that he\nclaimed to be a god and that he occupied the seat of God. He also\nboasted of wisdom greater than the wisdom of Daniel, the captive in\nBabylon. By his cunning and wisdom, as well as by traffic, he had heaped\nup riches, and because of these riches he became still more lifted up.\nLike the prosperous and wealthy king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who\ngloried in his achievements by saying, \"Is not this great Babylon, that\nI have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power, and\nfor the honor of my majesty\" (Dan. iv:30), the Prince of Tyrus boasted\nin arrogant pride. Through the prophet, his doom is announced. The Lord\nGod reckons with him, \"because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of\nGod.\" He would bring nations against him and his city, and \"they shall\nbring thee down to the pit, and thou shall die the deaths of them that\nare slain in the heart of the seas.\" Instead of having endless being as\na god he would die a sudden and violent death. He should die the death\nof the uncircumcised, typifying vile and wicked men who are far away\nfrom God; dying deaths, which means a physical death and that which\nfollows the wicked after death, an eternal separation from God, with\nconscious punishment.\n\nThe language used in describing the Prince of Tyrus is used elsewhere\nin the Word of God to describe another one, who is yet to come. We mean\nthe personal Antichrist, the man of sin. The marks of this coming one,\nSatan's great counterfeit and masterpiece, are always pride,\nself-exaltation. Daniel describes him in the following words: \"And the\nKing shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and\nmagnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things\nagainst the God of gods\"[18] (Dan. xi:36). In the New Testament the\ncoming Antichrist is pictured as follows: \"Who opposeth and exalteth\nhimself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he\nas God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God\" (2\nThess. ii:4). Comparing these statements with what is said of the Prince\nof Tyrus we see at once the similarity. The political head of the final\nform of the times of the Gentiles, the ten Kingdom Empires, the Roman\nEmpire revived, is described in very much the same way. The man that\nmade the earth to tremble, that did shake the Kingdoms (Isaiah xiv:16)\nsaid in his heart, \"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne\nabove the stars of God ... I will be like the Most High\" (Is.\nxiv:13-14). Here is the same characteristic, a God-defying pride. This\nhas led many expositors to call both of these persons, the wicked actors\nduring the end of the age, the Antichrist. But the one is the head of\nthe Roman Empire, the Prince that shall come; the other is the\nAntichrist, the beast out of the earth (Rev. xiii:11). Both work\ntogether under Satan's control and are energized by Satan, therefore\nthey manifest the same characteristics. It is evident that the ruler of\nTyrus as Prince foreshadows the coming Antichrist, and we have to see\nnext the significance that the ruler of Tyrus is addressed as King and\nthe one who stands behind him.\n\n[18] It is well to state here that Daniel mentions Antichrist but once\nin his prophecies, in chapter xi:36, etc. The little horn in Dan. vii is\nthe head of the revived Roman Empire; the little horn in Dan. viii was\nAntiochus Epiphanus, the type of the King of the North who will invade\nthe pleasant land, Palestine, during the time of the great tribulation.\n\n\nII. The Lamentations over the King of Tyrus.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take\n up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus\n saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and\n perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every\n precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the\n diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the\n emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets\n and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast\n created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set\n thee so; thou was upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up\n and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in\n thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was\n found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled\n the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I\n will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will\n destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of\n fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast\n corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee\n to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold\n thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine\n iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring\n forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I\n will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them\n that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be\n astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be\n any more (verses 11-19).\n\nThe Prince and the King are identical, and not different persons as some\nsay. But what is said now of the ruler of Tyrus as king could never be\nsaid of a mere human being. Hardly any of the descriptions given in\nthese verses can be applied to the heathen King of Tyrus. The\ndescription fits another being, the person who was originally the\ngreatest and most beautiful creature of God, but has become a fallen\ncreature and the enemy of God. In one word, it is Satan in his original\ngreatness and in his fall who is revealed in connection with the King of\nTyrus. Satan was the power behind the throne of the Tyrian King, as\nSatan is still the god of this age who controls the kingdoms of the\nworld. Inasmuch, then, as Tyrus is a type of the commercial glory of the\nworld, its wealth and pride, foreshadowing the final great world-city or\nworld-system, Babylon, the ruler of Tyrus, spoken of as Prince,\nforeshadows the Antichrist, while as King, Satan himself stands behind\nhim as the domineering power. The descriptions given of Satan as an\nunfallen being, show that he was originally a marvelous being, full of\nwisdom and perfect in beauty. From Jude's epistle we learn that even\nMichael still recognized in him the grandeur of his unfallen past and\ndid not bring a railing accusation against him (Jude verses 8-10). He\nwas in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was his\ncovering. It is a description of Satan's original place and of his great\nbeauty. Furthermore, he was the anointed cherub that covereth; the Lord\nhad set him to be this. As the anointed, divinely chosen cherub he held\nan exalted position in connection with the government of the throne of\nGod.[19] Everything shows that this majestic creature possessed a place\nof great dignity, being \"upon the holy mountain of God,\" walking up and\ndown in the midst of the stones of fire, he was ever present and moving\nabout in the fiery glory of a holy and righteous God. \"Thou was perfect\nin thy ways from the day that thou wast created till unrighteousness was\nfound in thee.\" Surely the first part of this verse could never apply to\nthe King of Tyrus nor to any other human; it is a picture of the\nunfallen glorious creature of God. But unrighteousness was found in him.\nHe sinned, and as a result divine sentence is pronounced upon him. Yet\nthis sentence in verse 16 is not yet executed. He is not yet cast out in\nthe fullest sense, nor bruised completely, nor is he in the lake of\nfire. All this is future. God in His all-wise purpose delays the\ncomplete execution of this judgment. But the day will come when he, who\nwalked once in the presence of the glory of God, in the midst of the\nstones of fire, will be cast into the lake of fire, his eternal abode.\nWhat was his sin? \"Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou\nhas corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.\" He became puffed\nup, lifted up with pride (1 Tim. iii:6) on account of his own beauty and\nbrightness. There can be no question, but the person so closely linked\nwith the King of Tyrus is Satan. The passage contains one of the most\ninteresting revelations we have in the Bible on the person and dignity of\nthat fallen being. Verses 18 and 19 show that the King is in view and\nthe fate of his city Tyrus: \"I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth\nin the sight of all them that behold thee.\"\n\n[19] For a detailed and excellent exposition of this passage see the\nbook on \"Satan,\" by F. C. Jennings, pp. 43-48.\n\n\nIII. A Prophecy Concerning Zidon.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came unto me saying: Son of man, set thy\n face against Zidon, and prophesy against it. And say, Thus saith the\n Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be\n glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the\n Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be\n sanctified in her. For I will send into her pestilence, and blood\n into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of\n her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I\n am the Lord. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the\n house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about\n them, that despiseth them; and they shall know that I am the Lord\n God. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house\n of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall\n be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they\n dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they\n shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant\n vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have\n executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about\n them; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 20-26).\n\nZidon (or Sidon) was situated twenty miles north of Tyrus. Like Tyrus\nshe was built offshore on island rocks. For many years Zidon was even\nmore prominent and prosperous than Tyrus. She was burnt after a revolt\nagainst Artaxerxes Ochus, 351 B. C., but later rebuilt. See its mention\nin the New Testament in Mark iii:8, vii:24. Jehovah announces that He\nwould execute judgments in Zidon and thus be glorified and sanctified in\nher. When a holy God deals in judgments with sin, with individuals and\nnations, He maintains thereby His holy character. He is light in whom\nthere is no darkness at all and a consuming fire. It has been said that\nthere is no special transgression mentioned why Zidon should be judged.\nNo doubt she was as proud as her sister city Tyrus. But verse 24 tells\nus the reason; she was a pricking brier to the house of Israel. She\nsinned against her neighbor, the people of God, and for that judgment\ncame on her. And so can present-day nations not escape judgment for\ntheir sins against the Jews. The last two verses are a prophecy relating\nto Israel's restoration. Needless to say up to this time their\nrestoration has not taken place. The time is given when it will come,\nwhen the Lord executes judgment upon the nations. When our Lord comes\nagain these judgments will fall. And how near all this must be when we\nbehold nations filling full the measure of their wickedness and the Jews\nas a suffering people with faces turned towards their homeland.\n\n\nPROPHECIES CONCERNING EGYPT.\n\nChapter xxix.\n\nThe predictions about Tyrus and Zidon are followed by the prophecies\nagainst Egypt. These prophecies are of even greater interest than those\npreceding. First Pharaoh and Egypt are addressed; the coming judgment\nand the desolation of the land is announced. A restoration after forty\nyears is promised when the captivity of Egypt is to be brought again;\nbut the former glory will be departed and Egypt's decline, to be the\nbasest of the kingdoms, is predicted. The King of Babylon is announced\nas the conqueror of Egypt (chapter xxix). In chapter xxx the destruction\nof Egypt, her people and her allies, is vividly described; at the close\nof this chapter the defeat of Pharaoh by Nebuchadnezzar is predicted. In\nchapter xxxi the King of Egypt is described as a mighty cedar; its fall\nis foretold as well as the effect of Pharaoh's fall among the nations.\nChapter xxxii contains a lamentation over the King of Egypt. In the\nsecond half of this chapter, the concluding section of these prophecies\nagainst Egypt, we find a solemn dirge over the doomed people. The unseen\nregions are unveiled and those who enjoyed earthly honors and glory are\nseen in the place of dishonor, misery and shame.\n\n\nI. The Prediction of Egypt's Desolation.\n\n In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the\n month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set\n thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him,\n and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God;\n Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon\n that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is\n mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy\n jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy\n scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and\n all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. And I will\n leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy\n rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be\n brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the\n beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. And all the\n inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they\n have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took\n hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their\n shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest\n all their loins to be at a stand. Therefore thus saith the Lord God;\n Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast\n out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and\n they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river\n is mine, and I have made it. Behold, therefore I am against thee,\n and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly\n waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of\n Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast\n shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.\n And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the\n countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that\n are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the\n Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the\n countries (verses 1-12).\n\nThe King of Egypt addressed in this prophecy was Pharaoh-Hophra, called\nin Greek, Apries. He was the grandson of Pharaoh-Necho who defeated King\nJosiah at Meggido (2 Chronicles xxxv:20-27). King Zedekiah of Judah\nexpected help and relief from Pharaoh-Hophra, when Jerusalem was\nbesieged. The Egyptian army under Hophra advanced through Phoenicia and\nforced the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jer. xxxvii:5-7).\nBut the relief was only temporary, for the Egyptian army had to retire.\nThe prophet Jeremiah announced also the doom of Hophra, associating it\nwith Zedekiah's doom: \"Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give\nPharaoh-Hophra, King of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, and into\nthe hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah, King of Judah,\ninto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, his enemy, and that\nsought his life\" (Jer. xliv:30).\n\nHere he is called \"the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his\nrivers.\" He boasts, \"My river is mine own and I have made it for\nmyself.\" The river Nile, with its different branches is meant. Pharaoh\nis compared to a sea monster, which probably means the crocodile,\nworshipped by the Egyptians; it was symbolical of power and pride.[20]\nBut the word \"dragon\" also reminds us of Satan who is called twelve\ntimes in the Book of Revelation the dragon. As we learned from the\nprevious chapter, behind the King of Tyrus stood Satan as master of the\ngreat city, and the same being, the dragon, controlled also\nPharaoh-Hophra and the land of Egypt. The dragon was worshipped by many\nancient nations and is still today the emblem of the Chinese Empire. And\nthe same ungodly self-exaltation which characterized Tyrus and its king,\nwhich led to its overthrow and judgment, was shared by the King of\nEgypt. Proud and blasphemous were his words that he had made the river\nfor himself; he defied God and refused to own his power. Therefore, his\njudgment is announced which would not alone strike him but all the other\ninhabitants of the land and all who looked to Egypt for help. \"I will\nleave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy\nrivers (the people of the land); thou shalt fall upon the open field;\nthou shalt not be brought together nor gathered. I have given thee for\nmeat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.\" It is a\nstriking allegory. In verses 6 and 7 Israel's sin is mentioned when the\npeople of God turned to this wicked land for help, the land where their\nforefathers had groaned and suffered such cruelty. Isaiah had solemnly\nwarned against such an alliance (Isaiah xxx:6-7; xxxi:3) and so had\nJeremiah (Jer. ii:36; xxxvii:7). Interesting it is to find that the same\nillustration of disaster for Israel by trusting in Egypt had been used\nby the Assyrian officer in addressing Hezekiah: \"Now, behold, thou\ntrustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, upon Egypt, on which, if a\nman lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh, King\nof Egypt, unto all that trust on him\" (2 Kings xviii:21). And so it was.\nEgypt gave no help to Israel and only wounded them grievously as a staff\nwhich breaks under the weight of him who leaneth upon it--breaks and\npierces the hand. Whenever God's people turn to Egypt (the type of the\nworld) for help and form ungodly alliances they do so to their own hurt\nand shame.\n\n[20] The crocodile was often used on Egyptian seal-rings as well as on\nRoman coins, which pictured Egypt as a monster crocodile.\n\nThen follows the explanation of the allegory and, once more, the reason\nof the coming desolation of Egypt is stated, because the proud King had\nsaid, \"The river is mine, and I have made it.\" The entire land of Egypt\nwas to be wasted from one end to the other. It was to become desolate\nand for the period of forty years it was not to be inhabited. \"And I\nwill make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that\nare desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall\nbe desolate forty years, and I will scatter the Egyptians among the\nnations, and will disperse them through the countries\" (verse 12).\n\nBut have these predictions been fulfilled? Did Egypt pass through a\nperiod of forty years' desolation and did a restoration take place after\nthe forty years? Critics claim that these predictions were never\nliterally fulfilled and that Nebuchadnezzar did not invade Egypt during\nthe reign of Hophra. They point to the historical evidence that Amasis\nfollowed Hophra as King of Egypt, and under his reign Egypt was in a\nvery flourishing condition. The historian, Herodotus, gives this\ninformation and it is fully confirmed by Egyptian records on monuments.\nBut did the prophet Ezekiel predict that Egypt should be invaded by\nNebuchadnezzar during the reign of Pharaoh-Hophra? He predicts that\nNebuchadnezzar should conquer Egypt, but the critics have made a serious\nblunder by overlooking the date of the prophecy in which\nNebuchadnezzar's invasion is announced. The chapter under our\nconsideration begins with a definite date. It was in the tenth year when\nhe received the message concerning Hophra; but it was seventeen years\nlater when Nebuchadnezzar's invasion was predicted, in the\ntwenty-seventh year (verse 17). Hophra's doom and the desolation of\nEgypt was first announced, but the fulfillment came years later. Ezekiel\ndoes not state that Hophra should be slain by Nebuchadnezzar, nor does\nJeremiah predict this (Jeremiah xliv:30). Hophra was dethroned by Amasis\nand later slain.\n\n\nII. Egypt's Restoration and Future as a Kingdom.\n\n Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather\n the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: and I\n will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to\n return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation;\n and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of\n the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more above the\n nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over\n the nations. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of\n Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they\n shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God\n (verses 13-16).\n\nThe future of Egypt after its desolation of forty years is revealed in\nthis paragraph. Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt follows in the next\nparagraph. The forty years of desolation, during which the Egyptians\nwere dispersed in different countries are difficult to locate\nhistorically. Some apply them altogether to the future. B. W. Newton, in\nhis \"Babylon and Egypt,\" claims that all this will be accomplished in\nthe future. We quote his words: \"It will be fearfully smitten; and for\nforty years after the Millennium has commenced, it will be utterly\ndesolate. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall\npass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years (Ezekiel\nxxix:11). But, finally, it shall be revived, and together with Israel\nand Assyria shall receive that wondrous blessing which the concluding\nverses of the nineteenth of Isaiah describe.\"[21] That Egypt will have a\nfuture of blessing no careful student of the prophetic Word will deny.\nIsaiah xix shows its future history, both in judgment and in blessing.\nYet the prediction of Ezekiel that Egypt after the forty years of\ndesolation should be the basest of all kingdoms and shall have no more\nrule, but be in a diminished condition, excludes the application of this\nprophecy to the coming Millennium. Egypt had such a period of forty\nyears' devastation, though the exact history of it may not be known to\nus. Prophecy is not learned by historical events, but history is\nrevealed in prophecy. We believe prophecies, not because history has\nmeasured up to them, but we believe them because they are the inerrant\nWord of God. After Egypt's sorrowful forty years' experience and\ndispersion, this proud country went into a steady decline, and the Word\nof God was literally fulfilled when it became the basest of kingdoms, so\nthat Israel put confidence no longer in Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar's\nraid, Egypt declined and sank lower still under the Persians and the\nPtolemies, until she became the granary of Rome. And this degradation\nhas continued throughout the centuries of this age so that Egypt is\nliterally the basest of the kingdoms.[22] That she will play her part in\nthe future at the close of our age we learn from Daniel's prophecy (Dan.\nxi:36-45). Egypt will rise into prominence ere long in connection with\nthe present day world conflict.\n\n[21] Babylon and Egypt, page 192.\n\n[22] _Wonders of Prophecy_, by J. Urquhart, gives valuable evidence on\nthe literal fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy.\n\n\nIII. The Conquest of Nebuchadnezzar.\n\n And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first\n month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto\n me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his\n army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made\n bald and every shoulder was peeled: yet he had no wages, nor his\n army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it.\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of\n Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her\n multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be\n the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his\n labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me,\n saith the Lord God. In that day will I cause the horn of the house\n of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the\n mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord\n (verses 17-21).\n\nAs already stated, this prophecy is dated seventeen years after the\ngeneral prediction of Egypt's judgment. That Nebuchadnezzar invaded\nEgypt after he came against Tyrus is mentioned by Josephus the Jewish\nhistorian and also by an Assyrian inscription which gives the record of\nthis campaign as having taken place in the thirty-seventh year of the\nreign of Nebuchadnezzar.[23] Nothing is said of desolation and captivity\nin this later prophecy concerning Egypt's conquest. Critics claim that\nEzekiel had made a mistake in his former prediction. We quote from the\nNew Century Bible: \"Ezekiel evidently saw that his former prophecy was\nmistaken, and he now expected the defeat, though not necessarily the\nutter destruction, of Egypt. The difference in detail is noticeable\nbetween these verses and the prophecy on Egypt seventeen years earlier.\"\nBut Ezekiel was not mistaken. There was no need of repeating the\npredicted desolation of Egypt; Nebuchadnezzar executed the work of\njudgment. He suffered, evidently, disappointment in the siege of Tyrus,\nthe immense wealth of that city he could not touch. And, as he did not\nget wages from Tyrus, nor for his great army, the Lord, whose instrument\nin judgment the King of Babylon was, gave him Egypt. Here Nebuchadnezzar\nfound great spoil and vast treasures, which, according to divine\nappointment, were the wages for his army. When this took place, there\ncame an unrecorded revival in Israel and the prophet gave his message in\nthe midst of them.\n\n[23] Nebuchadnezzar's name is given by Ezekiel as Nebuchadrezzar. Both\nspellings were in vogue. Ezekiel spells the name with \"r\" and Jeremiah\nuses both spellings throughout his book.\n\n\nEGYPT'S FUTURE DESOLATION.\n\nChapter xxx.\n\nThe destruction of Egypt and her allies is now revealed to the prophet.\nIt is a remarkable prophecy for the predictions concerning the\nhumiliation and desolation of Egypt, the once powerful nation of\nculture, have found a most interesting fulfillment. The leading cities\nof Egypt are mentioned, which have long ago been wasted and their\nmagnificent temples have crumbled into dust. In the second half of this\nchapter the King of Babylon as the executioner of the decrees of God is\nseen. The sword of judgment was put into Nebuchadnezzar's hand by God,\nso that he might stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.\n\n\nI. The Desolation of Egypt and her Allies.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me saying: Son of man prophesy\n and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, alas for the day! For the\n day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it\n shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword shall come upon\n Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall\n fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her\n foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia,\n and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that\n is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith the\n Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her\n power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it\n by the sword, saith the Lord God. And they shall be desolate in the\n midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in\n the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I\n am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her\n helpers shall be destroyed. In that day shall messengers go forth\n from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great\n pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it\n cometh. Thus saith the Lord God: I will also make the multitude of\n Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. He\n and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be\n brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords\n against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. And I will make the\n rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked; and I\n will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of\n strangers: I the Lord have spoken it (verses 1-13).\n\nThe prophet's first utterance is concerning the day. \"Howl ye! Alas for\nthe day! For the day is near,[24] even the day of the Lord is near, a\ncloudy day; it shall be the time of the Gentiles.\" What day is this?\nOther prophets mention the day of Jehovah as a day of judgment and wrath\nwhen the Lord will deal in His righteousness with the nations of the\nearth. See Isaiah ii; xiii:6, 9; Joel i:15; ii:1, 11; iii:14; Amos v:18,\n20; Obad. 15; Zeph. i:7, 14; Zech. xiv:1, etc. This day in its final\nmeaning is the day on which the Lord Jesus Christ will be visibly\nrevealed from heaven. It is mentioned in the New Testament in 1 Thess.\nv:2; 2 Thess. ii:2 (where \"day of Christ\" should be rendered \"day of the\nLord\") and 2 Peter iii:10. This day will bring \"man's day\" to a close\nand usher in a new age, when righteousness shall reign as grace reigns\nnow. This day of coming judgment of all nations is seen also here in a\nprophetic perspective. All previous judgments of nations as announced by\nGod's prophets, nations which sinned against Israel the chosen people,\nforeshadow _the_ one great day, when the times of the Gentiles end in\nthe revealed manner (Dan. ii:34; vii:10-14). What came upon Egypt in the\npast through divine judgment will happen to the Gentile nations in the\nfuture at the close of our age, \"when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed\nfrom heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on\nthem that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus\nChrist\" (2 Thess. i:7-8). Ever since the times of the Gentiles began\nwith Nebuchadnezzar the divinely appointed head (Jeremiah xxvii:4-8)\nthis day of the Lord has been drawing near, till now with the stupendous\npresent day events, we can see this day rapidly approaching.\n\n[24] This may also be rendered \"the day draweth near, even the day of\nthe Lord draweth near.\"\n\nThe sword was to fall upon Egypt as well as upon Ethiopia, Libya and\nLydia (Hebrew: Phut and Lud, see xxvii:10), and all others who were in\nleague with them. Her foundations were to be broken down and the pride\nof her power shall come down. All this has come to pass and for many\ncenturies the once powerful and proud Egypt has thus been broken down.\nFrom Migdol to Syene (not from the tower of Syene) were they to fall by\nthe sword of the Lord. Verse 7 shows the wide sweep of the judgment,\ncovering the surrounding countries. \"And they shall be desolate in the\nmidst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the\nmidst of the cities that are wasted.\" Their desolation was to be a\ndesolation in the midst of desolations. It has come literally true. The\nsurrounding countries shared the desolation of the land itself. She has\nbeen rightly called \"the land of ruins,\" a vast burial place of the art,\narchitecture and glory of the past, and her present towns (except\nAlexandria which cannot be reckoned among the ancient cities, as it was\nunknown to the Pharaohs) are, as it were, dwellings among the tombs.\n\nAnother remarkable prophecy is found in verse 12: \"And I will make the\nrivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked, and all that\nis therein, by the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken it.\" Isaiah\nalso predicted, \"The waters shall fail from the sea and the river shall\nbe wasted and become dry\" (Isaiah xix:5). The rivers are evidently the\nmany arms of the Nile forming the Delta. This is the case today, and has\nbeen so in past centuries, and the arms of the Nile, instead of flowing\nin their original courses have become ill-smelling pools and marshes.\nAnd so was the land sold into the hand of the wicked. Untold sufferings,\nslavery, outrages of many kinds has been the record of Egypt in its past\nhistory.\n\n\nII. The Destruction of the Cities.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God: I will also destroy the idols, and I will\n cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more\n a prince of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of\n Egypt. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan,\n and will execute judgments in No. And I will pour my fury upon Sin,\n the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. And I\n will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be\n rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily. The young men of\n Aven and of Phi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities\n shall go into captivity. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be\n darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp\n of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover\n her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute\n judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses\n 13-19).\n\nTheir idols and images were to be destroyed so as to reveal their\nnothingness. So it was many centuries before when Israel was in the\nhouse of bondage and the power of God in judgment exposed the things\nwhich the Egyptians worshipped. Noph, which is mentioned in verse 13,\nis Memphis. Memphis was the prominent seat of the worship of Ptah and\nApis. It was the great temple city, founded by Menes. What has become of\nthis marvellous city with its magnificent temple structures and carved,\ncolossal images and idols?\n\nAbd-ul-Latif, an Arab traveller, who visited it in the thirteenth\ncentury, says: \"Its ruins still offer to the eyes of the spectator a\ncollection of wonderful works which confound the intellect, and to\ndescribe which the most eloquent man would labor in vain. The longer we\nlook upon the scene, the higher rises the admiration it inspires; and\nevery new glance that we cast upon the ruins reveals a new charm.\nScarcely have they awakened a distinct idea in the soul of the\nspectator, than a still more admirable idea suggests itself; and just as\nyou believe you have gained complete knowledge of them, at that very\nmoment the conviction forces itself on the mind, that what you think you\nknow is still very far from the truth.\"\n\nBut even the magnificent ruins, the mute witnesses of a past glory, are\ngone. The very site of Noph (Memphis) is now a matter of dispute. Only a\nfew immense carved stones remain in the desert sand. Temples, idols and\nimages are forever gone. The prophet Ezekiel knew undoubtedly of the\nfar-famed city, its influence and power in the religious life of Egypt.\nHow could he announce such utter ruin for that city unless the Lord had\nrevealed it to him and put His own words into his mouth? What a great\nevidence prophecy is that the Bible is the Word of God! \"No,\" mentioned\nthree times in verses 14-16, is Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt,\ncalled by the Greeks \"Diospolis,\" the City of Jupiter. \"No\" is also\nmentioned by Nahum (iii:8). Her ruins bear witness of a past,\nindescribable splendor. The great Temple of Carnac was there. An\nauthority saith: \"The ruins of the temple of Carnac is the largest and\nmost splendid ruin of which, perhaps, either ancient or modern times can\nboast. All here is sublime, all majestic. With pain one tears oneself\nfrom Thebes. Her monuments fix the traveller's eyes and fill his mind\nwith vast ideas. Beholding colossal figures and stately obelisks which\nseem to surpass human powers.\" What a city No, Thebes the capital, must\nhave been! The Lord alone could foretell that it should be rent asunder.\nThe ruins bear witness that God's message was faithfully delivered by\nEzekiel. And so was fulfilled, \"There shall be no more a prince out of\nthe land of Egypt.\" No native prince has had complete rule over the\nland. The other places mentioned are Sin, which is Pelusium, now\ncompletely buried in the sand. Aven is Heliopolis, the center of the\nworship of Ba, the god of the sun. Pi-beseth is Bubastis, where the\nsacred cats were mummied, likewise a desolation now. Tehaphnehes or\nDaphnis also passed through the judgment. What a remarkable fulfillment\nof what the Lord announced through His servant Ezekiel! May we here be\nreminded in our solemn times that the same omniscient Lord, who knows\nthe end from the beginning, has spoken concerning this age, now closing\nin its predicted apostasy. Nations today steeped in bloodshed; nations\nfilled with covetousness and hatred; an apostate professing Christendom\nand the indifferent masses have written over against them the\njudgment-wrath of the coming King. And He who fulfilled the words spoken\nthrough Ezekiel will also fulfill every other prediction uttered by His\nHoly prophets and apostles.\n\n\nIII. The Work of Nebuchadnezzar.\n\n And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the\n seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,\n saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt;\n and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to\n bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith\n the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will\n break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will\n cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the\n Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the\n countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,\n and put my sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and\n he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly-wounded\n man. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the\n arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the\n Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of\n Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I\n will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them\n among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses\n 20-26).\n\nThe arm of Pharaoh, King of Egypt was to be broken completely. No\nbandage would suffice to make it strong again to hold the sword. It was\na break beyond remedy. Jeremiah had received a similar message. \"Go up\ninto Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt, in vain\nshalt thou use many medicines, for thou shalt not be cured\" (Jere.\nxlvi:11). And Jeremiah also announced that Nebuchadnezzar should be used\nin carrying out the overthrow of Egypt. \"The word that the Lord spake to\nJeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, should come\nand smite the land of Egypt. Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol,\nand publish in Noph and in Tehaphnehes, say ye, Stand fast and prepare\nthee, for the sword shall devour round about thee\" (Jere. xlvi:13-17).\nNebuchadnezzar wielded the sword of the Lord. \"And they shall know that\nI am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the King of\nBabylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.\" The\nsovereign God had not only used the King of Babylon to execute His\njudgments upon Jerusalem, but He had also given other lands into his\nhands and made him the head of the times of the Gentiles, typified in\nhis great dream-image by the head of gold. \"And now have I given all\nthese lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon my\nservant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.\nAnd all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son, until the\nvery time of his land come, and then many nations and great Kings shall\nserve themselves of him\" (Jere. xxvii:5-7). The times of the Gentiles\nare still in force, and when they end Egypt will pass through another\njudgment to receive afterward the blessings promised through the prophet\nIsaiah (Is. xix:18-25).\n\n\nPHARAOH'S GREATNESS AND HIS OVERTHROW.\n\nChapter xxxi.\n\nTwo more chapters speak of the downfall and judgment of Egypt. First,\nthe fall of Pharaoh is described in a parable and then follows the\nlamentations, a funeral dirge over Pharaoh. The message of the\nthirty-first chapter has three well defined parts. The King of Egypt,\nlike the Assyrian of the past, is pictured as a great cedar in Lebanon.\nThen the fall of the tree is shown, and finally the shaking of the\nnations on account of his fall.\n\n\nII. The Greatness and Glory of the King of Egypt.\n\n And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the\n first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,\n saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his\n multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Behold, the Assyrian\n was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing\n shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick\n boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with\n her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little\n rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was\n exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were\n multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of\n waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their\n nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of\n the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all\n great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of\n his branches: for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the\n garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his\n boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any\n tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have\n made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the\n trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him (verses\n 1-9).\n\nThe Lord commands the prophet to ask a question of Pharaoh and his\nmultitude: \"Whom art thou like in thy greatness?\" Then the divine\nquestioner answers and reveals the greatness and glory of Pharaoh. He\nuses the Assyrian in his past greatness to describe Pharaoh's greatness\nand glory. Some have applied the prophecy entirely to the Assyrian, as\nif Ezekiel spoke concerning this northern power altogether. But this is\nincorrect, for the Assyrian power was then no longer in existence, and\nthe last verse of this chapter shows that Pharaoh is meant. \"This\nPharaoh and his multitude, saith the Lord God\" (verse 18). The\ndescription of the Assyrian is given to show that Pharaoh, King of\nEgypt, is in greatness like the Assyrian who had been dealt with in\njudgment by Jehovah. The Assyrian, once so powerful and proud, is used\nas a solemn warning, that the King of Egypt would not be spared, but\nsuffer the same fate. The Cedar in Lebanon is a picture of the greatness\nof the Assyrian and Pharaoh; its height and wide-spreading branches; its\nsuperior place among all the trees are used to symbolize both of them.\nThe Cedar is a most majestic tree, often reaching a great height; the\nbranches are thick and long, spreading out horizontally from the\nenormous trunk. The Cedar is also employed as a type of the righteous\nand of Israel. \"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he\nshall grow like a cedar in Lebanon\" (Psalm xcii:12). \"His branches\nshall spread ... and his smell like Lebanon\" (Hos. xiv:6). But here the\ncedar means human grandeur and national greatness, full of arrogant\npride and therefore doomed to be abased. Isaiah in his sublime prophecy\non the coming day of the Lord uses thus the cedars of Lebanon: \"For the\nday of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and\nlofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought\nlow. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and\nupon all the oaks of Bashan\" (Isa. ii:12-13).\n\nOf interest are the words in the sixth verse: \"All the fowls of heaven\nmade their nests in his boughs.\" The same statement is made in the dream\nof Nebuchadnezzar, in which the King of Babylon had seen a great tree,\n\"and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof\" (Dan. iv:12). And\nour Lord spoke a parable of the mustard seed which became a tree \"so\nthat the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof\"\n(Matt. xiii:32). The fowls mean peoples who associated with Assyria,\nEgypt and the King of Babylon, while these powers became proud and\nlifted up. The mustard tree in the parable of our Lord represents the\ndevelopment of Gentile-Christendom as an earthly institution and\norganization, lifted up like a big tree, and the birds which find\nshelter there are the symbols of the unclean, the unsaved masses,\nnominally professing Christians. And God who dealt with the Assyrians,\nwith the King of Egypt, God, who humbled Nebuchadnezzar, will yet deal\nin His coming great judgments with the Gentile nations of today for\ntheir pride and wickedness, as well as with Christendom.\n\n\nII. The Fall and Desolation of the Tree.\n\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up\n thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick\n boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I have therefore\n delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he\n shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his\n wickedness. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him\n off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys\n his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers\n of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his\n shadow, and have left him. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the\n heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his\n branches: To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt\n themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the\n thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that\n drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether\n parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them\n that go down to the pit (verses 10-14).\n\nJudgment came upon Assyria and was also soon to fall upon Egypt because\nthey were lifted up and defied God. \"Because thou hast lifted up thyself\nin height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his\nheart is lifted up in his height, I have therefore delivered him into\nthe hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with\nhim; I have driven him out for his wickedness.\" Behind these nations of\nthe past stood, as we saw in connection with the King of Tyrus (chap.\nxxviii), the dark shadow of the enemy of God. He is still the master\nover the nations which act at the close of the times of the Gentiles.\nSatan's crime is that he was and is lifted up with pride. He fell\nbecause he said, \"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne\nabove the stars of God ... I will ascend above the heights of the\nclouds; I will be like the most High\" (Isa. xiv:13-14). And this awful\nbeing, the prince of this world, the god of this age, who domineers\nstill over the kingdoms of this world, till he is dethroned by the\ncoming of the Lord, has led in the past and still leads nations into\nruin and ripens them for divine judgment through pride and what goes\nwith it, defiance of God. Today our boasting, proud, lifted up and\nGod-defiant age, an age which rejects God's best, the Gospel of His Son,\nis rapidly approaching the threatened judgment, a judgment far more\nsevere than those which overtook Assyria and Egypt.\n\nThe one mentioned as \"the mighty one of the nations\" is Nebuchadnezzar,\nwhom God used to bring judgment upon Egypt, as we learned from the\nprevious chapters. He was the golden head of the image which represents\nthe times of the Gentiles, which may soon take on their final form, the\nten kingdoms in the revived Roman Empire (Dan. ii). Nebuchadnezzar also\nbecame lifted up and God humbled him for seven years, as God will yet\nhumble the nations of Christendom.[25] And the judgments of the past,\nupon Assyria and others is to be a warning to others \"to the end that\nnone of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height\"\n(verse 13). But who among the nations is wise and heeds the warnings of\nGod's holy Word? See also Rom. xi:16-24, where Christendom is warned not\nto boast and not to be high minded.\n\n[25] See Exposition of Daniel, by A. C. G., on Dan. iii-vi.\n\n\nIII. The Overthrow and the Consternation among the Nations as the result\nof Egypt's fall.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I\n caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the\n floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused\n Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for\n him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I\n cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all\n the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink\n water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They\n also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the\n sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in\n the midst of the heathen. To whom art thou thus like in glory and\n in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down\n with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: \"thou\n shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain\n by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord\n God\" (verses 15-18).\n\nThe word \"hell,\" mentioned several times in this paragraph does not mean\nthe lake of fire, the final and eternal abode of the wicked, but the\nword is \"sheol,\" the abode of the dead, the unknown regions. It does not\nmean the grave, for which there is another word used in the Hebrew. The\ngrave receives the bodies; but the immaterial part of man, that which\nhas endless being, goes to Sheol, a word which expresses the unseen and\nunknown. To sheol the wicked and the nations who forget God have been\nturned (Psalm ix:17) to await their final doom as revealed in Rev.\nxx:11-15. The fate of Assyria as well as of Egypt inspired the\nsurrounding nations with fear; these nations are mentioned under the\nfigure of trees, \"and all the trees of the field mourned for him.\" The\nnations shook with terror when the powerful world-power was stripped of\nall its greatness and passed away. And when Assyria came into sheol and\nalso Egypt, they found other nations there. These are mentioned by the\nterm \"all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that\ndrink water.\" These terms are symbolical of human greatness, glory and\nprosperity. And these once powerful and prosperous nations were\n\"comforted\" to find that even Pharaoh would share their fate and the\nfate of Assyria. It shows that the disembodied state in sheol is not an\nunconscious state, but one of consciousness. The next chapter, the final\none on Egypt's judgment and fate will show us more of this.\n\n\nLAMENTATION OVER PHARAOH AND THE FUNERAL DIRGE.\n\nChapter xxxii.\n\nThe final prophecy of this section was given almost two years after the\nmessage of the previous chapter and about eighteen months after the fall\nof Jerusalem. First Ezekiel is told to take up a lamentation for Pharaoh\nand announce for the last time the work of judgment by the sword of the\nKing of Babylon. After that follows another wail, a solemn dirge, over\nthe Egyptian multitudes which have passed into sheol. It is a vivid\ndescription of sheol and those who have descended there. This conclusive\nprophecy was uttered by the prophet a few days after the lamentation\nover Pharaoh.\n\n\nI. The Lamentation Over Pharaoh.\n\n And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in\n the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,\n saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,\n and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and\n thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy\n rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouldedst their\n rivers. Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net\n over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee\n up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee\n forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the\n heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole\n earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and\n fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood\n the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the\n rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will\n cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the\n sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the\n bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness\n upon thy land, saith the Lord God. I will also vex the hearts of\n many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations,\n into the countries which thou hast not known. Yea, I will make many\n people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for\n thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall\n tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of\n thy fall (verses 1-10).\n\nPharaoh is addressed as a young lion among the nations. Some have\nrendered it \"a lion of the nations is upon thee,\" applying it to\nNebuchadnezzar; but this is only a paraphrase and not warranted by the\nHebrew text. He is also compared again to the dragon or crocodile.[26]\n(See xxix:3). What the crocodile does in the rivers and waters,\ntroubling them and stirring up the dirt, fouling the rivers, Pharaoh had\ndone among the nations. And now his wicked doings would be arrested; a\nnet would be spread over him with a company of many peoples, who would\nbring him out of his dominion like a crocodile taken out of the water.\nHe would be cast upon the open field, \"and I will cause all the fowls of\nthe heavens to settle upon thee and I will fill the beasts of the whole\nearth with thee.\" Then the political destruction of the great land of\nEgypt is to be fully accomplished, here mentioned in symbolical terms,\nsuch as the darkening of the stars, the covering of the sun with a cloud\nand the withholding of the light from the moon. But while all this has a\nprimary meaning as to Pharaoh and Egypt, these words of judgment also\nrelated to that which is yet, and soon to come upon this earth. Egypt is\nthe type of the world as it lieth in the wicked one.\n\n[26] \"A whale in the seas\" is an incorrect translation.\n\nNations to-day are doing what Egypt did. These nations, the final actors\nof the times of the Gentiles, in their inhuman, God and man defying\nactions, will not be permitted to go on forever. A day comes in which\nGod will deal with them as He dealt with Egypt of old. When that day\ncomes, the day of Jehovah, their complete overthrow will take place as\ndescribed so frequently in the prophetic Word. Then the great judgment\nsupper of God will take place, when the fowls under heaven are called\nupon to gather together and feed upon the slain. There is an interesting\nsuggestion between verse 4 of this chapter and Revelation xix:17-18. The\nsame is true when we compare verses 7-8 with Revelation viii:12. Then\nread Isaiah xiii:10 and Amos viii:9; Joel iii:15 and Matthew xxiv:29.\nThat day announced in these Scriptures and others is rapidly approaching\nand will bring the complete overthrow of the domineering, autocratic\nworld-powers and the god of this age, who controls them.\n\n\nII. The Final Announcement of the Sword of Nebuchadnezzar.\n\n For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall\n come upon thee. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy\n multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and\n they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof\n shall be destroyed. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from\n beside the great waters, neither shall the foot of man trouble them\n any more nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Then will I make\n their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the\n Lord God. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the\n country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall\n smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am\n the Lord. This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her:\n the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for\n her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God\n (verses 11-16).\n\nThe sword of the Lord to fall upon Egypt was the King of Babylon,\npreviously announced in chapters xxix and xxx. At the close of the times\nof the Gentiles the predicted judgment will not come upon nations\nthrough some other nation, but the Lord Himself will appear and fight\nagainst the nations who are rebellious against God and against His\nanointed (Ps. ii). The stone, which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream,\nwill fall and deal its destructive blow; and that stone is the Lord\nJesus Christ in His personal Coming. Then the pomp of Egypt, this\npresent age with all its boasted progress and glory, will pass away and\nthe kingdom from above will be set up. \"Then shall they know that I am\nthe Lord.\" It is not a spiritual knowledge, or a knowledge unto\nsalvation, but a knowledge in the judgments which take place.\n\n\"It is important to remark one point in this series of prophecies, which\ncommences with the judgment of Jerusalem, the centre of the former\nsystem of nations. They are executed with the object of making them all\nknow Jehovah: only in Israel's case there is besides this, the\nunderstanding and the special verification of prophecy. See chapter\nxxiv:24-27, Israel; chapter xxv:5, 7, 11, Ammon and Moab; verses 15-17,\nespecial vengeance on the Philistines; chapter xxvi, Tyre; chapter\nxxviii:22, Zidon; chapter xxix:19, Egypt; as also chapters xxx:26,\nxxxii:15. With respect to Edom (chap. xxv:14), it is only said that Edom\nshall know the vengeance of Jehovah by means of Israel--a further proof\nthat in certain respects this prophecy extends to the last days. These\nprophecies, then, furnish us in general with the manifestation of\nJehovah's power, so as to make Him known to all by the judgments which\nHe executed; already partially realized in the conquests of\nNebuchadnezzar, but to be fully accomplished by-and-by in favor of\nIsrael.\"[27]\n\n[27] Even so the Lord will yet be known to the nations of the earth by\nHis judgments.\n\n\nIII. The Dirge and Unveiling of the Unseen World.\n\n It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of\n the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of\n man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her,\n and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of\n the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Whom dost thou pass\n in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They\n shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is\n delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes. The strong\n among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell (sheol)\n with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised,\n slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves\n are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves\n are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her\n grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror\n in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitudes\n round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which\n are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth,\n which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they\n borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. They have set\n her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her\n graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by\n the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the\n living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to\n the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain. There is\n Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about\n him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they\n caused their terror in the land of the living. And they shall not\n lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are\n gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid\n their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon\n their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land\n of the living. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the\n uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the\n sword. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with\n their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they\n shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the\n pit. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the\n Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror\n they are ashamed of their might: and they lie uncircumcised with\n them that be slain by her sword, and bear their shame with them that\n go down to the pit. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted\n over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the\n sword, saith the Lord God. For I have caused my terror in the land\n of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the\n uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh\n and all his multitude, saith the Lord God (verses 17-32).\n\nTwo weeks after the lamentation over Pharaoh, the prophet uttered this\nsolemn and most impressive elegy over the multitude of Egypt and the\nheathen nations who have gone into sheol. It has been called a weird\nDantesque funeral-march over the whole heathen world; but it is more\nthan that. We look here into sheol and see the nations gathered there,\nstripped of their glory, in deepest abasement and shame. Their bodies\nare in the pit, the grave, and their souls in sheol, the unseen regions.\nGod's patience was exhausted with them, the measure of their wickedness\nbecame full, then judgments swept them off the earth and they passed\naway and descended into sheol. And what irony there is connected with\nit! \"Whom dost thou surpass in beauty? Go down and be thou laid with the\nuncircumcised.\" And as the King came there with his multitudes, whom did\nthey find there? Asshur, that is Assyria, is mentioned first: \"Asshur is\nthere and all her company.\" She was a cruel, pitiless, destructive\npower, and now she, who once caused \"terror in the land of the living,\"\nis helpless, with all her power gone in the unseen world. Elam, Meshech,\nTubal, Edom, the princes of the North and the Zidonians are named as\nbeing in existence there. Once great powers but now cut off; they lie\nwith the uncircumcised in weakness and disgrace. While in chapter\nxxxi:16 the dead and gone nations were comforted over Pharaoh who\ndescended into sheol; in this passage Pharaoh, who sees these nations,\nnow is himself comforted as he discovers his former enemies there.\n\nA similar statement about sheol as a place of departed nations, who are\nnevertheless conscious, is found in the book of Isaiah. There the King\nof Babylon is seen in his descent into sheol. \"Sheol from beneath is\nmoved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for\nthee, all the chieftains of the earth; it hath raised up from their\nthrones all the Kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto\nthee, Art thou also become weak as we? Are thou become like unto us? Thy\npomps are brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols, the\nworm is spread under thee, and the worms over thee?\" (Is. xiv:9-11).\nSolemn words these are behind which stands the undeniable truth of a\nconscious and eternal existence of the human race. But only the New\nTestament Scriptures give the full light upon the future state.\n\n\n\n\nII. PREDICTIONS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.\n\nChapter xxxiii-xlviii.\n\n\nCOMMISSIONS. JERUSALEM'S FALL ANNOUNCED.\n\nChapter xxxiii.\n\nThe previous chapter closed the predictions which were uttered by the\nProphet before the destruction of Jerusalem, and now we come to the\nsecond part of this prophetic book, containing the predictions of\nEzekiel after the fall of Jerusalem. And these predictions unfold the\ngreat future of Israel, their restoration and national revival, the\nspiritual blessings in store for them, the invasion of their land by the\nlast enemy, Gog and Magog, their complete overthrow, and the deliverance\nof His people. After that, in the final nine chapters of this book, the\nProphet records the vision of the coming and crowning glory of Israel,\nas they shall possess it when restored to their land. Here we learn how\nthe departed glory will return and the Prophet describes a great temple\nand its worship. It is the millennial temple, that coming, earthly house\nto which the nations shall turn to worship the King. Then the name of\nJerusalem will be \"Jehovah-shammah\"--the Lord is there (xlviii:35).\nWhile the predictions uttered by Ezekiel before the fall of Jerusalem\nhave mostly been fulfilled, as we learned in our expositions, the great\nprophecies which we follow now, given after the fall of the city are\nstill unfulfilled. These predictions are of great importance and of deep\ninterest, for they give God's program for His chosen people, how He will\ndeal with them in His infinite grace and receive them nationally when\nthe times of the Gentiles are over and He comes again. Because these\nthings are now so very near, and we stand on the threshold of their\nfulfilment, they are for us of double interest. We shall therefore\nexamine them more closely and also learn from present day events how all\nis now getting ready for the accomplishment of God's revealed purposes.\n\nIn the introductory chapter of this section, Ezekiel as the watchman is\ncommissioned to warn the house of Israel; then the messenger came\nannouncing the fall of Jerusalem; the prophet's lips were unsealed and\nhe was no more dumb, but uttered again the Word of the Lord.\n\n\nI. The Commission to the Watchman.\n\n Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak\n to the children of thy people, and say unto them, when I bring the\n sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their\n coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword\n come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then\n whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning;\n if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his\n own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning;\n his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall\n deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow\n not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come,\n and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his\n iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So\n thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of\n Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn\n them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt\n surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way,\n that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I\n require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his\n way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in\n his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul (verses 1-9).\n\nThe commission to Ezekiel as watchman corresponds to the same\ncommission as found in the first section of this book. (See chapters\niii:16-21.) The watchman is to warn of impending danger by the blowing\nof the trumpet. If the warning is unheeded, the consequences rest upon\nthe person who rejected the warning. But he that taketh warning shall\ndeliver his soul. And if the watchman is not faithful in sounding the\nalarm and disaster overtakes some on account of it, their blood will be\nrequired at the watchman's hand. Ezekiel was set as a watchman unto the\nhouse of Israel. He received the message from the Lord and was to warn\nthem. The divine message was that the wicked should surely die, and if\nthe watchman neglected to deliver that message and warn the wicked he\nwould die, while his blood would be required from the hands of the\nwatchman. But if the wicked was warned and did not act upon the warning,\nhe would die; the faithful watchman had delivered his own soul. Ezekiel\nwas the faithful watchman while the false prophets did not deliver the\nmessage and perished with the ungodly. How great then the responsibility\nof those who are called as watchmen! And how few the faithful ones who\ndeliver the divine warning to the unsaved!\n\n\nII. Principles of Divine Justice Announced.\n\n Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus\n ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and\n we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I\n live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the\n wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye,\n turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?\n Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The\n righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of\n his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not\n fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither\n shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day\n that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall\n surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness and commit\n iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered: but for\n his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. Again,\n when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from\n his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; If the wicked\n restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the\n statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live,\n he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be\n mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he\n shall surely live. Yet the children of thy people say, The way of\n the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. When\n the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth\n iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his\n wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live\n thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of\n Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways (verses 10-20).\n\nThe exiles knew that the just wrath of God rested upon them as a nation\nand that their sins were unforgiven. Therefore they asked \"If our\ntransgressions and sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should\nwe then live?\" They also accused the Lord of inconsistency by saying\n\"the way of the Lord is not equal\" (verse 20; see also xviii:25, 29).\nThe answer Jehovah sends them makes known the principles on which He\nwill deal with them individually as a just God. \"O ye house of Israel, I\nwill judge you every one after his ways.\" Judgment rested upon them as a\nnation but the individual still could turn to the Lord in repentance.\nWhat a wonderful declaration it is which is recorded in verse eleven!\n\"Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the\ndeath of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live;\nturn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of\nIsrael?\" What compassion and mercy! As it was a day of judgment which\nhad come upon them, true repentance was the needed thing. A past\nrighteousness could not shield them from the judgment if sin had been\ncommitted. \"As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall\nthereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness.\" The wicked\nconfessing and forsaking his sin would find mercy and forgiveness, while\nthose who were impenitent would surely die and not live. \"None of his\nsins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him; he hath done\nthat which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.\" And this gracious\npromise was given in anticipation of the work of the cross, the\nredemption by the blood of Christ, by which God's righteousness is\ndeclared in passing thus over sins of Old Testament believers who turned\nto God (Rom. iii:25). The principles of Divine justice are summed up in\nverses 18 and 19: \"When the righteous turneth from his righteousness,\nand committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked\nturn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he\nshall live thereby.\" Needless to say all this must be viewed as under\nthe law-covenant. But their complaint that the way of the Lord is not\nequal was wrong; it was their way which was not equal. They were to be\njudged each according to what they had done.\n\n\nIII. The News of Jerusalem's Fall. The Prophet's Mouth Opened.\n\n And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the\n tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had\n escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.\n Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that\n was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in\n the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. Then\n the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, they that\n inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham\n was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is\n given us for inheritance. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the\n Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your\n idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon\n your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his\n neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land? Say thou thus unto\n them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in\n the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open\n field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in\n the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. For I will\n lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall\n cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none\n shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I\n have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations\n which they have committed (verses 21-29).\n\nAt last the long threatened and predicted fall of Jerusalem through\nNebuchadnezzar, which had happened months before is announced to the\nexiles by one who had escaped. The hand of the Lord was then upon the\nProphet in the evening, before the messenger had arrived, and had opened\nhis mouth. In chapter xxiv:27 the promise had been given that when he\nthat escaped came, the Prophet should be no more dumb. \"In that day\nshall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and then thou shalt\nspeak, and be no more dumb, and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they\nshall know that I am the Lord.\" This dumbness does not mean that his\nmouth was silent and did not utter a word, for he prophesied in chapters\nxxv-xxxii. He was to be dumb as regards Israel and his testimony to his\npeople; the intervening chapters, before the messenger came concerns\nother nations. And now the messenger had arrived, his mouth is opened\nagain to prophesy concerning Israel. It seems the hand of the Lord was\nupon Ezekiel from the evening to the morning when the messenger\nannounced \"the city is smitten.\" The words recorded in the first part of\nthis chapter are undoubtedly the prophet's evening discourse, and form\nan introduction to this section. He is told to rebuke those that inhabit\nthe waste places in the land of Israel. This is the remnant left in the\nland by Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the king of Babylon gave Geddaliah as\nruler (2 Kings xxv:22). In spite of the great judgment which had come\nupon Jerusalem and upon the land, this remnant, which remained in the\nland, was unbroken and exhibited a strange self-confidence. They\nreasoned in this wise: \"Abraham was one and he inherited the land; but\nwe are many; the land is given us for inheritance.\" But they lacked the\nfaith and righteousness of Abraham, and the Lord uncovers now their\nfalse claims and pretensions by showing their moral character. Their\nhearts were hardened; they lived on in their wicked, vile and idolatrous\nways. \"And shall ye possess the land?\" asks Jehovah. And He answers, \"As\nI live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the\nsword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be\ndevoured, and they that be in the strongholds and in the caves shall die\nof the pestilence.\"\n\n\nIV. Hearers of the Words of the Prophet, and Not Doers.\n\n Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking\n against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak\n one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you,\n and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they\n come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my\n people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with\n their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their\n covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of\n one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument:\n for they hear thy words, but they do them not. And when this cometh\n to pass (lo, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath\n been among them (verses 30-33).\n\nHow deplorable was their condition, listening to the Prophet's words,\nsaying one to the other, \"Come, I pray you, what is the word that cometh\nforth from the Lord.\" They took before the Prophet the position as\nGod's people, professing it with their mouths, listening to all the\nProphet said and yet refused obedience. With their mouth they showed\nmuch love, they spoke nice and pleasant words, but their hearts\ncontinued in the evil ways. As the Septuagint version paraphrases it,\n\"because a lie is in their mouth.\" They were hearers of the words, but\nnot doers. And such is to-day the sad condition of Christendom. What the\nProphet had announced was coming to pass and when it came they would\nfind out that a Prophet had been among them.\n\nAnd even so to-day. The mass of professing Christians listen to the Word\nof God. They remain indifferent. Their hearts and consciences are not\ntouched. But ere long they, too, will find out \"that a Prophet hath been\namong them\" and that the Word they rejected and refused to obey will\ncondemn them.\n\n\nCONCERNING THE SHEPHERDS.\n\nChapter xxxiv.\n\nThis chapter contains the first great prophecy given to Ezekiel after\nthe fall of Jerusalem had been announced. It is a message of comfort and\nconcerns the glorious future of the nation in coming days, when the true\nshepherd of Israel will appear in their midst. Here we find the majestic\n\"I will\" of the Lord, that blessed word of the grace-covenant of a\nsovereign God. It tells us what Jehovah in infinite mercy will do for\nHis scattered and bleeding people, His own flock, the people who are\nstill beloved for the fathers' sakes (Rom. xi:28). How He will gather His\nscattered sheep, bring them back from their wanderings among the\nnations, save them, feed them, heal and restore them, give them the true\nshepherd and make a covenant of peace with His people is now blessedly\nmade known. We shall see that none of these gracious promises was\nfulfilled in the return of the remnant from Babylon, nor have these\npromises been accomplished since then. It all awaits the coming of their\nShepherd-King, the true David, the Lord Jesus Christ. The chapter begins\nwith a description of the sheep of Israel in their sad and deplorable\ncondition and an indictment of the false shepherds.\n\n\nI. The False Shepherds of Israel.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy\n against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus\n saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of\n Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the\n flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill\n them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye\n not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick,\n neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye\n brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought\n that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled\n them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd; and\n they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were\n scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon\n every high hill; yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of\n the earth, and none did search or seek after them (verses 1-6).\n\nThe shepherds of Israel were the kings and princes who ruled over the\nnation and had authority over them. The prophet Jeremiah also received a\nsimilar message against these evil shepherds who had spoiled the flock.\n\"Woe be unto the pastors (shepherds) that destroy and scatter the sheep\nof my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of\nIsrael against the pastors that feed my people; ye have scattered my\nflock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold I will\nvisit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord\" (Jere. xxiii:\n1-2). Shepherds are called to feed the flock; but these shepherds of\nIsrael fed themselves. They were responsible for the deplorable\ncondition of the flock. They ruled them with force and cruelty. There\nwas no strengthening for those diseased, no healing for the sick, no\nrecovery of them who were lost and driven away. Utterly selfish, they\ncared not for the sheep of His pasture; they neither feared God nor\nloved His people. They looked upon the people not as the flock of God,\nbut only as their own to spoil, misuse and domineer over. Therefore,\n\"They were scattered, because there is no shepherd; and they became meat\nfor all the beasts of the field, where they were scattered. My sheep\nwandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill; yea my\nflock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search\nor seek after them\" (verses 5-6).\n\nSuch was the sad condition of the people Israel. And when the Lord Jesus\nappeared in their midst to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel,\nHe found them as sheep without a shepherd and He had compassion upon\nthem (Mark vi:34). But they rejected Him and the Shepherd was smitten.\nZechariah's prophecy was fulfilled. \"Awake, O sword, against my\nShepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of\nhosts. Smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will\nturn mine hand upon the little ones\" (Zech. xiii:7). The false\nshepherds, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were a curse to the people\nand the leaders were against the Shepherd. They delivered Him into the\nhands of the Gentiles. And now for nearly 2,000 years the sheep have\nbeen scattered and peeled, wandering among the nations of the earth\n(Luke xxi:24). What is their hope and coming blessing we learn from this\ngreat prophecy.[28]\n\n[28] What is said in this chapter of the false shepherds who ill-treated\nthe flock of God, His ancient people, may also be applied to the false\nshepherds, the hirelings in the professing church. See Acts xx:28-35 and\n1 Peter v:2-3.\n\n\nII. The False Shepherds Convicted and Set Aside.\n\n Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; As I live, saith\n the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock\n became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no\n shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the\n shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye\n shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord God;\n Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at\n their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither\n shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my\n flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them (verses\n 7-10).\n\nJehovah addresses the shepherds and condemns their wicked oppression of\nHis own sheep. He remembers in mercy His flock which has been torn as a\nprey by their leaders, who acted like the wild beasts of the field. He\nrequires now the flock from their hands and sets the false shepherds\naside and announces that He will deliver His sheep. \"For I will deliver\nmy flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.\" The rest\nof the chapter shows His deliverance and what the Lord will do for His\npeople Israel.\n\n\nIII. The Deliverance of His Flock.\n\n For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, will both search my\n sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the\n day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek\n out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they\n have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring\n them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and\n will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains\n of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the\n country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high\n mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a\n good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains\n of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down,\n saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring\n again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was\n broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy\n the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. And as for\n you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between\n cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a\n small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must\n tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have\n drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your\n feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with\n your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet\n (verses 11-19).\n\n\"Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep and will seek them\nout.\" Jehovah arises in behalf of His scattered sheep. He will Himself\nexercise the office of a true shepherd, seeking out His flock. The\ncloudy and dark day (the times of the Gentiles) is gone and another\nmorning breaks, the morning for which His people have waited so long.\nWhat He will do at that time for His scattered sheep is now fully\nproclaimed. \"I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from\nthe countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon\nthe mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places\nof the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high\nmountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie down in a\ngood fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of\nIsrael. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith\nthe Lord.\" And all this has not yet come to pass. Some apply these words\nto the restoration of a remnant from the Babylonian captivity and see no\nfuture fulfillment of these promises. It is evident that the returning\nremnant did not possess these blessings. Others make a spiritual\napplication and claim that it means the church and the blessing which\nGentiles will receive as the sheep of Christ. This is the common path\nwhich most commentators follow. It needs no lengthy refutation, for\nEzekiel, nor the other prophets know nothing of the church and the\n\"other sheep,\" Gentiles saved by grace and with believing Jews\nconstituting the one flock (John x:16; Ephesians iii:1-6). This is\nunrevealed in the Old Testament. These gracious words of promise have\nnot yet been fulfilled, nor will they be fulfilled as long as the\nchurch, the body of Christ is being gathered out from all nations. All\nmust wait till God's purpose in this age is accomplished. When the\nchurch is complete as to its elect number, when the Lord has come for\nHis saints and the true church has passed from earth into glory, then\nwill the Lord turn in mercy to His people Israel and these promises\ngiven by Ezekiel will be fulfilled.\n\nBut Jehovah will also feed them in that coming day of blessing with\njudgment. \"I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which\nwas driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will\nstrengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the\nstrong; I will feed them with judgment.\" The fat and the strong are the\napostates of Israel. He will deal with the flock in judgment. Before He\noccupies the throne of His glory, when He separates the assembled\nnations as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats, He will judge\nHis people Israel. \"And as for you, my flock, thus saith the Lord God,\nBehold I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he\ngoats.\" The unbelieving, apostate part of Israel will be cut off by the\njudgments of the great tribulation, but a God-fearing remnant will be\nsaved. To this remnant the promises will be made good. \"And I will\ngather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have\ndriven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be\nfruitful and increase\" (Jere. xxiii:3). With this remnant He will make\nan everlasting covenant. \"And I will make an everlasting covenant with\nthem, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will\nput my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me. Yea, I\nwill rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this\nland assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul\" (Jere.\nxxxii:40, 41).\n\n\nIV. The One Shepherd and the Covenant of Peace.\n\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will\n judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye\n have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased\n with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will\n I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge\n between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them,\n and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them,\n and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God,\n and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.\n And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the\n evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in\n the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the\n places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower\n to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And\n the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall\n yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall\n know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the banks of their yoke,\n and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves\n of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither\n shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell\n safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for\n them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with\n hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.\n Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and\n that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord\n God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am\n your God, saith the Lord God (verses 20-31).\n\nWe reach the climax in the final section of this chapter. He through\nwhom all this will be accomplished is now mentioned by the prophet.\n\"And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even\nmy servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.\nAnd I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among\nthem; I the Lord have spoken it.\" Some have applied this to Zerubbabel,\nthe head of Judah at the return from the Babylonish captivity; this is\ndone by those who deny a future restoration of Israel. Others take these\nwords in a strictly literal sense and teach that David the King will\nbecome the head of the nation once more and raised from the dead will be\nthe one shepherd over His people. It is not David, but He who is\naccording to the flesh the Son of David and David's Lord as well. The\none Shepherd can only be the Messiah. Numerous passages show that\nDavid's name is used in a typical sense. Jeremiah announced, \"They shall\nserve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will raise up\nunto them\" (Jere. xxx:10). Here David stands typically for Christ, the\nMessiah of Israel, for He is raised up unto them when Jacob's trouble is\nended (verses 1-7). Of Him Jeremiah speaks more fully in chapter\nxxiii:5-6: \"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise\nunto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and\nshall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall\nbe saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby He\nshall be called, the Lord our Righteousness.\" The two, Judah and Israel,\nwill be reunited by the one Shepherd. The Messiah of Israel is also\nmentioned by Hosea as David. \"Afterward shall the children of Israel\nreturn, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King and shall fear\nthe Lord and His goodness in the latter days\" (Hosea iii:5). Isaiah\nspeaks of the sure mercies of David and adds, \"Behold I have given Him\nfor a witness to the people, a leader (prince) and commander to the\npeople.\" It is therefore not David, raised from the dead, but the Prince\nof Peace, who was here once to seek the lost sheep of the house of\nIsrael and who comes again to save the remnant of His people Israel and\nto receive the Throne of David (Isaiah ix:6-7).\n\nWhen the Lord is doing all what is promised here and the remnant has\naccepted the long rejected Messiah-King, a covenant of peace and\nblessing will follow. \"And I will make with them a covenant of peace,\nand will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall\ndwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.\" Peace will come\nto the land and to the whole earth with His Coming. The evil beasts, the\nGentile world powers (Dan. vii) will no longer devastate the land. All\nwill be peace and safety so that they can sleep peacefully in the woods.\n\"There shall be showers of blessing\" (verse 26). How often a hymn is\nsung based upon this promise:\n\n \"There shall be showers of blessing,\n This is the promise of love.\"\n\nBut how few who sing it know that the promise belongs first of all to\nIsrael. When the Lord comes the showers of blessing will be poured forth\nupon His people and upon all nations. It will be \"the times of\nrefreshing\" (Acts iii:20). Verses 27 and 28 give a brief description of\nthe millennial Kingdom. Groaning creation will then be delivered and the\nwild beasts will have their nature changed (compare verse 28 with Isaiah\nxi:6-9 and Rom. viii:19-22). There is no need to speculate on the\nmeaning of \"the plant of renown\" which will be raised up. It is none\nother than He, who, as to His humiliation, is described as \"a tender\nplant\" and \"as a root out of a dry ground\" (Isaiah liii:2). But now He\nappears in all His glory and becomes the plant of renown. Their shame\nand suffering will then be over. He will be their God and they will be\nHis people.\n\n\nTHE JUDGMENT OF MOUNT SEIR AND WHAT FOLLOWS.\n\nChapter xxxv.\n\nThis is another judgment message, which is closely related to the coming\nrestoration of Israel. When the Lord is merciful to His people and\nbestows upon them the promised blessings He will also deal with their\nenemies in judgment. Edom was the most bitter enemy of Israel, their\nblood-relation. The judgment threatened here was executed upon Edom; but\nit has a prophetic meaning of the judgment which is in store for the\nenemies of God's people when the times of the Gentiles end and God\narises in behalf of His suffering and persecuted people.\n\n\nI. The Judgment of Mount Seir.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set\n thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, And say unto\n it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against\n thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make\n thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be\n desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Because thou hast\n had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of\n Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in\n the time that their iniquity had an end: Therefore, as I live, saith\n the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue\n thee: since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.\n Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him\n that passeth out and him that returneth. And I will fill his\n mountains with his slain men; in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and\n in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. I\n will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not\n return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Because thou hast\n said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and\n we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there: Therefore, as I\n live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger,\n and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred\n against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have\n judged thee. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have\n heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the\n mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given\n us to consume. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and\n have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them (verses\n 1-13).\n\nMount Seir is mentioned for the first time in Genesis xxxvi:9, as the\ndwelling place of the Edomites. Seir means \"shaggy,\" an allusion to the\nrugged character of Idumea. The Edomites and Israelites were descendants\nof Abraham; Edom from Esau and Israel from Jacob. God told Israel not to\nforget their relationship to the descendants of Esau. But the Edomites\nhated Israel. Beautiful were the words which Moses addressed to Edom,\nwhen he sent messengers from Kadesh. \"Thus saith thy brother Israel,\nthou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us, how our fathers went\ndown to Egypt and dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians evil\nentreated us, and our fathers; and when we cried unto the Lord, He heard\nour voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt, and\nbehold we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border; let us\npass, I pray thee through thy land\" (Numbers xx:14-17). The Edomites\nrejected this loving word and forced the Israelites to take another way.\nMore than once did they attack from their mountains the people Israel\nand slew them. \"He did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast\noff all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath\nforever\" (Amos i:11). Most scathing is Edom's arraignment through the\nprophet Obadiah. \"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall\ncover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day that thou\nstoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away\ncaptive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots\nupon Jerusalem, even thou wast one of them. But thou shouldest not have\nlooked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger;\nneither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the\nday of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in\nthe day of distress\" (Obad. verses 9-14). Theirs was a perpetual hatred\nas God speaks here through Ezekiel. Judgment is therefore announced, a\njudgment which should make their land desolate and extinguish them as a\nnation. \"I will make thee most desolate.\" \"I will lay thy cities waste,\nand thou shalt be desolate.\" \"Thus will I make mount Seir most\ndesolate.\" \"I will make thee perpetual desolation, and thy cities shall\nnot return.\" They were a proud, a boasting people, defying God and\nhating His chosen people. \"Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against\nme, and have multiplied your words against me; I have heard them.\"\n\nAnd this threatened judgment has fallen upon Edom's land. Their capital\nwas the great rock city Petra, called Selah in the Bible (2 Kings\nxiv:7).\n\nIt was once a powerful city, which carried on an immense trade; it was,\naccording to ancient historians, the terminus of one of the great\ncommercial routes of Asia. And now in that once so prosperous land an\nindescribable desolation reigns. Its great commerce has utterly passed\naway and the doom announced in this chapter has been almost fully\naccomplished. Yet all this also stands related to a future day when\nIsrael is being delivered and when the Lord will judge Edom and all the\nnations which hate His people. \"The punishment of their iniquity is\naccomplished, O, daughter of Zion; He will no more carry thee away into\ncaptivity; He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will\ndiscover thy sins\" (Lam. iv:22). The spirit of hatred, pride, envy and\nblasphemy mentioned in verses 11-13 is characteristic of the ungodly\nnations who defy God when the times of the Gentiles end. Of that final\nbeast which domineers over the earth and persecutes the remnant of\nIsrael, before the Lord comes, it is written, \"And he opened his mouth\nin blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and his tabernacle, and\nthem that dwell in heaven\" (Rev. xiii:6). But as Ezekiel declares\nconcerning these blasphemies spoken against Israel and Israel's Lord, \"I\nhave heard them,\" and He will act, in judgment against all His enemies.\n\n\nII. The Time of Rejoicing.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make\n thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house\n of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou\n shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and\n they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 14-15).\n\nThe time is coming when the whole earth will rejoice. Moses in his\nprophetic Song spoke of this: \"Rejoice O ye nations, with His people;\nfor He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance\nto His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, and to His\npeople\" (Deut. xxxii:43). When the Lord comes and delivers His earthly\npeople and brings them back to their land all will be completely\nreversed. Israel now mourning and suffering will rejoice and all their\nenemies shall mourn forever, on account of God's righteous judgments.\nThen will the world know that He is Jehovah.\n\n\nTHE PROMISES OF GRACE.\n\nChapter xxxvi.\n\nWith this chapter the great prophetic utterances of Ezekiel begin which\nhave for a topic the future restoration and blessing of the people\nIsrael. From chapter xxxvi to the end of this book all is unfulfilled.\nHow Jehovah will deal with the enemies of His people in judgment, and\nthen turn in grace and mercy to His own nation to bless them with\nspiritual and national blessings is the message of this chapter. In\nchapter xxxvii we find the vision of the dry bones, typical of the\nnational and spiritual resurrection of Israel. The house of Judah and\nthe house of Israel will be united into one, to dwell in the land of\ntheir fathers. The great blessings will then be theirs under the\ncovenant of peace, while the tabernacle of God is in the midst of them\nand the true King reigns over them. Chapters xxxviii and xxxix show the\nfinal enemies of Israel, Gog and Magog, and their complete overthrow.\nChapters xl-xlviii are millennial, giving a description of the future\ntemple to be built in Jerusalem, its worship and glory.\n\n\nI. The Judgment of Israel's Enemies.\n\n Also, thou Son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and\n say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith\n the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the\n ancient high places are ours in possession: Therefore prophesy and\n say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate,\n and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession\n unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of\n talkers, and are an infamy of the people: Therefore, ye mountains of\n Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; to\n the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys,\n to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which\n became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are\n round about; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire\n of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and\n against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their\n possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to\n cast it out for a prey. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of\n Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers,\n and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken\n in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of\n the heathen: Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up\n mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear\n their shame (verses 1-7.)\n\nThe enemy had spoken blasphemies against the mountains of Israel; the\nLord had heard the arrogant language of Edom (xxxv:12-13), and now the\nprophet is commanded to address the personified mountains of Israel in\nwords of consolation and assurance. Previously he had as God's prophet\nuttered denunciations against the mountains and high places of Israel\n(vi:1-7), but now after the time of Israel's chastisement is passed and\nthe dawn of their restoration breaks, the Lord turns against the enemies\nof His people. The enemy had said against them with a shout of\nexultation: \"Aha! even the ancient high places are ours in possession.\"\nEdom and other nations knew that the Lord had promised to Israel the\nland for their possession. They claimed with a proud taunt Israel's\nmountains and high places as their possession, and thereby ignored God\nand His covenant with His people. And so it is that the nations have\nforgotten what God has promised to Israel. Their land and city has been\ntrodden down by the Gentiles. Gentiles have stretched out their hands to\npossess the mountains of Israel and occupied the land which by covenant\nbelongs to the seed of Abraham. When the times of the Gentiles come to a\nclose nations will once more attempt to take possession of Israel's land\nand make an invasion. Then the Lord will arise against these nations. Of\nthis Ezekiel speaks, \"Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken\nagainst the residue of nations, and against all Edom, which have\nappointed my land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all\ntheir heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey; therefore\nprophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and\nto the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus saith the\nLord God; Behold I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye\nhave borne the shame of the nations. Therefore thus saith the Lord God:\nI have lifted up mine hand, saying, Surely the nations that are round\nabout you, they shall bear their shame.\"\n\nJehovah speaks of Israel's land as \"my land,\" and in holy indignation\nand jealous for His people and their land, He arises now to put judgment\nand shame upon the nations which reproached Him. He lifts His hand in\ntoken of an oath, that He will do this now. His time has come to be\nmerciful to His people and His land, and that will mean judgment for\ntheir enemies (See Zech. i:13-19). And that time is not far distant now\nwhen God will turn to His ancient people in mercy and put judgment upon\nthe nations which have forgotten God and ignored His infallible word and\nrevealed purposes.\n\n\nII. The Promised Return to the Land.\n\n But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches,\n and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to\n come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye\n shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the\n house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited,\n and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man\n and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will\n settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than\n at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Yea, I\n will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they\n shall possess thee and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou\n shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. Thus saith the Lord\n God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast\n bereaved thy nations; Therefore thou shalt devour men no more,\n neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God. Neither\n will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more,\n neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither\n shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God\n (verses 8-15).\n\nThe address is still to the mountains of Israel. These are beautiful\nwords which Jehovah, to comfort His people, puts into the lips of the\nprophet. The mountains, so long barren, would shoot forth their\nbranches and prepare fruit for His people. Then their imminent return is\nannounced: \"For they are at hand to come.\" The near fulfillment was the\nreturn of the remnant from the Babylonian captivity. But that does not\nexhaust this prophecy; there is a greater homecoming in store for\nIsrael, when they will be gathered out of all countries to possess the\nland and multiply there as they never did in all their past history.\n\"And I will multiply men upon you (the mountains), all the house of\nIsrael, even all of it.\" No one could claim that this promise found its\nfulfillment when a small portion of the house of Judah returned from\nBabylon. Here it speaks of all the house of Israel. And the waste places\nshall also be builded again as promised by former prophets, for instance\nin Isaiah lviii:12, lxi:4; Amos ix:11, 12, 14. Still greater is the\npromise, \"I will cause you to be inhabited after the former estate, and\nwill do better unto you than at your beginnings, and ye shall know that\nI am the Lord.\" Such was not the case when they returned from Babylon.\nAnd what blessing will come to them, when at last God does all these\nthings! \"Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you (the mountains), even my\npeople Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their\ninheritance and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.\" All\nwould be changed. Jeremiah had announced, \"I will bereave them of\nchildren, I will destroy my people since they return not from their\nways\" (Jere. xv:7). When the Lord keeps His promise and brings them\nback, their sorrows will be at an end. What are the sorrows and\nsufferings of the Babylonian captivity in comparison with the sufferings\nwhich befell them in the year 70 and throughout this dispensation! And\nthe last page of Israel's sorrow is yet to be written. All is preparing\nnow for the great tribulation, and then there will be the intervention\nfrom above, and the coming Lord will wipe away all their tears. Four\ntimes the prophet uses the words \"any more\" (verses 14-15), \"Neither\nshalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou\ncause thy nation to stumble any more, saith the Lord God.\" Inasmuch as\nthere is reproach now upon that nation and they are a reproach, and that\nthey have stumbled, we know that these words still await their\nfulfillment.\n\n\nIII. Israel's Past Sins and Chastisement.\n\n Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when\n the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by\n their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the\n uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them\n for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols\n wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the\n nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to\n their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they\n had entered unto the nations, whither they went, they profaned my\n holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord,\n and are gone forth out of his land (verses 16-20).\n\nIt needs no lengthy comment to explain this paragraph. The whole history\nof that nation bears witness to it. They were an unclean, a stiffnecked\nnation; a nation which rejected His word, yea, Himself, and worshipped\nidols. But their crowning sin came when they delivered the Lord Jesus\nChrist, their own Messiah-King, into the hands of the Gentiles. His\nblood was shed upon the land and they cried, \"His blood be upon us and\nupon our children.\" And as a result they were scattered among the\nnations, where they also profaned His holy name (Isaiah lii:5; Rom.\nii:24). What then has Israel done to deserve blessing? The rest of the\nchapter answers this question.\n\n\nIV. Restoration and Blessing Through Grace.\n\n But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had\n profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto\n the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your\n sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye\n have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will\n sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which\n ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know\n that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified\n in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the\n nations, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you\n into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and\n ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your\n idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a\n new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony\n heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And\n I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my\n statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall\n dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my\n people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your\n uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn and will increase it,\n and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the\n tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more\n reproach of famine among the nations. Then shall ye remember your\n own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe\n yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your\n abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be\n it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O\n house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall\n have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to\n dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the\n desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight\n of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was\n desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and\n desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.\n Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the\n Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate; I\n the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God;\n I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it\n for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy\n flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the\n waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that\n I am the Lord (verses 21-38).\n\nThe Lord's own name, His holy name, which they profaned among the\nnations, is what moves Him to act. He tells them that it was not for\ntheir sakes, for any merit in them, that He would do the things which\nHis prophet is about to announce. It was His own name as the Lord Who is\na covenant keeping God, the holy name they had so miserably outraged,\nwhich He must vindicate. The nations were to know, and will yet know,\nthat He is God. He will sanctify His great name, and declares, \"I shall\nbe sanctified in you before their eyes.\" But how? When in infinite grace\nHe deals with this nation and manifests Himself as the loving,\ncovenant-keeping, grace-bestowing Jehovah. And that will be when He, Who\ndied for that nation on the cross (John xii:50-53), Whom they rejected,\nWhose name they have profaned, returns from His glory-place. Then will\nHis name be sanctified in all the earth, when in wondrous grace He lifts\nHis nation from the dunghill of shame and want and brings them back to\ntheir own land.\n\nThis is so marvelously promised by Ezekiel. The characteristic word in\nverses 23-38 is the word \"I will.\" It is the word of sovereign grace.\nEighteen times Jehovah saith what He will do. They are the \"I wills\" of\nIsrael's hope and coming glory.\n\nHe will gather them from among the nations and all countries and bring\nthem back to their own land. Only a superficial expositor can speak of a\nfulfillment when they returned from Babylon. But even if this were so,\nthough it is not, the verses which follow have never been fulfilled in\nthe past. The cleansing of the nation is next promised: \"I will sprinkle\nclean water upon you and ye shall be clean.\"[29] It refers us to the\nwater mixed with the ashes of the red-heifer, which was sprinkled with\na hyssop on the unclean, typifying the precious blood of Christ in its\ncleansing power (Heb. ix:13-14; x:22). Thus when the people of Israel\nbelieve on Him and look upon Him Whom they pierced (Zech. xii:10), they\nwill be cleansed. \"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the\nhouse of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for\nuncleanness\" (Zech. xiii:1). Then follows the promise of the new birth of\nIsrael. \"A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put\nwithin you.\" The stony heart is to be taken away and they will receive a\nheart of flesh. Our Lord had this passage in mind when He talked with\nNicodemus about the new birth. Nicodemus, the teacher in Israel, was\nignorant of the fact that this new birth for Israel is necessary in\norder to be in that coming kingdom and to receive its blessings.\nTherefore the Lord said to him, \"If I have told you earthly things\n(about Israel and the new birth as the way into the kingdom) and ye\nbelieve not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?\"\n(the heavenly blessings which follow His sacrificial death).\n\n[29] It is wrong to apply this sentence to water-baptism and claim for\nit sprinkling as the proper mode of baptism.\n\nThen follow still greater restoration promises and blessings, which\nIsrael never possessed in their past history nor to-day. He will be\ntheir God and they will be His people. There will be an increase in the\ncorn; famine will disappear forever. The desolate land will be tilled so\nthat those who pass through the land will say: \"This land that was\ndesolate is become like the Garden of Eden and the waste and desolate\nand ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.\" When this\nrestoration and blessing through grace is accomplished then will they\nremember their evil ways and loathe themselves for their iniquities and\nabominations. This will be their national repentance. It is not\nrepentance first, but the Lord will be first gracious and merciful to\nthem, and as a result they will remember their ways of evil and humble\nthemselves before Him. And the nations round about will know that He who\nhas done all this is Jehovah. All these blessed things will surely be\naccomplished in the day when the Lord arises and has mercy upon Zion\n(Ps. cii:13): \"I, the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.\"\n\n\nTHE VISION OF THE DRY BONES.\n\nChapter xxxvii.\n\nThe future restoration or Israel, both their national and spiritual\nrevival, which the Lord announced in the previous chapter, is now shown\nto the prophet in a remarkable vision. The vision emphasizes once more\nwhat Jehovah in grace will do for them. \"And I will put my Spirit in\nyou, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land\" (verse\n14). The second half of this chapter predicts the reunion of Judah and\nIsrael represented by two sticks, which are joined together.\n\n\nI. The Vision of the Dry Bones and their Resurrection.\n\n The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit\n of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which _was_\n full of bones. And caused me to pass by them round about: and,\n behold, _there were_ very many in the open valley; and, lo, _they\n were_ very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones\n live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto\n me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones,\n hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones,\n Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:\n And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you,\n and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live;\n and ye shall know that I _am_ the Lord. So I prophesied as I was\n commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a\n shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I\n beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin\n covered them above: but _there was_ no breath in them. Then said he\n unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to\n the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O\n breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I\n prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and\n they lived; and Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are\n the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried,\n and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore\n prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my\n people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of\n your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall\n know that I _am_ the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my\n people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my\n Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own\n land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken _it_, and\n performed _it_, saith the Lord (verses 1-14).\n\nOnce more the hand of the Lord is upon the prophet, and he is carried\nout in the Spirit of the Lord and is set down in the midst of a valley.\nThe valley was full of bones and they were very dry. These dry bones,\ndisjointed and bleached, picture in the vision the national and\nspiritual condition of the whole house of Israel. There was no life in\nthese bones and all is hopeless as they themselves are concerned. Then\nthe Lord spoke to His prophet, \"Son of man, can these bones live?\" And\nthe prophet answered, \"O Lord God, Thou knowest!\" Ezekiel knowing the\nimpossibility that these bones could ever live, puts the question of\ntheir living upon the Lord. With Him nothing is impossible. He then is\ncommanded to prophesy: \"O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus\nsaith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to\nenter into you and ye shall live.\" And there is to be a complete\nreconstruction of these dry bones. Sinews and flesh is to cover them and\nthe breath of life is to return. And the prophet speaks the word and\nthere was a noise (literal: voice) and a commotion, bone came to bone,\nsinews and flesh came into view and skin covered them; but they were\nstill dead, as no breath was in them. Again the prophet is commanded to\nprophecy, to utter the word: \"Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the\nfour winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.\"\nNo sooner had the prophet spoken the word as commanded, when suddenly\nthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an\nexceeding great army. Then the Lord explains the vision, so that we are\nnot left in doubt of what is meant by it. The dry bones are typical of\nthe whole house of Israel; they themselves confess \"our bones are dried,\nand our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts.\" Thus saith the Lord\nin answer to their despairing confession, what the vision so strikingly\nforeshadows, \"I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of\nyour graves and bring you into the land of Israel, ... and shall put my\nSpirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own\nland.\"\n\nThe national resuscitation of the whole house of Israel, the restoration\nto their own land and the accompanying spiritual revival (though the\nlatter does not fully come into view here) is the meaning of the vision.\nIt may be used in application[30] in different ways, to illustrate\ncertain truths, but the true and only interpretation is the one which is\ngiven by the Lord in verses 11-14. But there is an erroneous\ninterpretation of a serious nature which is widely taught and believed\namong many Christians. Because \"graves\" are mentioned, besides the dry\nbones and their resurrection, it is being taught that the vision means\nphysical resurrection. Systems, like Millennial Dawnism _alias_\nInternational Bible Student Association and others, which teach the\nso-called larger hope, a second chance for the impenitent dead, the\nrestitution of the lost, teach that all the Israelites who have died in\ntheir sins will be brought out of their graves and then be saved. They\nuse this vision to confirm this invention. An advocate of this theory\ndeclared that all the Christ-hating Pharisees and Sadducees who lived\nwhen our Lord was on earth would be raised up when He comes and then\nbelieve on Him. Matthew xxiii:39 was used by him as an argument. These\nrestitution teachers also teach that inasmuch as Israel will have a\nsecond chance when they are raised from the dead, the Gentile dead will\nshare also in the same. It needs no argument to refute this. The Word of\nGod teaches a twofold resurrection: a first resurrection and a second\nresurrection, a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the\nunjust (John v:28-29). According to the above theory there would have to\nbe a third resurrection, a resurrection for a second chance and ultimate\nsalvation of those who died in their sins. Of such a resurrection the\nBible knows nothing.\n\n[30] We heard once a Baptist preacher speak on this vision, and he used\nthe dry bones as a picture of the dead members of his own denomination,\nand spoke of them as \"the dry bones.\" A Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.,\nmight do the same.\n\nIn this vision of the dry bones physical resurrection is used as a type\nof the national restoration of Israel. It is used in the same way in\nDaniel xii:2. In that passage the sleep in the dust of the earth is\nsymbolical of their national condition. And when their national sleep\nends there will be an awakening.[31] When we read here in Ezekiel of\ngraves it must not be taken to mean literal graves, but the graves are\nsymbolical of the nation as being buried among the Gentiles. If these\ndry bones meant the physical dead of the nation, how could it be\nexplained that they speak and say, \"Our bones are dried up, and our hope\nis lost?\" The same figure of speech is used in the New Testament. Of the\nprodigal it is said, \"For this my son was dead, and is alive again\"\n(Luke xv:24). Yet he was not physically dead, nor was he made alive\nphysically. Therefore, this vision has nothing whatever to do with a\nphysical resurrection. The late Dr. Bullinger, whose erroneous\nsuggestions have led astray some, also taught that the vision of the dry\nbones includes resurrection as well as restoration.\n\n[31] See \"Exposition of Daniel,\" by A. C. G., page 200.\n\nEqually bad is that spiritualizing method which takes a vision like\nthis, as well as the hundreds of promises of a coming restoration, and\napplies it all to the church, ignoring totally the claims of Israel and\ntheir promised future of glory. This is the general trend of\ncommentators.\n\nThey say that all these visions and promises were exhausted in the\nreturn of the remnant from Babylon (less than 43,000 souls) and the\nspiritual and larger fulfilment is now going on in the church. This\nmethod is evil, for it robs the Christian of the true key which unlocks\nthe prophetic Word.\n\n\"Their interpretation of prophecy in particular is vitiated by this\nfatal mistake, which practically razes the hopes of Israel from the\nBible and lowers ours to a mere succession to their hope and inheritance\nwith somewhat better light and privilege. It is a part of the first and\nwidest and most tenacious corruption of Christianity against which the\napostle fought so valiantly. And it comes in the more insidiously,\nbecause it seems to those under its influence that they are of all men\nthe most distant from the false brethren Paul denounced. To their minds\nthe truest guard against Judaizing is to deny that the Jews will ever be\nreinstated as a people, or be restored consequently to their own land.\nAll the predictions of future blessedness and glory to Israel they turn\nover to Christendom now or to the church in glory. Most pernicious\nerror! For this is exactly to Judaize the Christian and the church by\nmaking them simply follow and inherit from Israel. The truth is thus\nswamped; Israel's bright prospects are denied; Gentile conceit is\nengendered; and the Christian is rendered worldly, instead of being\ntaught his place of blessing on high in contrast with Israel's on the\nearth.\"[32]\n\n[32] Wm. Kelly.\n\n\nII. The Reunion of the Nation and their King.\n\n The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou Son\n of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for\n the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and\n write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and _for_ all the\n house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into\n one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the\n children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not\n shew us what thou _meanest_ by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the\n Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which _is_ in the\n hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put\n them with him, _even_ with the stick of Judah, and make them one\n stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon\n thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto\n them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of\n Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and I will\n gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I\n will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel;\n and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more\n two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any\n more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with\n their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their\n transgressions: but I will save them out of all their\n dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them: so\n shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my\n servant _shall be_ king over them; and they all shall have one\n shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my\n statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have\n given unto Jacob my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt; and\n they shall dwell therein, _even_ they, and their children, and their\n children's children, for ever: and my servant David _shall be_ their\n prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them;\n it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place\n them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of\n them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I\n will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen\n shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary\n shall be in the midst of them for evermore (verses 15-28).\n\nThe prophet is next commanded to demonstrate another coming event for\nGod's ancient people by a symbolical action. He was to take a stick and\nwrite on it \"for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions.\"\nOn the second stick, he was to write, \"for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim,\nand for all the house of Israel his companions.\" He was then to join the\ntwo sticks so that they became one in his hand. It denotes the reunion\nof the house of Judah with the house of Israel. The sad division of the\nnation will end and both will be in His hand one, symbolical of the\nroyal rod or sceptre, which will be in the hand of the Lord in the midst\nof His redeemed people. The Lord will do all this. \"Behold I will take\nthe children of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and\nwill gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And\nI will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel;\nand one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two\nnations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at\nall.\" The house of Israel never returned from the captivity; only a\nremnant of Judah came back. Since then they have been termed \"the lost\ntribes,\" though this term is incorrect, for the Epistle of James is\naddressed to the twelve tribes of Israel. Nothing is lost with God. They\nare hidden rather, and the time will come when the enigma of the two\ntribes will be solved. Attempts have been made to locate them but all\nhave failed. The Anglo-Israel theory (that England and America are the\nlost tribes) is so ridiculous and fantastic that it merits not even an\ninvestigation. God has kept track of them, and when this promised\nrestoration takes place they will be brought to light. Then, reunited as\nthey were under David and Solomon, they will have one King over them.\nThis King is foreshadowed by both David and his son Solomon. As King he\nis called, \"David, my servant,\" who will be the One Shepherd. And \"my\nservant David, their prince forever.\" It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the\nson of David, the true and greater Solomon, the Prince of Peace. How\nobvious it is that all this does not mean the church. The Lord Jesus\nChrist is the head of the church in glory, but He is also the King of\nIsrael. When the restoration takes place the angelic message finds its\nblessed fulfillment: \"The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His\nfather David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of\nHis Kingdom there shall be no end\" (Luke i:32-37). But how can anyone\nbelieve that the words of promise given through Ezekiel have no future\nmeaning for the seed of Abraham? Has Israel ever been restored as\nannounced in these words? Have they ever been saved as promised in verse\n23? Have they ever walked as a nation in perfect obedience, as stated in\nthe words, \"They shall also walk in My judgments, and observe my\nstatutes and do them.\" And verse 25 promises an abiding dwelling in\ntheir land which at this time they do not yet possess. It is the\nsanctuary of the Lord set up in their midst.\n\nOnly when our Lord returns will all this be accomplished. Then will it\nbe true, \"My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their\nGod and they shall be My people.\"\n\n\nGOG AND MAGOG\n\nChapter xxxviii.\n\nThe great restoration vision of the preceding chapter is followed by\nanother great prophecy concerning the last enemy of Israel, and how the\nLord will deliver His people and deal in judgment with the invading\nhordes. This prophecy is in chapters xxxviii and xxxix. These two\nchapters are of great interest and demand a careful study; they have\nbeen misunderstood by many. Frequently the Gog and Magog have been\nidentified with the final revolt at the close of the millennium, when\nSatan is loosed for a little season (Rev. xx:7-9). The text shows that\nthis is incorrect. The invasion which Ezekiel describes takes place in\nthe beginning of the millennium; the invasion of Gog and Magog in\nRevelation is postmillennial. Ezekiel's invasion takes place from the\nNorth and the nations are designated; the nations which gather under\nSatan at the close of the millennium are from the four quarters of the\nearth. The invaders in Ezekiel's vision fall on the mountains of Israel,\nwhile those assembled after the millennium are devoured by fire from\nheaven.\n\nOthers have identified these invading enemies with the nations gathered\nin the revived Roman Empire. This also cannot be, for we find that the\nnations Ezekiel names are outside of the territory of the restored Roman\nEmpire. We have to turn to the text itself to find the correct meaning\nof this prophecy.\n\n\nI. The Invasion of Israel's Land.\n\n And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy\n face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and\n Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God:\n Behold, I _am_ against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and\n Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and\n I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen,\n all of them clothed with all sorts of _armour_, _even_ a great\n company _with_ bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:\n Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and\n helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north\n quarters, and all his bands: _and_ many people with thee. Be thou\n prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that\n are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many\n days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into\n the land _that is_ brought back from the sword, _and is_ gathered\n out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been\n always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they\n shall dwell safely, all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a\n storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all\n thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord God: It\n shall also come to pass, _that_ at the same time shall things come\n into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt\n say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to\n them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwellings\n without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil,\n and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places\n _that are now_ inhabited, and upon the people _that are_ gathered\n out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell\n in the midst of the land. Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of\n Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art\n thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a\n prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods,\n to take a great spoil? (verses 1-13).\n\nThe first question which confronts us in giving an exposition of these\nverses is, When does this enemy fall into Israel's land? At what time\ndoes this invasion take place? We find the answer in the text. The\nstatement is made in verse eight that Gog and Magog and the other\nnations with them invade the land \"that is brought back from the sword,\nand is gathered out of many people;\" they come \"against the mountains of\nIsrael, which have always been waste; but it is brought forth out of the\nnations, and they shall dwell safely, all of them.\" In verse eleven the\nevil purpose of the invader is made known. He says, \"I will go up to\nthe land of unwalled villages, I will go to them that are at rest, that\ndwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars\nnor gates.\" He comes \"upon the people that are gathered out of the\nnations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of\nthe land\" (verse 12). From all this we learn that the invasion takes\nplace at the time when the Lord has brought back His people and resumed\nHis relationship with the remnant of Israel.\n\nThe invasion will happen some time after the beastly empire with its\nbeasthead (the revived Roman empire), in its final ten kingdom form and\nthe clay, with the little horn as leader (Dan. vii; Rev. xiii:1-10) and\nthe false prophet, the personal Antichrist (Rev. xiii:11, etc.) have\nbeen dealt with in judgment (Rev. xix:19-20). The stone out of heaven\nhas then fallen upon the feet of the great dream image of\nNebuchadnezzar, and as far as the Western confederated world power is\nconcerned it is now ended. But other nations gather now for an assault.\nIt is a Northern confederacy which sweeps southward to invade the land\nas Antiochus Epiphanes did in the past, as well as the Assyrian in the\ndays of Isaiah. These final invading hosts, under the leadership of a\npowerful king, come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land.\n\nIn verse 17 we read \"Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have\nspoken in old times by my servants the prophets of Israel, which\nprophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against\nthem?\" By the way, in these words we have a very clear statement\nconcerning the prophets of God. They all were the mouthpiece of Jehovah;\nHe has spoken through them. According to this verse other prophets\nprophesied of the same enemy. Some expositors have stated their\ninability to find a single prophecy elsewhere which would confirm\nEzekiel's vision and prophecy.\n\nWe believe the foe, of whom Isaiah speaks as the Assyrian, foreshadows\nthis one coming with his hordes from the North. The Assyrian in the days\nof Isaiah, who threatened to cover the land like a cloud, was\nSennacherib. How the Lord dealt with him by wiping out his proud army\nwith a single stroke is known to every reader of the Bible. But he also\nforeshadows the final Assyrian, the last King of the North. He is\ndescribed in Isaiah x. A significant statement is made in that chapter\nas to the time when the Lord will deal with this Assyrian of the future.\nIt is this \"Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord has\nperformed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish\nthe fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his\nhigh looks\" (verse 12). When the Lord has performed His work in judgment\nand in mercy upon Mount Zion and in behalf of Israel and their enemies,\nthen He will also punish the last invader and spoiler of His people, the\none foreshadowed by the Assyrian.\n\nThe Antichrist, who opposed the heavenly rights and glory of Christ, has\nthen already been overthrown by the brightness of His coming; and next\nthis last enemy who opposeth the earthly rights of the King of kings\nwill also meet his defeat. Notice that in the same chapter of Isaiah the\nLord comforts His people in view of the invader, showing thereby that He\nis with them and on their side. \"Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of\nhosts, O my people that dwelleth in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian\"\n(Isa. x:24).\n\nThe prophet Micah bears a similar testimony to the same person. In\nchapter v we have a prophetic announcement of the birth of Christ in\nBethlehem Ephrata. We also read of His rejection: \"they shall smite the\njudge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.\" Then the nation is seen as\nrejected--given up, set aside--till Israel brings forth in travail pains\na godly remnant during the end of the age. Then the Lord returns. \"And\nHe shall stand and rule in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of\nthe name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now shall He be\ngreat unto the ends of the earth\" (verse 4).\n\nWhen this has come to pass then the Assyrian appears on the scene,\ninvading the land. But Micah tells us: \"And this man (Christ) shall be\nthe peace when the Assyrian shall come into the land\" (verse 5). All\nthis confirms the story of Ezekiel xxxviii. The reader may also turn to\nIsaiah xxxiii, to Joel and find there a description of the same invading\nforces which Ezekiel describes and their judgment.\n\nBut some will find a difficulty here. If the Lord has returned and His\npeople Israel are being gathered to dwell in safety in their own land,\nif the Lord has revealed His glory, how is it possible that such an\ninvasion can take place? Is not Satan to be bound at once after Christ\nhas come back? And if Satan is put into the pit of the abyss to seduce\nthe nations no more, how is it that these nations are so blind to come\nup into Immanuel's land to challenge the earthly rights of the King of\nkings?\n\nSatan will be bound for a thousand years, but the last act by which he\nattempts to oppose Christ will be through Gog and Magog. The evil\nthought the leader, the prince of Rosh, thinks (verse 10) is inspired by\nSatan. He stands behind this wild company of nations and blinds them as\nhe blinded the kings of the Roman Empire and their armies to make war\nagainst Him that sat upon the horse. (Rev. xix:19). But then Satan has\nspent his last arrow. He has completely failed and is then put into the\nprison for a thousand years to seduce the nations no more. His last\nattempt was through the prince of Rosh with the nations mentioned in the\nbeginning of this chapter.\n\nAnd when the Lord looses him, after the thousand years, he is still the\nsame old devil, as he always will be forever and ever; once more he gets\na Gog and Magog, this time from the four quarters of the earth, to put\nup his very last fight. How that will end we know from Revelation\n(xx:7-9).\n\nStill another question is raised, and this one in connection with the\njudgment of the nations, as revealed by our Lord in Matthew xxv:31, etc.\nAfter the Lord has returned He will receive His own throne and begin to\njudge the nations He finds then upon the earth. That this is not what\nhas been termed the final--universal judgment of the quick and the\ndead--must be apparent to all who divide the Word of Truth rightly. It\nis the judgment of the living nations. Now the question is asked, if the\nLord judges at once all living nations when He comes, how is it that\nthese nations can invade the land? Why were they not also consigned to\nthe place of eternal punishment? Why are they still unjudged?\n\nWe do not believe that the judgment of the living nations takes place on\na single day. Such a judgment of necessity covers a longer period of\ntime. Nation after nation will have to come up for judgment. This will\nconsume considerable time. There is no question the millennial reign of\nour Lord will have two sides. There is first the Davidic aspect. He will\nbegin to reign first as David did; His people are with Him and blessed,\nbut all their enemies are not yet subdued and overcome. He will have to\nrule first with a rod of iron. And then when this final enemy is dealt\nwith, He begins to reign as Prince of Peace, foreshadowed in the\nSolomonic reign. Gog and Magog, etc., complete and end the judgment of\nthe nations. They are the last enemies to disappear.\n\nAfter we have ascertained the time when this prophecy concerning Gog\nand Magog will be accomplished, we inquire next who this final enemy is.\n\"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of Man, set thy face\nagainst Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,\nand prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I\nam against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. And I will\nturn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee\nforth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them thoroughly\nequipped, a great assemblage with targets and shields, all of them\nhandling swords. Persia, Cush, and Phut with them, all of them with\nshield and helmet; Gomer and all his bands; the house of Togormah from\nthe uttermost north, and all his bands--many peoples with thee.\" Here\nthen we have a confederacy of nations. The leader is the Prince of Rosh\n(not as the authorized version has it \"the chief prince\"), of Meshech\nand Tubal. This prince is the head of the confederacy, and with him\nallied are Persia, Cush, Phut, Gomer and Togormah. They come out of the\nnorth, or, as it is in Hebrews, \"out of the uttermost north\" (verse 15).\nInasmuch as the Prince of Rosh is addressed in verse 3 as Gog, we take\nit that Gog is the name given to this prince and leader of these\nnations. His dwelling place is in the land of Magog. We know from\nGenesis x:2 that Magog was the second son of Japheth. Gomer, Tubal and\nMeshech were also sons of Japheth; Togormah was a grandson of Japheth,\nbeing the third son of Gomer. Magog's land, was located in, what is\ncalled today, the Caucasus and the adjoining steppes. And the three\nRosh, Meshech and Tubal were called by the ancients Scythians. They\nroamed as nomads in the country around and north of the Black and the\nCaspian Seas, and were known as the wildest barbarians. We learn from\nthis that the invading forces, which fall into Israel's land in the\nfuture, when Israel has been regathered, come from a territory north of\nPalestine, which today is in the hands of Russia. And here we call\nattention to the prince, this northern leader, or king, who is the head\nof all these nations. He is the prince of Rosh. Careful research has\nestablished the fact that the progenitor of Rosh was Tiraz (Gen. x:2)\nand that Rosh is Russia. All students of Prophecy are agreed that this\nis the correct meaning of Rosh. The prince of Rosh, means, therefore,\nthe prince or king of the Russian empire. But he also is in control of\nMeshech and Tubal, which are reproduced in the modern Moscow and\nTobolsk.[33] Russia, we may well conclude from this, will furnish the\nman who will lead this confederacy of nations. We write this at a time\nwhen Russia is passing through horrors upon horrors. A revolution\nchanged the autocratic government into a democracy and that given way to\nanarchy, produced by the satanic treachery of Germany. From what is\nwritten in this chapter we learn that Russia will ultimately return to\nthe old regime and will once more become a monarchy to fulfill her final\ndestiny as made known in this sublime prophecy. Well known it is that\nRussia has been in the past the most pronounced and bitterest enemy of\nthe Jewish people. What she passes through today is but a fulfillment of\nwhat the Lord has spoken: \"I will curse them that curse thee.\" Today the\nJews in Russian may have bright hopes of getting their rights and\ncomplete emancipation at last. For a time this may come to pass, but\nultimately Russia will turn against them and like Pharaoh did, when\nIsrael had left his domain, so this coming King of the North, the prince\nof Rosh, when Israel is back in the land, will turn against them.\n\n[33] The Septuagint translates, \"Mesoch and Thobel.\"\n\nWith him come the other nations. Persia, which is even now in part\noccupied by Russia, will finally be a vassal to this prince of Rosh.\nEthiopia and Phut are also in this confederacy. There also is Gomer and\nall its bands. Gomer, says Delitsch, \"is most probably the tribe of the\nCimmerians, who dwell, according to Herodotus, on the Maeotis, in the\nTaurian Chersonesus, and from whom are descended the Cumri or Cymry in\nWales and Britain, whose relation to the Germanic Cimbri is still in\nobscurity.\" Valuable information is given in the Talmud; Gomer is there\nstated to be the Germani, the Germans. That the descendants of the Gomer\nmoved northward and established themselves in parts of Germany seems to\nbe an established fact. All this is of much interest. Germany did not\nbelong to the Roman empire, at least the greater part of Germany was\nnever conquered by Rome. She will therefore not participate in the\nWestern confederacy. Will she then become united to Russia and march\nunder the prince of Rosh into the land of Israel? We cannot be sure\nabout all these things. This, however, we know, that a powerful\nconfederacy of nations, under the leadership of the prince of Rosh,\nMeshech and Tubal, will come up against Immanuel's land, when Israel has\nbeen restored and dwells safely.\n\n\nII. The Disastrous Defeat of the Invaders.\n\n Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto God, Thus saith the\n Lord God: In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely,\n shalt thou not know _it_? And thou shalt come from thy place out of\n the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding\n upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come\n up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it\n shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land,\n that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O\n Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God: _Art_ thou he of\n whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of\n Israel, which prophesied in those days for _many_ years that I would\n bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time\n when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God,\n _that_ my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy _and_ in\n the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall\n be a great shaking in the land of Israel: So that the fishes of the\n sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and\n all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that\n _are_ upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and\n the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall,\n and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword\n against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every\n man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against\n him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and\n upon his bands, and upon the many people that _are_ with him, an\n overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus\n will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in\n the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I _am_ the Lord\n (verses 14-23).\n\nThe awful fate of the invaders is now prophetically announced. The\nprophet is commanded to address Gog. They know that Israel dwelleth\nsafely and they come to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold,\ncattle and goods and a great spoil (verse 13). The Lord permits it all\nso that He might be sanctified and magnified by the manifestation of His\npower in judgment, so that through this judgment the nations might know\nHim (verses 16, 23). When they come into the land then His fury will\ncome into His face. \"For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have\nI spoken, surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land\nof Israel.\" The next chapter gives the prophecy of the judgment upon Gog\nin detail.\n\n\nTHE DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS.\n\nChapter xxxix.\n\nOnce more the prophet is commanded to prophesy against this final\ninvader of Israel's land and to describe the judgment which falls upon\nthe Northern army. This chapter concludes the prophecy of the last enemy\nof Israel; the concluding chapters of this book mention no longer\nenemies, nor Israel's apostasy. They are taken up with the glory of the\nrestoration of the nation and the great millennial temple, the\nconstruction, the order of worship, etc.\n\n\nI. The Judgment and Destruction of Invading Gog.\n\n Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus\n saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief\n prince of Meshech and Tubal; And I will turn thee back, and leave\n but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the\n north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I\n will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows\n to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains\n of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee:\n I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the\n beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open\n field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send a\n fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles;\n and they shall know that I am the Lord. So will I make my holy name\n known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not _let them_\n pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I\n _am_ the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is\n done, saith the Lord God; this _is_ the day whereof I have spoken.\n And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and\n shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the\n bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the\n spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years; so that they\n shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down _any_ out of\n the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire; and they\n shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,\n saith the Lord God (verses 1-10).\n\nJehovah announces now their complete judgment and destruction. The\ninvading hordes are permitted to come upon the mountains of Israel, and\nlike the Assyrian of old, \"Shake his hand against the mount of the\ndaughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem\" (Is. x:32). Then the Lord will\nact in behalf of His people. Let us remember that the Lord is then with\nHis people. His glory is with them and they have found rest and dwell in\npeace. The blinding power of Satan, who uses Gog and his companions in a\nfinal effort to dispute the authority of the King of Kings, is\ndemonstrated by these nations, who, led by the Prince of Rosh (Russia)\ninvade the land. The nations and their kings forming the Western\nConfederacy were equally blinded when, previously to this final attempt,\nthey made war against the Lord (Rev. xix:19). Jehovah speaks His \"I\nwill;\" it is the sovereign \"I will\" in judgment. As He spoke to His\npeople Israel the \"I will\" of sovereign grace (chapter xxxvi), so now He\nspeaks the word which seals the doom of Israel's last enemy. \"And I will\nturn thee back and lead thee on[34] and will cause thee to come up from\nthe sides of the north, and will bring thee upon the mountains of\nIsrael.\" There the invaders are to be smitten. Upon the mountains where\nthe Lord led them and permitted them to come, the hordes shall fall and\ntheir carcasses will be given to the ravenous beasts and to the beasts\nof the field. And those who helped Gog in the wicked endeavor, who dwell\nsecurely in the isles, who probably assisted them with ships and in\nother ways, will also be judged. Fire will be sent upon Magog. It will\nbe a sweeping judgment. As a result of what takes place will be the\nvindication of His holy Name and both Israel and the nations of the\nearth shall know Him in that day. \"And my holy name will I make known in\nthe midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be\nprofaned any more; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the\nHoly One in Israel.\" And what an assuring statement is added: \"Behold,\nit cometh, it shall be done, saith the Lord God; this is the day\nwhereof I have spoken.\"\n\n[34] This is the more satisfactory rendering. The marginal reading,\n\"Strike thee with six plagues\" or \"draw thee back with a hook of six\nteeth\" is incorrect.\n\nThe weapons the invading hordes left behind will be used for firewood by\nIsrael for seven years. It seems the invaders carried mostly wooden\ninstruments. Perhaps the preceding wars exhausted the metals so that\nthey had to resort to weapons made of wood. Israel shall then spoil\nthose that spoiled them and rob those that robbed them.\n\n\nII. The Burial of the Slain.\n\n And it shall come to pass in that day _that_ I will give unto Gog a\n place there of a grave in Israel, the valley of the passengers on\n the east of the sea; and it shall stop the passengers; and there\n shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call _it_\n The valley of Hamon-gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel\n be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the\n people of the land shall bury _them_; and it shall be to them a\n renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And\n they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through\n the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face\n of the earth, to cleanse it; after the end of seven months shall\n they search. And the passengers _that_ pass through the land, when\n _any_ seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till\n the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. And also the\n name of the city _shall_ be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the\n land (verses 11-16).\n\nGog's delusion was to take Israel's land for a possession. Territorial\naggrandizement was the motive of the invasion, besides the wicked\ndefiance of God; but instead God gives them graves in the land of\nIsrael. All the multitude of Gog will be buried in the valley of the\npassengers of the east of the sea, which is the Dead Sea, outside of\nIsrael's territory; that place will be called then \"the valley of\nHamon-gog,\" which means \"the multitude of Gog.\" Seven months will it\ntake to put away the bodies of the slain. And those who pass through\nthat region will stop there to consider the judgment of the Lord which\nwas executed upon Gog. It will be a solemn memorial of what God hath\ndone; even a city will be named on account of the disaster which has\ncome upon Gog, the city Hamonah. The whole land will be cleansed of the\ndefilement. Whenever, after the seven months, one who passes that way\nsees a man's bones, he shall mark the place with a sign and the buriers\nwill put these bones away in Hamon-gog.\n\nThe day will surely come when all these events will come to pass. Much\nmay be obscure at this time but God will see to the fulfilment in His\nown time. As we have shown in the exposition of the previous chapter,\nRussia is the leader of this final assault. In these significant days\nRussia is in the grasp of anarchy. What will be the outcome? Will Russia\nside with Germany? Will the two form a strong confederacy with other\nsemi-oriental and oriental nations? Are these things, as seen by the\nprophet at the river banks of Chebar, even now preparing? No mortal man\ncan forecast the immediate future. God alone knows what is about to\ncome.\n\n\nIII. The Sacrifice of Jehovah.\n\n And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God: Speak unto every\n feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble\n yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my\n sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, _even_ a great sacrifice upon\n the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye\n shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the\n princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks,\n all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be\n full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice, which I\n have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with\n horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith\n the Lord God (verses 17-20).\n\nIn view of the great slaughter executed upon Gog and his vast army, the\nfeathered fowl and every beast of the field are summoned to attend the\nsacrifice which Jehovah has prepared for them upon the mountains of\nIsrael. They are to eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of\nthe princes of the earth, which are compared to rams, lambs, goats,\nbullocks and the fatlings of Bashan. He promised these fowls and the\nbeasts of the earth a feast, which will completely satisfy them. The\ntable which is spread for them is His table: \"Thus shall ye be filled at\nmy table.\"\n\nRev. xix:17, 18 contains a similar scene. It is the great supper of God,\nwhich the angel standing in the sun announces, and to which he invites\nthe fowls in the midst of heaven. The great supper in Revelation and\nJehovah's sacrifice in Ezekiel are not the same. The great supper of\nGod, that awful judgment supper, is in connection with the beastly\nempire (the Western Confederacy)--the kings and armies of apostate\nChristendom. And probably for this reason the fowls in the midst of\nheaven are only mentioned, because Christendom apostatized from the\nheavenly testimony of Christianity. These kings and their armies refused\nand rejected completely the invitation of the Lord to the Gospel-supper\nand now they will fall in the hands of God and receive their reward at\nthe judgment supper. When Gog falls upon the mountains of Israel, the\ngreat supper of God announced in Rev. xix has already been executed.\n\n\nIV. The Future of Glory.\n\n And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall\n see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid\n upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I _am_ the Lord\n their God from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that\n the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because\n they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them and\n gave them into the hands of their enemies: so fell they all by the\n sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their\n transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.\n Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring again the\n captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel,\n and will be jealous for my holy name; after that they have borne\n their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed\n against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made\n _them_ afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and\n gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them\n in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I _am_ the\n Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the\n heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left\n none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more\n from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,\n saith the Lord God (verses 21-29).\n\nThe moral effect of this judgment is described in verses 21-24. The Lord\nwill then establish His glory among the nations. From this we learn that\nthe glory of the Lord will be made known world-wide to cover the earth\nafter this final invasion has come to pass, and this last judgment of\nnations has been executed. The nations will be the witnesses of this\njudgment. Of course these nations are those who have been converted and\nare embodied in the Kingdom of Christ. And then the Lord is vindicated\nfor having dealt with Israel as He did. They went into captivity--the\ndispersion among all the nations of the earth--on account of their\niniquities. God dealt righteously with them when on account of their\ntransgressions He hid His face from them. All God's ways are righteous\nand in that day all His dealings in judgment will be openly justified.\n\nThen comes the prophecy of the bright future of Israel. It is one of the\nmany found in this book of Ezekiel and the greater number in the other\nprophetic books. The captivity of Jacob is ended. Mercy will be bestowed\nupon the whole house of Israel. They have borne their shame; but now it\nis all ended through the mercy of the Lord. He will bring them again\nfrom the peoples, and gather them out of the enemies' lands and\nsanctify them, by taking away their sins, in the sight of many nations.\nNone will be left behind; all will be gathered back. It is next to\ninconceivable that, with so many promises in the Word of God as to\nIsrael's future restoration and blessing, that the greater part of\nprofessing Christians can ignore these things and refuse to believe in a\nglorious future of the Jewish race.\n\nThe last verse contains an important statement. The Lord says that He\nhides His face no more from them. This in itself shows that all this is\nnot yet here; for still He hides His face from them. The hiding of His\nface from them will be no more when His Spirit is poured upon them. \"I\nhave poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.\"\nThere comes then a time when the house of Israel, the literal\ndescendants of Abraham, will receive an outpouring of the Spirit of God.\nSuch is also the message of Joel, in which restoration and spiritual\nblessing, through the outpouring of the Spirit are blended together\n(Joel ii).[35] We call attention to another passage which should be\nlinked with the statement in this chapter. Isaiah xxxii:13-18 is a very\nstriking prophecy. There is an announcement made first of all concerning\nthe judgment which is to fall upon Israel's land. \"Upon the land of my\npeople shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy\nin the joyous city,\" etc. But this is not to last forever. An \"until\"\nfollows. \"Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high.\" This is the\nsame future outpouring of the Spirit of God. Up to now it has not been.\nThe Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost came to form the body of Christ,\nbut this outpouring in connection with Israel has another significance.\nWe read, therefore, in the above passage what will happen when this\noutpouring has come to pass. \"And the wilderness be a fruitful field,\nand the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall\ndwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.\nAnd the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of\nrighteousness, quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall\ndwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet\nresting places.\" It is a description of the Kingdom to come, when Israel\nhas found rest and when all the earth will receive the blessing, when\nrighteousness will have given peace, lasting peace to the world.\n\n[35] See \"The Prophet Joel,\" by A. C. G., where this interesting and\nimportant chapter is explained in full.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE]\n\n A. The Temple House, xli.\n B. Altar of Burnt Offering, xliii:13.\n C. Inner Court.\n D. Gates to Inner Court, xl:28.\n E. Separate Place, vli:10.\n F. Hinder Building, xli:12.\n G. Priest's Kitchens, xlvi:19.\n H. Chambers for Priests, xlii:1.\n I. Chambers, xl:44.\n K. People's Kitchen, xlvi:21-24.\n L. Gates into Outer Court, xl:6.\n M. Pavement, xl:18.\n N. Chambers in Outer Court (30) xl:17.\n O. Outer Court.\n\n ---------------Temple Stream\n\n\n\n\nTHE GROUND PLAN OF THE TEMPLE.\n\n\nTHE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE AND ITS WORSHIP. THE LAND AND ITS GLORY.\n\nChapters xl-xlviii.\n\nThe final nine chapters of this book form the climax of the great\nprophecies of Ezekiel; they belong to the most difficult in the entire\nprophetic Word. Once more the hand of the Lord rests upon the seer and\nin the visions of God he is brought into the land of Israel. In the very\nbeginning of this grand finale we learn therefore that the visions\nconcern the land of Israel. Let us remember that after the fall of\nJerusalem had been announced to Ezekiel (chapter xxxiii:21), his\nprophetic utterances and visions concern the future when Israel is to be\nregathered and restored to the land. The previous two chapters dealt\nwith the last invasion of the land of Israel and the complete overthrow\nof Gog and its hordes. The vision contained in this last section follows\nafter Israel's final deliverance. So much is clear as to the time when\nthe prophecies of these eight chapters will be accomplished. They have\nnot been fulfilled in the past, certainly not in the remnant which\nreturned under Zerubabbel and Ezra. Nor have these prophecies been\nfulfilled since then. All is future. Only when the Lord has gathered\nJudah and Israel, when He has established His glorious Kingdom in their\nmidst and delivered His people and the land from the last invader, will\nthis last vision of Ezekiel become history.\n\nThis disposes then at once of the different modes of interpretation\nemployed by so many expositors of this book. These are the following:\n\n1. The theory of interpretation which looks upon the vision of these\nchapters as fulfilled in the return of the remnant from Babylon. One of\nthe expositors who follows this line stated that these visions are \"an\nideal representation of the Jewish state about to be restored after the\ncaptivity.\" It does not need much argument to show that this mode of\ninterpretation is erroneous. The temple which the remnant built does in\nno way whatever correspond with the magnificent structure which Ezekiel\nbeheld in his vision. The fact is, if this temple is a literal building\n(as it assuredly is) it has never yet been erected. Furthermore, it is\ndistinctly stated that the glory of the Lord returned to the temple and\nmade His dwelling place there, the same glory which Ezekiel had seen\ndeparting from the temple and from Jerusalem. But the glory did not\nreturn to the second temple. No glory cloud filled that house. And\nfurthermore no high priest is mentioned in the worship of the temple\nEzekiel describes, but the Jews after their return from Babylon had high\npriests again. Nor can the stream of healing waters flowing from the\ntemple as seen by Ezekiel be in any way applied to the restoration from\nthe Babylonian captivity. Expositors who follow this mode of\ninterpretation claim that all has been fulfilled and that there is\nnothing in store for Israel in the future. It is the most superficial\nmethod and totally wrong.\n\n2. Another interpretation claims that the whole vision sprang from the\nimagination of the prophet. That all is an ideal description of\nsomething which the expositor himself is unable to define. This mode of\ninterpretation needs no further mention and answer.\n\n3. The third interpretation of these chapters is the allegorical which\nspiritualizes everything and claims that the Christian church, its\nearthly glory and blessing, is symbolically described by the prophet.\nThis is the weakest of all and yet the most accepted. But this theory\ngives no exposition of the text, is vague and abounds in fanciful\napplications, while the greater part of this vision is left unexplained\neven in its allegorical meaning, for it evidently has no such meaning at\nall.[36]\n\n[36] What strange applications have been made of this vision! We quote\nfrom the \"New Century Bible\" which says concerning this temple: \"Its\ndetails shed a light nowhere else vouchsafed to us upon the ideals of\n_Hebrew art_, influenced perhaps, by Babylonian masterpieces, yet\nentirely national and Puritan; and they embody in material form\nEzekiel's sober but intense conception of religion, as completely as the\nGothic cathedrals translate into concrete and abiding stone and marble\nthe soaring visions of mediaeval Christianity.\"(!)\n\nThe true interpretation is the literal one which looks upon these\nchapters as a prophecy yet unfulfilled and to be fulfilled when Israel\nhas been restored by the Shepherd and when His glory is once more\nmanifested in the midst of His people. The great building seen in his\nprophetic vision will then come into existence and all will be\naccomplished.\n\nBut while we are sure of the strictly future fulfillment of this final\nvision, the many details which abound in these chapters can hardly be\nfully interpreted as to their meaning. Much is obscure. That all has a\ndeeper meaning we do not doubt; and here and there we shall offer\nsuggestions, but many things we shall have to pass over. Before we turn\nto the text and open up the contents of these chapters, a telescopic\nview of the whole section is in order and will be helpful in our further\nstudies.\n\nWe call attention first to the three main divisions.\n\n =I. The Description of the Temple.= Chapters xl-xlii.\n\n =II. The Temple Worship.= Chapters xliii-xlvi.\n\n =III. The Vision Concerning the Land.= Chapters xlvii-xlviii.\n\nGenerally these eight chapters are called \"The Temple Vision;\" but there\nis much more than the vision of a future temple. We shall see next the\ncontents of these chapters.\n\n=I. The Description of the Temple.= Chapters xl-xlii.\n\n Chapter xl.\n\n 1. The Introduction. Verses 1-4.\n 2. The Gate toward the East. Verses 5-16.\n 3. The Outer Court. Verses 17-27.\n 4. The Inner Court. Verses 28-37.\n 5. The Tables for the Offerings and the Chambers for the Inner\n Court. Verses 38-47.\n 6. The Porch of the House. Verses 48-49.\n\n Chapter xli.\n\n 1. The Holy Place. Verses 1-2.\n 2. The Most Holy. Verses 3-4.\n 3. The Side Chambers. Verses 5-11.\n 4. The Hinder Buildings and the Measurement. Verses 12-14.\n 5. Description of the Interior of the Temple. Verses 15-26.\n\n Chapter xlii.\n\n 1. The Priest's Chambers in the Inner Court. Verses 1-14.\n 2. The Final Measurements. Verses 15-20.\n\n\n=II. The Temple Worship.= Chapters xliii-xlvi.\n\n Chapter xliii.\n\n 1. The Return of the Glory of the Lord and Filling the House.\n Verses 1-9.\n 2. The Address to the Nation. Verses 10-12.\n 3. The Dimensions of the Altar. Verses 13-17.\n 4. The Offerings to be Brought. Verses 18-27.\n\n Chapter xliv.\n\n 1. The Outward Eastern Gate for the Prince. Verses 1-3.\n 2. The Charge concerning the Strangers and the Rebellious Tribes.\n Verses 4-14.\n 3. The Charge concerning the Priests, the Sons of Zadok. Verses 15-27.\n 4. The Inheritance of the Priests. Verses 28-31.\n\n Chapter xlv.\n\n 1. The Portions of the Priests, the Levites, of the whole House of\n Israel and the Prince. Verses 1-8.\n 2. Concerning the Prince. Verses 9-17.\n 3. The Feast of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 18-25.\n\n Chapter xlvi.\n\n 1. The Worship of the Prince. Verses 1-8.\n 2. Further Instruction as to Worship. Verses 9-15.\n 3. Concerning the Prince, his Sons and his Servants. Verses 16-18.\n 4. A Final Description of places in the Temple. Verses 19-24.\n\n\n=III. The Vision concerning the Land.= Chapters xlvii-xlviii.\n\n Chapter xlvii.\n\n 1. The Waters of Healing from the Temple. Verses 1-12.\n 2. Borders of the Land. Verses 13-21.\n 3. Concerning the Stranger in the land. Verses 22-23.\n\n Chapter xlviii.\n\n 1. The Portion of the Seven Tribes. Verses 1-7.\n 2. The Oblation for the Sanctuary, for the City and for the Prince.\n Verses 8-29.\n 3. The Gates of the City and its new Name. Verses 30-35.\n\n\nTHE TEMPLE VISION.\n\nChapter xl.\n\nThe Temple vision is first recorded and the opening verses form the\nintroduction.\n\n\nI. The Introduction to the Temple Vision.\n\n In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of\n the year, in the tenth _day_ of the month, in the fourteenth year\n after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the\n Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of God\n brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high\n mountain, by which _was_ as the frame of a city on the south. And\n he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose\n appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in\n his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the\n man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with\n thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for\n to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought\n hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel (verses\n 1-4).\n\nThe time of the vision is first given by the prophet. It was in the\nfourteenth year after Jerusalem had been smitten, which would make the\ndate 572 B. C. The beginning of the year is mentioned. In the Hebrew a\nword is employed (Rosh hashanah) which is not used again in the Old\nTestament. In Exodus xii we read \"this month shall be unto you the\nbeginnings of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you.\"\n(Abib or Nisan.) Some expositors claim that the beginning of the year in\nEzekiel's vision was in the month of Nisan commemorating the Passover.\nBut it may mean the seventh month (September-October) the feast of\ntrumpets from which the Jews reckon the new year, and the first day of\nthe month would be the day of atonement. We incline to the latter view.\nBoth the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement foreshadow the\nregathering of Israel and the forgiveness of their sins. And when that\nhas come then, and not before, Ezekiel's glory vision will be\naccomplished in the land. We also read in Lev. xxv:9: \"Then shalt thou\ncause the trumpet of jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh\nmonth, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound\nthroughout your land.\" It will be the time of Israel's jubilee when this\ntemple, Ezekiel beheld, will be erected in their land. Once more the\nhand of the Lord rested upon the prophet. It is the seventh time that\nthis happened to Ezekiel, and not again after this. (See chapters. i:3,\niii:14-22, vii:1, xxxiii:22, xxxvii:1, xl:1.) In the visions of God the\nprophet was brought into the land of Israel, which is conclusive\nevidence that the vision he is about to receive concerns the people\nIsrael and not, as the spritualizing, allegorical school of interpreters\nclaim, the church. Ezekiel knew nothing whatever of the church and\ntherefore not a line of all his prophecies could intelligently be\napplied to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He finds himself upon a\nvery high mountain; towards the south he noticed the frame (or building)\nof a city.[37] The high mountain is, no doubt, the mountain frequently\nmentioned in the prophetic Word. \"And it shall come to pass in the last\ndays, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the\ntop of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all\nnations shall flow unto it\" (Isaiah ii:2). \"Beautiful for situation, the\njoy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north the\ncity of the great King\" (Ps. xlviii:2). It is the place of His rest (Ps.\ncxxxii:14), where the King is enthroned (Ps. ii).\n\n[37] May also be translated \"and set me upon a very high mountain, and\nupon it was as the building of a city, on the south.\" It will be upon\nthat exalted mountain.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThen appeared in the vision the man with the line of flax and the\nmeasuring reed. Zachariah beheld such a man with a measuring line in his\nhand to measure Jerusalem (Zech. ii:13). In Rev. xxi:15 we read of the\nheavenly Jerusalem, that wonderful city, \"and he that talked with me had\na golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall\nthereof.\" And then follows the measurement of the city. The one who\nmeasured in Revelation was an angel and the measure was that of an\nangel. We shall make, when we come to the measurement itself, a brief\ncomparison between the measure mentioned by Ezekiel and the measure of\nthe city in Revelation. And the man with the measuring reed stood in\nthe gate. He addressed the prophet once more as \"Son of Man.\" He was to\ngive attention to all. His eyes were to see, his ears to hear, he should\nset his heart upon all that would be shown unto him and declare it to\nthe house of Israel.\n\n\nII. The Eastern Gate.\n\n And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in\n the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and\n an hand breadth; so he measured the breadth of the building, one\n reed, and the height, one reed. Then came he unto the gate which\n looked toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured\n the threshold of the gate which was one reed broad; and the other\n threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. And every little\n chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the\n little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by\n the porch of the gate within was one reed. He measured also the\n porch of the gate within, one reed. Then measured he the porch of\n the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the\n porch of the gate was inward. And the little chambers of the gate\n eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three\n were of one measure; and the posts had one measure on this side and\n on that side. And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate,\n ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. The space\n also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the\n space was one cubit on that side; and the little chambers were six\n cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. He measured then\n the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another;\n the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. He made\n also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court\n round about the gate. And from the face of the gate of the entrance\n unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. And\n there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts\n within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches; and windows\n were round about inward; and upon each post were palm trees (verses\n 5-16).\n\nThe house mentioned is the whole building of the Temple. A wall was\nround about the building. A wall is also mentioned in chapter xlii:20\nwhich had a length of five hundred reeds and a breadth of five hundred\nreeds. The purpose of that wall is stated \"to make a separation between\nthat which was holy and that which was common.\" This wall of five\nhundred is not identical with the wall in the beginning of the vision as\nmentioned in verse 5. The wall here surrounded the outer court; the wall\nin chapter xlii:20 surrounds the whole temple area. That is why the\nseparation between the holy and the common is spoken of with that wall.\nThe length of the great wall which enclosed all the Temple area is not\ngiven. But the man in the vision measures the breadth and the height,\nand as the reed is six cubits we have 2x6 (breadth six cubits and height\nsix cubits), which gives us the number 12. So we meet the number 12, the\nsymbol of divine government on the threshold of this vision. How\nprominent the number 12 is in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem\nin the last book of the Bible (Rev. xxi) is known to every reader of\nthat book. The wall there has 12 gates and 12 foundations and is 12x12\ncubits high, that is 144 cubits. All is perfection in that heavenly\nJerusalem. Here in Ezekiel we have the description of the earthly\nsanctuary which will be in existence during the millennium. While in\nRevelation the one who measures is an angel with a golden reed, it is a\nman in Ezekiel and the cubit he uses (the length of the human forearm\nfrom the elbow to the tip of the little finger) has a handbreadth added.\nThe eastern gate, the little chambers, the porch, etc.--everything is\nmeasured. The lesson is that even to the details everything is here by\ndivine appointment. If the reed mentioned frequently is taken as six\ncubits we have in the measure the number 12 several times. Every little\nchamber (guard houses) was one reed long (six cubits) and six cubits\nbroad--twice 6--12. That all this must have a deeper meaning we doubt\nnot; and yet who can at this time give it to us in full? These\ninstructions will be literally followed and carried out in the coming\nday of Israel's restoration.\n\nIn these verses we find the wall and its construction, surrounding the\nouter court of this future temple described. Three gates were seen by\nthe prophet in this wall--an Eastern gate, a Northern gate (verse 10)\nand a Southern gate (verse 24). The West side of the wall has no gate.\nAs we learn later the returning glory of the Lord will enter the temple\nby the Eastern gate. Seven steps lead up to these gates. Seven is the\nnumber of divine perfection and accomplishment. These gates must not be\nthought of as mere openings in the wall; they are gateways forming\nseparate buildings which project into the outer court to a distance of\nfifty cubits with a breadth of twenty-five cubits. On both sides of\nthese gateways the prophet saw six little chambers, three on each side,\nand each six cubits square. There has been much speculation as to the\npossible use of these little chambers and their meaning. The Hebrew word\nused here is the same as in 1 Kings xiv:28, translated in this passage\n\"guard-chamber.\" This may be the purpose of these chambers in the\ngateway building of this first wall. This seems to be confirmed by\nchapter xliv:11 and 14, which speaks of the Levites having charge of the\ngates of the house, so that in all probability these guard-chambers will\nbe in charge of the Levites. Let us also notice the prominence of the\nnumbers three and twelve. There are 2x3 guard-chambers in each gateway\nboth in the outer court and also in the inner court. This gives us\nthirty-six guard-chambers, or 3x12. The number three means symbolically\nfullness, a divine fullness, and twelve stands for divine sovereignty\nand government. Three times twelve means, therefore, divine fullness in\nsovereign power and government. God Himself will be the guardian and\nprotector of this millennial sanctuary of His earthly people.\n\nMention is made also of a porch in connection with each gateway. This\nporch of the gate is inward, and it must be thought of in the form of a\nhall. Such a porch-hall is mentioned in the architecture of Solomon's\ntemple (1 Kings vi:3; 2 Chron. iii:4; see also Joel ii:17). These\nvestibule halls are the termination of the gateway leading into the\nouter court itself. The porch-hall of the significant Eastern gate is\nreserved for the Prince. He enters by way of the porch of that gate and\ngoes out the same way (chapter xliv:3). And there is a door for each\ngate, for we read that the East gate was to be shut (xliv:1-2). The door\nat the termination of the gateway is mentioned in verse 11. The width of\nthe doorway is ten cubits and the height of the door itself thirteen\ncubits--10x3. The number ten signifies responsibility, and three, as\nalready stated, is symbolical of divine fullness. Then posts were seen\nby the prophet. Each gateway had two posts and each post is two cubits\nthick and sixty cubits high (verses 9, 14). Critics have declared that\nthe given dimension of sixty cubits is impossible. We do not know why\nthis should be declared impossible. Some critics have said that the man\ncould not have measured these sixty cubits; but the word measure is not\nused at all. The windows of the little chambers will be closed windows.\nUpon the posts were palm trees. These palm trees were ornamental and\nartificial (xl:18). That palms are prominent in this millennial temple,\ncrowning first of all the high posts, which towered above all, so that\nthe palms were seen, is not without significance. Palms are the symbols\nof victory. Branches of palm trees were also used during the celebration\nof the feast of tabernacles, which dispensationally foreshadows the\nmillennial age of blessing and glory. And that is why palms are lifted\nhigh above everything on the gateway pillars of the wall surrounding the\nouter court. The time of blessing, victory, peace and glory has come.\n\nWe follow the prophet now into the inner court. This court is smaller,\nexactly one hundred cubits square (verse 47). In the center of this four\nsquare court stands the great altar, eighteen cubits square and twelve\ncubits high (chap. xliii:13-17). West of this great altar is a higher\nterrace upon which the temple itself stands. The approach to this inner\ncourt is also through three gates corresponding to the three gates in\nthe wall surrounding the outer court. We must notice, however, that\nthere are eight steps in connection with the gateways leading into this\ninner court, while the gateways leading into the outer court had only\nseven steps. The number eight is symbolical of the new covenant and the\nnew creation.[38] This great place of worship, by these eight steps,\nwhich lead to the interior, has the mark of the new age, the age when\nall things are made new. These gateways have also the little chambers\nlike in the gateways of the outer court. The prophet in his vision\nentered by the South gate; then he came next to the East gate (verse\n32), and finally to the North gate (verse 35); and these three gateways\nhad their arches, posts and palm trees upon the posts. All is\nsymmetrical. These three gateways are seen in line with the gateways of\nthe outer court, but the porches were not towards the inside, but at the\nother end next to the outer court. In measurement and everything else\nthey correspond to the gateways leading into the outer court.\n\n[38] Seven days the priests had to take in their consecration; on the\n_eighth_ day they entered upon their work. Circumcision was practised on\nthe _eighth_ day, symbolical of the death of Christ and the putting off\nof the body of the flesh (Col. ii:1), the entrance into the new\ncreation. On the _eighth_ day Christ was transfigured and the\ntransfiguration is a type of His coming into the kingdom. The _eighth_\npsalm shows Him the head of the new creation, with all things under His\nfeet.\n\nThe description of the great altar which stands in the middle of the\ninner court is given later; we shall follow it when we come to the text.\nThe sacrifices are to be brought in this inner court and therefore we\nfind next the sacrificial tables mentioned on which the burnt offering,\nthe sin offering and the trespass offering will be slain. Two tables\nwere in the porch of the gate on this side and two on the other side.\nThen at the steps of the gate on both sides were two tables, four tables\non the one side and four on the other. In all there are eight tables\nwhereupon to slay sacrifices. Besides these, there are four smaller\ntables of hewn stone, especially for the burnt offering, whereupon they\nalso lay the instruments used in slaying the sacrifices. This gives 3x4\ntables--twelve which are grouped on both sides of the steps, along the\nsides of the gateway and in the porch. On these tables the sacrifices\nare slain, washed and otherwise prepared and the smaller tables are for\nthe instruments. Are these twelve tables only at one gate or at all the\ngates? There is reason to believe that each of the gateways leading to\nthe inner courts is furnished with these sacrificial tables. If this is\ncorrect we have again the significant numbers and combination 3x12,\ncorresponding to the guard-chambers at the three gateways, which also\nare 3x12.\n\nBesides the chambers and the entries to the gates where they washed the\nsacrifices (verse 38) there are without the inner gate chambers at each\ngate for the singers and the priests (verses 44-46) who are the keepers\nof the house. These chambers were evidently detached from the gateways\nand yet near by. No measurement of these chambers is given. The inner\ncourt itself was a hundred cubits square; in the outer was the great\naltar.\n\n\nV. The Vestibule of the Temple.\n\n And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post\n of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that\n side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side,\n and three cubits on that side. The length of the porch was twenty\n cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the\n steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the\n posts, one on this side, and another on that side.\n\nThese closing verses of this chapter introduce us to the temple\nbuilding. The prophet is brought in vision to the porch of the house.\nThe vestibule in which the prophet finds himself is twenty cubits long\nand eleven cubits broad.[39] The number ten is here seen again two by\nten. The number of the steps leading up to the vestibule of the temple\nare not given. Besides the posts of the vestibule there are two pillars\nalso, one on each side of the entrance gate, which remind us of the two\npillars \"Jachin and Boaz\" in Solomon's temple (1 Kings vii:21, 45). Many\nof these details are obscure, their deeper and symbolical meaning\nhidden. It would be an easy matter to make all kinds of spiritual\napplications. As to such applications one has well said, \"We need a\nvigilant watch lest we pervert the holy Word of God; and I trust myself\nto be reticent rather than thus offend.\" The construction the\nmeasurements and arrangement tell out divine perfection. When at last\nthis great millennial temple is erected in Israel's land, it will be a\nglorious witness for the Lord and as the central place of earthly\nworship worthy of that coming age of peace and glory.\n\n[39] The Septuagint gives ten cubits instead of only eleven, which\nprobably is correct.\n\n\nTHE HOLY AND MOST HOLY. THE SIDE BUILDING AND THE INTERIOR.\n\nChapter xli.\n\nThe man with the measuring reed had gradually introduced in the vision\nEzekiel to the outer wall and outer and inner court of this great future\ntemple. The chambers, posts, gateways, sacrificial tables, etc., were\nall described in detail and so the prophet was brought into the temple\nvestibule (xl:48-49) to be led on into the temple itself. He beholds now\nthe Holy place, the Most Holy, the side buildings, the hinder buildings\nand the interior of the temple.\n\n\nI. The Holy Place and the Most Holy.\n\n Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six\n cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other\n side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. And the breadth of\n the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits\n on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured\n the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.\n Then went he inward, and measured each post of the door, two cubits;\n and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.\n So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth,\n twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the\n most holy place (verses 1-4.)\n\nIII. The Outer Court.\n\n Then brought he me into the outward court and, lo, there were\n chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty\n chambers were upon the pavement. And the pavement by the side of the\n gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement.\n Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate\n unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits\n eastward and northward. And the gate of the outward court that\n looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the\n breadth thereof. And the little chambers thereof were three on this\n side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches\n thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length\n thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.\n And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were\n after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they\n went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before\n them. And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate\n toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to\n gate an hundred cubits. After that he brought me toward the south:\n and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts\n thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And\n there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like\n those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and\n twenty cubits. And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the\n arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this\n side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. And there\n was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from\n gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits (verses 17-27.)\n\nThe man with the measuring line now leads the prophet into the outer\ncourt itself. He had passed through the East gate and has now the vision\nof the outer court. Here again he beholds chambers. The word used for\nchamber is a different word from the one used in verses 7, 10, 12, 13,\n16, 21, 29, 33 and 36. The chambers of the outer court are no longer\nguard-rooms. The word used here is found in 1 Sam. ix:22, which was not\na small chamber by any means, inasmuch as thirty persons could be\naccommodated. The word is used later for the chambers in which the\npriests kept the tithes and offerings. Such chambers were in the temple\nof Solomon. In the millennial temple they probably will serve the same\npurpose. Then we read of a pavement made for the court round about. It\nis a pavement of stones (see 2 Kings xvi:17; 2 Chron. vii:3; Esther\ni:6--the same Hebrew word is used in these passages). This pavement,\nprobably in the form of a mosaic arrangement, covers the entire outer\ncourt and of the chambers were thirty upon the pavement. Where are these\nchambers located? Are they together or scattered over the entire outer\ncourt? We believe they will be located alongside of each gateway, two on\nthe side of the East gate, two at the North gate and two at the South\ngate. This seems to be the correct location, for the prophet in having\nstepped through the gateway into the outer court sees these chambers\nfirst, so that they must have been at the entrance gate. The measurement\nfollows and the North gate and South gate are described. They compare in\nevery way to the East gate, each having its seven steps, its little\nchambers (guard-chambers) its posts and palm trees.\n\n\nIV. The Inner Court, the Sacrificial Tables and the Chambers.\n\n And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he\n measured the south gate according to these measures; And the little\n chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof,\n according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the\n arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and\n twenty cubits broad. And the arches round about were five and twenty\n cubits long, and five cubits broad. And the arches thereof were\n toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof:\n and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me into the\n inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to\n these measures. And the little chambers thereof, and the posts\n thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures:\n and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round\n about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.\n And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees\n were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the\n going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me to the north gate,\n and measured it according to these measures; The little chambers\n thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows\n to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five\n and twenty cubits. And the posts thereof were toward the outer\n court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and\n on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And the\n chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates,\n where they washed the burnt offering. And in the porch of the gate\n were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay\n thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass\n offering. And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of\n the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at\n the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this\n side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight\n tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. And the four tables\n were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half\n long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon\n also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt\n offering and the sacrifice. And within were hooks, an hand broad,\n fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the\n offering. And without the inner gate were the chambers of the\n singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate;\n and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east\n gate having the prospect toward the north. And he said unto me, This\n chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the\n keepers of the charge of the house. And the chamber, whose prospect\n is toward the north, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge\n of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi,\n which come near to the Lord to minister unto him. So he measured the\n court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad,\n foursquare; and the altar that was before the house (verses 28-47).\n\nThe first two verses give the measurement of the Holy part. Of the\ncontents of this part, how it was furnished, nothing is said; only the\nmeasurement is mentioned. The place is forty cubits long and twenty\ncubits broad. In this respect it corresponds to the temple of Solomon in\nwhich the Holy place had the same dimensions, while the same part in the\nwilderness tabernacle was only twenty cubits by ten cubits. We find\ntherefore that the Holy part in the temple of Solomon and Ezekiel's\ntemple is double the size of the Holy part of the tabernacle. There is a\ndoor which leads from the vestibule into this Holy place and at both\nsides are door posts, six cubits broad on the one side and six on the\nother; between these two posts is the door, the breadth of which is ten\ncubits.[40] The number twelve is again in evidence in these two posts,\ntwice six. Inasmuch as the wall (verse 5) is six cubits thick these two\nposts are probably a part of the wall surrounding the temple. Later we\nreceive the additional information that the waters issued from under the\nthreshold of the house eastward, the seer being at this door (xlvii:1).\n\n[40] The words \"which was the breadth of the tabernacle\" are by some\ndeclared doubtful. The Septuagint has omitted them.\n\nThen the man went inward, into the Most Holy. This was a perfect square\ntwenty cubits long and twenty broad. Let us notice that the prophet here\ndoes not enter the place, for it is the Most Holy, the dwelling place of\nJehovah.\n\nThe man entered in alone, while the prophet remained outside. There was\na door six cubits high and seven cubits broad. The breadth of the door\nleading into the Holy part was ten cubits, but the door leading into the\nMost Holy was seven cubits broad, the number which denotes divine\nperfection. The description of the interior of the temple is given in\nverses 15-26.\n\n\nII. The Side Buildings.\n\n After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth\n of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every\n side. And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty\n in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for\n the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they\n had not hold in the wall of the house. And there was an enlarging,\n and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the\n winding about of the house went still upward round about the house:\n therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so\n increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. I saw\n also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the\n side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. The thickness of\n the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits:\n and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were\n within. And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits\n round about the house on every side. And the doors of the side\n chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the\n north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the\n place that was left was five cubits round about (verses 5-11).\n\nHe measured first the wall which surrounded the Holy and the Most Holy\npart. This wall was six cubits. Then there are side chambers. Such side\nchambers were also in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings vi:5). There are\nthree stories and each contains thirty chambers, so there are ninety\nchambers in all. These three stories with the ninety chambers surrounded\nthe temple on its three sides, the North, West and South sides, the East\nside being the vestibule and entrance into the temple; no side chambers\nare found above this entrance. These side chambers enter into the wall,\nthat they might have hold and still they have not hold of the wall\nitself. In this also the temple corresponds to the arrangement of\nSolomon's temple. 1 Kings vi:6 explains the construction of these\nchambers: \"On the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house\nround about, that the beams should not have hold in the wall of the\nhouse.\" The side chambers in the Solomonic temple were fastened on the\nhouse with timber of cedar (1 Kings vi:10). This probably explains the\nmeaning of the attachment of these three stories of chambers in\nEzekiel's temple. The side chambers must therefore be considered as an\naddition to the wall itself which surrounds the Holy and Most Holy. We\ndo not know what will be the use of these ninety chambers in the\nmillennial temple. The seventh verse shows that the stories of this\naddition to the wall, containing the chambers, have galleries round\nabout. And the gallery of the second story is broader than the gallery\nof the first, and the gallery of the third is broader than the second\nstory, so that this annex broadens upward. The expression \"winding\nabout\" has led some of the few expositors of these chapters to identify\nwith the winding stairs of the Solomonic temple (1 Kings vi:8); but this\nis incorrect. The text does not mention a staircase at all. A better\nrendering of verse 8 is: \"And I saw that the house had an elevation\nround about, the foundations of the side chambers, a full reed, six\ncubits to the joint.\"[41] There was then a raised basement on the three\nsides of the temple and the six cubits correspond to the ten steps\n(xl:49) marking the height of the elevation. Verse 9 shows that the\nthickness of the wall, which was for the side chambers without was five\ncubits, besides this there was a free place along the building. \"And\nbetween the chambers (and the house) was a width of twenty cubits round\nabout the house on every side.\" This afforded the proper light for these\nchambers. \"And the entry of the side chambers was toward what was left\nfree, one entry toward the North, and one entry toward the South; and\nthe width of the space left free was five cubits round about.\" The side\nchambers were therefore entered from the outside.\n\n[41] i. e., To the level place where the side chambers begin.\n\n\nIII. The Hinder Building--The Total Measurement.\n\n Now the building that was before the separate place at the end\n toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the\n building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof\n ninety cubits. So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and\n the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an\n hundred cubits long; also the breadth of the face of the house, and\n of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. And he\n measured the length of the building over against the separate place\n which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and\n on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the\n porches of the court (verses 12-15).\n\nHere a new building comes into view which is behind the temple building\ntoward the West. Its dimensions are seventy cubits broad, ninety cubits\nlong and the wall is five cubits in thickness round about. The use of\nthis building is not stated. Its use is probably for the disposal of the\nrefuse from the sacrifices and other unclean things. No other\ndescription is given of this hinder building, this separate place.\nVerses 12 and 14 give the total measurement of the house, a hundred\ncubits, which is the total of the previously given measures.\n\n\nIV. The Interior of the Temple Described.\n\n The thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round\n about on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with\n wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the\n windows were covered; to that above the entry, even unto the inner\n house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and\n without, all was by measure. And it was made with cherubim and palm\n trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and\n every cherub had two faces; so that the face of a man was toward the\n palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the\n palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round\n about. From the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm\n trees made, and on the wall of the temple. The posts of the temple\n were squared, and the front of the sanctuary had the same\n appearance. The altar was of wood three cubits high, and the length\n thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof,\n and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is\n the table that is before the Lord. And the temple and the sanctuary\n had two doors. And the doors had two leaves, two turning leaves; two\n leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. And\n there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and\n palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a wooden\n portal in front of the porch without. And closed windows and palm\n trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the\n porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and the portals[42]\n (verses 16-26).\n\n[42] Corrected text.\n\nFrom verse 16 we learn that all was wainscoted with wood. The altar was\nalso of wood. It is significant that silver and gold, so prominent in\nthe tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon's temple, are entirely\nabsent in the millennial temple. The words \"silver and gold\" are not\nmentioned once in Ezekiel xl-xlviii. Silver typifies grace in\nredemption, being the ransom money. Gold typifies divine righteousness.\nBoth are absent in the millennial temple for what the silver and gold\nforeshadows is now realized in His redeemed earthly people. The heavenly\nJerusalem has gold in it, but silver is not mentioned in the description\nof the city in Revelation xxi.\n\nThe chief ornaments in this temple are cherubim and palm trees; they\nwere along the wall of the temple. So it was in the temple of Solomon.\n\"And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved\nfigures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers within and without\"\n(1 Kings vi:29).\n\nA palm tree was between cherub and cherub. As stated in the previous\nchapter palms are the emblems of victory and remind us of the feast of\ntabernacles. They were seen high above on the posts. Cherubim speak of\nthe presence of the Lord, who enters this house and is worshipped here.\nBut the cherubim here have only two faces and not four as in the opening\nvision of this book (chapter i:10-12). As often stated, these celestial\nbeings tell out the Lord Jesus Christ in His personal glory. The lion,\nHis kingly glory; the face of a man, His true humanity; the face of an\nox, His servant character; and the face of an eagle. His heavenly origin\nand destiny, Son of God. It is not without meaning that the face of a\nman and the face of a young lion are seen on these cherubim and each\nface looks upon a palm tree. Its symbolical meaning is obvious. The Lord\nJesus Christ has come again and visited the earth and the temple and\nappeared as the glorified Man and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His is\nthe victory and the glory. When at last this temple stands in Israel's\nland, and its meaning and measurements, as well as other details, are\nfully known and understood, it will be known then that His blessed work,\nvictory and person are symbolically seen throughout this house.\n\nThe altar was of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. \"And he\nsaid unto me, This is the table which is before Jehovah.\" The altar is\nthe altar of incense. The burnt offering altar is described in chapter\nxliii:13, etc. In the tabernacle and Solomon's temple the altar of\nincense was overlaid with gold. Note also the difference in the\nmeasurement. The altar of incense in the tabernacle was two cubits high\nand one cubit long and broad; the altar in the future temple is three\ncubits high and two cubits long, nearly double in size. The incense\noffered upon the altar is the symbol of the fragrance Christ is to God.\nIt also typifies praise and prayer (Ps. cxli:2; Rev. v:8; viii:3); being\ncommunion with God it is here called \"the table which is before\nJehovah.\" How great will be the fragrance of Christ, and the praise and\nworship God will receive, in this great house of worship!\n\nThere were also two doors for the sanctuary with two turning leaves.\nThey were ornamented, like the walls, with cherubim and palm trees.\n\n\nTHE CELLS FOR THE PRIESTS.\n\nChapter xlii.\n\nThis chapter gives the description of the chambers or cells of the\npriests and closes with the final measurements of this temple. After\nthis, as recorded in the next chapter, the prophet beheld the return of\nthe glory of the Lord and how He entered the house.\n\n\nI. The Description of the Cells for the Priests.\n\n Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the\n north: and he brought me into the cells that was over against the\n separate place, and which was before the building toward the north.\n Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the\n breadth was fifty cubits. Over against the twenty cubits which\n pertained to the inner court, and over against the pavement which\n pertained to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three\n stories. And before the cells was a walk of ten cubits breadth\n inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north. Now\n the upper cells were shorter: for the galleries were higher than\n these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. For\n they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of\n the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the\n lowest and the middlemost from the ground. And the wall that was\n without over against the cells, toward the outer court on the\n forepart of the cells, the length thereof was fifty cubits: For the\n length of the cells that were in the outer court was fifty cubits:\n and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits. And from under\n these cells was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them\n from the outer court. The cells were in the thickness of the wall of\n the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over\n against the building. And the way before them was like the\n appearance of the cells which were toward the north, as long as\n they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both\n according to their fashions, and according to their doors. And\n according to the doors of the cells, that were toward the south was\n a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall\n toward the east, as one entereth into them (verses 1-12).\n\nOnce more the man leads forth the prophet. The Holy part and the Most\nHoly had been measured and described and now he leaves the innermost\npart and is led again into the outer court. He goes on towards the North\nand faces a cell-building over against the separate place. This separate\nplace is the hinder building described in chapter xli:12. There are\nthree such cell-buildings, one on the North and the other on the South;\nthat is, facing the two sides of the hinder building in the separate\nplace. The third cell-building is at the East-gate. The entrance to\nthese cell buildings is from the outer court. The measurement given\npresents considerable difficulty which we do not attempt to solve. Each\nof these buildings has three stories and before each is a walk of ten\ncubits. We also learn that the upper story of cells is shorter than the\nfirst and second stories; this corresponds in architecture to the side\nbuildings described in chapter xli:5-11. How many cells or chambers are\nin each of these buildings is not stated.\n\n\nII. For What the Cells are Used.\n\n Then said he unto me, The north cells and the south chambers, which\n are before the separate place, they be holy cells, where the priests\n that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there\n shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the\n sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. When\n the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy\n place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments\n wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other\n garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the\n people (verses 13-14).\n\nThe cells on the North and South, facing the separate place are\nespecially mentioned as being holy chambers. Here the priests who\napproach unto the Lord are to eat the most holy things and there they\nshall lay the most holy things, the meal offering, the sin offering and\nthe trespass offering. They were set apart for this purpose. For this\nreason at the end of these two cell-buildings towards the west were the\nplaces where the offerings were boiled and the meal offering baked. They\nwere the kitchens of the priests. Of this we read in chapter xlvi:19,\n20: \"Then he brought me through the passage which was at the side of the\ngate, into the holy cells which were for the priests, which looked\ntoward the North; and behold a place was there at the end westward. And\nhe said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the\ntrespass offering and the sin offering and where they shall bake the\nmeal offering, that they bring them not out into the outer court, so as\nto hallow the people.\" In these chambers they put the garments of their\nministry. The priests are not to wear their holy garments outside of the\ninner court lest they should be profaned. Why these Levitical ordinances\nare maintained in the millennial temple with a priesthood still\nministering, the purpose of all this, we shall take up more fully in the\nexposition of the chapters which follow.\n\n\nIII. Final Measurement.\n\n Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought\n me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and\n measured it round about. He measured the east side with the\n measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round\n about. He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the\n measuring reed round about. He measured the south side, five hundred\n reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south\n side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. He turned about\n to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring\n reed. He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about,\n five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a\n separation between the sanctuary and the profane place (verses\n 15-20).\n\nThe measuring of the inner house completed, the prophet is led back to\nthe starting point, the gate that is toward the East. In this final\nmeasurement four times five hundred reeds are mentioned. The east side,\nnorth side, south side, and west side, each is measured as being five\nhundred reeds. This passage has occasioned much controversy. The\nquestion is if five hundred cubits or five hundred reeds is correct. If\nwe take the reed to be ten feet it would mean that the temple is five\nthousand feet on each side. But that seems impossible in view of the\nprevious measurement. The Septuagint translators realized this\ndifficulty and took the liberty of changing the word \"reeds\" to\n\"cubits.\" If cubits is right then it would agree with all the previous\nmeasurements, hence many of the commentators have changed the reeds to\ncubits. But what authority is there to make this change? The Hebrew word\nfor reeds is \"_gonim_\" and cubit is \"_ammah_,\" two entirely different\nwords. A copyist's error is therefore excluded. We maintain that\nmeasurement is five hundred reeds and that the text is correct.\n\nBut what is measured? Certainly not the temple area with its wall, outer\ncourt and Holy and the Most Holy. What is measured here is the territory\nwhich surrounds the whole temple buildings. If we retrace the steps of\nthe man who measured and led along Ezekiel we see him leaving the Most\nHoly; they then go back into the Holy part, the outer court and then\npassing through the eastern gate through which they had entered, they\nare both outside of the outer wall. They are now in a very large space\nsurrounding the temple buildings, and this space is measured.\nFurthermore we find that there was an immense wall surrounding this\nenclosure: this wall separated between that which is holy and what is\ncommon (verse 20). Another difficulty has been mentioned by expositors\nif this measurement of five hundred reeds is correct. They say it is far\ntoo large for Mount Moriah, the chosen place of the temple. There is no\ndifficulty here at all, for we read, \"And it shall come to pass in the\nlast days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in\nthe top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all\nnations shall flow unto it\" (Isa. ii:2). When the Lord returns and His\nKingdom will be established great physical changes take place in\nIsrael's land, changes which no one can fully understand.[43] The\nmountain upon which this temple is to be built is a very high mountain,\nwhich comes into existence when the earth and the heavens will be\nshaken. The temple was a holy square of five hundred cubits, in another\nsquare of five hundred reeds. Later we shall find that there is another\nholy portion of the land which surrounds the temple, and the territory\nof five hundred reeds square, and that portion was of an extremely large\ndimension, that is, twenty-five thousand reeds in length and ten\nthousand reeds in breadth.[44] All this would not be possible in the\npresent Palestine; but it will be made possible through the changes of\nthat coming day (Is. ii:12; xxiv:3-4; 19-23).\n\n[43] See Zech. xiv:4, 8, 10.\n\n[44] Chapter xlv:1-2.\n\n\nTHE RETURNING GLORY. THE ALTAR AND THE WORSHIP.\n\nChapter xliii.\n\nThe plan of the entire temple with its buildings, walls and the\nsurrounding territory having been revealed and fully recorded in the\npreceding chapters, greater things are now shown to the prophet. It\nconcerns the temple and the service which is to be maintained in this\nmagnificent house of worship. In the present chapter we find first a\ndescription of the return of the glory of the Lord to the house, filling\nthe house. This is followed by a message delivered by the Lord; speaking\nout of the house; the message is addressed to the prophet, who is also\nto speak to the house of Israel concerning their condition and the law\nof the house. The dimensions of the great altar are given and how that\naltar is to be consecrated. This is the first great service in this\ntemple.\n\n\nI. The Return of the Glory of the Lord.\n\n Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh\n toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came\n from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many\n waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to\n the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the\n vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions\n were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon\n my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of\n the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me\n up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of\n the Lord filled the house (verses 1-5).\n\nThe man leads him back to the eastern gate through which they had\nentered first when the house was measured. And here he beholds a\nstartling event. Up to this point the house with it buildings had been\nseen in silent grandeur. No sound was heard; nothing was seen. But as\nthey stand at the gate toward the east, suddenly the glory of the God of\nIsrael came from the way of the east. Then the voice of Jehovah was\nheard as the sound of many waters and the earth shined with His glory.\nThe dedication of the house by the return of the Lord with His glory is\nnow to take place. Thus the tabernacle in the wilderness was dedicated\n(Exodus xl:34-35). \"A cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the\nglory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.\" The same happened when Solomon\nhad finished the temple. \"The cloud filled the house of the Lord, so\nthat the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for\nthe glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord\" (1 Kings viii:10-11;\n2 Chron. v:13, 14; vii:1-3). The Lord with His glory entered into these\nprepared places and in like manner He will enter the great temple\nEzekiel beheld in his prophetic vision. Such a return of the glory of\nthe God of Israel to dwell in another temple has not yet taken place.\nWhen the returned remnant after the proclamation of Cyrus had rebuilt\nthe temple, no cloud filled the house nor was the glory of the Lord\nseen. Some apply this vision to the time when our Lord was on earth and\nthat it was fulfilled when He entered the temple. This needs no further\nrefutation, but it shows how much at sea expositors of the Word of God\nare who reject the future restoration of Israel. When the Lord was on\nearth He had laid His visible glory by and was rejected by the nation.\nThis vision of glory will be fulfilled when He returns the second time\nin power and glory; then and never before will this visible glory be\ndisplayed and His glory will shine over Israel's land and finally cover\nthe earth as the waters cover the deep.\n\nWe must notice here especially that the vision the prophet beheld was\n\"according to the appearance of the vision\" he saw before the\ndestruction of the city \"the visions were like the visions\" which he saw\n\"by the river Chebar.\" This points back to the first chapter when first\nby the river Chebar the heavens were opened to Ezekiel the priest, and\nhe saw visions of God. At the close of that chapter we read after the\nrecorded vision, \"This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory\nof the Lord.\" The same vision of glory appeared again to him when\nEzekiel had left the river Chebar and gone into the plain (iii:22-23).\nThen he had witnessed the gradual and solemn departure of the glory of\nthe Lord. \"Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of\nthe house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their\nwings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight.... They stood at the\ndoor of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God\nof Israel was over them above\" (x:18-19). Then finally the Shekinah went\nup and disappeared. \"And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of\nthe city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the\ncity\" (xi:22).\n\nThe similarity of the departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple\nbefore its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and its future return to the\ntemple of Ezekiel's vision is most interesting. It is the same glory\nwhich departed, which returns; it is the same Lord who resumes\nrelationship with His earthly people. The withdrawal of the visible\nglory of the Lord meant the departure of His gracious presence from\namong His people, which was followed by judgment. The return of the\nvisible glory means the return of His gracious presence among them and\nthat the judgment, which has lasted so long, is forever gone. The\ndeparture of the glory was through the east gate and was finally seen\nupon the mountain at the east side of the city; the return is from the\nway of the east and the glory of the Lord enters through the east gate.\nBut it is not only a visible glory, but the Lord Himself is in the\nShekinah. Ezekiel beheld above the firmament and the cherubim, when he\nsaw the glory of the Lord at the river Chebar, he heard His voice. And\nhere also His voice is mentioned \"like the sound of many waters.\" From\nverses 6 and 7 we learn that after the glory had entered the house the\nLord addressed the prophet out of the house.\n\nThe Lord Himself in all His glory is manifested and enters the temple,\nthe place of His rest and glory. The cherubim will be seen in person and\nfrom the New Testament we learn that angels will be with Him also. His\nglory will then cover Israel's land and the earth. \"His glory covered\nthe heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness\nwas as the light; He had bright beams out of His side[45] and there was\nthe hiding of His power.\" This is how Habakkuk describes the same\nmanifestation of the glory of the Lord and the coming of the Lord of\nglory (see Isaiah xl:5; lviii:8; lx:1-2; lxvi:18). Isaiah's great vision\nmay be viewed as foreshadowing this manifestation of His glory. He saw\nthe Lord sitting upon a throne and His train filled the temple. The\nseraphim cried one unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord\nof hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. And as the prophet was\ncleansed and his iniquity taken away and became the messenger of the\nLord (Is. vi), so the nation Israel will be cleansed and forgiven and\nbecome the messenger of Jehovah.[46]\n\n[45] Marginal reading.\n\n[46] Such an application seems warranted in view of the message Ezekiel\nreceived from the Lord to the people (verses 6-12).\n\nWhen the Spirit had transported the prophet into the inner court of the\ntemple, he discovered that the glory of the Lord filled the house. We\nrepeat it, no such thing happened when the returned Jewish remnant had\nentered the temple. When the old men, who had seen the Solomonic temple\nand knew of its glory, beheld the foundation of the second temple they\nwept (Ezra iii:12). When the house was dedicated no glory returned, no\ncloud was seen, no shekinah filled the house. Nor is it a spiritual\nglory, the glory of the church, as so many seem to believe.\n\nBut Haggai, who with Zechariah prophesied during the rebuilding of the\ntemple, uttered a significant prophecy while that second house was\nbuilding--a prophecy which must be linked with Ezekiel's vision of the\nreturning glory: \"For thus saith the Lord of Hosts: yet once it is a\nlittle while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,\nand the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all\nnations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory\" (Haggai\nii:6-7). This was not the house they were building. It is a future\nhouse, a future temple. That house will be built when the heavens and\nthe earth are being shaken, when all nations shake and when the Desire\nof all nations, the King of glory, the Prince of Peace, our Lord comes.\nThen this house will be filled with glory.\n\nIt will be a visible glory. It will be a permanent glory. He will now\ndwell gloriously in the midst of the children of Israel (verse 7). This\nvisible glory will be seen over Jerusalem, like as it was of old, a\ncloud by day and a shining, flaming fire by night. \"And Jehovah will\ncreate over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over its\nconvocations a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of\nfire by night, for over all the glory shall be a covering\" (Is. iv:5).\n\n\nII. The Voice from the Temple and the Message to Israel.\n\n And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood\n by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my\n throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in\n the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name,\n shall the house of Israel no more defile, they, nor their kings,\n with their fornication, and with the carcases of their kings in\n their high places. In that they set their threshold by my threshold,\n and their post by my post, and there was only a wall between me and\n them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that\n they have committed: and I consumed them in mine anger. Now let them\n put away their fornication and the carcases of their kings, far from\n me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. Thou son of man,\n shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of\n their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they be\n ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house,\n and the fashion thereof, and its goings out, and its comings in, and\n all its forms, and all the ordinances, and all the forms thereof,\n and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may\n keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do\n them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the\n whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is\n the law of the house (verses 6-12).\n\nThe Glory of the Lord and the Lord of Glory had entered the house,\nfilling it; and now the voice of one is heard out of the house. The\nspeaker is the Lord Himself, who had made His dwelling place in the\ntemple (see also xlvi:20, 24; xlvii:6, 8). The man who stood by Ezekiel\ndid not speak, as some expositors claim. He is only guide to the prophet\n(xliv:1, 4; xlvi:19, 21). He is probably not the same person, who as\nthe measuring man had accompanied the prophet, for the Hebrew is not\n\"the man\" \"stood by me,\" but \"a man.\" This person, no doubt an angel, is\nsilent, waiting till the Lord has spoken and then leads the prophet from\nplace to place.\n\nThe first word which the Lord addressed to Ezekiel from the house is\nsignificant: \"Son of Man, this is the place of my throne, and the place\nof the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the children\nof Israel forever.\" Of old the Lord dwelt in the midst of the children\nof Israel. Thus we read in the book of Exodus, the book of redemption:\n\"I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will be their God, and\nthey shall know that I am Jehovah their God that brought them forth out\nof the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them\" (Ex. xxix:45, 46). And\nnow after the long and sad history of Israel's apostasy, blindness,\njudgment and dispersion is ended, He comes to make His dwelling place in\ntheir midst again and establishes in Jerusalem His throne. Here He will\ndwell and bless His people. Of this Psalm cxxxii speaks, \"This is my\nrest forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it.\" And other\nprophets announced that the Lord would dwell in Zion in the midst of His\npeople and establish His throne there (Joel iii:17, 21; Zech. ii:10, 11;\nviii:3, 8). His rest then will be glorious (Is. xi:10). When that time\ncomes and the Lord of Glory has come back to earth again, all the\npromised blessings for Israel, the nations and for all creation will be\nrealized.\n\nThen His holy name will no longer be defiled and the nation will be\nashamed of all their past history of rebellion and abomination.[47] The\nprophet is therefore commanded to set before the people the house in\nits measured pattern, so that they might know what a gracious Lord has\nprepared for them, what He will yet do for His people. It is to lead\nthem to repentance, to acknowledgement of their guilt and shame over\ntheir iniquities. Such will be the case in the day of their restoration\nwhen these things will be accomplished.\n\n[47] \"The carcases of their kings\" may either mean that some of their\nidolatrous kings had been buried within the bounds of the Solomonic\ntemple, or, the word kings may refer to their idols, which had dominion\nover them (Is. xxvi:13). The latter may be the right meaning for the\nhigh place mentioned.\n\nWhen this house on the top of the mountain is established all will be\nmost holy. His people will be righteous and holy and all Jerusalem with\nthis sanctuary will be holy unto the Lord (Zech. xiv:20-21). This is\n\"the Most Holy\" of Daniel's prophecy (Dan. ix) to be anointed when the\nlast prophetic week of seven years has expired.\n\n\nIII. The Measurement and the Ordinances of the Altar.\n\n And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: The cubit is a\n cubit and an hand breadth: The bottom was a cubit, and the breadth a\n cubit, and its border thereof on the edge thereof round about shall\n be a span: and this was the base of the altar. And from the bottom\n upon the ground to the lower settle was two cubits, and the breadth\n a cubit; and from the small settle to the great settle four cubits,\n and the breadth a cubit. So the altar was four cubits; and from the\n hearth of God and upward were four horns. And the hearth of God was\n twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four sides thereof.\n And the settle was fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the\n four sides thereof; and the border about it half a cubit; and the\n bottom thereof a cubit about; and its steps shall look toward the\n east. And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah:\n These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall\n make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood\n thereon. And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of\n the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me,\n saith the Lord Jehovah, a young bullock for a sin offering. And thou\n shalt take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on\n the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about:\n thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. Thou shalt take the bullock of\n the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of\n the house, without the sanctuary. And on the second day thou shalt\n offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and\n they shall purge the altar, as they did purge it with the bullock.\n When thou hast made an end of purging it, thou shalt offer a young\n bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.\n And thou shalt offer them before Jehovah, and the priests shall cast\n salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering\n unto Jehovah. Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a\n sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out\n of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they purge the altar\n and purify it; and they shall consecrate it. And when these days are\n expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day and so forward, the\n priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your\n peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord Jehovah\n (verses 13-27).\n\nThe altar which is now described in its measurement, was previously\nmentioned in chapter xl:47. The altar according to this description, is\ncomposed of four square layers (probably stones) one above another,\ndecreasing in extent and increasing in thickness; the top is a square of\ntwelve cubits. This is called \"the altar hearth\" or \"the hearth of God.\"\nThe three words translated in the authorized version by altar are not\nthe same in the original. In verse 13 the word is \"mizbeach.\" This word\nis used many times in the Hebrew Bible; it means \"slaughter-place.\" In\nverse 15 two words are used which are nowhere else found in connection\nwith an altar. The one is \"_Harel_\" which means \"the mountain of God;\"\nand the other \"_Ariel_\" the meaning of this is different from Ariel in\nIsa. xxix:1[48] when it is used for Jerusalem as \"the lion of God.\"\nGesenius translated it \"the hearth,\" and still better is \"the hearth of\nGod.\" Upward from this hearth were four horns. The Septuagint gives the\nheight of these horns as one cubit each. While in Exodus xx:25 steps are\nprohibited for the altar, this altar has steps which look toward the\neast. This great burnt offering altar, standing in the center of the\ninner court before the house, will be the central place of worship in\nthis future temple.\n\n[48] The word \"Ariel\" as used in Ezekiel has one more letter than the\nword in Isaiah xxix.\n\nThe ordinances of this burnt offering altar in that future day are given\nto the prophet, the Lord Jehovah addressing Ezekiel as \"Son of Man.\"\nBurnt offerings will be brought upon it and blood sprinkled. The\npriests, the Levites of the seed of Zadok[49] will minister unto the\nLord Jehovah. What is first described is a kind of consecration or\ndedication of this burnt offering altar, after which the general\nsacrifices begin (verse 27). First a young bullock is brought for a sin\noffering and the blood is applied to the altar and the four horns. For\nseven days these offerings for purging and cleansing continue and with\nthe eighth day the burnt offerings and peace offerings are to be made by\nthe people.\n\n[49] Zadok means \"just.\" He was the successor of Abiathar in the\npriesthood--the son of Ahitub of the family of Eleazar (2 Sam. viii:17;\n1 Kings ii:27, 35).\n\nBut what do these ordinances mean? Here are priests again standing\nbefore an altar, bringing bloody sacrifices, burnt offerings, sin\nofferings and peace offerings. Is this to be taken literally also? Some\nexpositors have stated that all this had a meaning in the past and could\nonly be true in connection with the second temple. Others attempt to\nread into it a spiritual meaning. All, or nearly all commentators think\nit inconceivable that such sacrifices could ever be brought again in a\nfuture temple. Those expositors who combat the premillennial coming of\nthe Lord and the literal restoration of Israel, consider the supposed\nimpossibility of a satisfactory explanation of this part of Ezekiel's\nvisions, the collapse of the premillennial argument.\n\nSacrifices of bulls and goats were brought by Israel in their past\nhistory; the Lord commanded His people to do this. Every Christian\nknows that these sacrifices foreshadowed the work of Christ, His great\nsacrifice on the Cross. In themselves these sacrifices Israel brought\ncould not take away sins, nor give rest to the conscience, nor could\nthey make the worshipper perfect. The Epistle to the Hebrews\ndemonstrates this fully.\n\nAll these sacrifices had a prospective character, looking forward to the\nwork of the Cross. And when the Lamb of God died, when His blessed lips\nuttered the never-to-be-forgotten words, \"It is finished,\" and God's\nhand rent the veil from top to bottom, the prospective character of\nthese sacrifices were forever ended. The new and living way into God's\npresence, into the Holiest, had been made by His blood. During this age\nIsrael has no temple and all their Levitical ordinances can no longer be\npractised by them. As Hosea declared they are without a sacrifice (Hos.\niii:4).\n\nGod, during this age, our present age, which began with the rejection of\nChrist by Israel and ends with His Return, is gathering a heavenly\npeople, the church. The church has for its worship no earthly place, no\ntemple, but worships in spirit and in truth, in a heavenly sanctuary.\nThere are no sacrifices, priests, altars, in connection with the true\nchurch, the body of Christ. Christ is all. He is the sacrifice, the\npriest, and the altar. That the enemy has produced upon Christian ground\na ritualism which is aped after the Jewish system and which denies as\nsuch the Gospel and Christianity, is well known. They have invented\naltars, and sacrifices and priests. This is the Judaizing of the church,\n\"the other Gospel which is not another,\" upon which the Spirit of God\nhas pronounced the curse of God (Gal. i). The day is coming when the\nLord will deal in judgment with the apostate church which denies His Son\nand His work, while His true church will be taken to the place which He\nhas prepared.\n\nWhen the true church is no longer on earth and the apostate church is\nleft behind to plunge into the great apostasy, then the Jews will\npartially be restored in unbelief. When they get back to the land they\nwill put up another temple in which they bring again bloody sacrifices.\nThese will be an abomination in the sight of God. Let us hear what\nIsaiah reveals about this time: \"Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my\nthrone and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye will\nbuild unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things\nhath mine hand made and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But\nto this man will I look, that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and\ntrembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he\nthat sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth\nan oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as\nif he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their\nsoul delighteth in their abomination\" (Isaiah lxvi:1-3). The entire last\nchapter of Isaiah shows that the future is in view. The Jews have\nreturned to their land and have resumed their ancient worship. In their\nmidst is also a believing remnant (verse 5) who suffer and are cast out.\nThe Lord looking down from heaven and beholding the sacrifices they\nbring despises them, for they are an abomination in His sight, because\nthey reject Christ and His sacrifice. This temple worship will be made\npossible by the coming prince, the little horn of Daniel vii, who will\nmake a covenant with the unbelieving portion of the nation. In the\nmiddle of the last seven years (Dan. ix:26) he will break that covenant.\nThen appears the beast out of the earth (Rev. xiii:11), the false\nMessiah, and takes his place in that temple, demanding divine worship,\nclaiming to be God (2 Thess. ii).\n\nAt the end of the three and one-half years which constitute the great\ntribulation, the Lord is suddenly manifested. Of this Isaiah speaks\nalso. The unbelieving Jews sneer at the believing remnant: \"Let the Lord\nbe glorified!\" The Spirit of God gives them the assurance, \"but He shall\nappear to your joy and they shall be ashamed.\" \"A voice of noise from\nthe city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth\nrecompense to His enemies\" (verse 6). These words describe His\nmanifestation. After this comes the restoration of Israel. The apostates\nwho worshipped the Beast will be punished. The temple Ezekiel describes\nwill then be built and Israel is now at last the kingdom of priests and\na holy nation (Exod. xix:6). The new covenant promised to them will then\nbe ratified (Jere. xxxi:31-34).\n\nTheir great temple will be more than their place of worship; it will be\na house of prayer for all nations. Let us listen again to Isaiah's great\ntestimony. \"The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord,\nto serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants,\nevery one that keepeth the Sabbath[50] from polluting it, and taketh\nhold of my covenant; even them (Gentiles) will I bring to my holy\nmountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt\nofferings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for\nmine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord\nGod who gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others\nto him, beside those that are gathered unto Him\" (Is. lvi:6-8). All this\nhas nothing to do with the church or the present dispensation of grace.\nIt is a prophecy of the kingdom, the age to come, the dispensation of\nthe fullness of times.\n\n[50] The sects, like Seventh Day Baptists, Adventists, etc., quote this\npassage. They are utterly wrong for this has nothing whatever to do with\nthe present age.\n\nSo let us understand that the millennial temple will be the great center\nof earthly worship during the reign of the King of Kings. In that temple\nsacrifices will be brought again. The ancient worship of Israel will be\nresumed and that in a way as Israel never enjoyed it in the past. To\ndeny the literalness of these sacrifices does violence to the Word of\nGod. Ezekiel is not the only prophet who tells us of this. One of the\nstrongest passages is found in Jeremiah. Speaking of the coming reign of\nChrist, Jeremiah tells us, \"In those days shall Judah be saved and\nJerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name wherewith she shall\nbe called, The Lord our Righteousness. For thus saith the Lord, David\nshall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.\nNeither shall the priests, the Levites want a man before Me to offer\nburnt offerings, and to kindle meal offerings, and to do sacrifice\ncontinually\" (Jere. xxxiii:15-18). Why then should it be an impossible\nthing that literal sacrifices are brought again?\n\nBut what is the meaning and the purpose of these animal sacrifices? The\nanswer is quite simple. While the sacrifices Israel brought once had a\nprospective meaning, the sacrifices brought in the millennial temple\nhave a retrospective meaning. When during this age God's people worship\nin the appointed way at His table, with the bread and wine as the\nmemorial of His love, it is a retrospect. We look back to the Cross. We\nshow forth His death. It is \"till He comes.\" Then this memorial feast\nends forever. Never again will the Lord's Supper be kept after the\nSaints of God have left the earth to be with the Lord in glory. The\nresumed sacrifices will be the memorial of the Cross and the whole\nwonderful story of the redemption for Israel and the nations of the\nearth, during the kingdom reign of Christ. And what a memorial it will\nbe! What a meaning these sacrifices will have! They will bring to a\nliving remembrance everything of the past. The retrospect will produce\nthe greatest scene of worship, of praise and adoration this earth has\never seen. All the Cross meant and the Cross has accomplished will be\nrecalled and a mighty \"Hallelujah Chorus\" will fill the earth and the\nheavens. The sacrifices will constantly remind the peoples of the earth\nof Him who died for Israel, who paid the redemption price for all\ncreation and whose glory now covers the earth as the waters cover the\ndeep. And above in the New Jerusalem, where the throne of the Lamb is,\nthe Saints in glory sing their Hallelujah (Ps. cxlix:5).\n\n\nI. The Outer Eastern Gate and the Prince.\n\nChapter xliv.\n\n Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary\n which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the Lord\n unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man\n shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath\n entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince;\n the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he\n shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out\n by the way of the same (verses 1-3).\n\nIn the previous chapter the prophet was in the inner court (xliii:5). It\nwas there he heard the voice of the Lord and received the message and\nsaw the great altar and its ordinances. From the inner court he is led\nback by the man to the eastern gate. This gate he finds no longer open.\nAs they arrived it was shut. The last time that gate was seen it was\nopen, and the glory of the Lord entered through this eastern gateway.\nThe reason why this gate is to be shut is stated by the Lord in His\naddress to Ezekiel. \"Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be\nshut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because\nthe Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore shall it\nbe shut.\" The Lord who entered with His glory is the Son of God, the\nLord Jesus Christ, and here His full glory is made known. He is the\nLord, the God of Israel, He \"whose goings forth have been from of old,\nfrom everlasting\" (Micah v:2). The gate is now to serve another purpose.\n\"It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread\nbefore the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate,\nand shall go out by the way of the same.\" Who is this prince? Some say\nthat this prince is the Lord Himself. Our Lord is repeatedly called a\nprince (Isaiah ix:6, 7, lv:4[51]; Dan. ix:25; Rev. i:5). In chapters\nxxxiv and xxxvii Messiah, Christ, is meant by the One Shepherd \"My\nservant David,\" who will be King and Prince over them. But now in the\nclosing chapters of this book a prince is mentioned seventeen times. But\nnot once is he spoken of as \"David\" or \"my servant David.\" This prince\nis not the Messiah, our Lord; nor is he the high priest as others claim.\nThe best evidence that this prince is not Christ is learned from the\nordinances he is to observe as revealed in chapter xlvi, where we read\nthat he is to worship himself and that he must bring burnt offerings and\npeace offerings; we also read of this prince having sons. All this shows\nthat the prince is not identical with the Lord. Who is he then? He is\nthe viceregent of the King, a future prince of the house of David, who\nwill represent the Lord on earth. David's throne will be established in\nJerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign supreme over all; His throne\nis above the earth in the New Jerusalem. He will visit the earth and\nmanifest His glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. This probably\nwill be during the great celebrations of the feast of Tabernacles, when\nthe nations send their representatives to Jerusalem to worship the King,\nthe Lord of Hosts (Zech. xiv:16). Upon David's throne will sit this\nprince of David as viceregent. The enemy anticipating this has\ncounterfeited this vice-regency in the spurious claims of the Roman\npope.\n\n[51] The Hebrew word translated \"leader\" is \"prince.\"\n\nThis prince as the vice-regent, has to enter by the way of the porch of\nthe eastern gateway, and he must also go out the same way (see also\nxlvi:2-8.)\n\n\nII. Concerning the Strangers and the Levites in Relation to the Temple\nWorship.\n\n Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house and I\n looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the\n Lord; and I fell upon my face. And the Lord said unto me, Son of\n man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears\n all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house\n of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in\n of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. And thou\n shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith\n the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your\n abominations. In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers,\n uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my\n sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the\n fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all\n your abominations. And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy\n things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for\n yourselves.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor\n uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any\n stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that\n are gone away from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray\n away from me after their idols: they shall even bear their iniquity.\n Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the\n gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay\n the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall\n stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered\n unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall\n into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them,\n saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they\n shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me,\n not to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place;\n but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they\n have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the\n house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done\n therein. (verses 4-14).\n\nBrought again through the north gate of the inner court, the prophet is\nface to face with the glory of the Lord which filled the house of the\nLord, and Ezekiel fell on his face. Then the Lord addressed him. He is\nto mark well what he sees and what he hears concerning the ordinances\nand the laws of the house of the Lord. The temple is now repeatedly\ncalled the house of the Lord, the place where His glory dwells, exalted\nabove the hills, to which the nations shall come (Isaiah ii:2). Israel\nin this message is reminded of the past. They were a rebellious house.\nThis was the burden of the opening messages of the prophet (chapter ii,\netc.). But now all must be and will be different. The abominations of\nthe past, the pollution of His house and all else will now be put away.\n\"Let it suffice you of all your abominations.\" They will no longer be\ntolerated, nor will converted Israel backslide again. He reminds them of\ntheir sinful past and of the demands of holiness for His house; all\nabominations and failures will cease. Uncircumcised in heart and in\nflesh shall not enter into the sanctuary of the Lord. Zechariah bears\nthe same testimony: \"In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in\nthe house of the Lord of hosts\" (Zech. xiv:21). His people will then be\nholy; their new birth has taken place, the uncircumcised, stony heart is\ntaken away and His Spirit is poured out upon them (chapter xxxvi:25-27).\n\nVerses 10-14 concern the Levites; they are to bear their iniquity and be\ndegraded as to their office. What Levites are meant, and when did they\ngo away from the Lord? It cannot mean past generations of Levites. The\noffence must have been committed by them before the Lord appeared in\nglory. It must be explained by what happened among the people before the\nLord came, during the days of the false Messiah. At that time Israel\nwill go far astray from the Lord and turn again to idols. In this\napostasy the Levites have a share. \"They ministered unto them before\ntheir idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity.\" When\nthe Lord comes, when their sins are forgiven and they are cleansed, the\nLord will deal accordingly with these Levites as announced in these\nverses. They shall bear their iniquity for their unfaithfulness. \"They\nshall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor\nto come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy; but they shall\nbear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.\" Yet\nthere will be service for them. \"But I will make them keepers of the\ncharge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall\nbe done therein.\"\n\n\nIII. Concerning the Priests, the sons of Zadok, and their Duties.\n\n But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the\n charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from\n me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall\n stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the\n Lord God: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come\n near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my\n charge.\n\n And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of\n the inner court, and they shall be clothed with linen garments; and\n no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of\n the inner court, and within. They shall have linen bonnets upon\n their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they\n shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat. And when\n they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the\n people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered,\n and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other\n garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their\n garments. Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their\n locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. Neither shall\n any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. Neither\n shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away:\n but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a\n widow that had a priest before. And they shall teach my people the\n difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern\n between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall\n stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my\n judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine\n assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. And they shall come\n at no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for\n mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that\n hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. And after he is\n cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. And in the day that\n he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in\n the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God.\n And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their\n inheritance; and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am\n their possession. They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin\n offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in\n Israel shall be theirs. And the first of all the first fruits of all\n things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations,\n shall be the priests': ye shall also give unto the priest the first\n of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine\n house. The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of\n itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast (verses 15-31).\n\nThe sons of Zadok kept the charge, they were faithful when the children\nof Israel went astray, and the Lord is now announcing the reward for\ntheir faithfulness. The earthly priesthood as it was once is\nre-established and vested in the sons of Zadok. These are to come near\nunto Jehovah and offer in His presence. How they are to come in, the\ngarments they shall wear, is made known to the prophet. They are not to\nshave their heads, \"neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter\ninto the inner court.\" They are forbidden to take for wives a widow or\none that has been put away. Maidens of Israel or a priest's widow they\ncould marry. All this will be literally fulfilled and done when this new\nand true worship is instituted in the coming age. It has nothing\nwhatever to do with our age. No such special class of an earthly\npriesthood exists during this age of grace. All believers constitute a\nholy and a royal priesthood; the priests of ritualistic Christendom are\nan invention. But when the Lord has restored Israel to their land and\nthis great place of worship stands, priestly ministrations will be\nresumed. Neither will this be a denial of Him who is priest forever\nafter the order of Melchizedec. While the spurious, man-made priesthood\nof this Christian age denies the Lord and His finished work, the future\npriesthood ministering in the millennial temple will glorify Him.\n\nThese priests will also be teachers and exercise judicial authority\n(verses 23-24). The law of defilement will be enforced, though there\nwill be less possibility of such defilement, for death during the\nmillennium will not be the rule as it is now, but a rare and exceptional\noccurrence. Finally we read of the inheritance of the priests who\nminister before the Lord. \"I am their inheritance, and ye shall give\nthem no possession in Israel; I am their possession.\" While many of\nthese appointments in priestly ministry during the millennium are\nobscure to us who enjoy the heavenly things, we may rest assured that\nthe Lord in His own time \"in that day\" will bring about the\naccomplishment of all He has spoken.\n\n\nChapter xlv.\n\nI. The Holy Portion of the Land for the Sanctuary, the Priests, the\nLevites, the City and the Prince.\n\n Moreover when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye\n shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land:\n the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds,\n and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all\n the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the\n sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth,\n square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs\n thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five\n and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it\n shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. The holy portion of\n the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary,\n which shall come near to minister unto the Lord: and it shall be a\n place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. And the\n five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth,\n shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for\n themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.\n\n And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad,\n and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the\n holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.\n\n And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the\n other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the\n possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and\n before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and\n from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against\n one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In\n the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no\n more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to\n the house of Israel according to their tribes (verses 1-8).\n\nThe land possessed will be divided by lot for the inheritance of the\npeople. The special territorial division for the different tribes is\nrecorded in the last two chapters. They are to bring an oblation of the\nland which the Lord so graciously restored unto them. The word\n\"oblation\" is literally an \"heave-offering,\" because when anything was\noffered to Jehovah the offerer raised the hand. The dimensions of the\nholy portion of the land are, in length 25,000, and in breadth 10,000.\nBut what? The Hebrew has no definite measure. The authorized version\nsupplies the word \"reeds,\" which seems to be correct in view of the\nstatement in chapter xlii:16.[52] This is a very large territory, a\nsquare of some sixty miles on each side. The topography of Palestine\nwill be entirely changed in the coming age, as we pointed out before.\nThe land is to be greatly enlarged, while the temple-mountain will be\nhighly exalted. These changes will make all possible which we read in\nthese closing chapters. We must take these chapters in faith, knowing\nthat the omnipotent Lord will accomplish all in his own time. In the\ncenter of this large area, the holy portion of the Lord, will be the\nsanctuary; the measurement is given in verse 2. Around this the priests\nhave their portion; there they will have their houses. The estate of the\nLevites comes next; the measurement is given, and that they shall have\nfor possession twenty chambers. The Septuagint has \"cities to dwell in,\"\nhabitations where they will reside. This is undoubtedly the correct\nmeaning. Then the measurement of the city is given, which is for the\nwhole house of Israel. Finally the portion of the Prince is recorded.\n\"And the Prince shall have his portion on the one side and on the other\nside of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city over\nagainst the holy oblation, and over against the possession of the city,\nfrom the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in\nlength answering to one of the portions of the tribes from the west\nborder unto the east border.\" From this we learn that the estate of the\nPrince consists of two halves, the one on the west and the other on the\neast of the holy portion. He stands as the head and ruler in closest\nconnection with the sanctuary. It is all a new order and will be brought\nabout when the Lord has come back, and when Israel is restored to the\nland. They never possessed such a holy portion in the land, nor such a\nsanctuary. A spiritual application as to the Church is impossible to\nmake; the literal interpretation is the only possible one which can be\nmade.\n\n[52] Read our comment on this verse.\n\n\nIII. Exhortation Addressed to the Princes.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel:\n remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take\n away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. Ye shall\n have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and\n the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the\n tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer:\n the measure thereof shall be after the homer. And the shekel shall\n be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen\n shekels, shall be your maneh[53] (verses 9-12).\n\n[53] The sixtieth part of a talent, about fifty shekels.\n\nThe princes who used to oppress the people, shall no longer oppress\n(verse 8). They are to execute judgment and justice. Every measure is to\nbe just. The time has come when righteousness reigns. \"He shall judge\nthe poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and\nshall break in pieces the oppressor\" (Ps. lxxii:4). No longer will the\npoor be down-trodden.\n\n\nIV. The Oblation for the Prince and His Offerings.\n\n This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah\n of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah\n of an homer of barley: Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of\n oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which\n is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer: And one lamb\n out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of\n Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace\n offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord God. All\n the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in\n Israel. And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings,\n and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the\n new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of\n Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering,\n and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make\n reconciliation for the house of Israel (verses 13-17).\n\nWhat the ruling Prince, the vice-regent upon the throne of David, is to\nreceive from the people is stated in verses 13-16. The part of the\nPrince is to give burnt-offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, at\nthe different feasts and solemnities, to make reconciliation for the\nHouse of Israel. No doubt all this has a retrospective value and\nmeaning. These sacrifices and offerings commemorate the one great\nsacrifice, which is constantly and vividly kept in full view by these\nceremonies.\n\n\nV. The Two Great Feasts Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the\n month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse\n the sanctuary: And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin\n offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four\n corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate\n of the inner court. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the\n month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so\n shall ye reconcile the house. In the first month, in the fourteenth\n day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days;\n unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince\n prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for\n a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt\n offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish\n daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin\n offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a\n bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. In\n the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do\n the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin\n offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat\n offering, and according to the oil (verses 18-25).\n\nFirst stands the cleansing of the sanctuary on the first day of the\nfirst month. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore commences the\nyear. And this offering of a young bullock without blemish shows forth\nChrist in His wonderful, unblemished devotedness as He suffered once for\nsin. The same sacrifice will be repeated on the seventh day, and it is\nthen especially for everyone that erreth and for him that is simple. The\nprecious blood of the Lamb of God is thus constantly kept in\nremembrance. Two great feasts will be celebrated, the Passover and the\nFeast of Tabernacles. These are the feasts of the Millennium. Very\nsignificantly the feast of weeks, that is Pentecost, is no longer\nmentioned. Dispensationally the Feast of Pentecost typifies the coming\nof the Spirit of God, to baptize believing Jews and Gentiles into one\nbody. Pentecost ushered in this present age, and during its course the\nHoly Spirit is on earth fulfilling His mission in calling from Jews and\nGentiles a people for His name. When this age closes with the great\npredicted events transpiring, the Spirit of God has finished the work\nfor which He came. The body of Christ is taken home to glory and united\nwith the Head. It is true the Holy Spirit will yet be poured out upon\nall flesh (Joel ii:28) but the dispensational aspect of Pentecost is\nfulfilled and can have no such meaning in millennial times.[54]\n\n[54] The Feasts of Jehovah--Passover: The Cross and its work. First\nFruits: Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost: The Gift of the Spirit and\nthe calling of the Church. Feast of Trumpets: The Regathering of Israel.\nDay of Atonement: Israel's Cleansing. Feast of Tabernacles: The\nMillennium.\n\nAnd how appropriate it is that only Passover and the Feast of\nTabernacles are celebrated by Israel when the Lord has come. Passover\nwas first kept in Egypt; its precious meaning is well known to all\nChristians. Redemption by blood, so fully realized in the work of the\nspotless Lamb of God, is blessedly seen in the Passover, while the Feast\nof Unleavened Bread reveals the purpose of redemption--redemption unto\nholiness. Israel observed this feast in the wilderness. They celebrated\nit when they had come into the land; then under Hezekiah and Josiah it\nwas recovered. During their long dispersion Israel has not forgotten\nthis feast. Though with judicial blindness upon them, eyes that cannot\nsee and ears that cannot hear, the people keep once a year the Passover.\nLongingly the orthodox Jew looks towards the land of promise and repeats\neach Passover night the pious wish \"This day here; next year in\nJerusalem.\" When the nation is regathered and the Kingdom is established\nin their midst, they will keep this Feast anew. What meaning it will\nthen have! What memories cluster around it! How all their history will\nbe recalled by that Feast--started in Egypt and consummated in the\nKingdom! But the observance apart from the unleavened bread is\ndifferent. The Prince and all the people on the fourteenth day of the\nfirst month are identified as they never were before, in a single\nbullock for a sin offering, while every day for seven days the Prince\nprepares a complete burnt offering, a sign of perfect consecration to\nthe Lord. What praise the Lord, the Lamb of God enthroned in glory, and\nHis glory covering the earth, will receive in these yearly memorial\nfeasts.\n\nThe Feast of Tabernacles is the second great feast. It was kept by\nIsrael when the harvest and the vintage had taken place. It foreshadows\nthe Millennium, when the harvest and the vintage (Rev. xiv) the end of\nthe age is passed and the new age, the age of glory, has come; the great\ningathering has taken place and the prophetic meaning of the Feast of\nTabernacles will be realized. Zechariah xiv:16-21 tells us of its\nMillennial celebration.\n\n\nChapter xlvi.\n\nI. The Worship of the Prince.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh\n toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the\n sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall\n be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of\n that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the\n priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings,\n and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go\n forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise\n the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before\n the Lord in the sabbaths and in the new moons. And the burnt\n offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath\n day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.\n And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat\n offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of\n oil to an ephah. And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young\n bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be\n without blemish. And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for\n a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as\n his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. And when\n the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of\n that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof (verses 1-8).\n\nHere another worship scene of the Millennium is described. The prominent\neastern gate is to be closed during the six working days, but on the\nSabbath it shall be opened, as well as in the day of the new moon. The\nSabbath and the new moon are prominent in the worship of the Kingdom\nAge. The Sabbath was a type of the coming rest for the people of\nIsrael.[55] This rest has now come. Their wanderings are ended, they are\ngathered from the East and from the West, from the North and South, and\nhave found at last the promised rest (Ps. cvii:1-8). Therefore the\nSabbath is especially mentioned in connection with worship. On the\nseventh day the gate through which the Lord and His glory passed is\nopened and left open till the evening. The six working days (typical of\n6,000 years) are forever gone, the seventh day, the seventh thousand,\nthe Day of the Lord, has come. And when the Millennium ends, the\ncomplete, eternal rest comes for all the people of God. The new moon is\ntypical of Israel's re-establishment as a nation. The nation, like the\nmoon, had waned, and disappeared, but now she shines again like the new\nmoon.\n\n[55] When it speaks of \"my rest\" in Hebrews iv it refers to the eternal\nrest.\n\nThe Prince is to worship at the threshold of the gate, and the people\nbefore the gate. But neither the Prince nor the people enter within. No\ndrawing near to God is known then as we now enjoy it who worship in the\nSpirit through the rent veil. It is all an earthly worship, while the\ntrue worship of the Church is heavenly. The Prince in this worship\nenters by the outer door on the side of the east and he goes out by the\nsame door. The Prince occupies the prominent place as the representative\nof the people. He presents his offerings to Jehovah, while the people\nstand as worshippers at the outer gate of the same entrance. The\nofferings the Prince is to bring on the Sabbath are larger than those\ncommanded in the law. Both the burnt-offering and the meal offering\nbrought by him on the Sabbath are more abundant than those offered under\nthe old dispensation, an evidence of the higher and more perfect worship\nof restored Israel. Different, however, is it with the offering on the\nnew moon. In Numbers xxviii:11-15 we read:\n\n And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering\n unto the Lord; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the\n first year without spot; And three tenth deals of flour for a meal\n offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of\n flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil for one ram; And a\n several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meal offering\n unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice\n made by fire unto the Lord. And their drink offerings shall be half\n an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a\n ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt\n offering of every month throughout the months of the year. And one\n kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the Lord shall be offered,\n beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.\n\nSuch are the offerings according to the law, to be brought on the new\nmoon. But in the millennial worship these offerings are diminished. All\nthis has a deeper meaning which will be fully known and enjoyed when\nthis worship is carried out.\n\n\nII. Further Instructions as to Worship.\n\n But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the\n solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to\n worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that\n entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of\n the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby\n he came in, but shall go forth over against it. And the prince in\n the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go\n forth, shall go forth. And in the feasts and in the solemnities the\n meal offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram,\n and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an\n ephah. Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering\n or peace offerings voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open\n him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his\n burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath\n day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall\n shut the gate. Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the\n Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare\n it every morning. And thou shalt prepare a meal offering for it\n every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an\n hin of oil to temper with the fine flour, a meal offering\n continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the Lord. Thus shall they\n prepare the lamb and the meal offering, and the oil, every morning\n for a continual burnt offering. (verses 9-15.)\n\nEverything is divinely ordered. Here are first the special instructions\nfor the worship of the people of the land. When they come before the\nLord in the solemn feasts some will enter in to worship by the north\ngate and leave by the south gate, and others who enter by the south gate\nwill leave by the way of the north gate. None is permitted to leave by\nthe gate through which he entered. Perhaps this injunction is given to\navoid confusion among the multitudes who will come to worship in those\ncoming days, when the Lord will be universally acknowledged (Zech.\nxiv:9).\n\nIn the midst of these worshipping masses will be the Prince (verse 10).\nWhat a blessed reminder of Him who is the One in the midst! He was in\nthe midst on Calvary; He is in the midst of His people during this age;\nin Revelation He is seen in the midst of the throne (Rev. v:6). The\nPrince as the representative of the King of kings is therefore in the\nmidst of His redeemed earthly Israel. The burnt-offering and the meal\noffering, so prominent in this coming worship are constant memorials of\nHis great devotion when He offered Himself, and of His holy, spotless\nhumanity in which He suffered and glorified God.\n\nSomething else of deep interest is recorded here. The daily\nburnt-offerings during the old dispensation consisted of a lamb every\nmorning and of a lamb every evening. Here no evening lamb for a\nburnt-offering is mentioned, but the offerings are to be brought only\nduring the mornings. The bright morning has come, the day dawn for His\npeople, so long in the night of suffering and dispersion. The night is\ngone forever and therefore the evening, preceding the night, is no\nlonger mentioned and no provision is made for an evening burnt-offering.\nThe night is gone and Israel's glorious morning can never be darkened\nagain by apostasy.\n\n\nIII. Concerning the Prince, His Sons and Servants.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift unto any of his\n sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their\n possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance\n to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty;\n after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be\n his sons' for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the\n people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their\n possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own\n possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his\n possession (verses 16-18).\nHere we read that the Prince has sons, natural descendants, and whatever\ngifts he bestows upon them shall be their possession by inheritance.\nThis is conclusive that the Prince of these last chapters of Ezekiel is\nnot Christ. The Prince has sons and servants. As the entire final vision\nof this book deals with the earthly conditions of the coming age, and\nreveals nothing of the heavenly side of things, these sons and servants\ncannot mean the church-saints, who are with Christ in the New Jerusalem.\nAs to a gift to one of the Prince's servants, it is to revert to his\nsons when the year of liberty or jubilee is celebrated. The jubilee year\nwill therefore be observed during the coming age.\n\n\nIV. Additional Description of Temple Buildings.\n\n After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the\n gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the\n north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.\n Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil\n the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake\n the meal offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court,\n to sanctify the people. Then he brought me forth into the utter\n court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and,\n behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. In the four\n corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long\n and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. And there\n was a row of buildings round about them, round about them four, and\n it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. Then\n said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the\n ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people\n (verses 19-24).\n\nAgain the prophet is brought by the northern gate to the side where the\nholy chambers of the priests are located. There he saw a place on the\ntwo sides westward. The use of this place is made known in verse 20. The\nfinal description of buildings round about the court needs no further\ncomment.\n\n\nTHE VISION CONCERNING THE LAND.\n\nChapter xlvii.\n\nThe preceding chapters of this final section of the Book of Ezekiel\ncontain the vision of the Temple and its worship. The last two chapters\ngive a vision of Israel's land as it will be during the coming age.\n\n\nI. The Temple Stream and its Healing Waters.\n\n Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and,\n behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house\n eastward: for the forefront of the house was the east, and the\n waters came down from under from the right side of the house, from\n the south of the altar. Then brought he me out by the way of the\n gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the outer gate\n toward the gate that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out\n waters on the right side. And when the man went forth eastward, he\n had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits, and he\n brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again\n he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the\n waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought\n me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a\n thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the\n waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be\n passed over.\n\n And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he\n brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now\n when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many\n trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These\n waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the\n desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea,\n the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every\n thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall\n come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish,\n because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed;\n and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall\n come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even\n unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their\n fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great\n sea, exceeding many. But the marshes thereof and the pools thereof\n shall not be healed: they shall be given to salt. And by the river\n upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all\n trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit\n thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his\n months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and\n the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for\n medicine (verses 1-12).\n\nThis great vision of the Temple stream has been variously interpreted.\nThe critical school has treated it only as an imagery of the prophet and\nspeaks of the physical impossibility that such a stream could ever be in\nexistence.[56] Others have spiritualized the vision. A leading annotator\nstates, \"Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow\nthe living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and\nin the heart.\" In this spiritualizing method the waters are also applied\nto the reading and study of the Word of God. The same commentator says\n\"some things in the Bible are easy to understand, as the water up to the\nankles; others more difficult, which require deeper search, as the\nwaters up to the knees and the loins; and others beyond our reach.\" Such\napplications can be made in different ways. The stream which Ezekiel saw\nis more than typical of the blessings which the land and all the earth\nwill enjoy in the coming age. It is a literal stream. There will be a\ngreat outpouring of the Spirit of God for the age to come, and spiritual\nblessings will abound everywhere. But the stream Ezekiel beholds tells\nof the physical blessings which are in store for the earth in that\ncoming day of the restoration of all things. We do not need to trouble\nourselves about the manner in which the temple stream is to flow forth,\nnor do we need to solve the physical difficulties. When the Lord of\nCreation was on earth in humiliation, and walked among men garbed in\nservant's form, nature acknowledged Him and He manifested the Creator's\npower. What will it be when He comes again, not as a servant to die, but\nas the King and Lord of all! Omnipotence will then be displayed to the\nfull. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? (Jere. xxxii:27). He who\nbore the thorns on His brow, the symbol of the curse which on account of\nman's sin rests upon Creation, will remove that curse in the day of His\npower. He paid for it on the cross.\n\n[56] One says: \"The double impossibility of the rapid rise of water in\nthe stream and the course of the river across the steep limestone range\neast of Jerusalem into the Dead Sea does not occur to the prophet.\" As\nif Ezekiel had invented this vision.\n\nAnd Ezekiel was not the only prophet to whom was revealed the physical\nblessing of the earth in the life and health giving stream. Isaiah had\nthe same vision. \"And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the\nthirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals where each\nlay shall be grass with reeds and rushes\" (Is. xxxv:7). \"I will even\nmake a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert\" (Is. xliii:19).\n\"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the\nbrier shall come up the myrtle tree\" (Is. lv:13). \"The desert shall\nblossom like the rose\" (Is. xxxv:1). Joel at the close of his great\nvision concerning the still future day of Israel's tribulation and the\njudgment of the nations following the time of trouble, and the Lord's\nvisible manifestation, also speaks of the blessings of the Millennium.\n\"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop\ndown new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of\nJudah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the\nhouse of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim\" (Joel iii:18).\nJoel, one of the earliest prophets, living centuries before Ezekiel, saw\nwater coming forth from the house of the Lord for earthly blessings.\nStill more definite is the great post-exilic prophet Zechariah. \"And it\nshall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;\nhalf of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the hinder\nsea; in summer and in winter shall it be\" (Zech. xiv:8).\n\nThe waters Ezekiel saw issued out from under the threshold, from the\nright side of the house, the south side of the altar. Of the heavenly\nJerusalem a similar scene is recorded by John in the Revelation. \"And he\nshowed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding\nout of the throne of God and of the Lamb\" (Rev. xxii:1). The stream has\nits origin in the midst of the millennial temple. There is no use in\nspeculating about the source of the water supply. It is super-natural.\nHe who said, \"Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and\nlet it divide the waters from the waters\" (Gen. i:6) and He who broke\nopen all the fountains of the deep when His judgment came on the earth\n(Gen. vii:11) by whose power also the smitten rock in the wilderness\nsupplied the water for His people, He will provide from His\ninexhaustible resources the life giving stream. And the waters which\ngush forth are increasing in volume; the stream does not become\nshallower but deepens in its flow. It is not like a natural river which\nhas its source in a spring and is fed by brooks and rivers. It is a\nmiraculous, unexplainable self-supply which occasions this increase. A\nthousand cubits are measured and the waters come to the ankles of the\nprophet. The next thousand cubits bring the waters to the knees; then\nadvancing another thousand cubits the waters come to the loins, and with\nthe fourth thousand they become so deep that the prophet could not\nfathom them. The four thousand cubits make about a mile and a half, so\nthat the prophet had advanced, under the guidance of the man, this\ndistance from Jerusalem in a southeastern direction.\n\nHe is caused to return to the bank of the river, and saw there on both\nsides many trees. These trees testify of the great fertility which this\nstream will produce in nature. Expositors who give the vision a purely\nspiritual meaning explain the trees as being the righteous who shall\nflourish at the waterbrooks (Psalm i).\n\nThe man informs the prophet that these waters go toward the east country\nand go down into the desert. The word desert in Hebrew is \"Arabah\" and\nmeans \"plain,\" which is the plain of Jordan. It signifies a parched, dry\nplace. Jordan is the type of death, and the sea of salt, the Dead Sea,\ninto which Jordan flows, also signifies death.[57] And now in the Dead\nSea this living water from the temple flows, and healing is the blessed\nresult. Where death has reigned so long abundant life now is manifested.\nSodom is restored to its former estate (See chapter xvi). Wheresoever\nthe waters go life follows at once. \"There shall be a very great\nmultitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they\nshall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh. The\nfishers shall stand up from En-gedi unto En-eglaim.\" En-gedi is on the\none end and En-eglaim at the other end of the Dead Sea. Yet there will\nbe marshes and pools which remain unhealed; their former condition is\nunchanged. It has been suggested that this is done for the production of\nsalt. But it is rather a reminder that while the coming age is an age of\nwonderful blessing, that it is not yet the perfect, eternal age. And the\ntrees will be ever green, never failing, providing meat by their\nabundant fruit and the leaf is for medicine. It shows the gracious\nprovision made for man living on the earth during the age to come.\nPoverty, famine and sickness will be banished.\n\n[57] Ps. lxviii:4 has this word \"Arabah;\" in the Authorized Version it\nis translated \"heaven.\" It is in the plural, \"Araboth\"--\"Cast up the way\nfor him that rideth in Araboth\"--the places of death. Christ is seen\nprophetically as the Conqueror of death and Sheol.\n\n\nII. The Borders of the Land.\n\n Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall\n inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph\n shall have two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as\n another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto\n your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. And\n this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the\n great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad: Hamath, Berothah,\n Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of\n Hamath; Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. And the\n border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and\n the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north\n side. And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from\n Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan,\n from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. And\n the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in\n Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side\n southward. The west side also shall be the great sea from the\n border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.\n So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of\n Israel (verses 13-21).\n\nLittle comment is needed on these verses. That the literal land and the\nliteral tribes are meant, no intelligent readers can deny. The twelve\ntribes are then back in the land. The so-called \"lost tribes\" are united\nwith the house of Judah. Here the borders are given. Joseph has two\nportions. God is faithful. He has not forgotten His gracious promises of\nold. \"And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, concerning which\nI lifted up mine hand (in oath) to give it unto your fathers; and this\nland shall fall unto your inheritance.\" The whole land is to be divided\naccording to the tribes of Israel.\n\n\nIII. Concerning the Stranger in the Land.\n\n And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an\n inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you,\n which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as\n born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have\n inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall come\n to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye\n give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God (verses 22-23).\n\nHere is a provision for the strangers. They are no longer to be treated\nas outcasts, as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; they are seen\nfully identified with Israel and share the inheritance. This again\nconfirms other prophecies (See Isaiah lx:1-10.) The strangers shall come\nand build the walls, and join themselves to Israel. The singing times\nfor Israel have come. No longer will the chosen people be the tail of\nnations, but the head of all nations. \"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of\nZion, for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the\nLord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day and shall\nbe my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee.\"... (Zech.\nii:10-12). No longer will the Jew be despised, but the strangers, the\nnations, will beseech him to take them to the glory land. \"Thus saith\nthe Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men out\nof all languages of the nations shall take hold, even shall take hold of\nthe skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have\nheard that God is with you\" (Zech. viii:23).\n\n\n\n\nPLAN OF THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.\n\n\n NORTH\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | DAN |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | ASHER |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | NAPHTALI |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | MANASSEH |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | EPHRAIM |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | REUBEN |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | JUDAH |\n +-------+-----------------------------+-------+\n | D | | D |\n | | LEVITES | |\n | | | |\n | +-----------------------------+ |\n | | a | |\n | C | PRIESTS O PRIESTS | C |\n | | a c | |\n | +--------+-----------+--------+ |\n | | | +---+ | | |\n | | | | B | | | |\n | D | b | +---+ | d | D |\n +-------+--------+-----------+--------+-------+\n | BENJAMIN |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | SIMEON |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | ISSACHAR |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | ZEBULUN |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n | GAD |\n +---------------------------------------------+\n SOUTH\n\n A = The Sanctuary and its Area.\n B = The City of Jerusalem.\n C = The Possession of the Prince.\n D = The Entire Oblation.\n a-b-c-d = Territory belonging to City.\n\n\nTHE PORTION OF THE TRIBES; THE TERRITORY OF THE OBLATION; THE CITY, ITS\nGATES AND NEW NAME.\n\nChapter xlviii.\n\n\nI. The portion of Seven Tribes.\n\n Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the\n coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar-enan, the\n border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are\n his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. And by the border of\n Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher. And\n by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side,\n a portion for Naphtali. And by the border of Naphtali, from the east\n side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh. And by the border\n of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for\n Ephraim. And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto\n the west side, a portion for Reuben. And by the border of Reuben,\n from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.\n\n And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side,\n shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty\n thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts,\n from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in\n the midst of it (verses 1-8).\n\nThe division of the land to the twelve tribes, then fully restored, is\nby lot (xlvii:22) but the disposing of it will be by the Lord (Prov.\nxvi:33). The order is entirely different from the one found in the Book\nof Joshua (Josh. xv-xix). Up to the time of the carrying away of the ten\ntribes and the captivity of Judah, the tribes possessed the territory\nassigned to them by lot when they entered the land under Joshua. The ten\ntribes never returned from the captivity, and therefore the division of\nthe land as given here has never been in the history of Israel. It is\nfuture. The division is in twelve portions all alike in dimensions,\nrunning alongside of each other, from west to east. Seven tribes are in\nthe north, and five in the south. Between the seven tribes in the north\nand the tribes in the south is the oblation, the heave offering, the\nportion of the prince, the Levites and the priests, the Temple and the\ncity with its surrounding territory. The tribe of Dan has its portion in\nthe extreme north. It is the furthest away from the sanctuary. Dan was a\ncorrupt tribe, semi-heathen (Judges xviii). Dan is not mentioned among\nthe sealed one in Revelation vii. All the other tribes are placed in a\ndifferent order from the former position.\n\n\nII. The Oblation; the Remaining Tribes.\n\n The oblation that ye shall offer unto the Lord shall be of five and\n twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth. And for\n them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the\n north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten\n thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth,\n and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the\n sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof. It shall be for\n the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have\n kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel\n went astray, as the Levites went astray. And this oblation of the\n land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the\n border of the Levites. And over against the border of the priests\n the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten\n thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty\n thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they shall not sell of\n it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for\n it is holy unto the Lord.\n\n And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the\n five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for\n dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst\n thereof. And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side\n four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and\n five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred,\n and the west side four thousand and five hundred. And the suburbs of\n the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward\n the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and\n fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. And the residue in\n length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten\n thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over\n against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof\n shall be for food unto them that serve the city. And they that serve\n the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. All the\n oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty\n thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the\n possession of the city.\n\n And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the\n other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over\n against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east\n border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand\n toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince:\n and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house\n shall be in the midst thereof. Moreover from the possession of the\n Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of\n that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the\n border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. As for the rest of the\n tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a\n portion. And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the\n west side, Simeon shall have a portion. And by the border of Simeon,\n from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion. And by\n the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side,\n Zebulun a portion. And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side\n unto the west side, Gad a portion. And by the border of Gad, at the\n south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the\n waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.\n This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of\n Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord\n God (verses 9-29).\n\nJudah's portion on the north and Benjamin's portion on the south border\nare an oblation, that which is offered unto the Lord. In this space of\nlarge dimensions are the portions of the Levites and the priests. The\nTemple stands in the middle of the portion of the priests, and adjoining\nis the holy city and its territory.[58] The Prince has his portion on\nboth sides of the oblation, the heave offering. That Judah and Benjamin\nare bordering on these holy sections is not without meaning. Judah is\nthe royal tribe. He who is now worshipped by His restored people is the\nLion of the tribe of Judah, Israel's King. Judah means \"praise\". He\nreceives the praises of His people. Benjamin's other name was Benoni,\n\"the son of suffering\" and Benjamin is \"the son of the right hand.\" Both\nJudah and Benjamin are a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n[58] Consult sketch.\n\nIt is impossible to explain fully the measurements given and other\ndetails of this chapter. We believe what God has written, and when the\ntime has come He will surely see to it that all is done according to His\nword. We do not need to trouble ourselves with supposed difficulties or\ntry to solve them. As stated before in this exposition, Israel's land\nwill undergo a wonderful change when the Lord comes; these physical\nchanges are unknown to us in their extent. The division of the land, and\nthe setting apart of the oblation will then take place. The details in\nall these visions are of little importance to us. The main fact is to\nsee that all these prophecies have remained unfulfilled up to now. Nor\nwill they be fulfilled during the present age. As every judgment\nprediction of the prophecies of Ezekiel, uttered before the destruction\nof Jerusalem, was fulfilled, so every prediction of glory and blessing\nin the prophecies spoken after the destruction of the city will be\nfulfilled. It all awaits His coming and glorious appearing. Let us hold\nfast this and leave the accomplishment of every detail to the Lord.\n\n\nIII. The Gates of the City and its new Name.\n\n And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four\n thousand and five hundred measures. And the gates of the city shall\n be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward;\n one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. And at the\n east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one\n gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. And at the\n south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates;\n one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. At\n the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three\n gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. It\n was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city\n from that day shall be, The Lord is there (verses 30-35).\n\nThe city, the earthly Jerusalem, during the Kingdom age, will have\ntwelve gates, after the twelve tribes of Israel. The gates on the north\nside are the gates of Reuben, Judah and Levi. The gates on the east are\nthose of Joseph, Benjamin and Dan. Then the gates on the south--gates of\nSimeon, Issachar and Zebulun. The west side gates are the gates of Gad,\nAsher and Naphthali. Ephraim and Manasseh are no longer mentioned, but\nare represented in Joseph. Some expositors have made the statement that\nthe city, Jerusalem with its gates, is an Old Testament description of\nthe same Jerusalem which John beheld in the isle of Patmos (Rev. xxi).\nJohn saw the new Jerusalem, Ezekiel the earthly city as it will exist\nduring the Millennium. There are correspondencies, and yet greater\ndistinctions. Here in Ezekiel a Temple is the center of the land; in\nRevelation we read the seer's word, \"I saw no temple therein\" (Rev.\nxxi:22). The heavenly Jerusalem, like the earthly Jerusalem in Ezekiel's\nvision, has the twelve gates and written on them the names of the twelve\ntribes of Israel. The wall of the heavenly Jerusalem has twelve\nfoundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\nNo wall and no foundations are mentioned by Ezekiel in connection with\nthe millennial Jerusalem. The heavenly Jerusalem is four square, \"the\nlength and the breadth and the height of it are equal.\" Such is not the\ncase with the earthly city. Nor is there mention made by Ezekiel of the\nprecious stones, and the twelve gates, composed every gate of one pearl;\nnor do we read of golden streets. The earthly Jerusalem will pass away,\nand when at last the new heaven and the new earth have come into\nexistence, after the millennial reign of Christ, the new Jerusalem will\ndescend out of heaven and find its eternal resting place upon the new\nearth.\n\nThe circumference of the city of Jerusalem according to Ezekiel's vision\nwill be 18,000 reeds, about six miles. Then comes the majestic ending,\nthe last word the man of God pronounced. \"And the name of that city from\nthat day shall be 'Jehovah Shammah', the Lord is there.\" It is a fitting\nfinale to this great Book. In its beginning we see the glory of the Lord\ndeparting. Throughout the pages of the Book we read of Israel's\nrebellion, Jerusalem's judgments, the nation's disobedience and\nrejection. Then follow the messages of Hope--Israel's conversion, the\nregathering of the twelve tribes, the final conflict, the returning\nglory of the Lord; and from that day the name of the city will be\nJehovah Shammah. Because He has manifested His gracious presence in the\nmidst of His people and established His throne, blessed His people with\nall the spiritual and national blessings promised by His holy prophets,\ndestroyed all their enemies, and covers all with His visible glory once\nmore, therefore the city will have the name \"Jehovah is there.\" What a\nglory it will be for Him. The city through which He once walked with\nweary feet, the Son of God garbed in servant's form; the city through\nwhich He was dragged, when the cross was laid upon His shoulders, the\ncity which cast Him out, the city outside of which He endured the cross\nand despised the shame--that same city will be made in that day the\nglory spot of the earth.\n\n\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nSome of the outline numbering is incorrect, but has been left\nas printed.\n\nObvious printing and punctuation errors have been corrected.\n\nMany words are spelled two different ways, for example \"viceregent\"\nand \"vice-regent\", \"today\" and \"to-day\".\n\n\n
","title":"The Prophet Ezekiel: An Analytical Exposition","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":121060}