Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

The day of pardon for Judah was then gone by. It was declared that the land had sinned so grievously, that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job had been in it, they should deliver none but themselves.

The word of the Lord then came in two parables, especially suited for the people to whom the prophet spake one showed how useless was the barren vine; the other, in strong metaphorical language, delineated the wretched state into which the favoured people of Jehovah had brought themselves; Judah was thereby reminded of the sinful and the awful condition of Israel. Another emblematic parable follows. The judgments sent upon the royal family of Judah are represented, but the prophet is led onward, and favoured with a view of the restoration of Israel, affording a glimpse of the kingdom of the Messiah, ch. xvii. 22-24.

Thus saith the Lord God;

I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it;

I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender

one,

And I will plant it upon an high mountain, and eminent: In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: And it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar:

And under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing;

In the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know

That I the Lord have brought down the high tree,

exalted the low tree,

have

Have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry

tree to flourish:

I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

In the next chapter, the Divine justice is vindicated; the unfounded murmurings of the Jews, that they were punished for their fathers' sins, are fully met. This portion of prophecy concludes with a lamentation for the princes of Israel and for Jerusalem. In the close there is a beautiful reference to Judah, under the figure of a vine, so frequently used for that purpose in holy writ.

These prophecies of Ezekiel were confirmed by the events then passing with respect to Jerusalem. They commanded attention. In the following year, the Jewish elders came to the prophet, expressly to inquire of the Lord. They were reminded in plain terms of the Divine mercies, and of the rebellions of Israel, especially in profaning the sabbaths; but a promise of future favour was given, with a touching declaration of their future repentance; a warning is also given—that now the sword of judgment was sharpened and furbished-that "it is the rod of my Son, it despiseth every tree," Ezek. xxi. 10, marginal reading. The lofty must come down.

There is a remarkable reference to the circumstance which would decide Nebuchadnezzar in his attack

upon Jerusalem. In his march towards the western revolters, he would hesitate whether first to go against the Jewish metropolis, or against Rabbath of the Ammonites; he would decide by having recourse to a method of divination then frequently practised. The names of the cities were written on arrows, and that city would be first attacked the name of which was first drawn from the quiver. The sins of Jerusalem were again largely enumerated, and the utter depravity of its inhabitants forcibly described, ch. xxii. 24–31. The idolatries of Samaria and Jerusalem also were delineated in figurative terms, and the judgments to come upon them announced.

:

Another series of prophecies follow these were delivered two years later, when Nebuchadnezzar be

gan the siege of Jerusalem. The prophet, though so far distant from the scene of calamity, was made to know that the king of Babylon had set himself against Jerusalem that very day. He was told to describe the destruction of the city and its inhabitants, under a figure of a boiling pot, in which the best pieces of the choicest of the flock should be consumed. To impress the extent and overwhelming weight of this calamity the more strongly upon the Jews around him, the prophet, who was suddenly bereaved of his wife, was forbidden to mourn for his loss.

That two distinct courses of prophecy should be uttered about the same time, one by Jeremiah at Jerusalem, the other by Ezekiel in Mesopotamia, both referring to the same events, is very remarkable; the more so, as in addition to the judgments upon Israel, those about to come upon Egypt, Tyre, and other nations, were made known to both prophets.

The Jews in captivity looked at this time for news from Judea with the deepest anxiety. Their hearts must have been weighed down with painful anticipations of the fate then coming upon their city. In Ezek. xxxiii. 21-33, we read of the news of the destruction of Jerusalem being received by that prophet, or perhaps of his first interview with one who had been present at the scene of horror. Ezekiel is not directed to say much in reference to this afflictive event, but is told to speak of the sure destruction that should come upon the scanty remnant in Judea, ver. 27-29. The prophet also has a word sent for the groups assembled under the shelter of the walls of the houses to converse, as still is usual in the East during the winter season. Their attention was engrossed by the intelligence from Jerusalem; they desired to know more of the judgments of the Lord, but it was from curiosity, or for amusement, to pass the time; not from a real desire for instruction or improvement, nor from any wish to be impressed by the awful

The passage con

tains a solemn warning, applicable to the mere professors of our day, which must not be omitted.

Also, thou son of man,

The children of thy people still are talking against thee By the walls and in the doors of the houses,

And speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying,

Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word

That cometh forth from the Lord.

And they come unto thee, as the people cometh,

And they sit before thee as my people.

And they hear thy words, but they will not do them:
For with their mouth they show much love,

But their heart goeth after their covetousness.

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song

Of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument:

For they hear thy words, but they do them not.

And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,)

Then shall they know that a prophet hath been among

them.

Although Jerusalem was now in ruins, and the Jewish people dispersed, Ezekiel was still set as a watchman to the house of Israel. He was admonished of his own duty, and directed to admonish others. The careless shepherds are warned, in ch. xxxiv., in language which should make every unfaithful pastor tremble. The prophet speaks to ministers of every age and church among professing Christians ; painful indeed is it to reflect, to how many the description, ver. 3-6, has been applicable.

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, Ye kill them that are fed-but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened,

Neither have ye healed that which was sick,

Neither have ye bound up that which was broken,

Neither have ye brought again that which was driven

away,

Neither have ye sought that which was lost;

But with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:

And they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill:

Yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, And none did search or seek after them.

How similar to the language in which our blessed Lord reproved the like characters of the time when he appeared on earth. Of himself there is an express promise, ver. 23, 24, 29-31.

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,

Even my servant David;

He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
And I the Lord will be their God,

And my servant David a prince among them;

I the Lord have spoken it.

And I will raise up for them a plant of renown,

And they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land,

Neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them,

And that they, even the house of Israel, are my people,
Saith the Lord God.

And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men,
And I am your God, saith the Lord God.

A figurative description of the deliverance of Israel is given ch. xxxvi. An entire change of heart and spirit is especially promised, ver. 25-38. By the vision of the resurrection of dry bones, in ch. xxxvii., the conversion and restoration of the Jews are pointed out. This is also applicable to the Lord's raising his church from its depressed state, and should call to our minds the great and awful day of the general resurrection of the dead. Then follow the awful prophecies respecting Gog and Magog, and the destruction of the enemies of the Lord. These are generally considered to refer to events yet to come in the latter days, and are surrounded with darkness into which no one yet can penetrate.